Tomorrow is the big day and the forecast calls for beautiful weather-- mid sixties, partly cloudy.
This year the MCM is not doing text tracking-- last year we were able to send people alerts for every 5K milestone we crossed. It was immensely useful for people who were able to be at the race-- they had an idea of our pacing and where we had been most recently and where they'd have the best chance of seeing us next. I don't know what bonehead MCM organizer made the call to not have that service this year, but they have an app instead, which unfortunately is only useful if both runner and spectator have it. AND if the runner carries their bigass smartphone for the whole race. I guess if you have an iPhone, it's not all that uncommon to carry it around when you're running because it's got your music on it, but personally, I think that's just another thing to carry. And when you're running 26 miles, its enough effort to just carry your stinkin body. So I'm really pissed about this. My phone is dumb, not smart, and so even my spectators do not benefit from the app download.
However, Mike and I went to check into the race yesterday and I stopped by a booth for the Fisher House marathon team. Fisher House, if you don't know, is an organization for military families. When a service member is injured, Fisher House provides travel and accomodations for the service member's family near the hospital while the loved one recuperates. It's a really great organization and every year they have a fundraising team run the marathon. The woman said that this year they have about 285 participants, and they ask them to raise about $500 each. I thought that was such a cool idea, but since this is likely to be my last Marine Corps Marathon, I'll have to find another way to participate in this program. Or bring it to my next marathon... not really sure! But anyhow, since I can't fundraise for Fisher House during my race, I'll just stump for them here on my blog which no one reads. Go to http://www.fisherhouse.org/ and donate! If you can even donate $10, you could be chipping in for some military spouse's trip to Germany to stay with his or her wounded soldier being treated at the VA hospital. Even Michelle Obama is a fan!
Wish us luck tomorrow! MCM, here we come!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ughhhhhhh its been a while
So it's been 26 days since an update. There's a really good reason for that-- the first, I dunno, 15 of them were completely uneventful. And then the last 11 I've been sick as a dog. First with a cold, then with a secondary sinus infection. The timing of the cold was fine, but the sinus infection has been pretty inconvenient, what with the marathon being on Sunday and all. I figured that over the weekend, I'd rest up and be better, but instead I got a whole lot worse. So I went to the doctor on Monday, told her I need to run a marathon on Sunday, and she gave me this look. You know, this look that said something along the lines of, "not with those sinuses you're not, kiddo." But then she gave me a Z pack and cough syrup and decongestant and told me to stay home from work for a day or two, and now I'm finally on the mend! Marine Corps Marathon, here we come! (Except, really, I'm still not better, so this marathon will probably be pretty rough. Fingers crossed that I even finish.)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Busy little bee!
This has been a really busy week for me. Last Friday Mike and I headed home to Williamsburg because he had to talk up the Naval Academy for some high schoolers considering the service academies in his home district. We headed back up to MD on Saturday afternoon because on Sunday, we had a super long run and then we were headed to the eastern shore to meet up with my aunt and uncle who were in town from California for a friend's wedding.
On Sunday morning, Mike and I woke long before dawn, headed to the Naval Academy and met up with our friend Cory, who says EVERY week that he will run with us, and then always backs out when he hears how many miles we're running. I keep ragging on him because he's running the marathon, too, but by the time we were supposed to be up to like, 18 miles according to the schedule, he had done a whopping 11. So I was impressed that this week, which was aiming to be a 23 mile run, Cory showed up. We started running, and Mike just was a total drag. (Sorry, Mike.) We ran nine miles then stopped for a water break, and Cory and I actually sent Mike up to bed because he was clearly so tired and miserable. We had more fun without him, anyways, and the run went by remarkably quickly and easily until about mile 18. Cory only anticipated running about 15 miles with us, but he actually made it 22. I almost ran that 23rd mile, but Cory talked me out of it. I'm clearly in good enough shape to run the marathon, so that's not an issue, and my IT band was REALLY bothering me. I don't think continuing to run on it really would have made it any worse, but it certainly wasn't making it better...
