Urban Adventure - Boston 2009

Oh my goodness What A Blast!!!!

Travis, Jabez and I started our adventure with a 8am departure, stopping first for bagels of course! We made it to Boston in about an hour and half and got to the packet pickup at 11 almost the first ones there. What fun, we perched ourselves close to the entrance and watched all the crazy costumes! There were two teams of bees, a team of ducks, Dr Spock and that other guy from Star Trek oh yeah Captain Kirk, sharks, angels and demons, just plain angels, and on and on.

At noon, the race organizers handed out our 12 clues. We had to wait till everyone got an envelope before we could open them. Holy toledo, the questions/tasks were so hard. Luckily my oldest son was home and googled us the answers to most of the problems but some were tasks we had to do like find people with red socks and a Red Sox jersey on or shake hands with a dog. It was legal to have a phone a friend and to ride the T or public buses. You couldn't ride a bike or hire a taxi.

Some of the tasks were so obscure, I just don't understand them. Like one was to find something that holds 230 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint and three gills. It was this random huge teapot at Starbucks and we only got it because we saw other teams there and Travis spotted the words on the kettle.

But some tasks were really fun. At KO Prime, this fancy restaurant they set up a "Who dunnit?" type problem with 15 clues all over the restaurant. It was really funny, all these people running around looking for clues.

The race has a 5 hour limit and I thought oh no problem we will make it in about 3 hours. Well we had to book to the finish line for the last few miles to make it in at 4 hours 55 minutes!!! I was so happy we made it in the 5 hours.

We probably ran about 8 to 10 miles over the 5 hours and we were soooooo pooped! I would recommend the Great Urban Race to anyone looking to see a city and have lots of fun. I would definitely do this again. Maybe we will go to NYC or Philadelphia for the next time we give it a go.

Oh my goodness pics will have to follow I can't find my stupid usb cord AGAIN!

Crazy Crazy Day

Today I woke to a nice trail run with two really awesome friends. That's where the fun stopped.

I came home to help my son do his paper route at about 8. At one house, a kinda weird house, there was a man waiting at the door, sorta weird a 8 am on Sat. When I gave him his paper, I heard a woman yell, "Help, his just threw me!"

It didn't register in my head. I even picked up his other morning paper and gave it to him. She yelled for help again when he opened the door the second time.

That time it registered. I became alarmed and hurried back into my car. I quickly called 911 and gave them my complaint. The dispatcher asked that I wait in my car outside the home until the police arrived. I did what she requested but wow it freaked me out. What was I supposed to do, bear witness to whatever violence might happen next?

The police came within a few minutes and we finished the route, both shaky and freaked out.

Then I had to go about my day wondering what happened to this couple. I am concerned also for my son when he has to deliver the paper on Monday. Ugh.

But that is not where the craziness ends...

After a baseball game and work commitment, I ran home to clean my house before another baseball game at 3. I just started cleaning when my middle son went outside in his barefeet and stepped on a dang roofing nail. Now I have fixed two flat tires from those damn roofing nails and now my son gets punctured as well!

My oldest son and his friend carry him to the car where he proceeds to throw up. It was a pretty gross injury to look at and as long as he kept it covered he was ok.

But guess what? I got pulled over by a friggin cop on the way to the hospital. He saw me talking on my cell phone. Of course he was taking his sweet time getting out of the cruiser and I was beeping my horn and yelling out my window to no avail! So I called 911 for the second time that day! When I finally got my hysterical story out, he managed to get out of his cruiser and I frantically told him what was going on, he took one look at my kids foot and said, "Ok, that works, see ya" I was about half a mile from the hospital. The hospital staff was fabulous and luck for Nick, it was an old roofing nail and about half the size of the nails that punctured my car tires.

What a day.

Holy Recovery Baby

Wow it took three days to be able to walk normally after Soapstone. There were tons of hills and even by mile 11 I was tensing going down hill. I took a couple days off, went swimming and finally ran this morning almost a week later! My legs felt great and the new trail I ran was very fun!

Tomorrow: Bike Ride!

Soapstone Mountain Trail 24K

Well my day started with a big brown doggie nose in my face at 5:15! I went to pee the same time as he did and what do I discover? Well lets just say that if I was living during bible times I would be sitting in a red tent with other women drinking wine and gossiping celebrating my women-ness but no such luck...time to grab supplies and fuel up with a bagel and banana.

My brother, girlfriend, Cindy, and eldest son left at 7:30 with no problem finding the race start- a horseback riding camp in Stafford, CT. Check in was easy and well organized. The Bare Naked granola guys were handing out samples. Yum I had fruit and nut granola, yogurt with blackberries. Delish.

The race started at 9am about a half mile from registration site and continued on a dirt road for about a mile. I was exhausted right from the start! I knew that with all the pms bitching I did over the past three days, I would have little fire left once my period started and boy was I pooped right from the beginning.

We reached the four mile mark at exactly 1 hour. The most impressive climb of the race was so cool. I will try to get you pics from my friend's camera phone. It was straight up, no lie. I think that was at mile 3 or so. At the top was a fire stand, I think.

I basically just trudged along for the next ten miles, my two friends encouraging me all the way. I have great friends. We finished at 3:35. The race volunteers had burgers, three bean salad and soda left for us and made us feel as special as those finishing in an hour and half. This was a great race. Very technical trails, lots of mud, wet rocks and leaves, and interesting terrain to keep you entertained. Oh yeah the t-shirt was cute too.

After we gobbled up our burgers, we had to get home to other children but not before we grabbed some hot cocoa and toasted bagels. Its amazing how cold you get after running long.

After a long hot shower, I zipped over to celebrate my little sister's 20th birthday! More burgers, ice cream cake and mojitos!

I need a weekend from my weekend! How am I going to get up and go to work tomorrow?

Excited!

Tomorrow my brother, son and a few friends are heading north about 25 miles to run a trail half marathon. I am so psyched! Got an email about the race yesterday that asked we bring our own plate and fork for the post race party...gotta love those trail runners.

Will let you know how it all went down. My only goal is to finish I have no clue about time since I hear it is a challenging course. Would love to finish around three hours though but no biggie if I don't.

I finally found the usb cord for my camera. This pic is from Christmas but I like it. So share...

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday I successfully and painlessly ran ten miles in preparation for Soapstone Trail half marathon! I am so psyched. I didn't think I would be able to run Soapstone after aggrevating my hip/inner thigh a couple of weeks ago but cross training and stretching and resting have all really helped.

We are getting ready to head out for breakfast!

Is anyone else tired?

I have been so pooped lately. I am able to work out well in the am but by dinner I just want to go to bed and I can't because we have baseball for three hours...in the cold and rain!

Running, swimming and biking now. I love the warm weather.

Rail Trails

Today was the first day I ran since last Sunday since I am nursing my sore psoas. We ran on the rail trail, it was so nice. The trails are wide and cushy and very easy to manage. But best of all they are flat! I read that hills are hard on your psoas so I choose to keep it simple today. My hip was sore but I was able to stretch out the soreness. I think I might stick with rail trails for my long runs for Chicago.

Happy Running!

Healing Power of Laughter

A group of us went out for a half trail/half road 8 miler this morning. It was great, but at about mile 5 the same sore muscle in my right hip started to rear its ugly head. I struggled on and the most amazing thing happened....

My friend Warren told us about his tall friend named Rich. Rich decided he wanted to get lots of encouragement during a marathon and wore a shirt with his name on the back but instead of Rich he wrote BIG DICK!!! The other runners and I this morning had so much fun coming up with funny things we would yell out to him:

FINISH STRONG, BIG DICK!!
LOOKING GOOD, BIG DICK!!
YOU'RE ALMOST THERE, BIG DICK!!

I was laughing so hard the pain in my hip went away...temporarily. It is killing me right now. I have to discipline myself enough to stretch 3x a day while I increase my mileage for Chicago.

Good luck in Boston all you fast marathoners!!

I love April vacation!

Today I woke up later and met a friend at 6am rather than the typical 5:15 to run on trails. It was great. Yesterday I received a hour and half long massage, she killed my hips. It was a hurt so good kinda pain, knowing that it was going to help in the long run. My hips are still sore this morning.

While running today I was trying to convince my friend to sign up for the Chicago Marathon. She pointed out that we would need to start training in June! That's only a few months away! The last marathons I did were late Fall. I am sorta psyched about the timing of Chicago, since the training will be winding down by the time school starts in Sept.

Now I have to remember to stretch those darn hips...

Our new doggie!

My boys and I were waiting till spring vacation to adopt a dog and this huge guy fell into our laps after one day of phone calls to different rescue shelters. His name is Hunter and he is a very loving happy 5 year old chocolate lab, how appropriate!!! His previous owner was having some chronic back pain and couldn't keep up with his needs. He only lives about a mile away so he can visit anytime.

Dogs are the best. They are the sweetest companions.

Finding your own way...

I have been running the trails a lot more lately. It feels good and cushiony on my joints and it is great being in the woods. One thing I notice that I like to be the follower and its because I like to see where my running friends are stepping and I usually copy, but I have been running with a friend that takes longer strides than I do and I always get tripped up in the water jumps. Its a reminder that we all need to carve our own path...

Running is so cool.

