Monday Meanderings

So remember how I said that I had a really busy Sunday on the books?  Well, because it's January, and I've pissed off the Gods who are in charge of PEACE in my life, it so didn't go to plan....   ONE more day of January, and then this Sh*t has got to stop.

... in pictures...  a short recap...

my day started with this:

a FREAKING AWESOME 4 mile run with The Illusive Dave.  Note the button down shirt that he clubbed in, slept in, and then ran in?  He actually pulled it off, and looked really cute.  

Then, Pants Guy dropped off this:

the most delicious banana bread I have ever eaten in my life.  ever.  Pants Guy's awesomeness level is now almost unreachable.

and then we worked on G's car for the pinewood derby:

(the blue & green car with the fish, he won 3rd place)

and while the paint was still drying, C and I went out got new matching bracelets that looked like this:

but no worries, after a 5 hour ER visit that included IV fluids, vomit, lots of tests and an extended period of time without food, it turned out not to be appendicitis.

I got home to an email from Q that made me smile, as it contained a revised "gba-national training plan" that starts like this:

and ends like this:

laughed when I saw that how far or when I run in month of April is clearly not his problem

 And then I finished my BIOLOGY study guide, of which there will be no photo.

How was YOUR Sunday?

Freaking the FREAK out

STRESS
-noun.  

• the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on onething by another; strain.
• physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension
• a situation, occurrence, or factor causing this

I should tell you all, I'm a fraud.  Yup.  Here I am pretending that I'm OK with the swimming instead of the running and all... but, I. am. so. not.  I'm a FREAK.

National Marathon has gotten in my head.

I'm all twisted up around it.

I was fine until I sprained/strained my fankle.  Chill, fine, whatever, I was cool....  But now, not so much.  The last time I felt this way was before my first Half.  I was shaking in my boots before that race.  Well, technically I was shaking in my boot.  Don't worry though, I was responsible and I cut the soft cast off a few days before the race, and then checked the boot at the start so it would be waiting at the finish... a'hem.

The thing is, I need to mentally recommit to the race, but I can't seem to do that until I resume training, and my goals, yea, they don't even look marginally realistic... yea, you know... I'm pretty much a head case.

Well, huh.  I was starting to worry I'd outgrown some of my neuroses... guess not.  

I think, and I'm not making excuses here, I'm trying to be "aware".... as I was saying, I think it's possible that one person can only handle so many things, and that the true test of their stress capacity is add "one more thing" and "one more thing" until they snap.  Well, who knew a sprained fankle would be my tipping point?  I sure didn't.

On Monday I was all "Oh, it's OK, no worries."

And today, yea, well, I think I owe some apologies for my behavior today...

3 Things Thursday - LIKE YOU MEAN IT edition

1)  Eat like you mean it.... Yesterday I conducted a radical experiment.  I ate according to the USDA food Pyramid guidelines.  That meant I ate 1.5 c fruit, 2.5 c vegetables, 6 oz grains, 5 oz protein, 3 c milk (1 oz cheese = 1 c. milk), less than 5 tsp of added oils, and had a discretionary allowance of 195 calories to spare.  I used my discretionary calories on coffee cream and sherbert (which is fat free but not sugar or calorie free).  I also ate 1 extra serving of fruit.  And I was a little hungry at the end of the day... this could be because I worked out pretty hard yesterday.

2)  Swim like you mean it.... Yea, so.  I've got a sprained Fankle.  It actually feels pretty good for a sprain, and I am VERY optimistic about my return to the training plan.  In fact today it doesn't hurt when I flex or extend.  But, I'm banned from running, and I missed my 18 miler this week, and even if I could run, I certainly couldn't accomplish 18 w/o re-injuring it.  I needed to do something that would "equal" running 18 miles & I'm only allowed to swim.  Well, I'm sorry but NO WAY could I swim for just under 3 hours, which is a close average to what my 18 miler would take.  So I decided to swim somewhere between a Half Iron Man swim and a Full Iron Man swim.  By no means am I a fast swimmer.  I'm a competent swimmer, I have a good stroke, and I have a good endurance base.  I hit the pool for 1 hour exactly, and swam 3100 yards.  That's about 1.75 miles, give or take.  It was HARD.  My back and abs started to burn at 2700.  A guy beside me and I "raced" a 100 in the middle.  He only beat me by about 1/2 a second.  Of course, I'd already gone about 1200 at that point, and he'd done about 400.  Do I think he could have beat me by more if he'd REALLY wanted to?  Yea, but we still had a good time doing it and it broke up the monotony of my swim.  See above note about hunger at the end of the day.

