Dave and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last month.
When we got engaged, Dave bought me a beautiful diamond engagement ring and then a matching wedding band, which also had diamonds in it. Several years after we got married I took the rings to get clean and inspected and was informed that I had three diamonds loose on the rings. They told me not to wear them to bed, to bathe, to sleep, to workout, etc. So, I started wearing my rings only to work. Fast forward to 2009 and the terrible running accident I had where I destroyed my ring finger. While I wasn't wearing my rings when I fell, thank goodness, my finger was so swollen for a year that I couldn't wear my rings for a very, very long time. After that, though, I was working from home and stopped wearing my wedding rings all together.
For a while now, what seems like years, I have been asking for a plain, no frills wedding band that I could wear all the time and not worry that it was going to get damaged or have the diamonds ripped out of it. Every holiday, birthday, special event I would ask for one, and each time I wouldn't get it. (Although, I should mention that Dave is an amazing gift giver and always got me something awesome.) For our tenth anniversary I thought for sure I was finally getting this ring. I began opening my gift - some candy, a $25 iTunes card, and an aluminum covered candy ring. You have got to be shitting me. This is it?! I got you tickets to the OSU football game! But it was all a surprise; he the aluminum covered candy ring was a hint to let me know you had picked out a ring at the jewelry store and wanted me to come get sized for it.
The day of our anniversary I was still pretty early in my pregnancy and not feeling so hot. We went out to dinner, which was just about all the energy I could muster, and then walked over to the Diamond Cellar. Usually I don't mention names of stores, etc. in my blog posts, but I'm totally going to call them out on the service (or lack thereof) later in this blog. We found the ring he had wanted; a cobalt plain wedding band. Why cobalt? Well it doesn't scratch, which is great for my active lifestyle (although, if it is dropped, it can shatter - tensile strength = bad). Now, I am a tiny girl and my wedding ring size - a 4-1/2. We ordered the ring, at a great price, and went on our way.
The next week was when I began all my blood testing for Baby Gordon. The day I got my tests back with the mixed results, I cried a lot. I mean, big crocodile tears, a lot. And then Dave came home and crushed my spirits even more. Turns out, the Diamond Cellar had called Dave and let him know that the ring we had ordered only came in sizes 6-13. We took a trip down to the store where they tried to talk us into a gold wedding band that was nearly $400 more expensive than what we had bought. I basically told the gentleman to go eff himself, that I could get a tattoo there for $50. Dave said he would find me something cheaper online, but I didn't care. My hopes were crushed and I had more expensive things to worry about, like my new high risk pregnancy.
Several weeks passed and I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed that Dave had only bought me a $25 iTunes card for our 10th anniversary. I let him know it too. I didn't really care what he bought me, but I really wanted something before Christmas. Earlier this week he came home and told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands. He laid a big, lightweight package in my hands. I opened my eyes and it was a model rocket? WTF?! Dave and I are both engineers by trade and enjoy crap like this, but this was my anniversary present? Yeah, thanks. And then he pulled a small package from his back pocket and it was a beautiful, white gold wedding band. I put it on then and haven't taken it off. It's perfect. He's perfect.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Thursday Thoughts - Halloween Edition
I have a confession. I don't like Halloween. AT. ALL. Not one bit.
I don't like that we teach our children to beg. I don't like that we have children dress up and be something they're not (especially princesses-don't get me started). I don't like that older "kids" participate and dress up inappropriately. (I'm talking to you, Kim Kardashian!) I don't like that kids gets pounds and pounds of candy that not only rots their teeth but contributes to the growing problem of childhood obesity. And I really can't stand when a kid over the age of 10 dares to come to my door asking for candy.
Dave thinks I'm crazy, but he's also talked about not wanting to teach future child about Santa Claus.
What's your thoughts about Halloween? At what age did you stop trick-or-treating? At what age will you make your child stop? Do you still dress up as an adult?
I don't like that we teach our children to beg. I don't like that we have children dress up and be something they're not (especially princesses-don't get me started). I don't like that older "kids" participate and dress up inappropriately. (I'm talking to you, Kim Kardashian!) I don't like that kids gets pounds and pounds of candy that not only rots their teeth but contributes to the growing problem of childhood obesity. And I really can't stand when a kid over the age of 10 dares to come to my door asking for candy.
Dave thinks I'm crazy, but he's also talked about not wanting to teach future child about Santa Claus.
What's your thoughts about Halloween? At what age did you stop trick-or-treating? At what age will you make your child stop? Do you still dress up as an adult?
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
16/17-ish Weeks
Tomorrow, Thursday, I will hit 17 weeks into this pregnancy. Sure I know I still have a long way to go, but my goodness the time is flying! I'm starting to feel like there's tons of stuff to do and not enough time to do it, especially with Dave traveling for his job and my usual slothness.
This is a picture of "the belly" from last week. No hiding anymore, but at least the continual workouts and the tight abs are holding a lot of it still in. I could look A LOT bigger than I am.
This is a picture of "the belly" from last week. No hiding anymore, but at least the continual workouts and the tight abs are holding a lot of it still in. I could look A LOT bigger than I am.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Baby Update
Now that we've made it through all our appointments this month, it's time for a baby update. When we last left off, I had gone through a gazillion blood tests to determine (a) I had some low protein levels and (b) I had a gene defect.
We started off this month with an ultrasound and a test for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13. The ultrasound was cool, as always. We got to hear the heart beat for the first time, along with new measurements. The things that had made us nervous came out positively (like the child missing part of it's skull/brain) and everything seemed to look great. Plus, the kiddo definitely is my kid. Look at those runner's legs!!
There was more blood drawn for this test, which a week later came back with good results. The likelihood of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13 came back with the lowest percentage possible that the test could prove.
Just two days later, however, my regular OB called. She had consulted with the high risk doctor and they had decided to put me on blood thinners - one 81 mg aspirin daily. Two steps forward; one step back.
One day later, I had my regular monthly exam with my regular OB. Things were looking good (minus the scolding I got for not peeing in the cup when I got up in the morning. Seriously, what is the first pee of the day when you get up 5 times each night to pee?) I got to hear the heartbeat again. I was measuring well and had only gained three pounds. The doctor said I was doing a good job with exercise and diet and gaining weight appropriately. Music to my ears. I had yet another blood test for my protein levels again. I now had bruises in both arms from having my blood drawn twice in one week. Have you lost count yet with how much blood they've taken?
Lastly this month we had our appointment with the high risk OB. Honestly, I wasn't too nervous as I just had a feeling everything was fine, but tentatively we were both holding our breath. The appointment started off with the longest ultrasound. The technician measured EVERYTHING!!! The diameter of the head, the circumference of the torso, the length of bones, the size of the eye sockets, and we even saw blood flow for both the heart and the umbilical cord. It was complete! And in the very end, we found out the gender of the baby. However, you all are going to have to wait on that one as Dave and I have decided we want to keep that just between the two of us until the baby is born. No one knows except us; not even our parents. We went so far as to cut out the ultrasound picture labeled with the gender and the picture with the heart rate and put those in our locked firebox to keep the secret.
Finally, we met with the specialist and his fellow. Both were super cool and educated us on my gene defect. Turns out it doesn't mean jack crap, which is exactly what we had researched. I guess 40% of caucasians have this defect and it really doesn't mean anything for pregnancy. I guess there was a paper written in 1999 that scared the medical community about this defect, but, as they quoted, "millions of papers" have been written since that dispute this. The doctor asked me a few more questions about bruising and the flow of my period (sorry), and decided to do a few more tests. Yes, I had six more vials of blood taken at the very end of this appointment. If you're keeping count, that's 32 vials of blood in four doctor's appointments. And the doctor took me back off the blood thinners, saying I didn't need them. Finally, we set an appointment to return to the high risk OB in December to have a growth analysis done just to make sure everything's okay.
We started off this month with an ultrasound and a test for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13. The ultrasound was cool, as always. We got to hear the heart beat for the first time, along with new measurements. The things that had made us nervous came out positively (like the child missing part of it's skull/brain) and everything seemed to look great. Plus, the kiddo definitely is my kid. Look at those runner's legs!!
There was more blood drawn for this test, which a week later came back with good results. The likelihood of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13 came back with the lowest percentage possible that the test could prove.
Just two days later, however, my regular OB called. She had consulted with the high risk doctor and they had decided to put me on blood thinners - one 81 mg aspirin daily. Two steps forward; one step back.
One day later, I had my regular monthly exam with my regular OB. Things were looking good (minus the scolding I got for not peeing in the cup when I got up in the morning. Seriously, what is the first pee of the day when you get up 5 times each night to pee?) I got to hear the heartbeat again. I was measuring well and had only gained three pounds. The doctor said I was doing a good job with exercise and diet and gaining weight appropriately. Music to my ears. I had yet another blood test for my protein levels again. I now had bruises in both arms from having my blood drawn twice in one week. Have you lost count yet with how much blood they've taken?
Lastly this month we had our appointment with the high risk OB. Honestly, I wasn't too nervous as I just had a feeling everything was fine, but tentatively we were both holding our breath. The appointment started off with the longest ultrasound. The technician measured EVERYTHING!!! The diameter of the head, the circumference of the torso, the length of bones, the size of the eye sockets, and we even saw blood flow for both the heart and the umbilical cord. It was complete! And in the very end, we found out the gender of the baby. However, you all are going to have to wait on that one as Dave and I have decided we want to keep that just between the two of us until the baby is born. No one knows except us; not even our parents. We went so far as to cut out the ultrasound picture labeled with the gender and the picture with the heart rate and put those in our locked firebox to keep the secret.
Look at baby sucking its thumb!
Finally, we met with the specialist and his fellow. Both were super cool and educated us on my gene defect. Turns out it doesn't mean jack crap, which is exactly what we had researched. I guess 40% of caucasians have this defect and it really doesn't mean anything for pregnancy. I guess there was a paper written in 1999 that scared the medical community about this defect, but, as they quoted, "millions of papers" have been written since that dispute this. The doctor asked me a few more questions about bruising and the flow of my period (sorry), and decided to do a few more tests. Yes, I had six more vials of blood taken at the very end of this appointment. If you're keeping count, that's 32 vials of blood in four doctor's appointments. And the doctor took me back off the blood thinners, saying I didn't need them. Finally, we set an appointment to return to the high risk OB in December to have a growth analysis done just to make sure everything's okay.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Giving Back
Since my race schedule will stay empty for the next several months, I decided to give back to the community that's given so much. I was lucky. When I first started running I was part of a very small group that not only taught me everything I know about running marathons, but have become amazing ambassadors of the sport in Columbus and around the US. And now they're in charge of the Columbus Marathon. This year the marathon partnered with the Nationwide Children's Hospital (we are so blessed to have one of the best children's hospitals in the country!) and have done amazing things with this partnership. There were 26 children champions chosen; children who's lives have been impacted by the hospital. These children each were designated a mile on the course where a station was set up with the children and some had their mile decorated. Although I didn't go down to watch the marathon, I know mile 18 had thousands of origami butterflies strung throughout the mile. How cool is that? In addition, there were other champions who races thousands and thousands of dollars for research at the hospital.
Anyway, because I couldn't run the race and knew I probably wouldn't get my buns out of bed Sunday morning to watch the race (I had to work a wedding Saturday night), I decided to volunteer for the race. I signed up to work a double shift at packet pick-up at the expo on Friday, meaning I was there from 11:00am until 7:00pm. My job was pretty simple, ask those picking up their own packets for ID and verify that all the information matched inside the packet. If the person was picking up for another person there had to be a confirmation email, an ID, and then the person had to fill out a little form saying they were picking up the packet for the other person. All very simple. Except, there weren't enough volunteers so at some points, I kid you not, I was covering about 8 tables all by myself. A day of standing, running back and forth, and basically being "on" the entire time....I was wiped out.
Would I do it again? Um, I don't know. I certainly wouldn't sign up for a double shift. I certainly wouldn't do it again while I was pregnant as there was not enough opportunity to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. And next year, I'd prefer to be running the race.
Anyway, because I couldn't run the race and knew I probably wouldn't get my buns out of bed Sunday morning to watch the race (I had to work a wedding Saturday night), I decided to volunteer for the race. I signed up to work a double shift at packet pick-up at the expo on Friday, meaning I was there from 11:00am until 7:00pm. My job was pretty simple, ask those picking up their own packets for ID and verify that all the information matched inside the packet. If the person was picking up for another person there had to be a confirmation email, an ID, and then the person had to fill out a little form saying they were picking up the packet for the other person. All very simple. Except, there weren't enough volunteers so at some points, I kid you not, I was covering about 8 tables all by myself. A day of standing, running back and forth, and basically being "on" the entire time....I was wiped out.
Would I do it again? Um, I don't know. I certainly wouldn't sign up for a double shift. I certainly wouldn't do it again while I was pregnant as there was not enough opportunity to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. And next year, I'd prefer to be running the race.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Week In Review
Well, it is only week one and I already missed two days of my Pregnancy Workout Challenge. Who cares! Five out of seven days ain't so bad.