Scary

Today my friend and I went running on trails mostly, but we decided to take roads back to our starting point because we were both late for our babysitters. We were running on a pretty busy road but not like an interstate or anything but cars go about 45 or so. We had been running single file for about 3/4 of a mile with me in the lead. And my friend was teasing me because I had dirt all on the back of my pants from the trails and that's when it happened...

This freakin' volvo heads right for us!!! I only had time and flexibility enough to scream and squish up against the guardrails while my friend hopped the rails after he heard me scream. I have had run ins with asshole runner haters before but this guy kept the game of chicken going a little too long for my comfort.

The adrenaline was good for getting us back to our cars at least. But whoa, I think about it every time I feel the scrap from the guardrails on my shin.

I wonder what goes through these nutjobs minds...

First Race of 09

Well for the last three years, I tried to race once per month, but after the Philadelphia Marathon I felt really over cooked! Totally burnt.

I took a nice break this winter, not running any distances longer than 6 miles. I worked out in the gym a lot more.

There is a nice local 5k race to celebrate Easter in our town. There is a egg hunt and kids race before the big race. It is a very nice community event.

It is a hard race with a big hill on mile one. I decided to push myself but to have realistic expectations since I haven't run very much and am still nursing my sore hip. At mile one, I came upon my son's best friend, Will, a totally phenomenal athlete. I pulled a head of him just a little and I knew his competitive spirit would win and he would stay with me. We continued to run sub 8s for the next mile. At mile two, I told him we have one more to go and he just kicked it in and by 2.75 miles into the race, he was completely in the zone and blew me away!!! He is only 8 years old by the way!

He finished third in his age group with a time of 24:20 and I finished second in my age group with a time of 25:15. That time is a little slower than I like but I will be back in race form before I know it!!!

There were four massage therapists donating their services for only about 150 runners. I got stretched and massaged for about 20 minutes for free. It was awesome.

I JUST SIGNED UP FOR THE CHICAGO MARATHON!!!!!

Cold=Bad, Warm=Good

Today I planned a 9 mile "long" run. I have struggled to run more than 6 miles pain free all winter. Well yippee for me, today was about 48' balmy and no wind and I ran pain free for 12 miles !!!!!!

I felt so good I could have kept going! I am so thrilled and relieved. I will continue to stretch and I plan to hit some yoga classes too. I am just so happy to realize that it was the cold that brought on so much discomfort.

Well gotta run to church, bye !!!

New Goal

Well these darn kids of mine are always getting in the way of my fun! I have to set my sights on the Soapstone Mountain 24k this spring rather than Seven Sisters. My middle son (of course I didn't know the date of his confirmation, it's true what they say about middles!!) has his confirmation ceremony the same day at seven sisters race. But that's okay now I have two more weeks to get ready for Soapstone...

I have been religious about stretching and only running 5 days. I felt a difference in this morning's ten mile run. My hip hurt but not as much as before. I feel pretty confident that if I am smart and follow directions, I will be ready for Chicago in the fall.

Happy Trails!

Instincts Correct

So I have been having this tightening pain in my hips when I run further than 6 miles in the cold. So my doctor sent me to a "sports" doctor. They took an x ray, x ray showed no bone problems, so the doctor sent me to physical therapy. The physical therapist was kinda pissy to me. When I told her I have no daily pain, just when I run further than 6 miles, she rolled her eyes and said, "Ugh. One of those."

I always felt like I never wanted to get any help with my running aches and pains because I have always been able to run about 4 miles pain free. I was embarrassed and felt like I was definitely wasting her time.

BUT I want to run pain free for longer distances than 6 miles!!!!

She gave me some stretches to try while running and then some I am to do three times of day. I have been doing them probably twice a day. I don't run more than four a day usually so I wont know whether they make a difference till the weekend.

Oh yeah, she said I also have to take two rest days instead of one. Yeah right.

Nine miles!

Today I hit nine miles! It was tough but I stretched my hips every time I felt them tightening up and it helped me to stay loose.

The weather is starting to become nicer and today it was sunny and 55'. Almost all of the 12 inches of snow we got this past Monday melted! Tomorrow I am running in the woods to practice trails for the 7 sisters. I think I convinced my 16 year old son to run the race too! I hope so, its more fun when there are other people you know out there too.

Well have to get back to report cards...enough procrastinating!

Visit to the doctor

After the Philadelphia Marathon, my hip was sore so I decided to take a nice break from a distances longer than 5 miles to help rest my aching body. My hip felt much better. I was very psyched. Well about three weeks ago I decided to run 6.5 miles and the same awful pain showed up in the hip area. I really want to run the Chicago Marathon so I decided I to visit the doctor. Good news: no arthritis just need to strengthen and stretch my hip area! WooHoo!

Passwords Please

Okay, I feel like the nerdy girl in high school. Left out. I miss my mia goddess mini-series and for the life of me I can't find Juls new blog address. If you are out there, ladies, can I have your passwords please, I miss you. I promise I will be better and get back to reading blogs and responding. I promise I will wear my hair in the coolest style and wear only the right jeans so you won't be embarrassed to be seen in the hallway with me!!!

Oh my goodness, I would never go back to high school. Not even for a daily...salon wash, dry and style. Well maybe for all that...

A new goal

I have been hiking a lot this winter. Being on the trails is reminding me of my trail marathon training last spring. I had so much fun with my running partners. It's really easy to get crazy in the middle of the woods! On our longer runs we would get so punchy and start belting out very silly songs!

I am not ready for another trail marathon but I am setting a goal of training and running a very challengeing trail race. Check it out at www.7sisterstrailrace.com Come and join me!

What a tease

We had 50' temps for about two days last week and it felt so great. Now we are back to 30s and tomorrow we should expect more snow. This winter has kicked my ass, I really feel sorry for those that are training for Boston or other spring marathons. No way.

One bright spot in my life was our town had a chocolate festival and I entered a cake into the cake contest. I will try to get you a photo. We have this crazy bridge in our town called thread city crossing. On this bridge rests gigantic spools to represent our thread mill that attracted many people to our town back in late 1800s and on four of the spools are these gigantic frogs. There is this very silly war story about the frogs of windham. But anyway, I made the frog bridge with chocolate bars and crafts and put a runner girl doll on top with a banner that read "Run 4 Chocolate" It won first place for the theme division of the competition. We don't have to tell anyone that my cake was the only theme cake in the contest!!! A win is still a WIN!

Gotta go try to download the photo off my phone. It might take me a while!

Oh the joy of running...

Today was the first day since probably Christmas that I ran outside and it didn't hurt! It was a balmy 35' and the roads were only a little slippery. It felt so great to be running outside. I have been working out at the gym and it is soooooo boring. The tread mill is so awful but not as awful as trudgeing through below 0 temps and slush.

I hope the groundhog was run and we are due for an early spring.

Peace Reigns

Well peace reigns currently in chocolate lady runner heaven. Listen to the week I had: On Tuesday my oldest son had a huge huge tantrum. Had to deal with that. Too personal to tell all the gory details. On Friday night, my middle son was jumped by two little shitheads that stole his money while he walked home from the skateshop. Of course he didn't know them so calling the police was just for kicks. I feel like waiting under the bridge they jumped him on and kicking their little punk asses.

But that is not where the fun ends...

A few days later I was driving home from blockbuster and it was snowing and this little young driver hit my car smooshing my back drivers side door in. The cops helped me out on that one, she got a warning for not giving me the right of way.

Then two days later I was pulled over and given a warning myself because my brake light was out on one side.

I have had waaaaayyyyyy too much interaction with the police. They are so weird. Now firefighters, that's another story. Interacting with firefighters is very pleasant, mhm!

Too Busy To Breathe

HI everyone. I have been so busy I haven't been able to keep up with reading or writing. I am applying to go to a special program to get my reading specialist certification. The application process was time consuming but its in and now I have a minute to breathe.

I am struggling to parent my teenagers all by myself. No matter how much of myself I give to them, it never seems to be enough. And no one really has any answers except to buckle your seatbelt and hold on tight. What a freakin ride. It is scary actually. Enjoy your little kids cuz once they hit about 13 it is a slow decent to hell. I know it will get better but I am in the middle of it right now and it sucks.

I have been running at the gym and I can feel my body enjoying it again. I took a nice long break and my body needed it. I am signing up for the Chicago Marathon on Feb 1st. I am so psyched to run Chicago. I haven't been back there since I was 12. Running a marathon is such a great way to see a city!

England!

I have been too busy to blog because my boys and I holiday-ed in England for the Christmas school break! It was terrific!

More later!

woo hoo a snow day!

To put a nice relaxing end to my work week, Mother Nature gave us our first snow storm of the year. But better yet, is that the snow isn't coming till noon and we have the whole day off!!! I know all you suckers at work right now are hating teachers!

Today I am going to bake my butt off and make a few Christmas gifts and finish some shopping.

Maybe I will have time to catch up with reading blogs. I miss you guys.

Crazy Busy!

Just check out my week:
Mon-meeting till 4:30, basketball prac at 6, yoga at 6:15

Tues-not sure of anything, give me time!

Wed-Boys haircut at 3:30, basketball prac at 6, high school winter concert at 7

Thurs-my haircut at 4, middle winter concert at 7, basketball game at 6:45

Fri-doctor's appt (its okay cuz he is cute and kinda flirty!!) at 5, basketball prac at 6, art class at 6

Sat-basketball game at 10:45, gingerbread house making party at 3

Sun-church at 10:30, family party at 12, friend party at 3

Some time in there I have to finish my Christmas shopping! Oh yeah and I have to find time to wrap as well!

