My Summer Vacation

We're back and pretty exhausted. But no time to rest, it's back to work today. I will begin posting my summer vacation and will continue to post as I get time. This post is going to be very long and I will try to put pictures in when I get a chance.

For the record, on the last post, no I did not throw up on my shorts. Sometimes my hands type faster than my brain thinks.

Vacation Day 1:

Today we traveled to NYC. The plane ride was good and a lot shorter than expected. the van ride from the airport to our hotel was a different story. The driver had a short fuse and constantly laid on his horn and shouted at other drivers. One of his statements was, "wake up sleepy." He!

I must admit that when we first got here I was feeling quite overwhelmed. It is a big, big city and where we are staying is more in a residential area than a touristy area. But after a stroll through Central Park I began to calm down.

This evening we went to Lincoln Center for "Out of Doors." It's a series of free cultural events. This evening had different ethinic dances and all the dance troops were from Brooklyn. There was a step group, an African group, a Swedish group, a Panmanian group, and a few others. My favorite was the African group.

For dinner we went to a place called Vynll which was quite a hole in the wall, but we're discovering everything is here. The menus were inside of record albums. It was good food, good service, and not too expensive.

We walked down to Times Square to end the evening. Boy it was crowded with people. I'm glad we're staying off the beaten path aways.

Vacation Day 2:

Today we got up around 6:45 and went for a run in Central Park. We got totally lost as we followed these little paths that intersected. We came out around the Natural History Museum or whatever it's called (it's got dinosaurs). At this point a woman asked us how to find the running paths in Central Park and we pointed her in a different direction that we came from because we didn't want her to get lost. We rested for a minute and then went the same path we had shown her. We soon realized, however, that we had pointed her to a road that actually went under the park. Woops! We chased her down, turned us all around, and we all ran together to the south side of the park. It was fun; it was slow; and I'm calling it about 4-1/2 miles.

Much of the rest of the day was spent on a double-decker bus tour. The first part of the tour was downtown. We saw sites such as the Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Wall Street, The Village, Chinatown, etc. It was an okay tour. Our tour guide didn't speak much English so she basically just pointed out things we could have gotten from a map. The second half of the tour went uptown where we saw the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Harlem, and Central Park. Our tour guides were excellent and gave us a lot more information than just what the sites were. They told us all the juicy celebrity gossip, which I like.

This evening we went to dinner at Lindy's where we encountered our first bad service. Our waitress came by only three times--once to take our order, once to bring the check, and once to bring the check back. The food was alright but overpriced. We wanted the cheesecake, but didn't have time.

After dinner we hopped the subway (our first time of many times) out to Brooklyn to meet Monique and Pete for an off-off Broadway play. The play was called "World Gone Wrong" and Pete's brother was in it. The play was unusual because all the dialog was previously recorded and all the lines had come from different noir movies. It was good, but different, and I'm not realy sure I got it.

Vacation Day 3:

We started our Friday really early and were at the Today Show by 6:30 am. We got really good spots right along the railing where Matt Lauer and Ann Curry would be announcing the concert--Joss Stone. Let me say this, Ann Curry is my new best friend. She came over and said hello, shook my hand, and Dave got a picture of me and Ann Curry. It was awesome! The concert was awesome too. Unfortunately, being as short as I am, I wasn't able to actually see the performance, but I did watch it on the monitors.

Next we headed down to Ground Zero to check it out further than the bus tour. right now it's a construction site and there are posters of the new building going up there, but just the enormity of the space is enough to get the feeling of how big the building were. (I had been to the World Trade Center eleven years ago, but Dave had never seen them.) We went to the church next to Ground Zero which had housed many of the volunteers. It had a memorial and a museum.

Our next adventure tested my nature. I have a deep, dark fear of bridges and really flip out when I have to go across them. When I crossed the Cheasapeake Bay when I was a child, I sat on the floor of the car crying. Got the idea? So I conquered my fear today and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. We stopped halfway and took some pictures.


Me, from the Brooklyn Bridge 

We had been told that right at the end of the bridge was this great pizza place called Grimaldi's. Well, we got to the end of the bridge and we couldn't find any of the roads supposedly by the pizza place. We walked around and around and then asked a traffic officer who had no idea what we were talking about. We then found a subway station and looked at the map to find the streets. After a lot more walking we finally found Grimaldi's which was right under the Brooklyn Bridge. We had lunch there and got some dessert at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

After Brooklyn we headed back to the hotel for some naps and cleaned up for dinner. We went to La Bonne Soupe which had decent service, good food, and pretty good prices.

After dinner we met Pete and Monique at Union Square to go on a walking tour of The Village to see some art displays. We did a lot of walking but didn't really see any art. We think we did see some movie stars, though. We think Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal walked right past us. Pete pointed them out but only after they had walked past. Our final destination for the evening was B's Bar and Grill where we had a little liquid dessert and then headed home around 1:00am.

Vacation Day 4:

We woke up kinda late for us today, which made me irritable that I had wasted the morning. It was a pretty nice day so we decided our first activity would be the Empire State Building. We went probably around 10:00am and the lines weren't bad, but just being around that many people started to make me antsy. I'm pretty closterphobic so it was a bit too much. We didn't spend much time at the Empire State Building but we did get to see the view of the city from each side.

For lunch we went to Grand Central Station and just ate at the food court. What a neat place. We don't have trains or subways in Columbus so being in a busy transportation hub was cool and the architecture was also cool.

After lunch we hopped the subway down to Chinatown and SoHo to do some shopping. I really wasn't planning on doing any shopping in NY since we have most of the stores here in Columbus. I really like vintage/thrift clothes so I was hoping to find some good deals. Again, what a mistake. First of all, the sidewalks were wall to wall people and being that I was already on edge I thought I was going to die. We had this list of different vintage shops that came from our 2005 Frommer's guide and none of the stores were there. I guess they had already gone out of business. I did find the Kate Spade store which was exciting because she's one of my favorite designers. We also saw a drug transaction go down just one street off of Broadway. Good times!

For dinner we met Monique and Pete and went to an authentic Italian restaurant in the West Village. I have no idea what I ordered but it was good. It was shell pasta with creamy sauce and Italian sausage. Yummy!

After dinner we went to a sketch comedy show that Pete's brother was in. It was extremely funny. We turned in pretty early in preparation for our race on Sunday.

Vacation Day 5:

We woke up at 5:30 this morning in preparation for our race at 7:00. I woke up not feeling 100%--I was super dizzy. So dizzy, in fact, that I fell into the wall in the bathroom as I was getting dressed. We hopped the subway up to the east side of Central Park. There were lots of runners on the trains and we barely got to the starting line in time. As we were waiting for the gun to go off the announcer said there were 8000 runners registered for the race. 8000!? That's twice as many as the Columbus Marathon. The race itself was pretty difficult. First it was really, really humid and already in the 80s at 7:00am. Secondly, it was a lot hillier than anything we run around here. It wasn't steep hills, just really long hils. And lastly because it was two loops of the park, mentally it was tough because you knew you could drop out and always make it back. I finished in 1:52 and Dave finished in 2:11. That's way off our personal bests.

After the race we cleaned up, rested a little, and then decided to go down to Times Square for lunch at a chain restaurant because we wanted to be able to get free refills and be in air conditioning. (If you've never been to NYC, most of the local places serve you sodas in cans or bottles and a lot of places don't have AC.) We had a super nice, super friendly waitress at Bubba Gumps. She talked to us for a long time about culture and tourists and how NYC differs from the midwest. It was an enjoyable lunch.

Next we hopped the subway down to South Ferry and cuaght the boat to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. We had ridden the Staten Island Ferry earlier in the trip so we had already seen the Statue of Liberty but we wanted to see it up close. We took a lot of pictures and even got a stranger to take a picture of the two of us. It was the only picture we got of the two of us together the whole trip. We also went to Ellis Island and explored the immigrant museum there. It had beautiful black and white photographs. I really liked the museum.

For dinner we went to the Upper East Side to a pizza place called John's Pizza. The pizza was delicious, but again, no air conditioning.

We turned in pretty early as the day and the week were starting to wear on us.

Vacation Day 6:

Today was by far my favorite day of our vacation. Today was the day I have been waiting 14 years for. today was the day I got to go to the US Open. My whole reason for coming to NY was to see Andre Agassi play in what is probably his final US Open. Here's the sad part--I didn't get to see him play or practice, but I did get to see a lot of other great players. We first got to see Taylor Dent on one of the practice courts. It's amazing how close you can get to the players! Next we watched a small portion of the Ivan Ljubicic match. Then we went and wtached almost the whole Serena Williams first round match on Arthur Ashe stadium. After the Serena match we went back out to the practice courts and saw Tim Henman and Amelie Mauresmo. We also saw James Black and Xavier Malisse walk by. The next match we saw was Kim Clijsters. She's my favorite female player so this was an especially good treat. You have no idea how good she is until you've seen her play in person. We also got to see a small portion of the Jan-Michael Gambill/Nicolas Massu match before the Clijster's match. After the Clijster's romp we caught the tail end of Rafael Nadal and then watched the whole Venus Williams match. By this time it was late in the afternoon, we were sweaty and stinky and sunburnt and ready to go back to the hotel.

Dave had picked out three different restaurants on the Upper West Side to check out for dinner. One was Mexican, one was Italian, and one was Soul Food (sounds like the start of a joke). One thing that was different about restaurants in NY was that they were really authentic and most of the time the menus were not in English. First we went to the Mexican restaurant and I could not figure out the menu enough to figure out what to order. Then we walked a long way to the Italian restaurant where neither Dave nor I could figure out what the menu said. Finally we went to the Soul Food place where nothing sounded good. As we were walking back to the subway station we passed a coffee shop that was used in the movie "You've Got Mail." Being that this is my favorite movie, I got great joy out of this very long walk. Finally we decided to just go to the Olive Garden to get a familiar meal and headed back to the hotel to watch Agassi play on TV.

Vacation Day 7:

The final day. Today we only had time to be tourists in the morning and then hop our plan in the afternoon. This wasn't a day without adventure, though. We started the morning by going to St. Patrick's Cathedral, then to Rockefeller Plaza, to the NBC store for a little shopping, and finally got some brunch at a restaurant across from our hotel.