3)  Be a RUNNER like you mean it....  does that mean, go out and run like, 80 miles in a week?  Does it mean knocking out a 7 minute mile on a tempo run?  No.  What does it mean?  I think being a runner like you mean it means:  run with heart, encourage your neighbors, celebrate your victories, learn from your mistakes, rest your injuries, respect your body, and above all else, do this because you LOVE IT.

A shout out to Heather at Momma Running Amok - she is running her First Marathon this weekend!
I'm so proud of you, Heather.  You're going to be great.  Picture yourself strong on the course, think of Will Ferrel if you get sad or disheartened (hey, it can happen), and above all else, just remember that it's always OK to shout at the spectators and ask for encouragement.  Be your OWN FAN CLUB and know that your OTHER FAN CLUB is sending you love from afar!  "There is no charge for awesomeness".  Believe it.

Another Reason that Boring is Good

I was having a conversation today with a friend and made a joke at myself about how tremendously boring my life is...  without the running entertainment somedays the most amusing or exciting thing I would be able to claim is a trip to Costco or an online discussion board about system organizations, unsaturated lipids, unicellular organisms or ethical relativism.

This friend, whether they meant to or not, reminded me that we're all in this together.  We all lead boring lives, we all are stuck in the mundane.  Some people do a better job making boring look good, but truly, for the most part, we're all the same.

It occurred to me during this conversation that... maybe boring is a good place to be.  Anything too exciting flirts with the idea of tragedy, and frankly, I could go without that kind of drama in my life.  So let's take a moment and be thankful for boring.

May tomorrow be just as uneventful.

Frostbite 15K & Dr's Appointment Recap

Yea, you read it right.

Sunday was Frostbite 15K.  I didn't race.  I ran.  I ran conversation pace, made friends with a woman training for a Du, to the point where we're now FB friends.  I mean, seriously.  Who does that?  Anyway, I spent a lot of the race mentally repeating "you need to slow down so you don't hurt yourself."  instead of what I usually say in a race.

The good - We are a FUN posse.  Roll call included T, Kty, DeNiece, 3L, Kc, & Iron J.

We laugh a LOT.  There were no visible pre-race nerves.  In fact, the race sort of started w/o any big HooRAH! or anything... we were just sort of ambling toward the mats and took up running.  I love that it's chip timed.  (miles 1,2,3 8:56, 8:26, 8:33).  The Head Coach of MTT yelled "Where are your SOCKS!" at the first H2O stop.  The first few miles the Fankle felt tight, but OK.  I didn't love the down hills, but the uphills were not an issue, and there were more uphills on the out than on the back.

Does anyone else see a flaw in my logic?

The bad - the course takes you through a bit of grass at one point.  Frozen grass.  Fankle started cursing at me here.  The out and back is literally OUT and BACK, so... around the cone?  Yea, FANKLE didn't like that tight tight turn. (4,5,6 8:39, 8:52, 9:14)

The UGLY- after the second bit of grass, the course has a lot of down hill sections.  Uh, yea.  So I slowed my pace even a touch more (7,8,9 9:20, 8:40, 9:10), concentrated on my form, walked the H2O stops, said Hi to the volunteers, coached a girl who was really struggling to hold her sub 9 m/mi pace for 1/2 mile around mile 8 marker or so (ultimately she finished right behind me - good job, whoever you are), and finished in, well, a lot of pain, but with all my friends cheering for me at the finish!  And then we cheered for Kty & IronJ's finish.

I did get a PR, but if I'd been able to race I know I could have gone faster.  I call it a PU.  Still, a 7 minute PR on a hurt fankle is fine, I suppose.  1:22:52.  Uhg, no, forgive me....  I'm sorry, there's a little piece of me that wishes I'd driven down, hung out, laughed, and taken a DNS over putting up a race finish time that doesn't reflect who I really am as a runner.  I'm a PR because I take pride in my accomplishments.

Anyway, the ride home was filled with SO MUCH LAUGHTER and JOY in the car, we had tears in our eyes as we discussed fun words to say and possible definitions of those words... like scungilli...  what COULD it mean if it was a verb?  An adjective?  Yes, THESE are the things we talk about.

Today was the X-ray & Md's appointment - It's not a break.  It's a sprain.  Md not unhappy with how it's healing actually.  Starting today no running until next Monday, then ease in at 50%, and the following week hopefully resume normal running/training.  I'm wearing a sexy brace over my tall socks for the next 2-3 weeks while I'm not running or swimming.  Over all, this is hopeful news.

Depressing DAYS?

