How a Neurotic Mom/Athlete becomes MORE Neurotic

Or,

How Not to Train for A TRIATHLON in a few easy steps.

~Plan your Triathlon so many months in advance that you continually put off the training.  For example, when preparing for an August Tri you can ignore your bike in February.  March.  April.  May.  June... there's still plenty of time.  It's still July.  For a few more days.  THEN I will panic.

~Swim religiously until May, and then randomly forget you have a pool.

~Realize in February that a good swim coach might be handy to get a hold of....  But don't meet with that person until July 28th.

~You can never have too much confidence.  Unless it interferes with your ability to train.  i.e. "I'll be alright, I can do a 400M swim in X.5 minutes, I don't need to practice.".  See above note about swim coach & lesson.

~important safety tip.  A BRICK is not just a BUILDING SUPPLY.  Just sayin'.

~When walking through the garage to get a beer coke out of the fridge, there is no need to avert your eyes from your bike.  It probably doesn't even know you feel bad for ignoring it.

I doubled Wednesday.  I ran 6 miles in the morning, and then had my swim lesson, as well as a short time trial to see what my seed time SHOULD be.... and you know what, I accurately guessed my time to within three seconds.  Crazy.  I hope everyone else in my seed time did the same and I don't have to pass anyone/get passed by anyone.

Three, uh FOUR Things Thursday

1)  I think that the bike/tri/multisport association in our area should become friends with the road runners association in our area and arrange for Volunteers through the opposite associations.  It only makes sense, I like to run the RRRC races, so I never want to volunteer (except when I was hurt, and then they didn't even want me!).

2)  I'm the kind of person who discovers that a bird has build a nest in my garage, and then props the garage doors open for a few weeks so the 4 little eggs can hatch into 4 little chirping babies, and fledge into little birds.  Even though it's not convenient for me.  ~sniff~  Our baby birds fledged this week, and I'm proud of them.  They were wrens, and so darned cute.  I daresay, I might miss them.

3)  I'm. Not. A. Hugger.  I'm trying though, I really am.  There are times when a hug is what you need to give or receive and I am going to master this technique.  Really.  But for now, if it seems like I give the one armed knuckle bump in place of the hug, don't be offended.  It's a slow process.  That said, I hugged a woman friend this week.  It... ok.  I did alright.  I think I even held back on the cringe.  It's not my fault, I was overly hugged in my young life by my father's woman friend.  I just think that I used up a large quota of hugs in that time, and now it seems almost too intimate.  Yea, I'm the woman who will talk about my "international wax", but won't hug because it seems to personal.  Ah well.

4)  The last class night of Summer semester was last night.  (YEAH!  and there was much rejoicing).  And we had to give an oral presentation (with a power point slide show) on the reproductive system (cringe).  The prof assigned us all different aspects of the reproductive system to talk about.  I was lucky - I had infertility caused by diseases.

Huh & Wha were no exception to this assignment, and I admit, I was a little anxious to see what they would produce.  Wha actually came through with a cute little presentation on Male Puberty and Menopause, giggling at just the right place to break the tension.  I would give her an A believe it or not.  Huh, however, was not exactly as prepared.  Instead of... you know, why don't I just give you a "race report"...

Huh stands up and says, "Miz Tanna, I'm gonna jus do this from my desk, OK?  Ok.  I did my report on (suchandsuch) but I didn' do none of them fancy schmancy stuff (I believe she's referring to the power point presentation)."  She then proceeds to speak for about 3 minutes.  At the conclusion of her, uh, presentation, she says (and this is a direct quote, I wrote it down RIGHT when she said it so I wouldn't forget it...best quote of the semester),

"It would have been bettah Miz Tannah, but I wuz under the influence when I did it." 

Going to miss that girl...

Wordless Wednesday

a little neurotic

So we know I'm neurotic about my grades.  my papers.  my professors.  my labs.  my lab partners.  my future plans.  my past schedules.

And we know I'm neurotic about my running.  my pace.  my distance.  my dedication to my training schedule.  my dedication to my brand of shoes.  my race schedule.