We then packed up and checked our travel arrangements. Remember how we had a van transport to and from the hotel? Well we took out the information sheet and it said to call 24 hours in advance. Woops! We called but they couldn't accommodate us so we needed to take a taxi to the airport. We asked the doorman to get us a taxi which we tipped him for but how stupid. The taxi moved from one sport on the curb up about 20 feet which was now in front of us. We could have done that ourselves.

Here's the funny part. On our way to the airport Dave leaned over to me and asked me if I had anything smaller than a $20. I didn't have any money. We got to the airport and our fare was $24.10. Dave handed the guy two $20s and was hoping to get some change back although we didn't actually ask for some change. So our cabbie got a 75% tip. I'm sure it made his day.

With the hurricane and all the rain now in the midwest our flight got delayed by about an hour. But, the airline actually switched airplanes so our flight was not going to leave on time. All the passengers had to board a bus that took us over to the hanger where the airplane was being prepared.

We made it home and it was pouring rain and a heck of a lot cooler than NY. It was an eventful vacation, but it's good to be home.

What Not to Wear

You've all seen this show on TLC. This show singles out someone who has terrible style and gives them $5000 and set of rules to redo their entire wardrobe. I totally got my own lesson in what not to wear on Sunday. Being that I work at a high school and live in the same town as that high school is highly likely that I am going to see someone I know every time I step out my door. I usually try to dress nice if I am going to a school function or if I am going to a community event in which I will probably be seeing someone from the school. Sunday morning I had to go to Meijer to pick up some last minute things for our vacation. I had showered and fixed my hair and threw up on a pair of jean shorts, a T-shirt, and a long sleeve T-shirt. Not just any long sleeve shirt, however. It was my tie-dyed senior shirt from ten years ago. As I'm walking into Meijer I run into someone from my graduating class. I talked to her for a few minutes but all I kept thinking about was that I was wearing my 10 year old shirt...the same shirt she probably threw away about 10 years ago! What a dork I am!

Speaking of vacation...I'm outta here! Dave and I leave for NY tomorrow so you won't be seeing any updates for a while, unless we happen to find some place to post there. We're running the Manhattan Half Marathon on Sunday but so is about 5700 other people so you probably won't pick us out. I'll let you know how that goes in about a week.

Running has been almost non-existent the last couple days. Not only have I not had time but my shin has been hurting and after all the injuries I've had, I'm not going to push it. For now I'm doing my physical therapy, icing, and doing slower miles or at least trying.

See y'all in about a week!

Oh, oh, before I go. Something else funny happened to me over the weekend. I had a vendor follow me around Friday at work and he asked me to come to lunch with him, so I did. We were having good conversation and he kept talking to me like he wanted me to come and work for the company. I'm not really interested in becoming a consultant but I kept listening. He started talking about the book he was reading which was about how India was becoming a more technical country and that's why all the IT jobs have gone over there, blah blah blah. So I was thinking this was a test. I've had these interviews where they ask you what you are currently reading and it's supposed to be intellectual and academic and all smart and crap. I couldn't even respond to this guy what I was reading. The book I'm reading right now? The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. That's intellectual isn't it?

Pushing the Pace

Yesterday evening my dad and I met to do our weekly stadium run. The plan, as always, is to run each mile around a 9:00 and push the stairs. We never actually adhere to that plan. Our first mile was an 8:06 and we crushed the stairs, which was totally fun because there were these body-builder meatheads there who really sucked on the stairs and it was fun to show them up. The second mile I took off--7:26. Holy cow! The stairs were a little harder the second time, through. The last mile was a 7:40. It wound up being a really hard workout, not just for the stairs but also for the pace we were pushing. Oh, and I also did 800m of swimming before the workout.

So we have Muzak at work. What might surprise you is that Muzak is not just elevator music. There are different stations like top 40, jazz, country, etc. Being that there are 300 employees at my workplace, the AGM switches stations every 2 weeks so that everyone gets the chance to enjoy their music. First it was top 40, which I really liked. The second time he switched it was to called classical jazz. It was horrific! A bunch of squeeky soprano saxophones. I can say I'm not the biggest Kenny G fan. The last two weeks were country, which again I enjoyed. (Shut it...I'm a midwesterner. They played country at our high school dances. You learn how to square dance here in gym class.) Yesterday our AGM flipped the station again. This time to gangster rap. The funny part about all this is that Janet Jackson is playing on it right now. He he! I don't think I would consider her gangster rap.

Pepper Spray, Revisited

I live in the same town I grew up in. The town has become very suburban and very upscale (not that I'm upscale, but in general the town is) with big houses and tiny yards. The town wasn't always that way. Growing up there, it was very rural and most kids I went to school with lived on farms. Despite the town's growth, there is still quite a few farms in the area. Most days I do my runs from my parents' house because they live in this rural area and I enjoy running where there isn't as much traffic. Some problems I've encountered are dogs and fast cars and construction trucks trying to run me off the road (being rural there are no sidewalks). Yesterday I encountered a new problem that made me rethink the pepper spray. As I was running I heard a car slow down as it approached me. The gentleman inside the fancy convertible asked me directions to the nearest major freeway. The funny part about all of this was that I was running in the middle of a corn field. Does there look like there is a major freeway around here? I helped the gentleman, but I got kinda freaked out that he could have just snatched me and abducted me. Maybe I should be carrying that pepper spray.

In some more good news...my weekly weigh-in on Tuesday nights yielded another drop of one pound. Four more pounds to go.

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

I talk about my niece a lot. Mostly because she has a crazy imagination and because she says super funny things. Last night she had a sheet of stickers that were earring stickers. She had already put some on her ears. They were blue half moon earring stickers. She told me to look at her earrings, which I did. Then I asked her what they were, thinking that she would tell me they were blue moons. She said, "They're diamonds." 'Nuff said.

I wasn't going to run yesterday. I was tired and not feeling 100%, but Dave had borrowed a CD from the library that had orchestrations of songs from the summer Olympics. How can you not run after hearing that?

The Dorkiness in Me

This post is dedicated to Andrea so she can really find out how much of a dork I am (which, she probably already knows).


I work for a major shoe retailer and I get a pretty good discount. No I don't buy my running shoes there (we don't carry them) and no I will not buy you any shoes!!! Anyway, last week I was out shopping and my favorite pair of sandals popped the back strap off. I was devastated! Here I am a week away from vacation and my favorite shoes just broke. I did a little shopping at three different places on Friday and didn't find any sandals I liked. Everything was a flip-flop. I really dislike flip-flops. They're not made for people with skinny feet and I think they are just plain painful. During my lunch break today I took my sandals to a shoe repair place and paid $10 to get them fixed. Who's the dork now?

I Got Soaked

And it wasn't even because it was raining. I started my long run on Saturday at 7:00am to beat the heat and because my dad had some place to be before noon. I watched the news at 6:00 to see what the weather was going to be like. At 6:00am it was already 75 degrees. The run started well. Dad and I ran 5 miles in about 42 minutes and then waited for everyone else to show up at 8:00. Then we ran another 7 miles at a slightly faster pace. When we stopped for our waterstop, everyone stopped except Doug, Andrea, and I. I went another 2-1/2 miles with them and then turned around. I walked twice in the last mile because my stomach started to hurt. But, I made it--17 miles. I was so soaking wet by the time I was finished with my run. In all my years of running I have never been completely wet including my shorts. My shorts were dripping they were so wet. I spent the rest of the day laying around. I think it's way too hot to be running.

It Must Be My Lucky Day

What do you do with all that change that you collect in your car, wallet, pockets, etc.? I put mine in a shoe box that sits on the top shelf in my closet. The box has so many coins in it that it's too heavy and the box too flimsy to take off the shelf. This morning I wanted to get four quarters so I could get a lemonade out of the vending machine at work. I blindly started grabbing coins out of the box until I got four quarters. When I got to work this morning I pulled out the quarters only to realize I had three quarters and one dollar bill coin. Crap! I though for sure there was no way the vending machine was going to take a dollar bill coin. But, it did!!! And now I have 75 cents extra to get me some pretzels later on.

It has been a great week of running despite the heat. I have already run 18 miles this week and went to one spinning class. Today is a day off from running and I plan on doing an 18 mile long run tomorrow morning.

Speaking of the heat....it's supposed to be 95 degrees today. I also saw gas prices at $2.55 this morning. Both the heat and gas prices are obscene. I'm just not going to drive this weekend. I'm not a hippie, but I'm really starting to think about protesting the gas prices and riding my bike whenever and wherever I can.

Hey, if I don't talk to you today, have a good weekend!

Woo Hoo!!

First things first...I have lost two pounds in two weeks. Five more pounds to go!

Secondly, how many of you have an iPod? I've been thinking about buying one but I'm having a tough time determining if I'll get my return on investment. (He he! I'm an engineer--only people like me would try to figure out an ROI on an iPod.) See, most likely I am not going to wear the iPod when I run outside. It's dangerous. There have been two women recently attacked on the trail I run on and I've been chased by enough dogs that I want to be able to hear them. So the only time I would wear my iPod to run would be when I'm on the treadmill or when I'm running on the track. I like to ride my bike on a trainer so I could see myself using an iPod then and I hate to grocery shop and could see myself using the iPod when I grocery shop. I drive an Element and it has a built in adapter to play the MP3s through the stereo so I could use it then too. And here's the kicker...I get a discount on it. So what do y'all think?

I am running the Reach the Beach relay in New Hampshire September 16th and 17th. Anyone else running it? My legs are 9, 21, 33. Check it out!

I'm also running the Manhattan Half Marathon on August 27th. Anyone else? I would love to meet any RBFers while I'm in NY. More details on that later.

Finally, a friend of a friend recently did Ironman Lake Placid. It was inspiring. I was able to watch her finish online and then I looked at her splits. To me, they were doable. Now the wheels are turning. My goal has always been to do an Ironman before I turned 30. I think Dave will divorce me if I train for an Ironman. He didn't see me very much when I was training for the half.

That's all for now folks. :)

Weekend Round-Up

No races this weekend, but I did have a successful run on Saturday. The group was at Highbanks and all of us did various distances. Andy, Andrea, Doug, and I all did 16 miles. It was a good run. Dave also did his longest run to date this weekend--15 miles. I don't know if he blogged about it or if he's going to, but you can check it out here.