Monday - 3 mile run walk on the treadmill. There's not much difference between my "run" pace and my walking pace on the treadmill. I do over 12 min/miles while running and just under 15 min/miles for my walking. I think it took me 41 minutes to do this workout. My stars! That's a long time for three miles.
Tuesday - 2 mile walk with Dave outside.
Wednesday - Yeah, I have no excuse for not working out today. I sat around and watched hours and hours of TV today.
Thursday - 2.5 miles treadmill. 1 mile run, 1 mile walk, 0.5 mile run.
Friday - 2 mile POWER walk on treadmill. I finished this walk under 30 minutes. I was moving.
Saturday - Nothing again today. When I woke up it was pouring outside and because Dave was sleeping I couldn't get my stuff without waking him to get downstairs to the treadmill. By the time the weather cleared, I had things to do. We had errands to run, football to watch (duh!), naps to take, and then photo boothing. Plus, I had volunteered at the marathon expo on Friday (more on that tomorrow-ish) and I was wiped out!
Sunday - Dave and I headed out together for a run today, although I let him do his own workout so he felt like he was actually working out. He did 4.25 miles and I did 3. I was pretty overdressed and had to slow down and keep taking walk breaks to keep myself from getting too hot. Even with a bathroom break and some walking, I still finished before Dave. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Overall - 12.5 miles.
This is the most amount of miles I've done in several weeks. I'm hoping to stay between 10-15 miles and not going higher than 20. I'm still hoping to get over to the Y sometime and get myself a membership so I can do some other workouts like elliptical and swimming to mix it up. I'm feeling great and am mostly enjoying the running/walking.
Monday - 3 mile run walk on the treadmill. There's not much difference between my "run" pace and my walking pace on the treadmill. I do over 12 min/miles while running and just under 15 min/miles for my walking. I think it took me 41 minutes to do this workout. My stars! That's a long time for three miles.
Tuesday - 2 mile walk with Dave outside.
Wednesday - Yeah, I have no excuse for not working out today. I sat around and watched hours and hours of TV today.
Thursday - 2.5 miles treadmill. 1 mile run, 1 mile walk, 0.5 mile run.
Friday - 2 mile POWER walk on treadmill. I finished this walk under 30 minutes. I was moving.
Saturday - Nothing again today. When I woke up it was pouring outside and because Dave was sleeping I couldn't get my stuff without waking him to get downstairs to the treadmill. By the time the weather cleared, I had things to do. We had errands to run, football to watch (duh!), naps to take, and then photo boothing. Plus, I had volunteered at the marathon expo on Friday (more on that tomorrow-ish) and I was wiped out!
Sunday - Dave and I headed out together for a run today, although I let him do his own workout so he felt like he was actually working out. He did 4.25 miles and I did 3. I was pretty overdressed and had to slow down and keep taking walk breaks to keep myself from getting too hot. Even with a bathroom break and some walking, I still finished before Dave. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Overall - 12.5 miles.
This is the most amount of miles I've done in several weeks. I'm hoping to stay between 10-15 miles and not going higher than 20. I'm still hoping to get over to the Y sometime and get myself a membership so I can do some other workouts like elliptical and swimming to mix it up. I'm feeling great and am mostly enjoying the running/walking.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Pregnancy Workout Challenge
This week marks my 16th week of pregnancy. I am feeling great, gaining very little weight, and only showing a little. With that, I've still been able to exercise pretty well. I remarked to Dave this week that I think I could realistically make it to my 20th week still exercising and that I hope to ultimately make it to 30 or beyond. With four weeks to go until the halfway mark, I am giving myself a little challenge. I would like to work out every day, in some capacity, until I hit the 20 week mark, starting yesterday. Now, these workouts aren't exactly the same as when I challenged myself to run every day for a month. These workouts will take the shape of jogging or walking or spinning or elliptical or swimming. I just want to keep moving. I know that continuing with working out will, potentially, make labor easier, is healthy for the baby, and will keep any extra weight that is not associated with baby off. If need be, however, there will be exceptions. If the doctor says no more working out, then obviously the challenge is over. If I'm sick or something seems to be going wrong, then I'll stop. And although I will try to push past the tiredness, if it's just too much to overcome, then screw it, I'm going to take a nap instead.
I hope to post weekly updates of the workouts done. Challenge accepted!!!
I hope to post weekly updates of the workouts done. Challenge accepted!!!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
10 Running Tidbits
This blog has been very quiet and very baby, and frankly, that's kinda is boring. So, I decided to "borrow" this from Kyria over at Travel Spot to spark something new on this blog and get back to talking about running. Don't worry, I've got a lot of thoughts in my head regarding running/triathlon/blogging/baby and should have some good posts coming up soon.
1. FUEL: Shot Bloks, GU, Energy Chews, Candy or Other?
I almost exclusively use strawberry banana PowerGel. That's my favorite and I don't really like anything else. I take A LOT of them during a run/race, like every four miles. Last year when I was struggling with triathlon, Rachelle gave me a recipe for a homemade energy drink that has TONS of calories. If I go back to triathlon, I'm going to try to use that on the bike.
2. Race Length: 5k, 10k, 1/2 Marathon, Marathon, Ultra or Other?
Oy! The longer the better for me. My favorite distance is probably the half marathon. It's long enough to have to pace, but short enough that you can really race. I would say I'm probably pretty good at the marathon, too, although it's been a solid three years since I've done one and not sure when there will be another one on the schedule. I haven't done an ultra and really don't want to. That's a whole different ball game and I think 26 miles is long enough.
3. Workout Bottoms: Skirts, Running Shorts, Capris, Pants or Other?
I am an old-school runner and run in running shorts. My favorites are a pair from Saucony that are light as air. In the winter I prefer to wear tights. You won't catch me dead in a running skirt.
4. Sports Drink: Gatorade, Powerade, Cytomax, you stick to water when you run or Other?
I will only drink water while running. I take water at every single water stop no matter what the distance - 5K or marathon. In triathlon I've experimented with Gatorade, whatever the stuff is Ironman uses, First Endurance, and homemade stuff. If water had calories, I would use it. :)
5. Running Temperatures: HEAT or COLD?
My favorite temperature to run is between 40-50 degrees. I guess that's cold for most people. Winter, and specifically snow, is definitely my favorite time to run outside - quiet and peaceful and totally badass.
6. Running Shoe Brands: Saucony, Mizuno, Nike, Brookes, Asics or Other?
Saucony. Only Saucony. I have run in the Omni as my training shoe for YEARS!!! I use the Kinvara as my racing shoe.
7. Pre-race meal: Oatmeal, Bagel, Banana, Eggs, Cereal or Other?
If I'm at home and doing a race nearby, I will eat a piece of toast or two with butter and honey. If I have traveled to a race, I will usually eat a cinnamon raisin bagel with nothing on it.
8. Rest Days: 1x per week, 2x per week, never ever ever or Other?
Right now, there's a whole lot of rest days. :) When I'm training, I usually don't run over 5 days a week. I cannot do high mileage, and I cannot run many days in a row. Frankly, I don't think it's needed. I've done just fine with low mileage, very specific workouts.
9. Music: Have to have it or go without it?
I used to be a purist and not run with music and used to get a little angry at those who did. However, when I started working with a coach and began doing all my workouts alone, I switched to using music. Now I rarely do a workout without an iPod. I think the iPod Shuffle is the best invention ever. More to come on that later this week.
10. #1 reason for running: stress-relief, endorphins, you love to race, so you can eat all the cupcakes you want, weight-loss, love running for social reasons or Other?
Excellent question! I think I started running out of boredom. When I graduated college and didn't have anything to study anymore and lots of time on my hands. So I signed up for a marathon. Yes, I went big right from the start. And then I was addicted. It helped clear my head; it kept me fit and skinny; and I loved beating people (I'm not going to lie). I love that I've been doing this for 11-1/2 years and are still setting new PRs. I hope there are still several more years of that to come. I love the people I've met and the friends I've made through running. My whole world revolves around running. I wouldn't want it any other way.
1. FUEL: Shot Bloks, GU, Energy Chews, Candy or Other?
I almost exclusively use strawberry banana PowerGel. That's my favorite and I don't really like anything else. I take A LOT of them during a run/race, like every four miles. Last year when I was struggling with triathlon, Rachelle gave me a recipe for a homemade energy drink that has TONS of calories. If I go back to triathlon, I'm going to try to use that on the bike.
2. Race Length: 5k, 10k, 1/2 Marathon, Marathon, Ultra or Other?
Oy! The longer the better for me. My favorite distance is probably the half marathon. It's long enough to have to pace, but short enough that you can really race. I would say I'm probably pretty good at the marathon, too, although it's been a solid three years since I've done one and not sure when there will be another one on the schedule. I haven't done an ultra and really don't want to. That's a whole different ball game and I think 26 miles is long enough.
3. Workout Bottoms: Skirts, Running Shorts, Capris, Pants or Other?
I am an old-school runner and run in running shorts. My favorites are a pair from Saucony that are light as air. In the winter I prefer to wear tights. You won't catch me dead in a running skirt.
4. Sports Drink: Gatorade, Powerade, Cytomax, you stick to water when you run or Other?
I will only drink water while running. I take water at every single water stop no matter what the distance - 5K or marathon. In triathlon I've experimented with Gatorade, whatever the stuff is Ironman uses, First Endurance, and homemade stuff. If water had calories, I would use it. :)
5. Running Temperatures: HEAT or COLD?
My favorite temperature to run is between 40-50 degrees. I guess that's cold for most people. Winter, and specifically snow, is definitely my favorite time to run outside - quiet and peaceful and totally badass.
6. Running Shoe Brands: Saucony, Mizuno, Nike, Brookes, Asics or Other?
Saucony. Only Saucony. I have run in the Omni as my training shoe for YEARS!!! I use the Kinvara as my racing shoe.
7. Pre-race meal: Oatmeal, Bagel, Banana, Eggs, Cereal or Other?
If I'm at home and doing a race nearby, I will eat a piece of toast or two with butter and honey. If I have traveled to a race, I will usually eat a cinnamon raisin bagel with nothing on it.
8. Rest Days: 1x per week, 2x per week, never ever ever or Other?
Right now, there's a whole lot of rest days. :) When I'm training, I usually don't run over 5 days a week. I cannot do high mileage, and I cannot run many days in a row. Frankly, I don't think it's needed. I've done just fine with low mileage, very specific workouts.
9. Music: Have to have it or go without it?
I used to be a purist and not run with music and used to get a little angry at those who did. However, when I started working with a coach and began doing all my workouts alone, I switched to using music. Now I rarely do a workout without an iPod. I think the iPod Shuffle is the best invention ever. More to come on that later this week.
10. #1 reason for running: stress-relief, endorphins, you love to race, so you can eat all the cupcakes you want, weight-loss, love running for social reasons or Other?
Excellent question! I think I started running out of boredom. When I graduated college and didn't have anything to study anymore and lots of time on my hands. So I signed up for a marathon. Yes, I went big right from the start. And then I was addicted. It helped clear my head; it kept me fit and skinny; and I loved beating people (I'm not going to lie). I love that I've been doing this for 11-1/2 years and are still setting new PRs. I hope there are still several more years of that to come. I love the people I've met and the friends I've made through running. My whole world revolves around running. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Friday, September 28, 2012
So Complicated.
Last week I had a little blood work done. Okay, a lot of blood work. Yes, that's 18 vials worth of tests.
This blood work was being ordered by my OBGYN after consulting with a high risk doctor because of a family history of blood clots, DVTs, and a pulmonary embolism.
Tuesday I got a call from the doctor (nurse) that they had the results of these tests. She left a message that said they got my test results back and they were a little off and that I was being referred to a high risk doctor. End of message and we never got a call back the rest of the day. Dave and I were FREAKING out the rest of the day. Wednesday morning I called the nurse again who called me back pretty quickly. Test XXX - normal. Test YYY - normal. All of them came back normal except for two which came back "off", as they put it. I was now being referred to a high risk doctor who specializes in hematological disorders in pregnancy. The two tests that were "off", one was a protein that was low that can cause blood clots and the other was a gene mutation which doesn't allow the body to absorb folic acid and other B vitamins into the body. This mutation can cause heart attack, blood clots, or stroke, preeclampsia and placenta abruption, and neural tube defects in the baby. This scared the sh!t out of me. See, my sister lost a cost a child at 20 weeks due to a neural tube defect.
After crying a thousand tears in the last two days, I started asking questions and googling the hell out of it (and using the husband's expertise since he studied genetics in college). While I understand the low protein will probably land me on blood thinners for the remainder of this pregnancy, I was more concerned regarding the gene mutation. This mutation is quite common, actually. Like 40% of people have this mutation. There are two types: homozygous, which means you have it from both of your parents, and heterozygous, which means you carry only from one of your parents. The homozygous is the one with more concern as it can cause the neural tube defects. Heterozygous, according to one article I wrote (by an OSU doctor who works two floors above the high risk specialist I will be seeing) is "medically irrelevant."
So, where does this leave me/us? With a lot of upcoming appointments. We have an Ultra Screen on Monday which test for down syndrome and spinal bifida, although the false negative/positive percentage on this test is not all that great. Next Thursday I have my regular appointment with my OBGYN, and then on October 16th I see the high risk OB.