On Wednesday I went to Chick-fil-A for dinner because they were giving away FREE spicy nuggets. They are amazing, and if you haven't had them yet, then you really need to get yourself to a Chick-fil-A to try some. When I was at school in NYC, the land of no Chick-fil-A, I would fantasize about traveling to Philadelphia (which was the closest city with a Chick-fil-A) JUST for a #1 with a lemonade. (Because I know that the further north you go, the less sweet the tea gets. It's really not worth sampling any further north than Richmond--I don't even drink it here in Baltimore. The lemonade, however, is always phenomenal.) When I would fly home for breaks, my first stop would always, always, ALWAYS be at a Chick-fil-A (if my mom was picking me up from the airport, which was rare because Mike usually volunteered, she would try, unsuccessfully, to get me to choose a classier restaurant. "I'm paying for whatever you choose! We could go to Don Pablo!") and so I really associate Chick-fil-A with not only world class chicken sandwiches, but to me it's also sort of the taste of coming home. Only now they've made it sexier with spicy nuggets.
Then Thursday, I found out that my new co-worker went to Elon with Brian Williams' son. I absolutely LOVE Brian Williams. So that really excited me, because Thursday was like Brian Williams day for me, since he was doing a little guest spot on 30 Rock. Ugh he's so sexy! Sexier than spicy nuggets, even.
And then today was Friday, of course, which is always a great day. I had a pumpkin spice latte at breakfast, and my new obsession is chopped salads. I don't know what exactly it is about them that makes them so superior to regular, unchopped salads, but they're amazing! So I've been eating at least one a day for the past week, and I've even gotten into making my own salad dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper) and I cannot get enough of them. Which is a good thing, I suppose, because other than the craisins, everything is pretty natural and it's about time I stop eating so many processed foods. I'll keep you posted if all this olive oil works some sort of miracle on my skin (which, truthfully, is fine and doesn't really require a miracle).
Also this week I've assembled our Save-the-Dates and probably nabbed a day-of coordinator for the wedding, which everyone tells me will be the best money we've ever spent. I also think we've found the best deal on a bus for guest transportation. Things are coming together for the wedding!!!
Mike is en route to Colorado Springs now for the Navy/Air Force football game. My friend Melissa and I are hanging out tomorrow and I'm very excited to see her! Maybe we'll make a chopped salad.
On Sunday morning, Mike and I woke long before dawn, headed to the Naval Academy and met up with our friend Cory, who says EVERY week that he will run with us, and then always backs out when he hears how many miles we're running. I keep ragging on him because he's running the marathon, too, but by the time we were supposed to be up to like, 18 miles according to the schedule, he had done a whopping 11. So I was impressed that this week, which was aiming to be a 23 mile run, Cory showed up. We started running, and Mike just was a total drag. (Sorry, Mike.) We ran nine miles then stopped for a water break, and Cory and I actually sent Mike up to bed because he was clearly so tired and miserable. We had more fun without him, anyways, and the run went by remarkably quickly and easily until about mile 18. Cory only anticipated running about 15 miles with us, but he actually made it 22. I almost ran that 23rd mile, but Cory talked me out of it. I'm clearly in good enough shape to run the marathon, so that's not an issue, and my IT band was REALLY bothering me. I don't think continuing to run on it really would have made it any worse, but it certainly wasn't making it better...
On Wednesday I went to Chick-fil-A for dinner because they were giving away FREE spicy nuggets. They are amazing, and if you haven't had them yet, then you really need to get yourself to a Chick-fil-A to try some. When I was at school in NYC, the land of no Chick-fil-A, I would fantasize about traveling to Philadelphia (which was the closest city with a Chick-fil-A) JUST for a #1 with a lemonade. (Because I know that the further north you go, the less sweet the tea gets. It's really not worth sampling any further north than Richmond--I don't even drink it here in Baltimore. The lemonade, however, is always phenomenal.) When I would fly home for breaks, my first stop would always, always, ALWAYS be at a Chick-fil-A (if my mom was picking me up from the airport, which was rare because Mike usually volunteered, she would try, unsuccessfully, to get me to choose a classier restaurant. "I'm paying for whatever you choose! We could go to Don Pablo!") and so I really associate Chick-fil-A with not only world class chicken sandwiches, but to me it's also sort of the taste of coming home. Only now they've made it sexier with spicy nuggets.
