The (new) PLAN

Hopefully this post isn't too all over the place, but if it is, well, then it probably accurately reflects my last few days not being able to shut off my head and why I haven't been leaving comments on everyone's blogs like I try to do.  I've been doing "productive stuff" on the internet- researching races.

I went ahead and signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon, on Nov 5th.  I thought about it a lot.  I got a call from Cristina who said I had to qualify to NYC, and we spent some time looking at race calendars.  This one seemed to be the best, never mind that I am already signed up for a half here on 11/12, but that is hilly, with at least 3 Ambassador Bridge sized hills in it.  The Monumental is supposed to be very flat, which I like a lot.  Sometimes I questions decisions like this, but for the most part, the more I think about, the better I feel.  Then I saw this on f/b this morning:

That pretty much sums up how I felt about the race next weekend.  I knew that if I didn't at least try, I would be very upset.  The pain of not being trying/not being able to try is harder for me than defeat.  Ryan knows this, and when I asked what he thought (after putting together most of the plan), he answered with "whatever" before even asking the price. 

Also, some other things that led to my decision:
1.  The race is on a Saturday and reasonably close.  There is one here this Sunday, but I don't want tempt God in any way when I need a perfect day by racing on a Sunday.  I also feel like the extra week to do a decent taper will be helpful.  I hit the cross training pretty hard on Monday, and really benefitted from some speedwork this week.  There aren't any other races between now and Jan 31st that are close, flat, and inexpensive, let alone full or not.  Disney has a couple, but those are likely full, SUPER EXPENSIVE and if I am going to race in Disney, I want to enjoy the experience and the whole day, not be exhausted and have to walk around the park feeling all spent.  Ryan is also not down with "wasting time racing" at Disney when we should be sightseeing.  The Indy race is actually one of the cheaper major races I am doing this year.  See #3.
2.  Shelby is going to be there and can get my packet if I need her to.  She raced at my last race in IN, and I PRed and had a freaking awesome day. 
3.  The race management hooked me up with a small discount on entry fee, because I had stopped by their booth in Detroit and picked up a coupon, but lost it.  It ended up that it was expired when I sent an email asking for a new one, but I think they even gave me a better deal.  It never hurts to ask these questions.  I really didn't expect this from such a large race either!  It will be about the size of the Derby Mini, but with a different breakdown of marathon vs half.  There are a lot more marathoners, like Shelby.
3.  I threw a post out on f/b in a local tri club's closed group inquiring of people doing the race.  There are a ton, and I have even found a group of guys to follow down if I drive in the morning.  Since setting that up, my neighbor has said she is thinking about racing too, and we could ride together.  I need to ask her about the possibility of splitting a hotel room, but want to wait until she signs up first to get my hopes up.  The guys I am following are doing the full, and I don't know them aside from being in the group, so I didn't want to ride in the same car, but this makes me feel a lot safer knowing that in the crazy event that I get a flat tire or some other crazy mechanical problem en route, I will have them to take me there and will deal with the problem later, and will be able to reciprocate this.  I've had a car break down 100 miles from home on more than one occassion, but not this one.  Hopefully it is not this one's turn.  

So, that is how I ended up racing again in just over 7 days.  Ryan thought it was HYSTERICAL that I was rummaging through books yesterday afternoon, minutes after signing up, searching for an actual half marathon training plan.  His response was, "do you really think you are going to find a training plan that is a week and a half long, actually, more like a week and a couple days long?"  Silly, I wanted to make sure I was tapering properly and not doing TOO MUCH.    I just wanted to look at the last couple weeks to make sure what I am doing is in line, and also I wanted to make sure I didn't run TOO FAR on yesterday's run.  I had been using the taper of a full marathon for the Detroit race, and I just wanted to see what a real half marathon plan had me doing (which is actually almost the same, except for the Sat long runs).  I also wanted to decide if I was going to swim today, and I decided NO, two full days of complete rest (aside fom ankle strength) would be good this week, even after that whole week of rest I took after Detroit.  That was because I was sick, though, and needed to get better.

