Be awesome instead

So, Mother Nature is making training pretty tough this winter and with several inches of snow on the ground and no sidewalks or paths clear to run on , the forecast for last weekend called for 8-12 MORE inches.  As if that wasn't bad enough, work was extra stressful last week.  Office politics combined with incompetence of others and frustration with workload equaled a coworker taking their stress and frustration out on the next person to talk to them - ME.  I'm a big girl and I have been insulted before, but this came from someone I thought was a friend so it was particularly hurtful and upsetting.  I went on with my work and decided to be the more mature person and resisted the urge to respond.  Instead I dealt with it the only way I know how, I went for a run afterwork.

I ran 6 miles along the Charles.  It was ridiculously windy and I told myself the wind in my face was responsible for the tears that formed in my eyes, not the sting of the painful words thrown at me earlier.  It didn't matter at the end of my run, I felt better.  My mind was cleared.  The heavy feeling on my heart was lifted.  The wounds of the day will take time to heal, but I am confident, strong, and successful and I have overcome obstacles far greater than meaningless immature words used in anger.

Friday, the awkward aftermath of the exchange the day before hung in the air, but it didn't stop me from being very productive and continuing to kill it and get stuff done.  After work, I decided to treat myself to a little retail therapy.  The zipper on my favorite jeans broke in the morning, they are the jeans I bought when I first lost 100lbs., so they are kind of old and I am overdue for a new pair.  I headed to the mall straight from work.  First stop was Lululemon, dropped about $100 on a new running top and some crops (both on sale).  Then I went to Express to find new jeans.  They don't make the same pair I had, so I tried on every style they make in various cuts, colors, sizes.  Finally, found 3 pairs that fit like a glove and got a great deal - two pairs were buy one get one 50% off, that other pair was on clearance for $20!  All the trying stuff on made me hungry so I had to stop at Trader Joes on the way home to get snacks. 

Saturday morning I got up to do my long run, the snow was suppose to start later in the day/evening so I wanted to get my miles in before it got gross out.  I was on my own and in no rush really so I just took my time getting ready, sipping my tea and eating a little breakfast.  I stepped out the door to Eminem's 'Til I Collapse' pumping me up and motivating me for a good solid run.  Started out nice and easy, 12 miles on the plan, no need to sprint out.  I started thinking and reflecting on my training and race performances recently and just wishing that I could get back to my 4:30 marathon pace.  First three miles were a warm up and included my favorite big mile long hill, so I averaged around a 10:30 pace.  Then I settled into a comfortable rhythm and ignored my garmin and just ran.

It was cold out, but the sun was bright and warmed me.  I took my first gel around 4.5 miles and felt really good.  Legs were working hard, heart and lungs pumping in perfect harmony.  Took my second gel around 8.5 miles and hit the home stretch of the run.  Focused and completely calmed by the beat of my heart and my feet hitting the pavement, I looked up and just ahead of me there was a family of 4 deer slowly crossing the road right in front of me.  There was something so peaceful and beautiful about it that it brought tears to my eyes.  Moments like that remind me why I love long runs on back roads.  I see the most amazing things that no one else gets to see and other people might take for granted if they did see it.  Time stops, it's just me and the road and the sound of my breathe and the beat of my heart and the simple beauty of another creature out enjoying the crisp morning air.

I did the math in my head and realized my 12 mile run was going to be closer to 13 miles, on a bad day this would have been devastating, but on this day it was totally fine. I powered on and picked up my pace, determined to finish strong.  13.25 miles done, average pace 10:15 - just below a 4:30 marathon pace (10:18).  Hopefully, I can keep it up and run a great race in Big Sur. 

I celebrated the strong run with friends at a wine tasting in New Hampshire.  It was hosted by a friend and former colleague and many of the attendees were former colleagues that I hadn't seen in years.  It was really great to catch up with everyone and enjoy some delicious wines and cheeses too.  I had a great time talking and hanging out with everyone.  Many laughs and long stories later, it was 9:00pm!  Considering the wine tasting started at 3:00pm, I was impressed I was even still awake.  I drove home and the snow was starting to come down, but not nearly as heavy as predicted.

Sunday I spent the day relaxing on the couch and doing laundry.  We got a dusting of snow, but it mostly turned to rain and slush, not enough accumulate, just enough to make a mess.  I went to the grocery store and ran some errands, but pretty much spent the majority of the day in my PJs watching movies.  Finshed out the weekend completely relaxed and refreshed, ready to take on another week at work.

OH, I have been so busy I almost totally forgot all the other things I have worked on accomplishing outside of work and running.  I'm trying to chip away at my 'to-do' list this year and check off as many things as possible.  So, I bought a slack line so that when the snow melts I can try 'funambulism' - aka tight rope walking.  I registered for Boston Trapeze School class in a few weeks.  And I purchased a glass blowing class deal.  I'm also working on trying to get a ride along with the Andover Fire Dept. in exchange for winning the bet at the Stair Climb a few weeks back.  That's on my list too.  I'll have to remember to take pictures of all these adventures so I can post them.

