Race Schedule and Results

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

TevaSphere Review

This post is long overdue.  Welcome to my pregnancy brain world, right?

About a month and a half ago, a representative from Onlineshoes.com contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying out a new Teva shoe, the Women's TevaSphere.  I'm a fan of Onlineshoes.com (what's not to love about a shoe store that has a million different options, free shipping, and free returns for up to 365 days - that's customer service!). And I'm already a fan of Teva - see this tan line beauty? 
I live in my Teva Mush sandals from the time it gets warm enough until my piggies are freezing. So this seemed to be a perfect fit.

I was told that I could chose between the TevaSphere Trail or the TevaSphere Speeds, and then pick the color.  The options were pretty awesome.  I went with the Speeds, simply because they were a little lighter (and I'm a girl and liked the look just a little better).  From the Onlinshoes.com website, this is what I learned about the gems before receiving them:


"Be prepared for any terrain in the Teva TevaSphere Speed athletic shoe. Streamlined for high performance and a sleek look, this women's trail shoe boasts a synthetic and mesh upper for lightweight, breathable comfort from start to finish. The TevaSphere outsole, featuring Spider Original rubber for grip, has a spherical heel with a support pod for stability that doesn't add too much weight. Next time you hit the trail for a run, tackle an obstacle course or just head out for an afternoon stroll, bring along your new favorite workout partner, the Teva TevaSphere Speed hiking shoe.

  • Synthetic and mesh upper
  • TevaSphere
  • Textile lining
  • Weight: 7.7 oz
I ended up going with the Lunar Rock color.  Good choice!  The shoes came about a week later (they didn't have my size at first, but that was quickly resolved), only to find out that these shoes run a little big.  I ended up needing a half size smaller than I usually go with.  Got my exchange and was off.

This is pretty cool.  If you can't read it, it says, " Congratulations... you just helped Teva clean a river or beach somewhere in the world.  Confused? Don't be. For every pair of footwear we sell, we work with non-profits to clean a foot of shoreline.  We call it A PAIR FOR A FOOT."

Now I'm not really running much these days, but we've been walking trails like it's my business so I've gotten a lot of use out of the shoes.  Let me tell you, they are comfy.  They seem to be a little more narrow than I'm used to, but it's nothing uncomfortable and actually just feel good and snug.  The half size down is a perfect fit for me.  I love the color of the lunar rock - it's kind of a grayish color with accents in yellow and green.  They are cute kick around shoes, as well as trail shoes.   I feel like they offer good support throughout my foot and the gripping on the bottom definitely makes it a trail shoe. Once this baby comes, I'm hoping to get some good trail runs in them as they seem very light weight and breathable.


I couldn't be happier with the shoe.  Teva has done things right with the Women's TevaSphere line and as always, OnlineShoes.com came through for me!

(Please note that these shoes were sent to me free of charge and that the opinions expressed in this post are solely my opinion.)

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Baby shower (and crazy amounts of photos and pink)


So this past weekend, my mom and sister came to Georgia to throw us a baby shower.  Amazing, right?  They knew that at 34 weeks I wouldn't be able to travel to Ohio, but I never expected the support that we had.  We had family and friends come in from SEVEN states!  Holy love, right?  I was so overwhelmed with every one's support and generosity.  Baby girl is so set for when she enters the world (if her daddy and I are, is another question!)

Mom, dad and Kristen came in on Thursday night.  Friday we did some running around and just hung out until my cousins came in from Pennsylvania.  My mom's best friend's (and neighbors in Ohio) drove in as well and they stopped by to see the house on Friday too.

Then Saturday, Tom and I got up, enjoyed a nice long walk with Charlie, knowing that at 1:00, our house was going to be taken over with shower stuff.  It was awesome!

I will say, as apprehensive as I've been about having a little girl and all the pink that goes along with it, I couldn't help but smile at everything.  How can you not?  Okay, so ready for picture overload??? :)
My adorable mom and dad with some of the balloons
My sister and my mom made these chocolate lollipops
Tom surprised me with my favorite craving - iced sugar cookies and Chick-Fil-A lemonade
The awesome Costco cake.  Anyone else in love with these?
Nana-to-be and I
The bassinet and nursing pillow that one of my sister's friends gave us to borrow!
My sister and brother in law bought us a pack-n-play!
This should keep her occupied during floor time!
A portable swing
The homemade gifts from my family - my Aunt Jean made the blanket, my cousin Carolyn made her a stocking, my cousin Laurie made her the "A" and my mom actually cross stitched that picture for my cousin Anna when she was born, who gifted it to me now that she's grown.
Bath Stuff
Girl's clothes - too cute
Personalized gifts. And I'll quote "every Southern girl needs a personalized diaper cover". :)
This is the baby of a triathlete for sure
My mom and sister asked that people give us a book instead of a card which we loved... she has a good collection started on her bookcase!         
I sobbed when I got this.  My grandma bought this for Abigail 5 days before she passed away.  I will give it to her when she is older. :)