So, I have been eating well all week (initially b/c Halloween is coming up and I wanted to create a calorie/weight deficit so I would have some room to splurg this weekend, but Halloween candy will keep until post race), doing my recovery stuff (Compex, foam roller, ice), and my run yesterday felt great.  Hopefully I really have done the work I need, and my speedwork has been enough.  I did just race a half 3 weeks prior to the race, so that fits in nice with "the plan" too.  I think I might need to buy some new gus, but I think when I bought stuff, I bought enough for the half on the 12th, which I no longer  really care about, and I will use the better stuff from that stash.  That race might be a purposeful PW (personal worst).  Depending on how I do on the 5th and how I feel after, I may inquire about being a pacer for a nice slow pace that I know I can do so that I can help some people out and make it not a complete waste of time.  Or it might just be a PW and suck :)

Also, I posted my Detroit recap on their facebook site, and Anita, read my post (and is a new follower, yea!) was there and we saw each other.  She considered her race an "Epic Fail", as she missed qualifying to NYC by 3 SECONDS!!!!  WOW, I would have had a hard time with that.  She is trying again on Nov 6th, and is my new hero.   We were in the same corral, and I remember being passed by her.  She had "Nita, 1:37" on her back.  When she passed me, I was already feeling bad, but it gave me a bit of hope.  I thought maybe I could hang on to her, but after a little while, I just couldn't keep her in sight anymore.  Turns out her pacer let her down, starting too slow, and she had built up a bit of time that she had to take off in the end, but she just couldn't overcome it in time.  She was still behind pace a bit I think when she passed me.  Anyway, I think that it is amazing how things work out, and hopefully next weekend will be great for lots of people.

There are just a few details I need to iron out, but I knew those would come together faster once I was already signed up and committed to doing the race.  Mainly, will I get a hotel? Next is will my parents come down to help with the kids or come to watch the race, as well as if I will have someone to ride with.  If I go by myself, I can leave whenever I want, but if I am feeling rough afterwards, it might be nice to have someone to make sure I don't drive to soon or possibly drive me home.  After Martian I felt like butt for the first couple hours, and Cristina drove me home (she drove me there).  I felt great after an ice bath, hot shower, and my recovery shake kicked in, though. 

Finally, I did finish reading the Jade Rabbit.  I will do a review next week, as well as accept my "Versatile Blogger" award from Erika.  I need to speak in Church on Sunday, as well as plan a special extra activity for my class, AND do Halloween activities with the kids tonight and tomorrow.  I am not sure what we will do tomorrow, but there are several costumed activities during the daytime for children in the area.  Tonight is a chili cook-off/trunk or treat at church.  Thank goodness for LED candles, they are the bomb around kids and flamable areas of the house.  We might decorate our trunk with some tonight.  Apparently we are supposed to do that at tonight's trunk or treat.  We never did it before.  Here are a couple ways we have been using the LEDs at home.  We have some pillars we could put in the trunk too, that I haven't opened yet.  They don't look as yellow in person, have black wicks, and flicker.  We were always afraid to light the wall mounted thing, because it is so close to the wall, ceiling, and we have always had a chair relatively close to it.  Now it is perfectly safe to use!

Thanks for reading!  Anyone racing this weekend or have any good plans for Halloween?  Let me know your opinion on my new "PLAN".  I hope you have a great Halloween weekend.  Don't eat more candy than you plan to work off!

The Bike Room is Open for Business!

I have been pretty much MIA the past week since the race.  I spent the time trying to get better.  I took almost a full week off of running, which is something I hardly ever do when I still have races on the schedule.  I tried to rest up, which was a lot easier since Keira did not have school or Ryan work, and I got to sleep in a bit.  I ate a TON, but some would say that is excusable the week after a big race.  However, I am paying for it now.  I feel all squishy.  I swam for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday and was not happy about putting a bathing suit on.  I think our gym mirrors make you look skinny, though, because I seriously felt a lot better about myself once I got there, which is rare.  Usually I feel like a rockstar looking at myself at home, then get in public in front of other people and freak out.  Anyway, I am trying to get back into the swing of things by eating well.  I am able to get back into the gym to swim and have a decent (if not agressive) workout schedule planned. 

While I did not do a lot of running (any) last week, Ryan (mostly) and I worked on the house quite a bit.  I watch the HGTV house hunters show and see all these people getting their first homes and are like, "we want to fix/change stuff so we want a fixer upper"and then get all overwhelmed.  I am really thankful we found a house that was essentially "move in ready" because the amount of work to make it "ours" has really been huge.  I seriously cannot imagine how much time and money would have been spent if we had bought a fixer upper, although some of the things maybe it would have been easier to justify spending the money to "fix" floors/walls/window treatment that were really broken rather than just replace/repaint things that worked just fine, but were not to our taste or not "brand new".  I would actually love to refinish the kitchen floors and replace the fridge, but I don't think we will do it.  The kids are still young enough that the floors will just get trashed by them even more.  I am paranoid about the new carpet as is.  I guess to me when I think of a fixer upper, I think of major renovation, like repairing things, and not just the cosmetics that we did.  Anyway, back to the subject, we got our bike room fixed up!  Well, it is usable.  We sorted through the stuff in our storage area and got it all organized.  We set up the trainer in a "permanent" location, and there is already a platform to mount our laptop to play DVDs.  We don't have a DVD player on the big TV in the basement, but I am expecting that at some point, I will move the trainer out into the living space to watch big TV on the trainer.  Ryan likes to do Sufferfest DVDs, and I just do my own workouts using my watch and the playlists that I create.  His way is probably better, but mine keeps me engaged and I can catch up on my shows better.