But, am I really a Neurotic Mother?

Yes.  Yes I am.

We got an automated message today from my kid's school about teacher assignments, and the new assistant principal and due to staffing changes the letters aren't going out until Aug 28...  AUG 28~ really?  Really?  I'm dying here, and now I know I have to wait another MONTH to know if my OCD child is going to get the right teacher to help her with her OCD tendencies.  Uhg.  Maybe I'm neurotic about my own school stuff so I don't have to think about the Public School system.

Rockett's Volunteer Report

OR, this could be titled, "HOW NOT TO COORDINATE VOLUNTEERS FOR A RACE", though, I'm certain it's not an easy job, and I'm not saying I could have done better than the coordinator... but because of that, I don't think I would have volunteered to be the coordinator.

Because I didn't have anything going on this week, I decided to run on Saturday and volunteer at a race on Sunday.  The race was struggling to find volunteers.  I've since learned that this may be because last year the volunteer situation was really crazy and people didn't choose to come back for more.

um.  sign number one.

sign number two was the e-mail detailing that I was on the RUN course, and I needed to check in at 5:30am.  This means a 4:30 wake up.  Awesome.

OK, so I figured there must be a reason why I need to be there this early, so that's what I'm going to do....  The Elusive Dave and I had a shared brain moment, and both volunteered for the same race, and since we're practically neighbors, he was gentleman enough to drive us down.  We chatted on the way down, got parked, got our new T-shirts... which were immediately sweat soaked as soon as we put them on... and waited for a Job.

"How can we help?"  Those were our words.

And so we waited....
And we ate a muffin....
And we were offered water, but only the idea of water, because no one seemed to actually have any water for us...
And we hung out...
And we offered our help again...
And finally, we were told to follow the Run Course coordinator out to the course.  OK.  We're on our way...

...around the parking lot because she was on her cell phone and apparently couldn't concentrate.

AND now - it's 6:10am, and we've been out in the heat (and it was HOT) for 40 minutes - we're on our way for real this time.  Right out... to water station #1, which we set up... and.... wait.... we don't have everything we need....

...and back around to the parking lot to get more supplies.

AND NOW surely we're on our way.  YES.  We are.  On our way... back to water stop #1, and then to water stop #2, to set up... and... the coordinator seemed a bit confused about how to put this together.  Still, we made it.... with a lot of pauses.  Literally.  The brake lights on her car would come on, and she would drift to a rolling stop.  And pull forward 1 foot.  And drift to a rolling stop.  And by now, Dave and I aren't even pretending we're not laughing.

Here's the thing, the coordinator to the run portion of todays race was (and is) a very nice person, I'm certain.  But as a LINEAR thinker, she was unable to get from Point A to Point D without going to Point B, and back to Point A.... to Point C, and back to Point A....  Dave and I spent a lot of time doing not a whoooooooole lot of anything except standing around in the heat watching the ice melt.  Literally.  We arrived at our water stop hours before the first runner was scheduled to come past.  By the time we did have the elites, the ice was melting.

Around the time the elites start waining and we started getting into the "age groupers" we realized... we. were. screwed.  As just two people handing out water & PowerAid and filling cups, there was NO way we could keep up.  It was, a total cluster F#()!

We were scrambling, frantically filling cups so they could grab them off the table.  A local celebrity ran by, some people who looked familiar, Hey you live in my neighborhood, and then suddenly I couldn't even SEE THE RUNNERS through the pack.  A woman who may have been someone I know quite well went by, but I couldn't see her face long enough to say her name, because I couldn't take my eyes off the cups I was frantically filling...  and then it happened.

We ran out of WATER.

Here we are - The WATER stop, and we're out of water.  As we're getting low on liquid I realized I was really dehydrated, but I didn't want to drink anything, the runners needed it more.  And then, the muscles in my hands stopped working.  So.  I drank some poweraid.  Still, not a happy moment when the first runner came by and we had to say, "we're out of water."  Dave's calling the coordinator who's saying things like, "let me see if I can drop these guys off and pick some up for you."

