woo-hoo!!!!!

I just finished an awesome 11 mile bike ride on my new beautiful bike. It was a very hilly course around my house. I had sooooo much fun! It is so fun exploring new territories, that is hard to do running sometimes. You don't want to go to far off course when you have another six miles to get home, you know? But on a bike, who cares about a few more miles!! I was only cold on the downhills. I was psyched to be out riding on New Year's Eve in Connecticut!! It is a balmy 39' but no wind. I was actually hot on the uphills and there were many! I had two pairs of pants and three shirts and gloves and a headband under my helmet.

When I got home I was so psyched I ran three miles! I am an ironwoman in the makking, HEAR ME ROAR!!!

Happy New Year!

ps photos and a name for my new best friend the bike to follow!

Oh I must have been a good girl!

Yah for me, my husband bought me a racing bike for Christmas! I will post a photo when I actually pick the bike up on Thursday. I was running yesterday and started to panic because now my name really should be run, bike and swim for chocolate, actually I should probably throw in something about yoga for chocolate as well!!! BUT I resolved my angst by telling myself that running is my favorite activity, although as I sit here writing, I don't know if that is entirely true anymore. I freakin' LOVE swimming in the ocean, because I really should be a mermaid, I love the ocean so much. Hmmmm, I may have to think about this a little longer, a new name may be in order.

One thing I do need to change over to is a tri-training log rather than a running log. I don't log as many miles running now, since I am swimming more. And now I am going to be biking too, so I want my exercise log to be reflective of the activity I am doing. Do they even sell tri-training logs, I am sure they must, I will have to check that out after this entry.

Oh well can't wait, see you later!

My Possibilities Are Endless

Yesterday my family had our xmas celebration with my dad's side of the family. It was a lot of fun. We had good food, a fun walk to a beaver pond, and yes lots of chocolate (yum)!!!! We pick names out of a hat to buy presents and my cousin and I had eachother. She gave me the greatest present. It was a silver bracelet with the inscription of "My possibilities" on the outside and "are endless" on the inside. It was so perfect for me since we had just talked about training for triatholons. I would like to tackle a long tri, but I am starting out with a sprint first to test the waters! I also am trying to get speedier in the marathon in order help complete the longer tris a little faster.

I love that saying My Possibilities Are Endless , I am wearing the bracelet everyday :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you

I often thank my hard-working body after a good hard run or race. I am amazed at what I can do. Sometimes I feel like wonder woman, I can even hear that music! Today I am even more thankful. I attended a friend's funeral today. He was only 38 years old and had battled drug addiction most of his adult life and finally the drugs won. I am soooooo grateful I have never had struggles with substances, it looks awfully painful.

Thank your hardworking body every day!

Running Wild

I had an incredibly busy weekend. I had two Athena's parties, one was in Boston, which is two hours a way and the next night was only in Manchester, CT, about a half/hour away. They were fun, but pretty low in sales. But now it is Sunday and I am exhausted and have to still clean my car out, because it is DISGUSTING!!!!

Oh yeah I have to plan for the week of preschool as well. The kids behave at this time of year though, hoping for the last minute good impression on Santa!!

I missed my group run Sat. am, and was really bummed. BUT our club has the CAN RUN on Tues night. We all meet at our local soup kitchen and bring donations and then we run together checking out the Christmas lights displays and then we have our annual planning meeting. I won't be able to attend the meeting portion, because #2 has a school concert.

We have a busy week:
Monday: cub scouts
Tuesday: can run and concert
Wednesday: basketball practice
Thursday: Scouts holiday party
Friday: Church stuff

Holy crap, when will I be able to run!? Luckily none of those things take place at 5:30 am when I go running.

ahhhhhhh jury duty

uuuuugggggghhhhhhh, I have to go to jury duty tomorrow. I am nervous, I have never had to go before. I don't know what to expect. I doubt they pick me because I have very little faith in our law enforcement officers at the state level, they are prejudice and unfair. I'll report what happened tomorrow. I don't even have a good book going right now to be psyched up to read all day. I hate sitting on my butt all day too. Maybe I will dress really inappropriately so they send me home right away, I know I will wear my stinky running clothes, that will do it!!!

Been Sooooooo Busy

I have been so busy, I may decide not to use punctuation for this entry! I ran in a Thanksgiving race with my sisiter, father and future brother-in-law. It was POURING!!! I was fine until I stpopped running, then I was freezing. I had a good time and a good running time too!

Running a Santa's Run this Sunday, let you know how that goes. Hosting a runner's breakfast Sat. am also. Selling sex toys on Friday night. I don't know how I am going to get it all done. Oh yeah my three boys have basketball games on Sat. and our local high school is in the state finals on Sat. and I HAVE to go. I love watching kids play sports, it is the way it is supposed to be, with all those mistakes and then every so often a great play.

See you!

I am a braggart

Yes I am about to brag this whole flipping entry! Last week, I only had a short time to run due to hungry kids and husband that I told I would pick up bagels after I ran, so I had to drive to my running route, run, get bagels and get home all in a hour. I decided to run a local trail at a local park. It is supposed to be 2.4 miles, but I am not sure it is that long. So I ran it last week with the pressure of having to get back for my family. I timed in at 20:34, I felt pretty good running that with no warm up and it was really hot and muggy (well, for November in New England, 60s is really hot). Wellllll, today I decided I would try the same route and see if I could improve. I had time to run a warm up 1.5 miles and timed in at 19:26 with ease. It was a normal 40s with a little wind. I felt great and was super-pumped!!

Bragging point number two, my oldest son is in eighth grade at our local middle school. There are about 1200 students in the school and he was picked to represent our region at a Superintendent's Award ceremony. So last week, our family had two nights of award banquets. I was so proud of him. He looked so grown up on that stage. I am especially proud of him that he has been so successful in school since he lost his dad at such a young age. He has overcome so many obstacles in his young life.

Well, we have a lot to be thankful this year in my family. I have new baby cousin, Isabella. I am feeling especially kick-ass as a runner lately, I hope that lasts!! And my kids are in a good cycle too! WOOHOO!

It's dark in the morning again :(

Well for about two weeks, I had a smidgen of daylight at 5:30am, but no longer. I just can not get up easily when it is dark outside. And besides, I run alone and it gets a little creepy out there. But I have prevailed and have run for three days this week anyway and felt real good while running as well. I missed my swim day though, too lazy.

Run strong (I am stealing from Wes)

I get by with a little help from my friends!

At about 2:30am, I started in with my own version of the dreaded stomach flu and it SUCKED!! But what sucked even worse was

1. Sat am is the only time I have friends to run with and I was too busy running back and forth from my bed to the toilet.

2. My husband had committed to working a side job this weekend and that meant I had to deal with my three lovely, high energy boys. Let's just say they conveniently forgot how they were only able to lay on the couch and moan when it was their turn to have this bug.

Sooooo, I braved it, took a shower and brought them to their basketball clinic. At the end of the clinic, the BEST BASKETBALL COACH IN THE WORLD told me they could go over his house until BEDTIME!!!!!!!! I would have kissed that man right on the lips if I wasn't afraid I might throw up in his mouth! So now after lounging around undisturbed ALL DAY, I feel better enough to blog. A HUGE thank you to best coach and friend, I know you are reading this!!

Hopefully the feel-better trend will continue and I'll be able to blog about running tomorrow!

Ouch, those darn leaves!

Yesterday while running I missed a lip in the sidewalk and fell flat on my face. Luckily I was entering a footbridge and I don't think I was seen!! It is so funny what goes through your mind right before you fall. You have about one second to know that you are going down and there ain't nothing you are going to do about it. The words "oh shit" are all that come to mind. My legs were pretty sore after I fell, but I was more worried about my mp3 player. It got a little banged up, but it still works fine. My shirt ripped on my elbow too, but I can live with that too, I guess.

No running today, too rainy and my little son was home throwing up all day. YUCK! I'll be out there tomorrow though very carefully looking for little lips in the sidewalk under the leaves!

On the mend

I was lucky enough to run yesterday and today, each time feeling better. It would be more accurate to say that I jogged, because I can't really run due to decreased lung capacity! It felt great to be out there though, but it is getting cold up here- today was about 30', but it was crisp and clear and refreshing and the coffee tasted that much better when I finished!

On Friday, my coworkers and I trekked up to Amherst, MA for a training at the Eric Carle Museum for Picture Book Art. It was a blast! We talked about how to expand children's vocabulary with the use of studying art pieces and then we created some of own art pieces. It was totally fun. Then we went out to eat in Northampton, MA - a funky college town with awesome places to eat. I went to a fun mexican restaurant and I ate a gigantic spinach and chicken quesadilla! YUM!!

Woe is ME

I have had the worst asthma-y cold thing in my lungs this whole darn week. I have not run in five days, I think I am going to have a nervous breakdown. Today I turned the corner and I think I will run tomorrow morning. I am a little nervous though because just bringing the garbage down the driveway set me off on a coughing fit. But I just can not stay in bed another morning, especially since I am inhaling my children's halloween candy by the bag ful!! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

The above photos are from last week's awesome

race. It was a beautiful autumn day and we all had a blast.

This week when I went swimming, I got the same feeling you get when you are a little kid and you can't wait to jump in. I was thrilled to see that water. It is so funny because it isn't even a nice pool, it is old and junky actually! But it had clean water and that's all that matters.