Blogger?  Why do you hate me?

I had a post set up in my line up to auto feed on 1/22 so that everyone could tell me how depressed they were Saturday & Yesterday, but for some reason, it didn't go....

SO TAKE TWO...

Post your BLUE or DEPRESSING blog link in the comments here, and we'll try again.

piece of mind

My oldest daughter appears to have a developmental issue.  It's unclear exactly what that is, but there are all kind of scary words flying around the air these days.  I first heard the words in November, heard them again in December, and now, it's January, and I'm hearing them again.

It's complicated.  We've been struggling for years with various people to figure it all out.  Like the pieces of a giant puzzle, nothing really made sense, but as things are coming together... yea, anyway.  I don't want to tell you all what it is, because there are still $10,000 worth of tests waiting to be run.  Right now though, I think I'm officially allowed to say the following:

I'm g., I'm the mother of a special needs child.

I hate...

I am not a fan...


I'm conflicted because....

There are lots of women who wear that badge with HONOR and PRIDE.  I'm just not ready to be do that yet.

I felt some stirrings of peace in my soul though, as I remembered something last week.  Something SO obvious and yet so abstract.  Despite the fact that my C is 1 step away from being labeled with a crappy label that will likely change the outcome of her educational life,


she is still the same child, label or not.

And that is what I remembered.

The label doesn't change who she is today, who she was yesterday, or who she will be tomorrow.

She is C, the daughter of a mother of a special needs child.

three things THURSDAY!

1) ... in 3's.  You know that saying that bad things come in 3's?  Well.  Yea, it sucks that it's a true saying. 1. On Thursday I woke up to an fankle that protested weight.  2. On Friday we had the "second opinion" appointment ... and that Md was no more encouraging than the last.  In fact, it was a little worse hearing it from her because she specializes in the area we're exploring.  3. On Tuesday I had to get a cracked tooth fixed (w/ a crown).   I've never had a cavity, never had braces, ... never had anything outside of a scheduled cleaning.  Yea, well, the dentist started drilling only to discover that my mouth wasn't numb.  uh, I think that's what we like to call and EPIC FAIL here at Chez moi.  Three bad things are done.  So I hope that GOOD things also come in 3's.

2) Forced Rest.  Since Sundays run was so painful that I contemplated throwing myself in front of a GRTC Bus I decided to take a running hiatus this week.  Been TEARING UP THE POOL.  Every time I go I zip up and down the lap lanes, lapping the people on either side of me with every pass.  Yea, well, the little old ladies who do side stroke never even saw me comin'...   In theory, today is my last day of forced rest.  Tomorrow I'm checking the foot, Saturday I rest because Sunday I race.

3)  Frostbite 15K.  I'm racing on Sunday.  I'm running in a race on Sunday.  If I can race Frostbite I should be able to take more than 10 minutes off my first Frostbite effort.  Is that insane?  Not really.  The first time I raced Frostbite I was a newbie runner.  I did it as a training run for a Half Marathon, and it was a REALLY great distance for that.  What's funny is that I really thought I kicked booty that day and remember being a PR.  So, if I race to my ULTIMATE potential according to McMillan, I know:  I'm not going to place, nor am I going to finish top 10.... but it would be a very good thing for my confidence coming off this week of rest and gearing up for Marathon #3.  OK, and I admit to vanity.  It would also be fun to say, "I ran the Frostbite 15K in X:xx:XX".  (not ready to talk about the UBER goal, but the straight up goal is to break 1:20)

Stylish is one thing I can "do"

Thank you to Heather, Momma Running Amok, who has tagged me as a Stylish Blogger.

She wrote the cutest little post about herself and I learned that we have a few things in common - like They Might Be Giants.  What a neat way to learn about other bloggers.  If you're not reading Momma Running Amok, go pick it up now.  Heather is about to take on her first marathon and is in the THICK of taper madness.

Now, I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself.

+ 1

Sometime last year I decided to brush off the negativity in my life and just try to approach everything with a smile.  It was the smartest thing I've ever done.  I became known as the chipper girl in the short skirt, tall socks with the good attitude and big... smile.  That cheerfulness has probably saved me from insanity.  It has also made me really appreciate the people around me in a new way.

Open Invite

I'm a little crazy and will invite anyone to run with me and my posse.  This means that in a week I could invite a newbie runner to join us for 3 miles of our long slow distance, and a BQ/Sprinter to join us for a tempo workout (tempo for us, easy recovery for BQ runner).  Because of this gutsiness I have made some STELLAR friends.  Take Pants Guy for example.  He's a great guy who will drop anything and everything if you tell him you need something, but his marathon finish was about 35 minutes faster than mine.  Or The Illusive Dave, who is just one GBA ultra runner.  Kc has quickly become a very dear friend, and 3L is way above my "running league" but I can't imagine running without her.