Perhaps she's not understanding - this was not for courtesy.  It was 105 degrees out today.  To NOT have Water or Poweraid could mean the difference between a runner getting heat stroke and dying, or not.  This wasn't about triathletes getting a little sluggish in the heat not achieving a PR.  This was about survival.

She showed up and refilled our water... of course, then we ran out of cups.

Anyway, it all turned out acceptable.  We ran out of cups, water and powerade, but not all at the same time.  We had fun.  I got a little heat exhaustion, but not much.  Dave is going to have to coordinate that event next year, he had 100 great ideas for how to pull it off better every 3 minutes.  "I might have chosen to do this... or this.... or... this..."

Still, as I said, we had fun.  I saw SpeeDee come past, she looked awesome.  No one should look that cute running after swimming and biking in the heat, but she did.  I won't volunteer for that race next year though.  But not for the reason you think.  I think instead I'll do the Aquathlon (?).  I didn't know they even existed.  But heck - that's my sport, I saw it today.  Swimming and Running?  Sign me up NOW!

Bon Lessons Du Jour...

This week I was alone in the house with my dogs, my cat, and my birds.  I don't have pet birds, but a lovely little wren family lives in my garage, and they're sort of on my mind when ever I come and go.  Anyway, it was hard to adjust.  I learned a lot about myself, how I adjust to quiet, and to be honest, I don't think I could have done this for much longer.

One thing I learned this week I learned from my food diary.  Apparently I don't eat without my family.  Not that I'm blaming them for my eating habits, because I don't really eat poorly.  Just when they're not here, I don't eat much at all.  Today for example, by 7pm I realized I had taken in just less than 1000 calories.  All good, except that I ran 10 miles this morning.  Which (on me at least) burns just less than 1000 calories.  My lovely friend who shall remain nameless, (e'hem), dressed me down this week when I shared this information with her.  (I've since eaten a lovely dinner that included guacamole, ending my day much closer to 2000 calories, so don't call my mom and tell her I'm anorexic).

It's not that I'm trying to DIET, which I won't lie, I am trying to eat healthy and get back to race weight.  It's that without my family around, I just don't snack.  I don't eat empty calories.  I failed this week to eat 8 goldfish, 4 graham crackers, 2 orange freeze pops because no body likes orange, 1/2 a pre-licked OREO, 2 pieces of half eaten string cheese, 1/2 a PB&J sandwich, or worse - just the PB&J crust.  Reading that makes me cringe.  It's just wrong the strange things that were in my food diary 2 weeks ago, that were absent this week.  It was a good lesson.  I'm glad I was able to honestly see it.

I guess there's also the chance that I don't eat because I miss my family.  No worries, they're coming home tonight, and we'll be eating delicious calorie loaded cheese PIZZA for dinner I'm sure!

It's Sunday at Oh Dark Thirty, and I am OFF to volunteer at a Triathlon.  They were really short on volunteers, and since I was toying with the idea of going to watch SpeeDee race, I figured I may as well make myself useful!

So Good Luck SpeeDee!  You're going to do great, I just know it!

Karma & stuff like that

I always try to do the right thing.  I don't lie on scholarship applications, I pay my taxes, and if someone needs help, and I can, I will.  And I often say that "one day" all that good behavior is going to come back to me somehow.  Somehow.

Today might have been that day.  You see, from Sept - May of last year my youngest B took ballet in a little group class.  I became friendly with some of the mothers in the waiting area.  A few in particular.  Our conversation was always child centered or weather centered or "how is your ill father" type stuff.  May ended, the recital came and went, and those friendly ladies were half forgotten.

Until today.  You see, today I went to an information session at the School of Nursing I'm considering.  I had it narrowed to two schools, but the one was definitely more interesting than the other.  I am a little nervous about getting accepted.  This school looks at your cumulative GPA from your entire college transcripts, not just the classes that apply to your curriculum.  Bummer, my GPA from 1996-1999 wasn't exactly blog worthy.  So I know I'm going to be skating in on the line of acceptable applications, and that it's quite likely my GPA will place me in the middle of the pack.