What do I think about all of this? After the initial shock of thinking OH GOD! EVERYTHING'S FALLING APART!! I actually have a lot of positive thoughts about it.
First, if things were really, really bad, I think the doctor would have sent me straight to a hospital or had me into her office. Although I know the October 16th appointment with the high risk doctor was probably the first appointment, if it were truly an emergency they would be taking quicker action.
Secondly, I have always assumed that I have a vitamin B deficiency as I'm tired all the freakin' time. Also, this same family member who has the blood clotting issues also has a B12 deficiency so badly, that she gets B12 shots from the doctor. So I have been taking extra B12 vitamins for over year. Plus, because we were trying to get pregnant I was taking prenatal vitamins for months before we got pregnant and before that I was taking extra folic acid vitamins for over a year. My body has been pumped full of vitamin B for over a year which makes me feel better that it is unlikely our child has a neural tube defect.
Thirdly, the nurse said I had a "single mutation", which the way Dave and I interpret that to mean is that the defect is only from one of my parents, thus making it heterozygous and therefore medically irrelevant. At least, that's what we're assuming.
Lastly, and most importantly, things have been going well. I have made it to 13 weeks - one more week to go until the second trimester. The sickness has subsided and frankly, I feel really good. My body is growing and changing. I truly believe that when something bad is happening in the pregnancy that your body has a way of telling you things are not going well. Like you would be extra sick or you would have pains or fluids that were not normal. To date, this pregnancy has been pretty easy.
If you're the praying type, say a little prayer for us for our upcoming appointments. If you're not the praying type, just offer up a thought. We appreciate all the positivity directed towards Poppyseed (that's what we call the baby).
This blood work was being ordered by my OBGYN after consulting with a high risk doctor because of a family history of blood clots, DVTs, and a pulmonary embolism.
Tuesday I got a call from the doctor (nurse) that they had the results of these tests. She left a message that said they got my test results back and they were a little off and that I was being referred to a high risk doctor. End of message and we never got a call back the rest of the day. Dave and I were FREAKING out the rest of the day. Wednesday morning I called the nurse again who called me back pretty quickly. Test XXX - normal. Test YYY - normal. All of them came back normal except for two which came back "off", as they put it. I was now being referred to a high risk doctor who specializes in hematological disorders in pregnancy. The two tests that were "off", one was a protein that was low that can cause blood clots and the other was a gene mutation which doesn't allow the body to absorb folic acid and other B vitamins into the body. This mutation can cause heart attack, blood clots, or stroke, preeclampsia and placenta abruption, and neural tube defects in the baby. This scared the sh!t out of me. See, my sister lost a cost a child at 20 weeks due to a neural tube defect.
After crying a thousand tears in the last two days, I started asking questions and googling the hell out of it (and using the husband's expertise since he studied genetics in college). While I understand the low protein will probably land me on blood thinners for the remainder of this pregnancy, I was more concerned regarding the gene mutation. This mutation is quite common, actually. Like 40% of people have this mutation. There are two types: homozygous, which means you have it from both of your parents, and heterozygous, which means you carry only from one of your parents. The homozygous is the one with more concern as it can cause the neural tube defects. Heterozygous, according to one article I wrote (by an OSU doctor who works two floors above the high risk specialist I will be seeing) is "medically irrelevant."
So, where does this leave me/us? With a lot of upcoming appointments. We have an Ultra Screen on Monday which test for down syndrome and spinal bifida, although the false negative/positive percentage on this test is not all that great. Next Thursday I have my regular appointment with my OBGYN, and then on October 16th I see the high risk OB.
What do I think about all of this? After the initial shock of thinking OH GOD! EVERYTHING'S FALLING APART!! I actually have a lot of positive thoughts about it.
First, if things were really, really bad, I think the doctor would have sent me straight to a hospital or had me into her office. Although I know the October 16th appointment with the high risk doctor was probably the first appointment, if it were truly an emergency they would be taking quicker action.
Secondly, I have always assumed that I have a vitamin B deficiency as I'm tired all the freakin' time. Also, this same family member who has the blood clotting issues also has a B12 deficiency so badly, that she gets B12 shots from the doctor. So I have been taking extra B12 vitamins for over year. Plus, because we were trying to get pregnant I was taking prenatal vitamins for months before we got pregnant and before that I was taking extra folic acid vitamins for over a year. My body has been pumped full of vitamin B for over a year which makes me feel better that it is unlikely our child has a neural tube defect.
Thirdly, the nurse said I had a "single mutation", which the way Dave and I interpret that to mean is that the defect is only from one of my parents, thus making it heterozygous and therefore medically irrelevant. At least, that's what we're assuming.
Lastly, and most importantly, things have been going well. I have made it to 13 weeks - one more week to go until the second trimester. The sickness has subsided and frankly, I feel really good. My body is growing and changing. I truly believe that when something bad is happening in the pregnancy that your body has a way of telling you things are not going well. Like you would be extra sick or you would have pains or fluids that were not normal. To date, this pregnancy has been pretty easy.
If you're the praying type, say a little prayer for us for our upcoming appointments. If you're not the praying type, just offer up a thought. We appreciate all the positivity directed towards Poppyseed (that's what we call the baby).
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Pregnancy and Running, Thus Far
I always thought that when I was pregnant that I would continue to run until my body just wouldn't allow me to and really love the freedom of running without training. I've had many friends run through their pregnancy, all the way through, and even had a friend run a 4:09ish marathon while 7 months pregnant. However, I've got to let you in on a little secret. So far, I have not really enjoyed running while pregnant.
Between weeks 6 and 10 of my pregnancy I battled "morning" (all the damn time) sickness. And although I was never actually sick, I felt terrible. It was hard to find the motivation to get out of the house and workout when I just wanted to be curled up asleep, fighting off the nausea. Plus even slowing WAY down in my runs, I found myself getting winded rather easily and would spend more time walking than running. So, I started incorporating a lot of walking. Sometimes the workout would just be a walk. I've been able to manage between 9-15 miles a week, mostly walking. With the cooler temperatures now and quickly sliding into my second trimester, I'm finding it a little easier to run. Last week I even managed to make it a mile and a half before I needed to walk. And yesterday I ran three miles with only two walking breaks. I'm hoping to run a few fun races in November.
When I decided earlier this year not to do triathlon again for a while, Dave and I quit our gym membership. We had no idea what it was costing us but MAN!, it was expensive. I have a membership to our gym at work, which only cost me $10/month. I initially joined basically for the showers for when I rode my bike to work. It has treadmills, ellipticals, classes, etc., but there are also strict rules regarding what you can and can't wear and there's loud pumping music there. (Can you guess where I work?) Lately, though, I've been longing to get back in the pool. I think I'd really enjoy swimming while pregnant - easy on the body yet good exercise. I want to be able to GO to a gym; I'm really lacking in motivation. So, Dave and I are currently checking out the local Y which will save us over $30 a month from our previous gym and offer many programs we like for a future child.
And because some of you might care, and what's a blog post without a picture, here's the growing belly at 12 weeks, 4 days.
Between weeks 6 and 10 of my pregnancy I battled "morning" (all the damn time) sickness. And although I was never actually sick, I felt terrible. It was hard to find the motivation to get out of the house and workout when I just wanted to be curled up asleep, fighting off the nausea. Plus even slowing WAY down in my runs, I found myself getting winded rather easily and would spend more time walking than running. So, I started incorporating a lot of walking. Sometimes the workout would just be a walk. I've been able to manage between 9-15 miles a week, mostly walking. With the cooler temperatures now and quickly sliding into my second trimester, I'm finding it a little easier to run. Last week I even managed to make it a mile and a half before I needed to walk. And yesterday I ran three miles with only two walking breaks. I'm hoping to run a few fun races in November.
When I decided earlier this year not to do triathlon again for a while, Dave and I quit our gym membership. We had no idea what it was costing us but MAN!, it was expensive. I have a membership to our gym at work, which only cost me $10/month. I initially joined basically for the showers for when I rode my bike to work. It has treadmills, ellipticals, classes, etc., but there are also strict rules regarding what you can and can't wear and there's loud pumping music there. (Can you guess where I work?) Lately, though, I've been longing to get back in the pool. I think I'd really enjoy swimming while pregnant - easy on the body yet good exercise. I want to be able to GO to a gym; I'm really lacking in motivation. So, Dave and I are currently checking out the local Y which will save us over $30 a month from our previous gym and offer many programs we like for a future child.
And because some of you might care, and what's a blog post without a picture, here's the growing belly at 12 weeks, 4 days.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Our Planned Surprise
If you missed the memo from last Friday, I am pregnant - preggo, knocked up, with child, in the family way, whatev. I posted this same picture on Facebook and received a crazy amount of feedback including almost 150 likes and nearly 100 comments. Geesh, I didn't know I even had that many friends! One of my friends offered up congratulations but then said that this was unexpected.
If you know anything about me and my type A personality, and he should, he's known me for 15+ years, you would know I don't do anything without a plan. This baby has been in the works for a LONG time, although we only really got serious about it this year. As I'm now in my mid-30s I thought if I didn't have a child now it probably wouldn't happen. I took things seriously. I was taking my basal temperature and charting it. I was using ovulation prediction tests. But after a few months it was clear that things were not working as well as they once were. The doctor speculated it could have been my age, or how much I was running, or the amount of vitamin D I was taking to help with my depression. Basically, no one had any ideas.
Running was going well, though, and I signed up for a marathon and started training hardcore. Then we got hit with the news that we were going to be relocated for Dave's work. And although we really weren't NOT trying to get pregnant, we were moving on with our lives and planning on the marathon and the move. Life got busy and "sexy time" fell to the wayside. Whatever. We would try again after we moved.
Before we knew it we were packing to go to London. Although we weren't taking this whole "getting pregnant thing" all that seriously anymore, I was still charting my temperature and noticed that when we went to London I should be on my period. I swear, I am on my period every damn vacation I take! The day before we left for our trip I even mentioned this to the girl who sits across from me at work. (Yes, chicks talk about this stuff.) So on the way home from work I picked up "supplies" and also grabbed a pregnancy test. I had ZERO thoughts of why I would be pregnant but I thought, hey, if I don't have to pack supplies even better.
At 10 minutes until 4:00 Monday July 30th, I took the pregnancy test. Although it says to wait three minutes, it came back positive in about three seconds. I kid you not! I would have thought when I finally saw a pregnancy test that I would be all giggles and happy and crying and joyous, etc. Instead I said a few choice four letter words. You have got to be kidding me? Now!? NOW?!
At 4:00 I had two realtor come over and tour the house. I swear to god, I did not hear a single word they said.
As soon as they left, I called Dave. I asked him when he was coming home. He said why? Umm...when are you coming home?!?! Why? Because Dave! My pregnancy test came back positive. WTF?! He said, I'll be home in a few minutes. We didn't hug. We didn't say anything. We just stared at the test. Seriously. Seriously?! NOW?!
Of course, we didn't believe the test (you know, they're only 99% accurate), so I took another one Tuesday morning. This one came back even darker and more clearer.
Oh my stars! What is going on? This was the day we were leaving for London so I called and talked to the nurse. I had a few concerns....
I had no idea we were pregnant. NO IDEA! I really had no reason WHY we would have been pregnant. So, I had gone about my business. I had had a few drinks. I had run a lot and fast (including one HOT 20 miler and two races). And I was leaving out of the country in a few hours. What do I do if I get sick over there? PANICPANICPANIC!!!
**Sidenote...I had been told A LOT by many doctors that I would not be able to get pregnant because of the amount of miles I run and because my weight was so low. To them I would like to show them my middle finger and tell them to F*Off.**
Here we are....11 weeks pregnant with a real baby. So far, things have gone smoothly. I have not been sick, I've been able to manage the "tireds" with lots of naps, and luckily, I have yet to put on a single pound. We might have been really, REALLY surprised by our positive pregnancy test, but we are excited and are looking forward to our new adventures.
If you know anything about me and my type A personality, and he should, he's known me for 15+ years, you would know I don't do anything without a plan. This baby has been in the works for a LONG time, although we only really got serious about it this year. As I'm now in my mid-30s I thought if I didn't have a child now it probably wouldn't happen. I took things seriously. I was taking my basal temperature and charting it. I was using ovulation prediction tests. But after a few months it was clear that things were not working as well as they once were. The doctor speculated it could have been my age, or how much I was running, or the amount of vitamin D I was taking to help with my depression. Basically, no one had any ideas.
Running was going well, though, and I signed up for a marathon and started training hardcore. Then we got hit with the news that we were going to be relocated for Dave's work. And although we really weren't NOT trying to get pregnant, we were moving on with our lives and planning on the marathon and the move. Life got busy and "sexy time" fell to the wayside. Whatever. We would try again after we moved.
Before we knew it we were packing to go to London. Although we weren't taking this whole "getting pregnant thing" all that seriously anymore, I was still charting my temperature and noticed that when we went to London I should be on my period. I swear, I am on my period every damn vacation I take! The day before we left for our trip I even mentioned this to the girl who sits across from me at work. (Yes, chicks talk about this stuff.) So on the way home from work I picked up "supplies" and also grabbed a pregnancy test. I had ZERO thoughts of why I would be pregnant but I thought, hey, if I don't have to pack supplies even better.