Oh and I have a load of wood coming on Mon morning that will need stacking. Thank goodness I have three strong boys to do that!

I have been running very little but also have been sick. I am fine with this needed break from running hard. This light running is relaxing and rejuvenating.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Philly Kicked My Asphalt!!

Well Philadelphia is a totally awesome city. I loved the food, museums and just the feel of the city. My boys and my brother and I left on Sat. am at 7 and made it to the expo by 11. The expo was great with lots of freebies and organization.

From there we checked into a very nice hotel and immediately set out to find a Philly cheesesteak sandwich!! There was a joint right down the block called Jake's. The sandwiches were yummy and the pizza they had there looked amazing. The best thing about dropping from the marathon to the half was that I could eat and play any which way I wanted before the race.

After Jake's we met up with my sister and her boyfriend to walk to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Oh. My. Goodness. I am just a novice artist but it was sooooooo amazing to be next to the original painting of so many famous pieces. It was just incredible to study the brush strokes of The Sunflower or The Bridge. There was an extravagant painting entitled Lady in Black, that was a sight to behold. Up close you could not figure out what you were looking at but standing back about five feet, you could see the subtle details, it was just so breathtaking. It was also huge, like 15 feet tall. I just can't imagine having that talent.

The other fun thing about the going to the museum with three teenaged boys and one pre-teen boy is that you get all the naked lady paintings and sculptures pointed out to you!

Later that night, we searched for a place to eat and we could not find a place with the appropriate food that could handle a party of 8. So we went all the way to Philly to eat at Applebees! We chowed some pasta and then I warmed up in the hot tub and went to bed by 9. I slept surprisingly well for a pre-race hotel sleep. I bounced out of bed at 5am and went downstairs to my running chicas room to enjoy pre race breakfast and jitters together.

Philly is the city of brotherly love but holy moly it was FREEZING COLD! The start was at 7 am and we arrived to our coral at 6:30 to stand around for 40 minutes in 22' temps and lots of wind. It sucked but there was music and excitment in the air.

We started in the second wave and I felt great, really great for about 6 miles. I started out with three shirts, one pair of tights, gloves and a hat. My feet never really warmed up and a certain times felt swollen. My hands didn't warm up until I picked up a pair of discarded gloves and double-gloved! I shook one of the three shirts at about mile five at the same time as I peed in some bushes in front of church. Sorry God.

By mile 8 my hips started to KILL me, but not in the crampy sorta way more in the Its-so-damn-cold-out-here sorta way. My whole pelvis felt the same way your lower back feels when you are watching a football game outside in the freezing windy cold. My hips just stiffened right up. It felt arthritic I think. I am not really concerned because I don't like running when it is cold anyway. And when I do venture out with my running buddies in the below 20s days, I usually wear a pair of shorts, tights and fleece pants. I didn't think I needed all those clothes for this race and it would have effected my time had I worn so many clothes anyway. But I wouldn't have so much pain though.

The pain only lasted till I got back to the hotel and baked in a steaming hot shower. And I only have a little soreness today. My girlfriends ran really well. Three finished the marathon, with two qualifing for Boston, one ran her first half marathon, and one ran the 8 k and she just had surgery for compartment syndrome in July - so all in all a great showing in Philly!

My time was not my worst but not what I was hoping to do. I clocked a 2:07 half marathon. I am glad I finished and plan to rest for the winter. I am not running much outside and no more than 8 miles at a time. I need a long rest from long distances and I want to build in some more cross training. Don't worry though I plan to run Chicago next fall, so will be back with the big runners soon enough!!!

Photos to follow I can't find my usb cord!

Philly or Bust

On Sat. morning, my boys and I are leaving for Philadelphia. I am ready to run the half. My goal will be to keep a 9min mile. It will be a stretch, I am running slowly right now, but with no discomfort so I am psyched. I have three friends running the full marathon and I am very excited to watch them. Also my family is coming to hang out with us in Philly, which is totally cool. My mom, stepdad, sister, her boyfriend and my little family are all heading down.

I am so happy.

Wolf Rock

There is a totally awesome spot to hike in our area named Wolf Rock. There is a beautiful vista from the top. Here we are on the face of the tiny cliff. A few possible xmas card pics. I adore my three little (well, big) mosters!

Hello

Not much new lately. Just the last of my friend's turning 40. We have one more birthday celebration tommorrow. I like being 40 so far. I feel like a grown up.

I got a new haircut, shorter. My boys said, "oh you got an old lady haircut" as soon as I walked in from the hairdressers. Sometimes I hate them.

Running is fine, definitely in a slump, but I am just glad to run.

I will try to post photos soon. I have been so lazy.

Still slow

I am home today with a sick son. I have boxes in the garage still needing unpacking and I am hosting a Halloween pre-trick or treat dinner so I have plenty to do while my little guy moans in my bed eating crackers, popsicles and drinking ginger ale.

I am still feeling sluggish with my running but I am not fretting. I know if I continue to do what I am doing; resting, only running every other day and usually only about 4 miles, eating well ( actually I have inhaled about 4 dollars worth of Halloween candy since Tuesday so I am not really eating well;-) I should be fine.

Good news is my left hip is completely better. Rest and running in moderation, oh yeah and also stretching really do work!!

My new position at school is kicking my ass, I think that explains a lot of my sluggish running. I spend so much energy trying to get those wild little kids to be civil that I have very little energy left over. I have decided to apply to a reading teacher certification program that would start this summer. I have to do something. I know I don't have the stamina to teach preschoolers for the rest of my career.

On the other hand, I am learning a lot in my new job, I am working as a Head Start teacher this year rather than a Preschool Teacher. The only difference is that Head Start is based on your income. The family has to be living at or below 30% above the federal poverty guidelines. There are a lot of factors that effect children associated with poverty. More later on that, I have to go buy my sicko some more ginger ale!

I am getting slower!

My running group has speed workouts every Tuesday nights. There is a smart man that coaches us and computes what pace and distance we should each strive for every week. After looking at the four weeks we have been training, it appears I am getting...slower! Yikes! I have asked the smart man to explain why perhaps this would be happening but I think it might have to do with that I am EXHAUSTED!

I need a break.

I am tired.

The beginning of the school year has kicked my butt. I am running every other day, no long runs though. I plan to trudge through the half marathon in Philly and I will have fun!!!

I miss reading blogs, hopefully I will get to them soon.

New Goals

Well my hip feels better when I only run every other day and about 4 miles is the limit. It is not pain free, mind you, but at least I can keep running.

BUT I am so sad since I think training to run the Philadelphia Marathon is probably out of the question. I have 11 weeks to train and haven't done a long run in two weeks and definitely can not do one this weekend. I suppose if I keep nursing my hip, I could continue training and see how far I get in the training. I am definitely going to go and run the half for sure. I really really really want to do whole marathon though. Time will tell.

I have had HORRIBLE allergies this fall season. Holy macarel. I think I have finally have a plan to combat the allergies though. I have some natural medicine called Aller Leaf that is effective and Nettles tea along with cleaning my sinuses with a rhino horn (yuck, but it works). I have suffered ever since school started and my naturopath tells me that many teachers are coming complaining. What the heck is in those schools? Dusty books? Moldy basements?

Ouch my hip hurts :-(

Well I am back with the technologically advanced world again. I am not in the habit of checking my email or writing in my blog though. It may take a while.

My left hip has been bothering me ever since I started work. Do you think I am allergic? I think my ITB band is bothered by my increase in mileage to prepare for the Philadelphia Marathon and from sitting in very small chairs built for preschoolers, not tall teachers that run too much and don't stretch!

To rest my hip, I haven't run since last Tuesday and only went swimming and to yoga class and stretched EVERY time I thought about it. The results of this little experiment were very good. No pain by day two. But I went for a very easy jog of three miles this morning and I have a little pain today from that. Not sure how to proceed from here. Any ideas?

My New Haven Pics are up. www.islandphoto.com my bib 786(I thought I figured out how to link and then it didnt work)I was barely awake when my friends picked my up and I forgot my Red Sox cap and my sunglasses. So you are getting a different view of me! More natural state!

Greetings!

I have no internet access for a little while and I am using my school computer to tell everyone I miss them and will be back in Sept. My legs are not moving like they were last summer, but I know as in life everything has it ups and downs. My running is in a down. But that too will change when I least expect it and I will be ready!!!

photos I hope

Here are the photos from the tri http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?36691407

Today I ran 8 very very sweaty miles. I have been staying at a house on a beautiful lake and swimming a lot. Maybe I should try to fit one more tri in for the season but I am trying to focus on qualifying for Boston in Philadelphia so I don't want to get distracted. Hmm, so many decisions....

Danskin Quick and Dirty

I had a very fun time and a better time than I thought I was going to get. My swim was 4 minutes faster than last year at 12:11. Transition one about the same time as last year. My bike was a titch slower at 16.4 mph instead of 16.5 with a time of 43:48 and T2 was a little slower than last year and my run was a little slower too with a time of 23:08. My overall time was 1:24!!! Yeah for me!

Danskin Here I Come!