As I arrived at the information session, the head of the admissions department was working on the projector.  I thought, "gosh, that looks like M's mother...." and my thoughts trailed off as she turned around and saw me.  Like long lost friends we connected.

She is so excited I would consider her nursing school.  I am so excited to know someone who will champion my application should the need arise.

Life is good today.

Stupid People en Mass.

I'm not bright.  I can prove it.  What would make me say that?  Well, last night I went and did Hill Repeats with the MTT group at 6:30pm.  Had an awesome time.  Met some cool people... they all had names, I just didn't retain any of them...  the people were the only cool part of the run.

So here's a recap:
1 mile warm up at a 9:26
7 hell repeats @ the fastest pace I could drag myself up the hill without dying or vomiting
1 scary moment at the top of the 6th repeat where I thought I was going to hurl
3/4 mile cool down at a 10:39
3.89 miles run
46:07 minutes used
602 miles for the year

and the last number, well, I took a photo so you could fully appreciate my Hell experience.

The good news is that I was not the only idiot who thought a run in 96 degree heat was a plan.  There were at least 25 other people there to run with.... yea, they're my kind of crazy.

The BreakUp

Dear Humidity,

When I said, "the humidity is at least helping my skin retain moisture" that was not an invitation to Move to Virginia and take up permanent residence.  It's not me, it's you.  You can go now.  You're officially uninvited to my summer vacation, my summer classes, and any and all social events listed in the future, including running dates and races.

As I said, it's not me, it's you.

g.

motherhood... sans kids

My husband is a Hero.  Of EPIC proportion.  OH sure, he doesn't support my running, but he's learning to tolerate it.  He thinks I'm a little crazy with the "cleaning out junk" purges I go on where I give away 40 bags of stuff and sometimes my apparent impulsivity drives him crazy.  (I'm not as impulsive as I look, I just talk so much that people are surprised when I do manage to keep my thoughts on a subject to myself for a mere 3 months... )  But why am I singing his praises today?

Because.  Once again....  For the second time in 6 months...  He went on a road trip with the kids.  I have classes, as we've previously discussed, so I couldn't go.  And now, here I am.  A mom.  Alone.  And... it's harder than it sounds.  My kids give me structure.  Seriously, who knew?

I always appear to be on Facebook (crackbook) to my friends, except that's just because I am in the kitchen w/ my desk for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.  SO I can pop in, comment and get out... and be back 2 hours later.  But now, with my kids gone, my CRACKBOOK obsession is slipping.  A friend posted photos and I didn't. even. see. them. For like, 8 hours.  What?  How could that be?  

Good news though, H will be back on Sunday, and my father & his wife & their very sweet tempered cracked out OCD hyperactive border collie are coming to visit for a week.  A week.  (chewing inside of lip)  Did I mention they're bringing their dog?  So.  What am I saying here?  Don't worry Crackbook friends I will stop by more frequently next week.  And don't worry Bloggy Readers, I'm certain to have some good dog related insanity to share with you next week.  And if I don't, that'll be blogworthy as well.

The OFFICIAL Results of the Unofficial Event!

THE RESULTS!

Well, the results are in, and wow, you are all amazing.  My H & I had a terrible time deciding who should win the “Over came the biggest obstacle” challenge, but we narrowed it down to two and finally made a choice.  Congratulations to the winners, and perhaps I’ll be “Half Crazy” enough to do this again next year!


