River Run

I ran 14 miles this morning and don't think it's possible to add 12.2 on to that. It just can't be done. Early this morning Gerald & I drove out to the Susquehanna River & he dropped me off on River Road approximately 14 miles from home. We placed water bottles & sports beans every few miles along the route so I could replenish along my route. It was a tough run. Note to self: stop making runs with so many hills! The hill @ mile 13 just about killed me. Also, I saw so many McDonald's wrappers along my route that I think it's a sign that's where I should be eating lunch. i was craving a snack wrap & fries the whole time. I think it's time to ice my knees. ciao.

-Jilly

Michael Phelps

You may also want to consider adding 12,000 calories to your diet because that worked for Michael Phelps as well...

-Jilly

playlist....

I hit the 16 mile mark on Saturday! I just kept running and running and running. In fact I ran all the way to Reston VA and back (I guess I did start in Vienna VA only 8 miles from there...still it was a long way!).

I was feeling fairly motivated throughout the run except when my handpicked-Ipod-Nano-running-play-list started repeating itself. That is when I realized I was running for a very long time. Alas, I worked through these issues and finished.

My play list (which is about to be lengthened bc I'm told that a marathon is 26.2 miles and not 16) includes:

Survivor- Destiny's Child
I'm for Love- Hank Williams Jr
Independence Day- Martina McBride
Gimme Three Steps- Skynyrd
You took the words right out of my mouth- Meatloaf

I may need to add some from Michael Phelps' olympic winning playlist. It worked for him!
jms

Going for Gold

I think it's not a coincidence that the 2008 summer olympic games was occuring at the same time as my marathon training. I think it has inspired me to greatness. London 2012 here I come! Just kidding. Did you see the chick that won the gold in the marathon? Constantina Tomescu. She was incredible. Even after she finished she just kept running & running. I hope when I run my marathon in 2 1/2 hours that I will look just like that.

On Saturday I ran a Bethany Half Marathon. Ok, so it wasn't an "official" half-marathon. But it was 13.1 miles and it was in Bethany. So that's what I call it. We were @ Gini's beach house for the weekend in Ocean View, DE @ Bear Trap Dunes. I was only scheduled to run 13 miles on my training, but I decided I should just make it 13.1 to symbolize my halfway point. I had to get up @ 5:30AM while I was @ vacation on the beach to do it. But it was worth it. There's nothing like watching the sun rise by the beach. When i returned to the beach house 3 hours later (don't judge) everyone was pretty much still sleeping. So I went back to bed.

When i woke up everyone wanted to go swimming or biking or play tennis or work out and I'm of course like "no no no no i'm not moving for the rest of the day!". I think everyone thought I was a party pooper because they kept asking why I wouldn't do anything. HELLO! I ran 13.1 miles today I don't need to do any physcial activitity ever again!!! Does anyone realize how crazy that is??? Anyway...so I watched VH1 Greatest 100 Teen Stars, ate Fractured Prune Donuts, floated around in the pool on water noodles, and played Dutch Blitz (& won) instead. Now that's what I call a gold medal weekend @ the beach!

-jilly

PS~has anyone noticed that as the mileage gets longer so does the length of my blogs???

vacation!

So the college tour was a marathon- Jill's entry was right on. Whew. Its a good thing I was on vacation the week before that to prepare myself. Apparently my marathon-training self thought I should take a vacation too because I slacked just a bit on the training last week.

Actually, thats not true if you count suntanning, boating, kayacking, naps, a round of golf all followed by large and very good meals, than I was cross-training!
We spent the week in Bay Creek and it was worth every bit of soreness that is to come from my lack of running last week.

way to go Jill for signing up for the Harrisburg marathon.
way to go Rachel for scheduling your exams and kicking off your college search anew.
way to go Jill Marie for getting back on track with training (or at least considering it!)

jms

College Marathon

Jill & I just got back from a crazy three-day-seven-school-VA-NC college tour with out sister-in-law, Rachel. It was a lot like a marathon in itself. There was planning, dehydration, even itineraries and extreme hunger. Not to mention we were always looking for bathrooms and we got lost a few times. Our legs were screaming for us to stop but we kept going from tour to info session and on to the next college. Walking around all those campuses in the heat is just as tiring as running 5 miles, let me tell you. But we made it to the finish line! I think I'd rather run 26.2 miles then go through the college application process again, but that's just me.

Rach was a real trooper. Jill & I didn't want to skip a beat on our training so we got up in the mornings to run around the nearby campuses. We dragged Rachel out of bed with us to run around Duke Monday morning and Washington & Lee Tuesday morning. It was a great way to see the campuses. There were honks & waves & a water-holder-butt-thingy that got us through it all. Rachel, however may never speak to us again.

Big week for the Stoltzfoos family. Rach is gonna register to take the SAT II/ACT & I'm going to sign up to run the Harrisburg marathon. Good times.