At 10 minutes until 4:00 Monday July 30th, I took the pregnancy test. Although it says to wait three minutes, it came back positive in about three seconds. I kid you not! I would have thought when I finally saw a pregnancy test that I would be all giggles and happy and crying and joyous, etc. Instead I said a few choice four letter words. You have got to be kidding me? Now!? NOW?!
At 4:00 I had two realtor come over and tour the house. I swear to god, I did not hear a single word they said.
As soon as they left, I called Dave. I asked him when he was coming home. He said why? Umm...when are you coming home?!?! Why? Because Dave! My pregnancy test came back positive. WTF?! He said, I'll be home in a few minutes. We didn't hug. We didn't say anything. We just stared at the test. Seriously. Seriously?! NOW?!
Of course, we didn't believe the test (you know, they're only 99% accurate), so I took another one Tuesday morning. This one came back even darker and more clearer.
Oh my stars! What is going on? This was the day we were leaving for London so I called and talked to the nurse. I had a few concerns....
I had no idea we were pregnant. NO IDEA! I really had no reason WHY we would have been pregnant. So, I had gone about my business. I had had a few drinks. I had run a lot and fast (including one HOT 20 miler and two races). And I was leaving out of the country in a few hours. What do I do if I get sick over there? PANICPANICPANIC!!!
**Sidenote...I had been told A LOT by many doctors that I would not be able to get pregnant because of the amount of miles I run and because my weight was so low. To them I would like to show them my middle finger and tell them to F*Off.**
Here we are....11 weeks pregnant with a real baby. So far, things have gone smoothly. I have not been sick, I've been able to manage the "tireds" with lots of naps, and luckily, I have yet to put on a single pound. We might have been really, REALLY surprised by our positive pregnancy test, but we are excited and are looking forward to our new adventures.
Friday, September 07, 2012
Thursday, September 06, 2012
So You Want To Know About London and the Olympics
(That is totally what I am going to name a band someday.)
It's been one month since we left for London so I guess it's about time to blog about it. I'm going to try to do this in one post. I just can't remember all the details and the daily things that happened to write multiple posts about it. Warning, it's going to be long and it's going to contain a lot of pictures.
We had tickets to three events and were able to attend three (and tried to see a fourth event) free events. We also did a little sightseeing.
Tennis
You might think that running is my favorite sport, but you are wrong. Tennis, is actually the sport I most enjoy watching. I am a huge tennis fan having been to the US Open in 2005 and attended one of the ATP hard court tournaments in Cincinnati. One of my Life List items (and if it's not on the list, it should be) is to attend all four majors. To go to Wimbledon is any tennis lover's dream. Well, I may not have seen the Wimbledon tournament, but I did get to go to Wimbledon to watch tennis at the Olympics. It was beautiful and much smaller than I anticipated. We had tickets to men's and women's third round. Our tickets started before we even got off the plane, so we missed our first match which was Serena Williams (eventual gold medalist). We did get to see Novak Djokovic/Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis/Andy Murray (eventual gold medalist and Team GB favorite), and Caroline Wozniacki/Daniela Hantuchova. I'm not gonna lie, I cried being at Wimbeldon and Centre Court. It was so amazing to watch the crowd go crazy for Andy Murray. And we got to have the ultimate Wimbledon experience by eating strawberries and cream.
Rowing
If you don't know, I was on the women's rowing team at Ohio State my freshman and the start of my sophomore year. I love rowing. It's such a neat sport - so tough and powerful and yet it looks so elegant. The rowing venue, at Eton Dorney, was about an hour away from London.
As a side note, no venues were that easy to get to. Eton Dorney required a trip by train, and then bus, and then about a 20-30 walk. Most venues required a lot of walking!!
Anyway, one thing each sport did a good job of was explaining the sport for the spectators. Rumor has it, the Brits when given a chance to purchase tickets to the Olympics were put into a lottery and you got whatever sport you got. So, each sport was explained at the venue. We were about the only Americans at rowing but it was so exciting to be part of the Team GB excitement as we saw them win one or two gold medals. We got to see a total of about 10-12 races that day including four or five gold medal races. Total worth our money.
Weight Lifting
Of all the sports we were interested in seeing, you might be surprised to know that weight lifting was one on the top of our lists. We specifically wanted to see the women's 75+kg as we had a local girl competing in it (Holley Mangold). Again, we were really happy the sport was explained to us because we had NO idea how competitive weight lifting works. It's a little like a chess match. Each competitor gets six lifts - three snatches and three clean and jerks. The athletes compete from lightest weight to highest and can change their weights at any point, even after missing a lift. This allows them to screw with their competition and of course, allow them to lift the correct weight to get a higher score. Speaking of score...you either lift or you don't. There are three judges and they decide what's considered a lift or not. This proved to be interesting as our girl, Holley Mangold, looked like she had successfully snatched a weight only to have the judges say no and therefore she missed that lift.
In the end, the Americans finished 9th and 11th (I think) and we got to see three world records broken. Pretty cool.
Triathlon
Both the men's and women's triathlons were held in Hyde Park and were free venues. Triathlon must be a really popular sport in England because Hyde Park was PACKED. We were able to fight our way into a pretty good standing spot and saw half of the swim and a small section of the bike and run. Being 5'1", I didn't see a whole lot, but at least it was something.
The men's triathlon, however, was a totally different story. Being that the Brownlee brothers were expected to do well, and did, the venue was even more packed than the women's triathlon. There was no way were were going to be able to find some standing room to see this race. Instead we sat up on a hill to watch the swim and then basically just listened to the rest of it on the PA system. I kinda wish we had stayed in the hotel and watched this one on TV.
Women's Marathon
The women's triathlon was a few days before the women's marathon, so we were smart enough to get our buns down to the race A LOT earlier than the start time. We picked out our spot along the street where we would get to see the runners six times. We got there over an hour before the start of the race and got a spot right along the fence. Soon enough we were flanked by tons of people including these cute British children who said the cutest things. I wish I could convey it words, but the accent was so important. Let's just say, we waited a long time for the runners to come by and when they finally did, the little girl beside us in her cute little accent said, "Our patience is going to be rewarded." Loved her.
If you watched the women's marathon on TV you know that it was pouring down rain for the majority of the race. And we got drenched. We wore our raincoats, but it did not protect our feet, our legs, etc. And worse, we were going straight from this race to the weight lifting competition. It was worth it, though, as the marathon was amazing and I really enjoyed watching the American women battle it out for most of the race.
I have been to the Olympic trials in 2008 and 2012 and am so happy to have seen the Olympic race. Those chicks are fast too. Faster than you think. There was a girl who was WAY off the back of the pack for the entire race. We didn't know exactly the mile marker we were at, but we were estimating the girl was probably running 8:00/miles and I thought, I could compete with her. Turns out she ran a 3:22. Even the slow girls are fast. :)
Race Walking
We tried to see the race walking. We thought it would be interesting and we thought not a whole lot of people would be out there. I mean, come on, race walking? Surprisingly, it was crazy crowded. So crowded, it was like five deep the entire route. We stuck around for a few minutes and heard the race come by, but I couldn't see anything. We nixed the idea of watching this race quickly.
Sightseeing
As you can imagine, it was crowded in London. Shocking, I know!!! :) The only place we actually toured was Westminster Abby. It was cool to see where William and Catherine got married. Beautiful! It was also really cool to see the crypts (is that the right word?) of famous Brits like Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare and other writers, etc. It was really crowded there and felt a little bit like you were constantly in line for a Disney ride.
Other sightseeing included Big Ben, Tower of London, the London Eye, Tower and London Bridge, etc. Oh, and we also got to have dinner and watch some Athletics (track and field) with our friends Angelina and Shaun.
***************
Our trip was both short and long. We jam packed those 9 days, but we were exhausted and ready to come home by the end of it. There was a lot going on back at home (see last post)....
It's been one month since we left for London so I guess it's about time to blog about it. I'm going to try to do this in one post. I just can't remember all the details and the daily things that happened to write multiple posts about it. Warning, it's going to be long and it's going to contain a lot of pictures.
We had tickets to three events and were able to attend three (and tried to see a fourth event) free events. We also did a little sightseeing.
Tennis
You might think that running is my favorite sport, but you are wrong. Tennis, is actually the sport I most enjoy watching. I am a huge tennis fan having been to the US Open in 2005 and attended one of the ATP hard court tournaments in Cincinnati. One of my Life List items (and if it's not on the list, it should be) is to attend all four majors. To go to Wimbledon is any tennis lover's dream. Well, I may not have seen the Wimbledon tournament, but I did get to go to Wimbledon to watch tennis at the Olympics. It was beautiful and much smaller than I anticipated. We had tickets to men's and women's third round. Our tickets started before we even got off the plane, so we missed our first match which was Serena Williams (eventual gold medalist). We did get to see Novak Djokovic/Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis/Andy Murray (eventual gold medalist and Team GB favorite), and Caroline Wozniacki/Daniela Hantuchova. I'm not gonna lie, I cried being at Wimbeldon and Centre Court. It was so amazing to watch the crowd go crazy for Andy Murray. And we got to have the ultimate Wimbledon experience by eating strawberries and cream.
Rowing
If you don't know, I was on the women's rowing team at Ohio State my freshman and the start of my sophomore year. I love rowing. It's such a neat sport - so tough and powerful and yet it looks so elegant. The rowing venue, at Eton Dorney, was about an hour away from London.
As a side note, no venues were that easy to get to. Eton Dorney required a trip by train, and then bus, and then about a 20-30 walk. Most venues required a lot of walking!!
Anyway, one thing each sport did a good job of was explaining the sport for the spectators. Rumor has it, the Brits when given a chance to purchase tickets to the Olympics were put into a lottery and you got whatever sport you got. So, each sport was explained at the venue. We were about the only Americans at rowing but it was so exciting to be part of the Team GB excitement as we saw them win one or two gold medals. We got to see a total of about 10-12 races that day including four or five gold medal races. Total worth our money.
Weight Lifting
Of all the sports we were interested in seeing, you might be surprised to know that weight lifting was one on the top of our lists. We specifically wanted to see the women's 75+kg as we had a local girl competing in it (Holley Mangold). Again, we were really happy the sport was explained to us because we had NO idea how competitive weight lifting works. It's a little like a chess match. Each competitor gets six lifts - three snatches and three clean and jerks. The athletes compete from lightest weight to highest and can change their weights at any point, even after missing a lift. This allows them to screw with their competition and of course, allow them to lift the correct weight to get a higher score. Speaking of score...you either lift or you don't. There are three judges and they decide what's considered a lift or not. This proved to be interesting as our girl, Holley Mangold, looked like she had successfully snatched a weight only to have the judges say no and therefore she missed that lift.
In the end, the Americans finished 9th and 11th (I think) and we got to see three world records broken. Pretty cool.
Triathlon
Both the men's and women's triathlons were held in Hyde Park and were free venues. Triathlon must be a really popular sport in England because Hyde Park was PACKED. We were able to fight our way into a pretty good standing spot and saw half of the swim and a small section of the bike and run. Being 5'1", I didn't see a whole lot, but at least it was something.
The men's triathlon, however, was a totally different story. Being that the Brownlee brothers were expected to do well, and did, the venue was even more packed than the women's triathlon. There was no way were were going to be able to find some standing room to see this race. Instead we sat up on a hill to watch the swim and then basically just listened to the rest of it on the PA system. I kinda wish we had stayed in the hotel and watched this one on TV.
Women's Marathon
The women's triathlon was a few days before the women's marathon, so we were smart enough to get our buns down to the race A LOT earlier than the start time. We picked out our spot along the street where we would get to see the runners six times. We got there over an hour before the start of the race and got a spot right along the fence. Soon enough we were flanked by tons of people including these cute British children who said the cutest things. I wish I could convey it words, but the accent was so important. Let's just say, we waited a long time for the runners to come by and when they finally did, the little girl beside us in her cute little accent said, "Our patience is going to be rewarded." Loved her.
If you watched the women's marathon on TV you know that it was pouring down rain for the majority of the race. And we got drenched. We wore our raincoats, but it did not protect our feet, our legs, etc. And worse, we were going straight from this race to the weight lifting competition. It was worth it, though, as the marathon was amazing and I really enjoyed watching the American women battle it out for most of the race.
I have been to the Olympic trials in 2008 and 2012 and am so happy to have seen the Olympic race. Those chicks are fast too. Faster than you think. There was a girl who was WAY off the back of the pack for the entire race. We didn't know exactly the mile marker we were at, but we were estimating the girl was probably running 8:00/miles and I thought, I could compete with her. Turns out she ran a 3:22. Even the slow girls are fast. :)
Race Walking
We tried to see the race walking. We thought it would be interesting and we thought not a whole lot of people would be out there. I mean, come on, race walking? Surprisingly, it was crazy crowded. So crowded, it was like five deep the entire route. We stuck around for a few minutes and heard the race come by, but I couldn't see anything. We nixed the idea of watching this race quickly.
