Run to Remember 2011

This race was not my best. I didn't say "wow! that was fun" or "I can't wait to do that again." I love half marathon's but woke this am with a feeling of weird dread. I needed a sub 1:50 for a coral placement at Chicago, but could tell this was not going to be my day....in the end it didn't even matter because of what I encountered at mile 12.

At mile 12 I had my stride back and I was bringing it in...when coming through the Theater District I had to stop. Runner down and when I say down, I mean down. I stopped immediately, this kid did not look good. I was a nurse before I was a SAHM and besides someone being dead I have never seen someone so white. "James" was white, shaking, salty and was throwing up. He also was somewhat unresponsive....not even somewhat he was communicating by hand gripping that really had stopped by the time the bike EMS guy hot there. I can honestly say I was scared for this kid. It also made me think about race preparation. I don't know this kid from a fly in the wall, but he was running in football shorts and sneakers. Had he trained? Had he properly hydrated? Was he there with his friends and they thought they could just throw down a half marathon?

I am a prepared runner....I start hydrating days before, eat certain foods, try to increase my sleep and do try to put in the miles. A half marathon is a big deal, it is not easy. Especially not in heat and humidity and not something that you should just jump into. We so many times hear the phrase RESPECT THE DISTANCE. 13.1 should be respected, it is not easy....

I have been thinking about James all night. I am hoping that they helped him and he is surrounded with his family right now. So...a prayer for James.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. We are so blessed to have so many Armed Forces that protect us and take care of us on a daily basis. If you see one today, old or young why don't you give them a thank you.

And it's the Last One....

I have 4 kiddos ranging in age from 10-4. They all advance this summer (3 in July....no funny Halloween jokes) and one in August. They are all very different....each one of them with extremely different personalities, but they all seem to follow their birth order personalities. S and B are 13 months apart and tend to fight over who is the oldest although S thinks she is an only sometimes. A is a typical middle and I is the baby. Today she is totally the baby and may single handedly send me over the edge.

I has cried about something since she returned home from her friend's this afternoon about everything. From not getting her clam chowder (helloooooo...it is 90 degrees outside) or making her nachos to not carrying her in to school to pick up the boys, (it's hot and she is heavy). I am drained and frustrated as evidenced by my quote of the day...."I if you can't walk yourself then I will have to call St. C's and you will not be able to go to Kindergarden next year." Really, really did that really just come out of my mouth? She looked at me like I was crazy and I am. I mean seriously she is signed up to go to all day kindergarden next year and I am threatening that she won't go. The heat is obviously getting to me because I am actually making silly parenting comments which I will never follow through on. So...I is now set up in front of the tv with crackers while I read blogs for a minute and when T gets home she is all his. Happy Memorial Day everyone!

TTT...it's Spring/Summer Edition

1. The weather here is DELIGHTFUL!!! 80 degrees, sunny and light breeeze. After 2 weeks of rain finally we are having summer. While I am feeling happy for myself, I am still very sad for the people in Missouri. I can't imagine losing everything in my life, my home, my car, my family...it is just the saddest story ever. I don't know if anyone saw this story, but the Boomtown Half was supposed to be run this weekend. They are encouraging runners to come out still, but to help with the clean up and if you can't go out, then how about signing up for the race. The proceeds will go toward helping the people of Joplin.

2. I am going to use the next couple of weeks to get used to training/running in the warmer weather and humidity. My fuel belts are out. I got a new supply of Nuun and I have been running around 9 am at times. I will be completing some of my summer runs early...(4:30ish) so that I will have my days to myself and the kiddos. Unfortunately our long runs are scheduled for Friday's at 10 am. Let's just say that I will be ready for Chicago.

3. I got my sunscreen out today. I am bad about sunscreen, I have a pretty dark complexion and many times just go with it, but I am starting to get some wrinkles around my eyes and it is probably time to start taking care of my skin. 40 is beating down my door....also the idea of skin cancer is very scary to me. My friend's mother had skin cancer last year and it was pretty traumatic, not what I need on my plate right now.

What is the weather like where you are? Do you use sunscreen? What time do you like to run?

