Turkey Trot Race Recap

I am sorry this is late.  Whenever I go out of town for the weekend, I tend to take a break from technology, especially at my parents' house where there is no wifi or networked internet connection, just the one desktop.  With this past weekend being the official start of Christmas shopping, most of my time spent online was shopping.  In fact, my mom and I had our Gymboree/Janie and Jack orders placed by 11:30pm Wednesday night, since the Black Friday specials had already gone live.  This was great, becauase I was able to get to bed a little earlier than I thought I would for the Thanksgiving day race.  The kids got to bed a bit later than they should since they were racing too.  There race was before mine, so we got there about an hour before my race started, and a half hour before theirs.  This meant we got awesome parking.  It was pretty cold, so we hung tight in the car for a bit, and then dropped off a bunch of old shoes and a toy to donate. 

Then, we met up with my friend Amanda, who was in town for Thanksgiving too.  Her daughter was running in the children's race as well.  They tried to get the kids organized into age groups and passed out felt turkeys to designate their wave, but it was pretty disorganized because kids just started getting lined up early (including us).  They finally got us broken up into waves, and then the kids were off!  I was trying to run and take pictures, and accidently stepped on a boy and my mom had to help him put his shoe back on so I could keep going with Keira and Soren.  They crossed the finish line and received medals and cookies.

Then it was time for my race.  It was pretty cold, and I felt like I was rushed getting over to the starting line.  It was a hurry up and wait, though, because they didn't stop registration on time and as a result, weren't ready to start on time.  It didn't start too late, but since it was freezing, everyone was anxious to get going.  There were over 4000 people signed up for the 5 mile race!  We were finally off and running, and I realized that I started too far back.  It was super crowded for about the first quarter mile, and I was able to run on the sidewalk to make up a little bit of ground.  We also started running downhill, which meant I knew we would be running uphill to finish.  The  entire first mile ended up being downhill.  We ran through Ohio State's campus, including the stadium.  It was a nice course.  I was really shocked at how many fast people there were, and how big some of the fast runners were.  I know that I could have been quite a bit faster if I had not completed so many half marathons last month and been better rested/recovered, but I was able to squeak out a PR (if you don't include the first 5 miles of my better half marathons) of 38:10.  It was good enough for a pie, which went to the top 1000 female (and male) finishers for a total of 2000 pies in the 5 mile event.  I was actually in the top 100 females.  They had 10 year age groups (and no age group awards anyway), but I was 21st out of 506.  If I counted those in my 5 year age group, I was 10th.  I didn't count to see how the total would have changed, though.  Not too bad for a tired run!  I still feel like I am in recovery mode from last month, and while I didn't run on Wednesday to prepare, I did swim just because this race was for fun.  The kids were also really excited about it. 

We had a great Thanksgiving, where I just felt like I ate and ate and ATE! 
Here are the pies that Ryan's mom and I made (I made the apple and pumpkin, she made the German chocolate in the middle):

I am now on full on diet recovery mode, and starting to feel a bit better.  It was such a busy weekend, though, that I am still pretty tired.  We did not go to Best Buy on Thursday evening, because Ryan was able to find just about everything we wanted online.  We did go out Friday evening for a date, and popped in there.  It was still pretty crazy, and we managed to get the final video game on sale, but could not get our $40 blu ray player.  We ended up with a $67 one instead, and it looks to be a nicer player than the less expensive one.  We saw Twilight Breaking Dawn.

That is pretty much all for now!  I should have a product review this week, once I can get things back under control after being out of town.  I didn't put any of my workouts into daily mile last week, and have been enjoying doing flip turns in the pool. Although, it seems to make my sinuses worse with all the extra water I get in my face.  I had a neti pot like draining happen a few times when I bent over to put on my shoes after getting out of the pool  Gross!  I also can't keep track of my laps as well.  Any tips on this?

A Whole Lot of Randomness

It looks like BDD's Weekly Ramblings that Leah did, and Colleen's lasted post is catching on for this time of year.  I guess I have a lot of random things that don't neccesistate full posts, but are on my mind.