Then Thursday, I found out that my new co-worker went to Elon with Brian Williams' son. I absolutely LOVE Brian Williams. So that really excited me, because Thursday was like Brian Williams day for me, since he was doing a little guest spot on 30 Rock. Ugh he's so sexy! Sexier than spicy nuggets, even.
And then today was Friday, of course, which is always a great day. I had a pumpkin spice latte at breakfast, and my new obsession is chopped salads. I don't know what exactly it is about them that makes them so superior to regular, unchopped salads, but they're amazing! So I've been eating at least one a day for the past week, and I've even gotten into making my own salad dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper) and I cannot get enough of them. Which is a good thing, I suppose, because other than the craisins, everything is pretty natural and it's about time I stop eating so many processed foods. I'll keep you posted if all this olive oil works some sort of miracle on my skin (which, truthfully, is fine and doesn't really require a miracle).
Also this week I've assembled our Save-the-Dates and probably nabbed a day-of coordinator for the wedding, which everyone tells me will be the best money we've ever spent. I also think we've found the best deal on a bus for guest transportation. Things are coming together for the wedding!!!
Mike is en route to Colorado Springs now for the Navy/Air Force football game. My friend Melissa and I are hanging out tomorrow and I'm very excited to see her! Maybe we'll make a chopped salad.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday was always my favorite character on the Addams Family
But I don't really like ACTUAL Wednesdays. Thursday and Friday are WAY better, but Monday and Tuesday are much worse. So there's Wednesday, just stuck in the middle.
Anyways, Mike and I skipped the run this weekend-- it was great, we completely didn't run at all. Since last weekend was a 21 mile run, and we're pushing our 23 mile up to this weekend (it was supposed to be the weekend after, but Mike will be in Colorado and neither one of us really wants to do a 23 mile run alone, plus, with the altitude change, Mike's run would feel pretty wonky) and since we were so busy, we decided to take the weekend off and rest our bodies up. Two really intense runs in three weeks is kind of pushing it.
Today I kind of have that icky feeling like I'm fighting off an illness. So I had a nice big dinner, I'm downing orange juice like crazy, and I'm just hanging out in bed watching tv until I go to sleep. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is almost the weekend, so it would be pretty inconvenient if I were to be sick.
Anyways, Mike and I skipped the run this weekend-- it was great, we completely didn't run at all. Since last weekend was a 21 mile run, and we're pushing our 23 mile up to this weekend (it was supposed to be the weekend after, but Mike will be in Colorado and neither one of us really wants to do a 23 mile run alone, plus, with the altitude change, Mike's run would feel pretty wonky) and since we were so busy, we decided to take the weekend off and rest our bodies up. Two really intense runs in three weeks is kind of pushing it.
Today I kind of have that icky feeling like I'm fighting off an illness. So I had a nice big dinner, I'm downing orange juice like crazy, and I'm just hanging out in bed watching tv until I go to sleep. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is almost the weekend, so it would be pretty inconvenient if I were to be sick.
Monday, September 13, 2010
So I've been neglectful.
I know, I know, I haven't posted in ages. But it's not like anyone reads this anyway, right?
Anyway, Mike and I had our 21 mile run on Saturday, and it went fantastically. We had great weather, and 16 miles in, Mike turned to me and said, "You know what would be good right now? I nice big plate of fettuccine." (That's a reference to The Office if you didn't follow. And if you didn't follow, you need to become very well-acquainted with Michael Scott. You're missing out.) So we were able to run and talk and joke all at the same time, and for a change, we didn't spend half of our long run yelling at each other to stop being so cranky. So all in all, a pretty good run. We spent the afternoon at the Navy football game (apparently they played badly but I didn't realize it because I didn't actually watch a single play of the game... I was too busy hanging out with some NAGs and with Mike's roommate's parents who were in town for the game) and then we stopped by his company's tailgater where I had too many beers in too few minutes, and then we went out to dinner where I made a good decision by ordering a salad and a bad decision by letting Jim order me a Dirty Girl Scout. (He's SUCH a bad influence. One night he ordered me three freaking mango margaritas. I was so hungover at work the next day.) Mike drove home. I was asleep before we got there. (Fun date, right?)