My friends Jenn and Matt made us a diaper bike.  Seriously.  It's awesome.
Okay, and then something awesome happened.  I haven't' talked much about the bombings in Boston and everything that went down with that.  It was horrifying and still makes me sick to think about.  I can't tell you how many times I've been at the finish line, waiting for my friends and loved ones.  It hit really close to home.  We had a lot of friends and family running that day and thankfully all were safe.  Tom's mom had finished about 10 minutes before everything went down and was close enough to the finish to see and hear it all.  To say it shook us up is an understatement.  Tom and I were very emotional that day, questioning society and wondering what kind of world we are bringing a little girl into.  I know that we can't shield her from all the bad in the world and that there is way more good than bad, but it's still hard.  So right around 3:30 as the news was breaking, UPS came with a big box addressed to Tom.  I had been putting packages aside knowing that they were probably shower gifts for the weekend, but since this was to Tom, I had him open it.    I couldn't see what it was when he opened it, but he looked at me with tears in his eyes.  It turns out that his old teammates got together and bought us a BOB Revolution jogging stroller, the handlebar console and a hippo toy from our registry as a congrats gift.  We were so incredibly touched by this for so many reasons - Tom is no longer with TNN, but his former athletes were so generous that that didn't phase them.  They are all crazy runners and triathletes so this couldn't be a better reminder of all of them. These are lifelong friends, and we know that.  So Tom now has a way to run with Abigail up the hills of Suwanee (because I will be totally making him do the hard work while we run together!)  It's way awesome!
I'm still, three days later, trying to wrap my hear around people's generosity.  If I every questioned whether or not Tom and I had a lot of love in our lives, Saturday confirmed that.  And what's even more amazing is that this little unborn child has so much love as well.  That's a very very amazing feeling. 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

April goals


As I posted back in January (or was it February?) I'm not good at making resolutions and sticking with them.  I decided to take one month at a time, especially with the pregnancy, and just make a goal for myself.  I'd do everything in my power to hit that goal.  In January and February it was to do something physical every day and I did a darn good job at that.  In February and March it was to not eat out as much.   Just little things that I can try to do to help my life. :)

So we're on to April.  Working out is becoming a little more of a struggle.  I could blame the ever growing belly, but that's just an excuse really.  Come to find out that this whole third trimester thing is no joke.  Momma is T.I.R.E.D. And I'm finding that my will to workout is sometimes overshadowed by my will to get a project done around the house.  Or to nap.  But I've been working on it as much as possible.  I kind of had a falling out with my bike trainer so I haven't been on that in a while.  Shhh... I still haven't gotten myself to the pool.  Running is difficult... I did it 3 times TOTAL in March.  That leaves me with walking, which I've been doing a ton of.  With the recent events in our life, Tom and I have had plenty to talk about and the walks tend to clear my mind (and totally suck the life out of me most days).  As the weather gets nicer, I foresee longer walks and more frequent walks - sure beats sitting on a bike trainer in the basement reading US Weekly.

Where was I going with this?  Oh yes... my goal for April.  My goal is to run each week the number of miles that corresponds with how many weeks I have until my baby girl comes.  I will hopefully do this up to my due date.  So this week I'm at 31 weeks which means that I have 9 weeks until baby Girl makes her grand appearance.  That means, my goal for this week is to run 9 miles.  9 miles.  That's it.  Sounds easy enough and most everyone who reads my blog will be like "really Colleen?", but let me explain. 

Running is hard.  I had these grandiose intentions of running until the day I delivered.  Being that lady.  But  I waddle when I walk so you can only imagine the image of me "wogging" as I like to call it (waddling + jogging = wogging).  My bump isn't all cute and little.  It's out there.  Like "wham, I swallowed a basketball" out there.   And people, it ain't getting any smaller! :)  I have to take some walk breaks when I get to the hills or else the contractions start.  I feel like I'm breathing through a straw as Abigail has found a nice cozy place to reside between my lungs and my diaphragm.  Inevitably I have to pee like 7 times during a run.  For me to get a good 30 minutes of "wogging" in is actually more of a 45 minutes process.  9 miles will not take me 81 glorious minutes like it used to.  9 miles will take me a long time.

So that's my goal.  This week it's 9 miles.  Next week only 8.  If I can go longer, awesome.  If I struggle with just hitting my goal, so be it.  I've gotten some pretty great items lately (from the likes of Zensah, Runningskirts.com, Brooks) that will keep me going and I'll write about those in the coming days.

So that's my goal.  Laugh at me if you must.  Just don't do it to my face because I'm an emotional wreck and will probably just start sobbing.  Then you'll feel bad because you made the pregnant girl cry and the only way to make me feel better is to buy me Peanut M&M's. :)

True story.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Spring is here


I've been having fun playing with the new camera.  Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Atlanta and I took full advantage of getting to know some of the settings.  Amazing what this thing can do (knowing full well that I'm not a photographer at all!)








Can't wait to keep playing!