On another note, Cristina called me up today and informed me that I need to find another race to qualify to NYC.  She qualified with her full marathon time at Martian, when I qualified for Boston.  However, with the new time standards, even she will be cut from NYC in 2013, but wants to run it one last time.  Argh.  I am feeling very frustrated with my decision to do the Louisville Sport Comission race on 11/12.  It is not flat, and I am missing out on a flat half HERE in Louisville this Sunday because I think I would be stupid to try to race it given how sick I was and my foot still bothering me.   It is pretty much comfortable bare, in flip flops, or my Uggs.  Anything else and it doesn't feel so hot.  The week off didn't really help, but I am sure it was because not only was I trying to recover from the race, I was trying to recover from being sick too.    I am really tempted to do the Monumental, but I don't have the money for the drive or a hotel, let alone entry fee.  Also, to complicate things we have RSVPed to a birthday party for the kids that day.  There is a lady from the area going, and I might just need to call her and find out her arrangements.  I don't know who is going with her.  It would also make the Sports Commission half pretty much suck even more.  I looked at the elevation chart today and it has 3 miles in a row that look about like the Ambassador Bridge.  Now I know why some of the ladies from this area that were supposed to be doing it with me have bowed out.  Nothing like signing up for a race and having your ladies bail on you!  Two are having legit health issues, and one may still run despite them.

So, this is where I need some help.  There is a half in Ashland, OH on Dec 3.  This is about 1.5 hours from my parents house, which means it could be feasible that I do it without a hotel.  I don't know if my parents will be around, though, they might be retrieving my brother from NYU where he is finishing grad school sometime in Dec.  There are also a few other potential people I could crash with, but this race doesn't seem very flat either.  I looked at the elevation, and while there are no huge climbs, the entire course is rolling.  I am not sure how I feel about that.  It has about half the elevation changes as the LSC, though, and I am locked into that.  Do I try to head out to Indy?  Do I just hope that being not sick will give me the miracle I need at LSC?  Do you know of any other halves that are close that I can do that are flat?  There is one in Bloomington, IN, but I am now getting my dates all confused in my head and I can't remember when that one is.  Cristina said I should try to pull some strings with the race directors that I know and have them set up a new race as a "last chance for NYC".  The scary thing is that it looking like it might win, although I doubt I could get it pulled off in time. There is an unofficial marathon that is run in MI on New Year's day every year.  Perhaps getting it sanctioned would work????  I don't know, I have reservations about racing on Sundays due to it being the sabbath, and I feel like I almost can't qualify to anything by racing on a Sunday, like it won't get me any closer to my goals.  I qualified to Boston on a Sat, and get to run it on a Monday.  I am guessing I have until Jan 31st, 2012, based on the 2011 qualification process, so we will see. 

2011 Detroit Half Marathon Race Recap

On Sunday, I ran the Detroit Half Marathon.  I had an OK race.  I woke up Friday, the day we left, with a sore throat, and I think all the haning out with sick Soren took its toll.  My final run on Thursday had felt awful, so I think it was start of the decline of my health.  We got into town late Friday night, and I got to bed fairly early.  I hoped that I would feel a bit better in the morning.

Saturday, I woke up feeling worse.  Ugh, maybe on Sunday I would feel better I hoped???  It was a pretty busy day, but fairly typical of a Saturday.  We slept in, and then went to Three Cedars for some cider and donuts.  I figured that a couple donuts and some cider were not going to be the end of the world, especially given how tight my chest felt.  The big UM vs MSU game was on at noon, and so we headed home in time for that, and I took off by myself to the expo to get my packet.  In typical Melissa Detroit style, I spent the drive down talking with Cristina and before I knew it, I was already downtown with little recollection of how I got there.  I made it to the Joe Lewis parking structure, only to learn it was full.  I tried to head from there to the Cobo roof, due to road closures for the race, I had to go around and passed by the front of Cobo, and wanted to park underground instead.  Wrong, it was closed due to renovations.  I finally made it around to the correct side and into the parking garage.  Thankfully, they had reduced rates.  I was worried I was going to be out another $20 in parking for this race.  I made my way inside and stopped at the New Balance booth to talk with Dave, and he had me get my form analyzed.  I need to work on increasing my cadence.  I didn't even know that was something to work on in running!  I should be at 180, so twice that of cycling (or I guess the same, since cadence in cycling is revolutions, cadence in running is steps, so you get 2 steps for every "revolution" in cycling, right?)  I also need to work on being a midfoot striker.  I knew this, though.  I also chatted with Denisa, who is phenomenal, and saw her video of her stride.  I totally get how I am supposed to look with a midfoot strike, since she had it down.  I guess that is part of why she is so good.  The bad thing about doing this was that my whole 10 seconds or so on the treadmill resulted in a severe coughing fit and felt hard.  Fabulous.