Okay, so this is totally going to make you laugh. I was at church yesterday and they were holding a meeting afterwards to vote on approval of the new building designs. I didn't really care to be part of this because we're switching churches anyway, so I decided to sneak out during the meeting. The pastor said the benediction and then he went right into the meeting. I bent down to grab my keys from under my chair and WHAM! I cracked my head on the chair in front of me and it made a very loud sound. I snuck out of the room, but I wonder how many people saw that? Here's the kicker...my head is tender to the touch today. I'm lucky there's not a bruise there.

Not much else to report this weekend. Dave and I got a lot of work done around the house, so above all else, it was a productive weekend.

An Announcement

Did I mention that I got my hair whacked off last night?

A Good Run

Last night was my stadium workout. Dad and I met to do the run around 5:30pm an dit was 94 dgrees. Suffice it to say, I was not looking forward to the run. But, surprisingly, it went really well. We did our first four laps at a 7:43 mile and then worked really hard through the steps. When we got to the second mile Dad started to fall behind and only completed three of the four laps. We went through the stairs again; this time a little slower. Our last four laps we did 50 meters of walking and then a full 400 meters of jogging. At the end of the workout we walked a full 400 meteres.

I'm starting to get a little concerned. My dad's starting to talka bout giving up and not doing the marathon this fall or even another marathon. I think it's hard to reach a point in your running when you know you're only going to get slower. And I think it's really hard for my dad because I've gotten faster than him and he think he's holding me back. I think he forgets how hard I've trained all spring and summer for the half Ironman. I hope he find his passion again.

In dog news...I didn't get chased by any last night! Instead of pepper spray I was given the suggestion of carrying a small spritz bottle of ammonia and using it if necessary. I'm not really sure how I'd carry it, but that's probably a much better idea than the pepper spray.

Ugh!

Dude, I don't know where all you live and the weather there, but it is damn hot here in the midwest. Today's high is suppose to be 95. 95!!! This weather is wreaking havoc on my training. I am an afternoon runner and running in the bright sun and full 95 degree temperature is not what I call fun. And you say, why don't you just run at a different time? And I say, it's not that easy. Because of a report I have to do every morning at work I have to be at work no later than 6:30, so that rules out running in the morning. (I already get up at 5:15; I'm not getting up any earlier.) And I don't like to run in the evening because that is the time I get to see Dave. If I do my workouts after work then I get my run in before Dave gets off work and we get to spend the evening together. Plus if I go home after work then I never get out to run. Too much to do at home. So yesterday I reduced my run to a run-walk where I would walk anytime I got to shade. And in true Meredith fashion I got chased yet again by a dog. People!! Chain you dogs up!! This dog came right out to me baring it's fangs and barking like it was going to attack me. I kept screaming no, but the dog didn't stop coming toward me. The owner finally came out and got it and told me she was in the process of putting the dog in the car to go to obedience school. Ironic? Then the woman looks at me and goes, "Are you Meredith?" Yes and your dog tried to eat me!!! Seriously, I need to do something about the dog situation. Not only am I scared of dogs to start with, but they're even scarier when they're coming full force at you while running. One of these days I'm going to get bitten. I've thought about carrying mase/pepper spray but having asthma I'm a little worried about an accident and I would wind up in the hospital. Any suggestions?

Self-Conscious

My husband and I dated 2 years before we got engaged and then we were engaged a whole year before we got married. While we were dating we got the never ending questions of "when are you getting married." It was annoying. I don't think you should be rushed into decisions like that and I am a big proponent of dating a lot to find that exact person. Now that we've been married for nearly three years and are inching closer and closer to 30, we get the question "when are you going to have a baby?" My friends and family close to Dave and I know not to ask that question because it's not in the plans. I like to be skinny; I like my money; and I like my space. I know that's selfish but after I have a child there is no more selfish so I better enjoy it now.

I had always heard that you should never ask a woman if she was pregnant. If you're wrong not only do you look foolish but you've really insulted the other person. I don't know if it's because I work in a blue collar environment or the people I work with just have no common sense, but this morning for what is probably the 3rd time in the last 30 days someone asked me if I was pregnant. And then proceded to tell me that there is a rumor going around that I am. Usually I wouldn't care because I think people here are just waiting for it to happen (I'm about the only person in management who doesn't have kids and the only one of child-bearing age), but this time it bothered me. It bothered me because not only did the woman ask me if I was pregnant but she told me why everyone thought I was pregnant...because I have "blossomed."

Here's the truth people. I'M NOT PREGNANT! I got a new bra and I put on 7 pounds this summer. Thanks for asking!

In running news (he he he)...it's too damn hot to run!

July Totals

Higher running miles. Lower swimming and biking miles.

Run = 89.7 miles
Swim = 5900 meters = 3.7 miles
Bike = 270 minutes = 4.5 hours

Summer Classic 10 Mile Run

I did a 10 mile race this past Saturday. Not really much to say about it. It was out and back; it had a few rolling (small) hills; and it was pretty boring. There were a few things to talk about, though.

First, I'm not too keen on the whole GPS/pedometer thing. I'm just not sure they are very accurate. As I was approaching the 4 mile mark of the race this older gentleman I was running beside started talking to me about how far off the mile markers were. He said we were at 4-1/4 miles at the 4 mile mark. He asked me what I thought and well...my times were pretty accurate. Sorry about your luck, buddy.

Then for several miles I had this gentleman run beside me, behind me, in front of me but he would never bug off. I can't stand that! I kept speeding up and speeding up but he would never leave. Finally I crushed him going up a small hill and that was the last I saw of him.

My intent was not to run this race hard, but I wound up doing it anyway. My time was 1:18:27. I finished third in my age group and got a nice plaque.

Pseudo Hills

The motto of the Columbus Marathon is "Fast, Flat, and Fun." The Columbus Marathon is one of the best places to qualify for the Boston Marathon because the course is really flat and because there are only a few thousand people in the marathon. Living and running in Columbus is great because there are no hills, but when you need to do a hilly running workout you need to improvise.

Yesterday was my hill workout. I went to the high school and ran 4 laps around the track, twice through the stadium steps, 4 laps around the track, twice through the stadium steps, and then 4 more laps around the track. I usually do this workout with my dad, but he's on vacation so I had to do it by myself. It was much harder by myself. I also started doing some ab exercise so maybe I can try to get rid of that flab I'm not happy with. My tummy is pretty sore today.

Tomorrow I am doing a ten mile race in my hometown. I'm scheduled to do 16 miles, though, so I'm going to run 3 miles before the race and 3 miles afterward. I'm not going to race it (he he--I say that about every race). Plus, I'm going to PR anyway. It's been years since I've done a 10 mile race and my miles/minute average for that race wasa an 8:40. I think I could run backwards at an 8:40 pace now. :)

Have a great day, y'all!

Thank you, thank you, thank you

I would like to personally thank all of you who have been visiting my blog and also thanks for leaving such encouraging messages. It means a lot to me to know that people are stopping by and enjoying my adventures. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In running news....it's really weird to go back to running full time after my summer of triathlon. I am running every day now and I have to admit I'm kinda sore. I had a good run yesterday. The freakin' hot weather finally broke and although it was still humid (which I think it always is in Ohio) the temperature was more bearable and running seemed easy. I did 4-1/2 miles. The cooler weather is supposed to continue so I'm looking forward to the running days ahead.

Life's Frustrations

It's probably because I'm a complainer or because I don't know how to be happy about anything, but life, in general, is really getting me down.

First is my job, but I don't want to be one of those people who is fired because they blogged about it so I'm not going to say anything here.

Secondly is my hair. (Go ahead and laugh.) I've been growing my hair for what seems like forever but I just don't think I am meant to have long ahir. It's really nice to have the ponytail for running and because I'm too lazy to fix my hair, but I can't wear my hair down and therein lies the frustration. My hair looks great right up to the ends of it and then it just has an attitude. And it doesn't matter if I trim it; it still looks bad on the ends. I would like to continue to try to grow it, but I'm really tired of wearing the ponytails day after day, but I would like to keep the ponytail for running. Maybe I'll just make an appointment to get it cut and then upon talking with the stylist will make a decision about what to do.

My last frustration is my weight. I've guess I've always had the thought that I run so I can eat, but recently I've been putting on the weight. Truly, every time I step on the scale I've gained another pound. Yesterday I maxed out at 117. Now I know that's not really all that bad, but I'm 5'1" and I exercise all the time. I should probably be under 110. I've never had to diet and I really don't want to. I know I need to eat better and smaller portions, but I'm so dang hungry all the time. My plan, right now, is smaller portion size, NO alcohol, NO chocoloate (I'm a candy baraholic), and eating better stuff.

These seem like really stupid frustrations, but they seem to encompass my entire life. Maybe at the age of 27 I should stop watching so much MTV. I'm not a teenager and I should stop wanting to look like a teenager. Sometimes I really feel like I'm going through this quarterlife crisis as I approach 30. Maybe I just need to do some yoga and stop complaining about the glorious life I have.

That's my girl!

Hey check out the Muncie post below. The pictures are there now.

I come from a running family. My dad has run 19 marathons, my mom has done a marathon, my cousin is a marathoner, I've run four marathons, and now my husband is training for his first marathon. Now the Running Richardsons are continuing.

Dave and I were over at my parents' house for dinner on Friday and mom and dad were watching Shelby and Jared. Dad asked Shelby if she wanted to show Dave and I how fast she could run. Dave gave her an objective--to run around the far tree and back--and then we set up little races between Shelby and Jared, Shelby and Dad, Shelby and Dave. Shelby is so competitive. She would scrunch her eyebrows and get this really competitive fire in her eyes and she'd run as hard and as fast as she could. She would even throw out an arm to keep the other person from winning. After each race we would ask her if she wanted a drink, and she would say no, get that look in her eyes again and line up once more.

That's my girl!

The things of this world that are going to cause me a heart attack

Yes I know I have some anger management issues and it's probably something I need professional help to fix, but there are just certain things that really get me heated. This is one example.

So there was a spot on ABC Nightline last night about Sarah Reinertson. She only has one leg and tried last year to do Ironman Hawaii and is going to try again this year. I thought the special was going to be on Primetime. I stayed up last night to watch it and it wasn't on. This morning I found out it was on Nightline which is on way too late for me to stay up. I searched ABC's website and found the video. I clicked on the vieo and ABC had a special Real player that had to be used to watch it. ABC makes you sign up to use this service. It's free for 14 days and after that it's $12.99 a month. I tried to sign up for the 14 day trial, but I was prompted to put in my credit card number because it would start charging immediately after the 14 days. Come on ABC! You've got to be kidding me! Now I know why I like NBC News better. It's free!

