Cranberry Tri Race Report

What a great race! Everyone should start swimming, buy a bike and sneakers and sign up for this race 2011!

My day started early at 5am leaving with Stan and Travis to trek up to Lakeville, MA about an hour and half ride. We arrived in plenty to time but there was a parking jam so I did have to run around to check in and get numbered. Registration was organized and quick.

The race started at 8am sharp. I was in the 5th wave with all the other 40-44 year old ladies. I met some nice ladies that helped me feel more secure about the swim portion. I have been swimming a lot but was still very nervous. Well, this the tri for the weak of heart swimmer! We swam .9mile around the perimeter of Loon Lake. I probably could have ran it if I wanted. It was awesome and long. I came out of the water and looked at my watch 35minutes! I was psyched. Just to give you an idea of my swim success...I was completely swum over by the 30year old men. There was a front group that didn't care about my safety to break from the pack. Jerks. But even though, I still was confident and kept at it till I got er done, baby!

The bike ride was flat, flat, flat. It was along all these lakes and cranberry bogs. It was a beautiful 26 miles. I was able to keep a pretty fast pace. I think I finished it in 1:30mins. (official results are not in yet). I started to feel pooped the last two miles of the bike....

By the time I started the run, I was totally pooped, totally. The first two miles I really struggled. Then I worked on keeping my arms perpindicular to my torso and I heard my yoga teacher telling me to "open up across my heart space" ie chest :) Using my new core strength from my yoga really helped me on the run. When I opened up my chest I was able to breathe so much better, therefore run much better! I finished the run in 61mins. I was so happy to be done!

They had great food and race fun. SIGN UP for this TRI! It is totally great!

Fisher Cat on the bike ride!

YIkes! I was at the end of my 21 mile bike ride and a fisher cat darted out in front of my bike! Luckily he was as scared of me as I was of him or her! We passed each other with a little screech and then went our merry ways!

Wow...

Nerves....gotta love em!

Well my olympic distance tri is a little more than a week away and I am so nervous and excited!!!

I love this part of training, you are at the end of your very long haul and you are so nervous that maybe you didn't do enough one minute and then after an awesome swim or brick workout, you are so confident you can't fit your head through the door when you get home!!!

I was remarking to myself while swimming how terrific it feels to get to this point. Back in June, I could only swim about 3 laps comfortably, today I swam 15 easily! Love it!

I am not in tip-top shape, I still have pain in my psoas and my seasonal allergies have negatively effected my swimming times BUT I feel ready and rearing to go!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Two 5ks - Reviewed

Well I have not been running very much because riding my bike, swimming, weightlifting and yoga feel A LOT better than running! But I have run in two 5ks this summer. The first was in Hartford in June and it supported fundraising efforts for breast cancer, I am not sure but I think it was the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. It's a beautiful race with lots of support, but not a lot of shade :) It was soooooo hot and humid, I could barely breathe. I struggled but accepted my time of 28:15. I have hardly run and am still struggling with my psoas tightness. This race is close to home and one that we do every year and is always rewarding.

Fast forward a month and 5 terrific ladies and I trekked almost 300 miles north to Utica, NY for the Boilermaker 15K. Yet three of us, myself included, chose the shorter race distance of a 5k. The ride is long but not hard. There was very little traffic and it was easy to travel. It took us about 4 hours to get there. There was a very large and interesting packet pick up expo. We took part in this wacky recruiting simulation for the air force....I don't think they are going to come knocking on my door. I think my stranded first aid workers I was supposed to rescue are still stranded!

After the expo, we traveled about another 25 miles north to Verona, NY to our hotel. We relaxed and ate at a fun sports bar called Recovery. It had 39 televisions! It was nice not to have to worry about what I ate since I was only running a 5k the next day. I got a chicken pesto panini that was banging! After dinner we walked and gabbed on the patio. I think that was my favorite part of the trip. It was great to relax with my awesome friends.

