Monday, October 31, 2005

Where you at, girl?

Here I am!

I've been a running fool the last couple of days. Last week I did 37 miles, which I think is more miles in a week than for any training week in my last marathon. And it was only the first week of the schedule! This morning I did 8 miles with 4 of the miles at half marathon pace. Actually it was quite a bit faster than half marathon pace. Here were my splits: 8:24, 8:28, 7:29, 7:26, 7:16, 7:16, 8:20, 8:05. It was a good run and I'm feeling pretty good this afternoon.

End of the month totals:

Swimming-400 meters
Biking-1 hours 30 minutes
Running-122.7 miles

I took some pictures of my niece and nephew this week. So adorable.



No news on the job front. Still looking. Still hoping.

Talk to y'all tomorrow.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

My Conclusions

Earlier this week I was really down about my job search. I felt like I had exhausted my resources and being the totally impatient person I am, felt like no company was going to call me back.

My conclusion is this...companies do all their calling on Thursdays. I've been contacted by three different companies today and all have been positive calls. The timelines of some of the processes scare me a little (one said they won't make final decisions until January!) but I guess that's what happens when you're looking for engineering jobs.

So, today has been a positive day and when I have any more news to report, I will let y'all know. But for now, back to Sudoku (thanks a lot Dave, NOT!).

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Suzy Homemaker

The first part of this blog is for Brit and to showcase my other hidden talents.

This is the first quilt I ever made. It's a basic block quilt and it took me over a year to do. I quilted it by machine.


This is the quilt I'm working on now. It's a scrap double wedding ring quilt. I started it last November and still have a long way to go. It is a wedding present for a friend. The wedding was LAST MARCH!


This is a scarf I knitted last year. I wore it a lot during track season. Track season in Ohio is cold.


This is a scarf I'm working on now.


Finally I'd like to show y'all that I'm a horrible Suzy Homemaker. This morning I popped my french toast in the toaster (he he-first strike). I set up my tray table in front of the TV (strike two). Then I got the margarine out of the fridge. The margarine is new and heavy and well, it dropped. And broke. And made a mess. And what did I do? Well, I put it back in the refrigerator...upside-down...so it wouldn't make a bigger mess (strike three--you're out!).

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Loot

I received my award from the Towpath Marathon yesterday. I finished 2nd in my age group.


The loot. Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 24, 2005

Here we go....

...again. Since I really don't have anything to do during my day I decided to train for another marathon. And the training starts today. I ran 8 miles with 10 X 100m pick-ups this morning. It was cold, about 40 degrees. But I got the run done and it felt good. My lower back has been hurting a lot lately after my runs. Maybe I need to do a little more stretching and a little more strengthening of my core muscles.

Hop on over to Dave's blog. He posted his marathon report.

My interview on Friday went really well. I'm hoping to get a call back this week for a second interview. I'm pretty sure that I'll at least get a second interview. I'm also meeting with a career consultant this week (free with my severence package) to work on my interviewing skills and to review my resume.

Hope y'all had a good weekend.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Interview #2

Interview #2 will be tomorrow afternoon. I'm interviewing with a major retailer for a store process engineering position. It sounds promising. I sent my resume this morning and less than two hours later they contacted me for an interview. The bad part is this...this company "requires" you to wear their brand, even to the interview. So today I had to go out and buy a whole new outfit because I don't own any clothes of theirs. So I spent over $100 on a pair of cords, tank top, and button down (it's a really casual work environment). I'll let y'all know how it goes.

I've been getting in some good running this week. I did 8 miles on Tuesday and then another 4 yesterday. The 4 yesterday involved 1.75 miles of tempo. My first mile was in 6:38 and my next 3/4 mile was around 5:21. I felt good about that. I'm planning another 3-4 today and then maybe spinning class tonight. I'm going to spinning class because my instructor is a sales engineer and I'm going to do a little networking.

See y'all tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Interview #1

So today I had an interview with a sports marketing firm. The position was for entry level marketing. I thought this might be a good opportunity to combine my passion with a different career path. When I walked in there was probably 10 people sitting around waiting to be interviewed. I thought that was weird. And they had told me on the phone to dress as professionally as possible and I was only one of two people wearing a suit. There were people there in jeans. Again, weird. The interview was short and uninformative and I'm not really sure about it all. I guess we'll wait and see.

