Nothing says your special.....

Like Boursin? You know the cheese. I have watched this commercial about a dozen times at this point and it drives me crazy. Should it drive me crazy? Probably not, but I just find it weird. Is cheese really the answer to making you feel special? Is Boursin even cheese? I think that it tastes like cream cheese and is not something that I look to to feel special. How about a kiss from your sleepy four year old or your husband smiling as you take off for your long weekend run? I don't know maybe I am ranting this morning, but I would be hard pressed to find Boursin special or using it to make me feel special. Anyone else?

A Summer Cold Stinks...and Training for a Marathon

It's official! I have a summer cold and I am miserable. My ear hurts and my throat hurts. Izzie and Siri both have it as well so it was only a matter of time. I am supposed to run at 6 am tomorrow and am thinking that I need to turn it in at 830 tonight to make sure that I get a good nights sleep.

Now....marathon training. I am signed up to run the Manchester City Marathon in November. I printed out the Hal Higdon intermediate Marathon training guide last night and did some highlighting and writing in my calendar. Running Diva Mom writes her training runs in her paper calendar and I really liked that idea. It seems like that would hold you accountable and make it an appointment. I am definitely a little nervous. Every person that I have talked to talks about the hills, how hard it is and I even had one person ask me if "I wouldn't prefer to do a more meaningful marathon?" I thought about it for a second and decided that any first marathon is going to memorable, right? And if I am going to do a marathon isn't it good to do one close to home. What if I injure myself? I am 20 minutes from home, my husband and my kids. So....long story short I am doing it and I am going to do well!

Finally, Izzie had her dance recital yesterday. It was way cute, but way to long! 2 hours and 15 minutes later it was over and by the time I got to her she was crying and told me that she quitting dance. I told her take a summer break and we could talk about it in the fall. Oh to be 4 again.

Day 2 of Vacation and.....

Well it is day 2 of vacation and I already have one down, Andy has the stomach bug. He woke up at 2:30 am and has been going strong ever since. I don't know if I have ever described Andy? Andy is very sweet, loving, cute etc....but, he is also very whiny....not just a little whiny, really whiny. So what is a mom to do who has essentially been up since 3 am with a sick, whiny child, a husband who sleeps through it all, (can someone please tell me how they do that?) and 3 other kids who are crying because they wanted to go to the pool today? You start drinking coffee and hope that the day does not go by as slow as you think it is going to. You try not to think about the fact that you were going to run this am with your two older kids. You put a smile on your face and think about all of the fun things that your friend Pam is doing with her kids this summer and decide to make a similar list with markers on a big piece of paper. Maybe the day won't be so bad after all.

Slow Going Last Week

Last week was certainly not a great running week for me. I might have run 10 miles. As much as I felt that I needed a recovery week from my Half, I was so depressed. I ate badly, was snappy with the kids and then became super stressed about how I was going to run this summer. Well, yesterday my plan started fitting together. 2 days a week with my gym friend Lynne, 1 speed work morning at the high school track with my favorite 2 running partners Gail and Michelle, a Friday 6 am run with Beth as well as some sit ups, push ups etc...and finally a long run with Karin, my triathlete friend, on Saturday mornings. We are both training for the AppleFest Half Marathon in September. Hopefully, my training is pretty consistent. More for my sanity than anything else.

Yesterday was the last day of school in Amherst. The kids were so excited...we had an ice cream social at our pool club and ended up not leaving until after 8 pm last night. The kids are still asleep right now. ummmm.....coffee, quiet and 60 degrees on the porch this morning. what a great way to start this first day of vacation.

