Mason Mini Marathon Report

It was a brisk morning Saturday the 8th when I ran the Mason Mini Marathon. It's a 15K, which is 9.3 miles. It was so close to home– down at Mason's middle school. That made a 9:00 race even sweeter! We left at 8:15, stopped to get Gatorade, and still had plenty of time to stand around freezing before the start. I'm happy it didn't rain, but it was only about 46º from start to finish. I had only ran in chilly weather once prior to this day since we've had such a nice October.

The Course
um....well....I didn't like it. My dislike stemmed from a conglomeration of memories: running during Hurricane Ike, running at lunch while I worked at Luxottica (hot and boring), running during the summer (Vegas desert-like). And, frankly, it was a boring boring course that never even got on the actual roadway. Starting from Mason Middle School, we ran down towards Luxottica, then turned onto the access road that is used during the ATP Tennis Tournaments. We turned around at the Tennis Center (around some cones) and then headed back to the middle school. Running past the middle school, we got to turn onto a new sidewalk (yay!) and headed down Mason-Montgomery to where there is a new bike path that connects to a park. After connecting to the park path, it was through the park and back out onto Mason-Montgomery, back to the school, and finishing with a 3/4 lap around the track.

The Run
For the first 5 miles, I carried a gatorade-water mix. Even though it was cold, I sweat like crazy and I didn't want a repeat of the Akron Half (they ran out of water). I figured I would drink the first 5 miles and then pass off my bottle to Greg. I couldn't have been happier to get that damn bottle out of my hands. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but if the thing hadn't cost me $12, it would have been chucked off into the landscaping along Tylersville Blvd at mile 2. I could have just been grumpy because my stomach was throwing all kinds of fits. For breakfast I had peanut butter on toast, which statistically isn't turning out to be a good pre-race meal for me.


















After I got rid of the dern water-bottle and saw Greg, I was better. I felt like I could concentrate on getting through the race. I caught up to a guy (who's name was Mike) and his trainer (who kept saying 'Come on Mike!'). I felt good passing him, though it was the slowest pass on record. He passed me back right after that on a hill, but then I passed him back for good. During miles 6 - 8 we were in this park that is wooded, ROLLING and curvy. I felt like I was a marble, at the complete mercy of the elevation– either rolling downhill or struggling to get uphill using the momentum from the previous downhill.


















After emerging from the park, I caught up and passed another girl who kept walking. I was worried she'd have some sort of kick at the end and pass me back and crush my spirits, but she didn't. Greg ran with me for a little bit in front of the school before I got onto the track and finished, uh... strong? Not really. Longest 3/4 lap of track ever. I was happy to be done.

After the race I got a banana and started shivering. It was cold. My legs felt like someone suddenly poured cement into them, and though I should have walked a lot more, we hopped into the car and went home. I took a nice long hot shower and then we got Chipotle. Doing errands the rest of the afternoon helped me to not stiffen up too much. I was never very sore, but today when I ran my legs were sooo tight.

Summary
Overall, it was fine. Just a hard race to get excited about when there are only 280 people and you're slow. I did it and I'm glad I did it. The money went to the Epilepsy Foundation and I got a cool shirt. And I might add that I have the best race-watching husband ever! Greg stood out in the cold during my slooooow coverage of the distance and cheered me on! I definitely wouldn't have wanted to do it without him there! It makes all the difference!

I don't know what's next. I need to devise some sort of plan to get through this winter. It might just be a numbers game. My goal, which I've mentioned before, is to get fast enough that Greg can run with me without feeling like he's shuffling by Spring. Also, I want to see how far I can run. That's fun to do when there isn't pressure of a race and timing. And don't say I'm crazy because I think that running far is fun!

Election Day

Well, I didn't get to run to the polls this morning like I had considered. Time and sealing driveway cracks didn't allow. But I did drive, stood in line with a neighbor, ate a bagel with coffee, and voted for Obama. And now the fun begins: watching all of the news stations bust their buns to be the first network to (most likely inaccurately) predict the next president. CNN started today's coverage an hour early for the sake of keeping us voters informed. 5:00 a.m.– well before any polls are even open or most are out of bed! Sometimes I just wonder how I'd get by in life without CNN there to keep me updated with the latest breaking news. And all of it is breaking news by the way. That's what news does- it breaks. It does not meander in, bubble up, nor shyly present itself. It breaks.