The race the next day was not so relaxing. I was not prepared for the logistical manuvering required for race participation. So we left our hotel at 5:30 for a 7:30 start. The 5k starts at a different place. We parked and got into the city with no problem. The 5k actually is the last 3 miles of the 15k route. We did a rather large horseshoe course, BUT our car was about 4 miles away from the finish! There was a shuttle that brought us back to the car, but we couldn't cross the street to actually get to our car! We played racer frogger and somehow managed to get to our car and change. Then we had to leapfrog back across the street to catch the shuttle again to get back to the finish line to see the other three buddies finish. We could not really get close enough to the finish line and missed them. THEN we had to swim through oceans and oceans of finishers to get to our meeting place! Thank goodness it wasn't that hot, had it been normal temperatures I would have melted for sure! We finally found the speedy runners and ate our bag lunch included in the race fee packed in like sardines with all the other 15000 racers. After we finished our turkey sandwiches, we said our goodbyes and got the heck outta Utica!

Oh wait no we couldn't because we had to wait for the shuttle bus to bring us back to our car! The shuttle ride sucked, it was hot and everyone was smelly. We finally made it to our car and ventured back the four hours to HOME SWEET HOME!

My time was 2 minutes quicker for this race. It was a nice downhill course with lots of water and the temps were awesome, like about 75' and low humidity.

I would think about doing this race again but not any year soon. I would definitely think about where to park and how to celebrate. The boast a great post race party but it was waaaaayyyyy to congested to really enjoy.

My next race is the Cranberry Tri at the end of August. I can not wait!

Happy First Day of Summer!!!

Hello my old friends! I have been busy swimming, practicing yoga, biking and running a little! Oh yeah and having lots of fun!!!!

Paying in forward

Tonight I am meeting my friend and her son to help her son learn how to swim. He is an eight year old sweetie with autism. He needed a coach to help him learn how to swim so he can participate in the special olympics. I am psyched!

Also I signed up to be a "swim angel" for the Danskin Triathlon. I found out its in September though! Yikes I am definitely going to need a wetsuit!

My first Oly!

I just registered for my first Olympic Tri! I am doing the Cranberry Tri on August 29, 2010, the day before school starts! There is a sprint on Sat and an oly and relay on Sun. It should prove to be a very fun weekend! I can NOT wait! I have been riding my bike, but I have to get back in the pool and start running when my psoas heals.

There is nothing like a race in your future to get you motivated!

Not running but okay with it :)

I have not been interested in running since... well running hurts. I am giving my body a loooonnnngggg break from pounding the pavement. I continue to ride my bike, practice yoga and workout hard at the gym. I do miss my running friends though... a lot.

Hope all is well with everyone! Miss reading your blogs.

Trail Runners Beware!

Last Sunday I was watching UConn play Louisville and I get a phone call from son 1. Uconn was up by 2 and Gampel was so loud there was no way I could hear him if I answered so I texted him. He texted that he hurt his leg trail running and needed to go to the hospital. I assumed he needed stitches so I texted him to just go and I would be there when the game finished in like 30mins. Believe me with three boys, the hospital has our information on file :)

We actually arrived at the ER at the same time and that's when I became concerned. The texts didn't communicate the level of pain he was in. He was unable to get out of the car or walk in to the hospital on his own. I have had plenty of cuts from trail running and knew you should be able to walk even if you have a big gash. We wheeled him into the hospital and lucky for us it was a slow night and we got right in. We have waited for five hours before to get five lousy stitches so I was thinking things were looking up!

Until I saw the pain the poor kid was in.

I knew before they xrayed that something was terribly wrong. He broke his knee cap. A complete break. And the cut he needed his stitches was deep, all the way to the bone. So they are also worried about bone infection.

He was unable to have surgery that night due to the cut, they were afraid it would contaminate the joint since the break was on the other side of the knee. He will probably get surgery on Wed. depending on the swelling and healing of the cut. He is in a TON of pain. It is awful.