I spent about an hour at the expo, chatting with the folks from Running Fit.  Randy, the owner, had a facebook status about friends of his using a room downtown at a hotel near the start to stay warm prior to the race, and I wanted to ask him about it.  In exchange, he wanted me to go check out the "Sexy Running Moms" booth so he could come too and check it out.  He said he needed a sexy running mom to go with him, otherwise he couldn't go.  Funny.  I am now signed up to be a Sexy Running Mom, which means I should get a newsletter a couple times a week.  I also got a free water bottle.  Also, while at the Running Fit booth, I talked with TIA teammate Robbie, and picked up a signed copy of the Jade Rabbit, which I learned about from Kim.  I saw Erin at her Stick booth, but didn't see Leah.  It was nice to go without the kids for a change, and I had more time to talk to people and check things out.  I also picked up a SPIbelt to use at Boston.  I can fit both my little camera AND my cell phone in it.  I might not be getting a new phone for Boston now after all.  The guy said I could fit a 12oz beverage can in there.  I responded with, "so I can run with my diet coke in there?"  Then we both realized how bad an idea that would be since it would be pretty well shaken!  I didn't plan to use it for Detroit, but I think I will use it at the Louisville Half.  In more typical Melissa Detroit driving style, I got on the wrong freeway getting out of the city.  Living in Novi, it would not have mattered, but going to Canton, it did make a difference.  Whoops.  Then, in CLASSIC me style, the gas light came on.  There is NO where to get gas in the city, but I made it to Novi (since I went the wrong way) before gassing up.  At least this meant that I would have a full tank for race day.  There are countless Race for the Cure and other trips to Detroit where I come close to running out of gas.  At least this would not be a problem for tomorrow and I didn't go the wrong way on any one way streets. Although, I did have someone drive at me going the wrong way!

We had our standard MI pre-race dinner at Noodles, and it was SOOOOO good.  I miss that place!  We stopped into REI, since that is also part of our usual routine, and then headed to Ryan's parent's house for the night.  I got my stuff laid out, printed a map to the parking lot I wanted to use, talked with Kari about her plan for tomorrow, and then tried to go to bed.  I was stressed a bit since I didn't feel well.  I slept horrible, coughing a lot and waking up almost every hour.

I did get up fine race morning, had my usual breakfast, and then got on the road with little problems.  I got downtown and found a lot next to the one I wanted and then called Cristina.  She was getting ready to meet Monica to come down.  I decided to go for using the hotel room at the start for my stuff.  I packed up my camera, phone, water, and some aquaphor into a little backpack, threw on my Aquaphor jacket, and walked to the start.  I got a couple pictures of the starting line.  The balloon arch broke shortly after I took this picture. 

There was a port o potty with no wait right there, so I used it, but then went to the hotel to find the room.  It was fun being there, and great to have warmth and running toilets!