Well I am not as prepared this year for the danskin tri and also not as psyched for it, but I am trekking up to Webster MA tomorrow to give it my all anyhow! I have hardly swam all year and don't expect great things in the water. My biking is going very well. My running is a little slower since the trail marathon. I did run a 6:40 mile in the Boom Box Mile on July 4th and it was easy actually.

I am hoping to finish within two minutes of last year's time of 1:28. I am not sure how my transitions will be because last year I just wore sneakers on the bike and could just take off on the run. Tomorrow I have to take off bike shoes and try to tie running shoes, yikes.

More later and hopefully some photos as well.

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday on my six mile morning run, I was flying. I felt like I could run forever and fast. It was great, what a boost for the day.

Today I am riding my bike with a headwind and oh my goodness, I can barely move the damn thing! To top it all off, my much loved bike is my only mode of transportation since my juicy jeep is having new brakes put on.

My bike is much better on gas at least :-)

Tales of an almost 5 year old

My new sweetheart has a little daughter that will be 5 years old in a week and unfortunately my three older and ruder boys are teaching her a few bad tricks.

The other day my oldest son told one of his beloved brothers to "shut up" in front of the little girl. And she told him, " You shouldn't use words like that, you don't want to teach me stuff like that, do you?"

Review of Nipmuck Marathon 2008

Today I went for a short trail run and realized I haven't given the Nipmuck Trail Marathon its due. It is a great marathon and anyone interested in destination races should put this one on their list. You must be mentally and physically very strong though. Read on...

The marathon has essentially two parts. The first 12 miles you run southbound to a very interesting turn around. You have to run over a beaver dam to get to the turn around, it is very cool. As you can imagine the first half of the marathon was pretty wet, crossing many streams and there are a lot of rocks along the trail.

It was also hot and muggy that day. After the first half, you find yourself back at the start point and my sweetheart, Dan, was there with food and water and support. I felt like s*&t, let me tell you. I thought holy moly this is going to be an even longer day than I had expected!!! In addition my running partner, who had carried me for most of the training, was feeling the heat.

We gathered our reinforcements and I asked Dan to meet us at the next road crossing just in case we needed anything. Mostly we needed moral support and encouragement because the race is very well supported with volunteers. At about every three miles there was a table of liquids rangeing from water to coca cola. There was also a lot of interesting food to choose from, namely soggy grilled cheese, pb and j, cookies, bananas and something that appeared to be beans and cheese but looked like cat puke. I refilled my liquids at the table but stuck to what I ate during the many hours of training: a cashew butter and jelly on a soft taco shell!!! It really hit the spot for me.

The second half of the marathon is dryer and shadier and prettier to me. But it is also much much more hilly. We soldiered on and started to feel better at about mile 19, which is very silly isn't it? The worst part of the marathon was from mile 11-19, that is very long wall to have to deal with, let me tell ya. At about mile 19, we had another turn around and some of our very good friends were working the station. We collected hugs and kisses and then made the incredible climb back. The last seven miles were probably the easiest for us, weird huh?

The last mile of the route is marked in tenths. My partner, Deb, and I woohooed at every tenth. It was so flippin fun. We had a hard day but we definitely had fun.

Unfortunately I never felt the elation I usually feel after completing a marathon. I am usually high for a month after such an accomplishment. It never came or maybe it just hasn't hit me yet. All I have felt the last month while running was TIRED. This marathon and its training definitely kicked my butt. My finishing time was 6:44, just a little slower than I expected so I was fine with the time. My main goals were to finish and have fun with Deb, I completed both of those.

After the race Dan and I headed to Deb's house where I was staying at the time, showered and then went out to eat. I got this awesome chicken dish, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was!!! I also got a big yummy drink, I think it was a pina colada!!!

My recovery was pretty easy as well. I had minimal soreness but I was soooooo tired. I do remember being crabby.

Now onto preparing for my sprint tri. in July. Also I am planning my birthday month of celebrating my 40th birthday!!!! I have to get on that, the first day of celebrating starts tomorrow!

Update from the gypsy

I sold my house in less than a month and of course I did not find a house that quickly. sooooo my three kids and I have been tramping around mooching off of very good friends since May 22!!!! It has actually been fun! We stayed with one very generous couple for the first five weeks of tramping until school let out. Then we moved about 30 miles to a cottage that my mom and step dad own on a lake. But we have hardly stayed there since we have been beaching it! We stayed at the beach for three days and I am going back tomorrow night for another over night! Yippee for me!

My running and training are going well. Nothing much to note. I am taking it easy, giving myself a month to relax and not race after running the nipmuck trail marathon on June 1st. Yikes my four weeks are up on Sunday!

My triathlon is on July 27th. I am totally getting amped for it. I have been riding my bike and did some swimming in the ocean. Not so much swimming in the lake though. I can see the bottom of the ocean and know what is following me, but in the lake it is so dark and so many things are touching my legs as I swim by it freaks me out!!!

I will be moving to a new home hopefully before August 1st. It will be weird to have my own home again after tramping for three months. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again though.

Nipmuck Marathon

Today my friend and new roommate and I ran the nipmuck marathon. It was hot and humid but we got er done. It took us a loooonnnnggggg time. We finished in 6 hours and 44minutes. More later, I am too tired to even sit up.

A little ranting

I have been annoyed by two males in the past two days. The first male was a gas station attendant and when we finished our transaction I said thank you and I was trained that when you are receiving business, you should thank the customer for the business. He replied with "yup". What the hell.

The next bozo was the guy that works at the desk at the gym. I told him to have a nice day when I was leaving and his reply was "sure thing". Hey how about a little "you too"

Now that I have re-read my complaints I feel rather silly for feeling annoyed but I won't bother deleting the post because it is pretty funny.

www.ctmls.mlxchange.com is the website to check out my soon to be sold house. Type in 122 Wadsworth Lane, Willimantic, Ct 06226 once you get there. I hope it works I am so bad at this stuff.

Ready for anything

I am moving on Saturday and closing on Wednesday, May 21st. I am so psyched and scared. I am staying with a totally terrific friend while school is still in session, then my three boys and I are bunking with family till I find a permanent home.

What a crazy ride!

My trail marathon training is the hardest thing I have ever done physically. We finished our last 21 miler on Sat. and I felt great. This week we have a 14 mile trail race scheduled and then the next week we'll probably do 12 or 13. Then June 1st is the big day! I can not wait. I will not break any records but I am so thrilled to be doing this race.

After the race I have to get back in the pool and on the bike. My first tri of the season is scheduled for July 23rd. I would like to do another sometime this summer. I would like to complete an Olympic distance tri. I still haven't given up on my fascination with the Ironman!! One step, stroke and pedal at a time!!!

21 miles in the bank, baby

My girlfriends and I ran 21 miles on trails on Sunday to prepare for our upcoming trail marathon. It took us 5 hours and 18 minutes. It was hard but very rewarding. I can hardly move today though!!!

My new beau met us at mile 13 with more fluids for our fuel belt and food. That food tasted so good. Then that little sweetheart met us at mile 18 with more fluids, food and IBUBROFEN!! I was so touched that he would give up his morning to follow us around.

I put my house on the market on Tuesday and took an offer on Friday!!! WOOHOO!!! The closing is scheduled for May 23rd! Yikes! I am psyched and nervous, mostly thrilled!!!

Mr Metell

My youngest son's first grade teacher died in motorcycle accident a week ago. He was in his first year of teaching three year's ago when Travis was in his class. He was an amazing teacher and a very loving man. He attended Travis' extracurricular activities and was a positive role model for many children without any positive males in their lives. I can't believe he is gone.

He was 28 years old at the time of his death. People often say its too early when a young person dies and I have always been a little puzzled by that statement because I kinda believe when it is your time, it is your time. But with this case I feel like the world was robbed. He was going to impact so many young children's lives with his work.

Travis has taken this loss very hard. We attended the wake and the funeral and he was grieving hard. He told me his school will never be the same now. I guess for him it never will.

Swimming Again!

I finally got in the pool again today after a hiatus of about 6 months. It felt so good let me tell you. I was soooooooo slow though, wow. I used this leg float that you hold between your legs so you just use your arms and I think I went faster!! I must be doing something wrong, huh? I think I am going to join the club for 3 months so I can continue the swimming before the open water is warm enough.

It felt so good on my legs to be in the water after my long trail run yesterday. We went the top half of the marathon route again. The last time we ran the 14 mile loop it took me four hours, this time it only took me 3:28!! I am making progress, it is slow but still I am making it. I asked my training women if they would like to get on the trails for a mid-week run as well and we are going on Wed. am. I think adding a little more trail time is crucial if I am going to finish this marathon before the 8 hour time limit!!!

I will post some after pics of my house, it looks so great. I can't believe I waited so long to take care of it!

You have to watch this movie!!!

My big boys and I just finished an excellent movie entitled 'Into The Wild'. It is incredible and anyone searching for the meaning of happiness and/or life has to see it. It is rated R so the little kids have to wait for the enlightenment, but they probably know the meaning of life anyway.

Really...go rent it right now, you won't be sorry.

Northern Nipmuck Race Report

All I can say is oh. my. goodness. running in the woods in soooooooooooooo much harder than the road. Sixteen miles in the muck that was either straight up or down is as hard as a road marathon. To top it all off, you have to carry your own water too. I am exhausted, no beyond exhausted.