The Muncie Endurathon

Pre-Race 

This past Saturday was the big race--the half Ironman. My goal for the race was just to finish, but I figured I would probably do between a 6:15 and 6:30. I didn't really mention to anyone, except Dave, how nervous I was about this race. The week before I had broken out in hives and had many sleepless nights. The nervousness showed as I started the race.


Looking forward to the swim. 

The swim was daunting just looking at the course. From the starting line you could not see all the buoys on the course. The swim went off in 8 different waves and I was in wave #5. It was a no-wetsuit swim, but I swam in mine anyway since I really had no realistic chance of placing. As my wave got started, I freaked out and couldn't get my heart rate down. I was floundering and treading water by the first buoy. The people on the boat yelled to check if I was alright. I said yes and really I was but my pride was destroyed. I said to myself, "my parents would be disappointed if I dropped out this early." I yelled back to the boat, "um, I don't think I really want to do this." They yelled back that they would send a canoe. A man on a surfboard swam up to me and he said I could hold on for as long as I needed until I was ready to continue. I held on until I saw a friend swim by and heard the next wave go off. I had already wasted five minutes but I reminded myself that I just wanted to finish. I started to swim and didn't stop again. My swim time including the run up the hill to the transition was 48:15. My watch coming out of the water said 46:00. Too bad I wasted 5 minutes or else I would have had a really great swim.


After the swim running to the transition. 


Heading out of the transition to the bike ride. 

I knew the bike would be long and lonely, but to tell the truth, I kind of enjoyed the ride. The bike was flat and it rained the whole time. I think these were two conditions that really helped me. I enjoyed riding in the rain as it kept things cool and leveled the playing field. I finished the bike in 3:10:30 which is about 20 minutes faster than I expected to go.

It stopped raining just in time for the run which was pretty hot and steamy. I had done a smart thing in the transition and had placed my running shoes and socks in a plastic back so I started my run with dry feet. I began pretty quickly doing in the 8:00s but slowed down as I began walking through the waterstops. I caught up with Grace around the 3 mile mark and ran with her until 5 miles. She took a long stop there and I kept going. Run time = 2:04:40.


At the end of the run and still smiling. 


More running. 

Overall, I had a good time. I smiled a lot, waved to people, thanked volunteers, and just remembered I was there to finish. I did better than expected which has kind of left me feeling empty and wondering if I could have done better if I tried a little harder. I'm done with triathlons for the summer, but I will keep up with the swimming and biking because it has helped my running and because maybe I'll do it again next year.


Finished! 

101 Things About Me

I've read a few other blogs with this post, so I decided to do my own. I don't get many hits so for all my friends out there..this is a reminder of who I am. :)

1. I have trained for 6 marathons.
2. I have run only 4.
3. I was a sprinter in high school.
4. I took up distance running after college.
5. In college I was on the rowing team.
6. I was the coxswain.
7. I'm onlly 5'1".
8. I've had the same shoe size since the fourth grade.
9. I wear a 6-1/2.
10. I have a state title in gymnastics.
11. I was 4'11" in the nineth grade.
12. I put on 12 pounds of muscle when I started running.
13. I currently weigh 114 pounds.
14. I'm scared to death of being fat.
15. I'm scared to death of being pregnant.
16. Obviously, I don't have any children.
17. Or any pets.
18. I've been out of the country twice--once to Canada, once to Haiti.
19. I've been to Hawaii which seems like a foreign country.
20. I've been to Disney World 8 times which is a small world.
21. Literally, we saw our neighbors there.
22. I live in the same small town I grew up in.
23. My high school graduating class was 52 people.
24. I coach the same track team I was on.
25. The first person I coached with was a teacher of mine in high school.
26. I studied engineering in college.
27. I got my bachlor's in industrial engineering in 2001.
28. I don't want to be an engineer.
29. I want to make a lot of money.
30. I want to own a business.
31. I want to live on the beach somewhere.
32. Or a lake.
33. I want a house where on the outside it looks like a barn but on the inside it's all airy and has really open architecture.
34. I have a really quick temper.
35. I'm really opinionated.
36. I cuss like a sailor.
37. I only have a few close friends.
38. My friends are nothing like me.
39. My friends are mostly my opposite.
40. So is my husband.
41. He's my public relations director.
42. Which means, he cleans up my messes.
43. I hate to do dishes.
44. I love to do laundry.
45. Except folding all the socks.
46. I love a clean house.
47. Our house rarely gets cleaned.
48. I am super-creative in my head.
49. I have no idea how to express these creative thoughts outside my head.
50. I have never had a cavity.
51. I never got my wisdom teeth.
52. I never got my 12 year molars on the top gums.
53. I never had braces.
54. I was a virgin until I got married.
55. It was a personal choice. (See number 15.)
56. I don't speak a foreign language.
57. I know a little sign language.
58. I've actually used my sign language in real life.
59. I took 7 years of piano lessons.
60. I'm not very good at the piano.
61. I played the xylophone in high school band.
62. I joined because all the cool kids were in band.
63. I married a band geek. (Just kidding, hon!)
64. I don't like to follow rules.
65. I've been written up at many of my jobs.
66. I don't understand a 40 hour work week.
67. There's too much to do outside of work.
68. I had Lasik surgery in February.
69. I had worn glasses since I was eleven.
70. I broke my very first pair of glasses the day I got them doing flips on a trampoline.
71. My uncle (my gymnastics coach) dropped me on my face.
72. I am quilting a double wedding ring quilt currently.
73. It is taking freakin' forever!
74. I'm making it as a wedding present for a college roommate.
75. She got married this past March.
76. I've got a year, right?!
77. I played tennis in high school.
78. I love Andre Agassi (always have, always will).
79. I had a poster of him on my bedroom wall when I was a teenager.
80. I am goign to the US Open this year just to see Agassi before he retires.
81. I tried out for the tennis team in college.
82. I didn't make it.
83. My roomate in college played volleyball.
84. She is 6 feet tall.
85. I wear tennis shoes to work.
86. I usually wear jeans to work.
87. I work in a warehouse.
88. I check my e-mail hundreds of times a day.
89. I rarely get any.
90. I love hand written letters.
91. I actually have a friend who writes me letters instead of e-mail. (Hi Val!)
92. I hate chain letters and spam.
93. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up.
94. I know I don't want to do what I am currently doing.
95. I hand wrote this whole list before I put in on my blog.
96. I wish more people read my blog.
97. I wish I wasn't so mean.
98. I wish I had longer hair.
99. I think my chin and face are fat.
100. I wish this list didn't have to end.
101. I'm really bored today.

Running Skirts

Being around the triathlon scene this summer I've seen a new breed of running apparel--running skirts. I've seen them worn with biking shorts and used to bike, I've seen them worn with a swimsuit under them and used for running. I've seen some that have shorts or spankies and others that are just a wrap-around skirt.

Well, I don't know if you know, but I am pretty handy when it comes to sewing. Shhh, don't tell anybody, but I spend almost everyday doing some kind of sewing, usually either quilting or working on curtains for somebody or myself. I'm even taking sewing classes to learn how to sew my own clothing. So I was thinking about prototyping a running skirt and see what happens.

I played tennis for years and years so I'm quite comfortable in a little, little skirt. Would any of you out there be interested in running in a skirt or might want to be part of my test market for my prototype? (Of course, I have to find some wicking fabric which is a little harder than I thought.)

Let me know.

My Alarm Clock

Okay this post is going to have nothing to do with running or triathlon but I have to tell about my poor alarm clock.

I have the sweetest alarm clock. Dave got it for me a few years ago because my last alarm clock didn't work so well anymore. My alarm clock has great features. Probably the coolest is that it has a CD player in it that you can set the alarm to wake you up to whatever song you want to set the CD to. Pretty cool, but I don't use that feature. It also has this really great waking system that starts at zero volume and keeps increasing. I like this feature because it takes a pin drop to wake me up which means the volume hardly gets loud, it doesn't scare me, and doesn't wake Dave up. You never have to turn on the alarm. It is always on. My favorite feature of my alarm clock is the "weekend slumber" feature. Basically I can set the day on my alarm clock and then on the weekends I can hit a button which keeps my alarms set but doesn't sound them on the weekends. Totally cool. The last thing I love about it is that there is a huge off button right on the top so I don't have to deal with little tiny buttons on the side of the clock.

All of these features I love and they all work great. But, unfortunately, my clock is on the fritz. My clock is backlit instead of the numbers being lit. And it even has another feature where you can adjust the backlighting. I always keep it super-bright so I can identify the numbers when I wake up in the middle of the night a million times and so I can change my alarm to go off at 5:00 instead of 4:45. Now, however, the backlight does not work anymore and I can't see the numbers on it anymore.

I went to Target last night to buy a new alarm clock but I didn't see anything that interested me or even had any of the same features of my clock. I just might have to use my Ironman watch until I can find even a close substitute.

My poor clock!

Westerville Rotary 5K Road Run

Yesterday I ran the annual Westerville Rotary 5K Road run on the fourth of July. I am tapering now for Munice so my plan was to run the race easy and just use it for daily miles. And I felt like I went pretty easy, but I PRed huge. There were no mile markers on this run so it was hard to tell what pace I was going. I latched onto a guy I knew because I liked his pace and just ran beside him for most of the race. Around the halfway point the crowds cleared and I saw Tom Gleason in front of me and knew I must be running pretty fast. I caught him around the waterstop but I slowed through the stop and he stayed just in front of me the rest of the race. My unofficial time was 22:04. I guess I am in really great shape right now.

I'll post the official time once it is posted.

Official time is 22:05 and I finished 14th overall and 6th in my age group. There must have been some fast 25-29 year old chicks out there!

June Totals

Yesterday was the last day of June so I added up my totals. Pretty consistent with May except I really bumped up my swimming (although I am wondering if I added wrong in May).

