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A Running Update + IRONMAN Jacket Giveaway

I’m really struggling to find time to do anything with my new work schedule – that includes blogging, exercise and social activities. I’m not complaining though – I’m so much happier than I was at my last job. When you’re miserable for so long you forget what it feels like to NOT be miserable, and you think being miserable is just how it is.

So now that I’m finally not miserable, it’s really refreshing. photostrip But I am working 60 hours a week. I wake up at 5ish just to get to work at 7ish so that I could leave by 7ish and not have to stay later.  Also, I work on weekends. This leaves little time to work out before work — and then there’s the fact that I have never in my life had such a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, I’m so tired — and no time after work because I just want to go home and crash. This week I have  late weeknight events three nights, which is stressing me out majorly. Again, not complaining, just explaining it all.

I need to figure out a better balance because I have a marathon to start training for in May! And not just any marathon, but ideally my sub-4 marathon. Coach Abby says I NEED to get my leg strengthening exercises in three times a week, not to mention the actual running. As for my beloved Refine, right now I would only be able to go on weekends but I am not ready for that neck-wise. I want to have a few more pain-free runs completed before I feel ready to add in any other types of exercise. I feel a mix of upset (Refine is my happy place) and smart (listening to my PT when he told me to use running as a gauge for other workouts). And, I am LOVING running! Every run I do, I feel grateful and happy. I can’t wait to be running more miles and more often. And training for a marathon! I booked my flight to Seattle for Bellingham Bay Marathon! And I might have something else in the works that I’ll talk about soon that will motivate me even more to run and help me meet running people at my company. When my brain isn’t on work, these days it’s on running.  Running FTW.

I do have to say, I am not used to feeling so soft and being so out of shape. I haven’t been this way since I started working out “for real” on January 2, 2010. I’m self conscious all the time and I miss the old me.

Does anyone seasoned in working long hours have tips?
(I should note – I already wake up at 5 just to get to work and I don’t have a lunch break and I am scared to run outside before 5am… so it gets a little trickier…)

Abrupt subject change: Yesterday I had an amazing day. I slept until 10am for the first time since COLLEGE. Even Larry didn’t cry to wake us up, he slept in, too!  I guess this is what early mornings and long days of sitting for hours straight will do to you.

After breakfast at our favorite Jersey City spot Sam A.M., Andy and I spent some time at Project: Earth, a street fair in our neighborhood to benefit  local Earth Day initiatives. I got some really great stuff there and I’m excited about all of it, including vintage shoes and a vintage bag and some gifts for a certain baby with a very large bun.

Then we signed the lease on our new apartment, an amazing apartment that overlooks the dog park section of a really nice park. We don’t move until July 1 but we are obsessed with all things new apartment right now. We even bought this at Project: Earth, which happens to perfectly match our black, red and beige rug AND is the same exact pattern and colors as our shower curtain.

Does this thing have a name?

Does this thing have a name?

Then I had my first pain-free 5 mile run, my longest run since the Richmond Marathon and one of my few totally pain-free runs. Things are definitely looking up. And then we ate dinner at our favorite Jersey City dinner spot, Razza. One thing I love about living here (and there’s a lot) is that just by going to these two restaurants often, being passionate about them and engaging with them on social media, they know us now. And they talk to us, and that makes us feel special and want to go back even more and tell more people. And there’s just such a community feel here, it is so nice. A perfect day.

This morning I did another 5 miles and felt good, so I’m happy with my decision to run in the Newport 10,000 next weekend. It’s a 10K race I was too injured to run last year, but I’ve been really wanting to do it. Before my neck injury, this was going to be my PR attempt but I’m not ready for that. Instead, I will run at a leisurely pace, take in a new route and get cheered on by my boys as I run directly in front of my apartment building.

Once my running started going well I had the opportunity to finally try the  IRONMAN’s Women’s Convertible Versa Jacket. They sent me this jacket awhile ago to try out, review and giveaway. I chose the passion fruit color, which looks even better in person than in the photo. Made by Sugoi, this jacket is warm enough to wear all winter long for you cold weather running people (every year I try to become one of you, maybe next year I will be thanks to this jacket). I really liked it and although I don’t look forward to next winter’s cold weather, I am really glad to have this jacket and hope to use it often! ironman jacket

It didn’t look too bulky, and the bottom of the arms and bottom of the jacket are adjustable so I was able to make it snug around my wrists and waist so no cold air could get in. It protected perfectly against the wind and the best part of the jacket — which I did not get to try yet — is that if you get too warm, it converts INTO A VEST with MAGNETIC SLEEVES.

Here are the official jacket deets:

Available in passion fruit or black, the IRONMAN Women’s Convertible Versa Jacket is 100% polyester argon fabric jacket and features a high air permeability rating and water resistance, both of which help to keep you warm and dry. With its easily removable/attachable magnet-attached sleeves and reflective visibility, this jacket can also be converted into a vest, making it perfect for any workout – indoors or out! Combining durability with function and style, this jacket is simply a training essential. (Feel free to see what I’m talking about in this video here or read more below.)

The IRONMAN Women’s Convertible Versa Jacket jacket retails at $135.95, so I’m really excited to give away such a functional, good-looking, all around awesome jacket!