How did he do this, you ask? Running like a bat outta hell down hill on a slightly wet day, tripped and fell and hit his knee on a rock. How did he get outta the woods since his mom was a ditz and didn't get how serious it was? His very strong friend, Devon, fireman carried him out of the woods. Luckily Tommy is only about 155lbs soaking wet so Devon only had to stop a few times to catch his breath.

What a week.

I kinda hate Valentine's Day

There is too much pressure for Valentine's Day. I had a great weekend and am totally ga-ga for my sweet man but the whole thing is a little too much for me. I actually think it was easier being single on Valentine's day, nothing mattered. I usually bought myself something and hung out with friends or my kids. This year we went to dinner and saw the Lion King, which was totally fabulous by the way. The actual date was great but it just felt weird since it was VALENTINES day and had to be special or something. You feel me here, people?

Glad its over :0)

Yoga loving again!

This morning it was 13' and freezing cold. I met two of my tri-chicas at a local yoga studio for Hot Yoga. It was awesome. The instructor cranks up the heat to 90' and then gave us a kick ass power yoga class. It definitely warmed me up, for sure. I loved it. There were two women there that were probably in their 60s and they were so inspiring. They were strong, flexible and quite stunning. Yoga is so cool.

I have my cholesterol checked every year because it is a little high. In addition so is my cardiac-serum protein. Both of which indicate some cardiac disease. My naturopath always had a suspicion that my cardiac-serum protein was high because I ran so much. She deduced that since I ran so often I was probably inflammed all over. Well I told her this would be a good test to see if her conclusion was right. I haven't ran further than three miles at a time since Oct. I have been working out at the gym, swimming and practicing yoga-all low-impact activities. Well....the verdict is in.....

My cardiac-serum protein was the lowest it has ever been! Actually all my numbers were better this round of blood tests. I think I will have to agree that long distance running really is not that good for us. This same naturopath told me to compare a sprinters body with a long distance runners body and tell her which I think looks healthier. Hands down, the sprinter is a lot healthier looking. Their muscles are toned and they appear to be at a more natural weight as well.

Too bad I am addicted to long distance running! I figure I will work out smart in the winter and go crazy running the other three seasons. Actually I work out smart in the summer too while I train for triathlons. Ok two out of four seasons aint too shabby :)

Winter Blahs. New Goals.

I have sufficiently rested from the Chicago Marathon, I think. I was not at all interested in running after the marathon. I had fun running the Turkey day race but only because I ran it with my sweet lovable almost brother in law. I suffered through a very grulling (sp?) New Year's Day run. I have run a handful of times in between but mostly I have been staying indoors playing around at the gym. It has been a lot of fun. I love lifting weights, my guns are really getting defined, I almost don't have the upside down muscle shake anymore. Almost :)

But....I was sitting next to my fellow nutty runner, my stepdad while we watched our UCONN Huskies stomp all over Texas on Sat and during half time we got to talking about....running. He is on the way to completing the 50 states marathon challenge and he plans to run a marathon in Nebraska on May 2.

And there's a half-marathon....Maybe just maybe! Any bloggers wanna meet up in Lincoln, Nebraska?

I love yoga

I set out this snowy cold morning to try my first "hot" yoga class but my new, good-gas-mileage car sucks in the snow. Oh well can't have everything, right? So I headed to my gym which is about ten miles closer. Lo and behold there was a 9am yoga class at my gym this am! I set up next to a little old man that had to be about 85 years old. He was the cutest thing I have ever saw do yoga. I just hope I make it to see his age and man I hope I am still doing yoga :)

2010 Goals

Well, we started 2010 we lots of snow and some running! Here I am with my sweet friend, Fran enjoying champagne after our 6 miler on New Year's Day.

I have had years where I want to run a race per month and years where I did not set any goals. It definitely helps me to wake up and get moving if I have a goal. My main goal this year is to stretch my psoas everyday and get my hip better as well as prepare for the olympic distance tri in August. I will have to research some other races earlier in the year to gear up for or else!