Speaking of races (to the whitehouse), I will be racing this Saturday at the Mason Mini - a 9.3 mile run through what the website describes as "flat" Mason. So I'm looking forward to finding these flat areas of Mason. It can't be any hillier than Akron, that's for sure. So even though the virus I got last week has set me back, I think I'll be fine and it should be fun!

I am going to check out cnn.com to see if Wolf Blitzer has the country color coded yet.

Chilly Weather

I ran this morning in long sleeves for the first time of the season.

boo-hoo!

It was a crisp morning. I couldn't see my breath, but it definitely took a while to warm up. My legs were bright red when I got back (had shorts on).

I've always enjoyed running in the morning more than in the evening. I usually find too many excuses/obligations/fatigue to divert my plans of a nice, unwind-from-the-day run after work. However, I've noticed in the past few years it's been more difficult to get up and get moving. It is hard for me to believe I used to get up and out the door around 6 a.m. so I could be to work by 8 or 8:30. Over the summer I tried the evening approach, but it really just isn't my best time.

I think my new fall/winter schedule will be getting up and running after Greg leaves for work, which is sometime around 8. Thanks to self-employment, I can start a grumbling, zombie-walk from the bedroom while he is getting ready and be ready to go out the door when it's light outside. That puts me to work around 10 a.m. This plan works as long as I don't have a pressing a.m. deadline.

Though it will be cold to start out running before the earth warms up a little, it's a great start to the day.

Rubber Stamp Man

Tuesday I was visited at my studio by Barry, a rubber stamp salesman. Yes you heard correct, folks. Rubber Stamp Salesman.

He was probably in his 50s-60s, dressed in a nice suit, and had a hard briefcase full of stamps to demo, each in their own custom shaped foam cut-out block. He asked me if he could have 5 minutes of my time to demo his stamps.

Uh, sure. WTF? A stamp demo? Don't you just slam it on the ink pad and then slam it on the paper?

Turns out, professional stamps of the 21st century have evolved...if only a bit. (How much evolution can they really accomplish?) You no longer need an inking pad. Somehow through the amazing technology of Self-Inking™®, now the stamp has ink already built in. So you don't have to hit the ink before you hit the paper. And you can adjust the ink flow simply by turning the handle.

Amazing.

I didn't need a stamp. Or a brass nameplate, which he also sold. (Though I considered for a moment ordering one that says No Solicitors.) But he did offer me a quote on business cards, before I realized they were just the black raised puffy ink kind with 4 not-so-designed styles to choose from. Oh well.

He wasn't pushy. The only suggestion he made was for me to get a signature stamp, in complete olde-timey sales language all but missing "step right up!":

[stamp man]: Signature Stamp! George Washington's the example. [boom! stamp is stamped revealing G.W.'s signature] Who doesn't sign their name? A stamp of your signature saves you time and money! And it prevents carpal tunnel syndrome.

[steph]: giggles and turns to look at her computer

[stamp man]: It does! It's been proven.

awkward pause...

[steph]: do you have opaque inks?

Paul (studio two doors down) also got the demo. We discussed later. Death of a Salesman, how many stamps do you have to sell to pay for a nice suit, and who still uses stamps were some of our comments/perplexed questions.

I'm glad random people walk in to my studio to keep my days here interesting.

Akron Half Marathon Race Report

Saturday Sept. 27th I ran the Akron Half Marathon. I was sick, but it was OK. It was the tail end of the cold and I had been sleeping well thanks to cold medicine. I knew I was going to be slow anyway, so now I had an excuse ;)

Friday around lunch time we dropped the puppies off at the vet and drove up to Akron. It was a long boring drive. I have lost my tolerance of car rides over 2 hours. Maybe I need to reinstate Mad Libs and coloring books for travels above the 120 minute mark.

We stayed with Daryl and Paula in Massilon, which is only about a half hour from the marathon site. Daryl was also doing the half and Paula, sick with bronchitis was doing the full marathon! Paula and I drove down to the Expo while Greg helped Daryl with a photography gig. Then Daryl made us some yummy chicken alfredo and after some digestion and talking we went to bed.