Running has been awesome this week too. I ran twice at a very strong pace. That is my new goal, to run with intention. I plan on only running four days per week, with yoga and swimming taking the other two and one day of rest. So far my plan has worked, we'll see!

Mystic Ten Miler Race Report

Well, what a beautiful day for a race! Sunny, 50s, with a light breeze. It was easy to know what to wear - shorts and a t-shirt - although half way through the race, I wished for a tanktop. I hosted a birthday party for my brother in law last night, so I was tired, but I did get enough sleep. My sister and youngest son left at 8:30, stopped for coffee and bagels and arrived in Rocky Neck state park by 9:30. The race started at 10:00 and I had plenty of time to change and have a short warm up.

The race started without a hitch but somewhere there was a break in the plan with the ten miler route and we got all screwed up. I met up with a wonderful friend running her first marathon at about mile 2 and we ran together for about four more miles until she had to buckle down and get to business. I felt good those first six miles, but around mile seven even going downhill was an effort. The mile markers were very screwed up at that point and I could not tell how I was doing with my pacing. I arrived at mile 8 with 1:06 on my watch, but I know I was running faster than that. Then at mile 9, my watch was two minutes faster than the race clock, I don't know what happened. Then I finished in 1:26, a minute slower than last year. I just feel like I was running faster than that finishing time, but I'll never know what really happened, but that is how the cookie crumbles.

After the race, I was joined with my entourage and we gobbled down chowder and chips and crispy creme donuts, YUM! Then we walked on the beach while we waited for our friend to come in from the marathon. And boy did she ever come in!!! She finished in 3:34 and looked great! I was so proud to even know her! Did I mention that she is only 18 years old and this was her first marathon!?!

Another great running day!!

Queen of the Slow Run

Ran two very slow paced runs this weekend. I just could not move my ass. I am fighting a head cold that actually I think it won. I ran just to get the gunk out of my lungs. It was also the first below 30' mornings we've had since last year and it was COLD!

I did a very stupid thing, I bought a bag of Halloween candy already. It almost gone. I guess I better run out and buy another one before they are all gone :)

Gearing up for my next race. A ten miler in Mystic, CT. It is such a fun race, it is part of the Mystic Places Marathon and it starts and finishes on a beach, which all of you know is my favorite place in the whole world to be.

I am totally is awe of the Running Chick, qualifying for Boston in the Hartford Marathon yesterday. She is my inspiration! Read about it at runningchick.blogspot.com, you will love it!

I hate McMansions

I just have to rant a little today. I enjoyed a beautiful eight miler today in the quaint New England farm town of Lebanon, Ct today. But there must be a Rotweiler breeder in town raking in the big dough, because I saw about three of them on my run. But I have to admit they really didn't even care about me, it's like they were saying, "Yeah, I could eat her for a snack ,but that would be so lame." I do like dogs, but not when I am running.

My other rant is to the pompous ass that decided to build his gigantic McMansion right in the middle of a breathtaking vista. Sure he has a beautiful veiw now, but the REST of us have to look at his ugly house. What is happening in this country that everything has to be bigger? Bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger sunglasses, what is the big idea?

Trailblazing

Today I ran with two of my favorite running pals and we just ran where the trails took us. It was a lot of fun, we decided to explore a trail that they are blazing for a local trust that is in our area and let's just say there really isn't a trail there yet. It was beautiful though and quite a slow pace!! I love spur of the moment urges that work out! You can't do that when you are marathon training!!

ughhhhhhhhh

I am totally freaking out about the Amish School shooting. I just can not fathom what happens to a person that would make him commit such a crime. I do not understand how a parent deals with such a loss either. My son is reading a book entitled GoneBoy written by a dad who lost his son to a college crime spree. Maybe I should read it.

Marathon Envy

There are so many people in my life training for marathons right now. I feel sort of like I am in a funk about not running a marathon this Fall. Usually I am sooooo happy I am not running one, but I think I got bit by the bug running Boston this year. The Boston Marathon is such an awesome experience, it is beyond words. I am now considering really marathon training, you know actually follow a plan and bite the bullet and speed train so I can actual qualify to run Boston and not depend on getting my number from nice relatives that live in Boston. Oh well, we'll see, I'll be watching all the bloggers and my friends and live vicariously through them this year!

Mr Universe

Today the most adorable four year old told me that his father has the biggest muscles in the whole universe. I hope his dad wears a tank top to Open House :)

It's all in the hands

This is a deep entry, so if you are not in the mood, visit me later. I am sure I'll be back to my happy go-lucky self before I know it.

So here goes. Due to time constraints, I ran by myself on Saturday rather than hooking up with the willi athletic club members. Sometimes I prefer running long distances by myself, I guess I really am an introvert down deep inside. But another reason I enjoy running by myself for a couple of hours is I get to really process or deal with some of my life's issues or demons. And usually these demons are unknown to me until they just sorta come up while I am cruising along on my run. This happened on Sat. am and luckily it was raining so it was unclear to passersby that I was crying.

Here's the story: As some of might remember I have suffered some great losses in my young life. My first love, Jeff, died of brain cancer when he was 32. That was six years ago now. We were still close friends at the time of his death even though we hadn't been together for ten years and both were married to other people. Jeff was an outdoor educator and was very physically active and strong. I mean strong. His hands showed his hard work. They were strong, beat-up, sexy, working-person hands. As a matter of fact, when we were in high school, he suffered an accident while working at a wood mill and almost lost two fingers on his left hand, but luckily they were saved but they were forever swollen and scar-ridden after that.

When he was diagnosed with cancer, he was unable to continue to work. I knew he was sick, but it wasn't until one day while I was bringing him to a doctor's appointment that I really understood how sick he was. Denial is such a strong defense mechanism to keep us safe from the harsh reality of truth. He had been battling cancer for about a year at the time of this appointment and he was sitting next to me in the car. As were we driving along, I stole a look at his hands and I can still remember how stunned I was when I saw his hands. Jeff's hands had completely transformed. They were still big, but they were clean and white and his nails were like regular not all beat up. I remember thinking that even his hands had lost weight. I'll never forget that feeling of doom set over me when I let myself realize how sick he was.

While I was running on Saturday, I was able to remember this lesson and have a little prayer for Jeff and all the people he touched. It is amazing what thoughts creep out while your body is so tired. So while I finished my ten miler in the rain, I let out a good cry missing one of my best friends.

Yeah, it's HUMP day!

Yes today is Wednesday ;) I woke up, ran three effortless, pain-free miles, lifted weights, and now I am eating whole grain waffles with blueberries while I update my beloved blog! I was feeling discouraged after Sat. group run because I had such a hard time staying with the group. I think when we run on trails I don't know how far back I am and then of course I don't really care, but when I could see how far back I was on the road, it kinda sucked. My partner that is usually back there with me is away for two weeks, so I have to brave another week without him. Running chick says she will circle back and get me, so that will definitely help! Thanks, Dianna, you know you've reached a certain runner's status when you are the one that circles back for people, you really rock, super speedy running chick!!

BUT since Saturday, my runs have felt AWESOME. I love it that when that happens. It's just like everything is well rested, well oiled and ready to run. I hope the feeling continues for a while.

Today is also a happy day for me, because I am getting my haircut. I LOVE getting my haircut. Well actually I love any activity that is about nurturing myself. That is one good reason to have some disposable income, massages, facials, pedicures, shopping - they are all good! I may have to cut back on some though, so I can get a road bike for my triathlon. I keep telling my husband, no jewelry for xmas, I want a bike. But I don't think he will be able to control himself, he has thing about having to get me jewelry. I don't know, I guess I could have bigger problems!!

Happy Surprises

Today was our club's group run. We started at the ungodly hour of 5:15, heading off planning a variety of distances depending on what marathon you were doing or not doing in my case. We ran a new route for me and I had no idea what the roads were like to run on and just chugged it out the best I could, which was not very fast, but good enough. I thought I was doing about seven or eight miles and then my watch read 7:15 and I was like whoa, I know I am going slower than all those other people running way ahead of me, but eight miles in two hours is a little extreme. But I was happily surprised when I measured it on mapmyrun.com and it read 11.65 miles, WHOOPIE FOR ME! It was like ordering a small sundae and the waiter bringing you a large one! I was psyched.

Happy International Chocolate Day

Today one of the nicest moms in my class packed a bag of Dove Chocolate Truffles for us to celebrate International Chocolate Day and she doesn't even know about my chocolate love affair! In the interest of my new good health regime, I only ate one and plan on sharing them and making the bag last longer than ten minutes. I have been eating very reasonably, but I just HAD to celebrate Int'l Chocolate Day with my kids at home, so we went out for ice cream after I got home from yoga. I only got a small cone. Well I did eat the leftover m&ms from my little son's sundae, I am sorry but those little candies were just calling my name!

Tomorrow I plan on running about two miles and then swimming a 1/2 mile at the school pool. Can't wait!

A New Blog Name?

I have been feeling like a fraud lately. My new blog name should be "Wants to run so she can eat chocolate, but she can't because her ass is getting too big even though she runs five days/week" I think that would be too long probably. I have started eating more reasonably lately, this always happens when school starts and I don't have the time to just eat whatever I want whenever I want. I stopped taking chocolate breaks everyday at work a couple of years ago, because the sugar dives would make me too tired to run around after all those wild preschoolers. So even though I wish the running and swimming I am doing would allow me to eat whatever amount of chocolate I want, I sadly no longer can. I eat small amounts of chocolate during the week and that works out for me, because I can't cut it out of my life completely. That would be like going blind or something!