Blizzards suck

Ok, so it's been two weeks since my last update and we've got over two feet of snow in the area.  After the stair climb I was all ready and motivated to start getting serious about my training for Big Sur, then the blizzard of 2013 (aka - Nemo, yes they named the storm) happened.  It started on Friday February 8th and snowed straight through Saturday evening.  I measured 18 inches at 6am Saturday and I'm pretty sure we got at least another 6 inches after that.  Kind of ruined my plan to run 10 miles.

There was actually a driving ban in place from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon to let the plows clear the roads so I probably could have run right in the middle of the roads with my yaktrax, but I've already been hit by a garbage truck, I didn't want to add plow truck to the list.  I gave up completely and accepted the idea that I would not run at all that weekend.  Luckily, I had a back up plan, on my way home from work Thursday night I stopped at REI and bought myself some snow shoes.  I've been meaning to try it out for a while.  It's on my "to-do" list so I figured with a record breaking storm on the way, why not take advantage and try something new in the crappy running conditions.

Friday I stayed home from work to avoid the roads and the possibility of being stranded on 93N in my car (did that in college one February because my alternator died, it was NOT fun).  I parked my car overnight in a nearby garage to keep the road clear and to try and save myself the effort of clearing a mountain fo snow from my car.  So, snowed in, bored, couldn't run, I decided to start cooking and baking.  I had a ton of frozen super ripe bananas in the freezer so banana nut muffins were first.  In the morning before it started snowing, I went to breakfast with my Massachusetts parents - Ann and Jack.  Jack works for the town next to mine and would be driving a plow for the next 36-48hrs.  I gave him the first batch of muffins, still warm right out of the oven.

After breakfast I continued to bake and cook.  Cleaned my house a little.  Watched some movies.  Read a book.  Did laundry and dishes.  I guess snow storms make me extremely productive.  I had made about 4 dozen muffins and given the first batch to Jack.  Then as if they read my mind (or someone called them) the Lowell Fire Dept. showed up outside my house.  They were responding to one of my neighbors, I think their carbon monoxide detector went off.  Anyway, they were in and out pretty quick, but not before I slipped my boots on and brought them a bunch of the freshly baked banana nut muffins.  I told them I was going to walk them downtown to them, but they saved me the trip.  They were extremely appreciative and even honked and waved as they pulled away.  Mission "feed the emergency crews for the blizzard" - accomplished!

Later in the evening, my neighbor Annie came over and we hung out drank some wine and chatted.  We were both home alone so it was nice to catch up and have someone to hang with in case we lost power.  I went to bed before the storm got really bad, I think there was only 4-5 inches on the ground.  Then when I woke up Saturday there was 18 inches.  I had to push the snow drift away from my front door and shovel off my porch to get a broom stick into the level section of snow in front of my porch to measure.  I thought for sure it would have been closer to 2 feet, but it was still snowing really hard so, 18 inches was enough.  One of my neighbors works for the city and he had just come in to rest after plowing all night so I got dressed and went outside to clear a path for him in case he had to go back out.  And as much as I hate my neighbor upstairs from me and his dog, I thought about the poor animal getting up in the morning and having to pee, so I shoveled a path for him too.  Shoveling that little section of path took me a good solid hour.
I went in ate breakfast, dried my clothes and continued to bake.  Made brownies and cookies and more muffins.  By mid-day, snow was still coming down, but not nearly as heavily as earlier.  Time to try out my new snow shoes.  I grabbed a back pack from my closet and loaded it up with all the baked goods I had made.  Layered up warm clothes and put my boots on, then headed out on a little adventure.  Snowbanks were easily 5 feet tall, streets were not totally clear, sidewalks were covered in 2 feet of snow, and with no cars or people out really it was really quiet and peaceful.  I made my way downtown to deliver my treats to the police station.  Some people were venturing out to start the process of shoveling out their cars or driveways.  Some people were walking around just surveying the massive amounts of snow everywhere.  For the most part, downtown Lowell was a ghost town:

The police station is a little over a mile from my house, I made it there and back in under an hour.  I didn't really keep track of the time I spent getting my snowshoes on and off or how much time I spent unloading my baked goods at the police station and chatting with the officer (that I think I woke up when I walked in).  It was definitely a good work out though.  I was drenched when I got home and my legs were a little sore.  I got some lunch and then it was time to start shoveling. 