I woke up at 2:30, not being able to sleep. Kind of laid there until 4:15 when the offical alarm went off. Greg was going to go to the race later with David, whose wife was running the marathon as a 3:50 pacer. I was glad he was able to have a spectating buddy and didn't have to get up quite as early.

Paula, Daryl and I headed out the door around 5:00 I think. We got there in plenty of time to find parking, pee, poo, be nervous, and wish each other good luck...all in the dark. Poo-ing in a port-o-john in the dark is not fun. Especially when 5 minutes later you realize the stadium you finish in was open the entire time. Oh well, I suppose the experience counts.

The race started at 7:00. Daryl and I lined up mid-back. Paula was trying for the 4:15/4:30 pace so she went off to find a pacer. The gun went off and we shuffled to the start line. I was actually running by the time we reached the start line, which surprised me for such a large race.

I lost Daryl pretty quickly but was happy to just settle in to my own pace. My first couple of miles were a bit too fast. I took a Hammer Gel at mile 2 and downed some water. I was drinking a lot of water since I was sick. I saw Greg, David and Paula's sister at mile 3. Yay! I was so happy to see them. Then after I passed them I was really disappointed because it would be so long before I saw them again!


















Yay they saw me! Awww... it's gonna be a few more hours...

Mile 4...no water. They had ran out. Hmmm... Mile 6 no water... Panic! Mile 8...barely any water. The race volunteers were running into a building filling jugs and then coming out and pouring while runners who waited with cups passed them under the flowing water. I had another Hammer Gel to take, so I grabbed 2 cups. I downed the one and part of the other. Then I rolled the cup top down a little, folding it, so I could carry it and run without spilling it. I was very nervous they wouldn't have any water for the rest of the race! There was no way I could finish without water.


















Where's the water?!

We were running through a nice neighborhood at this point and some of the residents were standing at the ends of their driveways with hoses. I thanked each one and took some water from one since my belly was revolting from the Hammer Gel. At mile 9, there was water again, and Powerade. I decided I would just take Powerade the rest of the race (if they had it) instead of my last gel because my belly wasn't happy and I didn't know what the aide station liquid status would be anyway.



















Around mile 9.5 - 10 we ran though the University of Akron's campus which was kinda neat. I was starting to fall apart here though. After the freakout of possibly no water and mile 8's extra long water stop, I lost the people I was running with. There were some run-walkers who would pass me, then stop to walk and I'd pass them, then they'd pass me, stop to walk, etc etc. I was enjoying this!! After I lost my "group", I kinda tried to make up time (MISTAKE) and ran fast for a while. Never quite got my heart rate back to normal and started suffering.




















On campus (I think).

Around mile 10, my left knee started throwing a fit. A big twinge and it slightly gave out, so I had to baby it for a while. I was really starting to hurt at this point. I saw Greg and the crew again around mile 10. That really helped! I tried to make a funny face, but it really turned out bad in the photos. I said something like "I"m in pain" and kept trudging on. Next time I'd see them would be in the stadium.




















Hi guys! Ow!!

At mile 11, the half and full marathons split. The full marathon went on to tour Akron, while the half marathon went on a closed down highway. A mile and half of concrete, no spectators (just construction barrels) and a crystal clear view of where you had to run to before you turned around to go back into downtown for the finish. Oh, and did I mention it was all uphill? AWFUL. The only really bad part of the entire race (aside from the water shortage).

There were some volunteers around 12.5 - one lady told me I was looking good.
I told her she was a liar and she laughed but insisted I was doing well. It was funny and I appreciated a little interaction to take my mind off the pain.

Running into the stadium was a lot better than I thought. This was just Akron's AA baseball team's stadium, so it was tiny and not nearly as intimidating as the old Riverfront statdium. I found a wee bit of energy and tried to run a little faster and like I wasn't in pain. It was a very nice finish. And soooo easy to find everyone again!


































Daryl and his cool headband. And he felt good enough to be drinking the free beer they give you.