I have been working out at the gym about 5 days per week while running about 2 days as well. I feel good. I am not loving running lately and welcome the break from the daily grind of hitting the pavement. I am totally loving my shapely arms from lifting at the gym. Boo-rah!!!

I think I am growing up!

I have had the most wonderful holiday season....and its because of the little things. My holiday season started off with a down-home wreath making party held the Sunday after Thanksgiving. My middle son, Nick, and I went to one of my best friend's (and most avid reader ;) to her relaxed, welcoming, pot luck wreath party. We both were wreath making virgins and neglected to bring a wreath ring, so we borrowed one and Nick made a beautiful wreath that is now hanging on our front door.

Actually back up a second, my holiday season started on Black Friday. My youngest, Travis and I went shopping from 7am to 1pm and pretty much did 90% of my shopping. On top of that, he wrapped most of it when we got home! I have great boys.

Fast forward a little to Christmas eve, I started my morning with a pre-dawn run with my chicas. I have been staying off the roads and running at the gym, so it was great to see my girls. I miss them, but my body needs a break from the pounding on the roads.

After the run, I hung out with my sweetie, Stan and Travis most of the day. We ran around doing the bulk of Stan's shopping ! and the last minute details of mine. Then we went to Friendly's for our Christmas eve dinner! It was easy and stress-free and I loved it. After our dinner, we went our separate ways for a while to wrap and organize for the next day.

I brought my youngest to his dad's house at about 8. It's always hard to share my kid on the holidays but it's is also nice to know how many people love him. My two older boys' dad died ten years ago, so there's no sharing, I get them all to myself. They see his family sometime after Christmas. These two aspects can be hard on the holidays, but this year it was fine.

Since their little brother went to his dad's, my older boys were able to ask for some more grown up type of celebrating. Stan, Nick and I went to my childhood church's midnight mass. It was absolutely beautiful, those Catholics really know how to create a beautiful service. The decorations, music, the lighting were magical. The priest is from Poland and sang a traditional Polish hymn that was just amazing, he was so vulnerable and humble up there in front of a packed house. I was so glad I went. I am not a practicing Catholic anymore, I can't wrap my head around pro-life beliefs or that women aren't allowed roles of leadership. I joined the United Church of Christ about 16 years ago and I love my church, but the Catholic church really has the ritual and symbolizim thing down. I miss the rituals sometime.

After the mass, we came home. I immediately crashed while Stan and Nick stayed up doing whatever people who don't need sleep do! I don't know what they do, I am always asleep. I know there's lots of eating and card-playing going on. I think they made a fire too. Poor Santa :)

We woke up late, around 8. Tommy, the oldest and the one that needs sleep like his mom, got up and cuddled with us for about an hour. I love that my 16 year old, 6 foot son cuddles with me, we gabbed and joke until I feel like being vertical. We woke up Nick at 9 and started the present portion of the day. We were done by about 9:15!!! We even did it civilized too, one present at a time but when there's only two kids opening it just doesn't take that long. We made a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and bagels and fruit. It was awesome. Then I cleaned up and started on the dishes I was bringing to share later on that day.

One of my favorite parts of having a low stress holiday was after I finished my dishes, Tommy and I went for a snowy hike at one of our favorite spots. It was totally great. We hiked and talked about Emerson and Thoreau or rather I received a lecture comparing and contrasting both authors. I learn something everyday from my kiddos.

We headed home for showers after trying to find a Dunkin Donuts open to no avail. I was craving a Peppermint Mocha Latte BAD, but oh well I will have to indulge today. Dunkin Donuts employees were off on Christmas. Good for them, bad for addicts like me.

For dinner, Tom, Nick and I went to Stan's mom's house. We had cornish game hen, potatoes, collard greens, cabbage and a bunch of other stuff and man it was good. His family is very welcoming and fun. After that we went to my mother's for dessert and the all-too-much-fun Yankee Swap and I picked number ONE! Yeah for me! I chose an interesting bag of loot...corndog breath mints, grow your own jesus and be saved toy, and a james dean puzzle. If that was the number one present, you can imagine what the others were. The Yankee Swap always brings some fun to end the holidays.

