From here on out, I am no longer The Fit Bride.  It’s been fun blogging about wedding planning, but I have no desire to blog about weddings anymore (except those I happen to incidentally attend in the course of living). I’m ready to get back to normal life, full speed ahead, as a happy newlywed.

My new blog, Brie Fit, will chronicle my journey as a newlywed as I train for the Chicago Marathon with Team in Training.  I hope you’ll follow me over there (or update your Google Reader)!

See you on the flip side, dudes!

I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to race today.  I was coughing, hard, all night, to the point where my lungs were tired and I was just pathetically wheezing.  Luckily, I woke up feeling pretty okay—I think my cold is definitely on the way out and I just have to get all the gunk out of my chest once and for all.

Anyway, today we were doing a one mile Dog n’ Jog race for the Humane Society of Kansas City.  Tim and I are HUGE animal lovers and supporters of all kinds of rescue, so we were excited to support the cause.  There was also a great fair going on before and after the race.

The scene:

SO MANY DOGS!  Milhouse’s sniffer was in overdrive.

He was very well-behaved, but as a beagle, we had to sniff EVERYTHING.  It was funny watching him try to sniff a Great Dane—he was so tall Milhouse couldn’t even reach his butt to give him a good once-over!

Anyway, we walked around and gawked at all kinds of dogs, large and small and costumed and uncostumed.  At 8 o’clock, the 2 mile run started!

I’d say that probably 90% of the people running were with dogs!  It was funny to see how all the different breeds ran.  Amongst the canine winners of the two-mile race were a Catahoula, a lab mix, a golden mix, and a boxer.  There were some beautiful greyhounds racing (although they’re sprinters, not distance runners), too!

A portrait of the first-time racers:

Anyway, around 8:30, the one mile race started.  It wasn’t the most official race—no chip timing—but it was a lot of fun!   I THOUGHT Tim and I were going to run together, but once the starting horn blew, he took off and left me in the dust!  (To be fair, Tim is 8 inches taller than I am.  He should be faster.  But, hmph.)  Milhouse and I ran the whole way together—beagles are really, really fast when they want to be! 

(I think the one mile race was for smaller dogs.  We passed a few dachshunds, a chihuahua, and a Pomeranian that barked happily the ENTIRE race.)

According to my Garmin, the course was a bit short, but I still managed to pull it in around 8:26!  Not too bad.  (If it had been a full mile, I would have been around the 9 minute mark.  Still not bad, for wrestling a beagle and having a head cold.)  Tim finished just ahead of me, probably around 8:20.  I’m so proud of him!  I think he wants to start Couch to 5K to keep the momentum going. 

Milhouse promptly lapped up a whole bunch of water, and then we went home.  He was definitely tired out!

When we got home, we both took a nice, long nap.

It was a really fun morning!  I love dogs so much.

Get excited—tomorrow begins a week full of extensive wedding recaps with professional pictures!  One will go up every morning for the next week.

Do you have a dog?  What’s your favorite breed?

My cold got AWFUL yesterday.  I barely slept at all Thursday night, but I still had to go to work on Friday for various reasons.  I was congested, coughing up a storm, my nose was running, my eyes were swollen, and I was just achy and tired all over.

My boss let me leave work early, so I got home at about 2 o’clock yesterday and promptly passed out in bed.  It was incredible.

I feel bad because I’ve already broken Rule #1 of marathon training—don’t skip your long runs.  I was supposed to do 8 miles yesterday, but I could barely walk without getting dizzy.  It didn’t happen.  I’m not a skippy person (I only bailed on one run in 12 weeks of half marathon training), so I’m not too concerned—I have plenty of time.

I did manage to make a double batch of homemade pizza dough yesterday, though.

I spent the evening hanging with my boys…

…under the influence of heavy drugs.

We went to Target and the cashier was all, “Gosh, you really need this cold medicine, don’t you?”  Grr.

Thankfully, I’m feeling quite a bit better today, despite burning the skin off my knuckles taking the pizza out of the oven last night.  I managed to get out for a few errands.

I picked up one of my new favorite running tops at TJ Maxx.  They’re just called Adidas “training tops” and I really like them.  They don’t ride up, they have a nice deep v-neck, and are modest without being frumpy.  This one is a fun electric blue color.

Why a new running top, you ask? 

Tomorrow, Tim, Milhouse and I are racing!   It is Tim and Milhouse’s first race—the one mile Dog N’ Jog benefiting the Humane Society of Greater KC.  Tim has been training for this since the honeymoon and I’m really proud of him!  It’s a pretty casual race—no chips—but I’m sure it will be fun to see lots of cute dogs.  I just hope the weather holds out!  It’s been storming like crazy here lately.  We’re planning on running together and I’m excited!

What advice do you have for a first-time racer?  Ever raced with a dog before?

But it’s all okay.  Because guess what we got today?

1000+ professional pictures from our wedding.

I will do full recaps, probably starting next Monday, but here’s a taste of a few of my favorites thus far.  Just a few to wet your whistle!  They are faaaantastic.

Eeeep!  I love them.