I grabbed some food and Greg found me at the end of the ramp into the stands. My feet were very swollen so I loosened my shoes and we sat and watched some more of the race. I had Greg bring a soda, as this is my new race recovery drink. I think it helps my sugar/energy levels get back to normal. I've been drinking sunkist or dr. pepper after long runs and feel GREAT right after it!















Mmmmm RC Cola...

Daryl finished his first half in 2:17 which was great. Paula finished around 4:37! Amazing. She had only ran 13.5 miles in training. Crazy girl! My time was somewhere around 2:43, a 12:30 pace which considering all the circumstances, I'm fine with.

Amazingly, all my runs since the race have been sub-11 pace with minimal effort. Finally. I am doing the Mason Mini Marathon in November, which is only 9.3 miles (so funny to say that). I'm hoping to run it around 11:15 pace.

3 Days Until the Half!

I'm about to go out for a nice, sunny run. I haven't ran in a while due to the craziness of work (catching up after the storm) and being extremely sore from a weekend of cutting up two trees.

We're leaving Friday around noon and heading up to Akron. Then we come back to par-tay for Casey and Jannelle's birthdays. I hope the weather is good up there! The forecast looks good- cloudy with a low of 55, high of 72.

10 in the Wind

Ike made for a very difficult 10 mile run today. But now I feel more prepared for the half that is at the end of this month.

I started out late, after eating and relaxing and stretching. It was probably 12:30 or 1:00 when I finally left the house. It was hot in the morning so what did it matter if I ran later? I thought I'd at least eat a good breakfast and wait for my body to wake up.

The good thing (and bad thing it later proved to be on more than one occasion) was it was windy! So that would keep me cool. Yeah.

During the first couple of miles through the neighborhood that attaches to ours via the salt barn path, 4 jets flew over. People were outside looking at them and I began to wonder a bit if something was going on. But then a lady asked me if I saw any Cinergy trucks around – their power was out. So I guess everyone was coming outside to discuss the outage and also noted the jets. (Maybe the jets did a fly over for the Bungles game?) The lady told me there was a wind advisory and we figured that's why their power was out.

After leaving that neighborhood, I did notice the strong wind – especially when I crossed over the highway. When there were pockets of no wind, I desperately begged for it to come back and cool me off. I turned onto Duke Blvd and when the wind did blow, it was a glorious tailwind. The lack of trees made it feel desert-like, but I was feeling great for the most part. I took a gel around 3.5 miles and turned left onto Socialville-Foster, enjoying the wind coming at me from the side. Then I turned right onto Mason-Montgomery to experience the strongest tailwind ever. At times it felt like someone was pushing me along. I took advantage of it the best I could, feeling fast and strong. At mile 5, I turned around.

And then it sucked.

At first it was funny. Ha! Look it's like I'm standing still! But the smile was soon wiped off my face as I struggled to run with the increasingly stronger wind. It became discouraging. Wow, I would have been to the corner already if I still had that tailwind. Then the reality of the effort sank into my muscles and lungs and I had to walk. This is rediculous. I'm never going to get home! And I have at least one more street o' headwind like this! It felt like I had people attached to me, trying to pull me back. Or as if I was going up the longest hill ever.

I probably walked a half mile. Back on Socialville-Foster I had the side wind again to recover with. I wished I had brought money with me to buy a Gatorade, as the now hot water in my fuel belt just wasn't cutting it. I dreaded going back onto Duke Blvd.

On hilly Duke Blvd, the wind gusts were so strong, sometimes I would stand still for a second, mid run. I walked the uphills and even that was hard, as I leaned forward quite a bit into the wind, way over my shoes. And then the nice big downhill I so looked forward to betrayed me. Even on a steepish descent I felt like I was going uphill. Surreal. I did catch some nice water spray from the corporate park retension ponds. The other things I caught were leaves in my face. That hurt.

I made it back to the nieghborhood that is adjacent to ours, and it was a different scene. Now I was hopping and jumping over fallen mini-logs and branches that were all over the streets and sidewalk. About every 5th house had a tree in the front yard that was half-fallen.

Hmmm.