First, Three Cedars Farm has made it all over the Detroit news, and reached Chicago.  Please check out "Save Three Cedars Farm!" on f/b for more updates.  Per Gary and Sherry, there is not enough time to redecorate for Christmas and reopen for this season if they are allowed to continue.  This is a major bummer.  I really wish I could drive up there and try to orchestrate some sort of huge community activity to do it for them.  I have volunteered at the Festival of Trees before, where an army of people decorated a huge building in a couple of days.  However, the major difference was that there were about 3-4 volunteers per exhibitors, and each exhibitor had a very small area that they were in charge of, so they could still over a LOT of direction to their volunteers, but get a lot done since it was just a small area.  I did things such as wash french doors so that they could be flocked, checked strings of lights for bad ones, and unpacked boxes and spread out their contents.  The building was also empty when we got there, except for the boxes that were delivered full of decor items.  The problem with doing something like this for Three Cedars is that I am guessing there are not enough folks over at Three Cedars that know what everything us supposed to look like to be able to direct the volunteers it would take.  Also, all of the fall items would need to be repacked, and I bet it would be a nightmare in the making come next year if volunteers did it.  It would be like me sorting out all of our decorating after the move, from our many boxes just labeled "Holiday", but on a much larger scale.

I learned how to do flip turns last week!  I am still not so good at them, and spent some time working on the in the pool today.  I had a free personal training session which left me very tired, and without a lot of time to get in any serious distance before the daycare closed. 

We took our family Christmas pictures.  Here are my two favorites:

We owe a big Thank You to the JCPenney portrait studio in St Matthews, KY for doing such a great job and to the kids for being very good through the whole thing. 

I am working on my Christmas list.  The top two items are:
-Tires
- New Brakes

Very exciting, right?  Actually, they aren't really Christmas presents, just things I need to buy right now, but have been procrastinating because I haven't wanted to spend most of a day with Soren getting them done.  The car still stops and goes OK, and it isn't making the horrible noise, so I am OK for a little bit more.  Hey, I used to be a brake design engineer, so I know what I am doing here, right?  ha ha.  Don't be me, please!

Actually, here are the real things.  I want the Kinect for our Xbox, and some dancing games.  I am torn between the Dance Central 2 and the Just Dance 3.  The graphics on DC are better, but the songs are a bit more grown up.  JD has LMFAO.  Ryan hates bad graphics, so he bought the Kinect and Dance Central 2 (as well as Batman) from Best Buy.  So today, as Silver Premier Members with Best Buy, we were able to shop the online Black Friday sales today, from noon until midnight.  Everything we bought all together was now over $100 cheaper.  Ryan spent an hour trying to get through the system.  I came home, and spent about an hour and a half on hold with customer service, ONCE I FINALLY GOT THROUGH, as well as a couple hours online. It was like trying to enter a radio station contest to win a million dollars or something!  Maybe this is what IM entry is like too, I don't know and won't know for a long time.  All I got was the navi for our car that Ryan wanted.  Everything else was all sold out by the time I could navigate the site properly.  It looks like we may be hitting the stores Thursday at midnight to try to get the deals.  The good news, is that we have our stuff, so we will still get it for Christmas, but it is just at a cost premium.  I don't supposed they do price adjustments for black friday, do they?  Or allow you to return and rebuy?  I would be scared something would go bad if we tried to do that, like we get it snatched from us or it gets returned and someone else buys it before we can. 

Finally, I did sign up for the Turkey Trot in Columbus.  I think it will be fun, and the kids' entries were free with mine, which mentally makes the race seem cheaper.  We all get shirts and medals, and hopefully I will get a pie. 

That's all for now.  Good luck on those Thanksgiving Day races and enjoy your holiday!  Also, good luck with BF shopping.  I'll be starting Wed night at midnight online (hello gymbo addict!), so I am not expecting to PR on Thursday.

Save Three Cedars Farm!

I wish I didn't have this reason to post today.  While checking my facebook, I noticed that my favorite farm in MI, Three Cedars, was asked to close by the Salem Township.  I started crying.  Maybe because I am not running right now and I don't have my proper stress relief, or maybe because I kept telling myself that we will only be gone for a few years and that when we go back to MI, things will still be there.  I should try to enjoy new fall traditions here in KY.  Well, as of right now, Three Cedars will NOT be there.  I am so upset!  I just want to drive back there and do something about it, but all I can do right now is email and facebook.  I remember the first time we went out to Three Cedars as a family.  We went because we had heard about their Country Christmas, the very event that is being cancelled.  They have this fabulous big red barn that they set up and decorate for Christmas.  You can have your picture taken with Santa and Mrs Claus, and the money is donated to charity.  They celebrate CHRISTMAS, not winter holidays.  They were one of the few places open after Thanksgiving for cider and donuts.  The first time we were out there, I remember sitting in the donut hut, drinking hot apple cider, with my donuts, listening to Christmas music and thinking, this is absolutely the most perfect evening!  This is perfection.