Sightseeing
As you can imagine, it was crowded in London. Shocking, I know!!! :) The only place we actually toured was Westminster Abby. It was cool to see where William and Catherine got married. Beautiful! It was also really cool to see the crypts (is that the right word?) of famous Brits like Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare and other writers, etc. It was really crowded there and felt a little bit like you were constantly in line for a Disney ride.
Other sightseeing included Big Ben, Tower of London, the London Eye, Tower and London Bridge, etc. Oh, and we also got to have dinner and watch some Athletics (track and field) with our friends Angelina and Shaun.
***************
Our trip was both short and long. We jam packed those 9 days, but we were exhausted and ready to come home by the end of it. There was a lot going on back at home (see last post)....
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
The Summer of Unexpecation
Okay, maybe unexpectation is not a word. Maybe I should say, "The Summer of Unexpected Things". Whatev.
I mentioned back in July that we were being hit with a swarm of highs and lows. The high of booking our vacation to the Olympics (I swear I'm working on a post about this); the lows of some unexpected and costly medical and otherwise bills. I also mentioned in the middle of that post that we had some big news regarding the husband's job.
Dave has always worked for a small company that has changed hands a couple of different times since he started there 11 years ago. With the last management change, the company is now based in a different city and although they are keeping the office open here, the team he is on is now out in the San Francisco bay area. Negotiation talks began and quickly we found ourselves looking to move. Yep, this girl who has lived in the same town her entire life was ready to pack up and head 3000 miles west. We had met with a couple of realtors here and had a timeline for when the house would go on the market. We had decided we would move in January and come back in the spring to work the remainder of photo booth events we still had. We started to clear out rooms by donating things and selling off other things. The wheels were in motion. Even though we were only a few days out from going to London, all we could talk and think about was moving.
But as our summer of unexpectation continued, everything changed....
I mentioned back in July that we were being hit with a swarm of highs and lows. The high of booking our vacation to the Olympics (I swear I'm working on a post about this); the lows of some unexpected and costly medical and otherwise bills. I also mentioned in the middle of that post that we had some big news regarding the husband's job.
Dave has always worked for a small company that has changed hands a couple of different times since he started there 11 years ago. With the last management change, the company is now based in a different city and although they are keeping the office open here, the team he is on is now out in the San Francisco bay area. Negotiation talks began and quickly we found ourselves looking to move. Yep, this girl who has lived in the same town her entire life was ready to pack up and head 3000 miles west. We had met with a couple of realtors here and had a timeline for when the house would go on the market. We had decided we would move in January and come back in the spring to work the remainder of photo booth events we still had. We started to clear out rooms by donating things and selling off other things. The wheels were in motion. Even though we were only a few days out from going to London, all we could talk and think about was moving.
But as our summer of unexpectation continued, everything changed....
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Has Race Pricing Gotten Out of Control?
**Soapbox out (because it's MY blog!!!)**
There is a local 5K tomorrow put on by a big-name company that benefits a local, charitable organization. The race includes a goody bag will the usual non-useful stuff and a t-shirt. There is also a party after the race that includes a band, food (not just bagels and bananas), and alcoholic beverages. The cost for employees is $25 and they can bring one guest for $35. The cost for the rest....$125. Yes you read that right. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE EFFING DOLLARS FOR A 5K!!!!!! They're not serving caviar and Dom Perignon. It's hot dogs and keg beer!
Rumor has it, they don't want people from outside the company to actually participate but yet tout this as a fundraiser and that's why the price is what it is. I don't know, call me crazy, but
ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!?!
What runner in their right mind would pay $125 for a 5K? And wouldn't you think you'd get even more runners and therefore, more dollars for the charity, if the price was more reasonable?
I was having a discussion, that turned heated, with my coworker regarding this race and the price. She said lots of people from outside the company do the race (I'd beg to debate that). She said that people would pay that much because it was for charity. I said no real runner would pay that much for a 5K no matter what the money was going to. The debate turned into an argument and it's been silent ever since (thank god, she drives me insane!!).
So, help me out blogsphere? Am I the one who totally off-base? Have I become one of those elitist runners (which, I'm totally okay with by the way)? What is the maximum you'd ever pay for a 5K and why?
There is a local 5K tomorrow put on by a big-name company that benefits a local, charitable organization. The race includes a goody bag will the usual non-useful stuff and a t-shirt. There is also a party after the race that includes a band, food (not just bagels and bananas), and alcoholic beverages. The cost for employees is $25 and they can bring one guest for $35. The cost for the rest....$125. Yes you read that right. ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE EFFING DOLLARS FOR A 5K!!!!!! They're not serving caviar and Dom Perignon. It's hot dogs and keg beer!
Rumor has it, they don't want people from outside the company to actually participate but yet tout this as a fundraiser and that's why the price is what it is. I don't know, call me crazy, but
ARE YOU EFFING KIDDING ME?!?!
What runner in their right mind would pay $125 for a 5K? And wouldn't you think you'd get even more runners and therefore, more dollars for the charity, if the price was more reasonable?
I was having a discussion, that turned heated, with my coworker regarding this race and the price. She said lots of people from outside the company do the race (I'd beg to debate that). She said that people would pay that much because it was for charity. I said no real runner would pay that much for a 5K no matter what the money was going to. The debate turned into an argument and it's been silent ever since (thank god, she drives me insane!!).
So, help me out blogsphere? Am I the one who totally off-base? Have I become one of those elitist runners (which, I'm totally okay with by the way)? What is the maximum you'd ever pay for a 5K and why?
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Ironman Louisville Revisited
Today is the 2012 edition of Ironman Louisville. For the first time in three or four years I'm not there to watch it in person. Instead I have been following it on my iPad, with my pajamas on, in bed. All.Day.
It's been two years since my DNF at Ironman Louisville. The pain of not finishing is still as fresh today as it was then. Since that time I have had two DNS at ironman, another DNF at an ironman, and haven't even run a marathon. Ironman Louisville crushed my soul. I used to line up at races ready to crush my competition. Now I line up at a race scared of what lies ahead. I absolutely dread racing anymore.
On the outside I like to say it's okay that I've gone back to running and that being "only" a runner suits me. But I'm totally lying. See, I don't really feel like I have anything left to accomplish in running. I have run marathon after marathon and finished up my last marathon at Boston with a new PR. Let's be honest, I will never qualify for the Olympic trials, so I don't really feel like there's a whole lot left for me as a marathoner. Sure I can keep getting faster, but what's bigger than a PR at Boston? The only thing I have left for my athletic goals is Ironman.
And it has to be Ironman Louisville.
It will be at least two years before I will toe the line again at Ironman. I think my mind needs time to heal. I need to live some life and know that there are things bigger than Ironman. Then and only then will I be ready to try again. And I will try again.
It's been two years since my DNF at Ironman Louisville. The pain of not finishing is still as fresh today as it was then. Since that time I have had two DNS at ironman, another DNF at an ironman, and haven't even run a marathon. Ironman Louisville crushed my soul. I used to line up at races ready to crush my competition. Now I line up at a race scared of what lies ahead. I absolutely dread racing anymore.
On the outside I like to say it's okay that I've gone back to running and that being "only" a runner suits me. But I'm totally lying. See, I don't really feel like I have anything left to accomplish in running. I have run marathon after marathon and finished up my last marathon at Boston with a new PR. Let's be honest, I will never qualify for the Olympic trials, so I don't really feel like there's a whole lot left for me as a marathoner. Sure I can keep getting faster, but what's bigger than a PR at Boston? The only thing I have left for my athletic goals is Ironman.
And it has to be Ironman Louisville.
It will be at least two years before I will toe the line again at Ironman. I think my mind needs time to heal. I need to live some life and know that there are things bigger than Ironman. Then and only then will I be ready to try again. And I will try again.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Giant Eagle Multisport Festival 10K 2012
**This race was run on July 29th. I am way behind on posting.**
The reason I did my 20 miler on a Friday, besides being done with work for the week, was because I had a 6 mile tempo run on the schedule and thought, hey why not do a 10K? 10Ks are hard to come by around here and knowing there was one with the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival (Ironman 5150), I thought I would go ahead and sign up. Well, I didn't sign up until Thursday evening (expensive) and by Friday it had sold out. Lucky.
Being that I had already run 32 miles for the week, having just done a 20 miler two days ago, and knowing that this 10K wouldn't be a big deal since this was a multisport event, I had zero expectations. The race was really small and I lined up pretty close to the front.
In a word, the course was brutal. Maybe that's too tough a word. The course was not easy and not fun. From the start it went immediately uphill towards Front Street and turned right. The it headed back across the river and caught the Olentangy Trail. I hit the first mile in 6:30-something. Yikes! And then there was an 180 degree turn. And another one and another one. There were eight freakin' 180 degree turns on this course. The miles were schizophrenic too. Mile 1 - 6:30ish, Mile 2 - 7:15, Mile 3 - 8:34, Mile 4 - 7:something, Mile 5 - 6:54, Mile 6 - ????
I knew right from the start that there were no awards at this race. Normally I wouldn't care, but I worked my bum off in this race. Miles one and two I was the 5th place woman. Around mile 3-1/2 I caught the fourth place girl. For the next two miles I tracked down the 3rd place woman and finally caught her at the five mile mark. I was going to place in the top three of this race and of course, there was no podium.
I finished the race in 45:40, 3rd place woman, and a new PR. Awards or not, I'll take a solid race effort.
The reason I did my 20 miler on a Friday, besides being done with work for the week, was because I had a 6 mile tempo run on the schedule and thought, hey why not do a 10K? 10Ks are hard to come by around here and knowing there was one with the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival (Ironman 5150), I thought I would go ahead and sign up. Well, I didn't sign up until Thursday evening (expensive) and by Friday it had sold out. Lucky.
Being that I had already run 32 miles for the week, having just done a 20 miler two days ago, and knowing that this 10K wouldn't be a big deal since this was a multisport event, I had zero expectations. The race was really small and I lined up pretty close to the front.
In a word, the course was brutal. Maybe that's too tough a word. The course was not easy and not fun. From the start it went immediately uphill towards Front Street and turned right. The it headed back across the river and caught the Olentangy Trail. I hit the first mile in 6:30-something. Yikes! And then there was an 180 degree turn. And another one and another one. There were eight freakin' 180 degree turns on this course. The miles were schizophrenic too. Mile 1 - 6:30ish, Mile 2 - 7:15, Mile 3 - 8:34, Mile 4 - 7:something, Mile 5 - 6:54, Mile 6 - ????
I knew right from the start that there were no awards at this race. Normally I wouldn't care, but I worked my bum off in this race. Miles one and two I was the 5th place woman. Around mile 3-1/2 I caught the fourth place girl. For the next two miles I tracked down the 3rd place woman and finally caught her at the five mile mark. I was going to place in the top three of this race and of course, there was no podium.
I finished the race in 45:40, 3rd place woman, and a new PR. Awards or not, I'll take a solid race effort.
I got two medals. One for the race and the other for completing two of the three Mayor's challenge races this year (Cap City and this race).
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Why Hello!
Why hello, blog. It's been a while. I know. I've been gone on vacation and busy and whatnot. But I swear I'm coming back to you very soon. I've still got to talk about my last race (got myself on a nonexistent podium), and I haven't talked about July totals (yes I know it's the middle of August), and of course there's that small talk of my Olympics vacation. And some crazy, exciting stuff that has happened to us over the summer that has yet to be discussed publicly. Hopefully that will hold your attention for the next four weeks or so. So what do you think, blog....can we be friends again?
Monday, July 30, 2012
20 Mile Training Run 3 of 5
Having worked all my hours for the week by Thursday afternoon, I took
Friday to get my long run done for the week. On the schedule this
week, yet another 20 miler. This time the pace was marathon pace plus
30 seconds - 8:19 pace. I got up at the same time as Dave, 6:30am, and
was out the door by 7:30. I thought the heat wouldn't be bad yet but I
was wrong. I was barely a mile into my run and it was HOT and humid
already. I did a small loop of the neighborhood and headed home to drop
off the shirt and just run in a sports bra. I rarely do this, but
desperate times require desperate measures. :) A quick reply of
sunscreen and I was out the door again.
Because it took me forever (11-1/2 miles) in my last 18 miler to reach the pace, I decided to start out a little quicker in this run and hold on for dear life. Things actually went pretty well. I reached a sub-8:30 around 7.5 miles and by 11 miles I was already hanging out at a 8:24. Pace seemed to be going well today, but it was the heat, well more like the humidity, that was kicking my butt. By 10 miles into the run I could wring out my shorts. That was about the time the sun decided to come out and make everything even worse. I could feel the heat coming off the pavement and the breeze felt like a furnace fan. Around 13 miles in, I needed a break. I decided to take in more water and stop at each mile for a water break. I was really suffering in the heat. It felt like my insides were cooking. Despite all that, the pace was falling and I was hanging out right where I was supposed to be at a 8:19 with four miles to go. Here, I got tough and slogged through a few more miles. With one mile to go, I didn't think I could get any hotter. I stopped at the drinking fountain, filled both my water bottles (10 ounces each) and poured them directly over my head. It was refreshing for a moment and then it was time to get the last mile done.
20 miles - 2:45:XX, 8:17 pace.
Two more 20 milers to go...