I (heart) Bart

A while ago I came to realize I was never going to be elite.  Or a Richmond elite.  Or even in the Neighborhood elite.  No matter how much I trained, no matter how hard I push, I'm a 5'2" mom with an extra XYZ number of pounds who took up running to burn stress & make friends.  While that realization didn't stop me from training hard to beat my own expectations, or exclude me from becoming a Kara Goucher fan, I just sort of looked at her and thought, How could I ever connect to the things she says or does?  And then, I found Bart Yasso.  If you ever have a chance to hear Bart speak, go.  He's wonderful.  He doesn't actually say, "I'm here for the love of the sport".. he doesn't have to, you can feel it in everything else he says.  He's got a hilarious sense of humor, isn't afraid to join the fun, and is my BFF Bart from the Richmond Marathon.

Runner First, Logical Thinker Second

TMB & I have done some stupid silly things in the name of running.  But it's not our fault.  We're just runners first, logical thinkers second.  And that's OK, because runners are cool people.  I have witnessed a runner share 8 oz of precious water on a hot day with total stranger.  I have seen a runner give away their last kleenex.  Being a runner isn't just running a bunch of miles, being a runner is embracing the community of runners around you.

4.0

I take my GPA very seriously.  Very, very seriously.  Don't make a joke about me getting a B on a test, it's not going to go over well.  I thought that getting into nursing school was going to chill me out a little, after all, C's get Degrees.  But you know what?  That is just so not me.  There are about 40 people in my (graduating) class.  I fully expect to be in the top 4 because I am going to work that hard.

Never Say Never

I was once quoted as saying "I have no interest in running a marathon.  That seems a little crazy for someone like me."  My first half marathon was not exactly a fabulous outing, if you will, and the idea of repeating it twice on the same day... well....  I am SO glad that I have TMB in my life who brought me to my senses and introduced me to the marathon.  I had more fun at my last marathon than, well, yea.  The marathon isn't just the event of running the 26.2 miles.  No one REALLY has that much fun running 4.2 miles after running a 22 mile warm up.  No, for me the marathon is the weeks of training leading up to it, the gamble, the risk, the trying new things, the don't try new things when you know what works, the anxiety, the sweat along the way, and the realization at the end of the race - after you've crossed the mat - that Bart Yasso might be the man looking into your eyes....  (wow, that sounds a lot like a nice fantasy of something... like, shoe shopping w/o kids.  What did you think I was going to say?)

GBA** PR

In the days leading up to the Richmond Marathon '10 I became friends with some pretty sweet people.  My coaches, a few "Richmond" elites, & some seriously good runners.  For example, I really did meet Bart Yasso, and by some weird twist of fate, ended up hanging out with him.  (I held the door for him... "I carried the watermelon").  I was feeling pretty bada** that week.  One of these friends said, "...on (race day) you're going to be Galactically Bada**".  I don't know why, but in that moment I totally embraced that idea.  No matter the outcome.  No matter the finish time.  I was going to be Galactic.  And I was.  Which leads me to the acronym "PR".  Very often I use it interchangeably with Personal Record and Proud Runner.  GBA** status is something you award to yourself.  Don't ask me to give it to you.  You earn it with integrity, love for your sport, and overcoming some kind of mental or physical obstacle.  You do not have to be a marathoner to be a GBA, but in order to be a GBA, you must first be a PR.

TAG!  So I am going to tag SpeeDee at BitsNPieces AND Alex at Tales of an Iron Housewife!

SpeeDee is someone I'm privileged to run with on occasion.  She is funny, and fun, and I love her dearly.  She said something about getting back into her blog, so hopefully this is the kick in the booty that she needs.  And she really needs to review those new running pants.

Alex is amazing, I love reading her blog.  Sometimes the stories about speed work in the pool make me feel like an inadequate swimmer, but she's so real that it's hard to hold that against her.

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Dear Biolabuds I really do miss you,
But there are classes to take which I must follow through,
And so I arrived, on Wednesday without you, for Lab class
There I choose my seat next to a lovely, shy lass.
Why was she here, at this seat in particular?
And then my eyes moved... perpendicular...
and I laid eyes on my Biology 102 Crew
...and so I will call them: Thing 1 and Thing 2

The children puppies students in my BIO102 class seem really young.  I don't know why they seem so much younger than my BIO101 group.  But they really are...  young.  Our first night at class the prof went over the syllabus and then we opened our lab manuals and got to work.