The sixteen miles in the woods took me 4hours and 25 minutes. Just last December I ran the Memphis Marathon (which is by no means flat) in 3hours 55 minutes. My legs yesterday felt like they must look like the Hulk's legs. Climbing those muddy inclines took a lot of effort, but let me tell you making my way down the muddy declines during the last few miles felt nearly impossible. I am amazed at the difference in effort I needed.

I am recovering well today. Last night I actually was able to contradance. I don't think I could have ever danced after any marathon so maybe it isn't actually as hard as a marathon. Today I am going to walk a little and run errands very slowly :-)

Hope everyone is well, I miss reading your blogs but my life is running in the woods and fixing up my house to sell it. It is so weird to be doing all this work on my house only to let someone else enjoy to benefits.

Northern Nipmuck Jitters

I have trained the last three weeks for my qualifying race, Northern Nipmuck Trail Race. It is in Union, CT about 30 minutes from my house. It is a 16 miler, I am a little nervous about the distance since I did two 12 milers and one 14 miler, I know I can do it, but yikes.

One difference for me in this training is that I am committed to my training partners in a more intense way than usual. I decided that the only way I want to run 26 miles in the woods would be if I had some people I love to do it with me. Two of the three women I run with regularly said they would be into the group thing too. It is really fun doing this together. One of the woman was nervous about this weekend's race since she had company and could not run with us this weekend. It felt so good to tell her not to worry we are in the together and we'll get through it. Usually I am like yikes, yeah she is going to hurt after this race. Actually we all are going to be hurting but we will have had fun anyway!!! We get very punchy by the last few miles, we usually start laughing so hard I almost pee my pants, good thing we are in the woods!!!!

Easter Road Race

Today I ran in the Easter Road Race with my little son and his two friends. It was a blast. My son is 8 and has been a litte sick lately and he struggled but finished strong. His two friends were healthy and beat us by a few minutes. It was such a fun day. We had an easter egg hunt followed by a kids race. Then the main event 5K started. Three miles is a long way for a kid and they were amazing. I was so impressed.

What a Blast!

Last week's long trail run was a rainy, sleety friggin blast. We had so much fun and got pretty punchy by the end. I learned I need to eat more before running and bring food for when I am finished in the car. I learned that I fall a lot more when I am tired. I swear my legs felt like rubber those last three miles or so.

It is amazing how little modesty one has after running for three hours in soaking wet clothes. I just got back to the car (my friend's totally hot red mini cooper) and proceeded to strip. I didn't even check to see if anyone was around, I just had to get the f-ing out of those clothes.

We then proceeded to pick up some coffee to warm up and I got a egg sandwich that went down so easy, it was great.

The best surprise of all though was that when I got home, my youngest son and my new beau were making our family a delicious breakfast of chocolate covered strawberries, pancakes and sausages and scrambled eggs!!!! It was awesome, totally.

This week the women and I are running on Good Friday, same route, same time. Hopfully no rain or sleet this time. I will try to bring my camera to post a photo of our dirty selves next week.

Totally Psyched!

I am so excited, I am getting up at 5:30am and going to meet my running chicas at the route start of the trail marathon we are planning to run in June and we are running the first half of the route tomorrow. It is supposed to be raining too. YES!!

I get turned on by the weirdest things...

Gotta love sick days

I am home with three sick boys, well actually one sick boy and two sorta sick boys that just wanted to stay home from school. I have big plans of cleaning my room and making some progress on my report cards. We'll see how much I get done. I am completely overwhelmed with getting my house ready to sell and keeping it clean. I'll try to catch up on reading some blogs today too. I miss reading what adventures you all are having. I am "training" for the Nipmuck Trail Marathon, but I have no idea what the heck I am supposed to be doing to train for it. Maybe I'll research some training schedules today too. Or maybe I'll just listen to crazy people sing on YouTube all day...

Comparative Analysis of Half Marathons in OH and CT

Yes I really am that geeky...no actually I am only a little geeky.

Let's start with Ohio, Last Chance for Boston...Marathon. We walked out of our hotel and found the start and finish line. That was pretty cool, so easy. It was cold and rainy though. The race was a mile loop in an industrial park. Yes the marathoners had to run a mile loop 26 times. It was pretty nuts. Thirteen miles was enough for me. It was cool to have 1/4 mile markers and music and water every mile though. It was also easy for my kiddos to cheer us on. They came out at mile 6 or so and then again out at 10, then we ate some good post race food of yummy pizza, banana and candy and went swimming while we waited for my stepdad to finish the marathon.

We went to cheer him on at mile 20 and he was looking tired but determined and knew it would be very close for him to BQ. By the time we got back out there to check on him, it was mile 24 and pretty clear that BQing was out of the question but he finished with his head held high just under 4 hours.

My half marathon time was 1:53 and I was extremely sore and tired. Sorta funny to be so sore on such a flat course. My training was pretty lame and I would say that accounted for the slower time and muscle soreness.

Fast forward six days and a whirlwind roadtrip home and that would bring us to the Colchester Half Marathon in CT. It was cold and snowy and we had just received about 5 inches of ice and snow the night before. Great race conditions not for a PR, but definitely a fun time with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment to follow.

The Colchester Half is VERY VERY VERY hilly, did I say it was hilly??? It is also very scenic through rolling farm country with two dirt roads that were not only VERY HILLY but also VERY SLIPPERY!! I ran the first 6 miles or so at a relaxed pace, but then I was passed on a gigantic hill at mile 8 by a woman in spandex with a wedgie that just looked so painful. I pulled ahead of her at a water stop at mile 9 and put the legs in gear to haul ass the rest of the distance. I just couldn't look at the wedgie for the last five miles.

My new "friend" (what do you a person you are dating when you are almost 40 and not quite divorced yet?) met up with me in his car at mile 11 and I had him do the look back and tell me how far Wedgie was behind me. He told me 100 yards, but I heard feet and said oh crap I have to keep running fast. The last two miles of this marathon are uphill and a battle of mental toughness. I got to the top at 2:04 and was so happy to be done. Never to see Wedgie again...

Not very much stiffness and felt very good. I did have some cramping in my stomach muscles when I changed my clothes though. Nothing a few deep breaths couldn't take care of.

Now I am not sure what is next on the race schedule. Have to look around. Gotta go make dinner now, ciao!

Greetings from Dublin, Ohio

My boys, stepdad and I left yesterday at 5pm to trek out to Dublin, Ohio for the Last Chance for Boston Marathon. Although teachers get tons of vacations, we don't get "vacation time", so I couldn't leave any earlier. We made it to Pennsylvania at 8pm and stopped at Wendy's for some slam food.

I fell asleep whenever I wasn't driving. I took the wheel at 1:30-3:00, then again to finish the trek from 4-5. The most notable experience so far on this road trip was the awesome truck stop we checked out to pee at about 3am. We walked in and could only find a men's room, of course. Then there were 9 "private" showers, pretty intriguing, my littlest son and I tried to check them out but they were locked. Also there was a tv room with about 25 comfy chairs, each equipped with an ashtray. There was a laundry room too. And a gameroom for the truckers that want to play pool.

There was also a plethora of items for sale; you could buy some "deer poo", really chocolates. Or any type of map light. A little bookmark with "God's Garden" printed on it. I am sure there were more interesting things to buy, but my eyes were rather bleary at that time.

My stepdad noticed that he was entitled to a "free" car cloth with a ten dollar purchase, since we are driving down in a gigantic van, the gas was definitely more than ten dollars. At 3am, one of the salesladies actually gave him a hard time about giving him his stupid free cloth, the second lady finally said "just give him the dang cloth" realizing that when my stepdad wants something, he is going to get it.

We arrived at the Crowne Plaza at 5am. My youngest son slept most of the night in the back of the gigantic van and wasn't tired. He read the hotel book and a factual book about Columbus till 7am, the rest of us crashed hard. I woke up at 8:30 to take care of my cutie pie and brought him to the computer center to play. Here is now type this entry while many many skinny people in swishy pants walk by and try to intimidate me. Lucky for me, my eyes have not been able to focus fully yet!!!

Road Trip To Ohio

My boys, stepdad and I are hopping in his gas guzzling gigantic white van and driving ten hours to Ohio next Friday to run. My stepdad is obsessed with qualifying for Boston and this race just happens to be entitled, The Last Chance for Boston...Marathon.

It is a one mile loop course. Four feet of elevation. That is shorter than my 8 year old.

I am registered for the half marathon and feel pretty psyched. I have fell in love with running again. Last year I was totally into the triathloning, but with the pool closing "temporarily" (since September!!), I have had to change my focus. I checked the results for my age group for that last three years and I should place, possibly come in first even. I can really push myself because I have the whole next week off due to February vacation. Gotta love the teachers' schedule, baby!!!

Check out the race at www.premierraces.com/LastChance/lastchance.html

Happy Groundhog Day

Well it was cloudy at sunrise this am in Ct., so I declare that on my little parcel of dirt, the groundhog did NOT see his shadow and that would mean an EARLY SPRING!!!!! I hope that damn rodent is right, I could use a little more sunshine in my life. I just get so tired so early during the winter. If I get home at 6pm and don't have any meetings or practices to go to that evening, then I change into my pajamas AT 6 PM!!!! It is so pathetic. I wouldn't dream of putting pajamas on if it was light out. Now as I type this I realize the groundhog can make time move any faster, he can only predict temperature, right? Oh my goodness, I need more sleep I think. I can't believe I am writing about this...