Coed softball starts today, but I feel like an afterthought because the woman that runs the team just called me this morning to tell me the game time. I am not going to go today because the start is 10:15 and I have to run and go food shopping. Also when I never heard from last year's coach, I asked another friend if I could play on her team, yikes, what do I do now? On both teams I would be the suckiest player, but at least on the team from last year, they know what their getting and I think the sort of want me to play?! Running is so much less complicated! Just go out there and run, the only person you fail is yourself when you strike out or are afraid to slide or afraid of the 200lb guy sliding into home that your team expects you to try to tag!

Swimming - a new love

I have officially begun my quest to become a triathlete. I got the running thing down, I think. I am not that fast, but fast enough for me. The public preschool program I work for is housed in our town's old high school and low and behold there is a pool right at my school. I have started swimming at 5:30am on Thursday mornings, the janitor lets me in and makes sure I am not drowning. My oldest son also plans on joining me as well as another friend. My only problem is that I am not the best swimmer. I am struggling with the whole breathing routine, but I am excited about getting better. I absolutely LOVE the water and am glad I have the guts to pursue this goal.

My school year has begun and I am going to be running my big ass off this year. I have two little ones with some pretty significant delays and they eat everything from playdough to tape and if you piss them off you should expect them to try to eat you! My plan is to wear long sleeve shirts to rest of the school year, pray for an early Fall!

New Haven Road Race 2006

New Haven Road Race rocks! It was a beautiful early Fall day with about mid-70s breezy weather conditions. My kids, sister and I left the house at 6:00am to arrive in New Haven at 7:30. We arrived with plenty of time to pick up my t-shirt, number, chip and still run it to the car and get back to go to the bathroom twice. After the potty breaks, I sent my sister and kids off to play on the inflatiable bouncy things while I met up with some of my favorite bloggers. I got to see what Chocolate Jon looks like and had nice conversations with Jank, Michelle, Dianna, April Anne and David. (Check out www.runningchick.blogspot .com for the links Sorry!) It was very cool to meet my cyber running enthusiasts and recommend RBF meet ups for any of you fellow bloggers.

The race itself was very satisfying, as I said I love running the New Haven Road Race. There is wonderful support, about 12 great bands, and a cool city route. It is always fun to meet new people on the course as well. Around mile eight, I passed a band playing Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and got to talking to some men about the era that Hendrix played. They were pretty amused when I told them I was born in that era and had a hippies for parents. They wondered how effective hippies were as parents. Not so much, I told them.

Then at around mile nine, you run through a barrio, a Puerto Rican neighborhood. The smells and yells were awesome and I needed them because I was starting to poop out at that point. Mile ten was a hill, but the rest of the race was downhill or flat and that was a good thing. During mile twelve, I was passed by Jank and April Anne. They were very sweet while they passed my dragging ass and Jank even took a picture!!

After the race, I was unable to meet up with my blogging family, because I was watching my human family jump in those jumpy things. I have to admit the jumpy things were awesome. I even went on one of the slides, but it was a bad idea because I got an atomic wedgie from the darn thing.

My time was much better than my times in 2001 or 2002, but I was still the last person in our running group to come in. My running group is getting pretty darn fast I tell ya. I am feeling like I better do some speedwork to be able to fit in!

Follower or Leader??

Have you ever wondered if you are a follower or a leader. I went on a trail run with my buddies yesterday morning and I had no freakin' idea where the hell I was and I could care less. I loved just going with the flow trusting that our leader knew where he was going. I have no problem in a leadership role either though. Once a month I am the host of the run and I really get excited thinking about where I am going to take me friends. I think for me the role as follower is comfortable for me only when the leader is someone I can trust. And in that trusting situation, I really love not having to worry or caretake. It is so relaxing to just let someone else do the work!

Ready for New Haven, now the big decision of what to wear. Almost as anxiety producing as a first date! Luckily I don't have as many clothes to choose from!

One Two Punch and I am OUT!

PUNCH ONE This week on our way to dinner at Friendly's Restaurant, a family dining place that specializes in ice cream, I stupidly asked my boys if my butt was the same size as this runner we saw. My oldest son said something like this, "Mom, that ass is big and beautiful, yours is big and droopy". OUCH! I know I was extremely dumb and a little inappropriate even asking my kids to compare my body with another woman (she looked like about college age, I could be her mother for pete's sake), but still the truth hurts. Your kids are always guaranteed to tell you the truth, maybe that's why I asked them. Believe me I won't be asking anytime soon. I settled for an ice cream cone of hunka chunka peanut butter fudge instead the regular hot fudge sundae. sigh

PUNCH TWO Same night My husband "plays" horseshoes in a league on Wed. nights, hence why I took the kids out because he is not around to complain that we spend too much money on eating out :0 Anyway, he comes tiptoeing quietly in around ten o'clock, I am already fast asleep but not too deeply because he kisses me goodnight and I wake up. Well my husband is a talker and when he doesn't see me enough, he goes through talker withdrawal. So he begins his diarrhea of the mouth and is just going on and on, but about nice stuff and how happy he is to be married to me and blahblah. Usually that means one of his horseshoe buddies was bitching about their wives and suddenly I am looking good until it's his week to bitch about me!! But somehow we get talking about this woman that his brother is dating. This woman has the same "curvy" shape that I have, but is about seven inches shorter so her curves look a little curvier. His brother was telling Eric that he just doesn't want to "settle" for someone that's not HOT. Ouch again. I could go on about how my brother-in-law should not be so pickey because he is short, skinny and has more hair on his back than his head, but that would be mean of me, right ;) !!!

Gearing Up for NEW HAVEN!!

I am getting psyched for the New Haven 20K Road Race. It is so funny how if this was a half-marathon, I would be totally stressing out about the distance, but because it is a whole .7 of a mile shorter, I feel like it is cake!

I love the New Haven 20K, it trails through the city of New Haven and through all these cool inner city neighborhoods and there are these little kids asking if you want to be sprayed by their hoses and you totally make their day when you say yes.

One year I ran the race, it was pouring rain and I missed the kids. One funny thing I remember about that year was that it was POURING and my girlfriends clothes started foaming!! Too much clothes detergent :)) It was hysterical and very wet! That same year, I took the free beer, because it was just one of those days and I don't regularly drink beer, but that beer tasted sooooo good. I tried drinking the type of beer at dinner once, but did not get the same taste. I guess you have to run a 20K first to appreciate the taste!

xtreme scramble #2

Last night was a beautiful breezy 70' night in Hartford, CT. We ran the second scramble race and I decided I only want to run these wacky races from now on. It was so much more fun than just pounding out a road race 5K. I think I am coming into a new era of my fitness. I have been swimming a lot this summer and I plan on training for a triatholon next summer. I just have to get a bike :0!!! I have the Running Chick working on that for me. She is the best as we all know!http://runningchick.blogspot.com ( i still don't know how to create a hyperlink, sorry).

Maybe Faster Is Better!

Today I ran four miles at a faster pace due to time limits and nothing hurt. I think my form is harmful when I shuffle because I am too tired to get after it and beat feet, as my dad says!

I also swam both Monday and Tuesday at Narragansett Town Beach in Rhode Island, it was absolute HEAVEN! Every summer I go through the same withdrawal, panicking about not swimming in the ocean for a whole year. I am skeeming right now thinking of how I can get one more day in before school starts!

How much is too much?

I have been running very responsibly this summer, only about three-four mile runs for about 4 days/week with a longer run one weekend day. Usually only logging in about 20ish miles per week. BUT my hip is still moaning a little and my knee on my other leg is causing me a little discomfort while running as well. I just don't feel like I am running enough to warrant any pain.

An interesting note is that I ran with two buddies this am and we ran a faster pace for about seven miles and I felt fine. Do you think I am just lonely during the week and all the little pains come to my attention?

Uphill Battles

Have you ever had a run that seemed uphill the whole darn run? I had one of those today. I was running in one of the most quaint, beautiful New England town centers enjoying the scenery and lovely homes with their gardens and I started to feel like, "what the hell, when do I just get to flat land?" It was one of those loops that was square and the first three roads were uphill and the fourth was a straight downhill. The last downhill kinda sucked, my legs were used to the uphill climbs and going downhill made them wobbly and my knee hurt a little. It was still pretty and awesome temp., so I am on to the rest of my day!

Today is my little brother's birthday, so I HAVE to take him out for ice cream, I just have to!!! And tonight I am hosting a Lia Sophia jewelry party, jewelry is a close second to chocolate when it comes to my obsessions! And it is so great because now I have the money to buy some! WOOHOO!

Back to Reality

I just spent a week at Cape Cod, MA. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the BEACH!!!!. Have I expressed my love and gratitude about this miracle. I love the sand, the salt water, the rocks, the waves, the lifeguards ;), the food while I eating at the beach, everything! I always leave the beach saying that I going to live closer to the ocean. Right now I am only about forty minutes away from the sound (no waves) and about a hour away from the ocean shore (big waves). I want to be like 15 minutes away from big waves water. I am a big wave chick, I live for bodysurfing and love the thrill of the waves. On our last day at the cape, we had gigantic waves and got my ass handed to me. But even that I love, I love seeing how powerful the earth is and how insignificant we as individuals really are. It makes me really grateful to be alive!