Let the Summer Begin

Today is Itsie's last day of preschool. The other kids are in school until Monday. I am in the process of "processing" summer. The last few weeks of school I am always so excited, no more packing lunches, we don't need a schedule, the kids will be able to relax etc....then mid July hits and I panic. Have we really already done everything? Am I really ready to pack lunches again? Go to the grocery store by myself? and this summer running will be tricky. When I first signed up for the Worcester Half Marathon I signed up because it was before the kids got out of school and I would be able to train. I told myself I would just relax this summer. Ha Ha who was I kidding? A/I am not a relaxer and B/I have signed up for a race in September. Now I have spent the last 24 hours trying to plan how I am going to run. Some mornings I will get up early, some days I think that I will bring the kids to the high school track and on Fridays I have a sitter so that will have to be my long run day. So...let the summer begin, hopefully I make it to July.

Worcester Half Marathon

Today was the Worcester Half Marathon and my first half Marathon ever. 14 weeks of training and now it was time to test out Mr. Hal Higdon's training guide. My friend Michele and I spent the night in Worcester last night and our friend Gail was meeting us this morning. It rained all day yesterday and all night last night and when we woke up this morning it was foggy, breezy and drizzly. While I do love the sun, it seemed like this would be good weather to run in. We were got up at 6:15 and slowly got going. I ate my toast with almond butter and Nutella, drank some water and waited for Gail to arrive. Gail finally arrived and we walked over to the race start arriving at 7:45 for the 8 am start. The gun went off and we started. Michelle runs faster than Gail and me so she went ahead. Gail and I took our time starting out, but when we realized our pace was 9:30 we knew we needed to pick it up a bit and that we did.
Mile 1 8:58
Mile 2 8:33
Mile 3 8:31
Mile 4 8:57
Mile 5 8:30
Mile 6 8:37
Mile 7 8:16
Mile 8 8:28
Mile 9 8:29
Mile 10 8:45
Mile 11 8:30
Mile 12 8:09
Mile 13 8:06
Mile .19 1:27

Our final time 1:52:20. My goal was to finish under 2 hours and that we did. I was so excited!

Now a little bit about the route. The hill at mile 3 was horrible. It went straight up and then turned and then went up again and then turned and went up again. There were many rolling hills and between mile 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 there was another hill that just went kind of forever. The last mile was so flat that it seemed as though it would never end.

Tons of water stops, tons of port o potties and the Worcester Police were out in full force to keep the course safe. All in all I would say it was a great race and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Training Complete...now the Waiting

Today is the first of my two rest days before our race on Sunday. I am definitely feeling nervous. My husband told me last night that I had done the hard part and now just had to focus on the fun part, "the race!" Why don't I feel that way? I have had a great time training. I have two awesome running partners, I have watched myself run further and faster than I ever have and I have felt no pressure during training runs. I set a goal to finish under 2 hours for this half and am now feeling like I may have set myself up for failure. What if I don't finish under 2? Will it take away from the fact that I just finished my first half marathon? I hope not, but unfortunately I know my personality. We are leaving at 2 pm tomorrow to go to the Expo, pick up our numbers and drive the course. Part of me doesn't want to drive the course, what is the expression, "Ignorance is Bliss." Maybe I want to feel ignorant and just take it as it comes...who knew that a race could cause so many emotions? I guess the best thing to do is to do start drinking water, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride. My friend Karin told me that the race is my dessert after a great 3 months of training, I think that I will choose to look at it that way. A hot fudge sundae after a great meal.

Running Skirt Blues

Last night I decided to run with my outfit for the Worcester Half this weekend. I didn't want to have any blunders when getting dressed on Sunday morning. I had a new green skirt from runningskirts.com and finally found the just right yellow top to match. I grabbed the skirt out of my closet and pulled it on..."oh sh%$!" I said out loud but to myself. My husband looked over, "I think that my running skirt is to big and it has the long compression pants inside." Well....I decided not to let that stop me and took off for my run. I am on my taper week so I decided to do my 4 1/2 mile route and work on some speed. I took off up the hill and then realized the skirt was falling down. I tried to pretend that it wasn't, but it was. I then had to roll it twice. I was trying to look at the bright side (that is my new mantra) that at least it was to big and not to tight, but that wasn't helping. I then kept thinking the rest of the way, "what am I going to wear?" "i love this skirt..." and "oh great, i just bought this new top today to go with the skirt and I am supposed to be on a budget." (more about that at a later post:) I made it home in 37 minutes and I started to feel good. While my first mile was 9:03 my third was 7:59 and my last one was 8:00. Can I run that pace for 13.1 miles? I highly doubt it, but if I can do that for a few miles then I am hoping to meet my under 2 hour goal. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....Now as far as the outfit goes, I have another skirt that I love, that I can wear my new yellow top with and all will be well. I hope.....