Shout Out for Tommy Martin, my oldest baby

My freshman in high school ran the anchor leg of the 4X800 relay team today and his team came in second in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division for indoor track. I was so proud of him. It was my first meet I had the chance to attend and boy it was fun. I didn't even know he was the anchor of the team until I saw them line up. The mother is always the last to know...

Hello Running World

I have been very busy lately and a little wimpy as well. I have only been running at the gym on the treadmill for the most part and well that is reeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyy boring and I would never want to write about it, that's for sure. I did run 7 miles with some friends today, it was 20' and I was cold. I am so out of "cold" running shape. My lungs are happier though.

I will let you know what is happening in other parts of my life since my running life is just "rolling" along.

My boys are very well. Tommy is running indoor track and I think is staying out of trouble. Nick is wrestling and playing basketball and has straight A's and is in confirmation class at church and plays in the jazz band at school. I think he saw his chance to bump Tommy off the "overachiever" pedestal and has progressed full tilt. Travis, my baby, is slowly but surely adjusting to his parents' divorce, but continues to need a little extra TLC. He is a monster on the basketball court.

My divorce is going well. We have agreed on everything, now we just have to get our lawyers to stop fighting and milking us for more money. Eric has found a new love interest and that has helped take his interest off me, YIPPEE!!!

I am planning on putting my house on the market in April. I am very busy trying to get all the accumulated crap in its proper place, either the garbage or a box. I am psyched to get out this house, start over. The payments are way over my head, it will be so much easier to get into something less expensive and with less awful memories.

I have started dating and it is going VERY WELL. The months I stayed by myself have really helped me to know what I want and that I can stand on my own two feet. It is amazing to be dating without being desparate.

My job is also terrific. My group of kids is challenging but extremely fun.

Thanks to hard work, prayers and the love of good friends I feel like I am on the other side of the awful rollercoaster.

2008 Race Plans

Well I know this is really only interesting to me, but I want to post my race schedule anyway. You can see it on the right. I am trying to run two marathons, but the first marathon is only for social interaction and fun. My friends are planning on running the Nipmuck Trail Marathon in June. I only want to run this marathon very easy, no speed pressure. I want the speed pressure for when I run Philadelphia and hope to qualify for Boston. I am psyched!

2007 Reflections - My First Triathlon

My completed my first triathlon in 2007 in Webster, MA in July. It was a Danskin sponsored event for women only. I traveled up there with four of the coolest women I know, three pictured here with me. I am the only brunette and they didn't tell me about the black running bra with black shorts uniform either. This is a before photo, we are all VERY nervous, but we look pretty cool, I must say.

This year I want to complete an Olympic distance triathlon, but I better get my ass into some water soon. I have not been swimming since October and I am not a very good competitive swimmer. I can swim to save my life, but I want to beat some asses out there, so I better start!!!

The tri was a huge event for me this summer. Triathlons are soooooooooo much fun. I was definitely bit by the triathlon bug. My only regret is that I live in a region where the season is so short.

Reflections on 2007

One very memorable running injury I endured in 2007 was a fall while "hiking" not trail running. I was reaching for my little son to help him cross a stream and he found another way over, I then tried to pivot over to the other side and both my feet collapsed on the very wet rocks. The blood that pooled around my ankle over the next month was disgusting.

This boo-boo happened a day before my husband was asked to leave the house in order to protect my children from his abusive parenting. It sort of was like my body or a higher power was forcing me to stay off the roads and take care of my kids. My physical body recovered a lot faster than my heart and mind, let me tell you.

More reflections that are on a more positive note are coming. I promise...

Christmas Vacation

I am on vacation this week and will try to sit down and think about my blog, maybe contact Runner Susan for a new masthead. Just finished watching some totally cool movie about mind erasing. Internal Sunshine of a Senseless Mind, I think. Crazy good movie.

Ran five miles today, felt great. Be back soon. Gotta put my sweetie pie to bed.

Crazy Busy!

I have been crazy busy since Memphis. Hardly running at all. My body needs to rest, I think. I have gone on some nice walks and beautiful pre-dawn runs that were amazing, magical almost. There is something surreal running all alone in the dark cold morning with the stars shining so bright. I saw a shooting star too one morning that was cool.

Here are some photos from the Marathon. Not very exciting, well the one with Elvis is pretty cool.
http://www.asiorders.com/go.asp?27661905
http://www.asiorders.com/stf.asp?EVENTID=19934&PWD=&ID=44826430

Someday I will have a chance to download photos of Graceland and post those too. Now I have to go Christmas shopping.

Where to begin?

From the beginning, I suppose. We arrived in Memphis at 12 midnight, surprised to find out we gained a hour on our trip. We didn't know there would be a time change. We hysterically ran from a room full of sleeping people and finally settled into our room at about 1am. We woke up late for us on Friday morning and got out on the town at about 10am.



The woman at the desk, Jennifer, told us about the trolley public transportation system and we caught the trolley about a half mile from our hotel. We took the two mile trolley ride to town and found it to be very empty. We had an authentic Southern breakfast of bisquits and gravy and grits, home fries cooked in bacon fat, and the most tasty omelette I've had in long time. Then we headed to the expo, still not finding many people walking in Memphis. We were a little worried at that point. We walked a couple miles to the Missippi River and ceremonially spat in the river! My running friends and I always spit over every bridge we cross, so we HAD to spit in the Missippi River!!



Then we headed to the expo and got our stuff. It was a pretty cool expo. I picked a PACETAT for the four hour pace. I purchased a Memphis Running Club winter hat and some xmas presents for my family.



After that we headed to GRACELAND. It was awesome. You wear these headsets with controllers and you listen to a man talking about Elvis' house and life. You can punch in certain numbers to hear more about certain aspects. I loved it. It was so cool to learn about such a famous musician and his family.



Last, we went to Beale St. for dinner. Now this was Memphis. The Memphis you hear about in all the music. One awesome Blues bar after another. We opted to eat at Hard Rock Cafe because we wanted to keep it simple. We were back in our hotel by 8, lights out by 9pm.



By the way, Thursday and Friday were cold. I was freaking out since I wasn't sure what to wear running.



BUT I woke on Sat, race day to beautiful weather. At five in the morning, it was already like 40' and the sun was popping through, but it was still pretty cold. We went to check our bags at The Autozone Baseball Complex and hung out as long as possible. We made our way to the start line at 7:45. The weather was warming up beautifully.

The marathon started in two minute waves and my friends and I lined up in the 3:50 finishers corral. The start was smooth and we were off. I was following the 3:50 pace leader for about three miles and then realized I was right behind the 3:45 pacers. My girlfriend and I stayed in between these two pacers for the next ten miles. It was really fun because the 3:45 pace guy was shirtless and he wrote his name, Jimmy, on his chest. We got lots of cheers. I felt great the first 14 miles.

At miles 15 and 16, there is a slight incline and I started to get tired. I was no longer able to stay as close to the 3:45 pace guy, but I had them in my sights for about two more miles. By mile 19, my muscles were just starting to cramp. They were fine if I took it down a notch. I slowed to about 9:15/mile pace.

It was by mile 22, that I knew my possibility of qualifying for Boston was slipping through my fingers. I was sad for about one mile, then I kicked myself in the ass. I told myself that I needed to appreciate what my body was doing right in that moment and continue to run as hard as I could. I was able to continue to run hard.

Two events enabled me to keep focused and moving. At mile 21, a man was going down and my first instinct was to go try and catch him. I quickly realized that I was really only able to keep myself standing at the moment and ran up ahead a few feet as fast as I could to get help. I don't know how he fared, but he sure did make me realize that I should appreciate that my body was strong enough to continue.

Another event was at mile 24, a young woman passed me at the water stop. I must have looked tired because she said, "I have been pacing off of you for about 5 miles, don't you quit now!". Well I'll be damned if I slowed down then, I only had two freakin' miles to go. I kicked it in and passed her and got my hungry ass to the finish line. I was so happy to break four hours.

We finished in Autozone Park at home plate. The stadium was packed of screaming fans. After getting my tin foil and medal. I spotted Elvis and posed for a professional photo. I can't wait till they are up. Then I crawled up the stairs to the concourse and devoured whatever food I could get my grubby hands on. I ate two slices of pizza, soup, a banana, yogurt and an orange. I drank two bottles of water. Then I went to try to get my bag, my friends were out on the course and I wasn't able to figure out how to get out there. I figured they would find me and they did.

Once I got my bag, I called my family and tried to change into dry warm clothes. The only problem was that my feet were so far away and I was afraid that if I sat on the ground to change, I would not be able to get up without assistance. At that point I was like what they hell do I do this to my body for???

The only answer I have ever come up with is because I can. I am blessed with a strong runner's body and I am going to use it!!

Memphis Marathon Rocks

I am home, showered, sitting at my computer after getting up at 3am to catch a taxi at 4am to get to the airport to catch a 5am flight. We travelled for the next four hours and as soon as I get to CT my kids call my cell to tell me we need food. Stopped at Stop and Shop to pick the neccessities according to my 12-year-old son (frozen waffles, milk, bread and cereal). I have taken a shower, thrown in a load of laundry and now I am writing some of my memories of the Memphis Marathon trip. It is now 3:39pm and I am deliriously tired, but happy to be home.