I ran my little heart out while at the cape as well. It always fun to run in a new place. I love running through little neighborhoods, checking out the property for sale.

My son recovered from his pneumonia just in time to have an awesome vacation. He was just sick for about the first day, but like me, he lives for the waves and willed himself to recover! Thanks for the well wishes and advice!

Head for the trails!

Today when I woke up at 6am to run it was a steamy 80' with 115%humidity. HOLY CRAP it was hot!!! I ran about a mile to the middle school track, did a lousy mile of intervals on the track then headed off the black track for the black road. When I didn't think I could stand it anymore, I found a trail behind the local university. IT WAS DIVINE.....I swear it was ten degrees cooler in the woods and I don't know if maybe I am not sweet enough, but no bugs bothered me in there either. I love trails for the cushioning on my joints, but now with the temp. factor, I will be heading for the trails more often.

My summer fun has come to a screeching halt since son #1 has walking pnemonia. It is scary and I hate that he is so sick, but I am a little bummed out that our regular summer adventures are on hold until he recovers. From what I know it could be awhile for that to happen. Anyone know when I can expect him to feel better?

I need a BREAK!

I am adjusting to my summer career as home party salesperson. I had toy parties on Friday and Saturday and an Arbonne party on Sunday. I am so whipped. I am not used to working on the weekends, the whole fu$%ing weekend. Yuck!

On Friday, I had a small toy party with a nice bunch of women. EXCEPT there was this lesbian there that was so thoroughly threatened by the mini-tongue that it was annoying. I guess that is how men feel when we come home with larger than life, um, tools of the trade! But let me tell you after three kids, I need a little help in the size department! Okay that was probably an over-share! Yeah, just maybe.

Oh also on Friday night's party, the topic of having sex with more than one partner at a time came up. Wouldn't you know the lesbian had had a threesome with two MEN, for pete's sake. Out of the seven of us there, four people had the opportunity of a multiple partner encounter. Not me, of course. I am too afraid about catching some awful disease. Almost every girlfriend I have has herpes and I am not going to catch any herpes from toys, so I think I'll just stick with those, thank you very much.

Another bitch of a thing when it comes to this new weekend business empire is it cuts into my running. I arrived home around 10:45pm on Friday, but I am so worked up from talking about sex all night that well let's just say that Mr. Chocolate had a little fun. Late night that night, couldn't get up to run with the Sat. am group, very sad. The party on Sat. did not get out until 1:00am, yikes! Mr. Chocolate was mad, no fun that night. Way to tired to run Sunday morning. Tomorrow is another day, I'm going to wake up early and enjoy a nice peaceful run while listening to the new Dixie Chicks cd. Yah for me!

Trails, Stairs, Interstates, and Hamburgers!

Here we are at the Xterra Challenge in Hartford, CT. It was a very fun race, you had to be flexible in your running anal retentive mindsets. The distance was fuzzy, always a guess. The course was full of obstacles, like LOTS of stairs and steep rocky inclines. There were no puddles though much to our disappointment, we like to get wet! Out of the five of us that ran, three took home some metal or actually the prizes for this race were bowls of candy! Good thing I didn't win, because I am trying to only eat one junky thing a week to help keep my ass from blowing up like a beach ball!

Xterra Race Night

My family and running friends are heading to Hartford tonight for the xterra trail race series. I am psyched, except that my oldest son is sick and won't be racing :( I am charging up my camera batteries so I can blog some race photos tommorrow.

I just finished James Frey's books - you know the guy that conned Oprah. I LOVED his books, they were well written and creative and I think Oprah made a big deal out of nothing. Tell me what you think if you read them.

Another One Bites The Dust

Well, I guess you could say I am a rodent lover. I have always enjoyed keeping rodents as pets. I guess it is linked to the preschool teacher gene. I have had dwarf hamsters, teddy bear hamsters, gerbils, and I even raised guinea pigs. That was really fun, we had at least three litters and those little guinea pig babies are sooooo cute, they come out all hairy and ready for the world, not like their mice cousins who come out all bald and tentative.

My latest rodents that I was keeping were called degus ( or as my partner teacher affectionately calls them - italian rats). They looked like a cross between a rat and gerbil. They had to come in pairs, because otherwise they get lonely.

Well I have a problem, because now there is only one left.

I know there were two degus in the cage on Thursday morning when I fed them. Both Fred and Barney were happy to get those yummy carrots and both looked healthy as well. Well when I checked them again on Saturday, only Barney was in the cage and he was whimpering. (really he was, they make these like whistling sounds). I called my youngest son out to help me figure out where Fred went and we were faced with a mystery. Fred's body was nowhere to be seen. Upon further investigation, we found unmistable signs of foul play, (ie fur and teeth-yikes!) We still don't know what happened to little Fred, but the possibilities are many. It was a sad day in the preschool-teacher-rodent-loving world.

That's some high quality H2O

Today while running on some gnarly trails, I was soooooo dehydrated. I really needed the waterboy to help me! I have had this feeling before while running but usually it is while I am running on the streets and I am from a small town and know about half the town and have ventured onto friends' property to suck down as much water from their hose as I can! I have even been dehydrated in the winter on long runs. Last winter I sucked right from the spicket of my son's friend home and he thought it was hilarious when I told him the story when I got home.

Today was a different story, no house with a hose nearby, just a huge body of water that I couldn't drink! I started the run feeling tired, but happy to be with friends. By about mile three, I could feel an even stronger fatigue. By about mile five, my clothes were soaked and my mouth was completely dry. We have a tradition that we have to spit from a bridge when we pass by it and I could only summon a few drops! Finally at mile seven, we stopped running in the woods and passed through our friend's house with a cold, lovely, clear, high quality H20. It was almost as good as....chocolate!

It was amazing how my body felt after being rehydrated. Energy back, muscles primed and ready for the last mile, I was able to finish with my head held high! But I felt the effects of dehydration all day though. My muscles were very tired as was my spirit. I took a nice nap this afternoon and treated myself to a hunka chunka peanutbutter fudge ice cream cone BEFORE dinner. And guess what this little piggy-runner had for dinner??? Boiled lobster drenched in butter, corn on the cob, baked potato, steamers, and a little tiny salad. I might even have dessert after I am done blogging! LIFE IS GOOD!

Car-less and bored

This week my two older sons' visited their grandma in NC, beaching and surfing all day. This was particularly frustrating because my littlest son and I were without a car and stranded at home for four out of the five days this week. Just like when you lose electricity, being car-less is very debilitating. You just mope around not being able to do anything worthwhile. It is so weird. You would think I would get so much stuff done around my house, but no all I do is call all my friends I can't go see.

Tomorrow we have our group run always a highlight of running week. I am reading "My Friend, Leonard" by James Frey, in which he hardly uses commas, so if I forget to punctuate appropriately, please forgive me. Tonight I have an Athena's party, hopefully I make some good money. Tell you all about it tomorrow!

Here we are at the Lyman Viaducts in East Hampton, CT. It doesn't look very high in the photo, but let me tell you, I was shaking in my tevas when I jumped! I only jumped off once because well two reasons really. Reason number one, I almost peed my bathing suit the first time and I didn't want to risk it jumping another time. Reason number two, it hurt my ears. My boys told me I made a big splash, I am not sure to be happy or sad about that. They thought it was cool, of course.

I am out of my running slump. I have enjoyed running everyday since the last race when I kicked some booty! This weekend was my turn to host the club's run and I planned it to end at a swimming hole. We had nine people runnning together for about 8 miles and then five of us went for a dip. I LOVE swimming after running. I am not a good swimmer so even though it would appear that a duatholon should be in my future, it's not. The arm moving and breathing thing just baffles me. I can stay afloat and grind out swimming to little islands in the lake or reservior, but to like swim in a competetion would just be embarrassing.

Anyway after the swim, we all loaded up in my minivan, sometimes called the shaggin wagon on weekends;), and headed to Dunkin Donuts. My sweet runnning girlfriends surprised me with double chocolate cupcakes for my 38th birthday!! We ate chocolate cupcakes at 8:30 in the morning in Dunkin Donuts parking lot! We all know I can eat chocolate and a lot of it, but I usually don't start quite that early! It was totally great though!

It's A Family Affair

I had the greatest time on Friday night. I know what you are thinking, no not that kinda fun, the wholesome kind of fun! My family and I caravaned to East Hampton, CT for the Glorious Gallop road race. My stepdad, husband, brother in law, two of my sisters and one sister's boyfriend and my son and I all raced in this awesome point to point 5K.

Well, my 13y son and speedy stepdad took off like wild banchees at the start and I never saw them again until I finished. My husband started out way too fast and I passed him at mile one. I was having a great race, I felt so freakin' great and I knew I was running a good race. I purposely did not wear a watch, because I wanted to count on my own body to tell me if I was running a good race. I passed two local running women that are not in my age group, but they usually do beat me at about mile 2. I thought I had buried my sisters and the boyfriend and my brother in law as well. BUT at the last turn at about mile three, my brother in law freakin' passed me. I tried to catch him but I finished four seconds behind him. But I recovered a lot faster so there!

