Jingle Bell Jog

Miles today: 4.0
Miles this week: 23.4
Miles in 2010: a lot

I've been doing the Jingle Bell Jog for the past 4 or 5 years. It's come to be one of my favorite Christmas time events.

Every year, on the Saturday before Christmas, Riverside Runners hosts this 3-5 mile run at our store.

What started as just about 25 people (Jeff says, I wasn't there) has grown to a 150+ person event. Guests bring baked goods, we provide hot chocolate, Gatorade, and water as well as door prizes, music, and a fully dressed running Santa! It's so fun. The best part is the parade of costumed runners running down the Avenue at 8:30 that morning.

I think my friend Sarah D. said it best: To Heather and all of the runners; It sure made my day to see all of the festive, costumed runners out this morning as I made my way back and forth down the Avenue to the City Market. I wished I had been out there running. Thanks for an unexpected and humorous Christmas Parade!

I met up with my buds Stacey and Austin to run, but since both Austin and I had to work, we only ran 4 of the 5 miles so we could get back to the store.

The event was a huge success...tons of people, lots of cookies, and great door prizes. Jeff even got a bunch of shirts screened to hand out for FREE! to the participants who dressed with holiday cheer.  

4 DAYS!!!

Miles today: 10
Miles this week: 10
Miles in 2010: a lot

WE HAVE 4 DAYS UNTIL THE WEDDING!

AHHHHHHH!

If you can come, we'll be celebrating with a run the morning before our wedding at 7:00am at the Perrottos' house (126 McKenna Circle, across from James River Day School). Feel free to join us if you'd like! Just email me and let me know: heathervozel@yahoo.com

Mizuno Fun Run and Shoe Test

Mizuno Fun Run and Shoe Wear Test Ride

Come run with us!

When: Wednesday, June 16th, 6:00pmWhere: Riverside Runners out Rivermont and Peakland and back (approx. 4 miles)
Why: a fun run and a chance to run in a pair of Mizuno shoes
What: free pizza and Gatorade and register for super cool prizes!

How much: FREE!

BONUS RAFFLE ENTRY IF YOU WEAR MIZUNO APPAREL OR SHOES TO THE RUN!

Check out our website!

bridesmaid bonanza

Miles today: 1.1

Miles this week: 16.2

Miles in 2010: 162.7

I know I'm really behind on my blogs and today is actually Tuesday and I'm blogging about Saturday, but I promise I'll be all caught up by tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

Today was the Queen of Hearts Poker Fun Run, so I woke up early to ice all the cupcakes I made last night. When I was done, I probably made almost 100 cupcakes. Pretty good for last minute.

We set up for the run at the Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church, who graciously offered us one of the nicest rooms in the church to begin and end our event. They were so giving!

The event went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to really enjoy running and playing poker at the same time. The grand prizes were gift cards to the store and two pairs of free Mizuno shoes.

After the run, I headed to the store to work. We got pretty busy and Patterson stopped by to chat. I just love when out-of-towners come home. I love to see them! Pat had to run 21 miles this afternoon, so he was about to go out for that run. I kind of can't imagine doing 21 miles just for training. Maybe someday.

I left work around 4:15 and picked up Austin to head to Roanoke to pick out her bridesmaid's dress. Stacey met us at David's Bridal and I think Austin had fun trying on the dresses and picking one out. Seeing bridesmaids and wedding stuff makes me so pumped for the wedding! I can't wait.

I didn't get home until almost 8:30pm, and I was starving, but I still hadn't run...so Gregg, my constant encouragement, pushed me off the couch and I went out for my mile run. I know I've been a little lazy this week, but I just have been sore in a couple places and really tired. I think week 6 of training must be a "hump week."

Mile was cold and blustery and I didn't want to do it, but once I was out there, it felt good. Of all things, when I got back to my driveway and went to push stop on my watch, I saw that I had never pressed start, which kind of ticked me off because I think that was my fastest mile around the neighborhood ever. Ugh. Oh well. Got the run in.

Gregg and I went to Wendy's after that...not a wise choice since it was almost ten...but I was so hungry and everything was closing, so I had a spicy chicken sandwich. I'll probably pay for it in the morning.

A Mile Short

Miles today: 3.2

Miles this week: 15.1
Miles in 2010: 161.6


It was a super busy day today because so much was going on at work and in my life...so I was kind of bummed when I didn't get to do everything as planned.

We had a pretty busy day at the store, and we had some planning and buying left to do for the Queen of Hearts Poker Fun Run tomorrow, so that made it a little crazier, plus Austin was coming home from Wake and Patterson was running the mile at Liberty and it is Valentine's weekend and almost my birthday! I'll be 28 on Monday!

I went out to Wal-mart around 3:30 in the afternoon to get food for the poker run in the morning. I kind of had fun getting all the treats, but getting to Wal-Mart was a different story. Every traffic ramp off the expressway near the mall/Wards Road was backed up a mile. It took me so long just to get to Wal-Mart, and then everyone in the store seemed to be in the aisles I needed to go down. It just took forever. I think people were out shopping to make themselves feel good since they were stuck inside for the past few weeks...severe case of cabin fever.

On top of all that, when I was checking out, I had picked up a 30+ pound box of bananas, and the kid at the register tried to weigh the whole case on his register scale, which obviously didn't work out because the box was way bigger than the scale, so he had to take each bunch of bananas out of the case and weigh them individually...it took forever. I felt bad for the kid and for the guy behind me who picked the wrong line because of my slowness. It was funny though, because the guy behind me struck up a conversation, asking about all the bananas...and we ended up talking about running (he used to be a runner) and my running everyday for a year thing. It was kind of cool.

I finally got back to the store after 5 and did some last minute race prep stuff...race numbers with team names, gift cards from the store for prizes, etc.

I really wanted to be able to go see my buddy Patterson run the mile at the Liberty Quad indoor meet tonight, but I ended up having to close the store, and couldn't make it. I was still really proud to hear about the results and wish I could've been there.

Closed up the store and then + (plus) one came to go for a run. You can imagine that running with Austin made me very happy. We just ran from the store down to Oakwood and back...nothing fast or far, but it was good to catch up with her and get a run in.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted from a busy week and tired muscles, but when I got home I still had to eat dinner and bake 50+ cupcakes for the Queen of Hearts run...so I spent the evening with Gregg watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and baking cupcakes. I'm really excited about the Olympics...what fun to watch these amazing athletes! I also love keeping track of the medals (see below).