Lab 1 was "identifying epithelial cell types & muscle cell types through a microscope".

You know what's WAY awesome about having already taken Anatomy & Physiology?  I learned to identify epithelial cell types, and muscle cell types through a microscope.

Lab 1 was quick for me and my partner.  The very shy girl I worked with & I zipped through it in no time flat.  (I think I need to name her Sally - isn't that the name of the girl in the Cat in the Hat book?)  Sally hopped up, turned hers in and left.  Ooooooh Kay.  I re-read through mine and then really looked at the two cuties working across from me.

The first one is dark haired, olive skinned, with a definite Italian American look to him.  Broad shouldered, good looking, with a Tom Cruise nose and a pair of intelligent looking eyes.

The second one is leaner, also dark haired, lighter skin with sharp angular face, a nose as straight as an arrow, with heavy brows... his dark eyes were rimmed with thick black lashes.  Mediterranean bone structure maybe, also traffic stopping good looks.

To be clear, if I were a single girl, aged 22/23, I would have told the 34 year old mom of 3 to GET OUT OF MY SEAT.  As it was, all of the girls in the class seem really intimidated by these boys.  Well dude, I'm not afraid of 2 teenagers.

T1 & T2 were really struggling with the assignment, so I threw them a bone and helped them out a little, talking them through muscle cell striations and how to tell cardiac apart from smooth muscles.  They were really sweet and appreciative, and then in all our chatting the conversation took an amusing turn when I mentioned having been out of high school for "quite a while".

T2 - "How old are you?"

me - "Ah, no."

T2 - "OK, guess how old I am."

me- "22/23" and then I pegged T1 with a look, "23/24".  (I was wrong, he was 27)

"So you're what?  24/25?"  I started to laugh.  And T1 says, "OK, so you're what, maybe 27 at the most.  That's not that much older than me."

Still chuckling.  "I have an 11 year old child.  And didn't have her when I was 14 or 15.  No boys, I'll be 35 this semester."

That crashing sound you heard last wednesday evening was the sound of T2's jaw actually smacking the lab bench his mouth was hanging open that far.  T1 was a little cooler, being the older one of the group.  And he gives me his best nod/brow raise that probably gets the young girls all a fluttery and says all smooth-like, "yea?  well, you still look good."

(no time to proof, sorry for typos!  g'night all!)

Sunday Disconnect

Today was my Sunday long run.  I love the long run because, in theory, you are supposed to take the speed a bit slower, makes for a more relaxing experience.  Just out for a few hours of casual convo w/ the posse right?

Today's run, however, wasn't exactly relaxing.

For starters, I had a mild panic attack before the run when IronJ, a runner who is never late and had confirmed yesterday, didn't show.  It's out of character, and I texted and phoned... no answer.  At that point, I worried she was in the wrong start location due to a clerical error on my part.

3L was on time though, and after waiting 5 minutes for IronJ we hit the road.  We were going to go a nice easy pace.  Um.  Well, we'll just go with, "We suck at that."

The foot started hurting at mile .4...  No, that's a little un-truth.  The foot started aching at step 1.  It started hurting at mile .4

At mile 3ish, out of total randomness that comes from living in a small city, we ran into SpeeDee and MCM and that was a fun diversion.  They're two HCB runners, and SpeeDee made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to cry.  SpeeDee, I love you.  And, um, you need to do a review of those running tights... I'm just sayin'.

We ran with them until they turned, seeing no reason to veer off their course & away from their (hilarious) company, then adjusted our route and got back on track.  All the way up until the road we were running on was closed.

Mentally I was just trying to hold it together as I felt marathon sized fears of the worst taking over because my foot was in a lot of pain.

Adjusted route again, and back up the hill, and back up the next hill... and gosh i didn't notice we were running down hill the entire first 5 miles, but apparently we were.

At some point on this run I thought to myself "3L is a very wise woman.  I feel very lucky to have her in my life".

At mile 9ish we saw a runner who looked a lot like Q...  but to be honest, my mental strength was fading and I could barely get out a wave in time.

I was concentrating on form, and making sure my foot landed square on each step.  It didn't help with the pain, but then, I don't think anything was going to help except to sit down and ice it.

At mile 9.55 we were supposed to pick up another runner, Art, but ~sigh~ she was at the wrong location.  So we kept going to add our 3.45 miles to make 13.

We pushed through to mile 11... at that point I called parcheesi -  we finished at 12 miles.