I think my holidays were awesome because I did things that mattered to me. I loved the midnight mass and the Christmas eve run with my girls and Christmas hike with my son. It helped that Travis and I shopped and wrapped early as well. It opened up time to do the stuff I love with the people I love. Hope your holidays were also as enjoyable. Happy New Year!

Busy but Happy

I am half way through with my literacy specialist certification program and wow it is a lot of work! I enjoy the type of work though. I have to tutor children and I have chosen to tutor a group of nine-year-old English language learners. I love working with that age. I have been working with preschoolers for the past 12 years and it can get a little tedious sometimes. As a preschool teacher, I work so hard and don't often get to see the fruits of my labor. Often times, the kindergarten or first grade teacher reaps the rewards of all the singing, dancing, tracing, problem solving and conflict resolving!!!! I am in an interesting time of my career, well I guess in my life really. I definitely feel like I am in a transition period, carving out my next steps. It is exciting as well as terrifying!

I have been working out at the gym. I run outside about twice per week as well. But every winter I head inside and work on other things. I enjoy weightlifting a lot. Lots of eye candy at the gym as well but that's all it is for me since I am madly in love with my sweetheart. Check him out, mmm, mmm, mmm! I am a lucky woman!

Stationery

I was fooling around on the world wide web and typed in one of my favorite blogs Runner Susan and it said aka Stationery Susan and I truly laughed out loud. That would describe me lately. I have no umph. I feel like Eyeore!

Recovery

I have not been feeling like running much since Chicago. It is always so hard to get your legs back. I took ten days off and that felt great. Since then my longest run has been 3 miles! Feels funny!

I had a lot of fun on Halloween. One son was a lumberjack, one was a brick wall, one just caused mayhem somewhere!

November will be an easy month. We don't work a full week! We have election day off since the town uses the school buildings, Veteran's Day off the week later, Parent Conferences the week after that and then Thanksgiving. WOO WOO, yeah baby. I love being a teacher. Aren't my little kids adorable. I have 16 just like them!

Pics from Chicago!

On www.marathonfoto.com you can see some race pics. My last name is Martin and my bib was 40686. I look tired...

Here are a few pics of our Chicago Fun! One is of Travis and I on the SkyDeck of the Sear's Tower. So cool.

The other is of the boys posing at the Bean, a totally cool sculpture at Millenium Park.

Chicago Marathon Race Report 2009

First off, let's say that Chicago is an awesome city. Go there, sight see, eat and enjoy the night life. It is awesome. Who cares about the marathon? Marathon, smarthon!!!

But really now this is a blog about running, right! So anyway we headed to Bradley International Airport to discover our flight was delayed a few hours. I was travelling with my three boys and my love. We played cards and walked up and down the puny terminal about 218 times and finally it was time to board. We arrived to a totally nutsy Ohare Airport and discovered we had to pay another 120 buck-a-roos to get to and from our hotel. That is one thing about traveling, its expensive for sure. There was so much traffic coming into the city for the marathon it took us about an hour and half to get to our hotel from the airport. Finally we arrived to our room and sandwiches ordered by my family for us at about 9:30pm. We chowed and promptly fell fast asleep.

The next morning my honey, Stan, and my step-dad, Rich, my oldest son, Tommy and I first ate the most banging breakfast at a restaurant named Yolk on Michigan Ave. DELICIOUS!!!! I had the vegetable skillet with scrambled eggs while Tommy had banana nut bread french toast. I can't remember what the others had but wow, it was beyond delicious.


Then Tommy and Stan went exploring along the North Shore of Lake Michigan and had themselves a fun adventure. Meanwhile, Rich and I went to the Expo. We arrived promptly at 9am so we did not have to fight any crowds. Lots of freebies were given out and after trying every type of sport bean or power bar or miracle sports drink, we rolled out of there and walked along the Lakeshore path back to our hotel.