Anyway, what is important here is that I was able to run 21 miles, rally for a football game pretty much immediately after, and then rally AGAIN for a night on the town (even though the night was pretty short by normal-people standards... after all, I had gotten up at 4AM.) Mike probably did better than I did, though, because he had to do a lot more walking and standing than I did.
In other news, today was Monday and I hate Mondays. Ever notice how the better your weekend was, the worse your Monday is?
Tomorrow night I have to coordinate a StoryTime at my local library branch-- I volunteer there every other month and this week's theme is "bedtime." So I'm going to go practice! (And by that I mean, it's my bedtime. Not that I'm going to go read children's books.)
Anyway, Mike and I had our 21 mile run on Saturday, and it went fantastically. We had great weather, and 16 miles in, Mike turned to me and said, "You know what would be good right now? I nice big plate of fettuccine." (That's a reference to The Office if you didn't follow. And if you didn't follow, you need to become very well-acquainted with Michael Scott. You're missing out.) So we were able to run and talk and joke all at the same time, and for a change, we didn't spend half of our long run yelling at each other to stop being so cranky. So all in all, a pretty good run. We spent the afternoon at the Navy football game (apparently they played badly but I didn't realize it because I didn't actually watch a single play of the game... I was too busy hanging out with some NAGs and with Mike's roommate's parents who were in town for the game) and then we stopped by his company's tailgater where I had too many beers in too few minutes, and then we went out to dinner where I made a good decision by ordering a salad and a bad decision by letting Jim order me a Dirty Girl Scout. (He's SUCH a bad influence. One night he ordered me three freaking mango margaritas. I was so hungover at work the next day.) Mike drove home. I was asleep before we got there. (Fun date, right?)
Anyway, what is important here is that I was able to run 21 miles, rally for a football game pretty much immediately after, and then rally AGAIN for a night on the town (even though the night was pretty short by normal-people standards... after all, I had gotten up at 4AM.) Mike probably did better than I did, though, because he had to do a lot more walking and standing than I did.
In other news, today was Monday and I hate Mondays. Ever notice how the better your weekend was, the worse your Monday is?
Tomorrow night I have to coordinate a StoryTime at my local library branch-- I volunteer there every other month and this week's theme is "bedtime." So I'm going to go practice! (And by that I mean, it's my bedtime. Not that I'm going to go read children's books.)
Friday, August 27, 2010
On this day in history...
So lately during my runs, just to occupy my mind I play "on this day in history" ...only I can only really do it with the history of my own life, having very little knowledge of historical events according to date.
This time of year it's pretty easy, because around this week in any given year from age 5 to age 21, I was preparing for a new school year. So for example, I've been trying to pinpoint what I did during the summer before ninth grade (geez, that was TEN years ago) to give me an idea of what I did on August 27th, 2000, and then that leads me to remember what major events occured during ninth grade; who took me to what dance, what sort of crazy antics my friends and I got into... and it's so hard to remember! It's easier to remember my junior and senior years of high school. But all four years of college sort of all blend together in one mass. It's like, if my college memories were dinner, they'd be a big clump of spaghetti noodles that you forgot to stir while the water was boiling, so now they're just a tangled lump of moist, soft goo that you can't really seperate. I don't know how it happened... I guess I just wasn't stirring the pot enough during college.
I wonder what I'll remember of this time in my life in a decade?
Anyway, on this day in history in, say, 2001, I was about to start my sophomore year of high school. I was probably sad that I wasn't at one of my 4 camps anymore-- 2 sessions at Chanco, one week at field hockey camp, and one week at cheerleading camp. I hadn't yet entered the summer workforce (a treat that would be saved for the following summer) and I was probably at a pre-season field hockey practice. I don't think we took a family vacation-- those sort of stopped after my siblings were both out of the house and I elected to spend my whole summer being shuttled from one camp to another, but I do think I had gone to the beach for a week with my friend Tiffany. Her mom taught us to crochet on the drive down to Nags Head, so we spent the whole week either lying in the sun or crocheting-- we would never crochet ON the beach because we were sure that no guys would approach two girls crocheting on the beach (we were probably right... but I don't think any boys approached us on the beach that summer anyways). The memories don't come back in a linear fashion-- I'll remember one thing which will trigger another memory, and another and another... but that's what I was probably thinking about on this day nine years ago. It's actually easier to think about when I'm not running. Weird.