We did bring home some hardware though. My son came in first in his age group with a respectable 21:59 pace for a 5K. I gave my second best 5K performance in my life at 23:35. I was very happy. The finish line ends at a small town carnival with all the junk food one can imagine! I ate a baked potato with broccoli and sour cream. We also ate some cinnamon roasted nuts. They did not have any good chocolate, so I waited till the next day for "Holstein" ice cream from WE-LIK-IT ice cream stand. It is so rich and creamy, I had a stomach ache for the rest of the day, but it is sooooo worth it!

Tired

I was talking with my stepdad last night and we both discovered that we are experiencing the same duldrums about running. I just don't have the umph! to get up and go. When I finally drag my fat ass out of bed to run, then the running is pretty mediocre. I try to remind myself that all things in life have waves or cycles and I am in a downswing for my running.

I am on an upswing with my side businesses though. In addition to adult "toys", I now peddle skin care products for Arbonne International. The two business go hand-in-hand really, people want to look good in order to attract partners for the other business!!!

I did run six miles this hot and steamy morning and I felt pretty good, not great ,but good!

Wow, it's been a while

I have been so busy, I haven't had time to write about running or hardly any time to run either! I worked at the Nipmuck Trail Marathon in May and I had soooo much fun, I want to run it next year. I have been busy finishing up the school year for my three boys and my own class. Why do schools wait till June to do all their activities? I also have been raking in the dough selling "toys" and now Arbonne skin care products as well. Selling toys is a LOT more fun than selling makeup, but my friends are selling Arbonne and it is a good excuse to get together with them! I'll write more when I am not going crazy with baseball, band concerts, sex toy are make up parties, boyscout camp outs ( I wonder if my son could get fired from scouts if they found out what his mother does for a side business, hhmmmm something to think about), running races, graduations, and so on and so on!

Wowzers!!

Have you seen how many more bloggers there are in the RBF directory? Holy moly, there are 702 bloggers now! That is one big running family, alright!

Games People Play

With the title of this post and my new job, you probably thought you were going to get a juicy story. SORRY! I was just talking about how important your state of mind is to accomplish much of anything. Take running, to run a marathon you have to be able to screw with your own mind. Ask any marathoner and they will tell you the games they play with themselves to make the task easier. I have often said that I had the conditioning to run/jog a marathon, but my mind wasn't into it. In essence, there was no will to my way! The opposite is true sometimes too. I only had a crappy training base for Boston, but my mind was totally into the task. I am amazed at what power our brains have over us.

My foot is almost completely healed. The only time it hurts sometimes is going downhill. Yes, at times, I have had to now walk downhill. Let me tell you, it is bad enough that I feel like I need a wagon to haul my fat ass up hills, but now I have to walk downhill too. It is just too much to bear!

Happy Mother's Day to all you running mamas!

From Bleeding Heart to Goddess Mogul!

It is a sad state of affairs when I can make more money in eight hours of total party fun selling sexual enhancements than I make working a whole week molding and nuturing our young children's minds. As a matter of fact, I made two hundred dollars more than my weekly salary on my Friday night Athena's party. What does that say about our country and its lack of committment to our children? To add insult to injury, I work in a public school in CT, the highest paying state!!! You have to ask why would anyone become a teacher? Bad pay, crazy neurotic parents, children with ever-increasing needs, crabby principals, budget woes, the list goes on and on. BUT I am not quitting my day job to exclusively sell sex toys, I love being a teacher despite the previous rant.

It is really interesting to me, the transformation I have gone through around money. I used it be a bleeding heart liberal, bordering on socialist. I still give money to a lot of causes that I believe in, but as I earn more money, I feel a certain conservative beast creeping its head in my psyche. Even though I am only 37 years old, I find myself worrying about retirement or paying for my children's college more than I worry about other people or the world as a whole. I don't really like that about myself. I have this karma belief that money is like a circle - it comes in and out and we should be generous and giving and it will all balance out. I think that if more Americans felt that way, we would end so many of our country's problems. Oh well, it is something I need to review and get more clear about.

As for running, I am like the little engine that could, just blugging along running four miles one day, six the next day, maybe only two the next. I am just listening to my body and running what feels manageable. I ran half trails today and was in heaven, I have to get on the trails a little more. They are so much more forgiving on my joints.

Talk to you soon. Only one party next weekend, we'll see if I make my two weeks of teacher pay in one night!

Switching Cultures

I work with almost all Puerto Rican women. The other day one of my sweetest kindest co-workers said, "Oh, Beth, you are getting too skinny." I was immediately thrilled, but then pretended to be embarrassed and told her it was only from the stress of the marathon training and not to worry the weight would be back on soon enough. In the next breath, she said, "Oh don't worry you still have your big butt." You see, a big butt in the Puerto Rican culture is a sight of beauty, therefore I am totally desirable to that culture.

Too bad I married a Pollock. (Is that how you spell a person of Polish decent?)

Reason #328 to stick to 1/2 marathons :)

OUCH! My feet still hurt. I still can only wear flipflops on my feet because of the overzealous medic guy, Skip. The four minute bandaid not only did not help to cushion my foot, it caused the bruise you see here. My toenail is hanging by a thread too. Should I try to pull it off? I never have pulled them off before, I just let nature takes its course usually.

A must have for long distance runners is ARNICA. Arnica is a homeopathic remedy to allevieate muscle soreness and bruising. Hello, we should be buying stock in the stuff, right. Today is three days after the marathon and I feel back to normal with the exception of the damn bandaid fiasco area! I figure by Sat. or Sun. I should be able to do a slow jog.

The marathon photos are up at www.marathonfoto.com . My last name is Martin-Shashok and my bib number was 23159. You can check them out. I always am surprised at how chubby I look, but I have decided to embrace my large body like a beautiful Clydesdale horse. I think it will help me feel better about my self-image if I accept my big strong body as a strength not weakness. I love the picture of me pointing to my running angel, Deb. I don't know what I am pointing at though! Also, I love the pre-race photo of me with my stepdad, it's very sweet.

PS any of the readers that decide to stalk me now that you know my last name just know that I have a permanent case of PMS and a huntin' rifle I am just itchin' to use on ya'. I am not kidding, don't get any ideas, you'll be sorry. Did you see those muscles in my arms?!? Who needs a gun when you have those bad boys :D

Running Goddess Rocks!

Well, let me try to find a way to sit down so I can type this race report, hold on it may take me a few minutes to get from standing to sitting, but once I get down to the chair, I'll be stuck for awhile. This race report may be quite long!

Pre-race Preparation
My family and I celebrated Easter with our egg hunt and church. Then we went out for brunch and after brunch we headed to the Expo to pick up my number. The expo was great, very organized, no lines. We arrived at about 3:00pm on Sunday and they were sold out of the awesome Boston Marathon jackets and only had large t-shirts left. The sold out jackets was a blessing in disguise, because I didn't have to come up with some deceiving plan to buy one without my husband knowing!

After the expo, we traveled to Braintree, where we spent the day visiting with my family. Ate my obiligatory plate of pasta, watched Desparate Housewives and then fell asleep on a half-blown up inflatable bed. One would think that half-blown up would be a bad thing, but it was sorta like sleeping on a hammock, so I slept pretty well.

Race Day
One race day, my stepdad and I woke up at about 5:30am, ate some fruit and an english muffin. We headed into Boston with my cousin that had to go to work. We arrived at the shuttle service at 7:00am, we were on the first wave out of Boston. We arrived in Hopkinton at about 8:00am and had full access to portopotties and food. Then we sat around for the next FOUR AND HALF HOURS! The waiting pretty much sucked. We were corraled in two different athlete's villages, one for the under 3 1/2 hours runners and one for the rest of us! The slower runner village definitely felt second class. There was a stage but in name only, they just piped in what was happening in the fast village stage. I suppose if I was watching the performers rather than just listening to them I would have been more entertained. But the fact that we were separated kept the potty lines managable, always a good thing.
At about 11:30am, we started to make our way to the baggage buses and the start line about a mile a way. Therefore I ran 27.2 miles really ;). The start was a mob scene, but I was very excited to finally be starting. Not only did the slower runners have a second rate holding area, we started a half hour later. I finally crossed the start line at 12:45am. WooHoo, this is it!
I felt great, the weather was perfect (50' with partly sunny skies). I tore off my throw away shirt at about mile two and continued to feel awesome. At somewhere before mile 6, I was experiencing some pain on the top of my left foot. My shoe was tied to tightly maybe. At this point, I was running my desired pace 9:45/mile very comfortably. I stopped to retie my shoe with no avail. So at mile six, I stopped at a medic tent for a band-aid. Well, a very nice but overzealous med tent guy decided to perform minor surgery on my foot bone. He was trying to create like a corn bandaid for my bone. Good in theory, bad in practice. The fancy bandaid took FOUR MINUTES to make and then didn't really help! I suffered with the pain for about ten more miles and then met up with my angel, Deb.

Oh wait, I ate some gu at mile ten and passed the half-marathon mark at about 2:10, I think. More memorable would be the Wellesley College women, they were CRAZY! I definitely need to book some parties for my Athena's business up there! They were begging for kisses, I mean begging. I happened to be running right behind a man in a chicken suit at this point and the girls were going nuts over him, so this really helped me take my mind off the foot pain.