To Whom it May Concern....

To whom it may concern,

I am a runner in our quaint, small town in New Hampshire. I follow the "runner" rules of the road. I run facing traffic, I stop at crosswalks and give the right of way to cars at stoplights. All in all I think that I am a pretty courteous runner. So why do you in cars have to be so rude sometimes? To the two large women who told me to get my "skinny a&&" off of the road this morning, I have thought about it and I am going to take it as a complement. I have never been told that I have a skinny a&& before. The woman in the gray Prius, you know who you are since you work at our elementary school, did you really have to gun your engine, swerve around 3 women (one with a baby stroller) and then flip us off in front of the Church. Really, have you no shame? And finally to the young boys with your "hot rod" license plate, I don't really need you to blow kisses at me and whistle. First of all I could probably be your mother and second, I know that I don't look good when it is 85 degrees out and have just finished running 12 miles, please don't flatter me. I guess what I am trying to say is can't we just all get along, share the road and maybe keep our comments to ourselves? Believe me you do not want to know what I am thinking in my head!

Thanks for your time,

Rene'

Crazy Thursday Morning

I don't like Thursdays and for some reason I am really not loving this Thursday morning. I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, I ran out of lunch Ziploc bags, Ben has been practicing his recital songs all morning and I am freaking out about what to eat for breakfast since my last 12 mile run before my race taper begins is at noon today. Should I have my usual yogurt and Kashi cereal now and then a good snack around 1030? Should I make myself a quick omelette and then have yogurt at 10:30. Aaaarrrggghhhh......decisions, decisions. I am not nervous to run 12 today, we ran 12 on Friday and I was fine after. I think that once again race nerves are setting in. I need to just step back and enjoy the ride. Now....if only I didn't hate Thursdays.....

Running Stuff.....

I love "stuff." When I start a new hobby I have to have everything that there is to offer. When I wanted to scrapbook, I could have put Creative Memories out of business. Knitting....you guessed it I owned every yarn, pattern or knitting needle known to man. Now it is running. I will preface this by saying that I always have run off and on. I love to get new running shoes, new watches and new sports bras etc....but this time it is different. When I purchased my new Garmin 310XT, I broke it down to my husband like it was a goal setting apparatus. He was skeptical at first, he was the one that bought the sewing machine when I was going to sew, but now he agrees it was a great purchase. When I return home from my runs, he looks at the elevations, heart rate, miles just as greedily as I do. He will give me compliments or make a comment that he didn't know that route was that long. My garmin pushes me to do better every day and to strive for big goals. My shoe charm however, it is just pretty but, let's be honest there has to pretty a long with practical. Happy National Running Day.

Less than 2 Weeks Away

My first half marathon is less than two weeks away and I am nervous. I should not be nervous. I have trained, tried out different flavors of Hammer Gel and of course have picked out the perfect race day outfit. So why with two weeks to go am I so nervous? I have no intention of winning, I just want to finish. Well....I don't just want to finish, I want to finish in under 2 hours. I think that I can do it. My 12 mile run was done in 1:51 and that was not race day mode. I am hoping that I did not set my goals to high and that if I don't reach my goal that I will not be to disappointed. I mean really what is there to be disappointed about, finishing a half marathon is no small feat.