Even though I emailed and called all the people that live in my condo building and told them to park in the FREE garage, the idiot upstairs and his wife still left their cars on the street.  And there were a few other random cars parked in front of our building just to make the road a huge friggin mess for everyone to deal with.  One side of the street was almost completely cleared by the plows, but the other side was a mess.  People got out lawn chairs and tables and step stools and random items to save their shoveled out spaces in the street.  My idiot neighbor neatly snowblowed his car and his wifes car and left the rest of the street a huge mess.  So, because I'm nice and thinking of the other residents and of course my own car that would have no place to park, I started to clear the remaining snow in the street.  One of the random cars parked in front of our condo left this giant mountain fo snow behind when they left:

I worked for about 4 hours to move it off the street and clear the road so that someone could use the space to park.  One shovel full at a time, I moved a mountain.  I had a little help from my neighbor's grandson, but he mostly complained the whole time about how big the pile was and how impossible the task was.  I just kept shoveling and assured him it would get done, it might take time and effort, but it would get done.  And finally around 7pm.  We had cleared the road:

Needless to say I was exhausted and really sore the following day so I spent the entire day on the couch.  I didn't even go grocery shopping.  I did absolutely nothing.  Which was probably good because the week ahead at work was going to be pretty busy and very stressful.    After being snowed in for three days I was actually happy to go back to work, but we were having an audit and I was the scribe for the week so that meant I had to take the daily notes and try to keep up with my regular responsibilities too.  I worked 12 hours each day Monday through Thursday, then we wrapped up early Friday and I left before lunch.  I hadn't run in almost 2 weeks.  I made plans to do a long run the next day with Kim so I used my free afternoon to do some shopping.  I got my tax return and I've been eyeing a buffet table at IKEA for my dining room/accomplishment wall/craft storage space.  I went straight from work to IKEA, then home to assemble my purchase.

Looks good right?  All my scrapbook stuff and race photos neatly stored in the cabinet and vegan/vegetarian cookbooks on top, then shadow boxes and race certificates displayed above.

Saturday, it was snowing AGAIN!  Kim and I delayed the start of our long run hoping the snow would stop.  It took a break just long enough for us to get in a strong 10 miler.  Along the way somewhere in Ayer or Shirley we met up with this guy out for an 18 mile training run for Boston and started chatting.  We ran about 6 miles with him and learned he also worked in the biotech industry in Cambridge.  We had run a few of the same races and turns out he has an Ultra team for the Reach the Beach relay in Massachusetts and needs a few more runners.  So we exchanged emails mid-run and just like that I'm signed up for an ultra relay.

Anyway, after the run, I headed home and it started snowing MORE.  We got about another 6 inches.  It was a long weekend and I could have run again, but instead I relaxed, napped, baked a little more, made some vegan lasagna, watched a movie and then Monday went to my favorite running store Whirlaway Sports Center in Methuen and got some new shoes.  Got some new underarmor tights and a free book, because I guess I won some online contest. 

Back to work Tuesday and I even squeezed in a short 5 mile run after work.  I brought my gear to run again today because according to the forecast, we may get another storm this weekend.  Mother Nature is really making it challenging to train for a marathon right now.  I have a 12 miler on the plan for the weekend.  Could be dangerous and I will most likely be running in the road with reflective gear on, but as long as we do not get a significant amount of snow I should be ok.  Oh and then I have a 3 mile race Sunday.  Almost forgot about that.  67 days til the marathon (87 days til the ultra relay).

A little disappointed, but moving on

Last weekend was the Race Up Boston Place stair climb.  I was registered to climb twice again.  I got my start times emailed to me Thursday and I knew it was going to be rough.  I had about 10 minutes between start times.  My first climb at 9:32 and my second climb at 9:41.  It took me 8:30 to do the climb last year and I was in better shape and did a little training for it.  This year I had no training and a little extra weight to carry up the stairs.  I figured I would do the best I could and just see how it went. 

Friday after work I went for acupuncture and facial rejuvenation.  A little pampering and preparation for the big day ahead.  It was nice as usual and I had a few magnets strategically placed on points for lung capacity just for a little extra help.  Got to sleep early and tried to rest.

Saturday morning I got up, had some tea and breakfast, and headed to Fit Lifestyle Studios to meet up with one of the two teams I was climbing with.  I think if they had a trophy for best looking team we would win it:

I'm in the middle wearing the running skirt.  It was freezing cold out, but I wanted to look cute.

Drove to the financial district in Boston and parked next to the building we were about to scale.  41 floors, 82 flights, 789 steps - and I was doing it TWICE! I must be crazy.  But my answer to anyone that asked me "Why would you want to do this twice?" was simple, life is short.  I want to cram it full of crazy fun challenging experiences and not waste a single minute.  I think I do a pretty good job of accomplishing that, but I want to try harder in 2013 and really get a lot done.

I got my bib numbers, which was a little confusing considering I was on the list twice with two different numbers, start times, team names.  Eventually the volunteer got it and pulled both numbers for me.  I went up to the lobby and pulled a sign out of my bag so that the rest of my team could locate me.  I knew half of the members, but the other half were from different parts of my company and I had never met them.  One of the girls I know was standing with me and noticed there was another group of people standing nearby with sequential numbers right after ours.  BINGO!  The rest of our team!