The best part was the receptionist told me I looked like a movie star. She said I looked like Jodie Foster. She even told me I was beautiful (awwwww!). I get that Jodie Foster thing a lot. He! It's funny.


Could be me, could be Jodie Foster? Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

What to do when you're unemployed

So...my days are long. Really long. I've been getting up around 6:30 because that's when my eyes open. I usually watch the morning's top news stories and then head out for a run when Dave goes to work. Then I spend a little time sending out a resume or two and then I have hours and hours of complete boredom. So what have I been doing with all this time?

Not much.

Today I worked on my quilting and knitting. Yep...I'm 83 but I look damn good! :)

I've also been doing a lot of cleaning. Here's your cleaning tip for the day. To make your glass shower doors look incredible, wash them with the Mr. Clean sponge and then use RainX to keep the hard water stains away. I also use a squeegy after each shower.

Any ideas to keep my brain moving?

Monday, October 17, 2005

Weekend Roundup

Hello y'all from the land of unemployment!

So far, so good on the job search. I've contacted a couple companies and have already heard back from two. The quick response, I think, is hopeful that I'm employable. Or at least that's what I like to think.

My husband ran the Columbus Marathon yesterday in 4:44:18. I'm so proud of him. Never did I think he would make it to the start line and now he says he'd like to do another one. I've created a monster! It was fun to watch him and my other friends run and do well. Here's Andrea's report and hopefully Dave will post his soon. And hopefully I will have taken some good pictures for him to post (I'm not betting on it).

I ran once last week to work out the kinks from the marathon and this week I'll get back to running more regularly. I've been recruited to run with the CC team this week. I'd much prefer to run in the morning now that I don't have to rush off to work. Something tells me I'm going to have many days of running in the morning.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Bad News for Meredith

Today was a really bad day for me. I got laid off from my job today. The reason I was told was 'company reorganization.' I'm not sure that's totally the truth, but that's what I'm going to believe.

So crud, now I have to look for a new job--one of my least favorite things to do. So internet if you want to help or know someone who could help:

-I have a BS in Industrial Engineering from The Ohio State University
-I have 5 years work experience--including work in the service industry and distribution.
-I have mad problem solving and analytical skills
-My computer skills include Word, Excel, Access, Project, AutoCAD, and Arena (simulation software)
-It would be great to continue working in engineering, but I'm open to anything

If you're interested in my resume or want to know, please e-mail me (it's on the sidebar).

Well, not much else to say. My day has been pretty crappy and I'm completely drained. Please keep me in your prayers.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Towpath Marathon 2005

I started back to full-time training after my broken shin in December '04 and I haven't stopped training. All my big races have been back-to-back. I've taken less than 10 days total off from training (that's not included in the rest days built into the training). So I have to tell you I was quite burnt out by the time the marathon rolled around yesterday. I kept thinking of all the different excuses I could come up with to get out of the race. But I ran it and I did pretty well.

The race started late as one of the trains bringing all the runners was late. This was a pretty small race and there was no way to gauge where to line up. We lined up pretty close to the front because we knew it wasn't going to be crowded so people wouldn't be flying past us and we wouldn't have to worry about dodging slower people.

The first two miles were on the road and then we hit the trail. The trail was crushed limestone, although there were patches of asphalt and long plank footbridges. The scenery was beautiful except I never saw any of it because there were hickory nuts all over the course and you had to watch your step.

My dad ran with me the first half of the race. We were pretty conservative as we came through the half way point at 1:47 and change.


Dad and I close to the 6 mile mark. I'm number 207; that's my dad right in front of me. Posted by Picasa


Way too close-up. Posted by Picasa


In Peninsula (that's the name of the town). Posted by Picasa


More of my dad and me. Posted by Picasa


And off we go to the halfway point. Posted by Picasa

Bridget ran with me the second half of the race and she had me pushing the pace. We started dropped down to the 8:02/8:03 range and things were still feeling pretty good. I ran all the way to mile 21 and then that damn wall came out and got me. Bridget kept having me run but we slowed down the pace to around 9:00s. I sure cut it close in the end. My time was 3:39:06. That's a PR (by 12 seconds) and requalifies me for Boston. I'm not hugely satisfied by it, but I'll deal.