Run = 74.3 miles
Swim = 15,450 yards/meters = 9.5 miles
Bike = 490 minutes = 8.2 hours

Paranoia

About a week ago I went to the doctor's office to have some things checked out and when they weighed me it said 118. The doctor's scale is always a little high so I didn't think anything of it. That afternoon while waiting at the pharmacy I did the self-diagnostic thing and weighed myself and it said 117. Dave said it was always off so again I didn't think anything of it. Yesterday I did my swim at the gym instead of the outdoor pool and stepped on the scale. It said 116. Okay so all the scales must be right, which means I've put on four pounds since I've started training for this triathlon. My mom says it's all muscle and it's all in my calves, but I'm paranoid about my weight. I don't like weighing 116. 116 is close to 120 and I just think that's unacceptable for myself because I workout so much and because being only 5'1" any amount of extra weight shows. Just look at the pictures below. One is of me and one is of my friend Jeannie. She and I have about the same workout regimine and look how much skinnier she is than me. I've got to start eating better and buy a scale.

Okay I am having trouble getting the pictures to work correctly. I'll try again later, I guess.

Maybe All This Training is Paying Off

Yesterday was the Wendy's Triathlon. It's a huge triathlon at Alum Creek that attracts a lot of first timers and is very poorly organized. It's a sprint triathlon that consists of a 1/2 mile swim, 16.8 miles of bike, and a 5K run. I spent all day Saturday working on the patio with Dave and my dad and really didn't feel like racing yesterday, but did really well.

I struggled a little in the swim just because there were a lot of people and no one could swim a straight line. The water was really shallow and at points I would stand up and walk just to get around people who were in my way. Swim time = 14:46.

Knowing that the bike was a lot shorter than what I have been riding I decided to do the best I could and really went after it. It was fun to actually pass people instead of being the one passed all the time. I had a scary moment when I took a turn too quickly and clipped my pedal on the ground. I didn't fall but did veer off into the grass, but recovered well. Bike time = 57:53.

The run went really well, as always, and didn't get passed by anyone. I finished second in my age group on the run only behind Jeannie who's a beast. Run time = 22:36.

Overall I went 1:39:54 and finished 8th in my age group out of 26, which is a much better showing than my previous races. Maybe if I keep working on my bike, I might be a triathlete yet!

Alum Creek Multisport Festival Pictures

This must have been on the first lap of the bike because there are actually people behind me. 


At the finish.  

Alum Creek Multisport Festival Update

The results were posted from the triathlon this past weekend. I finished first in my age group, actually beating somebody. Here's the breakdown of my race:

Swim-32:18
T1-2:29
Bike-2:19:48 (16.0 mph)
T2-1:38
Run-51:43 (8:21)

I don't know about this multisport stuff. I thought I had done pretty good on Sunday despite the horrible bike ride, but now I am thinking that I suck. I thought I was one of the first ones out of the swim, but it turns out I was 10th out of 14. Surprisingly, I was not the worst person on the bike. There were actually three people slower than me (although I think they were all BIG guys). And I was 7th out of 14 on the run, which I think is acceptable. I just really hate being average. I'm not average in running and I want to be better in both multispot and running. There are just not enough hours in the day to get all the training in that I need.

Alum Creek Multisport Festival

Yesterday I did the longest triathlon I am going to do prior to Muncie. The race included a 1.5K swim, 62K bike, and 10K run. The swim was a two loop triangle that was awesome. I love to swim. After I rounded the first buoy I had a hard time seeing the second one and panicked a little. I treaded water and cleared my goggles and freaked out a little about how deep the water was. Then I did a little backstroking until I got my heart rate under control and started to front crawl again. I rounded the second buoy and found swimming into shore was pretty easy because of the current. My second loop was pretty easy and I found I was passing people and was generally just having fun. As I approached the last buoy I was a little disappointed that the swim was over and now it was on to the dreaded bike. The swim took me about 32 minutes.

The first transition was kinda funny. I was really dizzy from the swim and found myself walking sideways through the transition. Eventually I got everything straightened out and I was off on my bike.

Right out of the transition I saw two bikers run into each other and the a woman fell off her bike. I hope she was okay and her skin didn't turn into hamburger meat. She was only wearing a sports bra. The bike was a two loop course and I knew everybody was going to catch me. I took my time, drank when I needed it, and kept my heartrate down. The funniest thing I saw happened going down a hill. This guy flew pass me looping like the wicked witch of the west and he was pedaling like there was no tomorrow. Just as he passed me, his chain fell off and he had to stop to repair. Just made me laugh. Once the first loop was done, I was all alone. In fact, a volunteer told me I was the last person. Great! One of the first out of the water and one of the last ones off of the bike. I sang songs and tried to eat a powerbar (nearly impossible to do on the bike). I encouraged myself by talking to myself and I waved to the volunteers and thanked them. With only about 5 miles left on the bike I got passed by somebody which gave me encouragement that I might be able to catch someone on the run. As I came into the transition area I stood on my pedals and stretched my calves and hamstrings. My bike took about 2:19.

The run started off a little shaky. We ran right down by the beach which was slippery and then we ran on a grass trail which had horrible terrain. I walked this part mostly to take my bib off my shirt and attach it to my short. Then I took my shirt off and ran in my sports bra. It was pretty humid and the shirt was wet and weighing me down. As I got to the road I noticed that there were quite a few people on the run not that far in front of me. So I took little steps and just chopped away at them. By the end of the race I was averaging in the 8:00s and had passed probably 6 or 7 people. I finished in about 3:47.

I have no official time yet or placing, but I feel a lot more confident about doing Muncie.

I hate the 5K!

I hate the 5K. It's just an awful race. It's too short to pace yourself, but it too long to out like a bat out of hell. But a bat out of hell is what I went out like and I crashed and burned. In fact, I walked twice during the race. My first mile was a 6:29 which is just way faster than I should ever be going unless it's a one mile race. Just after the one mile mark I got a severe stitch on my right side underneath my ribs. I tried to slow down my reathing but I was weezing and felt like I was going to have an asthma attack. So, I stopped and walked. One of my high schoolers caught me and said, "What are you doing coach?" So I ran with her a while until I felt better and then took off again. At the turnaround there was a waterstop but the water was in plastic cups and there was ice in it so it was hard to drink adn too cold to pour on yourself. The second mile was a 7:45 which included walking and a waterstop. By the third mile I was starting to feel good again and started picking people off again. But with only a 1/2 mile to go I felt like I have been hit by a truck and did a little more walking. My third mile was a 7:38. My overall time was 22:42 which is a PR by 4 seconds. I should be excited because it's been years since I PRed in a 5K, but I raced so poorly that I am more disappointed than excited.

Why the darn bike?

Why does a triathlon have to involve a bike? Why can't it involve anything else, like inline skating or something? I really hate riding a bike!

Yesterday a group of us met at Alum Creek to do a triathlon run through. We did about a mile of swimming, which for me went pretty well. I decided not to try to spot anything, just try to swim in a straight line and if my hands start hitting bottom, then I know I'm pulling to the right. It helped a lot. Then we did about 16 miles of biking which I totally got left behind. I know I'm not a good biker, but I was really struggling yesterday. Then we did a 5K run which was short of a 5K, but I still did pretty well on.

Thank goodness I had a good 10 mile run on Saturday and the running is what is really important to me.

This week is a fall back week and then I have a long triathlon this coming Sunday.

A picture from the duathlon

I found a picture of me from the duathlon I did this weekend. Don't I look tan? 

Summertime

Don't you just love that song by Will Smith...summer, summer, summertime. Makes me want to dance, but you don't want to see that, unless you've been drinking a lot or I've been drinking a lot and then it's just downright funny.

Anyway, yesterday was a swimming workout that I did in an outdoor swimming pool, hence the reference to summertime. (Get it now?) My swim was 6 X 500, which should have been 6 X 20 laps, but I think the pool was actually a 20 yard pool and I'm not quite sure how that calculates. So, I did 6 X 20 laps anyway. Being that it was a public pool there was only one lap lane and it was full when I got there. I swam beside the lap lane because there were still lines on the bottom of the pool and I thought no one would bother me because there wasn't really anyone close to that side of the pool. As soon as I jumped in, though, people seemed to swarm to that side of the pool and I had to keep the lookout because the others seemed to always want to be in my path. Made me angry. Then the lap lane came available and I moved over there. During the last 20 laps of my swim, I shared it with some other dude. Well, at least I can head back to the gym after this week's renovations.

Today is a bike/run workout so we'll see how that goes considering it's going to be over 90 degrees.

Brutal!

Brutal! Just brutal! That's about the only way I can describe the duathlon I did yesterday. The race was a 5K run, 40K bike, 10K run. As the weather is in Ohio, it happened to be the hottest day of the year during this race and there was no warning. Thursday's weather was in the 60s. Sunday's weather was in te 90s. The first run went over the dam at Deer Creek and included a grassy cross country run. After the first run I was sitting in second place right behind the first place woman. She got out of the transition faster than I did and I didn't see her again. On the bike I got passed by everyone and it wasn't even like I was going slow. I was cruising at 18 mph and I was getting passed like I was sitting still. By the end of the bike, I was sitting in fourth place. The last run sucked. It was so daggone hot that I just couldn't run. There was no air to breathe. I made it through the first 3.1 miles running and walking. On the turnaround I saw Grace and she actually stopped and talked to me. That's how badly this race was going for the bothe of us. With about two miles left I passed a woman for third place and a triathlete caught me and we ran together. It was nice to have someone to talk to. I don't have my official ltime (it's not posted yet) but my watch said 2:51.10. I'm frustrated and a little worried about Muncie, but at the same time, hungry to do better than I did yesterday.

May Totals

May was a busy month for me. I had a lot of track meets and little motivation to get in gear for the triathlon. Here are my monthly totals. I think they're a little on the pathetic side.

Running = 81 miles
Swimming = 5950 yards/meters (I don't know if it's yards or meters)
Biking = 480 minutes = 8 hours

I'm turning a new leaf in June, though, and really hoping to stick to my schedule.

Holy PR, Batman

Yesterday I ran the UA Memorial Day 5 Miler which I like to run every year as a celebration of the anniversary of my running. I started running four years ago this month and this race was the first one I did. This race is particularly tough because it's hilly and because it has a lot of people in it. My goal was to PR which I didn't think would be too hard to do, but I didn't expect what I got. The whole race went well and I picked up speed each mile. In the end I posted a 36:49, which is a PR by two minutes. I won 3rd in my age group and I was 19th overall in the women's division. I am pretty pleased with these results.

Now it's back to the triathlon training.

What is my problem?!