Because it took me forever (11-1/2 miles) in my last 18 miler to reach the pace, I decided to start out a little quicker in this run and hold on for dear life. Things actually went pretty well. I reached a sub-8:30 around 7.5 miles and by 11 miles I was already hanging out at a 8:24. Pace seemed to be going well today, but it was the heat, well more like the humidity, that was kicking my butt. By 10 miles into the run I could wring out my shorts. That was about the time the sun decided to come out and make everything even worse. I could feel the heat coming off the pavement and the breeze felt like a furnace fan. Around 13 miles in, I needed a break. I decided to take in more water and stop at each mile for a water break. I was really suffering in the heat. It felt like my insides were cooking. Despite all that, the pace was falling and I was hanging out right where I was supposed to be at a 8:19 with four miles to go. Here, I got tough and slogged through a few more miles. With one mile to go, I didn't think I could get any hotter. I stopped at the drinking fountain, filled both my water bottles (10 ounces each) and poured them directly over my head. It was refreshing for a moment and then it was time to get the last mile done.
20 miles - 2:45:XX, 8:17 pace.
Two more 20 milers to go...
Monday, July 23, 2012
Week In Review
Monday 7/16 - Hot, hot, HOT track workout. 5 miles.
Tuesday 7/17 - 3 miles easy on the treadmill
3 X 10 snatches at 40 pounds. I think I should have gone a little heavier on the weight.
Wednesday 7/18 - Dog and Meredith meltdown! No workouts done today.
Thursday 7/19 - 6 mile tempo run
2 mile warmup, 3 miles short tempo (goal pace 7:04, actual pace 6:59!!!), 1 mile cool down. I freakin' ate this tempo run for dinner!!!
Friday 7/20 - Rest day. Dave came home from his work trip today and I also got my parents dog for the next week. It was chaos, chaos, chaos in our household this day.
Saturday 7/21 - 18 mile long run (goal pace 8:19, actual pace 8:20). This was a pretty good run. I started a little later in the morning than I wanted and although it wasn't hot, it sure felt hot. I was melting. Regardless, it took me about 11-1/2 miles before I could get under a 8:30 average pace and knew I was going to have to work to get to an 8:19. And I did, which means my fitness and speed are on like Donkey Kong!
Total Weekly Miles - 32
With less than nine weeks to go until the marathon, I don't know if I'm burnt out or just have too much going on (you have no idea) but I don't have a whole lot of interest in running right now. There's a big part of me that does not want to do the marathon but I've already paid for it so I'll keep training. Next week I leave for London for 9 days (OMG! I'm going to the Olympics!!!), and I may not run at all for that time. I'll be walking a lot, though. Is this a mistake to not run while I'm there? I had to take that week or two off for my broken toe and found it a little difficult to get back to training. Should I take some running attire? What would you do?
Today....more sprinting.
Tuesday 7/17 - 3 miles easy on the treadmill
3 X 10 snatches at 40 pounds. I think I should have gone a little heavier on the weight.
Wednesday 7/18 - Dog and Meredith meltdown! No workouts done today.
Thursday 7/19 - 6 mile tempo run
2 mile warmup, 3 miles short tempo (goal pace 7:04, actual pace 6:59!!!), 1 mile cool down. I freakin' ate this tempo run for dinner!!!
Friday 7/20 - Rest day. Dave came home from his work trip today and I also got my parents dog for the next week. It was chaos, chaos, chaos in our household this day.
Saturday 7/21 - 18 mile long run (goal pace 8:19, actual pace 8:20). This was a pretty good run. I started a little later in the morning than I wanted and although it wasn't hot, it sure felt hot. I was melting. Regardless, it took me about 11-1/2 miles before I could get under a 8:30 average pace and knew I was going to have to work to get to an 8:19. And I did, which means my fitness and speed are on like Donkey Kong!
Total Weekly Miles - 32
With less than nine weeks to go until the marathon, I don't know if I'm burnt out or just have too much going on (you have no idea) but I don't have a whole lot of interest in running right now. There's a big part of me that does not want to do the marathon but I've already paid for it so I'll keep training. Next week I leave for London for 9 days (OMG! I'm going to the Olympics!!!), and I may not run at all for that time. I'll be walking a lot, though. Is this a mistake to not run while I'm there? I had to take that week or two off for my broken toe and found it a little difficult to get back to training. Should I take some running attire? What would you do?
Today....more sprinting.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
You Would Cry Too If It Happened To You
**Warning! This post is a little on the gross side!**
Per usual, yesterday afternoon when I got home from work I laid down for my afternoon nap. Sloopy, my dog, usually joins me but because it was thundering outside she was freaking out and wasn't in bed. So, I got up to go get her and when I did I noticed there was dog vomit on the bed beside me. And a lot of it (my dog is only 11 pounds - how did she have that much in her stomach?). As I'm stripping the bed apartment and dragging it into the laundry room, I see that she has thrown up in three more places in the living/dining room. Seriously Sloopy?
I find the dog and put her into her crate. While it looks like the vomiting started shortly after she had breakfast (I mean, it barely looked chewed), I didn't want to take my chances.
I start the water in the washing machine and beginning wrestling the comforter into it. Now, I swear I have washed it before, but king sized comforter versus regular size washing machine...well, you do the math. As I'm smashing it in there, I begin to hear water outside of the washing machine. OH MY GOD!!! I'm flipping every damn switch on the washing machine and couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, I turn it off, but of course it's too late and the entire floor of the laundry room now has standing water in it. Awesome. I went to the basement to get the mop and there was water dripping in from the laundry room into the basement. Double awesome.
And did I mention that I'm on my own this week? Dave is in San Francisco for work.
I called Dave in a panic. WHATDOIDO?? WHATDOIDO?? WHATDOIDO?? Being that he's 3000 miles across the country, he wasn't much help. I called my mom. I called my dad. I found every spare towel we had in the house and started mopping up the mess. My dad agreed to come over after work and help me move the washing machine so I could dry behind it and he also checked out the basement to make sure I hadn't done some damage.
I did get the comforter washed in the machine, but when I took it out, it still had crusty puke on it. At this point, I lost it. I was screaming like a mad woman and saying a few choice words. But, I got creative and washed that comforter in my bathtub like an Amish person. Rubbing it. Scrubbing it. Ringing it out as best I could. Three and a half hours later in the dryer, it was finally dry. Well, sort of dry. It was a little damp when I put it on the bed.
Needless to say....I had a drink yesterday. :)
Per usual, yesterday afternoon when I got home from work I laid down for my afternoon nap. Sloopy, my dog, usually joins me but because it was thundering outside she was freaking out and wasn't in bed. So, I got up to go get her and when I did I noticed there was dog vomit on the bed beside me. And a lot of it (my dog is only 11 pounds - how did she have that much in her stomach?). As I'm stripping the bed apartment and dragging it into the laundry room, I see that she has thrown up in three more places in the living/dining room. Seriously Sloopy?
I find the dog and put her into her crate. While it looks like the vomiting started shortly after she had breakfast (I mean, it barely looked chewed), I didn't want to take my chances.
I start the water in the washing machine and beginning wrestling the comforter into it. Now, I swear I have washed it before, but king sized comforter versus regular size washing machine...well, you do the math. As I'm smashing it in there, I begin to hear water outside of the washing machine. OH MY GOD!!! I'm flipping every damn switch on the washing machine and couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, I turn it off, but of course it's too late and the entire floor of the laundry room now has standing water in it. Awesome. I went to the basement to get the mop and there was water dripping in from the laundry room into the basement. Double awesome.
And did I mention that I'm on my own this week? Dave is in San Francisco for work.
I called Dave in a panic. WHATDOIDO?? WHATDOIDO?? WHATDOIDO?? Being that he's 3000 miles across the country, he wasn't much help. I called my mom. I called my dad. I found every spare towel we had in the house and started mopping up the mess. My dad agreed to come over after work and help me move the washing machine so I could dry behind it and he also checked out the basement to make sure I hadn't done some damage.
I did get the comforter washed in the machine, but when I took it out, it still had crusty puke on it. At this point, I lost it. I was screaming like a mad woman and saying a few choice words. But, I got creative and washed that comforter in my bathtub like an Amish person. Rubbing it. Scrubbing it. Ringing it out as best I could. Three and a half hours later in the dryer, it was finally dry. Well, sort of dry. It was a little damp when I put it on the bed.
Needless to say....I had a drink yesterday. :)
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
My Favorite Track Workout
(if it wasn't ungodly hot!!!)
This was the temperature in the middle of my workout and notice, it's after 7:00pm.
The workout looked like this:
1 mile warm up
2 X (6 X 400 at 1:31 pace) with 1:30 rest interval
2:30 rest interval in between sets
1 mile cool down
I started with the 1 mile warm up and was already sweating bullets. But, I love 400s so I thought, this ought not to be too bad. And for the first three it wasn't.
Interval 1 - 1:28
Interval 2 - 1:27
Interval 3 - 1:27
Starting with the fourth 400 I was beginning to lose it mentally. I was trying to focus but all I could think was "I'm gonna barf." The times were still good though.
Interval 4 - 1:27
Interval 5 - 1:28
Interval 6 - 1:29
Instead of the 2:30 rest break between sets, I took a full five minutes. I refilled my water bottle and took a bathroom break.
Interval 7 - 1:29
And the worst of the worst...my iPod died. NOOOO!!!! Guess I was sweating too much. Why can't Apple come up with a waterproof iPod shuffle since it's supposed to be used for exercise?
Interval 8 - 1:29
Interval 9 - 1:30
Interval 10 - 1:29
Interval 11 - 1:30
Interval 12 - 1:31
Then I threw up in my mouth. Ew! I know! But, god was it hot.
I finished out the workout with an easy mile cool down.
This was my favorite workout when I did the half marathon training plan and has so far, been my favorite workout for marathon training. I love 400s. They're tough but doable and short compared to everything else in marathon training.
It begs the question, though....if I can run 12 400s at roughly a 6:00 pace, how come I couldn't have run a 6:00 mile in the last race?
Monday, July 16, 2012
Week in Review
Let's get right to it....
Monday - 20 miles. The first big one. You can read the details here.
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - 3 miles in the hood with the husband. It was painful and slow.
Thursday - off
Friday - Tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 6 miles at long tempo pace (7:33), 1 mile cool down. I totally nailed this run with my middle six miles at 7:31. This is a very comfortable pace for me once I get going.
Saturday - One mile race.
Sunday - I was supposed to run 13 miles today at an 8:04ish pace, but my legs are just trashed. I am really struggling to recover from these workouts. My shin has been hurting, my calves are hard as rocks, and overall I'm just feeling really fatigued. But, my years and years of running has taught me that missing one workout doesn't make or break your race. There will be more runs and I'll start again on Monday.
Running Totals - 33 miles
Monday - 20 miles. The first big one. You can read the details here.
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - 3 miles in the hood with the husband. It was painful and slow.
Thursday - off
Friday - Tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 6 miles at long tempo pace (7:33), 1 mile cool down. I totally nailed this run with my middle six miles at 7:31. This is a very comfortable pace for me once I get going.
Saturday - One mile race.
Sunday - I was supposed to run 13 miles today at an 8:04ish pace, but my legs are just trashed. I am really struggling to recover from these workouts. My shin has been hurting, my calves are hard as rocks, and overall I'm just feeling really fatigued. But, my years and years of running has taught me that missing one workout doesn't make or break your race. There will be more runs and I'll start again on Monday.
Running Totals - 33 miles
Sunday, July 15, 2012
CRC Mile Dash Anniversary Bash 2012
This weekend I ran a 1 mile race, the CRC Mile Dash Anniversary Bash. Yes, just one mile. It was hard; it hurt; it kinda sucked; and I'm so glad it was only one mile. There's not much to say about a one mile race but here's the race in a nutshell.
Although the temperatures are much improved over last weekend it was still hot and H.U.M.I.D. on Saturday and this race was at 5:00pm. I stupidly did not hydrate well and was thirsty going into the race. Dave and I did a short one mile warmup to the race start and added some fast pickups in there. For me, this was probably not enough warmup as, honest to goodness, it takes me at least four miles to feel comfortable in any run. But I was sweating really good and didn't want to do any more warmup.
The race was broken down into two waves: (1) men under 6:00 and women under 6:30 and (2) everyone else. So, this separated Dave and I. I would be in the first wave and he would be in the second. Looking at my wave, it was mostly men, and considering it was supposed to be under 6:00 for the men, I lined up behind them all and behind the high school girls. I thought that seemed smart. Turns out it wasn't. The gun went off and I took off like a bandit. Barely 200m into the race those high school girls were running six across and I couldn't get around them or through them. So I said, "coming right between you", touching two of them on their sides and squeezed between them. In my head I feel like I shoved them out of the way, but hopefully it wasn't. I felt bad the rest of the way. That's racing I guess. At the quarter mile mark I was at 1:24. Awesome. My goal was to go sub-6:00 if possible (6:02 is my PR on the same course) and I was right on track. I was feeling really thirsty by this point and was licking my lips a lot to try to get some saliva going. It wasn't working and I was just trying to stay focused. It's only 6 minutes, Meredith. At the half mile mark I was at 3:01. Geesh. Unlikely I'm going sub-6:00 at this point and I would have to go even to be able to at least match the PR. At the three quarter mile mark I was at 4:40. Come on legs! What the heck! Get moving! I did feel like I picked it up a little in the last quarter mile. In the end my final time was 6:13. It wasn't what I wanted; it wasn't what I think I am capable of; but who cares it was still fast for a 34 year old.