So, a lot of the teams that do the stair climb have matching shirts made up for the event.  That's expensive!  I can't afford to buy everyone a shirt.  I came up with an alternate idea.  I found stick on mustaches at target and thought that would make for a great team photo.  We all put them on and put our game faces on and in an effort to intimidate the competition here is what we looked like, pretty bad ass if you ask me.  Hahaha

8 of the 10 team members were first timers so I tried to give them a little pep talk before the start and tell them to start slow and just keep going.  Before we knew it, it was time to go.  I checked my bag and got in line.  I got to the front and the woman told me to go.  I started out and right away it felt harder than I remembered.  I looked up and saw that I was only on the 3rd floor and I was already dying.  Pushed through it and just kept moving.  Got to the first water stop on the 16th floor and saw people stopping, my chance to pass them.  Kept climbing up and up and up.  Volunteers in the stairwells this year were a lot more enthusiastic and pretty great.  There was a guy on the 23rd floor giving high fives!  AWESOME.  Water stop at 28th floor, pass, kept going.  Before I knew it I was at 30 and then 35 and 40! The girl at 40 was pretty annoying.  She had one of those clacker things and was just making noise and not cheering.  FINALLY, made it to the top.  Bypassed the water and headed straight for the elevator to get downstairs to go again.

I almost forgot to pass in my timing chip before I got on the elevator.  I got to the lobby and got right behind the next person to go.  Still hacking and breathing hard.  Time to go again.  The timing woman started to do her little speech about when to go and what to do and then realized she had already seen me.  And off I went to climb again.  OH. MY. GOD.  It was so much harder without any recovery inbetween.  Holy crap.  I was instantly spent and dying.  I made it to the top again, but it took me a lot longer.  My official finish times were 9:21 and 11:17.  A lot slower than last year.  Guess I should have actually trained for it.  Oh well.  It was fun.  Here is Team One More Flight at the top inbetween coughing fits:

A few of us went for brunch afterwards and stopped along the way for a cupcake at Sweet.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I told the guy he should offer a deal to the people that climbed because he would make a killing.  I had a buttermilk pancake cupcake with blueberry preserves and maple infused buttercream frosting!  That counts as breakfast right?  It was so yummy.  I got his contact info so that we could make arrangements for some sort of deal next year.

After brunch, we went back over to the building to watch the fire fighters climb and hopefully to watch Portland Fire defend their title.  It always amazes me to watch all of the fire departments climbing in about 50lbs. of gear.  It's hard enough without the extra weight.  And a lot of them climbed faster than me!!!  Super impressive.  I was tempted again to climb in gear, but after disappointing times in the morning without gear I decided against it.  Maybe next year.

After Portland and Andover finished climbing, we hung out for a little bit and then made our way over to the bar for the after party.  I don't drink much, but the beers tasted pretty good after shredding my lungs all morning.  We ended up drinking with my friend's husband and Andover Fire dept.  I won the bet I had with him, Portland Fire beat them by an average pace 20 seconds faster.  Although they did have the fastest fire fighter overall on their team.  That made me a little nervous as they were reading the results, but I knew PFD wouldn't let me down.

The rest of the night is kind of a blur.  There were shots ordered, drinking from the fastest fire fighter trophy, moved to a different bar, got hard cider in a free frosted glass, then someone suggested another bar and as we made our way there we got separated and while trying to figure out how to get to the bar we met this very well dressed man in a cowboy hat who happened to have a limo and he offered to give us a ride FOR FREE.  We made it to the next bar and in case no one believed us about the free limo ride we took a picture:

We finished off the night with some dancing and very expensive appetizers.  I paid the tab and apparently it included some drinks that I didn't know I was paying for.  Oh well.  Grabbed a cab to the parking garage, which turned out to be the wrong one and we had to walk a ways to the right one which wasn't the one MY car was in so the group gave me a ride to the one my car was in and I eventually made it home around midnight just before I turned into a pumpkin, just kidding.  Needless to say Sunday I was complete junk.  Spent the day on the couch drinking lemon ginger tea with honey.

 
Monday I kicked off the week with a 6 mile run along the Charles and Tuesday I did a deck of cards workout at home (Hearts= squats, Diamonds=dips, Clubs=burpees, Spades=Sit ups). Each number card is it's value, face cards are 10, aces are 16.  Going through the whole deck equals 100 of each exercise.  I was dripping sweat by the time I finished.  Time to get serious about my training and get back on track.  FOCUS!  About 80 days til Big Sur and then it will be triathlon season before I know it.  Enough of this being lazy BS, I'll rest when I'm dead.  hahaha

90 days until Big Sur

I sort of lost motivation after Goofy and took some much needed time off from running.  12 marathons in a little over 4 years, I think I earned a break.  Plus, New England has been stuck in a deep freeze for about a week.  I still prefer this over hot and humid, but it does make it REALLY hard to step out the door and go for a run when the couch and my pajamas are so cozy and comfy.