5K (aka, the Half of a 10K Race)
21:47* Bandit Cynthia, who deserves a nod for creativity, http://cynsspace.blogspot.com/2010/07/where-is-my-mask.html
30:30  Mr. S Club Mama
31:35  S Club Mama (Randi) from http://thesclub.blogspot.com
31:35  Sarah at http://toddlerrunning.blogspot.com/
32:30  Darlene at http://myfirst5k.wordpress.com/
33:30  Katie Mc. from PA - ROCKED her 2nd 5K!  (skillfully removing nearly 4 minutes from her PR)
38:24  Anne of Asthma & The Gift of Running http://asthmaandthegiftofrunning.blogspot.com/ (training for a Marathon!  Yeah!)
38:57  Mrs D from http://healthyhappyness.blogspot.com  
Anita at flemfab5.blogspot.com
Land O'Sunshine: http://twinsunplus1.wordpress.com
Longlegsontheloose

Half Marathoners
1:59:59*  Julie Del at www.marathonmoments.blogspot.com
2:18:30  DeNiece
2:19:12  T of http://racingwithbabes.blogspot.com/
2:25:16 (A PR!!!!)  Cheryl S. from http://catholicdomesticengineer.blogspot.com/
2:39:00  Alanna at running42km.blogspot.com (training for a marathon!  You go GIRL!)
DNS Pam from Thirty Schmirty.  (http://29goingon29again.blogspot.com/) - Pam was unable to overcome the heat, probably makes her the SMARTEST of us running in hot weather.....

The Winner of the "OVER CAME THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO FINISH HER RACE" award:

Running Diva Mom* - she accidentally turned off her alarm, and went out for her run in 86 degree heat... finished her Half Marathon on her treadmill, and finished her 20 mile training run at 7:30 that same night!  Way to persevere!  If you’d like to read her Half Crazy report - http://runningdivamom.blogspot.com/

HALF SANE CHALLENGE: BOTH the 5K AND the Half Marathon - Tall Mom on the Run Mel* over achieved.  And as such effort deserves some acknowledgement, I took it upon myself to make up a new category.  Next year, we’ll include running a 5K the day before of the Half Marathon, add the times to get the winner...  

21:42 + 1:51:37 = 2:13:19

HALF of OTHER DISTANCES competitors:
1:18:00 (10K) Half of a 20K... Kathleen L
1:30:42  Half Marathon MINUS a Half 10K (aka - 10 miler or so) ... MCM Mama http://mcmmama.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to Bandit Cynthia, Julie D, Running Diva and Tall Mom Mel!  If you haven't already e-mailed your mailing addresses, please do that!  If you don't live near a Starbucks, let me know so I don't send you a useless gift card when you might rather have something else!  You can reach me at:  nmomof3(at)gmail(dot)com


(also, a quick edit here - blogger is acting in-sane, so sorry none of the links are linking correctly.  I will try to log in tomorrow and get them straightened out)

Half Sane? or Half Crazy?

Half & Half Race Report/Recap

The whole idea of this HALF & HALF RACE was that people would run the race on their own schedule, and choose the coolest day to go.  Yea.  About that.

So, on Friday the heat index was forecast to hit 105 by noon.  Uh huh.  And yet, we still met:  me, DeNeice, Kty, and T at 5:30 am to start our run.  5:30 sounded plenty early, and the photos proved it was plenty dark.  But, you know what?  It was still hot.  HOT.  We were maybe a little Crazy to go ahead with the plan, but we've already proved that we're Runners First, Logical Thinkers Second - so before we start to question our sanity, let's assume we're at least Half Sane.

At mile 3, the course wrapped past T's house.  KTy had an issue and called Parcheesi - settling for a 5K instead.  She had a good reason, it's not mine to share.  And to be honest, by mile 8.5 through till around mile 11ish I was darned jealous.  Jealous may not be a strong enough word.

The course wound through Glen Allen, through a Civil War Battlefield, and back to T's house.

By mile 9ish we were talking DeNeice into either sticking it out or bailing out...  she had to choose soon though.  The last few miles took us furthest from home.  She stayed and ran with me & T until pretty close to 12 when she ran ahead to stretch her legs.  Right around 12, T says, "I'm going to turn here and pick up my extra mile".  In my heart I knew I shouldn't let her go alone.  We were all bordering on dehydration, I was feeling really bad, and I didn't like the idea that she was out there alone.  Just seemed wrong.  But I didn't protest too much when she sent me home.  That was a mistake, immediately after T left me, DeNiece turned a corner, I'm now alone, and a wave of chills washed over me, rendering me supremely dizzy.  I thought, "I could walk... but then it will take longer", so... I ran through the dizziness.  Slugging along at a dizzying 11:30 pace.