It wasn't until I turned from the salt barn path to our road when I began to think about our house, cars, yard and trees. As I ran through our neighborhood, I saw just how many trees and branches were all over and thought, Our problem tree fell. Then I thought, I hope Greg thought to bring the dogs in. Next thought: What if Dexter and Harley got smashed by a falling tree! Or got out of the yard because it crushed the fence!? (I did know that from the direction of the wind, it wouldn't be falling towards the garage or house, thankfully) Final thought: What if Greg is under the tree!!!!??? I'm glad I didn't start thinking about it until a half mile to go. :)

As soon as I was close, I began looking at the tree lines. About 2 houses away, I thought our tree line looked wrong. Approaching our house, I only counted 2 trees - but maybe they were just blowing together??

I walked in the house and saw the dining room curtain was closed. That gave me the answer. I pulled the curtain open. Tree down. Dogs and Greg safe. Fence broken. Neighbors yard full of our tree. (Pictures coming soon...)

Our tree also took out another tree (not sure whose tree it is/was) that was dead. And a huge limb the size of tree itself fell off our former middle tree.

It definitely could have been worse (see above rambling thoughts). It was a tree we were planning to take down this fall after the leaves were gone, but Monther Nature sped up that process for us.

The carnage through our neighborhood was plentiful, as well as the houses along the drive to Loveland. We drove to my studio after the winds subsided. On the way we saw a tree that had completely come out of the ground, taking a huge patch of land with it, and had landed on top of the house. Bad.

We only lost power for a few hours, while it seems most of the city is still without. We saw on the news we were having 25 - 30 mph winds with gusts around 60 mph. No wonder the leaves, small pebbles and especially straw hurt when it hit my legs and face!

Back to those 10 miles... Thanks to Hurricane Ike, they weren't pretty. However, I feel like I am more prepared for 13.1. It was certainly good conditioning - mental and physical. In Akron at the end of September it should be cooler. And there hopefully won't be a hurricane aftermath to fight on race morning!

I'm Registered!

I'm officially registered for the Akron Half Marathon now. Yay! I'm very excited. Check out the map!

















I read the course description, which was all sounding very nice: not too many monsterous hills, plenty-o-aid stations, spots for Greg to spectate if he can go. But then I read the description of the finish.

For both the marathon and half-marathon, the finish is what they call an "Olympic style" finish. You end up running into a baseball stadium full of people, and run straight across the outfield to the finish at 2nd base. Baseball stadium full of people. Just what I don't want at the end of a race.

That may sound crazy to some. What's wrong with crowd support and people to cheer for you, right? Well, the last time I ran into a stadium to finish a race, I nearly passed out and had to be aided by the medical team. It was a hot day and I got so overly-excited when I ran into the Reds stadium, I couldn't even feel my body anymore. Apparently I pushed a just a bit to hard. After crossing the finish line, I plopped down on the ground. Then the medical people found me and dumped water on me so icy I couldn't breath. So, though only a single experience, it is a permanent bad racing memory. In addition, I also tend to get a little bit emotional at the end of half marathons. It's long! And hard! And you're so proud of yourself when you finish! And everyone is so happy and trying so hard... I can't even watch the trailer for Spirit of the Marathon without getting a lump in my throat. So, combine an already emotional day made overly dramatic by finishing in a stadium with everyone witnessing it and that equals an icky pit in my stomach.

The up side is now I know. Perhaps I can prepare myself for the stage fright inducing finish. Here's to not puking in front of 9,000 people.

A Sunny Eight!

Yay I ran 8!

This Saturday was a beautiful, sunny and breezy day. I decided I'd try again to run 8 miles and get somewhere with this half marathon training. Last week's attempt was not good. This time I just ran from the house to the end of the street, which is a half mile, and then back...8 times!

My first mile was waaaay too fast. But then I slowed down for the following miles. After each mile, I walked down the driveway and sipped some water, then walked back to the street to start the next mile. I think this is how I'm going to have to get through this half marathon... lots of breaks.

Unfortunately, I was extremely wiped out after I finished the last steps of the 8th mile. I was hoping to finish and feel like I could run more, but there was no way. I laid down on the floor and was in pain. It took a few hours, but after throwing around a Frisbee at a picnic, I was finally loosened up again. I definitely need new shoes pronto.

