Tomorrow is marathon day!

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!

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.)

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.