There was also a great energy.  I stayed up there chatting and relaxing until about 6:30, when I went outside.  It had warmed up a bit, and I barely felt cold at all.  I was glad I wore what I did.  I did wait in one potty line outside, but it was taking too long.  I had a good corral, and I didn't want to miss the start.  Even though I felt less than great, I still wanted to start with my same plan and hold on as long as possible.  I saw Robbie and Alan in my corral before the start.  I felt really pumped to do this.  We listened to the national anthems of the USA and Canada, and then it got started.  They had Kid Rock blasting on the speakers, and I moved closer to the start.  I finally got to the start and was off.  It was nice being in the B corral, because I could just go.  The bad thing was that it was dark, and I couldn't read my Garmin.  I also realized I forgot to take the auto pause off.  I was losing signal in the overcast city streets and losing some of my time.  I should have started my timex too!  Darn!  This is only the first problem I had with this.  I felt OK for the first mile, and for mile 2.  I was actually on track for 1:36:05.  Then, I started up towards the bridge, and my sickness kicked in.  I did hit mile three at 23:00, which meant it was still doable, but I would have to kick it up a notch and go even faster.  However, I felt bad, and coughed a bit coming down from the bridge.  Uh oh.  I slowed up a little bit and felt more comfortable.  I stopped worrying about my time and just wanted to run as fast as I could and enjoy it.  I was fun running in Canada and seeing the Detroit skyline.  Then we hit the tunnel, and then I thought, Oh darn, stupid auto pause!  My Garmin paused as soon as I entered the tunnel, so I basically lost a mile from the race.  I did glance down at my timex so that I would at least have some sort of idea how I was doing and when I would get out of the tunnel.  I missed the spot on the wall with the border, so I totally got messed up thinking that I was taking way too long, and the next thing I knew I was out.  I looked for Cristina and Monica, but I was a few minutes behind my original plan, so it didn't surprise me that I missed them.  They were able to track me, though, with their iphone app for the race.  It felt good to be back in the USA.  I thought a bit about why I was running, and I thought about Soren and the medal, and how much he liked the picture of it on the front of the program.  I thought about him singing Young the Giant's "My Body".  I thought about the first time I ran this race and I had just found out that I was pregnant with Keira.  I was just happy to be out there.  I couldn't wait to have that medal!  I ran through corktown and my legs didn't really bother me until the last overpass, and I felt my hamstrings a bit, but otherwise, I was limited by my ability to breathe.   I kept pushing towards the finish.  I didn't break into an all out sprint, but I did pick it up a bit.  Right before I crossed the line, they announced me and that I was from Kentucky.  That made me smile.  It seemed so weird to hear that on the PA.  I'm not from Kentucky!  I just live there!  My friend Anna who was working the finish line gave me my medal and a great big hug, and made sure I got my blanket.  We chatted a bit, but she had to get back to her duties.  Then, Cristina and Monica broke into the finishers area.  The had tried to find me after the tunnel, and got dangerously close to it.  It is strictly forbidden to be anywhere near the borders without a bib on, and they did not.  The didn't wait for me long enough after the tunnel.  They thought they missed me, and then moved on, running a total of 9 miles along the course so far.  They whisked me away and out of the finish chute.  We had to find Kari on her marathon route.  We stopped quickly back at the hotel to grab my stuff and then went back to the marathon/half split so I could find my friend Jolyn doing the half and Kari doing the full.  I didn't get any pics with me and Cristina or Monica, or any of Kari.  We used the iphone app to learn that my finish time was 1:42:35.  Not terrible, but not what I wanted.  Not fast enough for NYC.  It was very average for me, I decided.  I have run 3 halves before this faster, 2 1:42s in fact.  We found Kari, and  Cristina and Monica planned to run the second half with her.  I could only run a few steps before I had to bow out.  My legs were tired, and my right foot was really killing me when I tried to run on it again.  I felt like I could barely walk on it now after standing around in the cold.  The new shoes helped, but I am not 100% yet.

I went back to the finish, and met up with Jolyn.  I used to work with her at Ford.  She came into town from DC to do this race.

I also found Shelby and Colin.  I was so sad that Shelby couldn't run this year.  She had hoped to do the marathon.  Hopefully I won't do something really crazy and run the Monumental Half while she runs the full, so I can try again to qualify for NYC.  I think Ryan would kill me.  A lady from my church is headed out there too to do the half.  They brought me some samples of Wheaties Fuel, my new addiction.  It is SOOO tasty.  I might have to switch teams next year, except I would eat it all and not give any way. 

I made it to the car, and got out of the city with very few problems.   I got home and the first thing I did was give my medal to Soren. 

He was a bit bummed it was so long on him, and let Keira see it with a lot less trouble than I expected.

The funniest thing was that when I walked in the door, Ryan told me that the kids needed a bath.  I think they must have told him that, since they did need one BADLY, but I just thought it was funny that they hung out all morning and now with 2 hours until church, we all still had to get cleaned up.  I got a nice warm shower, and then the kids cleaned up, and then lunch.  That is the great thing about a half.  I was done before 9, and while I was tired and sick, the recovery isn't too bad.  I threw on my compression sleeves underneath my black knee high boots, a clean sports bra, and a spandex dress.   I am such a dork, but I was comfortable.  I enjoyed church, and then a big family dinner with the cousins. 

