New Edition

No, no! I mean, new addition!

The newest addition to our family was born this morning. Welcome Carter, my sister's third child.

Thursday Thoughts

Sorry y'all! I've been in class all week and haven't been in front of a computer.

I've been taking a class on manager IT projects. Yeah, what a wild and crazy life I live! So, if you were to take any class you could, what class would you take?

Redemption

I went out and did a fantastic workout last night as sort of a redemption run. The high schoolers' schedule called for 100s so I decided to join in. It was a one mile warm up followed by 16X100 all out and then a two mile cool down. In total it was five miles. It felt awesome. However, it does not feel awesome today. The back of my legs hurt from my bum down to my heels and my calves feel like they are in balls.

New race plans are brewing....

Boston Marathon 2007

I didn't run.

I had to make a decision based on the information I had available. Unforunately it was the wrong decision. I took a gamble and I lost.

The weather on Sunday was horrible. It poured down rain; the wind would knock you off your feet; and the temperature was mighty cold. When I woke up Sunday morning the weather was exactly the same and when I watched the weather channel and the local news it was looking like the poor weather was going to continue all day for the marathon. I made my decision and stuck with it.


At 10:30am, my start time, the weather was clearing up. The rain was slowing down and the wind was not as gusty. By that time, however, it was too late. Dave and I went out and watched the end of the race for several hours and I felt horrible about the decision I had made. I have previously run two half marathons in the pouring rain. One was in the summer and although it was warm, it was still miserable. The other was in April but the rain was combined with snow and it was frigidly cold. My hands and toes were numb and red at the end of that race. To me, the weather was not worth the gamble. I did not want to risk hypothermia or getting really sick just to finish a marathon--a marathon I've done before and a marathon I'll do again.

To add insult to injury, several people that have times falling in my range totally kicked butt in Boston crushing my PR on a flat course. It's disheartening. I'm disappointed in myself. And although I think it's great what these people achieved, I'm not ready to hear about their races yet.

I think I need to re-evaluate for a while and find out really what I'm made of.

The Gear

Have you ever seen this many hair accessories in your life?





And depending on the weather, this is probably what I will be wearing for the marathon. I'm sure with the orange, no one should have a problem spotting me.

Seriously?!

From an e-mail I received today from the Boston Athletic Association:

Wednesday, April 11 - As the Boston Athletic Association continues to make preparations for Monday's Boston Marathon, we are monitoring the upcoming weather conditions forecast for this area. Based on the National Weather Service's most recent report and in cooperation with the Executive Office of Public Safety (Commonwealth of Massachusetts) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, together with the eight cities and towns along the 26.2-mile marathon route, we are planning for likely heavy rain and windy conditions on race day. However, all race day plans remain the same. The Boston Athletic Association advises participants in Monday's race to plan accordingly for their run, bringing with them gear and apparel to suit the conditions. The B.A.A. will continue to update its web site as necessary.

Tying up the Loose Ends

Looking at the weather forecast, Boston is going to suck. It's supposed to only be a high of 47 degrees with a 70% chance of rain. And you know it's not going to be 49 at the start, either. Rain or shine, I'm still going to run it and I'll try to enjoy it.

The worst part will be that the Red Sox tickets for Sunday, when there is also a 70% chance of rain, will be no good. :( Let's keep our fingers crossed.

So all of you homies out there who want to track my progress my bib number is 13260 and my start time will be 10:30am.

See ya in Boston!

Thursday Thoughts

I've been thinking all morning of questions to ask and I just can't think of one. So we'll switch it up today. What are the burning questions you're dying to ask me?

My answer(s) will be here:

@ Jeff:
That is a good one. I chose engineering because of the boys I had dated. How do I put this politely? They, at the time, were not the sharpest tools in the shed (although some of them have gone on to do great things and be great people--guess maturity changes things). I figured I was going to have to be the breadwinner if I was to ever marry one of them and I liked math so I chose engineering.

I initially started in mechanical engineering to either do biomedical engineering or do rocket science, but I switched to industrial engineering my 3rd year. I was an intern for a distribution company for a year and really liked it. I worked as an industrial engineer for 5 years post college--one year in the service industry (healthcare) and four years in distribution.

I enjoy the challenge of engineering particularly simulation, but I never really enjoyed the work. Now I work in IT.

Good question Jeff.

@ Dave:
For dinner tonight? Maybe pizza? It is Friday after all.

My first time I ran Boston it was for the experience and it was so hot that all you could do was "enjoy" the marathon. Last year at my second Boston, I had done so much training that I felt like I needed to "race" Boston. This year I don't know what I am looking forward to most. In my head, I don't think my training has gone very well, but on paper it doesn't look much different than last year's training. I think my favorite part about the Boston Marathon is the people who come out to watch it. They go crazy for a running race and it just makes it feel like you're part of something really special.


@Andrea:
Well, I am quite looking forward to the birthday celebration after the marathon!

@ Jessie:
Thanks for getting in touch with me. I hope your racing season is going well or will be going well. If I didn't send you an e-mail back when you e-mailed me, then I goofed. I thought I replied to everyone who sent me an e-mail. I'll look again through my inbox and make sure to send you a note. Happy Running!

One More Game!