But, alas, today, after work, I ran five miles.  It was HOT in the gym.  No fans for me today, and the AC was struggling.  I poured sweat the entire time.  All in all, 5 miles in 49:26.  Not great.  It was hard.  I was not a fan of my “hey, let’s run a marathon” decision today.

About halfway home from work, I started feeling really nauseous.  My stomach was churning and I just did not feel good at all.  But, after a quick shower, I made dinner anyway.

Dinner the first—whole grain white pasta, the fantastic local ground beef Tim got from a co-worker’s beef hookup, and some marinara sauce.

Ate two bites, thinking that getting something in my stomach would help with the nausea.

WRONG.  It instantly got worse and I couldn’t stomach any more.

I took a 15 minute hiatus from food and tried again.

Plain, bland carbs, in the form of a whole wheat Bagel Thin.

Bingo.  That did the trick—I ate one and felt much better, so I ate a second, with a little peanut butter.  Stomach?  Settled.

I don’t know what the deal is, but my stomach does not like running sometimes.  The post-run nausea thing doesn’t happen regularly enough to ascertain a pattern, which is frustrating.  I THINK it’s usually on particularly sweaty, longer runs, but I can’t be sure.   Hmmph.

What soothes your tummy when it’s upset?  Any hypotheses on how to fix me?

First official run of marathon training tonight.  3 miles in 28:15.  I could have been a little faster, but my throat’s been tickly and my neck’s been sore since Sunday from being all jumbled on a plane.

When I was running, my dad’s anthem while he was fighting leukemia (“I Believe” by Joe Satriani) came on while my iPod was shuffling over 1000 songs.  If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.  He’s got my back for this marathon thing.

I am off to rescue some melting ice cream from the freezer.

Question of the day: do you believe in signs?

(Photos: today’s eats and how to read Runner’s World during a blackout)

First things first.  I slammed 36 ounces of water and went to my ultrasound.  And my lady parts are all normal!  Hooray.  I was very worried about this for the last few weeks and it’s such a relief to know nothing is wrong.

Then I went to officially change my name!

First stop—Social Security.  I was in and out in 15 minutes.  The employees were pleasant.  All in all, a good experience!  My new card should arrive in the mail in 2 weeks or so.

Then, I went to the DMV.  Again, fairly pleasant, quick experience.  And not a bad picture, either!

Please note that my birthday is in twelve days.  I LOVE birthdays.

On my way back home, I stopped at the bank and changed the name on my accounts.  Then I drove home and called my credit card companies and changed my name THERE.  Then I tried working out my passport, but I’m going to have to get a new passport photo taken before that’s done.  And then I did my frequent flyer miles (v. important!).

I never realized how much is in a name change, but I’m very happy with my decision.  My new name sounds much nicer, and is less confusing than my old name.  Is it weird getting used to?  Well, yeah.  I feel like I’m in kind of an in-betweeny state of limbo now, because I’m not really sure what name to sign on stuff, since I’m still waiting on new debit cards and stuff.  But, that will fade.

I also decided to make a blackberry/strawberry cobbler.  Instead of running.

Yum.

(I’m still going to get my weekly mileage in for marathon (OMG) training, but I just don’t like running in my neighborhood.  It’s boring, and hilly, and I have to tons of loops.  I’ll hit the treadmill tomorrow.)

In other news, I very much liked reading everyone’s thoughts on melons.  It appears honeydew is not very well-liked.  I do very much like cantaloupe and watermelon, but honeydew just doesn’t do it for me.  Meh.

While we’re on the subject of fruit…what’s your favorite berry?

Yesterday wasn’t particularly thrilling.  More meetings.  But I did get to spend a little time on the beach afterwards…in the process of which I think I ruined my camera.  I had a water bottle in my beach bag and it leaked and water got on the screen.  I’m letting it dry out and hoping for the best.  So…say hello to iPhone pictures.  They’re actually not bad!

Have I mentioned that aside from running and blogging and following my animals around with a camera, I love to read?  I polished off three books on this trip.  I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (love this trilogy), Let the Great World Spin (I don’t know why, but I never got into this one), and Sarah’s Key (liked it).

I started this morning off with a strawberry banana Vivanno smoothie from Starbucks.  I slept a little later than usual (8:30 or so) and knew I’d have to eat lunch before my flight, which left at 12:20, so I wanted something light and refreshing.  I love these!  (The chocolate flavor is kind of ass-tasting, though.)

Anyway.  Shuttle to the airport, then bopped around the Fort Lauderdale airport looking for lunch.  I have to commend them—their healthy options are much better than those at the Kansas City airport! 

Hummus and wheat pitas, a fruit cup, and iced coffee. 

Question: does anyone REALLY like honeydew melon?  I feel like it is just kind of a generic filler for fruit cups, but it has absolutely no flavor and nobody I know LOVES honeydew.  I skipped it.  It just tastes like saliva to me and is a waste of chewing effort.

I also only ate maybe 1/4 of the hummus cup, which was massive.  It was good though!  Very peppery.  My two cravings after being away from home were hummus and peanut butter. 