The plan is to do 10 (11 if for some miraculous reason I felt good after 10) some time next weekend. Then that's it until the 13.1 on race day. It should be fine as long as my body holds up between now and then. Not planning to worry about times– just want to complete the distance and get the "haven't ran a half marathon in over 2 years" monkey off my back.

Speedy on the Trail

It's been warmer and humid outside again. I'm reminded of that as I sit in my studio drinking hot coffee and am getting a bit warm! Time to use my remote for my a/c unit and bump that air up (er... down I guess)! I'd hate to have to walk the 3 steps to the actual unit and adjust it the old fashioned way.

Last night after work I went to the shady bike trail to run. I warmed up, then did 1/4 mile repeats - 5 of them. Tried to stay at the same pace for each one, and I did. The last one was definitely hard, and the jog back to the studio felt heavy, but overall it was a great workout in the shade.







I need to do more Speedy Gonzales workouts to get faster. I am not speedy. I am Slowpoke Rodriguez.












At SFT we DDR'd... so more fun exercise!

Bob Roncker's bought out or is now in place of the Runner's Depot in Loveland. It doesn't surprise me - the Depot wasn't much of a shop. I've never been in a running store without seeing tons of runners in it, either getting ready to run together or just having come back from a run...except for this one. I'll have to see if they do any group runs from the store - would be nice and convenient since I'm a half mile away. And I also need to check out the newly expanded Cycle Sport. See if they have anything fun going on this winter.

Wow this post is full of links!

A Sunny Seven Point Two

This weekend, I drove out to Miami Whitewater Park to run the outer loop there, which I thought was 7.8 (according to The Interwebs), ended up being 7.6 (according to their sign), but didn't matter because I think I only ran about 7 - 7.2. So much for 8.

I felt OK in the first 3 miles. There was a smidgen of shade in the beginning. Then, the trail basically became a steady repetition of sun and hills, surrounded by ragweed and other various Nature. I was happy to take my gel at the 4 mile mark. After that, I never felt too great again. Hot, yes. Hotter and hotter and hotter as the sun baked me. I had motivation to get the run over with, since I was sure I was slowly frying out there in the sun, but just couldn't find the oomph.

The trail is nice – a curvy, rolling path that makes you feel like you're not really anywhere in particular. But its snaking shape through the fields and constant change in elevation also prohibits you from seeing where the heck you're going. So even though I vainly scouted for an upcoming batch of trees every time I crested a hill, I never saw any. But that's because there weren't any. I kept pulling my tank top up and back to save the chest from a nasty burn.

In the last mile of the trail, I stopped to walk. I tried running again, but it was a pitiful shuffle. So I just tried to speed walk. After I got back to my car, I grabbed my wallet and bought a Pepsi at the concession stand. I find when I'm exhausted after a run, I really need the bad-for-you sugar boost found in colas. I stretched a little and got in the car for the half hour drive home.

It wasn't awful...I mean I at least moved for an hour and 30 minutes. Today I am a little burned (though it's getting better) and just slightly sore. I'm hoping to hop on the bike in the morning now that we have Raid and I can fend off the creepy spider that made a web in my trainer. (Supposedly it's gone, but I need the bug spray for the nail in the coffin.)

Squirrels and Upgrades!

The squirrels were everywhere this morning. EVERYWHERE!!!









On my short 2.5 mile run, I saw somewhere between 10 - 15 squirrels...many dangerously crossing the road. Most were foraging in the grass and then hopping up to trees. I don't know if you can tell anything from what the winter is supposed to be like from the squirrels, but they were definitely active. I wonder if the squirrels that live in the nicer neighborhoods have nicer nuts. Gourmet nuts... that come already roasted.

And on a complete separate note, I FINALLY upgraded my design programs.

After much frustration on not being able to uninstall CS2 that~ eh hem~ came with the computer, I ended up talking to Adobe Customer Support for an hour as we cleaned out anything CS from my machine. Then low and behold, I was finally able to install CS3. And I've successfully opened Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. We'll just see what bugs I come across tomorrow, all in time for a huge rush project for my infamous Client NoTimeline. Most importantly, begging agencies to save down their files again after I already asked and feeling like I'm a big pest is finally over. Right now the Adobe updater is running, and things like "Patch Device Central" drives keep mounting to my desktop then disappearing. I have faith in the Adobe gods. I'm already for CS4, whenever that one comes out. Bring it. Cha ching.

