Marathon Mania(cs)

So today, the Monday following the ING New York City Marathon, is "Marathon Monday Mania" on the Today show. Part of the madness is that you can get into the 2011 NY marathon before anyone! Sure you have to do a little song and dance, AND take a picture of you completing a scavenger hunt item AND post it to Facebook - AND THEN be lucky enough to have your name pulled from the drawing. We're not quite that ambitious just yet, but good luck to any of you folks out there who are!

One of our favorite parts about the NYC Marathon is the celebrity factor. I mean, can you even imagine...you're running along and then all of the sudden it's like, "oh hey Al Roker - what's the weather going to be like tomorrow?" Now, we've already paid homage to our hero of this race, but let's review some of the other celebs and how they fared...

Bobby Flay had a little marathon "throw down" of his own. He was hoping to beat four hours, and just missed it with an impressive finish of 4:01:37. Justin Gimelstob, professional tennis player and first time marathon runner had to beat 4:45 to win his bet with Andy Roddick to receive $10k for Gimelstob's charity. He crushed the bet, finishing in 4:09:58.

Our personal favorite celebrity charity story was Amani Toomer, former New York Football Giants wide receiver. He was the very last person to start the race, and for every runner he passed Timex is donating $1 to the New York Road Runners youth fitness program. Loves!

Subway + running too soon = ugh

Sal + Liv both got a little overzealous in support of Jared's fight for the cause and overindulged in Subway before our run yesterday. Actually - overindulged isn't the right word for a six inch sub on toasted whole wheat - we prefer to reserve that word for foods like hot fudge sundaes and chili cheese fries. Nevertheless, Subway + running don't exactly mix unless there's at least a 30 minute buffer in the middle [sidebar: Aw cuss! does that mean the whole swimming pool rule about waiting 30 minutes is really true too? We always assumed that was just something our parents told us to make our lives miserable.. jk mom] Anyway, for our marathon next year, Jared and we/us (ummm... Liv + Sal) share the same goal - to just finish the thing.

Moving along...lets talk times. Holy heck - the winner finished in 2 hours and 8 minutes! He would have finished, gotten a massage, maybe an ice bath, and chugged back a couple of mimosas at brunch by the time we'll finish. And of course - 5 out of the 6 winners (men and women) were Kenyans. God - why did you put all so much of the natural running talent in one country? Couldn't you have spread the wealth? She's got the right idea for her blog title, seems like we're always "Chasing the Kenyans."

Sigh.Who knows what's in the cards for us if when we finish our first marathon. Regardless, a major pat on the back to all of you runners from the NYC marathon - and hopefully we'll see you at the starting line (oh yeah... and finish line, too) in the future!

lylas,

Just Another Musical Monday

Because it has been waaaay too long since i've experienced a "runner's high" or anything even close to that affect, I can't seem to motivate myself over that essential hump in running that makes the difference between continuing on and falling back. So, I'm leaving it up to my tunes to drive me forward...

1. Black Dirt - Sea Wolf (warning: starts a little slow but picks up - good song to start with)
2. Giving Up the Gun - Vampire Weekend
3. Too Too Too Fast - Ra Ra Riot
4. Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
5. Fables - the Dodos
6. Long Distance Call - Phoenix
7. Up Up Up - Givers
8. Pursuit of Happiness - Kid Cudi, MGMT & Ratatat
9. Little Secrets - Passion Pit
10. Boy - Ra Ra Riot

Some you may know and others not so much - some are more conventional and others a bit more obscure - but all in all, it's a solid list to give us a lil' boost this week.

lylas,

You're a Hunk of Burning Love, Peña

I mean, c'mon. For realsies? If Edison Peña aka "the Runner" (the Chilean miner who was trapped in a mine for 69 days) can finish the NY Marathon, surely we can do this, right?? 

Liv + I just finished our first run together, and it wasn't pretty (for me, at least). I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, and then came back to discover that Peña actually finished. I mean, the man whittled his boots down to running shoes and ran through pitch black dark mining shafts - never more than 6 - 7 miles a day - and he crossed the finish line today. Furthermore, he's inspiring others to do it to:

"First, I want to run this marathon, but secondly, I'd like to motivate those people who aren't running the marathon to do so in the future. I also want to especially motivate young children and youth to run because running makes you free."

You're a total bada$$, Peña. Consider us motivated... and a wee bit convicted. Paso a paso, we hope to make you proud. This one goes out to you, amigo...

• Burning Love by Elvis Presley

More Elvis Presley music on iLike

Oh, and just in case you missed it, here is our hero stealing our hearts on Letterman last week...

¡besitos!

Meet Liv

I’m Olivia Champion – yes I know, my last name is bad a$$ – it was the reason I married an added bonus to marrying my husband. I’m a 26 year old person who sits at her desk all day and stares at the computer, i.e a CPA. I grew up in Birmingham, AL, and went to Ole Miss, and now I live in DC, and blah blah blah....we could go on - but lets cut to what you really need to know about me. Why do I want to run a marathon? I have no idea, I must be bat $hit crazy.

2nd fave activity: wine

The truth is - it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. To complete a marathon seems like such an honorable goal to have, yes? not to mention that being able to say you can, and have, run 26.2 miles makes you better than the people that haven’t. So last year (2009) I decided that I would run the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon. I even went online and downloaded this 30 week novice training schedule (fully aware that meant I didn’t have to start said training schedule until May). Then the months of fall and winter passed - complete with 3 major snowmagedons - and it was clear that I couldn’t run 3 miles outside without stopping, much less launch a training program. Exit: plan to run 2010 MCM, enter: self-pity for not adhering to honorable goal.

So what is different this time around - this time I’m 100% serious. I need purpose in my life. Not to mention the number one thing, to prove my husband wrong the fact that I have my best friend in the whole world to train with/force/endure the pain with/accomplish a goal with me. This time, it’s going to be done differently. We’ve got a plan...and a blog!

Here is another thing to know about me. [prepare for sidebar rant off subject] I have a blog obsession. I LOVE blogs. Google reader indicates that I currently have 46 blogs in my subscription list....how did that happen?! Everything from blogs about parenting (a fave of mine being rants from mommyland – those women are whucktastic), blogs on DC, blogs on sports, blogs on design, cooking, the list goes on and on and on. My friends are quite aware of my obsession and I’ve been asked before – if you love blogs so much…why don’t you have one of your own? Well I’ll tell you why – I have NOTHING to blog about. I am boring. I have no precious children to post videos and pictures of with cute stories (except my cavalier king charles spaniel Tallulah – which I’m sure I'll talk about ad nauseum); I’m not creative in any way shape or form (unlike Sal who is quite talented) – I have no artistic or musical capabilities; as much as I wish I were – I’m not a world traveler. Most people (although I can’t imagine why) do not find accounting interesting – so that takes my career out of the picture; and as much as I love to cook - and I think I’m pretty good at it – there is that creative gene I’m missing. Which makes me a strict recipe follower to. a. T. But now – I’ve got something in my life that’s worthy of this online journal that I love so much. [end off subject rant]

And this time.....WE have a plan. We’ve got books, we’ve got inspiration, we got a pre-training, training plan...and most importantly.....we’ve TOLD internet strangers people, and now we can’t back out because these people (strangers and friends alike) will think we’re lame. We’ve added a level of accountability in the mix. And it’s all coming at ya with brutal honesty - the good the bag and the ugly, the bang ups and hang ups. Also, we’re 98 and 3/4 percent sure we’re going to do it!!

lylas,