Art met us at the finish, and a cup of coffee later we were all feeling a little less freaked out about the whole missed meet up "thing".  I was afraid to set my foot on the ground when we got up to leave.  It didn't hurt though.  It ONLY hurts when I run.  My quads, however, they hurt... plenty.

Tomorrow I rest.

And I hope that tomorrow's holiday will allow enough time for me to sit down and write up a little bit about my first week of school.  I'm sorry, for you long time blog readers, SRG is not in any of my classes, but we have new entertainment - Thing1 and Thing2, two very (very) young and cute boys ARE in my BIO class, and they are most definitely blog worthy.

Why are YOU miserable?

It's almost the "most depressing day of the year".  I don't know who made that up, I heard it on the news and failed to catch the credit.  I certainly didn't coin the phrase, but, I agree with it.

According to some source some where ("they"), January 22 is the "most depressing day of the year".  I may not have coined it, but I can see it.

It's cold.  Dark.  Slippery. running.

It's Cranky children who've spent too much time confined within the 4 walls of my home.

It's a Blast of homework and due dates with no end in site.

Spring is months away.

Spring break is even further.

Easter is a glimmer on the horizon, so faint it's hard to know if it's real.

AND to top it all off - we're all starving ourselves on our new miserable RESOLUTION lifestyle changes that limit copious amounts of chocolate therapy.

I've been tooling around in blogland for a few days now and I'm seeing a lot of the same type of posts.  Bloggers are struggling with body issues, health issues, and happiness issues.  Their Kids are sick.  Their Husbands are cranky and unsupportive.  Their Ankles are cranky and unsupportive.  Their spring marathon can't get here fast enough.  Their spring marathon is taking too long to get here.

So we're all feeling a little blue.  I say, let's CELEBRATE THIS BLUEness!  Submit your blog link to me on January 22.  (I'll put up a post, you can link it in the comments ON 1/22/11).  Tell us why you're miserable.  or  Tell us why you're GBA** & 1/22 doesn't bother you at all.  Tell us the most creative story you can for why you didn't get your run in, or failed to get the house cleaned, or lost your motivation... whatever you want.

Just vent, share, ...and laugh at your own misery.

The most pathetic blog post wins a $5 gift card to Starbucks.
The most amusing/creative also wins a $5 gift card to Starbucks.

There will be two winners, so even if you're pathetic and funny, you can't win both.

Freakin' Kidding ME?

So today starts the litany of tests for my Klingon.  And then tomorrow we see another specialist.  Next week another.  My health insurance company loves me & my kid...

I really needed a good hard run.

Needed it.  Not wanted it.  Not craved it.  Needed.

Woke up this morning, couldn't fully bear weight on my ankle without pain.  It was a shock, I hopped out of bed as usual, and POW!  But, I'm stupid desperate dedicated so I went out to run anyway.

At mile .2 my ankle hurt.  But by mile 1 it was MUCH feeling better so I decided to go ahead and finish the run.

Fail.

I bailed after 4 miles, and would have bailed before then but there was no way to get back, and walking hurts just as much as running.

Freaking awesome.

excuses are for wimps.

I was all set to shake up my fitness routine in 2011.  Yup.  I did a little research into what might help make me a better runner.

All the evidence pointed to core strengthening.

I did a little more research.  More evidence pointed to losing a few pounds.

Which I totally enjoyed the benefits of when I ran the marathon, the 10 miler and the 5K at my lightest weight in years.  If 5 pounds makes THAT huge of a difference, imagine what another 5 pounds would do?  So, how do I lose a few pounds... Aha!  Strength training.

So I poked a friend about her workout, and, through the randomness that followed found a group workout that is 9 minutes away from my house, at a time of day I like to workout (sure, 5:30 IS the best time of day isn't it?), and I know one of the women who does this group looks like... well... you know my joke about becoming a victoria's secret model when I "grow up"?  Yea, pretty much like THAT.  And because I'm married I'll refrain from commenting about the appearance of the guy I know who does the class - but I think that probably says enough.

Anyway - I was ALL set to go, looking forward to it, and immediately, I got sick.

And then a week later, I got all my childhood vaccinations re-done for Nursing School - and felt too funky and sore the next morning to try out a new program.

So here we are - several weeks later.  And no new fitness routine has been attempted.

This morning was going to be THE DAY.  No excuses.  None.  Yea.  Tell that to the 1/4 inch of ice all over my car, driveway and roads (causing a cancelation of the workout group).

Excuses are for wimps.

SO next week... there will be no freakin' excuses.

Unless it snows.

First Day of SCHOOL!

Yesterday was the first day of my new semester.