So, anyway, since Goofy I haven't done much.  I went to my acupuncturist the Tuesday after I got back.  She is seriously a magician.  She did micro-electrical current treatment on my legs and pretty much erased all muscle soreness.  It was amazing.  I mean I know I didn't run as fast or as hard as I have in previous marathons, but I was still sore.  She fixed me right up and reduced the recovery time for me for sure.

The weekend after Goofy I did a nice easy 6 mile run with Kim and Ryann.  Technically, I had zero miles on my plan, but it was ridiculously windy and we were barely moving so it was kind of closer to a long walk than and short run.  Sunday, I decided to be lazy and stay in my PJs.  I made some lentil soup and relaxed.  I continued that pattern for the week, partly because I had a Dentist appointment and because it got ridiculously cold out, like single digits and dangerously low wind chills cold.  I call it "tourettes cold" because it's so cold out that as soon as you walk out the door you start swearing.

Work was a little crazy after I got back from Florida.  I had a mountain of work that had piled up from the end of the year and I had lots of meetings for beginning of the year goal setting.  It was overwhelming and on top of that there were some organization changes announced too.  My boss took a new position within the company, I absorbed all of his responsibilities, and my role got added to another group with various areas of expertise that I've always been interested in learning more about.  All really great opportunites for my boss and me to grow and develop, but a lot to digest and deal with after coming back from running a marathon and a half.  It was exciting and stressful all at the same time.

I'm really looking forward to being part of a team.  My role has been kind of isolated up til now.  I work with a lot of different groups, but I'm not PART of any group.  Anyway, last week there were a lot of meetings to discuss transitions and whatnot and I'm still working on my mountain in the meantime.  I had to facilitate a pretty big meeting with all the Vice Presidents and Directors to talk about priorities and goals and the discussions got a little heated at times with me stuck in the middle.  I went home after that LONG day and had TWO glasses of wine with my dinner.  I normally don't drink at all.  I probably should have just gone for a run.  The next day there were a lot of emails flying around about the meeting and information people needed to gather and present for the next meeting, some constructive and helpful others less so, all directed at me. 

Thursday, I had planned on going for a run after work.  And I really should have because I was wicked stressed out from work.  I even brought my running gear with me, but when I looked at the weather app on my phone and it said something like 7 degrees, but "feels -13 degrees" I decided another rest day might be better.  I ended up just going to visit with my friend Jenine's daughters and telling them all about Disney and showing them my medals before meeting a friend later for some really cools plans.  We had registered for a 'Zombie Preparedness' class at the local REI.  It sounded interesting and we hadn't hung out in a while so we signed up.  It was pretty cheesy, but entertaining. 

Friday work went by really fast.  I had a few meetings and scrambled to get information together for everyone that was requesting it and then went out to lunch with my new group.  After lunch, one of the VPs came over to my desk and asked me to add a few more columns to the table of info I had created, then said "just kidding, it's perfect!"  Totally made my week.  I had been working so hard and trying to please everyone and not overload them with useless info so we can all make informed decisions and finally someone recognized my efforts.  It felt really great.

I kick started my motivation and momentum to get my butt off the couch over the weekend.  Saturday morning it was really cold out AGAIN, but I was determined to get out there and get in some miles.  I took my time getting ready, drank some tea, made some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, watched some TV, then Beverly Hills Cop came on and I realized it was a marathon of back to back to back movies and I was going to get sucked into it.  So I had to get out before I was stuck watching the Eddie Murphy movie marathon.  I had a REAL marathon to train for.  It was really cold, but I have run in single digits before.  The roads were clear and the sun was out so it was actually a really great day aside from the wind and the temperature.  I did my favorite 7 mile loop and got home, warmed up and showered just in time for Beverly Hills Cop 2 to start.

Sunday, I got up and moving a little faster and decided to do the same loop and add on if I felt good.  I felt great so I added an extra mile and made it 8.  Perfect start to my Big Sur training.  Easing into it with some shorter long runs.  I know they will quickly climb into the distances that I love the most 14, 16, and 18 milers.  But for now while it's painfully cold outside I'm ok with getting my miles in and done in a shorter time frame than the longer miles require.

Speaking of climbing, next weekend it the Fight for Air stair climb in Boston. I'll be running up 789 steps, 41 floors, 82 flights - TWICE! Maybe 3 times if I feel like it.

Click here to donate to my fundraising page: Fight for Air Climb

Goofy #3 - I DID IT!

Leading up to the weekend I was a little less than thrilled about the weather forecast and getting nervous about how the race would go and unsure of the travel arrangements and group I was meeting down there.  Still not feeling 100% after the whole Plantar Fasciitis issue in the fall and struggling with my pace and just feeling off lately.  I ran a short easy 6 miles the Saturday before Disney and after that I did nothing.  Well, technically I was super busy and just didn't have time to run before I flew south.  Sunday I cleaned my house and did laundry.  Monday I had to do a last minute trip to Target to get travel sized stuff.  Tuesday night I had dinner plans with some former colleagues.  Wednesday I had to pack and Thursday I left for Florida.