I also picked up a Special K bar for the plane ride.  Gross ingredient list, but easily portable, good macros, and it was actually pretty tasty.

It kind of scares me that this was billed as a “meal bar” though.  It only had 180 calories!  That is NOT a meal.  Unless you are a toddler.  And then, well, I know fuckall about children, so, maybe even they eat more than that.  Who knows.

I arrived at KCI a few hours later to a surprise visitor!

Tim said Milhouse missed me and wanted to come.  

I think he was happy to see me.

The afternoon was spent lazily unpacking.  Poor Tim had a migraine and was in bed, but happily he’s feeling better now.  We grilled steaks, and I made a fruit salad and Alton Brown’s Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese for dinner.  (The mac and cheese was good, but WAY rich, even after halving the butter and cheese.  We also thought it was a little salty!)

In other news…this week officially marks the start of marathon training!  I have a kick off meeting with Team in Training on Saturday, and my official marathon training schedule (which will be on my new blog, which I’ll announce soon I PROMISE) starts tomorrow.

In other other news, please send good vibes in the direction of my ovaries tomorrow morning.  I have a follow-up ultrasound after my gynecologist discovered what she thinks are cysts at my annual last month.  Hopefully it’s nothing!

Tomorrow I will also begin the official name change process!  Good times.

What is your stance on honeydew and other melons?  Does anyone actually LOVE it?

Again, for the second day in a row, we had gooorgeous weather all day long…until we got out of meetings.  Then it started storming, HARD.  So, bye-bye, beach.  I have one more day to maybe dip my feet in the ocean!  Cross your fingers.

Happily, though, the rain was good for my plans to take a longer than usual run.

We don’t have a full-length mirror at home, so I used the hotel’s to take a full-length picture of me in all my running gear glory.Love my lucy shorts and BondiBand.  These are two of my favorite things lately.  Seriously.  

Pre-run snackage:

My camera ate my lunch picture, but I ate about 1/3 of a Starbucks chicken caesar salad and a Dannon Light n’ Fit yogurt.   I wasn’t that hungry, and the buffet for lunch was gross-looking greasy Chinese that turned my stomach.  (I’m sure it was good, I’m just not a big Chinese food fan, especially not before a run!)

Anyway, I wasn’t totally feeling a run, so I challenged myself to beat a goal I’ve had in my goals tab for awhile—run 10K in under an hour.  I figured giving myself a mission would make it a little more fun!

And…I did it.  6.2 miles in 59:47.  It was HARD.  The gym was humid and I sweated more than I have in a long time.  But it felt good!  The thing is…I’m not sure I feel right crossing it off my goal list because it wasn’t a timed race.

In other news, these shoes feel fantabulous without orthotics.  I can’t remember the last time I ran a 10K and didn’t wind up with blisters or some kind of lower leg pain.  Eep!

In other OTHER news, we got to see 112 of our wedding pictures today online!  The gallery is password-protected so I can’t share, but we will have the full CD with several hundred images next week and I will do an exhaustive blow-by-blow wedding recap.

What do you say?  Did I reach my goal or not?

I did manage to sneak outside for a little while at lunch to enjoy the Florida sunshine!  The view from this hotel is absolutely incredible.  I found some nice lounge furniture and kicked up my heels and read for awhile.

All in all, I have been fairly happy with the conference food.  The options have been reasonably healthy!  Of course, I’ve forgotten to photograph them.  So, imagine the following:

Breakfast:  Coffee.  Pineapple, canteloupe, strawberries, blackberries.  Banana nut mini-muffin.  Scrambled eggs.

Lunch: Minestrone soup.  Salad with spinach, grapefruit sections, blueberries, and a vinaigrette dressing.  About a quarter of some kind of flank steak wrap.  Tiny square of cookies n’ cream cheesecake.  (SO GOOD.)

Snacktime was provided.  I resisted, even though it looked pretty good.

I wasn’t REALLY hungry.  I had my third cup of coffee for the day instead.  (Yes, I’m in caffeine overload.  I’ve also been drinking a ton of water—when I’m bored, I drink!)

Of course, by the time we were free for the afternoon and evening, torrential rain and thunderstorms had started.  My plans to relax on the beach were foiled. 

Boo.  Hiss.

The planned dinner event was a four hour dinner and booze cruise.  I skipped it.  The thought of spending four hours on a boat on the stormy ocean didn’t sound appealing.  I totally would have gone if the weather had been nice and I could sit outside with a glass of wine and see the sights, but…staying inside in the pouring rain didn’t sound fun.

Instead I decided tonight called for some greasy pizza and trashy TV!  A total “me” night.  Completely unhealthy…but a little pizza once in awhile is fine by me.

I am taking the day off running—I’ve run Sunday-Wednesday this week, and I have tomorrow afternoon off, so I’m planning on resting today and doing a “long” run tomorrow.  (Not THAT long yet—I’m hoping for 6 miles or so.)

In other news…we got the exciting news today that we’re going to be Aunt Brie and Uncle Tim to a BOY in October!  I’ve already been scouring Etsy for cute boy stuff.  I can’t wait!

What’s your favorite kind of pizza?