My stats from the race look like this:

27th in my age group

608 overall

119th of all women

10K 22 52:29 8:28

1/2marathon 23 1:53 8:40

20 miles 2:55 8:47

Final 3:55:26 9:00



I was happy with that time, I completed two of my goals: (1) finish, (2) under 4 hours. The third goal, qualify for Boston was just out of reach. I tried to kick it in the last few miles, but I just did not have enough to do it. BUT I know the ability is there, I just have to refine my training. I was totally psyched about being 608th out of 1952 runners. Wow!

More on the experience and photos to come. I am too tired to sit upright any longer. Ciao.

5:15 Race morning

I am currently sipping tea and eating a banana, mentally preparing for the task I am about to undertake. I just tattooed my arm with the a 4 hour pace band. I have confidence I can break 4 hours, but not so much confidence I can hit my Boston Qualifying time of 3:45. We'll see....either way, Wes, happy birthday!!!

Beautiful race conditions, start of the race will be 45' and by the time we finish the forecast is for 60'. Gorgeous.

See you soon!

ps I am officially in love with Elvis and I think I'll give up teaching and become a clerk in one of the 300 souvenir shops on Elvis Presley Blvd.

I'm in Memphis!!

Last night, four of the five other women and I travelled from Hartford, CT to Memphis. We had a layover in Charlotte. It took us five hours to get here. None of knew about the time change so we gained an hour, needed it I am exhausted.

We get to our hotel at midnight, but one am in my body. The clerk must have been busy in the back because she sure did not want to help us!! First she tells they have no cots and no extra blankets. Luckily one of our travellers is a firefighter and always prepared and brought a sleeping bag.

Then we proceed to rm 227. My friend unlocks the door and says "oh they forgot to make the beds, oh wait a minute, there are people sleeping in them!!!". We opened the door bleary eyed and look in and find PEOPLE sleeping in the room!!!! We quickly apologized and ran back to the lobby in hysterics.

Now we are getting ready to head to Graceland. I am going to find my inner Elvis, I definitely have the hips!

New Look

My son said my old blog design was boring, so we checked out blogger's choices. How do people make their own design? I know Runner Susan makes personal headmasts, maybe I could talk to her.

Nothing new in the world of chocolate loving runner girl except I am already packing for Memphis. WOOHOO!

A week to go...

Only one week from today, I'll be hitting the streets of Memphis to run the marathon. I am totally psyched and getting anxious now.

Like completely overdramatiziing and obsessing over every slight pain or discomfort I might have.

Or not wanting to go near anyone with a cold or runny nose.

Or thinking and freaking out about flying (i hate flying).

Or worrying about my "time", this is the first time I ever cared about time, I used to just care about finishing, but now I know I can run faster than before.

Or worrying about how all the childcare plans are going to work out and not being able to do anything about it from miles away.

Or completely stressing about the weather and what to wear while running.

Or wondering how I can get to Graceland from my hotel!!

Oh the many trials and tribulations a crazy runner woman has to endure!!!!

Spiritual Awakenings

I have had spiritual experiences while running, especially when I am pushing my limits. While running my long run this week on a 25' cold, windy but sunny and crisp Sunday, I was pretty cold. BUT every time the sun would shine on my body for a few minutes, I would experience such a warmth, I just knew there is a God out there somewhere watching over me, making me warm when I need it most.

Sweet faith.

Twenty miler down, I friggin' kicked ass. I can't wait for this marathon, baby. I am soooooooo prepared. Now time to taper, I love tapering. I have a 15 miler scheduled for this weekend. I love when 15 seems so easy.

Does anyone know where my chocolate brother has been lately? I have visited Jon who was in Michigan but now lives in New York, Chocolate Runner's Blog and he hasn't written in a while. What's up? Tell him I miss him if you have his email.

The Breakfast of Champions!?

It has been such a busy week I have not had time to write about a splendid running event that took place last Sunday afternoon. As you all know, I have been trying to make some type of sense of my home and projects have taken precedence over eating and sleeping, notice I did not say over running, never would that happen!!

I woke up Sunday and immedately started working on my projects, but keeping my hydration in mind since I planned on running in a local 5K at 1pm. So I worked my butt off and then realized we lost some pieces to fit our bed back together. Had to run out to the hardware store before it closed at 1:00. The store is right next to a local greasy spoon and it was like 10:30, plenty of time to grab some brunch and have it digested before race time. Right...what I didn't plan for was the hour wait for our food. The boys and I all ordered bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches on texas toast with home fries. I only ate half of my sandwich while my oldest son ate his and my other half. He was planning to run the 5k as well. Bad move.

We ran in the Veteran's Memorial Greenway 5K in Willimantic, Ct. It USED to start behind a gym and that's where I rolled in on two wheels at 12:30. No race there. I hypersped to the other gym in town and realized where the race start was moved to. Tommy and I ran to the registration table, grabbed our numbers and t-shirts (it really pays to preregister!) and then ran them back to the car. We had ten minutes to warm up and then head to the start line.

I felt pretty good during the warm up, no full stomach problems. I got to the first mile in 7:05 and then was passing some people and realized I was doing pretty well. There is a turn around at this race, so I started to look at where I was in terms of women. There was only ONE woman in front of me! And I could see her and pass her I did, baby! I passed her right after the turn around and I mean I really passed her. I was afraid I might not be able to keep the speed up but I figured what the hell, I might as well try, right?

I passed mile two at 14:16, wow pretty consistent.

Then I started to suck wind a little, but I really wanted to win. I passed one my training buddies. Then I saw my teenage totally freaking fast long distance runner son, he usually finishes race in 21:05 or so. I was like, oh my goodness, he is hurting. Later he described me coming up behind him as "oh my god the person behind me is going to die" since I was breathing so hard. When he saw the person was me, his next thought was "oh my god, I knew I was sucking out, but I didn't think I was going that slow" ( I usually finish in 24 min.)

I somehow got the words out to have him look behind us and tell me how close the next woman was to us and he told at least 50 feet. I immediately slowed down since I knew I had it in the bag and I thought my lungs might burst if I kept up that pace. I finished the race in 22:40 and was sooooooo pumped. I was proud for like days. The feeling of crossing the line would just pop into my consciousness at random times and it was just great, stupendous, excellent, grande. My kids started teasing me about my foolish grin just crossing over my face.

BUT that was last week, this week brings me to my 20miler, my last long run before Memphis. I am psyched and sick with nerves at the same time, but that is why we do this, right? Right now I am off to play in a setback tourney with Tommy, his ego and stomach have recovered nicely.

Run hard, play harder!

Happy Long Run

I ran from putting my kids on the bus this afternoon and zipped into my running clothes to run for three hours or whatever miles I can run in that amount of time. My middle son surprised me at school looking for a ride to a skateboard shop, so I got out a little past schedule but still got on the road by 4pm.

I did a longish part of the run first, I took a big loop to get to my house and feed my dog and check on her. The poor girl has been totally neglected this Fall. Too many soccer games and races. I ran ten miles to my house, got my water belt, gu and music. Then I made my way down back into town for another nine miles. I felt great the whole time, except by the last hill I was pooped.

I ate my gu at about mile twelve and oh my goodness, what a jolt it gave me. I have cut WAAAAAYYYYY back on my sugar intake, so when that sugar hit me I was ready and rearing to go, baby!!!

I was pretty psyched about how good I felt since this was my second long run in only five days. My last long run was only last Sunday, but I had to do it tonight since this weekend is filled with yet another soccer tourney, church and a race on Sunday. There are soooo many fun things I want to do this weekend, but I think I have to stay home and complete a project for my boys so they can move their bedrooms. On SAt. night, a bunch on women friends are getting together for a "clothing swap". I don't really need any clothes, but have a bunch to get rid off. So maybe I'll just drop them off. On Sunday afternoon after the race, there is this "hibernation festival" held at this earthy crunchy private school. They sell the BEST soup in the world, I look forward to it every year. So I will have to just go get some even if I am not done with my job at home.

Have a great weekend everybody, run hard!

The Longest Long Run

Today I had plans to meet a friend and run for three hours or 18 miles at the West Hartford Reservior. My friend was bringing his camelpak so I planned on having him carry the water for both of us. BUT he was detailed to dive due to an auto accident body recovery and wasn't able to run. I didn't know this till AFTER the run.

Not only did I have no water, I didn't really know where I was going. My friend has a garmin that would have led us around the trails. So the inevitable happened, I got lost on the trails with no water or watch or cell phone. I never really got lost because in CT there are not big enough forrests to ever really get lost. When I could not get back to the parking lot, I spotted some open areas in the tree line and ran in that direction. The open area was actually homes. Luckily I am skinny and fit through a hole in the backyard fence and started running on the street.

I found my way to a main road and STILL did not know where I was!!!! I ran to a stop light about a mile away and did not know the road that was intersecting but then noticed it was a road I saw on one of the ends of the trails. So I waited till a woman driver stopped at the light and waved and asked to point me in the direction of Farmington Ave., she told me it was the opposite direction I was running about four miles! So I hightailed the other way down the street and continued on. When I finally got to Farmington Ave., I had to ask a nice couple which direction the Reservior was and they looked at me like I was crazy and told me which way to go and said it was like ten minutes away. I finally got back to my car at exactly 10am. I had been running for 3 hours and 15 minutes. I was thirsty, let me tell ya!