Wednesday and Thursday the nerves and anxiety started.  Happens before all my big races.  Not sure if it's more travel anxiety or race related.  Either way, it's sucks.  I packed and unpacked and repacked my bag several times to make sure I had everything I needed.  This was my 12th marathon, you'd think I would be pretty good at this by now, but I still freak out.  I slept pretty good Wednesday night, only woke once in the middle of the night to the sound of my cat Slim purring like a diesel engine next to my head.  Thursday morning I got up and ate breakfast, had some tea, watched the Today show and waited for Kim to pick me up and take me to the airport.

My flight was a little late, but it worked out great because the group I was meeting down there took a later flight and arrived early so I didn't end up hanging out in the airport too long.  We got their luggage and the rental car and headed to the hotel.  The first night we only had a one bedroom suite and 4 people so I volunteered for the floor since I was the last addition to the group and it was just temporary so I didn't really mind.  The whole weekend was only costing me about $100 so I was not picky as long as I had people to hang with and reduced cost for the trip.

Friday morning I woke up EARLY.  No one else was awake and I didn't want to wake them so I went out onto our balcony and read a book.  Eventually, everyone was up and SLOWLY they got ready and we made our way to the expo.  It was such an adjustment for me being in Disney with a different group than previous years.  The usual crew had all bailed on me for various reasons before the race - injury, budget, family obligations, etc.  So I had to scramble to find alternate people to hang with for the weekend.  I met Andy while training with Dana Farber for the Boston Marathon, he was going with his girlfriend Kit and her friend Denise.  First big difference with this group was, unlike Jason the Disney pro, they didn't know where anything was and it took what felt like forever to get going and get to a destination because there was a lot of discussion and then programming a GPS and waiting for it to find a route and then time for the driver to familiarize themselves with the roads.

We made it to the expo.  This being my 4th time running in Disney World, I knew the drill, I knew where to go and what we needed.  Waiver, ID, etc. The rest of the group stumbled around a little new to the experience, not nearly as smooth, a few minor issues with packet pick up and then we made it to the giant health and fitness expo.  Everyone had phones and each other's numbers, but at first they tried to stay together.  4 people in a runner's paradise, shiny new products everywhere, different interests at every turn, thousands of other runners and their friends and family members, it is nearly impossible to stick together.  So, I broke off from the group and said we could find each other later.

After a few hours, I had enough and I found Denise.  Andy and Kit were still looking around.  Denise and I went outside and got cupcakes from a food truck - YUM!  We all gathered and decided it was time to get some lunch.  I suggested Downtown Disney because there are multiple options and lots to look at.  We walked around making our way to the sandwich shop, then after we ate we shopped a little before going back towards the hotel with a pit stop at the grocery store for dinner supplies.  That was an adventure in itself.  Newbies Andy and Kit were thinking grand elaborate meals with multiple ingredients and complicated cooking.  With Denise's assistance, I steered them to a simpler suggestion - Pasta, salad, and garlic bread.  When you are only staying for a short time you don't want to buy things you will have to throw out.  So, sauce in a jar and a box of pasta is the way to go.

On our way back to the hotel we got new room keys and an additional room.  Looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed we opened the door to the adjoining room and found one king sized bed NOT two standard beds.  :(  So, I took the sleeper sofa.  We prepared dinner, ate, and went to bed early since we had to be up at 3am to get ready for the half marathon.  At 2:45am the phone on the side table right next to my head started ringing!  Kit had arranged for a wake up call and forgot to tell me!  Awesome way to start the morning.  Anyway, I was up.  

For the half marathon, like the years before, I dressed in a costume.  This year's costume - Cinderella.  I had tried it on before leaving and I was a little worried about chaffing, but Denise thought of the perfect solution for me.  I folded the top half of the costume down and basically just had the Cinderella gown and a light blue running top.  It worked out great.  (Thanks Denise!)  

My approach for the Goofy is to run the half really easy and have fun, stopping at every character for a photo.  I got a ton of great photos.  The costume worked out great.  It took me 3 hours and 30 minutes to cross the finish line, but I felt fine and I had so much fun.  Just goes to show, Disney really is the Happiest place on earth.  Here are just a few of the pictures:

I had a great time.  After the race Denise and I waited in the finish area for Andy and Kit to finish and then we all went back to the hotel for ice baths, showers and food.  I took a short nap on the couch and in the late afternoon we started to plan dinner again.  Same deal as the day before, newbies started suggesting elaborate complicated meals.  I kept it simple, frozen thin crust pizza and some more salad.  After dinner I pulled out my bed and turned on the TV to wind down.  Andy and Kit hung out and started watching with me despite the fact that they had a TV in their room.  I eventually had to kick them out so I could go to sleep.  It was a little awkward, but comical at the same time.  This time I unplugged the phone next to my head just in case Kit had arranged another rude awakening.