Pretty sure, that Running 101 has something on "running through dizziness = bad", but whatever.  

DeNiece apparently had a psychic moment and turned around for me with a half mile to go.

We got back to T's house/the end of the race in 2:19:28 - my third worst Half Marathon yet... or, my third BEST Half Marathon yet - depends on how you look at it I guess.  T finished her 14 miles about 10 minutes later.

Thanks again to all the participants.  I'm getting caught up on everyone's races, and will have the results/awards posted as soon as I possibly can!

Half of a HIGH FIVE

Yea, yesterday I posed a cute little bit that was intended to cheer on all the participants.

I hit publish post.

And apparently Blogger ate the post, got sick, and threw up some random "Service Unavailable" message.  For the rest of the day I could not access my account.  You all must think I'm a terrible race director.

SO- now it's FRIDAY.


HIGH FIVE TO ALL THE RUNNERS & RACERS THIS WEEKEND!!!  Whether you're racing Virtually or for "Real" - hope it's awesome and safe!

$50 Tomato

Last night at dinner we ate:

Black Bean Burgers w/ cumin salsa ketchup, lettuce, 3 paper thin slices of the $50 cherry tomato, a side of roasted oven baked sweet potato "fries" and some melon.  It was beyond yummy.  It...

yes, that's a "$50" in front of "tomato".

The thing is, I bought 3 tomato plants this year and potted them on my back deck.  I slide them from L to R each day to follow the sunlight around.  It's fun stuff.  It's worth it though, because I knew I would get to enjoy the fruits of my labor in the form of fresh tomatoes.  I figured each plant should produce about 10, giving us a nice spread of around 30 tomatoes over the course of the growing season.

I figured the initial investment of $50 was OK.  Had to pay for the plants.  Had to pay for the pots.  Had to pay for the potting soil.  I can reuse the pots & such for next year... won't that be fun?

And.  Fun is not where my head is at right now.

The 'EFFING squirrels ARE MAKING ME INSANE!  They steal the fruit right off the plants right as they begin their turn from deep green to "yellow green".  We've YET to see anything grow large enough or ripe enough to eat.

The ('effing) squirrels have trouble stealing from the upside down tomato plant though, so one of my plants has been spared....  it's not doing the best though, and it's a Cherry Tomato Plant.  It gets a little less sun light b/c I can't move it all the time.  

So here you go....  if you ever wondered, this is what a $50 tomato looks like.  If the plant produces another one, I can drop that down to $25 a piece.

Virtual "Half & Half" RUN!

"Half & Half Virtual Half Race!"

Welcome to the kick off of the inaugural Half & Half Summer Event!  Thanks for all the entries.  I'm excited to have been able to "meet" some new bloggers!  Race packet pick up... just kidding.  So seriously though, a few words before we run.

Keep in mind that I'm a neurotic mother, I need to do a little mothering here:

1)  if you're going out before the sun goes up, wear something reflective. And if you're going out after the sun goes up, consider some sun screen!  

2)  Be safe in the heat.  Drink Drink Drink!!!  H2O, some kind of "Ade", Nuun, or something!

3)  Have FUN!  Remember, this is a race.  We're out here to win at all costs.... oops, channeled someone else's mother there for a minute.  But seriously, find a buddy and make this fun & safe!  


4)  You have from Thursday July 15 - Sunday July 18 to complete your race, and then until Monday July 19 to submit your results or e-mail me a link to your race report.

The PACK!

5K  (or, Half a 10K, if you will):

S Club Mama (Randi) from http://thesclub.blogspot.com

Mr. S Club Mama

Anne of Asthma & The Gift of Running (training for a Marathon!  Yeah!)