When I got home, I checked my results.  Leah got third overall, and is the same age as me!  What?  I had no idea we were the same age.  Probably because every race we have done that is the same she wins and is pulled out of the AG awards.  It makes sense now that I think about some of the things we have in common in terms of college time period.  The results had her first in OUR age group, and I was 12th.  Not too shabby, especially because that was 12 out of 873!  That made me feel a lot better about my lackluster performance.  I have another half in another month.  The course is quite hilly, so I was doubting I would PR.  It will be interesting to see if I do better or worse than this time.  I also want to rest up my foot and let it get better, as well as get over this sickness. I was the 65th female out of 5314, and 364th out of 8494.  My overall pace was 7:50, and my underwater mile time was 7:53.  I love this race.  I probably won't do it again next year, but keep my odd years streak alive.  Plus, I bet the medal next year will have a Chrysler on it (last year had a Chevy), and I want to wait for a new style.  The main difference between this years and last's was the vehicle.

Wardrobe Malfunction

Well, I haven't quite had one yet, but the weather keeps changing, and I feel like I am packing half my closet for 1 race. 

Pretty much the only thing that is certain right now is the underwear I am wearing (not pictured).  Other than that, I cannot figure out what to wear!  I can't even decide which VISOR/headband I want to wear.  I am being so pathetic.  With this pile of clothes, I SHOULD be able to make every combo I need for every weather situation, I think.  I wish my grey NB skirt was clean, and I might just have to wash it, just in case.  I thought the weather was going to be in the 60s, but according to the Detroit Marathon's f/b page today, the weather is supposed to be in the mid 40s at the start, and upper 40s at 9am, and I am hoping to finish shortly after 9am.   Ugh.  At least with this pile of stuff, I should be able to make whatever game day decision I need to.  Also, we are hoping to go mountain biking while in MI, so whatever I don't wear for the race, I will need to wear biking.  Gotta grab some padded shorts too.

Now I need to pack normal clothes, as well as clothes for the kids.  This is my least favorite part of travel. 

Public Service Announcement! Bob Stroller Canopy Recall for Embroidery Patch

I know you are probably sick of me already, since I really had no intention of blogging this much this week.  However, with the little dude still sick and being in mad taper time, I have quite the large amount of time on the couch with him.  I received an email from BOB Strollers informing me of the following recall:

Safety Recall:

B.O.B® Strollers with Embroidered Canopy Logos

Recall Hotline (855) 242-2245 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. MST M-F

www.bobnotices.com

October 11, 2011

Dear BOB Purchaser,

Our records indicate that you may have purchased a BOB Stroller that may present a potential safety hazard. The stroller canopy’s embroidered logo’s backing patch can detach, posing a choking hazard to babies and young children and must be removed to safely use the stroller. BOB is recalling this product in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada.

This is a second recall of BOB Strollers in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada. This recall is different than the one announced in February 23, 2011, involving the removal of a canopy drawstring.

This recall involves BOB Strollers manufactured between 1998 and November 2010. All the recalled strollers can be most easily identified by a “BOB®”, “Stroller Strides®” or “Ironman®” embroidered logo on the stroller canopy. Models included in the recall are:

BOB Stroller Model Name	Suggested Retail Price*	Embroidered Canopy Logo consumers should look for
Sport Utility Stroller	$299.00	“BOB”
Sport Utility Stroller D’Lux	$349.00	“BOB”
Ironman®	$349.00	“IRONMAN”
Sport Utility Stroller Duallie®	$429.00	“BOB”
Ironman® Duallie®	$479.00	“IRONMAN”
Revolution®	$389.00	“BOB”
Revolution® 12”	$399.00	“BOB”
Stroller Strides®	$399.00	“STROLLER STRIDES”
Revolution® Duallie®	$569.00	“BOB”
Revolution® 12” Duallie®	$589.00	“BOB”
Stroller Strides® Duallie®	$589.00	“STROLLER STRIDES”

* Prices have varied.

You should immediately stop using the recalled strollers and contact BOB at www.bobnotices.com for instructions on how to remove the embroidery backing patch from the embroidered logo.

To order the instructions by phone, or for additional information, contact BOB toll free at (855) 242-2245 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. MST Monday through Friday, or visit our website at www.bobnotices.com Our goal is to make sure you are taken care of as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation, The BOB Crew

My kids like to pick at things, but are not eaters of the thing they peel (for the most part).  This being said, my kids pretty much picked the backing off themselves as something to do on those 12 miles I put them through in the stroller.  Mine looks like this as a result of their handiwork:

I don't have much work left to do. 