In the end I won my age group (out of three). This is my kind of race, though. It cost me $10 and there was no race packet, no t-shirt, no medals, no awards. Pure and simply running. And, they had cake at the end. Perfect.
Monday, July 09, 2012
20 Mile Training Run - 2 of 5
So, this is actually my first 20 miler I've done for my marathon training, but it's actually the second 20 miler out of 5 (yes, FIVE!) for the plan. I didn't get to do the first one because it was exactly one week after I broke my toe. The original plan was to do this run this past Saturday but since it was THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR!!! and it was already 81 degrees at 5:00am, I thought I would postpone. Instead I got my tail to work yesterday (yes Sunday) put in a day's work and then took today off to do the run and get other stuff done that I wasn't able to do last week.
I started the run just before 8:00am. I think I waited too long to start the run. Although it wasn't super-hot, it was sunny and the sun was really beating down and making me hot. Right from the start my legs felt dead. They've felt dead now for over a week. Yet, I was easily into a sub-8:50 pace by mile 2. Because I was doing this run on a weekday, I was doing this run all alone. That also meant that I was carrying my own water and nutrition. In case you care, I take one gel every 4 miles starting at mile 4. I drink only water and I drink it every mile. I use a Nathan water belt which holds two, 10 oz. water bottles, so I have to refill my water bottles at least twice during a 20 miler. But enough about that crap...onto the run.
I started my run through the neighborhood so I could get in a little extra mileage instead of going 10 miles out and 10 miles back. Things started okay as I mentioned above. The legs felt dead but the pace was going well. I was hot but at least there was a breeze in my face on the way out. The course goes, basically, uphill for the way out and downhill for the way in. Now it's not hilly-hilly, but looking at a chart of it, you can see it's definitely uphill.
I kid you not, but 8 miles I had had enough of this run. This is usually my sweet spot of a run and I was already struggling. Oy! Nonetheless, I put one foot in front of the other and turned around at 10-1/2 miles. Usually I would throw myself some good pity parties when I'm feeling this beat up on a run, but instead I tried to use mantras to get myself back in gear, like "Just Run and Get It Done." And my new favorite, "Somebody's got to be the best, so why not me?"
Fifteen miles was my last water refill stop and this stop just about broke me. I knew I had 5 miles left but did I really need those last five miles? I mean, there were still three other 20 milers on the schedule, plus I had a really successful 18 miler last week. We could just throw this one away.
But I didn't. I literally told my legs, out loud, to shut up and on my way I went. It wasn't pretty and I was certainly doing the marathon shuffle (although the pace was holding steady), but I got it done.
20 miles, 2:51:07, 8:33 pace
I started the run just before 8:00am. I think I waited too long to start the run. Although it wasn't super-hot, it was sunny and the sun was really beating down and making me hot. Right from the start my legs felt dead. They've felt dead now for over a week. Yet, I was easily into a sub-8:50 pace by mile 2. Because I was doing this run on a weekday, I was doing this run all alone. That also meant that I was carrying my own water and nutrition. In case you care, I take one gel every 4 miles starting at mile 4. I drink only water and I drink it every mile. I use a Nathan water belt which holds two, 10 oz. water bottles, so I have to refill my water bottles at least twice during a 20 miler. But enough about that crap...onto the run.
I started my run through the neighborhood so I could get in a little extra mileage instead of going 10 miles out and 10 miles back. Things started okay as I mentioned above. The legs felt dead but the pace was going well. I was hot but at least there was a breeze in my face on the way out. The course goes, basically, uphill for the way out and downhill for the way in. Now it's not hilly-hilly, but looking at a chart of it, you can see it's definitely uphill.
I kid you not, but 8 miles I had had enough of this run. This is usually my sweet spot of a run and I was already struggling. Oy! Nonetheless, I put one foot in front of the other and turned around at 10-1/2 miles. Usually I would throw myself some good pity parties when I'm feeling this beat up on a run, but instead I tried to use mantras to get myself back in gear, like "Just Run and Get It Done." And my new favorite, "Somebody's got to be the best, so why not me?"
Fifteen miles was my last water refill stop and this stop just about broke me. I knew I had 5 miles left but did I really need those last five miles? I mean, there were still three other 20 milers on the schedule, plus I had a really successful 18 miler last week. We could just throw this one away.
But I didn't. I literally told my legs, out loud, to shut up and on my way I went. It wasn't pretty and I was certainly doing the marathon shuffle (although the pace was holding steady), but I got it done.
20 miles, 2:51:07, 8:33 pace
Looking a little salty after the run.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Week In Review
Last week could be perfectly be described as a hot mess. Not only was it HOT, what a mess that was created by the storm and subsequent lack of power, air conditioning, refrigerator, cable and internet. Finally, after 8 days and just over $400, we got our power back, had our air conditioning fixed, fixed our refrigerator ourselves, and got our cable and internet back lastly on Saturday night. Not to mention, we were able to get our days without cable and internet credited. Good job, Insight.
And along the way, there was a little bit of running.
Monday 7/2 - 5.5 miles track workout. This workout was a disaster. It was crazy hot (in the mid 90s) and I just couldn't get my head and legs to cooperate. Not only that, but Dave had his own workout and forgot his watch (we were staying at my parents with limited supplies), so I let him borrow mine and I would just do what felt right. The workout was:
1 mile warmup
2 X 1200
3 X 800
(2:00 rest between each)
1 mile cool down
Well, whatever. I did the second 1200 as 3 X 400. I did a lot of bitchin' and moanin'. It (and I) was a mess. Moving on...
Wednesday 7/4 - 5K race along with about a 2 mile warmup
Friday 7/6 - 3 miles easy on the treadmill
55 double leg crunches on the BOSU and 55 bicep curls with 10 lb. dumbbells. This was done as 10-9-8...etc. crunches and 1-2-3...bicep curls. This is a variation of a workout my friend Andrea gave me. I was sore in my biceps for DAYS!!!!
Saturday 7/7 - This was supposed to be the day of my 20 mile run, but when I woke up at 5:00am and it was already 81 degrees, I said no. Safety first. More on the 20 miler tomorrow.
Sunday 7/8 - 3 miles easy in the neighborhood. For some reason my calf was killing me and just would not loosen. I spent much of Sunday evening wrapped in a heating pad and even put some Ben Gay on it. If that doesn't say sexy, I don't know what does.
Totals:
Running - 16.5 miles
Other - 0.25 hours
And along the way, there was a little bit of running.
Monday 7/2 - 5.5 miles track workout. This workout was a disaster. It was crazy hot (in the mid 90s) and I just couldn't get my head and legs to cooperate. Not only that, but Dave had his own workout and forgot his watch (we were staying at my parents with limited supplies), so I let him borrow mine and I would just do what felt right. The workout was:
1 mile warmup
2 X 1200
3 X 800
(2:00 rest between each)
1 mile cool down
Well, whatever. I did the second 1200 as 3 X 400. I did a lot of bitchin' and moanin'. It (and I) was a mess. Moving on...
Wednesday 7/4 - 5K race along with about a 2 mile warmup
Friday 7/6 - 3 miles easy on the treadmill
55 double leg crunches on the BOSU and 55 bicep curls with 10 lb. dumbbells. This was done as 10-9-8...etc. crunches and 1-2-3...bicep curls. This is a variation of a workout my friend Andrea gave me. I was sore in my biceps for DAYS!!!!
Saturday 7/7 - This was supposed to be the day of my 20 mile run, but when I woke up at 5:00am and it was already 81 degrees, I said no. Safety first. More on the 20 miler tomorrow.
Sunday 7/8 - 3 miles easy in the neighborhood. For some reason my calf was killing me and just would not loosen. I spent much of Sunday evening wrapped in a heating pad and even put some Ben Gay on it. If that doesn't say sexy, I don't know what does.
Totals:
Running - 16.5 miles
Other - 0.25 hours
Saturday, July 07, 2012
Friday, July 06, 2012
Westerville Rotary 5K
Despite the craziness of this week, I decided to do a 5K on the Fourth of July. I had a tempo run on my schedule, so why not? Why not? Well that's an easy one. Because the temperature right now might be cooler on the face of the sun than it is in the Midwest. I don't know what the temperature was at 8:00am at the start of the race, but it was hot and sticky and liquid air. I did a short 15 minute warm up and I was already drenched in sweat.
The race was off and I was off with it. It was a loop course that went downhill first and then back uphill (as much uphill as you get in Central Ohio (none)) towards the finish. I took off pretty quickly just hoping to do okay. I quickly realized that this was going to suck. With this heat, lack of sleep, and the crap we've been dealt this week I just don't have any power in my legs. By the turnaround point in this race, I was fried. I wanted to walk, even. But, I kept my legs moving. Slowly, but I was moving. Did I mention I forgot my iPod too, which made this race even more miserable. Ugh!
Anyway, and unfortunately, I let two women go towards the end of the race. I just had nothing left to chase them. In the end, my time was okay for the conditions - 22:52, which is scarily the same pace I used for my last half marathon. But, according to Dave I was the 10th overall female. On crappy days, you've got to chase your competition and not the clock.
We stuck around for awards which were inevitably screwed up. My time wasn't even recorded. I guess, technically, I didn't even participate in this race. If that's the case, can I get my money back? According to the original results I finished second in my age group which netted me a $20 gift certificate to a local running store. They have since updated the results which now gets me third but still they don't have my time or name. Either way, I have the gift certificate and I'm gonna be keeping it, dang it!
There was a highlight to the day and that was meeting Miss Molly. We've seen each other at races before but this was our first time meeting. It's like I've known her for a very long time. We hit it off so well. We live only about 20 minutes apart so hopefully we can do some training together in the future.
Next race....next weekend.
The race was off and I was off with it. It was a loop course that went downhill first and then back uphill (as much uphill as you get in Central Ohio (none)) towards the finish. I took off pretty quickly just hoping to do okay. I quickly realized that this was going to suck. With this heat, lack of sleep, and the crap we've been dealt this week I just don't have any power in my legs. By the turnaround point in this race, I was fried. I wanted to walk, even. But, I kept my legs moving. Slowly, but I was moving. Did I mention I forgot my iPod too, which made this race even more miserable. Ugh!
Anyway, and unfortunately, I let two women go towards the end of the race. I just had nothing left to chase them. In the end, my time was okay for the conditions - 22:52, which is scarily the same pace I used for my last half marathon. But, according to Dave I was the 10th overall female. On crappy days, you've got to chase your competition and not the clock.
We stuck around for awards which were inevitably screwed up. My time wasn't even recorded. I guess, technically, I didn't even participate in this race. If that's the case, can I get my money back? According to the original results I finished second in my age group which netted me a $20 gift certificate to a local running store. They have since updated the results which now gets me third but still they don't have my time or name. Either way, I have the gift certificate and I'm gonna be keeping it, dang it!
There was a highlight to the day and that was meeting Miss Molly. We've seen each other at races before but this was our first time meeting. It's like I've known her for a very long time. We hit it off so well. We live only about 20 minutes apart so hopefully we can do some training together in the future.
Next race....next weekend.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
My Own Personal Hell
They say when it rains, it pours. This is a perfect way to describe the highs and many, many lows we've had during the last month and specifically this week.
I've kept it as no secret on this blog that I battle depression and anxiety. The pass several weeks have been a real test of my grit. I have to admit, I'm struggling. Today, I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Here's some of what we've been faced with in the last couple of weeks...
With our highest of highs we booked our flights and reservations to London to see the Olympics. But never fail, as soon as you spend that much money, you are bound to get hit with unexpected expenses.
First, there was the broken toe. Although I have great insurance with my job, it doesn't cover 100% so I know there will be some big bills coming in considering there was a trip to the ER; I've had three different x-rays; and they gave me a boot/protective shoe to wear. I'm dreading getting these bills.
The very next week Dave had a dentist appointment and without fail had a cavity. He got a filling two days later. Ca-ching, ca-ching.
And then our car started making noises. Bad noises. Noises that resulted in a $500+ fix. Good god.
Also, we got some BIG news regarding Dave's job and it's going to be something BIG for us. We're not quite ready to announce this one publicly until we get more details, but let's just say it's BIG and has filled me with a lot of anxiety.
Things really fell apart last Friday with the storm. Our neighbor let us know on Tuesday that the power was back on. So around 9:00pm we headed home and at first, things seemed normal....except, our fridge wasn't cold. The fridge was on, the lights came on, but there was no cold air. We unplugged it for an hour and tried again. Nothing. This didn't really matter, though, as our food was still at my parents' house. Then we went to bed and I heard a strange noise when our air conditioner kicked on. The noise would come and go and didn't sound normal. I woke Dave up and made him listen. We went outside to our air conditioner and noticed that even though the fans were blowing inside, the air conditioner was not actually running. We turned off the air conditioner and decided to head back to mom and dad's at 12:15am. Looks like maybe we had a power surge and blew out our air conditioner and refrigerator. Awesome. So, last night we intended to spend the night again at my parents' house but at 11:00pm another strong storm blew through and they lost power. When the lose power, they don't have water (they have a well). We packed up again and headed home, again. Sure we didn't have air conditioning but at least we could shower and use the bathroom. It was a hot night and I slept in half hour spurts.