We were traveling with ten people so it was tricky to all catch up with each other. But we finally did just that at Millenium Park in downtown Chicago. Millenium Park is this coolest park with very cool art. There is the extremely fascinating "Bean" which is bean-shaped mirror that is a giant optical illusion. I have some great pics from there. Will try to get those up. There are sculptures all over the park as well. There is this wild sculpture that we call "Spitting Faces", these two huge blocks made of people's faces were on the blocks and every ten minutes are so the faces spit at each other!!!

A little farther away was another beautiful city sight, Buckingham Fountain. Wow that was magnificent.

The last sight seeing thing we did on Sat. was go to the Sky Deck on the Sear's Building. The sky deck is three glass boxes that are built of the edge of the Sear's building. It was incredible. You could see so much of the city.

After that we traveled to a nice Irish pub for dinner. They must not heard about the Chicago Marathon being in town because the only pasta they offered was macaroni and cheese! Too much cheese would not be a good thing for my belly so I opted for baked chicken and mashed potatoes and spinach. YUMMY! We headed to bed and I actually slept pretty well.

Woke up on Sunday at 6am totally pumped! My first mistake was I only ate half my banana and like two bites of my bagel. I was just so anxious to get out there and run! So Stan and I met Rich at 6:30 and we made our way to the start. Second mistake occurred at this point, I usually take two or three ibuprofen before the run and then during the run at like mile 20 and I couldn't find my stash!!!!

Third mistake happened at the start line. I started with my faster father with the 3:40 pace group. That sucked because I was passed the whole freakin race. Bad for morale. On top of that my garmin did not find any satelites in the middle of downtown, so I did not know my splits. oh well. Live and learn.

It was cold at the start about 32'. It looked like the sun might peek out but it never really did and the temp barely moved up much. It was cold the entire race. I found the beginning of the race uncomfortable due to the cold, my legs were stiff and slow. I soldiered on and found that by mile 9 I had warmed up the miles were just floating by. Since I hadn't eaten like I should have, I ate my first gu early at mile 5. That little mistake would take it toll later on.

At mile 8, we must have been running through the gay and lesbian area of Chicago because there were two groups of flamboyant male cheerleading squads performing adorable cheers for us and a stage of drag queens cheering us on as well. They were great.


I saw my little son and Stan at mile two and loved getting their love on the course. It really jazzed me up to keep going strong. I saw Tommy and Stan standing on top of newspaper boxes at mile 13 screaming their bloody heads off for me! I loved that too. So Cool. After the half marathon mark, I relaxed and felt confident about the race. All the while I was keeping a 8:50ish pace, I think! Not sure since my watch wasn't able to turn on until about mile 8 when we were running on the outter parts of Chicago.

I ate my second gu at mile 14 and was still running strong. I saw Stan and Travis again at mile 17 and they were so great for me. I started to get tired around 18 but decided to dig and say mind over matter and I have to get my legs moving! So I did! But at 18 the race volunteers were handing out power gel. I took one since I was hungry. YUCK, I am used to vanilla gu and my stomach did not like the power gel. I was able to push that aside and keep running hard.

UNTIL ...mile 22. Mile 22 was when my legs were starting to cramp up. I don't think I cramped due to dehydration. I think it was due to the cold and very flat course. Flat courses are great, of course! But my calves were screaming at me by mile 22 and it got a little dicey. I think the flatness of the course kept my legs getting the same type of movement. I was afraid my calves were going to just seize up. I did stop to stretch them and I think that helped me to suffer thruough the rest of the marathon. I was not happy, those last four miles hurt A LOT!


I saw my family at mile 25 and that helped to get to mile 26. I cried when I saw that mile 26 marker so happy to be done. I finished at 4:12. I was happy with that time, it reflected my training and how I felt that day.

Chicago was fabulous and all of you should just run right out and sign up for Chicago 2010!!!!!!