2:45am Sunday, the phone started ringing in the other room and it woke me up before my alarm went off.  UGH! Oh well, just one more race to run and then I would be done.  Got up and got ready.  Forecast was hot and humid so I threw all time goals out the window and decided to just fuel and hydrate appropriately and do the best that I could.  My goal was to finish standing and not vomiting.  In 5 hours and 24 minutes I reached that goal.  The course was a little different this year because it was the 20th anniversary of the marathon.  We got to run on a racetrack and through the ESPN Wild World of Sports complex.  It was kind of cool.  I celebrated with a $9 glass of champagne and my medals proudly displayed around my neck.  :)



Marathon #12, Goofy #3 - DONE and DONE.  Denise and I hung out again in the finish area for Andy and Kit to finish.  They were walking because Andy had a bum knee.  Denise and I met a bunch of other runners and chatted while we waited.  I took a few more photos with characters.  We got some food.  And after being on the course for 7 hours Andy and Kit got to claim their Goofy medals too.

We headed back to the hotel and iced again, showered, snacked, and got dressed and headed out to Downtown Disney for dinner.  We had reservations at the House of Blues.  It was nice to walk around a little and stretch the legs and flush out the lactic acid.  Oh and we replenished our electrolytes with some salt (on the edge of a giant margarita).

 

My flight out was early Monday morning, Kit was nice enough to get up and drive me to the airport.  They were all staying additional days to enjoy the parks.  My work was done and I was ready to go home.  Got to the airport, got some coffee and breakfast.  Got on my flight and I had the window seat.  There was a guy in the aisle seat and the middle was empty.  I foolishly hoped it would stay that way.  Just as I started to nod off in my corner, I felt someone sit down beside me.  I looked over and it was a giant sumo wrestler sized dude dripping sweat and stinky, and he sat down and kicked off his shoes!  Just my luck.  No sleep for me because I was gagging for the 2 and a half hour flight from the obnoxious odor.

Landed back in Boston and my friend Steve from DFMC picked me up.  Finally back home.  It's a little weird.  I can't believe I just ran another marathon AND a half marathon the day before.  It's surreal.  Like someone else did it not me.  I mean my legs definitely feel like I ran the marathon, but my brain has already forgot.  I RAN 39.3 mile in two days!  Crazy.  I LOVE MY LIFE!

2013! I guess the Mayans were wrong.

Guess the end of the calendar wasn't really "THE END".  It was just like every other calendar, just time to get a new one and start a new year or baktun if you're Mayan.  I wrapped up 2012 with an extended vacation that I like to call my winter hibernation vacation the last two weeks in December.  I'd love to say I was wicked busy and traveled to some exotic island or ran a bunch of crazy races, but I didn't.  I rested and relaxed.  It was awesome. 

2012 was not as epic as 2011, but I DID do a lot.  Nine triathlons including my second half ironman, six half marathons, three marathons, and two stair climbs.  I worked on experiencing more than just running and trying new things.  I started off the year with a polar plunge and jumped in the ocean on New Year's day.  A few weeks later, I learned to snowboard, granted it was just one time, but I did get down the hill once without falling so I think it was a success.  I got a passport AND traveled outside the country for the first time in my life (Canada doesn't count, it's Maine's neighbor).  It was for work and I didn't really get to see much but I went to Iceland and Denmark, I need to go back to Iceland for fun, it looks so cool from the airport. 

As much as I wish it was, 2012 was not all fun and games.  I hit a few speed bumps and road blocks along my journey.  First, I ended up in the medical tent at the finish of the Disney Marathon.  I ALMOST made it without gettting dehydrated and overheated, but in the last mile my body failed me.  Training for my next marathon (#10) went really well and by May I was totally ready.  I should have known that a race in the Green MOUNTAIN state would be a hilly course, but I told myself it wouldn't be that bad.  It was really hilly and it was really HOT.  I survived it, slowed my pace and kept cool with the ice provided by the awesome volunteers, but it was not the race experience I was hoping for.

I had bought myself a new bike for my birthday, but thanks to the jerk that hit me in 2011 I was hesitant to ride it.  I did get out a few times, but not nearly as much as the year before.  After the Vermont Marathon, I struggled.  I felt off and my pace on training runs was not where it should be.  I did a bunch of triathlons, but since I wasn't biking much my race performances were less than ideal.  I started training for Chicago anyway, but with 6 weeks to go til marathon #11 I got injured.  Plantar fasciitis!  I took a break and got acupuncture, but I had my half ironman to do before Chicago.  I knew it wouldn't be as awesome as the year before, but I hoped I could just get through it.  Well, I got through it, but just barely.  I felt like I was drowning for the entire 1.2 miles of the swim, I couldn't breathe on the bike, and by the time I started running I felt like someone was sitting on top of my chest.  I finished and it took me an hour longer than the year before, but I collapsed as I crossed the finish line.  Something definitely not right.