And Today....a Snake

Today was just a fun 6 mile jaunt with the besties...we decided to do 6 since I am running a half on Sunday and didn't want to go to far. I will run tomorrow and then take Friday and Saturday off. Anyhoo....coming down our dirt road we noticed something...and that something was a SNAKE. Let the screaming commence. The three of us have run half marathons, a marathon, (GJ has run 3 marathons), have 10 children between us, but see a snake and forget it. M almost ran it over with the stroller and then her 2 year old wanted to see it...I took him over and even he screamed. Poor M--I made her take the picture. IT was not a rattlesnake by any means, just a Garter snake. Needless to say there is always a little excitement on the dirt roads of NH. Happy Wednesday.....

It's Tuesday....

Well Tuesday has arrived in good ole NH...and wait for it...wait for it....it is not raining. Woo-hoo. To bad my washing machine has been broken since Thursday and instead of enjoying the great outdoors (i.e ....weeding my garden) I will be doing 10, 000 million loads of laundry. Between everyday clothes, running clothes and lacrosse clothes well...I will let your imagination wander. The boys are officially out of socks though so I am sure you are feeling me right now.

I went on a longish run yesterday with my 2 running besties...8 miles. It was rainy, drizzly and a touch humid out when we ran yesterday. I also did not have my car. (H took it to get new tires) So in not having my car, I did not have my Body Glide....I am paying for it today. My thighs (okay they rub together it doesn't matter how much I run or how skinny I am) look like I rubbed them on the pavement for about 2 hours. If you can imagine the shower after my run and putting on pants after my shower. It was not pretty. Today I have shorts on and they catch each other every once in a while. YOWSERS!!

I am doing the Run to Remember Half Marathon on Sunday so I wanted to get one more longer run in before Sunday. Can you believe this will be my 4th half this year? It will also probably be my last one this year. My Chicago Marathon training officially begins June 6th so that is where my heart will be for the next 4 months. I have to admit though I do love a half marathon. I like the training time, the fact that the race is over in about two hours and that you feel a great accomplishment after. Chicago will be my second marathon with Richmond following a month later. If you remember I didn't have a great 1st marathon, so I will be hoping to redeem myself at Chicago.

Any big racing plans for other people out there? Do you race in the summer or take it easy?

TTT.....Long Week Edition

1. It has rained here everyday since Sunday. I have been able to run. I did one indoor on the Mill and a 6 miler outside yesterday. My H is traveling this week and it is not great for brain. I don't sleep great when he is gone and I am just out of sorts this week. Not lucky is that all of the fields in our town have been closed all week and my two Lacrosse boys are losing their marbles. I found A in his bed with his lacrosse stick last night, sleeping......Thankfully, S is still riding or else it might be a little crazy here.

2. I am gearing up for my next half marathon which is Memorial Day Weekend. I am hoping for a 1:50 as I am trying to get into a coral at the Chicago Marathon. I have not really trained for a 1:50, but I am hoping that the stars will align and it will happen. This will be my 4th half marathon this year. It really is one of my favorite distances:)

3. I also found out this week that I got into the Falmouth Road Race. It is a lottery and I am beyond thrilled! I am already signed up for Beach to Beacon, now Falmouth and finally I am going to do the Gloucester Road Race. The three New England beach races. I am so excited! I have friends doing Beach to Beacon with me and the Gloucester race. I am on my own for Falmouth, but that is okay. I am hoping the my H and I can make a week out of it.

Happy Thursday friends. I hope that it is sunny and dry where you are....

When not to Detox

My chiro suggested a Detox for me to do. She said it would be easy, it was only for a week and she thought that I could handle it. She also said it might help me to drop that last 5 pounds. I jumped on board, bought it and decided to start it today. Today was the day my husband left for the week and I got my period. (sorry any male readers.)

Yes, my friends...no coffee, no dairy, no caffeine, no grains. Just my fiber drink and detox pills. I was ready to go.

Well....today was fine until dinner. When I made my salad and then put a pizza in the oven for the kiddos. And that my friends is when it hit....I was hungry not only hungry I was starving. I had had so much fruit and vegetables all day that I needed something with substance. I broke. Not only did I have all of my salad. I had pizza and a diet coke and a bite of spaghetti. You know me when I go, I go big.