Mrs D from http://healthyhappyness.blogspot.com   

Katie Mc. from PA

Mel at Tallmomontherun

Anita at flemfab5.blogspot.com

Sarah at http://toddlerrunning.blogspot.com/
Land O'Sunshine: http://twinsunplus1.wordpress.com

Darlene at http://myfirst5k.wordpress.com/

Pam from Thirty Schmirty.  (http://29goingon29again.blogspot.com/)  

Half Marathon: 

DeNiece

Melis

T of RacingwithBabes

Longlegsontheloose

Cheryl S. from http://catholicdomesticengineer.blogspot.com/

Julie Del at www.marathonmoments.blogspot.com

Alanna at running42km.blogspot.com (training for a marathon!  You go GIRL!)

Running Diva Mom 

Other "HALF" Distances:

Running a Half of a 20K... Kathleen L

IF you're missing from the list, just let me know.  I think I got everyone, but just incase I missed a comment or e-mail, or connected the wrong alias to the wrong blog - again, just LET ME KNOW!  First time race director over here, still learning the ropes!  Also, if you want in at the last minute, go ahead and e-mail me at nmomof3(at)gmail(dot)com.  Will accept registration through Wednesday at midnight EST!

The PRIZES

The Prizes are...NOT all running related.  I finally decided that  Half & Half race deserved a coffee tribute.  While I prefer Dunkin Donuts, I recognize that D&D is not a national epidemic, where Starbucks is bordering on religion.  Also, I realize that Starbucks has coffee, and tea, and even one of my favorite beverages, H2O, so I determined that it was universally acceptable.  If you win, and you don't have a Starbucks near you, let me know and we'll sub in an alternate prize.

1st Place for the 5K:  $5 Starbucks Card.  

1st Place for the Half Marathon:  $13.10 Starbucks Card.

The Prize for the PERSON WHO OVERCAME THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE:   Gu.  Yes, Gu.  I love the flavor of Gu, yet cannot consume due to icky stomach issues.  I figure that if I was racing to win, my "biggest obstacle" would be eating a Gu at mile 7 and still finishing the race without, uh, "icky stomach issues".  So, in honor of MY biggest obstacle, I will send you Gu!

Happy Running to ALL!  Good luck!

Sick Kids

Of course, what would summer vacation be without a sick kid?
Yesterday:

• I went for a run, felt like vomiting half the run, but finished without incident - all 10 miles.  Wow.

• I got a panicked phone call from my Dad that my son is sick and "when can I get here?"  So I called my pediatrician to let her know he was sick, and that I was going to miss office hours because of the tiny detail where I had to drive all the way to P'town (2 hours away) to pick him up.  "oh.  huh.  Well, because it's your son, why don't I just make a house call".  crickets chirping."  wow.  "thanks."

• I arrived to pick up my sickie, G, and discovered him running around like a mad man.  "motrin"  OoooK.  Wow.  Oh and, there's the little detail that his ear was draining.  Nothing quite like it.  Thank God for those Tubes, because it's a sure sign he would have had another rupture, and frankly, I can't handle a deaf kid or another rupture.

• We drive home and I called the state hotline for the road I was planning to use (Incase the Garmin traffic thingy wasn't behaving... yea, it was... I just didn't believe it).  "5 incidents along (that road)."  So we took route 10, up through Smithfield and Surry VA.  Wow.  I wished for a camera and a pair of running shoes.  I could have taken a photo essay that made everyone who reads my blog very thankful for their lifestyles and amazed you all with the quaintness of the country side... AND shown off the hilarious signs.  But I'll save that for another day.

• Arriving home to discover the Cable TV was out, was just the icing on the cake.  I mean, I have a sick kid who needs to lay still for 20 minutes with drops in his ears, so, no TV is perfect.

Well - it's 5:52am and I'm off to my MTT long run!  I'm running PINK FOR A DAY!  Because, well, Jackie P says he's struggling & needs "help", and if I can do something to help another runner, then I'm going to do it.  Selfishly, it's because Jackie P is HILARIOUS, even when he's not trying.  See you all on Monday!