Taper-ahhhhh

Well the work is done. I am as ready as I will ever be for Chicago. I feel confident but not overly confident. I am confident I will have fun and enjoy the race, but I am not sure I will finish in my goal time of sub 4 hours. I will start with that pace group and see what happens. I am very good at readjusting my goals mid-race if need be. I am excited to be visiting the windy city. I have only been once and that was for a short visit when I was 12 years old!

Hope everyone is having a nice beginning of Fall!

20 Miles ...Done

Last night after working with three and four year olds all day, I ventured out along a beautiful slightly hilly long run in the drizzling rain.

It was awesome.

I felt great the entire run. It was not real speedy but I am not worried. My sweet sweet friend, Deb, met me at mile ten at the top of this freakin bear of a hill to support me for the last ten miles. It was great and I am so psyched for Chicago. I have another longish run next week and then taper baby!!!

The marathon is less than 30 days away! Woo Hoo!

Speed work and its hot :(

I am procrastinating right now. I have four 1000m repeats I have to get down and its 88 degrees and humid. Yuck.

Don't worry I will go just a little later than I thought.

Chicago training going very well. Going for massage tomorrow. Long run on Friday am. WooHoo!

School starts on Monday. Back to reality. Back to some money, money, money!

Miss reading posts will try to catch up.

Loving Life!

I have been having the time of my life! Maybe life really does begin at 40. Well almost 41!

Since June, I have taken in my first Red Sox game at Fenway (it poured in the fourth inning but it was still a blast anyway).

I saw The Color Purple in the theatre, it was amazing.

I completed my first third of an intensive course to become a literacy specialist in July. I loved my class and can't wait for the second third to start in Sept.

I sold my sexy Jeep for another sexy car that is waaaayyyyyy better on gas, a 2006 Honda Civic. Black with a nice moon roof.

All the while I have tried to train for the Chicago Marathon. I had a fabulous long run on Friday morning at 5am. The moon was bright and we tackled our run with gusto. We had energy the entire run. It is amazing because I had sucked eggs on the previous long run!

I have started speed work, it hurts but will be worth it come race day.

No tris for me this year but I have continued to swim and bike to keep healthy. I am going to hike Mount Washington instead with my girls. Can't wait.

Happy Running!

Shhh, dont tell my teacher...

I am writing to you while I am pretending to take notes in my theory of reading class. This summer I am studying to become a literacy specialist at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT. It is cool being New Haven yet I am imprisoned in the same blah blah classroom for the month of July. Right now I better go listen to my professor talk about morphology. There is a lot to think about when you are teaching reading...

I have hardly been working out. Bad for me. But I have managed to do my long runs since I will be dazzling the city of Chicago this Oct. !!!

Miss everyone!

Hello out there!

Hi everyone,
Been busy with school since July 6th. Been running a little bit and biking too. Need to swim more. Miss reading about everyone!

Hello

Wow I went to power yoga this am after my morning swim. Whoa it was hard! I need a nap!

Beep

Yesterday I met the running Chick with the orange hat for a run, but actually her hat was white. We were joined by another attractive running chick also wearing a hat, can't remember the color of her hat though.
We were running on the wrong side of road for a short spell and received many beeps and thought wow we are doing pretty well this morning! Must be our new shorts!

Then we said farewell to Dianna since she was running 13 and we had to get back to our kids and were cutting the run by half. Sadly enough when we were running without Dianna we received no beeps.
So what can be deduced?...

1. Dianna is totally hot and was reason for all the beeps. Could be. She is smoking.

2. The cars were beeping at us because we were running on the wrong side of the road. Maybe but this is New England nobody really cares for anyone else's safety that much.


3. On our way back to the car, we were really sweaty and our hair was matted to our heads and we just didn't look as good as when we started. Plausible.

Glad these are the extent of my problems.

Ugh Goggles

Do any of you wise worker outters have any suggestions for appropriate goggles? I have raccoon eyes for hours after swimming and if I want to get better I need to figure this out, I am vain you know?!

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...