My husband e-mailed me from the plane. I told him that I broke. He told me that this might have not been the best week. That maybe I should have waited for him to be home so that I had a bit more support. "Really Rene', no caffeine for the week I'm away?" I have to say he is right.

So...long story short I will do my best this week. I am hoping to cut back on my caffeine and eat a lot more veggies. Hopefully, it will work! YIKES!!!

Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon

Yesterday my girl M and I ran the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon in Newton, MA. I was not totally sure about this race. I have been consistently running, my longest run being 10 miles, but not particularly training for a half marathon. So I went in with no big expectations.

We arrived at Newton South High School at 6:30 am for a 7:30 start time. It was raining. Not drizzling, RAINING! I looked at M, hoping she would say let's go home....but, she didn't and out we went to get our numbers. Number pick up was easy, it was not a big race. I believe that there were 400 runners between the half and 5K. The shirts were cute. We ran back to the car to get our gear on and back over to the starting line. The race started at 7:30....

The course was tough. Newton is hilly which I knew going in. Travis and I had lived in that area prior to moving to NH. The hills were consistent, but with each up there was a good downhill which we tended to make up time on. At mile 6 we got to Heartbreak Hill. It was not the bottom of the hill, more in the center and we went up to BC. Before the turn at BC we turned up this road that looked like it went straight to the clouds. I had one of those, "feet don't fail me now" moments. I just kept running, not looking up and finally making it to the top. It was an out and back course so we then started our return back to the high school. It was obviously the same hills, but mile 12 was up and it was up for pretty much the entire mile. We kept on trucking, we checked our Garmin's frequently (I can't help it!) and realized that we were at a sub 2 hour. We picked up the pace a bit, M- went ahead of me. (She is very quick.) and I just kept running. I saw the finish line and flew through....1:57 garmin time...1:57:48 race time. I was thrilled. Not bad for the hills and gave me confidence for my half in 2 weeks.

A few words about the race. It was a great race. Really good course support, good water stops and sweet helpful people. I would definitely do this race again.

I am taking today off from running. My house needed to be picked up and vacuumed and I needed a self day. Also...I started my cleanse today. More on that as the week goes along.

Happy "Rainy" Monday!

Look What I Did Today?

Today I went to Runner's Alley in Nashua, NH and bought myself a treat. Yes you are looking at them. Pink and purple Vibrams. I have been wanting a pair for a while. Reading MCM Mama's posts about them and one of my training besties wearing them for short distances made me think I that maybe they are something that I want to try.

I spent the day walking around in them. Modeling them. Seeing an old lady shake her head and say, "You kids' wear the strangest things today." (Kid....I'll take that) and coming up with a little training plan in my brain to running in them. Start slow on the mill and build up to run a 5K on June 9th. (Is this possible?) They are definitely for fun. I don't have any notions of running far in them. I really love my Mizuno's, but who knows, right?

The best part. When we returned home our friend was working in our yard, looking at my feet he said, "You have Vibrams?"

"I just bought them, we'll see what happens."

"That is all I wear to run. I am up to 6 miles in mine. You won't want to go back."

A/ I didn't even know that David ran. B/ It is funny to think of him in Vibrams. As Siri said when he was leaving, "Mr. Dave, you are very COOL!"

Here's to a happy weekend friends. Think of me on Sunday morning. Our race starts at 7:30. Wish me luck!

3 Things Thursday....Respect Edition

1. I am running the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon this weekend. Am I prepared? Nope, not the least bit. I ran 10 miles on Monday, 6 on Wednesday and 4 this AM. When did I become so nonchalant about a half marathon. Honestly, I am running 13.1 miles. The first time I did a half I had a training plan, I changed my eating, in fact I think that I dropped 10 pounds. Now...I am like whatever happens happens. Scary and I am a little scared about how my body will feel after. I definitely am not respecting the distance.