I am tired but happy I got home in one piece. It was quite an adventure!!

Here we are enjoying a "look for signs of Autumn" walk with my class. The colors this year are amazing, very vibrant. I am not ready for winter running though. I have adjusted to running in the dark, I dug out my headlamp, but I haven't dug out my running pants yet. I am holding out as long as possible!!

Global Warming

I declare that global warming is not so bad. I enjoyed the past three days of running in the early morning hours with shorts on. Looks like tomorrow will be a beauty too, but I am pooped. I might try to drag my ass out of bed just because the moon is beautiful and bright and it is supposed to be like 50' at dawn. Usually by now, we are fighting with frost in the am.

Loving this nice weather. I will post some pics soon of the gorgeous foliage too.

Run hard, play harder!

I love running

My marathon training is going really well. I hope I don't jinx it by saying it aloud. I completed 17 miles on Thursday and it was also the first day of my period. So all you people of the male persuasion, imagine running 17 miles with a diaper on and feeling like your testicles are twice their normal size and crampy. Not easy, but it is done and it feels good I don't have to run another long run until next Friday!!

Good Grief

I walked for the Relay for Life, which is a fundraiser for cancer research this weekend. I always think about one of my best friends that died of brain cancer eight years ago while I walk. I usually have a good time thinking of him, it sort of feels warm like a comfy old blanket wrapped around me. And this weekend was the same. I remembered things about him I thought I had forgotten and they made me chuckle.

Then sometimes grief hits you so hard it takes your breath away. Later that same day, I was at church and the choir sang a hymn that was one of the hymns I sang at my friend's funeral and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach and tears just popped out of my eyes.

Life is a strange and mysterious journey.

Hartford Marathon Recap

I had to scrambled to get all three kids to friend's houses so they could get to their games or practices. They were all up by 6am on a Sat., not too thrilled with me. I get everyone where they need to be and I am off by 6:40, a little later than I should have left.

I arrive in Hartford at about 7:15 and notice that people are leaving the Civic Center with their bags. I am perplexed because I have run one of the races since 2001 and you could always pick up your number at the race start on race day. So I park anywhere I could and jog to the Civic Center and thank goodness I jogged because the line to pick up your race number was about 300 people long at 7:30am when the race is scheduled to start at 8:00am about a half a mile away!!! So basically I freaked but kept it all inside, got my number at about 7:45 and jetted over to the start. I threw on my chip and quickly pinned my number on, at 7:50 I ran to the UPS trucks to check my bag. Of course I had to pee, but no time allowed. I got to the very very back of the crowd and we started about 5-10 past 8am.

It sucked starting in the back, I had to dart and weave past a lot of walkers for the first two miles. I don't consider myself a running snob, I feel like if your fat ass is out there, then I'll be damned if someone should judge you for walking or jogging instead of "running". BUT as truth would have it, I am slightly a running snob. Trying to get past those damn walkers was a bitch.

Finally by about mile three, I was with other people going my pace, about 8:30/mile. I felt great!! The whole entire 13 miles was easy and fun. I think my long runs have been challenging because I haven't brought enough water/fluids with me. I drank on the course at least every mile, I think they had more water stops than miles even and I stopped at every stop.

Right after I finished I turned around and met my girlfriends at about mile 12, they were right behind me. We ran in together and I continued on to get 16 miles in so I could feel good about using this as my long run for the week. We then met up and enjoyed the most excellent race food. Whole foods market supplied the food and they served this cranberry cous cous that was amazing. I don't know what cous cous is and someone called one of the men I was hanging out with "gay" for eating it, but gay or not I love the stuff.

My friends and I headed back to the finish line to cheer on one of our friends that was finishing up the marathon. Unfortunately, my marathoner friend experienced the feared stomach cramps that can sometimes happen during a marathon and had a horrible pain for the last 16 miles. But she is incredible and finished the stupid marathon anyway! After we consoled her at the finish line, some of us ate some more food (me), while some of us drank some beer (everyone else!).

It was a beautiful day to run, 50s with a slight breeze. I have to complain about the marathon coordinators though this year. They did not have enough shirts. They said they will send me one and they better, that $50 race fee aint' for nothin'!! They also ran out of marathon medals with the clock not even being 5 hours and let me tell you those after 5 hours finishers deserve those damn medals! Also, I know we are trying to be environmentally conscious, but they did not provide water bottles at the end of the race, just drinking fountains. And working at a school, I know what can get on those fountains and it aint pretty.

My finishing time was 1:54, an 8:44/mile pace. I was 738th out of 2471 finishers! I was thrilled that I did not get tired the entire race. I guess those long runs are paying off!!

Gearing Up for the Hartford Marathon

The Hartford Marathon is held this Sat. at 8am. I am runnning the half marathon and plan to run a friend in as well. This is her first half marathon. We are also meeting some other friends. One of the friends is running the 5K while another is running the full marathon. The Hartford Marathon has a very fun post race party as well. And lo and behold, I think I might be kidless at this race. I don't know what I'll do with my self!!

A Yankee fan friend of mine (yes I have a few that I let into my life, but they have to pass a test first!!) invited me to a concert Friday night, I think it is a ploy to get me to miss the first game of the Red Sox vs Indians series, but I am not sure. I have to think about it, because I want to get to bed early Friday night so I can kick ass in the half. It is so much better to have to make these kinds of choices!! Life is full of good choices!

GO RED SOX!!!!!!

This weekend was filled with soccer games for both the little and the middle. Fun was had by all. We finished the weekend with pizza with two other families and had a blast.

We also reveled in the Red Sox SWEEPING the series. Bring it on Cleveland. Too bad for the Yankees (yeah, right? I hate them).

Speedwork tonight, the boss wants us to run faster for a longer distance per interval yet my heart feels like it is going to explode when I ran the shorter distance, so we'll see.

Runners Need Protein - duh

I know I sound dumb, but I have to tell you how remarkably different I feel since I have started drinking a protein shake after running. I have been drinking one after running to refuel my muscles, but I also have started drinking more of them on the days that are crazy busy and I may not eat properly. Everything about me feels better, my outward appearance, my muscles, lungs TODO (that means everything in spanish).

todo, todo, todo I mean everything!!

The benefits did not take long to experience either. I felt them after about a week of drinking shakes right after a workout. So get to your GNC store and ask for a good protein powder. I got mine from my naturalopathic doctor, it contains no gluten. But I think GNC would be as good a place as any to find some.

(I think I spelled naturalopathic wrong but you get the drift. Also, when I say everything is better I even mean libido - i have been crazy horny lately- which is a little frustrating since the only person I have had sex with is myself for quite sometime!!!- that probably fits into the "TOO MUCH INFORMATION" category, huh?)

I am getting better, yippee!!

About six weeks ago, I almost threw in the towel, but I am very resilient and have three boys counting on me so I knew I had to figure this whole abusive relationship thing out.

First I thought about my own physical well being. I developed a four point plan. The first being to eat more protein and more food in general as well as be vigilant about taking my vitamin supplements. I have done that and feel much better. My hair was starting to fall out in large quantities and my skin was rashy, both as a result of stress and not eating. My hair is better, my skin is getting there.

Second was to get two half hour massages a month. My massage therapist loves me and told me I was going to her for two full hours/month and she was only charging me at the half rate. Love her.

Third was to get back into yoga. Started that last week and pretty much cried threw the whole thing, but it was what I needed.

Fourth was to stay as far away from Eric I could. This was a biggie. I was able to keep my interactions down to a minimum and now am able to see his crazy behavior for what it is: crazy. I am able to be much more objective and realize I have very little to do with his behavior. Yesterday he was mad at me and no lie he called my cell phone and house phone over 40 times!!! I was able to not answer and also asked my dear friend to call him for me and try to help him figure out what he was doing was harrassment and well fucking nuts. It sorta worked, but he called my cell phone about 10 times today, so it only sorta worked.

As far as running goes, I got 15 miles in today, but my hip was screaming after about 7 miles. Good thing for numbers 2 and 3 of my plan. Yoga and massage should do the trick.

After my hairdresser heard about my new de-stressing program, she also suggested sex is always a good de-stress activity too! Only thing is I would have to let someone new see me naked and that is not happening!

I actually like speedwork!?!

Seven of my Willimantic Athletic Club members (ie WAC-Os) have begun a six week speedwork plan. We meet every Tuesday night at a local track at 6pm to run four 1000meter repeats. Our goal is to complete the 1000meters in under 4:30 at 90% of our heart rate. We rest for three minutes in between each interval. I know I sound nuts, but I like it. I think the fact that my friends are there is the reason. But I feel really strong too.

I am psyched because this speedwork session wraps up right before the Memphis Marathon. I hope it helps me to run a faster marathon. I am trying to break the four hour mark this year with the hopes of qualifying for Boston in my 40th year. My qualifying time at 40 years old is 3:50, I really think I could achieve that as long as I remain injury free. I have a challenge from Wes that I would love to accomplish, but lack the confidence and proper training right now, but who knows maybe I'll have a good day and give him a proper birthday present!!!