Today we've started making our calls to the insurance agent, the air conditioning people, the fridge people. I can only imagine what this is going to cost. And worse....they say they can't fix our air conditioning until tomorrow. Tomorrow's high is 101 degrees.
It's been a trying last couple of weeks and this past week has been my own personal hell. I know it's got to start looking up soon but it sure doesn't feel like it.
I've kept it as no secret on this blog that I battle depression and anxiety. The pass several weeks have been a real test of my grit. I have to admit, I'm struggling. Today, I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Here's some of what we've been faced with in the last couple of weeks...
With our highest of highs we booked our flights and reservations to London to see the Olympics. But never fail, as soon as you spend that much money, you are bound to get hit with unexpected expenses.
First, there was the broken toe. Although I have great insurance with my job, it doesn't cover 100% so I know there will be some big bills coming in considering there was a trip to the ER; I've had three different x-rays; and they gave me a boot/protective shoe to wear. I'm dreading getting these bills.
The very next week Dave had a dentist appointment and without fail had a cavity. He got a filling two days later. Ca-ching, ca-ching.
And then our car started making noises. Bad noises. Noises that resulted in a $500+ fix. Good god.
Also, we got some BIG news regarding Dave's job and it's going to be something BIG for us. We're not quite ready to announce this one publicly until we get more details, but let's just say it's BIG and has filled me with a lot of anxiety.
Things really fell apart last Friday with the storm. Our neighbor let us know on Tuesday that the power was back on. So around 9:00pm we headed home and at first, things seemed normal....except, our fridge wasn't cold. The fridge was on, the lights came on, but there was no cold air. We unplugged it for an hour and tried again. Nothing. This didn't really matter, though, as our food was still at my parents' house. Then we went to bed and I heard a strange noise when our air conditioner kicked on. The noise would come and go and didn't sound normal. I woke Dave up and made him listen. We went outside to our air conditioner and noticed that even though the fans were blowing inside, the air conditioner was not actually running. We turned off the air conditioner and decided to head back to mom and dad's at 12:15am. Looks like maybe we had a power surge and blew out our air conditioner and refrigerator. Awesome. So, last night we intended to spend the night again at my parents' house but at 11:00pm another strong storm blew through and they lost power. When the lose power, they don't have water (they have a well). We packed up again and headed home, again. Sure we didn't have air conditioning but at least we could shower and use the bathroom. It was a hot night and I slept in half hour spurts.
Today we've started making our calls to the insurance agent, the air conditioning people, the fridge people. I can only imagine what this is going to cost. And worse....they say they can't fix our air conditioning until tomorrow. Tomorrow's high is 101 degrees.
It's been a trying last couple of weeks and this past week has been my own personal hell. I know it's got to start looking up soon but it sure doesn't feel like it.
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
June Totals
Despite the broken toe and having to take a full week off plus one week easy workouts, I still think it was a pretty big month of training.
Swimming - Still a big, fat ZERO!!!
Biking - 19.25 miles. It got hot and therefore, I did not want to ride my bike for transportation.
Running - 91.78 miles. That's quite a bit of miles considering the toe and the time I needed to take off due to the injury.
Other - 1.25 hours of lifting and core work.
Swimming - Still a big, fat ZERO!!!
Biking - 19.25 miles. It got hot and therefore, I did not want to ride my bike for transportation.
Running - 91.78 miles. That's quite a bit of miles considering the toe and the time I needed to take off due to the injury.
Other - 1.25 hours of lifting and core work.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
How I Started My Day Running 18 Miles and Ended Up in the Hospital
That title got your attention, didn't it? Actually, this is nothing like my last trip to the hospital.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I got up super early on Saturday morning and headed out for my long run, 18 miles, around 6:00am. The plan was always to get up this early. Frankly, I started a little later than I wanted, but my stomach was not in agreement with me and required a little more attention than I had planned for the morning. Anyway, Dave also got up to accompany me on the bike. As we headed out I mentioned how hot and humid it was and Dave said, "Really? I'm actually a little cold." Not fair.
The plan was 18 miles at marathon pace plus 45 seconds per mile ...carry the one....that's an 8:32 pace. I put my Garmin to average pace for the full 18 miles and had it set to between an 8:25-8:40 pace. Per normal, I started slow and worked my way into this pace. No kidding, it took me a full 8 miles to get the average down to an 8:40.
Like I said, it was hot. HOTTTTTT!!!! Saturday's high was supposed to be in the mid-90s and the humidity was full-on. Even at 6:00am I was already miserable. When I reached 9 mile and was ready for the turn around, I actually said to Dave, "where's the breeze". No lie, the winds immediately picked up and the sky got dark. I continued on for the next mile. Then there was a flash of lightning, a rumble of thunder, and I quickly picked up the pace. I saw what the storm did on Friday, there was no way I was going to be stuck out in that kind of storm. Luckily, the only structure in sight was a local surgical hospital and also luckily it had power (no kidding, it may have been the only building in New Albany with power). Neither Dave nor I had our phones with us so we asked the security guard if he could look up the radar for us. Of course, with the storms, they had no networks but he was somehow able to pull it up on his phone. Yep, a big blob of red over Central Ohio. Awesome.
As it turned out, it wasn't that bad and within 15 minutes we were back running again. And I kinda felt like I had gotten a second wind. My times had now dropped to an 8:29 average and I was feeling great. I caught up to a group of guys who were training for a different marathon and we spent about a mile running together until we went different directions.
All in all, it was a great run. The toe is a little tender but I'm not in any pain. I'm feeling pretty good about marathon training and am glad I'm back running so quickly.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I got up super early on Saturday morning and headed out for my long run, 18 miles, around 6:00am. The plan was always to get up this early. Frankly, I started a little later than I wanted, but my stomach was not in agreement with me and required a little more attention than I had planned for the morning. Anyway, Dave also got up to accompany me on the bike. As we headed out I mentioned how hot and humid it was and Dave said, "Really? I'm actually a little cold." Not fair.
The plan was 18 miles at marathon pace plus 45 seconds per mile ...carry the one....that's an 8:32 pace. I put my Garmin to average pace for the full 18 miles and had it set to between an 8:25-8:40 pace. Per normal, I started slow and worked my way into this pace. No kidding, it took me a full 8 miles to get the average down to an 8:40.
Like I said, it was hot. HOTTTTTT!!!! Saturday's high was supposed to be in the mid-90s and the humidity was full-on. Even at 6:00am I was already miserable. When I reached 9 mile and was ready for the turn around, I actually said to Dave, "where's the breeze". No lie, the winds immediately picked up and the sky got dark. I continued on for the next mile. Then there was a flash of lightning, a rumble of thunder, and I quickly picked up the pace. I saw what the storm did on Friday, there was no way I was going to be stuck out in that kind of storm. Luckily, the only structure in sight was a local surgical hospital and also luckily it had power (no kidding, it may have been the only building in New Albany with power). Neither Dave nor I had our phones with us so we asked the security guard if he could look up the radar for us. Of course, with the storms, they had no networks but he was somehow able to pull it up on his phone. Yep, a big blob of red over Central Ohio. Awesome.
As it turned out, it wasn't that bad and within 15 minutes we were back running again. And I kinda felt like I had gotten a second wind. My times had now dropped to an 8:29 average and I was feeling great. I caught up to a group of guys who were training for a different marathon and we spent about a mile running together until we went different directions.
All in all, it was a great run. The toe is a little tender but I'm not in any pain. I'm feeling pretty good about marathon training and am glad I'm back running so quickly.
Monday, July 02, 2012
New York City has no power, and the milk is getting sour
(If you know the reference in the title, you and I were destined to be friends.)
Friday night I was working at my computer when I noticed the sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. I closed up and went downstairs to turn on the TV. That's when I noticed the trees were bending in half and I heard our recycling bin rolling down the street. I ran outside to retrieve it and just about got blown over myself. Holy wow! This was a big storm. Right at 6:00pm, I turned on the news to see how bad of a storm it was and BAM! our electricity went out. I tried to turn on I Heart Radio on my phone and had no network. Dave was still at work. Sloopy (my dog) and I just sat and waited to hear the emergency sirens. There were some HUGE cracks of thunder and lightning. Somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45 Dave called and said Hamilton Road was closed and that he would have to take a different route to get home. By 7:00pm he was home and we still had no power.
We had dinner at my parents' house and headed home after that. On our drive home we noticed NO ONE had power as we got closer and closer to home. And we, of course, didn't have power either. I didn't sleep very well that night as the temperature rose in the house and our smoke detector beeped all night. I finally got up around 4:30am in a panic because (a) we still didn't have power and (b) our photo booth for Saturday's wedding was across the street in our storage facility behind an ELECTRONIC GATE!!! With nothing I could do until the office would be open I headed out on my long run just before 6:00am.
(More on the long run in the next post.)
We returned around 9:00am and I called the storage facility to no avail. Luckily, it's a chain and I was able to call a different one in town and was able to get information. Without even showering, Dave and I hopped on our bikes and rode over to the location. And what we saw on our way there was like nothing I had ever seen before. It looked like an apocalyptic movie:
Yep, that's less than a quarter mile from our house. Supposedly the wind took down 12-15 electrical poles and trapped 20-25 cars underneath all those wires. One car was smashed by one of the poles and severed a man's foot. Those people were trapped in their cars for upwards of 5 hours. Saturday morning the cars were gone, but a lot of damage remained. We were not getting power any time soon.
So, we packed up a few things, including as many refrigerated and freezer items as we could, and headed to mom and dad's for the day. We were fortune enough to be able to get our photo booth and the venue where we were working had power. We spent the night at my parents' house Saturday night. We were also able to hear from our electric company that the estimate for getting our power back would be NEXT Saturday, July 7th. Holy wow!
Sunday morning we headed back to our neighborhood to drop off the photo booth and obviously, still did not have power. Our poor neighbors who had nowhere to go! We checked out the damage again and although it looked better, there was still a long way to go:
We were able to talk to a cameraman for the local TV station, who just happened to have worked for the power company in a previous career. He said that this was really a three week job but that they were bringing in resources from other states. Wow! Honestly I'll be surprised if we get power by next weekend. For now we're staying at my parents' house and making the best of what we've got.
Friday night I was working at my computer when I noticed the sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. I closed up and went downstairs to turn on the TV. That's when I noticed the trees were bending in half and I heard our recycling bin rolling down the street. I ran outside to retrieve it and just about got blown over myself. Holy wow! This was a big storm. Right at 6:00pm, I turned on the news to see how bad of a storm it was and BAM! our electricity went out. I tried to turn on I Heart Radio on my phone and had no network. Dave was still at work. Sloopy (my dog) and I just sat and waited to hear the emergency sirens. There were some HUGE cracks of thunder and lightning. Somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45 Dave called and said Hamilton Road was closed and that he would have to take a different route to get home. By 7:00pm he was home and we still had no power.
We had dinner at my parents' house and headed home after that. On our drive home we noticed NO ONE had power as we got closer and closer to home. And we, of course, didn't have power either. I didn't sleep very well that night as the temperature rose in the house and our smoke detector beeped all night. I finally got up around 4:30am in a panic because (a) we still didn't have power and (b) our photo booth for Saturday's wedding was across the street in our storage facility behind an ELECTRONIC GATE!!! With nothing I could do until the office would be open I headed out on my long run just before 6:00am.
(More on the long run in the next post.)
We returned around 9:00am and I called the storage facility to no avail. Luckily, it's a chain and I was able to call a different one in town and was able to get information. Without even showering, Dave and I hopped on our bikes and rode over to the location. And what we saw on our way there was like nothing I had ever seen before. It looked like an apocalyptic movie:
Yep, that's less than a quarter mile from our house. Supposedly the wind took down 12-15 electrical poles and trapped 20-25 cars underneath all those wires. One car was smashed by one of the poles and severed a man's foot. Those people were trapped in their cars for upwards of 5 hours. Saturday morning the cars were gone, but a lot of damage remained. We were not getting power any time soon.
So, we packed up a few things, including as many refrigerated and freezer items as we could, and headed to mom and dad's for the day. We were fortune enough to be able to get our photo booth and the venue where we were working had power. We spent the night at my parents' house Saturday night. We were also able to hear from our electric company that the estimate for getting our power back would be NEXT Saturday, July 7th. Holy wow!
Sunday morning we headed back to our neighborhood to drop off the photo booth and obviously, still did not have power. Our poor neighbors who had nowhere to go! We checked out the damage again and although it looked better, there was still a long way to go:
We were able to talk to a cameraman for the local TV station, who just happened to have worked for the power company in a previous career. He said that this was really a three week job but that they were bringing in resources from other states. Wow! Honestly I'll be surprised if we get power by next weekend. For now we're staying at my parents' house and making the best of what we've got.
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