At mile 16, mile sweet angel friend, Deb was waiting with my supplies and support. I immediately took the two ibuprofen she had and we continued on to mile 17 at which point I ate some vanilla gel. I was feeling great at this point running strong, the foot was pretty much numb and my legs were still pretty fresh.

Then came Heartbreak Hill.

Heartbreak Hill is a series of four hills from mile 17-21, great time for hills, right? Don't get me wrong, the Boston Marathon is chuck full of hills from start to finish, but the Heartbreak series are a continuous grind uphill and then some pretty taxing downhills as well. Going downhill bothered my foot thing. I definitely slowed up at this point, probably to about a sub-11 min/mile. I would try to keep my ten min. pace and would feel my quads shout "oh no you don't you still have five more miles after we get up these freakin' hills" so I listened and took it down a notch.

After Heartbreak Hill, I grew very excited. I was watching for my pastor and his wife at mile 22. They had kept in touch with my running-angel and we knew right where they were. We got two big hugs and some blessings and pushed on!

My mother and Uncle Johnny were going to be at mile 24, but I wasn't sure where, but as luck would have we saw them too. Two more hugs and some Irish luck rubbed on us and further the push.

This is where I hit the wall. My legs were spent and my spirit was wavering. My running-angel was cracking me up because she was having a BLAST! She was slapping every cute little kids hand, high-fiving the drunk BC students, yelling to the spectators on the rooftops. Thank god I had her with me. While she was whooping it up, I was crucifying myself inside. All those thoughts about what the hell was I thinking running another marathon, I had to be an idiot, never again, I HATE THIS, these last fucking miles are going on forever, when is the next water stop, and on and on. My saving grace was watching Deb have so much fun. At this point, she said, "This is the way to run a marathon, just run the last ten miles!" I told her I'm with her!

With the grace of God and Deb, I made it to the end. My entourage was at exactly at mile 26, right behind a garbage can! As a matter of fact, when I hugged them, we knocked some of the garbage out of the can! Yuck! And then it was over.

It was very surreal to finish, you go from 26.2 miles (really 27.2) of absolutely the most encouraging fans in the world to tired but polite volunteers. Everything is kinda quiet, all the screaming fans behind you. This was the only marathon that I was just a wee bit sad to be finished. Usually I am crying tears of joy to be done the god-awful thing, but Boston is an incredible experience and I would encourage all of you wild runners to try to get in, either train your little butts off or be obnoxiously persistent like me!

Today I am having a massage at 11:30am, I can not wait. Every muscle in my body is sore. I have a gigantic bruise on my foot from the stupid bandaid, I will lose only one toenail it looks like. Oh I forgot the trek back to Braintree was AWFUL! We had to walk about a mile to the T station and then the train was jammed pack and I had to stand. After about two stops, I think I might either pass out or throw up. A sweet woman gave me her seat, I stripped off my sweatshirt only to reveal my sweaty body making me feel like I was really going to hurl. I held together for everyone's sake for about four more stops when I had to get off the train. My sweet cousin stayed on the train to get the car and backtracked to pick me up. I still felt awful. We arrived at her house about 30 minutes later, still feeling like crap. Then I had to push my little one aside to pee outside and ran to the bathroom, throwing up and pooping at the same time! Still feeling crappy. The shower felt great, but still not all that great. At this point, I was thinking I might need medical attention. Luckily, I got dressed after the shower and my cousin had a toasted bagel waiting for me. The bagel hit the spot, I was like new as soon as ate that thing! Lesson to self- eat bagel after marathon! They gave crappy food at the end- potato chips, bananas, yogurt smoothies and a power bar. I guess that's not too crappy, I just don't like the smoothies or power bars! Today I plan to make up for the lack of food yesterday!

BTW, I set a personal best 4:40, imagine if I hadn't had minor surgery that took four minutes!

The Running Goddess Countdown to BOSTON!

Today my family and I volunteered at our local Easter Road Race. It was so fun. I recommend volunteering at a race to everyone that runs. It is a wonderful experience to support the race directors and runners. Runners always amaze me. They come in all different shapes and sizes. There is no better way to observe this variety than to volunteer. My step-dad (who is running Boston on Monday and he qualified the old-fashioned way:)) , my youngest and oldest sons and I manned the water stop. This is no easy task, there was a lot of water spillage! I got so intimated about handing out water, I decided to stick to collecting the garbage!

Two more days till Boston! As I was lamenting aloud today, my oldest and wise-beyond-his-years son told me to stop worrying about my performance and time. He shouted that I am about to participate in one the world's most prestigous sporting events and that I should shut up and ENJOY it! I was stunned to silence and humbled to say something like, "Holy shit, you're right, I have to get out there run and have fun." Then I thanked him and have tried to remember that every time I am computing my mile splits in my head!

Feeling Groovy

I am feeling better. I think maybe I was having allergies or stress-related symptoms. Last night I worked an awesome Athena's party for a bunch of adorable college girls. They were so cute, they hung on my every word about all the different ways to feel groovy ;)!! The party was not a huge money maker, but $175 dollars in my pocket for three hours of talking about sex with very curious young women is nothing to shake a stick at! I was very nervous about this party because at 37 years old, I felt ancient and wasn't sure I would be able to talk their "language". It was awesome, they were so into learning about new things and treated me like a big sister rather than their possible mother. I have another huge party scheduled for next Friday, hopefully I'll be able to walk by then, only four days after the marathon and all!

Oh yeah the marathon! That's right, I almost forgot about the marathon, yeah right?! I am TOTALLY PSYCHED!!!! I will post as soon as possible. I am no perfect poster like The Running Chicks, but I will give you an overview. I am so amazed how they can break down a race mile for mile. I guess I am more of the big picture type of gal! I do like things big, you know :)!

Five more sleeps until Boston:(

I can't believe it, but I started to cough and sneeze this afternoon. Now I am pumping vitamin C and hot tea into my viens. Now I am going to finish watching the Amazing Race and get into bed early. As of 5:00pm, weather.com reported the temperature for Marathon Monday as 51', up one degree from yesterday!

Obsessive Countdown to Boston

I have checked weather.com everyday twice to see what weather conditions await for me on Patriots Day in Boston! I am very nervous about what to wear. Of course, I bought a new pair of compression shorts just for the occasion (can't have any chubby rub). I am wearing them right now as amatter of fact! Now I have to decide what top to wear. I am not sure if I should go with a tank top or t-shirt. So far the forecast is calling for partly sunny and 50', really ideal racing weather. I just hate being cold and I plan on being out there for at least four and half-ish hours, so I could get cold with only a tank-top on. But I really like how tank-tops look and feel, less restrictive. I definitely have sensory issues, anyone out there reading this with a child with autism knows what I mean. I hate feeling uncomfortable at all. I would run in my pajamas if I could, and let's not even mention tags on the clothing or I might flip out right now!
Well, gotta go check weather.com before bed just one last time!

Time change adjustment overload!

I have not been able to adjust to the dark mornings yet, which really sucks when you are a morning runner. I did become a psuedo-afternoon runner this winter because I felt like I needed to be in the sunlight to overcome the winter blues and it did work as a matter of fact. This winter flew by for me. All that being said, I do prefer running in the morning. I feel like I am beating everyone to the punch, I come home and I am one up on my kids ready to handle whatever fashion disasters or breakfast catastrophes. I also feel relieved to have the obligatory exercise out of the way and can relax for the rest of the day.

But I can not freakin' wake up now that it is dark again at 5:00am!!! It sucks! This week I only ran Wed. and Thurs., that's it. I feel so guilty and flabby. I don't get that, how can I feel flabby when I know my body hasn't changed. It is amazing what the brain can do to our emotional state. So tomorrow is another day, I am getting up to run with my running buddies at 6:30. The only thing is I think it going to rain. Oh well, some days you can't win.

Tired, but happy:)

On Friday night after chasing three and four-year olds all day, I ran a very long fifteen miler. I was beat, it was hotter than last week and I really sucked. I did realize I do like gu though and that was a learning experience for me. I am glad I tried it. Today I ran a very easy three miler and think I am going to sleep tomorrow morning, sorry no church for me.
I started my new business tonight and felt great. I still have a lot to learn about sales, but I enjoyed myself and think other people had fun at the Athena party as well. My next party isn't until after the Boston Marathon so now I can focus all my neurotic energy on that!

Reving up for Boston

Last week after work, I shipped my three wild boys to another house full of wild boys and chugged out a 15 miler. It was not real fast, but fast enough for me. I felt awesome, which is very impressive because one I usually run in the morning and two, I am a preschool teacher and work usually kicks my butt. So on Saturday, I am running a 17 miler and then I will taper down. That's pretty funny since I don't have anything to taper down from!!! I feel great, my legs feel fresh and well-oiled. I think the warm weather has really picked up my running spirit!

BTW, not only am I in the middle of speed training for the 2006 Boston Marathon, I am also starting my new athena goddess business. Last week, I attended two full days of training, which was why I had to run after work on a week night. I am officially a sexpert! Ask me any questions about sexuality and how our products could enhance your life!!! Guess what, there are five different types of orgasms, what do you think of that? Guess you'll have to email me or comment to find out what they are!! Book a party too!

Holy Sh**, I'm runnin' Boston!