We're heading to Williamsburg for the weekend after work today! Can't wait!
This time of year it's pretty easy, because around this week in any given year from age 5 to age 21, I was preparing for a new school year. So for example, I've been trying to pinpoint what I did during the summer before ninth grade (geez, that was TEN years ago) to give me an idea of what I did on August 27th, 2000, and then that leads me to remember what major events occured during ninth grade; who took me to what dance, what sort of crazy antics my friends and I got into... and it's so hard to remember! It's easier to remember my junior and senior years of high school. But all four years of college sort of all blend together in one mass. It's like, if my college memories were dinner, they'd be a big clump of spaghetti noodles that you forgot to stir while the water was boiling, so now they're just a tangled lump of moist, soft goo that you can't really seperate. I don't know how it happened... I guess I just wasn't stirring the pot enough during college.
I wonder what I'll remember of this time in my life in a decade?
Anyway, on this day in history in, say, 2001, I was about to start my sophomore year of high school. I was probably sad that I wasn't at one of my 4 camps anymore-- 2 sessions at Chanco, one week at field hockey camp, and one week at cheerleading camp. I hadn't yet entered the summer workforce (a treat that would be saved for the following summer) and I was probably at a pre-season field hockey practice. I don't think we took a family vacation-- those sort of stopped after my siblings were both out of the house and I elected to spend my whole summer being shuttled from one camp to another, but I do think I had gone to the beach for a week with my friend Tiffany. Her mom taught us to crochet on the drive down to Nags Head, so we spent the whole week either lying in the sun or crocheting-- we would never crochet ON the beach because we were sure that no guys would approach two girls crocheting on the beach (we were probably right... but I don't think any boys approached us on the beach that summer anyways). The memories don't come back in a linear fashion-- I'll remember one thing which will trigger another memory, and another and another... but that's what I was probably thinking about on this day nine years ago. It's actually easier to think about when I'm not running. Weird.
We're heading to Williamsburg for the weekend after work today! Can't wait!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
at long last, another update!
Hello, blogosphere!
Yesterday Mike and I went on a 20 mile run, and it really wasn't so bad. I know that Mike had a rougher start than I did because he got less sleep, but by the end of it we decided that it wasn't our energy level that made the last five or so miles brutal, it was our physical exhaustion. My knee was killing me, his calves were hurting, blah blah, obligatory laundry list of complaints caused by running for four hours. Also, we could have done with cooler weather.
Last night I went to visit my friend Melissa in Arlington. We went to this movie theater where these comedians make fun of the movie the whole time you're watching it. The selection last night was "Dirty Dancing" and it was hysterical. I just wish I could have seen their version of "Twilight." That's probably about as good as it could ever get. Before the movie, we made tacos and had a few other friends over to Melissa's place. It was such a good time!
Today Mike came over. We did laundry and made banana bread and then he took the loaf so I wouldn't eat the whole thing. Other than that, absolutely nothing new with me here! Oh, except that we booked the resort in ARUBA for our honeymoon! I'm super excited but I've been so busy that I've barely had time to really check out the website. What I have seen looks pretty amazing though. I sort of wish I could be there right now...
Yesterday Mike and I went on a 20 mile run, and it really wasn't so bad. I know that Mike had a rougher start than I did because he got less sleep, but by the end of it we decided that it wasn't our energy level that made the last five or so miles brutal, it was our physical exhaustion. My knee was killing me, his calves were hurting, blah blah, obligatory laundry list of complaints caused by running for four hours. Also, we could have done with cooler weather.
Last night I went to visit my friend Melissa in Arlington. We went to this movie theater where these comedians make fun of the movie the whole time you're watching it. The selection last night was "Dirty Dancing" and it was hysterical. I just wish I could have seen their version of "Twilight." That's probably about as good as it could ever get. Before the movie, we made tacos and had a few other friends over to Melissa's place. It was such a good time!
Today Mike came over. We did laundry and made banana bread and then he took the loaf so I wouldn't eat the whole thing. Other than that, absolutely nothing new with me here! Oh, except that we booked the resort in ARUBA for our honeymoon! I'm super excited but I've been so busy that I've barely had time to really check out the website. What I have seen looks pretty amazing though. I sort of wish I could be there right now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
