Travel Tuesday happened on Wednesday

Yesterday was supposed to be travel Tuesday but I missed it. My intentions were well but it just didn’t happen. So y’all want to know what we’ve been up to concerning our trip to China?

Yesterday we did passports! No picture for this one, but this was something that should have been done long ago but we didn’t. NOW it’s done though.

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On Saturday, Willie and I ventured to the Asian market to see what we could get into! I love Asian flavors and we pretty much have something Asian influenced every night. We are wicked excited to go to China to try lots of different things. I have some limits though: no snakes and no chicken feet! We poked around the store for a little bit. There were lots of things gelled in cans. Lychees, coconuts, mangos, all in cans with gel. I was mystified. Also, apparently you have to have your Pat O’Brien’s hurricane mix with your meal. I thought it was kind of random to see there so I had to get a picture of it.

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Willie was on the search for something. He looked all official with his pen and pad. I don’t know what he was looking for, but I promise he picked up almost everything in the store.

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While I waited on Willie to check out I spotted shrimp chips! I don’t know about these things but on the back it says, “a toasted light snack, with a touch of shrimp.” I like shrimp but I’m not too sure if I would want to try these. But to each his own…

As for training, I’ve just been doing my regular cycle classes with probably a little bit more resistance to build some leg strength. Willie has been nursing a hurt knee, but he’s been rolling and trying to get it back to working normally. I have two marathons in 6 days coming up so I’m laying off the running until Saturday. I’m not really interested in breaking myself.

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On Saturday I ran 5 miles and Sunday I ran 8.5 miles. We had to make some training stops along the way. The wall isn’t going to climb itself, so I had to take on a smaller challenge so I’m ready to conquer The Great Wall of China. In all seriousness, the trip is getting closer and I’m excited and scared at the same time. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to do this because most people will never be able to do what we’re doing. I’m scared because I’m going to do something my physically challenging than I’ve ever done before. My thing is pushing past the limits I think I have to become stronger mentally, but that doesn’t mean I don’t give myself a mental beat down on that journey. I’m always willing to try new things but I’m always so afraid. I guess that last little part doesn’t matter as long as I don’t let that fear stop me from trying it, right?

So this is where we are right now as far as getting ready! We still have so much to do like learn a little bit of the language, research some things to do and places we want to visit. But we are all about going off the path to find the hidden gems of the city.

Race Recap: Love.Run.Marathon Trail Race

Race Recap: Love.Run.Marathon Trail Race

Willie and I are training for Great Wall of China Marathon (GWCM).  I’ve been trying to get some out of the box things for us to do because training for the race is not like any other race.  The Great Wall is old, broken and steep!  Willie has only run the roads and we definitely won’t be doing that in China!  It was important for us to at least get a trail race in our training sessions so we’ll be ready come May!  My answer to the questions was the Love.Run.Marathon in Huntsville! First off, this race for a a…

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The training for China conundrum

The training for China conundrum

I’ve have some running events coming up but my focus has been on China.  Everything until that point is just training.  I shouldn’t be pushing for PRs or making a certain time.  I’m more interested in getting us on our feet for longer periods of time.  I’ve tried to explain to Willie the physicality of what is happening is the least of the problems; it’s the mental aspect of what is going to happen. I don’t know what I want to run The Great Wall of China Marathon but I do!  I guess I want to do it because it’s…

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Race recap: RnR New Orleans Marathon

Race recap: RnR New Orleans Marathon

This race kind of came in under the radar due to Willie being sick!  To be honest, I felt really horrible for even still wanting to go after Willie had his surgery but he encouraged me to go.  I originally signed up for the race to do the half because I just ran a marathon, but I caved to running peer pressure and ran the marathon! Two marathons, two weeks means I can now be a marathon maniac. Please forgive me because this post might be long because I have a lot of things to share! First off, it was…

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Looking forward to China

Looking forward to China

Remember when we were on The Rachael Ray Show and she gave us a trip to China? You  may have forgotten but we haven’t.  It’s an exciting thing for us that we’re totally not prepared for.  We should have been on this months ago and now I feel like we’re in a big cram session. There are only two things we have done to prepare for the trip: buy Rosetta Stone and get things squared away for The Great Wall of China Marathon (and I’m even behind on that stuff). With The Louisiana Marathon weekend closely approaching, it’s time for…

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Race Recap: Magic City Half Marathon

Race Recap: Magic City Half Marathon

On Sunday I ran my 13th half marathon of 2013 in Birmingham, AL at the Magic City Half Marathon and 5K, all apart of Ruben Studdard Celebration Weekend. It was very cold on race morning, something like 28 degrees and it was very windy! I had taken two rest days because I was driving and the other because my hamstring was still bothering me. I’ve never taken this many rest days in my life. I picked up our packets at Regions Field (the home of the Birmingham Barrons). It was small, but nice. The Trak Shak and the Birmingham Running…

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Happy Late Friday from the road

Happy Late Friday from the road

I’m a bad blogger, I didn’t post anything at all today. I have a good excuse, I was driving in the car all day. It’s Ruben Studdard Celebration weekend which means I’m gearing up for the 3rd Annual Magic City Half Marathon. I am looking forward to the race even though it’s supposed to be really COLD.  I’m trying to decide if I’m actually going to run this race or just have a good time.  To try to PR or not?  I AM supposed to be in taper! I wish I could say I am having a good day but…

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Race Recap: One hot weekend at RnR San …

Race Recap: One hot weekend at RnR San Antonio

It was my 12th half this year, Willie’s 3rd and my best friend Tyson’s first half/race EVER, so I was excited for this race.  It was kind of bittersweet because it was also the last RnR of the year!  I really wanted to end the RnR season with a bang but let me tell you that didn’t happen because it was SUPER hot.  I know when we started the race it had to be VERY close to 80 degrees and the humidity was killing before we even thought about running. Race day was also the day of my 20 miler…

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Race Recap: Rock n Roll Denver Half Marathon

Race Recap: Rock n Roll Denver Half Marathon

There are a few things you should know before you read this recap. 1. This wasn’t really supposed to be a race for me.  It was supposed to be a training run.  My training plan called for 15 miles so… 2. I got up early and ran two miles before heading to the start line. I’ve never ran 15 miles before, ever. 3. Even though it was just supposed to be a training run, I put my race face on and was ready to roll. 4. I shouldn’t have done that because ALTITUDE is a horrible thing and it will…

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Fun in Denver before the race

Fun in Denver before the race

I arrived in Denver late morning on Friday and headed to the hotel. There was a lot of things going on in Denver this past weekend so I was excited to be there. We ate lunch and had the worse service ever and then we headed to the expo! Expos are bad for me because I buy too much stuff, but I need running stuff, right? And it was rumored to be cold and let me tell you it wasn’t a rumor! There was a zombie crawl in downtown Denver and people were going all out for this. I wish…

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ABC: My 9th Half Marathon Race Goals

ABC: My 9th Half Marathon Race Goals

Happy Friday! I’m waiting at the airport for my flight so it’s the perfect time to think about my weekend goals. Run Eat Repeat taught me a thing or two about setting a/b/c goals for my races.  I usually set change my goals to make myself feel better when I’m done running a race.  I thought this time I would hold myself accountable and really stick with my goals…and find another way to make myself feel accomplished after a race. <\center>Packing for this race was a huge challenge for me because it’s going to be cold, like 40 something. I’m…

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