-Jilly

words of encouragement

I had to run a 12 miler again and for some reason it was harder the 2nd time around. My mom is in town so she drove through the streets of Lancaster to bring me water. And of course take pictures of me running. (if you knew my mom you'd understand). So I must of pushed it too hard this week because I was aching the whole run. But I did it! The worst part was the old man who was driving past me in his car. He slowed down, lowered his window & yelled "faster! faster!" out the window. I guess he was trying to be cute. But I really just wanted to punch him. Don't worry I refrained myself.

-Jilly

Highlights from this week

On Friday morning I did a 5 mile run that took me down 999 & who did I see in my periphials moving closer to me on a lawn mower??? None other than Richard Eugene Glick! So funny.

Saturday I accomplished my first 12 miler. It was glorious. Unlike Jill, I tend to UNDERpack on my runs. Just me & my Ipod. Well, when I ran the 11 miler last weekend I ran into a little dehydration problem. So Gerald & I decided to fix that. Some time during my run he drove along my running route and found me to give me some water. He found me in Millersville right at mile 8 and brought Schmuffin to give me that extra encouragement.

Unlike Jill, I did not receive any free breakfasts that day. But maybe I should of told some of the vendors @ Central Market about my accomplishment! Mr. Auchenbach would have definetely given me a free peanut butter long john if he had only known!!! Thanks for the tip.

-Jilly

pat me on the back panera bread!

Well- I've hit the halfway point. I ran 13.5 miles today! At this point I cannot imagine thinking about another 13 miles after 13 run on Marathon day. I'll figure that out later. Today I'll focus on the halfway celebrataion!

I usually run with my team on the long runs. This week however, the team wasn't meeting. I got up and ran around Burke Lake for 13.5 miles all by myself (and a borrowed Ipod with a very limited song selection I might add). I was so proud of myself and wanted to tell SOMEONE about my accomplishment so I told the first person I saw which happened to be the cashier at Panera Bread. I totally caught him off guard, I guess not many folk tell the cashiers information like this. After he recovered, he congratualated me and asked how I thought it went. He then proceeded to comp me my breakfast sandwich and whipped out some green juice that he instructed me that I needed to recover from such a run. How nice of the Panera Bread man.

Jill- if the going gets tough just head over to Panera off Edsall Rd. They'll take care of you!
jms

My Fave Websites

So here are a few of my new favorite websites...

This one calculates how many calories you burn for each run: Calories Burned (and makes me feel good about myself as I devour half of this pizza ...i ran 6 miles today so I am hungry!!!!!!!!!)

And this one predicts how long the actual marathon will take you based on your past runs: Marathon Time Calculator (i was a little nervous about the 6 hour time limit - but as of now i'm on track to finish in less than 6 hours, barely, but still...)

A must have website for all runners: Favorite Run

-Jilly

you didn't tell me...

You didn't tell me that marathon training would mean extreme hunger and exhaustion. One would think that you could figure this from the term 'marathon training'. I guess I am clueless but figured it out when I was not a happy camper at 8pm this evening when starving and exhausted. Up at 5 to run 4, worked 8, worked another 2 and bought groceries and then had to make dinner at 8!?! Oh, and this is only Monday.
wish me luck the rest of this week-whew!
ps: Glad to hear the crocs helped. Maybe I should get a pair...

jms

Injuries, Massages, & Adventures In Williamsburg

In addition to my running, I like to work out additionally by doing other cardio or taking classes. This past Wednesday I took Boot Camp Cardio & Body Works classes @ LA Fitness (these are classes I take on a regular basis) and nothing was out of the ordinary, but when i woke up Thursday morning my left ankle & foot were in serious pain. I could barely walk. Luckily it was my day off. So I spent the day icing & stretching my foot/ankle and other soar body parts. Then after watching my husband win the U-30 Summer League Championship (!!!!) we drove down to Williamsburg. I had a 4 miler all planned near our hotel for Friday morning (I even printed out the map) but decided I needed to rest for another 24 hours. I was concerned about missing a training day but even more concerned about making my injury worse. Besides, walking around Busch Gardens would be enough exercise for one day. My foot hurt so bad that the strain of lifting up a flip flop was too much. Luckily I had these SWEET mickey mouse crocs to see me through...

They must have done the trick (that or my near death experience on "Apollo's Chariot") because when I woke up Saturday morning my injury was all better. So I got to run a beautiful 11 miler around the ground's of Kings Mill Resort & Spa. It felt great. That's one of the reasons I love running you get to see & explore places you would normally not get to see.

But REALLY the best part of my adventures was my post-run massage @ the spa!!! (The 50 minute Changing Seasons Sampler Massage to be exact). Honestly, all my runs should be followed by a massage!!! Why haven't I been doing this all along???

-Jilly

PS~10 minute mile pace is awesome!

10 miler!

The only thing laughing now are my muscles! I finally accomplished the 10 mile mark with the help of another team mate. She injured herself and had to slow down so she ran with me...slowed down to a 9.5 and 10 min mile. Thanks for really slowin'- this was a push for me!
My route was 5 miles down the WO&D trail and 5 miles back. Coming back was much better than going.
I got a free water fanny pack now so I don't over pack. I just look quite goofy.
I think I've found some other dream 'hydration packs'.

jms