To be clear - the first day of Nursing School.

Huh.  It's going to be hard to be the "teacher's pet" in nursing school.  Everyone in my class is like me.  Not momsof3-marathoners.  UBER STUDENTS.

But in all seriousness, it went really well, and I'm very hopeful about the rest of the semester.

OH, and I "have" to do 2 hours of community service!  Well, looks like I will volunteer for that 5K after all... "it's for school".

thesaurus.com

‎"A bend in the road is not the end of the road... 

unless you fail to make the turn." 

~Author Unknown

Realized (based on all the responses) that everyone who read yesterdays post is thinking the worst.  Let me use a better word.  Yesterday I told you we had received "startling" news.  Well, I take that back.

Startling was the wrong word.  The correct word was:

alarming, bothersome, depressing, difficult, disconcerting, discouraging, dismaying,disquieting, distressful, distressing, foreboding, frightening, hard, impeding, inconvenient,intrusive, ominous, painful, perplexing, perturbing, provoking, troublesome, troubling, uncertain, unpleasant, upsetting, vexing,wearisome, worrisome, worrying

My child's Dr told us something that was certainly unsettling and may even be life altering, but not the worst.  For all intensive purposes, the child in question is healthy.

I'm just... as a mother... I'm just having to learn a new path.  I once read an article about what it's like to have a child with Down Syndrome (obviously NOT what I'm dealing with).  The mother said it was like planning a trip to Paris and landing in Holland.  At first it's very sad and disappointing, but eventually you come to appreciate the culture, speak the language, the pace of the country, etc.

Well, I'm obviously not visiting Holland, but I feel a bit like I've planned a tropical vacation getaway on a yacht only to land in Alaska for a fishing trip.  It's still a boat trip, and sure -Alaska is beautiful- but fishing is a lot less relaxing, a lot more grueling, and certainly harder than the planned trip*.

Hopefully, this little look the thesaurus will calm some of the concern out there in blog land. I'm fine, thrown, but fine, and so is my kiddo.  Thanks so much for your prayers & comments.  I do appreciate them very, very, much.


~as if any of us really expected parenthood to be as easy as a getaway on a yacht?  I didn't.  I'm not complaining, please don't hear my words as whining.  I'm trying to adjust.~

3 Things Thursday - Random Edition

Everyone seems to be doing editions today... bandwagon + me = Three Things Thursday the Random Edition.

1)  Not quite a week into my "new year", and I'm not exactly on track with my eating.  I am considering (don't tell H) going through the house and throwing away all the cookies and candy with the excuse of "I thought it was bad, and didn't want to risk the kids getting sick off a bad hershey's kiss".  What do you think?  He totally doesn't get why I 'just don't eat it'.  My thinking is along the "set yourself up for success - If it's in the house, it's a lot easier to snack on junk than if it's in the trash".  I'm just sayin'.

2)  We received some startling news in the past few weeks from my child's Md and it's really knocked my head out of the game.  i.e. - I freakin' showed up to a run w/o shoes.  I have been playing it close to the chest, and finally told T.  But just so you know, when I know something for sure, I will share with you all.  Until then, if I seem somedays spacey, well, that's why.

3)  Whoops!  I forgot my rest day!  (Has this ever happened to you?)  I was sick last week, so the day I finally felt better was Friday - my typical rest day - and I finally ran.  Then I ran a family 5K on Saturday, and knocked out an easy 11 miles for my long run on Sunday.  Monday T was kid free, so Kc & I joined her for a hill workout.  Tuesday I always run, though I wasn't "feeling it" for some reason and bailed at 4 miles.  Yesterday is a mid week 10 miler, and I hate to miss it because it gives me a chance to see & run with IronJ (who has been re-named b/c she needs a cool name that reflects how cool she is).  And today it's Thursday, and I always run on Thursday so I knocked out another 4 miler - again, unsure of why 6 miles was sounding SO impossible....  Dude, 6 miles was "sounding impossible" because today was your 7th day in a row and you're coming back off a massive cold.

FANtastic!

So we all know how much I adore Bart Yasso right?

Imagine my surprise when I picked up my gmail yesterday and read the following,

Bart Yasso sent you a message on Facebook...

WHAT! WHAT!!! 

(an actual quote from me, I was not very articulate in the moment)

You see, Bart Yasso has a fan page on Facebook, and as a stalker fan, of course, I'm on that page with some frequency.  So he asked for everyone's New Years Resolutions, and I said, "2010's resolution 'become best friends with Bart Yasso at the Richmond marathon' is going to be hard to top"... well, that, apparently, struck him as funny.