I've been doing a pretty good job of training for this triathlon. I've been trying my best to keep my running miles above 20 per week, do all my swimming workouts, and get on my bike for a long ride at least once a week. I even did a 63 mile ride this past weekend that wasn't so bad. My problem is...my nutrition sucks! I was in such great shape heading into the Boston Marathon and since then I feel like I've just let it go to waste. I haven't run as much since the marathon because track has just taken over my spare time. And because I haven't run so much I just don't feel as fit. But, I'm still eating like I was running 30-35 miles a week. And I can't stop the candy bar craze I've got! I eat at least a candy bar a day! I NEED to go to the grocery store today. Our cupboards are baren. Today will probably be a run/swim day. I may have track one more week (states are next week) but I'm going to try to start following the training plan as closely as possible and incorporate bricks and nutrition while biking. Once I get my eating under control and start getting back to my regular training, I think I will feel a little more confident about this triathlon.

I've got a lot of work to do

Last night I went on a long bike ride with Dave, Andy, Rich, Nancy, Tony, and his son Nick. After riding with them, I'm in serious trouble for this triathlon. They were so much faster than me. Andy rode with me because I was struggling to keep up, but I don't think he got a very good workout. And, I was riding at about 16 mph so it wasn't like I was going slow. And poor Dave. He was riding a mountain bike and really wasn't able to keep up. He had to do the whole ride on his own and he looked pissed when we got back to the cars.

Seriously, I don't know what I got myself into. I want to do this race to say I did it, but the competitor in me doesn't want to go there to suck either. And I'm starting to panic because only two months until this race and I don't know if I'm going to be ready in time. Plus I don't want my running to suffer because I need to be doing all this other training. It's really frustrating me.

I'm No Lance Armstrong

Hey! Congratulations to Grace Yang on completing her first half-Ironman. You're inspiring. And congratulations to Erin Ford for winning the daggone half-Ironman. You're a stud.

Anyway, I suck at bike riding. Two years ago I did a sprint triathlon that I bought a swanky bike for and I didn't do much riding then and I still don't today. Now that I've committed to this half-Ironman I should probably get out there and train on the bike since it is the majority of the race. So yesterday I went for a two hour ride on some country roads. My bike ride was less than 30 miles and I was only averaging around 15 mph. That's terrible!

My arms, neck, and shoulder were really sore so I thought I would go get some aerobars to help ease the burden. I went to a prominent bike shop in Dublin and got terrible customer service and when I finally did get help he did nothing but insult me and my bike and just kept telling me that I needed to be fitted. Yeah...and... Then he wanted to charge me $125 for the fitting and wouldn't even talk to me about aerobars until I got fitted. What a jerk! Needless to say, I walked out of the store without getting anything. Now I don't know what to do about getting fitted. I've asked some friends to help me and I'm wondering if there's somewhere else that will do it cheaper, much cheaper.

Any suggestions?

What was I thinking?!

Yesterday I decided to sprint with some of my high school girls. What a stupid idea! I ran 6x200 with 200 recovery in between; 1/2 mile warm up; 1/2 mile cool down; and 2 miles with Dave after practice. I sprinted hard too. And after practice I thought I would screw around with the high jumpers and tried to jump. Except, being the gymnasts that I am, I took off of two feet and plowed into the barn and landed very ackwardly on the bar.

Today I am super sore in my legs and my abs from the running. But, I also have a very large welt on my behind from high jumping. I'm so stupid. I think I'm going to take today off. I can barely move let alone try to run. I'll use my track meet tonight as an excuse for not having enough time.

Oh My Feet!

Okay, so you're all going to think this is weird.

My training this week for the triathlon has been a swimming focus week. I've done three of four workouts, all of which are really long compared to what I'm used to swimming. You would think I'd be really sore in my arms or maybe even my abs or back. No. My feet are the sorest thing on me. I don't know what it is about swimming but it makes my feet hurt so badly. I'm even having a jabbing pain in my left foot today from swimming. It's so weird!

Let the Training Begin, Again

I took off approximately one week and now it's back to training. I was going to start my training this past Saturday with a light 5 mile run, but it was raining outside and I had gotten home really late from a track meet and it just wasn't worth it to me to get out of bed. But, I did get up early yesterday morning and went to the gym to do a swim workout in preparation for the triathlon. This was my workout:

Warmup: 4 X 150 swim, kick, pull, swim
Workout: 1650 ladder (275,250,225....25)
Cooldown: 200
Total: 2450 meters

This workout was hard. Especially since I haven't gone above 1000 meters since last summer. It totally wore my out and I never got a nap yesterday because my mom's in the hospital and I had to visit her and I had to watch my sister's kids so she could go to the funeral home for a friend. I'm still very tired today. And, my ribs are sore from the swim.

It's good to be back in the swing (or swim) of things.

Boston Marathon

It was hard and yet it was easy. It was hard because of the hills and the heat. It was easy because I’m in great shape and the miles just seemed to tick by.

We started our race morning by meeting as a group in front of the Park Plaza Hotel and walked together to the Boston Commons to catch the bus. The bus ride took FOREVER! How can 26 miles take an hour in a school bus? Once we got to Hopkinton there were people everywhere and it was hard to find a place to set up camp. Being the nervous person I am, I immediately had to go to the bathroom and spent the next 40 minutes waiting in line. By the time I returned to camp I had just enough time to eat a Powerbar and half a bagel and then once again line up for the bathroom. When I returned from this bathroom break, it was time to move to the corrals. This was a challenge. They herd you like cattle through these corals but only let you into the one to which you’re assigned. We heard the National Anthem and saw the flyover and then everyone applauded which must have meant the starting gun went off. It took FOREVER to get to the starting line. And what was dumb about the whole thing is everyone was running up the hill to the starting line. Why? It was uphill and the time doesn’t start until you cross the mat. Andrea and I didn’t run until we hit the mat. The first couple of miles seemed slow and controlled. We were turning 8:10s to 8:15s. The first 10 miles seemed to take a really long time. At mile 9, Andrea said I was running too fast for her so she dropped back. I was starting to feel fatigued too, but decided I would run at least to the halfway point before taking a walking break. I must say, Wellsley was a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong—it was deafening, but in my mind I just pictured it differently. I caught my dad right at Wellsley and we chatted a while and then I pulled away. He said he was proud and everyone turned around. A beautiful “after-school special” moment.  When I reached mile 14’s waterstop I walked through it. And then I walked a lot more after that. I walked up the hills; I walked down the hills. And despite all the walking, I was still making good time. The first hill in Newton was brutal but so were all the downhills into Boston. I saw John Kerry at Heartbreak Hill. He’s one tall man. Once I reached Boston I tried to run as much as possible because of the crowds and because I was getting closer to the finish line. I took a popsicle from a lady around mile 22 or 23. It was terrific. It was a super hot day and I couldn’t get enough water. I drank so much I felt like my belly was actually expanding. But by the end, I didn’t drink as much because the waterstops moved to the right-hand side of the road and I didn’t know and I missed a waterstop or two. At mile 23 I looked up and saw the Citgo sign an dknew the end was near. I ran the last two miles. I saw Dave and Mom right before the turn at Herford. No one told me there was a hill there! I finished in 3:53:19. Looking back I wish I wouldn’t have walked as much as I did, but I don’t think I anticipated as good of a time as I got while I was doing the walking. Had I known I was going to do a 3:53, I think I would have walked a little less and then done a little better on my time. Hindsight. I’d like to say that I thought about a whole lot during the race or really contemplated things in my mind. But, I didn’t. I really was numb to what was going on around me. In the last two miles I thought about my grandpa who died a few weeks ago and knew that he was watching me run for the first time. That really helped me get to the finish line. I would like to try Boston again to see if I could do better, but I’ll have to requalify this year to get back there. Overall, I’m pleased with the way things went and happy with my Boston experience.

I must say…my quads are KILLING me! Those hills must have been a lot harder than I thought they were.

Happy Birthday to me!

Tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be 27. And yes, I'm spending my birthday running a marathon. My family was supposed to have a birthday dinner last night (because I have a track meet tonight and we leave for Boston tomorrow) but my sister and nephew were sick so we didn't have it. But, my sister did call me (like, a million times on everyone's phones) to give me my present. She got me this really awesome Nike running outfit that had pink shorts (I LOVE pink!) and a white T-shirt top with two different colors of pink stripes. She was going to put my nickname (MJ) on it so people would scream out my name when I run the marathon. But the outfit was so awesome I asked her not to put my name on it because I'd like to wear it all the time and not just in marathons. Plus, I had already "ruined" a shirt by putting my name on it for Monday.

Great gift, here's the thing. My sister is the average American...works because she has to and lives paycheck to paycheck and usually that doesn't cover it all. She had told me prior to yesterday what she wanted to do for my birthday and said she had to wait until Thursday to buy the shirt (she told me she was going to get me a pink shirt and put my name on it) because that's when she got paid. This already made me feel guilty because she didn't really have the money to even buy me a gift. And I'm okay with her not getting me a gift. Then I went yesterday and she had bought me that whole Nike outfit which I know was way more expensive than just a pink shirt. Now I feel really guilty about taking this gift. I talked to my mom about this and she thinks I should accept the gift because Amy wanted to buy it for me and it made her happy. I almost want to thank her by buying her a gift certificate to somewhere, which I know would probably insult her. Maybe I can just find a way to do something nice for her and return the financial favor without her really knowing it. Any suggestions?

By the way...absolutely LOVE the running outfit she got me. I'm going to wear it Sunday in the Patriot's Run.

I'm Ready

Not much to say...5 days to go until the marathon. Tapering is going well, I'm mostly packed, feeling confident. I'm ready.

Safety Dance

We can dance if we want to...we can leave this world behind.

No seriously, there are a lot of saftey rules I follow when running. One, I only run during day light hours. I actually learned this the hard way when I was running in the dark and took a big spill because I couldn't see what I was doing. Two, I never jaywalk. I do this because I've had two warnings from police officers and getting a $60 ticket is not high on my list. Three, I try to stay on paths or at least on roads with wide berms. This one is hard to do when you live in a small town and there are no sidewalks. But, there is one safety predicament I seem to find myself in that I don't know what to do about.

Yesterday I did my run on a path I probably run 2-3 times per week. I was having a difficult run and was walking. Behind me I heard a russle in the field beside me. I turn around and there was a HUGE dog charging at me. I yelled "OH SHIT" and screamed at the dog "NO NO NO!" Luckily the dog stopped right at the edge of the path. The owners yelled for it and I told it to go home and it did. This isn't my first run-in with very large dogs. It seems to happen to me every couple of months, and I don't know what to do about it. I don't want to carry mase because I'm afraid that it will accidently go off and spritz me and with my asthma I think that could be really bad. I wish people would keep their dogs securily in their yards or on a leash. I could have been killed by that dog yesterday.