Yes it is true, my cousin scored me a scrub number to run the Boston Marathon on April 17th! The only problem is my longest run in a long time has been 13 miles! Yikes! So for the next four weeks, I am going to be watching what I eat, running like a machine and fretting every second I get! I am so totally psyched!!! I have run four other marathons and have the muscle memory to get me through the marathon. It won't be any personal best I am sure, but I don't really even care! I am running Boston! WOO HOO!

Pi(es) All Around!

My family and I ran the Pi Race in East Hartford, CT today. It was 3.14 miles long and every finisher received a tabletop pie! Actually they had enough pies for about each participant, volunteer and cheerleader to eat about ten pies each! My six year old son ran today, this was his first race and kicked some butt! I think he finished in under 45 minutes. My ten year old son, that declares he is a thrower not a runner, ran this race in 39 minutes, a personal best for him! Their old mama ran it in just over 25 minutes and took home 2cd place in the submaster division! We had a blast! We were all fighting colds so we used this race to clear all the gunk from our lungs! Sorry to anyone running behind us! Photos to follow!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

My son's 7&8th grade basketball team won the division championship game today. The score was 63-62 in overtime. It was tension city, baby. My son had some key plays and I am very proud of him and his teammates. The team was comprised of awesome, generous kids and they really knew how to play like a team. Their coaches were a young couple with no children on the team and that definitely helped keep the kids playing well too. The coaches were more objective and able to see the kids' talents and weaknesses. I am still buzzing from the excitement!

My fervor for basketball has generalized to my running. I ran thirteen miles both Sat. and Sun. I felt great both days. Then I went to a kick-ass yoga class with lots of power moves on Monday night. Today I ran an easy 4 miles and was pretty tired due to a lack of sleep. Yes, my house has been attacked by the barf/fever bug that has been knocking kids out all week. Hopefully I'll get more sleep tonight. Everyone seems to be improving.

Happy Running Week

Pictured above is just some of the northeastern CT running dream team that kicked some booty in the Colchester Half Marathon. They are the only reason I even showed up that day. Thanks to my sweet running buddies, you make my life so much fun!

I have had a great running week. I ran 3miles Monday afternoon, felt great. Then 5 miles on Tuesday and Thursday with an awesome yoga class taking up my time on Wednesday. I think I am happy because the weather has been very end of winter-like. I can feel the end of the storm, can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Yippee!

My family and I are grieving the UCONN Men's basketball team's loss against Syracuse today. I didn't even get to watch them go down in flames because of a very annoying thing called work. Well hopefully, my son's basketball team will play well on Sat. I love this time of year. Once March Madness is all over, I feel lost. I don't know what to do with myself for a while. But for now, turn on the game, baby!

I have given up all sweets for Lent and I am definitely suffering, Jesus would be proud of me;-). I have reduced my candy consumption by 99% (I have snuck a few M&Ms) and I have not lost a freakin' pound. I am so pissed off. I know I am supposed to be sacrificing for Lent, but I really wanted some pay-off for my repention! Oh well, I am hoping to lose 10 pounds to get ready for shorts and bathing suit weather so I have to figure something out. Maybe I should eat less calories or something crazy like that?!

Quick and Dirty Post

I have missed reading everyone's blog's. I have been busy at work with the National Association of Young Children coming to validate that our program should be accredited, they agreed it should! Mucho Stresso for this week at work.

Then I was my niece's godmother at her baptism today. VERY awesome, but lots of work as well to prepare for the party.

Also, I am a HUGE basketball fan and got to watch my son's team advance to the finals today. His team plays at the big dance on Sat., 3/11, can't wait! I also got to cheer on the UCONN Huskies to their regular season Big East Championship game on Sat. Now it is Sunday at 9:40pm and I am waiting for my other son's birthday cupcakes are done baking, I'll will frost them bright and early before work tomorrow morning.

Boring running week, I only ran 20 miles total all week and I kinda sucked at every run. It was miserably cold and then it snowed seven inches on Thursday. In December, I enjoy running in the snow, in March, I hate running in the snow. It is amazing the difference three months make!

We Rocked the Colchester Half Marathon!

We, our town running group, rocked the half marathon in Colchester,CT today. One of our members won the race and we had nine finishers from our club. It was about 20' with a little wind and some breaks of sun. This course was very hilly and at the top of some of the hills, it got very cold.

I started the race strong and continued to feel strong the whole race through. My longest run for awhile has been ten miles, so I was nervous about sputtering out by about nine miles. I kept an even pace for the whole race, I was concentrating extremely hard about my form and keeping everything regular. At about mile four, my left foot was bothering me in the big toe area. I tried to use mind over matter, but by mile six I knew I had to adjust my shoe. By then I had to adjust both shoes. I had tied them too tight, my feet are narrow and I can never seem to find shoes that are tight enough. Well, I had tied these so tight that I caused a blister on my left ankle and my sock had bunched up on my toe. I was very happy after I adjusted and just flew for the next seven miles. My finishing time was 2:05, which I was happy with considering my lack of proper training, the weather conditions, and the major hills. I think this was a greating training race for my next big endeavor: a fourteen mile trail race on Soapstone Mountain, Stafford CT. I can't wait!

Oh another interesting thing happened during this race that had never occured for me before. I bought these cute running socks and wanted to show them off, so I wore my socks on the outside of my awesome winter running pants. Well, now my ankles are rubbed raw from the sticky elastic bottoms. Note to self: do NOT succumb to fashion slavery, dress smart for the conditions;)

Oh one more thing, I am not trying to toot my own horn, but I am not even sore today either:)

Mental Preparation for Colchester Half-Marathon

Tomorrow my running buddies and I are running the Colchester 1/2 marathon and I am totally freaking out. My longest run since forever has been ten miles and my hip has been whining lately anytime I run over about six miles. If I was not an obsessive runner, I would definitely not run this race. My body is telling me no, but my head is telling me yes- isn't that the opposite of some silly song about taking the plunge in another area of our lives?!?

I ran the Hyannis 1/2 marathon about three years ago in Feb. and I definitely regretted it. I had just fell on some ice about a week before the race and was just starting to heal and that marathon kicked my butt. I was very upset with my finishing time of 2:10 and now I am only hoping to finish that fast. Oh well, in any event, I should have fun hanging out with my friends before and after the race! Report to follow the race.

Fate or Random?

I was reading CJ's blog at www.froggy61.blogspot.com and she was talking about how her music gave her inspiration on her long run. Last week while I was running after we received 18 inches of the white stuff, I had a similar music experience. My children were sledding at our town golf course while I ran an easy three in the same vacinity. Right across the street from the golf course is our Catholic cemetery, the same cemetery where my first husband is sorta buried. He is not really buried there, but does have a footstone(is that even what it is called, i dont even know) on his family's plot. He died suddenly in a car accident and we weren't sure what his wishes would have been so we cremated him and his brother and mother spread his ashes in the ocean in North Carolina, a special place for him and the boys. But I also thought the boys would need a place to visit, so we put a stone with his name and dates up on his family's plot. As it turns out, they never want to go there, but I noticed other people do go there because there are always little momentos left on his stone.

On Monday, while running near the cemetery, I decided to go run in the cemetery. I, of course, was sad and feeling sorry for myself and my boys and the song that just randomly came on was "Am I The Only One to Ever Love This Way", by the Dixie Chicks. I was chuckling to myself about that song, because not only did I lose my first husband to an early death, but the only other man I loved and was still close with after we broke up, my first love, died six months earlier of cancer. All of the men I have ever loved died when I was 31 years old. It was very weird, my current husband is always teased that he is a brave man to stick with me, the black widow. The upside of it all is that he never has to deal with those uncomfortable chance meetings of seeing your partner's past lovers.

I finally reached my first husband's plot and stopped to think/pray/just stand there thinking about him. And, of course, his stone was buried under the snow. So I furiously started digging through the snow trying to see his stone. It was very surreal, digging like that. Some of our actions as humans are very basic, instinctual. I am not sure of the right word, oh maybe primal is the right way to describe those needs that don't make a lot of sense. Once I found the stone and saw his name and was once again assured or reminded that yes he was gone, I fixed up the little candles and cars and fake flowers that were left by others that loved him and continued on my run with blurred vision from my tears. Luckily it is okay to cry in a cemetery so I didn't feel weird. As I was running away from his stone, the song "Angel From Montgomery" by Bonnie Raitt came on. Again, I chuckled and questioned all my beliefs about fate, God, love etc. All in all, a very intense run for my sometimes intense life.

Chocolate Cake Saturday

My boys and I furiously baked our three cakes afterschool on Friday night. I made a "Death by Chocolate" cake, my ten year old son made a Milk Chocolate Queen's cake and my six year old son made a Fudge cake. We stirred and beat our little hearts out all evening. Then we frosted and they decorated their cakes on Sat. am. I was too busy looking for basketball uniforms and running with my buddies to decorate my cake with any creativity. It was my demise because they both won "Best in Age" for their cakes and I went home empty-handed. I was soooo proud of two little bakers though. We had to get our entries to the restaurant by 10:00am and it was a mad dash to get everything done. All the stress was so worth the moment of watching my boys ever so carefully walking their chocolate creations up the steps of the cafe. I was near tears, they had worked so hard searching for good recipes, shopping for the ingredients, and then actually making the cakes. They really did most of it by themselves. I helped with the really hard stuff, like taking the cakes out of the pans. We used parchment for two of the three cakes which make the job a lot easier, but for the my youngest son we forgot to line the pan. But that is what frosting is for, to cover up any cake imperfections.