Three Things Thursday

Three things.

1)  If you'd told me as a kid that I would be spending my summer vacation getting up at 5:45am to run, I would have told you to stop smoking crack.  I'm just sayin'.  (of course, today I slept in).  And, probably TMI, but I'm having some GI issues running this week.  I don't know if it's just getting home from our trip, or knowing the kids are in another state, or what.  But it's interfering with my milage.  I might just go ahead and take a rest day tomorrow, do some biking, or light swimming, to see if it helps.  I don't know what else to do.

2)  My kids are at the beach, and I am here.  This is like a 4 day date.  Every thing we do feels like a date.  "Want to eat lunch?"  OK, it's a date!  "Want to watch Deadliest Catch?"  OK, it's a date!  Fun stuff.


3)  I'm the kind of person who can comfortably wear a bikini to the beach, even though I know it doesn't cover any more or any less skin than a bra & skirt running outfit, but cannot wear said bra & skirt running without feeling "nekkid".  It's 85 degrees.  It's 50% humidity.  It's 10:27 AM.  For today's run, I am standing in my kitchen half dressed and FORCING myself out the door.  My training plan says 3 miles or hills.  I suppose I should decide before I start the run which I'm going to do, huh?  

OK.  Hills and 3 miles it is.

the proof.

Wordless Wednesday

3 kids on the beach, all doing their own thing.

Outer Banks Wanderings

Went to the beach this past weekend to regroup and recharge my batteries.  While I was packing I discovered that my camera fit into the arm band that was SWAG at a race from June.  So, instead of blogging a huge paragraph - here's the details.

Time of Day:  not too long after sunrise, around 5:30ish
Distance: 6.77 miles  (distance planned?  7miles, there was a GI issue that lead to an early turn)
Weather:  Ideal
Location:  The National Parks around Buxton NC


I started my run by leaving this house...

and running down this road....

before long, the road looked like this...

and I ran past this tree ...

and this house...

and into the Cape Hatteras National Park...

and took this trail ....

and ultimately, ended up here, before turning around.... and doing it in reverse!

An A.D.D. ODE

An A.D.D. Ode To my Brooks Adrenaline & Skirts & GF's

Oh sweet Brooks A, how I love how you feel,
(Except when blisters are new on my heel)
Healing our souls one stride at a time,
I love that time is easy to ryhme.
And thyme is one word, and soles is another,
Which brings me to Katye, my GirlFriend, the other
Lover of shoes, and skirts too of course,
Because when you are out running the course,
You must toe the line with taste.
Though impossible to race,
We'll try to keep pace,
With TMB, our resident speeder,
Running together, dripping sweat by the liter.

Three Things Thursday

1.  It was another dissection last night in class.  We started on the Cardiovascular System.  Wow.  I know a lot less than I think I know.  BUT let's not talk about ME.  Let's just mention that Huh & Wha actually behaved... well, alright, no they didn't...  They were in usual form, loud and obnoxious - until Huh's phone went off playing some kind of gangsta rap ring tone.  Guess what?  Dr. Tanner's sense of humor does NOT extend to phone's interrupting her lecture.  After that, they calmed WAY down.

2.  I just found out that my cousin-in-law just finished her first Half Marathon!  Yeah for another crazy runner in the family!  Oh, well, I guess we don't know if she's crazy yet, do we?  I'm sure time will tell!

Congratulations to Kimmie!  (no that's not really her name, but we know I have to give everyone a bloggy name here at nofsahm.)

3.  In yet another example of randomness... you'd think after 13 years of marriage I'd know my spouse better.  Last night I learned something shocking.  My H would rather wash the dinner dishes by hand... than unload the clean dishes from dishwasher.


Don't forget to sign up for my Virtual Half & Half race!  Details are here.  And the race runs from Thursday - Sunday, giving those people who are traveling on the weekends an EXTRA DAY to get their run in!  OF course, right now the field is really small... and I'm sure some people hope it stays that way!