Capital City Half Marathon

Last week's weather was amazing. We had temperatures in the 60s and 70s and I was able to run the whole week in a T-shirt and shorts. Of course, until Saturday when I ran the Capital City Half Marathon. This day called for rain and wind and pure yuckiness. Instead of rain we got snow and got a lot of wind. The race is a minature version of the Columbus Marathon. It goes east on Broad Street not very far and then goes through German Village. It continues for four miles up High Street to Lane Avenue, hangs a left and then hangs another left at Tuttle. At Tuttle you go down almost all the way to Larkins Hall (at OSU) and hangs two sharp rights and you go around the stadium. This isn't on the streets; it's on the sidewalk right next to the stadium. You then continue north on Tuttle and turn right on Woody Hayes, right on College Avenue, right on 12th, left on Neil, wind your way through the Short North and then finish on Neil in the Arena District.

Here's what happened to me. Dad, Doug, and I started way too far back and wound up having a slow first mile, 8:45. Then we fell into pace and Dad told us to go ahead around 3 miles. He said he had to go to the bathroom. Going up High Street was into the wind and it was snowing sideways into your face. It was a wet snow too and my clothes were drenched and I was cold. At Broad and High I noticed my shoe was untied so I stopped and tied it and Doug went ahead. I tied my shoe and kept running, passing my dad at Nationwide and High. He yelled, "this sucks...I can't even run" as we passed the windiest part of the race where the freeway goes under High Street and nothing blocks the wind. When I reached the next mile marker I was at 8:08 and that included a water stop and my shoe tying so I knew I was flying. Shortly after the mile marker, I passed Doug and he didn't look like he was having fun. When we turned on Lane Avenue I saw Darryl ahead and caught him and talked to him for a while. By this point my hands were numb and he said he belly was numb. Thinking about it when he said it, my belly was a little numb too. The trip around the stadium sucked. Whoever thought that was a good idea needs to think again. Coming back up Tuttle was pure mud puddles and I quickly discovered why everyone was running on the sidewalks by the architecture school. As I went under the school I had a big snowball drop on my shoulder. It kinda hurt. As I was running up Woody Hayes, I started reminiscing about running Columbus two years ago and qualifying for Boston. This is where I was walking and crying and realized that I was still ahead of pace and only had three miles left and could qualify. It was nice to be at this point in the half marathon and still feel fantastic. When we turned left onto Neil, I saw a girl I used to run with and I took the next mile and a half to catch her. She saw me there and pulled ahead just a little. I let her for a while but then I pushed ahead of her for the last mile. As I crossed the finish line, a foot stepped in front of mine on the right to beat me out. It was the girl I had caught and I was pretty deflated at that point. But, being that we were wearing chips, I actually beat her by 2 places. First time I've ever beat her in a race. I finished in 1:42:55, which I wasn't trying to do, but the race felt fantastic. I never felt tired or winded and I really had a great run. I was underdressed, though, and my hands got really wet and cold and lost feeling and I was really concerned that I was getting frostbite. As soon as my dad finished I made him take me to the car and go home because of my hands. Hopefully next year the weather won't be so bad for the race.

It's Taper Time (Kinda)

The long runs are over. Halleluiah!!!! I did 20 miles on Saturday. I was scheduled to do 22 but 20 was plenty and two more miles were not going to make a difference.

So now that the long runs are done, it's officially taper time. Except, it's not. This week I intend to do over 30 miles and I'm doing the Capital City Half Marathon on Saturday. I am saying right now that I'm not going to race it, but I think it's going to be a pretty solid run.

Track meets start this week so it's a good thing it's taper time because it means less time to run. Luckily one meet is at home and the other is at a school really close to work, so I'm going to have time to run before the meets and still get in three or four miles before I have to work.

It's looking like I'm actually going to make it through training successfully. Yippee!

I'm Famous!

Our track team hired Otis Winston as our new jumping coach. For those of you who don't know, Otis was a member and captain of Ohio State's basketball team back in the early 90s. What most people don't know is that Otis was a standout in track and field too. He was a three time state high jump champion in high school and also won the long jump one year. In college he was an All-American, Olympic trial qualifier, Ohio State record holder (7'4-1/2"), and placed third in the NCAAs.

The local newspaper (New Albany News) did a profile on him and he mentioned by name me and my dad as the people who convinced him to coach at the school. I got my name in the paper. I'm famous!

In real running news...(1) our bib numbers are out for Boston. Mine is 12880. (2) My runs are going really well. Yesterday's was pretty choppy. I did 1/2 mile. Then had my runners do a time trial. Then I ran 2-1/2 more miles on the track. And finally I ran 3 more miles on the treadmill while the kids were in the weightroom. Got it done and that's all that matters.

Sad News

This post is going to have nothing to do with running, but I know some people might be interested to know.

My grandpa died last Friday (March 18th). He's been sick for a long time and fell really sick last week. He went to be with the Lord around 8:00am while Grandma was washing his feet. How beautiful and poetic and Biblical. My brother-in-law, Rob, is a paramedic and was the one who pronounced him. The police chaplain offered a prayer for the family (I missed this) and we all consoled Grandma as the funeral home took my grandpa's body.

The last few days have been filled with family and friends as we had showings on Monday and the funeral was yesterday.

Grandma has been taking all this pretty hard and she should. My grandparents were married 64 years. I can't imagine losing my best friend after 64 years. My mom seems to be okay but I've noticed her crying a lot. Surprisingly I've seen my dad really ripped up by this. I don't know if it's because Grandpa was like a father to him (Dad's dad lives in Kentucky and we don't see him very often) or if it's because it brings back memories of when his mother died. Myself, I'm doing okay. I'm sad because I have really great memories of my grandpa and I'm really going to miss him. But at the same time, I'm comforted knowing he's not going to be sick anymore and knowing that he passed while Grandma was taking care of him...the way it was meant to be.

One more long run

There's one more long run to go before Boston. Saturday we ran 20 miles and in two weeks we'll do 22. In typical fashion, it snowed Friday night and the trail was covered when we started. In addition, it was sleeting the first couple miles of the run too. But, then the sun came out and it got warmer and the run wasn't so bad. We ran north for the first 5 miles and then south for the other fifteen. When we got in the campus area the wind was so strong that it knocked both Andrea and I to the side. Overall, I think the run went well and I'm not really all that sore.

How quickly you fall out of shape

Yesterday I didn't have track practice because the boys basketball team was playing in the regional semifinals (they lost), so I took the time to do some extra training. I went to the gym and ran three miles on the treadmill and then went for a swim. This is the first time I have swam since my eye surgery, which was four weeks ago. At that time I was able to swim 1000 yards continuously and probably could do more. Yesterday my plan was to swim about 800 yards. I quickly learned, however, that I had fallen out of swimming shape in that four weeks. I was able to do 400 yards and struggled throughout. I might go back to the gym today after practice to do a little more swimming. I think it helps my running a lot and I need to get on it if I'm going to do the triathlon this summer.

Math, Diet, and huh isn't that interesting?

Have y'all read the new Runner's World out now? It has an article in it about diet and exercise just like every month. Usually they don't mean that much to me, but this one I found particularly interesting especially with what I've been finding out in my spinning classes. First it said to maintain your body weight you should take your current weight and multiply by 13 and this was the number of calories I needed in a day. For me that was slightly under 1500 calories. Then it said if you wanted to lose a pound a week (not a high priority for me, but I would like to get down a little for better racing) that you should cut 500 calories a day with reduction in food intake and exercise. It also said that running a mile equaled 100 calories.

So, I experimented to see where I was. On Tuesday I ate what I usually eat and then some and had about 1900 calories. I did 3 miles of running and 45 minutes of spinning on Tuesday. Our spinning instructor said we would burn about 800 calories during the spinning class. So 3 miles equals 300 calories plus 800 calories from spinning is a total of 1100 calories burned. Let's do a little math. 1900 calories eaten minus 1100 calories burned leaves me with 800 calories to keep my body functioning.

Here's what I learned. I am not getting enough calories everyday to keep my body functioning properly for what I am putting it through. I probably crave sweets and chocolate all the time because I don't have enough calories to burn fat during my workouts and instead burn glycogen, sugar. If I want to lose any weight, I need to consume more calories so that I can burn fat during my workouts. Explains why the only time in the last several months that I lost any weight was at Thanksgiving and Easter.

Isn't that interesting?

Tough Run

Saturday's long run was really tough. The plan was to do 2-1/2 laps around Highbanks which is about 15 miles. Not only is this tough to do at any time because of the hills, it snowed a fair amount last week including Friday night and the trails were covered. Andrea, Dad, and I did the first three miles together but Andrea said she wasn't feeling it so she stopped and said she would do it on Sunday. Dad and I ran together until the next hill, but I went up it faster and then I had to run all the rest by myself. My stomach started hurting going up the big hill and I had trouble catching my breath the rest of the way. I stopped after one lap and Dad did the second lap. I didn't want to have to do the entire 15 miles again on Sunday, so I headed out again on Saturday afternoon and did an additional 8 miles. So, my mileage for Saturday was 14 miles and my mileage for the week was 31. This week ought to be a big week...20 miler on Saturday!

I just don't know!!!

I was over at Sue's last night and I was talking to her about her sister-in-law, Grace. Grace did the Wendy's Triathlon last summer and this summer is planning on doing a half Ironman. This morning I've been chatting with Andy who again is pushing me to sign up for the Muncie Endurathon. I'm so torn!!! I just don't know what to do!!! I really want to try it because I think I have the endurance for it, but riding a bike for 56 miles is not exactly what I call fun. If it was just swimming and running, I'd sign up in a heart beat. I'm just not really sure when/how/where I can fit in bike training. Right now I take a 45 minute spinning class twice a week but I know that's not enough. I wish there was a training program out there on how to do a half Ironman for marathoners. I just don't want to compromise my running. I'm not willing to give up my daily run.

Sooooo Frustrating!!!