Bridget and I chugging along. Posted by Picasa


And off we head towards the finish. Posted by Picasa


Here we are passing a bunch of people, who in the end, will pass us back. Posted by Picasa


Nice face! Sprinting at the finish. Posted by Picasa

Some notes about this race and why I won't be doing it again. First of al, the mile markers were off so I couldn't even use the pace bands I had attached to my arm. Nor could I figure out if I needed to speed up or sow down. Secondly, I struggled with the surface changes. I would have been fine had it been all trail or all asphalt, but switching back and forth was hard on the body. The water stops were approximately 1-1/2 miles apart but they were kinda random. And although there were signs indicating an aid station ahead, those signs were just ahead of the aid stations. for me this was difficult because I had to put all my gel in my mouth at once before the waterstop. It made me gag. It scared Bridget. (Sorry Bridget.) Lastly, there was a detour off the trail through an industrial park at miles 23 and 24. It was a very lonely stretch. To reconnect to the trail, we had to hop a curb, run through grass, run through a gravel parking lot, and finally back on the trail which was now asphalt to the end (except the very end which was grass). I wasn't planning on a cross country marathon.

I'm glad my season's over. I'm going to rest for a few days and then figure out what's nexxt. Thanks for all your good luck wishes.

And a special thanks to my dad and Bridget who helped me through the race. I'm sure it was really hard for Bridget to run a slower pace and even walk. She pushed me when I needed it and knew how to motivate me in the end. Lots of love to both of you.

Update: I finished 2nd in my age group. Now, how do I get that award?

Friday, October 07, 2005

Hey! You!

Hey you out there! Yeah you know who you are. The person reading this blog and never leaving a message! I know there are more than 4 people reading this site, y'all. So, I'm making it easier for everyone. Now everyone can leave a comment either by being a blogger member or anonymously (although I'd still like to know who you are). So hey, who are all you people?

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The Good and The Bad

The good part about the last few days before the marathon is the pasta eating. I love me some carbs!

The bad part about the last few days before the marathon is all the hydrating. I must have gone to the bathroom about 400 times yesterday. I even had to get up in the middle of the night. (Well, maybe like 10:30, but I go to bed really early y'all!)

Not much to post about when you're not really doing much running. I'll either post Sunday after the race or Monday morning. Towpath, here I come!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Random Stuff

I did a hard tempo run with some of the high school girls yesterday. We did about 3-1/2 miles with 1-3/4 of it at a sub-7:30 pace. There were four girls who ran with me and for the most part, they hung together pretty well. Afterwards they said it was a tough practice. It was music to my ears. I love the high schoolers.

Did you check out the piece on Vanessa Carlton on Derek's blog? I think it's great when celebrities donate to good causes, but I think it's even better when celebrities are role models.

On a serious note...we need some prayers. My sister is pregnant with child #3 and having a tough go-about. She had been having some spotting, so she went to the doctor and it was discovered that her placenta is hanging outside her cervix. (Ew!) She's not allowed to do anything physical for the remainder of her pregnancy (including S-E-X). The good news is that as the baby grows it should pull everything back into place. Please keep her in your thoughts. She has a long way to go in this pregnancy--she's not even at 20 weeks.

Have a good Wednesday!

Monday, October 03, 2005

September Totals

September was another big month of running and I didn't even come close to doing all the miles that were planned. I didn't do any biking (besides around the neighborhood) or swimming in September, but I did do a lot of running. Total miles for the month:

122.7 miles

Saturday was my last "long" run before the marathon this weekend. I did 9 miles at Highbanks Metro Park. I haven't run at Highbanks very much this summer, but all my running at the stadium sure made a difference. Highbanks has some pretty good-sized hills and a flight of stairs. I flew up the big hill and the stairs and felt really good about my run.

It also helped that it was in the 40s. I love running in the colder weather. I wore shorts and a long sleeve shirt. I was a bit warm. Andrea wore long sleeves, long pants, and gloves. Andrea, you're from Canada! 40 shouldn't be cold to you!

It's supposed to be summer-like temperatures for the first couple days this week. I'm hoping it will be cold again by the weekend. T-minus 6 days and counting!