For about a year, I switched to a plant based diet, vegetarian and almost vegan (I occasionally ate eggs and cheese).  I'm not sure, but I think over time I totally depleted my body's iron stores and as much as I want to avoid meat and animal products for my health, my training volume requires more iron and B12 than I can get from plants.  On my way home from the half ironman I got myself a grass fed organic rib eye steak and ate it for dinner.  I have slowly started to add a little meat back into my diet, but it's not making a big difference yet.  I started taking supplements too.  Hopefully that helps.

Anyway, Chicago was a fun trip but the marathon was not great.  The weather, my foot, and my body in general did not work well together.  Since then I have sort of backed off and slowly brought my miles back up to train for Goofy.  My pace is still a lot slower than it was a year ago.  I've also gained about 15lbs. this year, maybe from running less, maybe from not biking much, maybe from my body's weird reaction to a plant based diet.  Who knows.  I just know something has to change in 2013.

In December, I did a few back to back training runs for Goofy 12 and 18 miles.  Felt pretty good.  Slow, but overall, not bad at all.  I think I'm ready.  I know I won't be as fast as I was last year, but I'm not going for speed, I just want to have fun.  I had a few long runs inbetween the 12/18s that did not go well so I'm hoping that I just finish and feel good.  My heart rate has been weird lately-really low despite feeling like I was doing an all out effort and my resting heart rate was high for a few weeks.  If Disney doesn't go well and my heart rate is still wonky I'm going to a doctor when I get back.

Anyway, it's a new year and I've got a lot planned.  More running of course, but I'd also like to do more exploring and more non-running fun.  It'll be good for me to expand my horizons and try more new things.  I am looking forward to challenging myself in new ways and continuing this journey.  For now, I'm tapering for Goofy, watching the extended forecast, and recruiting people for the stair climb for after Goofy.  I've got a long to-do list and I hope to check off some more items on it this year.  I'm thinking skydiving on my birthday, learning to ride my unicycle, and perhaps accepting a dare.

and it's December, WTF?

Where is the time going?  Days are flying by so fast.  It's a little ridiculous.  Only two more weeks and I'm on vacation for the rest of the year.  Only 40 days until I get Goofy again.  And of course none of that matters if the Mayans were right and we only have 18 days until the end of the world.  A lot has happened since my last post.  I've run a lot, worked a lot, ate a lot for Thanksgiving, did NOT go shopping on Black Friday and did NOT win the powerball.  I really thought I had a chance because I didn't win the big jackpot, but I won $4 and I noticed that the payout for the next drawing was 26.2 million so I thought it was a sign.  It was a sign, that I was about to lose $4.

I made a giant feast for Thanksgiving.  My mom and brother and grandmother came to visit.  It was great to see them even though my grandmother didn't know who I was or where she was.  The meal was good.  I made butternut squash and apple soup, organic free range turkey, organic stuffing, organic potatoes, organic mushroom gravy, organic veggie gratin, organic brussel sprouts, quinoa pilaf (with organic carrots, celery, onions, and fennel), AND TWO organic cheesecakes.  This one was chocolate with peanut butter chips and toffee crumbles:

And then I had to make the Pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap pecan crust and caramel swirl, that one is the best:

The whole meal was amazing.  Thankfully, I ran a 5K in the morning so I was sort of guilt-free feasting.  Not going to lie though I wore my stretchy pants in anticipation of overeating. 

The following weekend was my first really long back to back runs for Goofy training.  I did 10.75 and 16 and both runs went really great.  I'm still not as fast as I was last year, which makes me wonder if there is something going on with my general health whether it's anemia or something else I don't know.  I may go to the doctor if it doesn't improve.  Anyway, I did both runs and felt really good.  I avoided the malls and shopping and stayed inside most of the weekend eating leftovers and making soup.

Last week I did two 5 mile runs in the middle of the week and then my goofy runs on the weekend were 12 miles and 18 miles.  It was a great weekend.  I went to the mall Friday night to try and get into the holiday spirit, but it didn't really work.  Saturday, I did my 12 mile run in the snow, then a little more shopping and dinner with a friend at Life Alive.  Sunday, my 18 miler was weird.  I felt fine, but my heart rate was really low.  I felt like it should have been higher than it was and I felt like I was going a lot faster than my Garmin told me I was going.  I felt great, no pains or tummy troubles or anything, just slow.  After the run, my friend came over and we spent the afternoon watching movies and catching up and then got dinner at Life Alive.  Yup, back to back, it's that good.

I can't believe that there's really just 5 weeks to go til Disney.  It's sneaking up really fast.  I'm so excited!After the 12 and 18 this weekend, I feel ready.  I was able to do both runs without any issues, I was just slower than I was last year.  It's all about having fun so I'm not too concerned.  Now, if I still feel like junk when I start training for Big Sur then I will get frustrated and maybe finally break down and go to a doctor for blood work.  I just populated my 2013 training plan in excel and I didn't realize there is only 14 weeks between Goofy and Big Sur.  I have done it before with Goofy and Boston, but it looks crazy in the training plan.  Maybe after 2013 I'll take a break from marathons, or not.  We'll see.