Funny enough that he "liked" the comment.

And... Funny enough that he wrote me a little note.

Yes. 6 words.  And then, he wished me Happy New Year with THREE exclamation points.  If we were in Jr High, we'd spend hours dissecting this.  We're not though, so, we can't read anything into the 6 very benign words he wrote.  Still, it was a great moment.

So, what is the nature of my "relationship" with Bart?  Well, I know who he is (saw him race in Bermuda, & heard him speak in RVA), and I figured that's where it ended... except that apparently, he remembers me with clarity, and quoted our Marathon conversation back to me in another reply.  What can I say?  The socks are memorable.

Well - the socks and the "crazy".  I did run by pointing at him with both hands while screaming, "It's my NEW BEST FRIEND BART!!!" at the top of my lungs.  I'm just sayin'.

Speaking of Facebook, I have a fan page for this blog, incase you missed that memo, and occasionally I've been known to write some good stuff... no, not really, I usually just make corrections & such, but... feel free to like me anyway.

1000 (plus) miles in pictures

 January 5 miles
1.5 of which I ran in Bermuda, with my BFF Bart Yasso & T, of course.

In February we were measuring the snow in feet, or "depth of snow in relation to height of Mutt", which ever made it easier to communicate that it was CRAZY.  I did my first run over 3 miles, and totaled 27 miles for the month!  

Kate, T, SpeeDee, g. and Fay.

 March - Father Daughter Dance Chaperone - with my other Bestie Ann.  At the end of the month I race a 1 second PR while trying NOT to race.  54 Miles for the month.

April - Pink & I got a bike lesson from SpeeDee.  With some hard work and determination, I achieved 100 miles for April!

Pink & I probably need a couples counselor at this point, our relationship is really bad.

May- V, T, & G - kicking asphalt for Autism (i.e. a 5K PR), a *virtual half marathon PR on my 34th Birthday, and 117 miles for the month.

June... T joined me for a day on Pink Nation... 

which I thought was going to be a good fit for me, but it was Snot.  

I also ran raced a 17.75K with T & MCM, and logged a bunch of miles... 

like... 129 miles worth of miles.

July, the Half & Half virtual race start - G, DeNiece, Kty & T.  

Yea, its that dark b/c it's that early.  148 miles.

August

 The Big D.
158 miles
2... 6.... 10 miles at a time.

and...  the Pink Power Tri

September's "oh, quick let's get a photo" photo looks a LOT like the August pre-race pic... and a super sweet 186 miles!

 October... well, I am wearing a running skirt at least in the photo.  Not big on photos in Oct, probably because I was too busy running 194 miles.  And going a little crazy on Taper Island.  AND completing the 1000 Miles!

November's SNOT Fun Run was, well, one of the best runs I have ever done with my posse.  I cherish it as one of my truly fondest memories of the year.  We had no time goals, no pace, no reason to do anything but have fun.  It was ~sigh~ everything you'd ever want in a run.

Following Saturday I ran my GBA Marathon.  It's tough to know what was more fun, running the race, achieving the PR, realizing that it was GBA, or coining the phrase, "GBA".

December was awesome.  On Friday 12/3, I talked to my bro, and then I channeled his Galactic Awesomeness and ran a GBA 10 miler.  I was SO glad that Joan was there to share it with me.  Or, was I there sharing her "Comeback" race with her?  Hard to say...  on a side note, it was Joan who was with me in October when I actually crossed the 1000 mile mark.

December's GBA Girls at the Toys for Tots 5K

PU5K

Sorry Alex, my apologies, I really don't know what you called your 5K.  I'm calling mine the PU5K.

Yes, that's P.U., not a PR, because I didn't even TRY for a PR.  I'd tell you why, and you might think the reason is funny, but it'snot.

Weather was a balmy 50 degrees so I dressed in a technical T and my cheetah skirt.  Tradition demands that I wear my cheetah skirt for my New Years Day race.

AND, before we start, I think I should point out that I finished in the top 10 and won my age class.

well.  yea.  actually after I was dressed and ready to run, I looked around and determined that I needed some competition company.

I ran a PU of 32:27...  and here's how the race shook down.

I was an elite today, escorted by 2 bike pacers.

We took out like a bunch of crazies, tearing down our neighborhood streets (mile 1, 9:10), losing our walkers (stroller, old dog and H) right away, across a bridge to the edge of the lake (mile 2, 9:19), and as we were rounding back onto the side walk at somewhere around 2.6 miles, I looked down at my sweet and dear black and tan mutt and said, "um, let's not kill the dog today." so, we walked home.