GIVEAWAY INFO

You can get up to two entries to be in the running to win:

(1) Leave a comment below telling me what you look for in a running jacket OR if you have a favorite local food spot OR your advice for fitting in workouts with a very challenging work schedule (

2) Tweet about the giveaway, leave a comment here letting me know you did. Suggested tweet: I entered to win an @IronmanTri Women’s Convertible Versa Jacket from @thedorigray: http://dorishinyblog.com/2014/04/a-running-update-ironman-jacket-giveaway

Good luck!

Oh! Unrelated, I’m using Instagram more these days but can’t for the life of me figure out how to add the icon to the top of this blog. It’s not one of the options in my template. Anyway, you can follow me there.

All entries must be received by Sunday, May 4 at 12:00 am EDT. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

How I Chose My Next Fall Marathon

I’m sadly not running the Eugene Marathon this year.

This is tough. I was so excited about it, I signed up when the price was low, I couldn’t wait to train in the spring when I’m all fast and race in the Pacific Northwest summer during a celebration of running in Tracktown USA. I was going to stay in an adorable rented house with my family (including baby nephew) and it was going to be an amazing weekend.

Of course, things often don’t work out as planned and with my neck injury coming in January, I’m just not ready to start training for a July marathon.

Naturally my thoughts went to a fall marathon. I started researching every fall race on the east coast, and finding fault with them all. Wineglass Marathon, the frontrunner because wine, just didn’t excite me. (And Ellen didn’t love it/didn’t think I’d love it and I trust her opinion). Every mid-late November race was out (which includes my beloved Richmond and Philly) because I didn’t enjoy the last few weeks of cold weather training last year. A few races that sounded interesting (Newport RI, Steamtown and Chicago) were the same day as Ashley Runningbun‘s wedding, so those were out.

Dori PDX marathon

This is what I look like when I see my family during a marathon

I liked that Lehigh Valley was in early September but I wanted a little more time to heal my neck and get back into running shape. Cape Cod seemed too hilly for a PR attempt. My friend Miranda loved Baystate and it’s near my husband’s parents’ house, but the course is two loops and I just wasn’t feeling it. No one I know liked Hartford much.  I didn’t want to deal with logistics, waiting for a long time in the cold and the hills of NYCM. Baltimore was hilly. Marine Corps was too big. I wanted smaller but not too small. I want crowd support without hoopla.

After being frustrated with not loving any of my east coast options, I opened the Marathon Guide list of races and just started reading through each one, thinking maybe I’d find something in the Seattle area where my family lives. I came across two races in Washington state - Bellingham Bay Marathon and Leavenworth Oktoberfest Marathon. I researched both and really, Bellingham Bay seemed perfect.

A gorgeous course that runs along the water, a time of year the weather is usually ideal, not too hilly especially considering the location, an inexpensive price tag (for the next few days, more on that in a minute) and did I mention just how gorgeous it is? I mean, look at the course map! Apparently it is unofficially called “the most beautiful marathon in the Pacific Northwest.”

I also really liked the date – September 28. No cold weather training and also the good chance for a nice race day. I looked up flight prices and they were totally doable (unlike Eugene flights, which was driving me crazy).  And really, I just felt excited about this race. I didn’t feel this way about any of the east coast races I looked up. I was tempted to register on the spot. Bellingham Bay Marathon felt right.

I emailed my brother and sister in law to see if they were free for a trip to Bellingham that weekend and they were up for it. I asked on Twitter if anyone’s run this race, and every response I received was overwhelmingly positive. I was convinced!

Bellingham Bay Marathon

Photo: http://www.bellinghambaymarathon.org/%5B/caption%5D

And then I started to really think about whether this was a good decision. I’m first recovering from injury, but I’m getting better each week. This morning I ran 3 miles without pain. I’m getting there. Plus, I figured that even if I can’t run this race for whatever reason, I’d still go to Seattle and see my nephew (who will be 21 months at that time) which I’d need to do anyway!

Also, the price of the race was about to go up on April 1. Tempting! Pressure!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="360"]Dori with Harrison nephew Showing Harrison my bling in PDX

I consulted with Coach Abby and she advised me to wait, and only register if I can run 8 miles pain-free and comfortably by the end of May. That made sense – better to wait and pay more than register now to save money and then not be able to run. Although I really hated the idea of paying more later on . . .

When I went to the registration page and began the process (you see where this is going), it gave me the option for buying race insurance. RACE INSURANCE. For $7 (less than the cost of the price increase April 1) I could get a full refund if I can’t run the race.

That was the sign I needed. I had nothing to lose by registering. So I signed up.

And that, my friends, is how I chose my next fall marathon. My fourth marathon. Another marathon where my nephew Harrison will cheer for his Aunt Dori. Another marathon combined with a family visit. And if all goes well with my healing, my PR attempt.

For now, it’s back to resting my neck, doing all my PT exercises (some for neck, some for hip which my physical therapist thinks is contributing to my neck), doing my leg and hip strengthening from Coach Abby and (semi) patiently waiting to get back to Refine and run more miles.

But all of this is so much sweeter now that I have another training season and a great goal race to look forward to.

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