You can imagine the pride I felt when at 3:00pm they were anounced as the winners in their age brackets.... the ten year old was the only entry but we're not focusing on that!;) The adult contest was really fun too. I did not win, but the judges did provide some great feedback and ideas for improvment for next year. The only complaint I had about the contest was that they gave the woman who baked the best cake overall all of the other awards as well. She won best taste, best presentation, and best texture on top of winning the best overall. I always think of contests as giving a top prize to the best entry, but then spreading the cheer when it comes to the sub-categories. Maybe I am wrong. I always sort of wonder about races that don't count the top male and female in age group winner. Am I making sense?

I was a winner in one competetion this week. We have a race series in our town and I am the winner for my age group!! Not because I am the speediest, but I ran the most races and accumulated the most points! Yeah for me!

I have to go eat some cake! Bye!

Ouch, my hip hurts again

I have been running on the trails for the past two weeks and today I ventured out to run a challenging hilly nine mile course on the road. By mile four my hip was tight, by six it plain hurt, by the end I think my endorphins kicked in and the pain was bearable. That was until I tried to stretch it out. Holy cow, my right hip was soooo tight and I think I would describe it as localized agony. There was so much pain but really only in my hip flexor, the rest of my leg is fine. I was able to work out some the build up with stretching and then took a nice hot shower and it definitely feels better now, much looser. I hate pain while I am running. Do you think the hot fudge sundae I ate before bed could have aggravated my joints?!? I guess I will take it easy Monday and Tuesday and see how it feels with a little rest. I am trying to remember when I bought my running shoes, I may need a new pair already. I think I wrote about my new sneakers when I bought them, so perhaps I will peruse my previous posts and find out if it's time to make another flippin' $100.00 investment.

I had a very fun Friday night, not as much fun as Jon's Chocolate Friday, but close! I hosted an Athena's Goddess party and let me tell you we had some FUN! For those in the dark, Athena Goddess is a company that sells products for couples, singles, or triples for that matter to bring more sensuality into your life! The party made $1000, so I received $125 worth of free merchandise! My husband can't wait for my next party! I am actually "toying" with the idea of becoming an athena goddess. I think I would enjoy bringing this joy to people! The trouble I have is coupling my daytime persona as preschool teacher/soccer mom with vampy sex toy dealer by night! I have to work on wording the night time persona with a little more sophistication and I think I could "pull it off" (oh wait a minute, I don't want to do that!)

Well, please send healing thoughts to my hip and tell you how it helped next week!

My Version of the Goose Attack

Yes, I finally used my mace. I have had many a close call with the dogs on my running routes, but they usually respond to the usual trying-to-hide-my-panic strong yell of "GO HOME" or occasionally I have had to throw a rock or stick at the more persistent barkers. I have only been bit once and it was by one of those "ankle-biter" type breeds and I think it barely broke the skin. That said, I am afraid of dogs on my route. No former papergirl isn't afraid, let me tell you. I was definitely traumatized while delivering the paper to my neighbors when I was growing up. I can't really blame those dogs for barking at me like I was the enemy, I was delivering their owners' favorite discipline weapon.

And anyone that has been reading my blog for awhile knows that I am afraid of farm birds as well. Yes I have been traumatized by poultry as well! When I was about four years old, my sister and I were visiting one of my dad's friends that lived on a farm. My father was a no-nonsense type of guy and he sort of expected us to take care of ourselves right from the get-go... anyway my two year old sister and I were trying to make it into this friend's front door and these freakin' poultry birds were making a huge racket about us coming in the gate to the front door. My hard-ass father yelled from the truck, "Just walk right in there, let em know you're not afraid and they won't bother you." One problem, we were afraid, very, very afraid. I guess we did not show them that we weren't afraid very well, because the next thing I know one those pieces of shit was pecking at my baby sister's eyes!!! Everything after that is a blur. The next thing I remember we were in the emergency room with my mother screaming at my father and my sister with stitches! I have no idea how we got there or how the killer chicken was handled or what. I guess that would be considered a trauma.

So to make a long story longer, when Tommy and I came upon this crazy-ass goose, I was quite nervous. We had just started running on roads after completing about three miles of trails. We were cruising along pretty fast and Tommy was up ahead because he is faster than I am now. There were actually two geese honking at cars as they drove by. One goose smartened up and went honking home, while the other kept chasing the cars. As we approached, the goose was eyeing Tommy up. And then he started to put his head and neck down and twisty and as Tommy put it, "in attack mode". So my maternal instincts kicked in and I started to reach for my mace which I hook onto my pants. Well of course, it had somehow worked itself off my pants and was all tangled up in one of my shirts. So after I wrestled it out, I was trying to figure out which way to point and press. I realized that mace is easy enough to use, but to actually use it effectively takes some skill. The first few squirts ended up on the road and they did not deter mr. goose. I finally hit the little craphead in one of his eyes and ran away really pissed off. We could hear him honking at us for a long time after that. It was scary. Tommy was afraid of where the goose might actually connect his beak/bill. It seemed to be at a rather precarious height, if you know what I mean!
Well, that's all the excitment for this week!

It's A Family Affair

this is a temporary blogger for the vacationing beth (im her son)
i have recently starting running with my mother and what a great mother she is we run trails and streets so its fun (i always have to cirle around for her but itss some good mother son time you know) well today on our run we ran some trail and road it was a bout 4 miles the trail was the Pigeon Swamp Reserve and it was quite fun but while we were on the road we say 2 stray duck or whatefer they were well one was in attack possition and it was running toward us mostly toward me and my mother with her motherly instincts takes out the mace and well we'll say this that poor duck was crying and he honked very loud in ANGER!!!! me and my mom have been running somewhat a lot together only about 2 times to tell the truth but its only the start i am really good at trails so all the saturday people i think i maybe joining you sometime well when im not asleep i hope you enjoyed the story as much as i had fun making it happen
tom

Loving the trails

My new running friends are very informed about the trails in Connecticut and they are exposing me to a whole new running world. At first I was apprehensive about the whole trail thing, but I am a convert. I love the cushy feeling under my feet and the beautiful scenery, although I only get to see the scenery in a two feet radius around myself because I am so scared about falling. My friends tell me the person with the most blood at the end wins, but I haven't bought into that sentiment yet! I plan on racing a half marathon on Soapstone Mountain in Stafford, CT. in early spring. I am so excited, it so fun. I love getting so dirty! It reminds me of when I was a kid and playing out in the rain.

Happy running everyone!

Enjoying the New Year

Here is a photo of our New Year's Day run. We had a lot of fun, ran about seven miles and then toasted the New Year with champagne at 10:00am!! I have never drank alcohol that early in my life. I am not much of a drinker and it was pretty funny. We met at the high school, so we were actually drinking on school grounds. First time for that too. I really was quite a nerd/goody-goody or maybe I was just a scardy-scardy of getting caughty-caughty!

On January 8th, three of our running crazies ran in a 5K road race. It was a beautiful day, about 35-40 degrees with bright sunshine and lots of good runners. One of my resolutions is to enjoy my racing, regardless of my time or place. I approached this race with those two pieces in mind. I only paid attention to my race performance. I did not look at the women passing me trying to decide if they were in their thirties. I did not care about where I was in relation to other people at all. I ran to my potential and focused on my form and breathing. I was thinking about the time a little, c'mon it's not called a race for nothing, people!! I finished feeling very strong and happy. My time was average for me; 24:40. I did not place in my age group, but that was okay with me, because I felt so great about my performance. I stretched and warmed up and down which also felt really good. So for January, I am still on par as far as resolutions are concerned!

I did not run as many miles this week as I would like though. I only ran 14 miles this week. My excuses are being lazy and it was freezing rain and snow this morning therefore I couldn't run the six I would need to fulfill the twenty miles I want to run weekly! I guess another excuse would be procrastination too. While I am complaining and whining, I could also blame my kids because I had to bring them to a puppet ministry performance today at 8:00am and I was the chaperone, so that pretty blew half the day. I have to do laundry the other half of the day! Another person I could blame other than myself is my husband because he keeps my up too late talking to me about his day. I wouldn't mind being kept up for other more fun reasons, but for blabbing, no. Let's see anyone else I could blame? No, I think that is good.

I am reading a very insightful and entertaining book entitled Dry, it's an autobiography about a man who had a crazy childhood and how he is trying take control over his adulthood, in particular his alcoholism. I was raised up with AA as part of my family, so reading his account of getting sober brings me back to my own childhood. The book evokes a lot of emotions for me. The first being gratitude that I am not an alcoholic. I do not struggle with substances, but have had my fair share of issues around food. I guess eating disorders are the good-girls' substance abuse. My issues about food have gotten a lot better with maturity and an increasing self-awareness about what I think is important. My relationship with a higher power or God or whatever you want to call it has helped to heal and grow up as well. The other emotion the book brings up for me is happiness which probably seems weird. But the author, Augusten Burroughs, has done such a great job spinning his tale. He tells about his crazy life with such brutal honesty and responsibility that it actually refreshing. I reccommend this book and his first book, Running With Scissors to anyone. (I know you are supposed to underline book titles, but I can't figure out how to underline in this blog thing, I only see bold and italic. Sorry! Now I can't get the freakin' italic to get off. Aww, just Great!) All for now, see on the roads!