I was pretty sore last Monday after the half marathon on Sunday. So, I got out my bike, put it on the trainer, and rode a half hour while watching a tape of "Ed" on Monday. Dave had a "guys night" last Monday so after my ride I fixed myself a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a hot dog (sorry Andrea). I watched Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and then went to bed. At 2:45 on Tuesday I was awakened by extreme stomach pains. By 3:30 I thought I was going to be sick. And lo and behold...I got sick. And continued to get sick right into midday. Although I did not throw up, I continued to be sick the rest of the week. I only started feeling better Saturday after the doctor gave me medicine to keep me from feeling nauseous. Unfortunately, I haven't run since the half marathon over a week ago. I tried running on Thursday and made it a half mile before I thought I was going to fall over from being dizzy and lightheaded. Today is a new day and I'm going to try to get my mileage over 30 miles this week. I'm also hoping to get back to spinning twice a week and start including swimming again this week. Now if only I could figure out how to raise the seat on my bike?

Last Chance for Boston 1/2 Marathon

Yesterday I ran the Last Chance for Boston 1/2 Marathon. I wasn't planning on going really hard or even enjoying the race, but I did really well. From reading Andrea's blog, I knew she wanted to PR and her PR was already two minutes faster than mine, so I knew I was going to have to work hard. And work hard we did. We started the race off fast and never let up. We were averaging in the 7:45-7:50 range but threw in a 7:38 in the middle to mix it up. I feel bad because I was on the inside, but Andrea did ask to move to the inside and I let her because it was fair, but she moved right back to the outside. The last lap I picked it up to a 7:18 and finished in 1:41:50, which is a new PR and I was first in my age group. I'm pretty sore today, but I'm not planning on doing anything athletic today unless grocery shopping counts as aerobic.


I know you are totally not supposed to rip people's work off like this, but, you know, I'm savvy and who cares? 


This is a pretty good picture of Andrea and I kicking some butt! 

It's been a rough couple of days

I used my eye surgery last Friday as an excuse to splurge and eat poorly. Unfortunately, I've used this excuse for the whole week. I've been eating ice cream, brownies, cookies, candy bars, hamburgers, pizza, and greesy subs. I feel like I weigh 200 pounds! So yesterday my plan was to run 7.6 miles at Sharon Woods. I made it 4 miles and I just couldn't do anymore. I think the poor eating has caught up with me. Even worse, I haven't had time to go to the grocery so the cycle continues. Today I had McDonald's for breakfast and I didn't pack a lunch so I'm sure it will just be more crap for lunch. In addition, I'm just beat down from my lifestyle. I don't think most people could live a day in the life of Meredith. I work 6:00-2:30 (work is a strong word...I sit at a desk and occupy space), I coach track from 3:00-5:00, I run everyday, I take spinning classes twice week, I have Bible study on Wednesdays. I'm more overscheduled than a teenage girl. And I'm just exhausted. I need a day off just to clean the house, do laudry, wash the dishes, go to the grocery store, and catch up on my sleep. Unfortunately, I would probably need more than a day off to do all that! I'm seriously thinking about going home today to get a head start, but I have tickets to OSU's women's game tonight and of course it's with coworkers so how bad would that look if I wasn't at work today. I'm trying to hold out until Monday because my boss is taking that day off and I might play hookie just because I know he's not going to be there. I just really need to physically and mentally reload!

Oh what a beautiful morning..oh what a beautiful day

It was like spring yesterday and it made me really hungry for track season. I had a record numbers at track conditioning yesterday-7. We had a great three mile run. All the school's sports teams were out on the track and it just felt wonderful. Of course today it's supposed to snow, but such is life in central Ohio. I really don't have much more to say. I just thought I'd mention how wonderful it is to run when it's nice outside.

My Eye Surgery

A few people have asked about my eye surgery, so I'm going to give the full version even though it doesn't have anything to do with running.

WARNING! THIS IS GOING TO BE GRAPHIC!

I had my Lasik surgery on Friday. The whole day on Friday I was scared out of my mind. You can ask Dave, my hands were blocks of ice and I was seriously considering backing out of it. But once I got into the doctor's office, I started feeling better. The first thing that happened was that the optometrist took me back and checked my prescription one more time. He answered my remaining questions and reassured me that everything was going to be okay. Then the nurse took me back, had me sign my consent forms, and then gave me my valium. I'm not sure that Valium made a whole lot of difference. Then the nurse put two different sets of eye drops in. The first was a numbing drop and the second was one to fight infections. Then they took Dave and I to a waiting room while they prepped the operating room. There was a television in there where they told Dave he would be able to view the surgery. Then they called me in and laid me on a table and stuck a pillow underneath my knees (like I was going in for an MRI). Then they gave me a teddy bear to hold on to and instructed me not to move my hands or feet during the surgery. The nurse used iodine to clean both my eyes. Then they moved me under the laser machine. A shield was put over my left eye and I was told to keep my left eye open and blink normally. My right eye's eyelashes were taped down and a speculum was put in to hold my eye open. Dr. Beran then put in a million drops and kept touching my eye to make sure I was good and numb. I could feel when he touched around the edges of my eye but I didn't know if I should say anything, so I didn't. Next a ring was placed over my eye that created suction and I lost my vision at that point. Another apparatus was attached to the suction ring that made the flap cut. I don't remember, because it felt like I had a million things in my eye at this point, but Dave said they removed these after the flap was cut. Then the flap was lifted and moved to the side. Dave said this was the scariest part to watch. I guess then, again I don't remember seeing this, a piece of paper or something was laid across the rest of my eye except for the hole the flap created. I was told to stare at the blinking green light and the laser started. The smell was awful. And to think it was the smell of my burning eyeball was totally gross. The nurse would literally yell 25% complete, 50% complete, 75% complete and then a long time seemed to pass before they said it was over. The flap was repositioned and smoothed out and irrigated and monitored for what seemed like forever. Once the right eye was done, then the whole process was started over on my left eye. The left eye hurt a little more. The speculum felt tighter (probably because I was a little more tense) and the vacuum ring seemed to squeeze the heck out of my eyeball. The last part of the surgery was to put eyeshields on that I was instructed to not take off until my appointment the following day. After the procedure was over they escorted me to a room where they examined my eyes and sent Dave and I on our way.

When I got home I crawled immediately into bed and took a nap. Dave went out and got some soda and then my mom came over. Dave came and woke me up around 4:30 and told me my mom was there. It was then that I had really burning pain in my left eye and found it a little hard to open them. I left them closed. My mom came in and sat with me while my dad picked up the pizzas. Then I shuffled my way to the living room and ate some pizza. Dad didn't stay long because he had a basketball game but my mom stayed about another hour and just talked to me. Dave let me listen to the national news, Jeopardy, and Family Feud and then I decided to go to bed.

The next morning I woke up and had another doctor's appointment. They checked my vision and said it was 20/20 and that I was cleared to drive and said I was doing above average for the day after surgery. I went to a bridal shower and went out with friends that night. Now my eyes are just dry and staring at this computer screen takes a lot of effort. I have about a million drops I have to put in my eyes everyday and I have to wear the eye shields for a week when I sleep. My night vision isn't bad either, just a little hazy. I bought a really great pair of Oakley sunglasses because they told me I have to wear them when I'm outside for the next 6 months and I wasn't going to wear the ugly ones they provided me. So, to sum it all up, I'm completely satisfied and excited. I would highly recommend Lasik and my doctor was the best. I'm so glad I decided to go through with it.

Last Night's Spinning Class

There starting a new thing at Lifetime Fitness that's going to be used for the next quarter. Everything is going to be centered around anaerobic threshold and training on heart rate in the different zones. This is all fine and very effective, however, I'm going to say that 99% of people don't have or wear a heart rate monitor nor are they at that level of training where they should even care what their anaerobic threshold is. They're also focusing on burning fat and that means riding at 190 rpm. So, the whole class last night was at the same speed no matter if we were standing, climbing, or in the saddle. It sucked. I didn't like it. The instructor said it would be good for me, but I told him that I take spinning to replace my sprinting workouts and I'm already in great aerobic shape. I run in zone 2-3 where I do the most fat burning. I was just really bored by the class last night and I hope it doesn't continue.

In other news, my eye surgery is this afternoon. I have mixed emotions between completely scared and completely confident. I think I'll feel better once the procedure gets started and once I take that Valium. :)

Columbus Winter Run

Yesterday was the Columbus Winter Run 15-miler. Except, it wasn't really a winter run. It was in the high 30s at the start and a lot of people were wearing shorts and/or T-shirts. Not me; still too cold. Since I moved into the 25-29 year old age bracket, this has been the only race in which I've placed. Not this year. Actually, I ran a really good race. I did all 15 miles without stopping and ran a negative split for the second half of the race. I finished with a 2:01:18, which is a very respectable time but finished 9th in my age group. Freakin' 9th!!! There were some fast chicks out there. I'm going to try to post some pictures of the race, but I have no idea what I'm doing.


This is me at the 5 mile mark.


This is the group. From left: Big Jelly, Dad, me, Andrea, Doug, Doug's son, and Andy. 

Fight! Fight!

Yesterday was a double dose of workouts: 4 miles of running and 45 minutes of spinning class. An interesting thing happened at the spinning class. This class is always full and last night was no exception. We were there 25 minutes early and we weren't even the first people in line. There are groups of people who attend this class together and hold bikes for each other, which kind of ticks me off but I would expect Dave to do that for me and vice versa. Anyway, this girl was saving a bike for a guy and another guy came up and sat on the bike. Well, the guy who was supposed to have the bike told him it was his bike and then you will not believe what happened! They started shouting at each other over a stupid aerobics class! Then one of the guys made some remark about the girl and she started yelling at the guy. The best part about this whole thing was that the instructor is a huge guy who could kick both their butts and escorted the guy who didn't belong to the bike out of the class. Very entertaining!

Those F@$&ing Drivers

GRRRR!!!!! What is so hard about moving over to share the road with a runner??? Yesterday I ran a route close to the high school that I usually do on sidewalks. The sidewalks are still covered in snow and I didn't feel like running in snow. So I took my run to the roads and did what I was supposed to--ran against traffic. I was almost hit so many times!!! And one time I tripped on a piece of compacted ice and snow and almost fell into traffic because traffic had not moved over. I'm going to start a rotation of shirts. One is going to say, "Hang Up Your Cell Phone and Pay Attention." And the other is going to say, "Move Over!" This just backs my theory even more, and I swear I'm going to take this to legislation, that every four years when you go to get your license renewed you should be mandated to take the written test over again. I would bet not a lot of people could pass it. Or at least, that's the way it seems from observation.