On a side note, I did receive the retrofit kits for the other canopy recall.  I have not yet installed them.  I should, though, especially since the canopy needs to be in a specific position for the weathershield installation.  It is getting close to that time of year.  I have used the single stroller without the retrofit and the weathershield, since I was able to use the existing velcro to secure the canopy. (I did remove and dispose of the strings right away, as well as inform a lady at the mall that her strings needed to be removed too last week).  Also, Soren is 3, and we talk the entire time, so if he stopped talking, I would know instantly that he wasn't getting enough air.  Not to say that I shouldn't fix it still, but with older children, sometimes the worries are a bit less since they can tell you something is wrong when a really little one cannot.  As well as some of the new parent paranoia is gone too :)

Yesterday, I was able to click on one of the above links and it took me to this pdf link here:
http://www.bobnotices.com/recall1/documents/OMB06.pdf
It contains the directions for repairing the canopy.  Since the  above link doesn't take you there anymore, I am not sure if they have a different procedure, or if they are just tracking the number of people that perform the recall by requesting the serial numbers from the strollers.  My IRONMAN Stroller may not be affected but my duallie certainly is.  Off to go copy some serial numbers!

Fall in Kentucky is Pretty too and Attack of the Sheep

I didn't think I was going to do another post this week, but this morning I was looking at pictures of a northern MI fall vacation some friends took last week and started crying.  I was super homesick.  Then, I snapped out of it.  While I don't have Kensington, I DO have Old La Grange Road AND my neighborhood.  Since last Saturday was my last long run for maybe 2 weeks on Old La Grange Road, I went and drove on it today with my camera to take some pictures, as well as use the odometer on the car to see exactly how far it goes.  Of course, it ended in front of some dude's house, and he was in his yard when I needed to turn around in his drive.  I did explain myself- there was a HUGE "no outlet" sign not a quarter mile before his house, but I didn't realize it was that quick.  Whatever, he thought it was funny.  Here are some pictures from Old La Grange Road.  Also, Soren, is still sick, but it cheered him up that a train went by. 

Right at the 1 mile mark from 329 (3 miles into my run from my home), there is a sheep farm.  Normally, when I run by this farm, the sheep don't take any notice of me.  However, today, I hoped out of the car and the sheep started ba-ing and ran up to the fence!  It sort of made me nervous.  I don't know anything about the friendliness of these animals.  The sheep a the petting farms like people, but we were told not to touch the sheep a the farm in IN.  I didn't want to touch them, and were glad they were fenced.

I drove down a little ways, and the sheep followed me!

Here, I had stopped and turned on my flashers, because there were cars.  I had a lady (in the gray van) ask me if I needed help.  Again, I explained that I was just taking pictures where I run (in normal clothes).

We came back home, and then I went for a 3 mile run, with Soren.  I actually went pretty fast, but I did do a lot of stopping during the first mile and took these pictues.  It is about a half mile from my house to the main road, and most of it is outside of our neighborhood with a cow farm and just open space.  I didn't take any pictures in our neighborhood.  This is the hilly "hard" section of the run.

So there you have it.  I need to stop missing MI and just enjoy what I have.  MI fall isn't going anywhere (although I am a bit worried that a lot of the leaves will be gone there when I get there, and then the leaves will be gone here when we get back, but I don't know yet).  I did find some great spots to take pictures of the kids in cute fall clothes.  Now to get Soren healthy and Keira not crabby.  I am not sure if I will be able to get them dressed up and photographed today, although the lighting is great.  Keira has a playdate and Soren is crabby and looks tired.

Weekend Update and Looking ahead to DETROIT Free Press (Half) Marathon

This post is probably going to be a bit all over the place.  At least I am warning you this time!  I wanted to do a day in the life post for SUAR, but we had an unusual weekend.  Friday was busy, with Keira having an event at school, Saturday was insane, as usual, but we celebrated Soren's birthday with my parents and friends, and then we have done nothing since because Soren is now sick.  I actually couldn't sleep last night because I think I was so well rested yesterday. 

I went to bed dreaming about how cool it would be to actually go to Kona.  I spent an unusually long amount of time watching coverage on Saturday night, and it had been on my mind.  I watched the battle for the women's race, and was glued!  I also stayed tuned in to watch Coach Troy from the Spinervals DVDs finish, and he did awesome, almost as fast as he did 20 years ago!!  I also saw my friend Amy finish, and her friend Laura, who ended up winning her AG.  Holy Smokes!  I cannot imagine how cool that would be.  I also had no idea how old Laura was, it gave me some serious inspiration, she is on the order of 20 years older than me.  I was going to watch for one of Ryan's friends, but once I saw that Amy passed him from the last split posted before the finish, I knew he was having an off day.  I had no clue when to expect him, or if he was going to finish after losing that much time.  He finished only about 20 minutes after Amy, so I probably should have been paying more attention and might have seen him.  I can't remember how much longer after Amy and Laura that I just sat glued to the screen. 