2. I have not been respecting my body. I have been in 4 kids sports hell. Yes even my four year old is playing lacrosse and who said she would help coach....yes, you guessed it ME. Have I ever mentioned that I played Lacrosse in high school and college. It is so fun and I love seeing the girls in their goggles with their sticks, but I have no time for this. Thankfully it is only on Mondays from 6-7, which was my free night, but hey why be free. Oh anyway back to respecting my body. I have been eating JUNK. Anything that I can stuff into my mouth on the run. I am not feeling great. My stomach is bloated, my face looks a little bloated uhhh....I just feel disgusting. I was describing this to my Chiropractor yesterday and next week (starting Monday) I am going to do a cleanse. No caffeine, dairy, nothing white etc...and I am going to drink some fiber powder and pop some detox pills. It is just for a week and I am hoping that it is going to jump start positive eating.

3. Respecting my time....I am definitely not respecting my time. I am going in so many directions that by the end of the day I fall asleep wherever I am. I don't know how you working Mamas, school Mamas etc... do it? If I had to go to a job or school every day you might find me hanging from a bridge. So shout out to all of you that work so hard everyday! Wow!

Happy Weekend everyone!

It's Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! We have been blessed with a beautiful day her in the Granite State. It is bright and sunny and even a bit warm....After spending the day at a lacrosse tournament yesterday we were all very tired, but don't worry because all 4 kids were up by 6:30 to start our breakfast in bed tradition. At our house it is actually funny, the kids make breakfast (with hubby's help of course), bring it up to me and then proceed to help me eat it:) This morning they were very excited about the present part of the show....Izzie (age 4) took everything out of the bag and described it to me. 3 new charms for my bracelet......a few treats from RunningSkirts.com (hmmmm....could it be the email that I sent H..at work?) and then a special treat from my husband...a pre-order on the new Garmin touchscreen. I was so excited, I am suprised that you didn't hear me screaming in your town or state....I am a sucker for gadgets and when I played with the Garmin 610 at the Boston Marathon expo I loved it. It is a little sleeker than the 310 and just fun. Wow I was one lucky lady!

On another note I ran a treadmill 10K the other night at the gym, (my friends were playing tennis) in 50:45 which is 13 seconds faster than my 10K PR from October. I am hoping to break 50:00 this year at a race. Fingers crossed....

I hope this mother's day finds you all healthy and happy. I hope that fun days and running are ahead of you and maybe even some cute treats too.

Three Things Thursday

1. I have no edition today. It seems like this week is flying by. Mostly with kids' sports and activities. I have been able to run 3 times this week and will run tomorrow and hopefully Sunday in between lacrosse games. I am feeling pretty good. A little quad pressure still, but nothing that is sidelining me.

2. I went to Body Pump the other day and am still having a hard time sitting on the toilet. uhhh...why, why, why....I know that I need to go to the class. I need strength training, but man it is so hard. I will not give up, but I think that I will need to take it a bit slower to start.

3. A very special shout out to EMZ who begins her 24 hour treadmill run for charity tomorrow. Please go to her blog or even give her a small donation. It is for a great cause and I know that you won't regret it.

....And I Cried

Last night as I was going to bed I turned on CNN. That is when they said that the President was going to make a speech. What, why would the President make a speech at 10:30 at night? What happened? Oh great. I started to feel that sense of impending doom and was actually a bit nervous. Finally, Wolf Blitzer let the world know what had happened and it was then that I started to cry.

I couldn't figure out why I was crying. I remembered that day 10 years ago very well. I was a mom to a 3 week old and a 12 month old. My 3 week old had colic and had been crying since the moment he was born. My mother had left the day before to go home and I was in my living room with my 22 year old sister in law watching the events unfold. It seemed like I stood there for hours watching not able to process the what's or why's...just glued to the TV. I listened to people tell their story. People knew someone who had died, who was supposed to get on the plane in Boston and didn't. People who had cousins and dads and moms and kids now without dads and moms. It was all overwhelming, but as time went on we moved on. I still remembered it every year on the anniversary. I felt sad for the soldiers who were in harms way because of these events, but it did not cross my mind every day.

Last night though it all came back. I cried for the heroism of the Navy Seals and all of our troops. I worried about an acquaintance whose husband is a Seal and wondered if he was okay. I cried for the families who had lost husbands, moms, dads, daughters and sons and I think that I cried for not remembering these people more often. I was emotional and even shed some tears tonight while watching the news.

So maybe no matter what your politics we can do a better job of just remembering the tragedy. A better job of praying for those in harms way and being thankful for all that we have everyday.