Lately

I've been running well and feeling stronger, post food poisoning. I know it sounds crazy, but I didn't just bounce back from that. Maybe 5 years ago I would have.

Last Friday I went to Deerfield Park to run the paved lap trail that is new. It's 1.5 miles so I was going to do just 2 laps and see how I felt. It was hot and muggy, so I thought maybe I'd try the trail in the woods instead. Greg and I used to mountain bike there, and I remember it being fun. I only spent a mile in the woods before I figured it wasn't a safe idea and was back out on the path to do a hot muggy loop. The trail in the woods is awesome though- very hilly and fun, always have to watch the ground. It took me back to the mountain biking days. I told Greg how fun it was and he said we'd both go in the spring. See, my goal is to be at a pace that Greg can run with by springtime. Still won't be his pace, but it won't be so painfully slow that he could WALK and keep up with me! :) At the end when I was walking to my car, I saw these HUGE bugs dead on the pavement.











By huge I mean at least 2 inches long. It was like a movie- they were huge and as I kept walking I saw more and more... Right about the time I thought I wouldn't want to meet one of those alive, I looked up and there were about 4 in the air. One flew at my head. I ran to the car and fumbled to unlock it so I could get in as the thing followed me. Turns out they are Cicada Killer Wasps, and supposedly are harmless to humans unless provoked (grabbed, stepped on etc) but I was too freaked out to find out.

I didn't run over the weekend, but we did some yard work. Last night I ran about 4 miles and felt pretty good. My GPS kept going in an out though, so I'm not sure what my pace was. I know that I felt really great the first 2 miles, then felt like it was difficult the second 2 to keep up the pace, but I did. I have found lately that I'm not liking out-and-backs. I have always preferred a loop and once I determined I could in fact do a loop of sorts from my house, now that's all I want to do. It's mental. This weekend I think I'll drive out to Miami Whitewater which has an 8 mile loop and do that. Though it is flat and I like to do the long runs on flat surfaces, I'm so tired of the bike trail. I'm also tired of not having a running partner. Maybe I should drag the chunky Dexter-dog outside once in a while!

Nothing to See Here

I've decided that my blog is a bit boring. So I'm going to try to take more pictures to liven it up...which will also get me taking more pictures (which is fun, though a photographer I do not claim to be).

I have nothing to say right now, but for the sake of having something to look at...
Here's a random pic of a baby Starling that was in our front boxwood one day when I came home.














And here's baby Dexter, a few weeks aftere we got him (taken by Dad at Thanksgiving). Aw, the memories...

Staycation is Over

Vacation week is over. Now it's back to work and routine.

Some highlights:

Bodies Exhibit was awesome. Very interesting. A must see. Kinda gross, but more fascinating than anything. Proof that a 3-D look at things makes a big impact.

Garage - is CLEAN! Yay!

"Basement"- is ORGANIZED! Yay again! The bike is all set up on the trainer and you can walk freely to everything in the room.

Food Poisoning - SUCKS! Had it Wednesday night. No yay for this one. Chicken Scampii at the Olive Garden wreaked havoc on the GI tract. Without sharing too many details: both ends, up all night, chills and hot flashes, headache, dehydration, severe stomach cramping and pain... I'd rather have the flu. Was finally feeling normal Saturday...3 days later.

Running - Due to the food poisoning, that didn't happen as planned. Really a bummer since the weather was in the cool 80's all week too. I ran Tuesday in the rain (storming) for 6 miles and that has been the last time. Will try to run tonight, taking it easy. I know I'm all recovered inside, but get tired quick still. And this is my first full day back to work, so I might need a nap!

Food poisoning aside, it was a great time off. Good to spend time with Greg and just relax with the dogs. I think they were a little upset this morning, after figuring out that I was leaving. They kept following me and would sit down, looking at me. (I think they conspire with these "sad puppy" looks they do.) I feel refreshed. Maybe I can do this again in another month! :)