Then, this morning, I woke up and read that there is talk about letting you in if you have completed 12 or more Ironman.  This at least gave me the hope I needed.  I mean, there is the lottery, and I am sure by the time I have completed 12 IM, I will be super old and they will have probably upped the number to something bigger.  An Aquaphor teammate of mine has completed 42 IM.  I have no idea how she has time for this, or the money.  I know I could just enter the lottery, but I also know that if I do that, Ryan will be mega unhappy.  It is one thing to earn a spot.

Speaking of earning a spot, I recently said that the only way I would do NYC is if I qualified, and I am really hoping to do that this weekend.  Well, Meredith wrote about how those standards are changing to something sick.  I need to find the exact info, so I am not going to throw any numbers out, but basically, I am no where close to the 2013 standards.  This means this weekend is go time.  I have been having trouble getting excited to run a 7:15ish min/mile half marathon.  It is going to HURT!  I haven't been training quite as fast enough, and my distance/mileage is no where near it was in April when I ran a 1:38:39 on a very flat course.  I am signed up for Detroit this weekend, and then the 11.12 13.1 on 11/12/12.  Detroit is pretty flat, except for the bridge and tunnel.  The 11/12 race is not flat at all, and I signed up to try to get myself more socialized with the running community down here instead of doing my racing out of town.  My neighbors as well as ladies from church are doing it.  There is a 3rd half that is 2 weeks after Detroit, so right between them, that is supposed to be super flat, and Ryan has a friend who is hoping to qualify for NYC there.  I wasn't planning on that one because it is on a Sunday (yes, I know Detroit is too, but it is DETROIT, not some race that only Ryan's friend is doing.  Anyway, it is sort of putting some pressure on me to do really well at Detroit.  I was going into this week thinking, oh, I have all the time in the world to qualify (sort of, because who knows how long I will really have family in NYC to crash with), to YOU GOT ONE SHOT.  Enter, my "Lose Yourself" anthem that I sign to myself when I run, and got me my BQ.  It will have a whole heck of a lot more meaning in DETROIT!  I have my Tiger's ball cap on today (no need to look presentable with a sick kid, but I can represent).    I am getting pumped!

I have some concerns about the weekend, but also some major pluses:
-I hope the weather is cool and I can wear my standard "PR" outfit, pink under armor l/s top and black running tights, except that my half marathon PR was set in my team Aquaphor running s/s shirt and shorts.  I actually would rather do long sleeves and shorts, but mixing my Aquaphor shorts with my pink tee are definitely a fashion no no.  I have enough races where I don't need the team gear unless I want to.  I had thought about throwing on the singlet over the pink top, but again, the fashion police would get me.  I am debating on wearing sleeves with the aquaphor stuff.  I have a set that I have used before in a race, so it wouldn't be trying something new at this race.
-Diet.  I at like garbage all weekend, and I am working to fix it.  I know I ate bad when the bland oatmeal I usually choke down in the morning actually tasted great this morning.  I am doing well today so far.  Also, I am a bit worried about my lack of will power when it comes to cider and donuts.  We will be back in Cider and Donutland (MI) on Saturday, and hopefully I can resist and hold off until Sunday post race.  I did eat Chuck E Cheese Pizza and cake the day before Muncie 70.3, so perhaps it won't matter.
-Soren is sick.  I really hope I don't get sick too.  He is super cute and snuggly when he is sick and I just want to kiss him and squeeze him.  Is he not the cutest? He just curled up and went to sleep on the couch all by himself.  He asked that I turn off the TV in fact.  He is helping me rest by keeping me out of the pool.

+Pre Race Meals.  My pre-race dinner is DIALED IN.  I know exactly what to order at Noodles and Co, and WILL be eating there on Saturday night.  I also know what works during a race for me, nutrition wise.  My pre race breakfast of a Marathon Protein bar is already set aside, and I have my jet blackberry gu plus 2 roctane gus and 1 vanilla spare ready to go.
+I have done this course a million times, there will be lots of friends, fans, and excitement the whole way!
+The new shoes are awesome.  My feet actually felt better after running in them than before, and they are totally appreciating the new shoe love.
+Race day adrenaline is huge for me.  I have been able to run a lot faster on race day due to the adrenaline and being rested.  I just need to have a good day and not worry about blowing up.  When I do, just think of the IM video with the " 'till I Colapse" music.   I plan to start off at a 7:15 pace and hold on as long as possible.  That gives me 2 minutes of wiggle room. 

I will probably post once more before the race, but I am not sure how quickly I will be with a recap.  I will be at Ryan's parents on vacation, and don't want to waste a minute of my MI fall on the computer, unless it is night time and the kids are in bed, but then I might actually get to go on a date with Ryan since his parents will be around to potentially watch the kids!!!!