With the economy being so bad, it just does not make sense why anyone would want to close a thriving business.  They say the issue is zoning, but why wait until mid season, during one of the 4 months the farm is actually open, to bring this up?  It is zoned as agriculture, not commericial.  I don't know all the details of zoning, but aren't farms allowed to sell what they produce?  However, this has been the case for the entire operation.  Why now?  

Before I get to all the links below, please go http://www.threecedarsfarm.org/index.asp  to contact Salem Township officials and let them know this is unacceptable.  I have also signed a petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/salem-town-board-work-with-three-cedars-farm-to-allow-christmas#

Here is my family post about our trip last year.  It has lots of pictures, and includes the whole week.  Three Cedars is at the bottom.
http://melissaryanandkeira.blogspot.com/2010/12/sick-week-3-cedars-country-christmas.html

I have posted pictures here from when I took Keira and Soren all by myself when I came back for a short weekend.  I made a point to go there, and had a very busy weekend lined up.  Erika has been there too. 
http://melissaryanandkeira.blogspot.com/2011/09/mi-trip-to-celebrate-with-cousins.html
This post is fall break, when I ran Detroit, (the top photo is Parmenters, but they are not open past Thanksgiving, nor do they offer the farm atmosphere)
http://melissaryanandkeira.blogspot.com/2011/10/fall-break.html

Here is our first Christmas there:
http://melissaryanandkeira.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-at-three-cedars-farm.html

We also celebrated Soren's birthday there:
http://melissaryanandkeira.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-2nd-birthday-soren.html

Sorry to just post so many links and so few actual pictures.  It would take me forever to upload every picture.  Hopefully these links will give  you the idea of how much we love it.  I hope you can help!

Louisville Sports Commission Half Marathon Race Recap

Stick a fork in me, I am DONE!  I finished up the Louisville Sports Commission Half Marathon yesterday.  It was the first year for this race.    They did a pretty decent job putting it together.  There were some definite high points, but also some things they could have done better.  I had low expectations from the start for this race since it was pretty hilly.  Those expectations dropped even lower when I had the knee jerk reaction to sign up for the Monumental Half Marathon last weekend.  I figured I could finish between 1:40 and 1:45, and really wanted to be in the top 10 of my age group, but really wasn't sure since that was not entirely in my control.

As the race drew nearer, I learned of more people doing the race, so that made me more excited about doing it.  I also convinced my neighbor that she should do it.  We weren't able to meet up at all at the race, but we chatted a bit on the phone that morning, and then later on that afternoon.  We drove in past the cyclocross race that was going on all weekend, and saw some pretty sweet bikes, as well as a car labeled the SRAM neutral support car.  I already wished I had one of my bikes instead of doing a half marathon. 

I met up with Rhonda, my ride leader for the summer.  Shortly after, we met up with the rest of the Louisville Landsharks. 

The bathroom situation didn't seem very good at all.  I had gone at the coffee shop by the car when we first got there, but only saw ONE porto potty at the intersection that was listed as the start on the website.  I am not sure it if was moved (they had some last minute changes to the course for some reason, I think construction related).  At any rate, we walked a bit down from the intersection, and found the start, as well as a lot more porto potties.  Still not a lot, and I found a line for a flush toilet that looked more promising.  Thankfully, I had time to go with about 5 minutes to spare.  I found a guy holding up a 1:45 sign, who turned out to be a total bandit runner who decided to be the unofficial pacer for a group of his friends from a local running store.  I chatted with him at the beginning, saying that I hoped I would finish a bit ahead. 

One of the coolest things for this race was the start.  They had a guy play a horn like they do at the start of the Derby!  I didn't realize it was a real guy and not a recording until later on, so that made it even cooler. 

I started off and I just felt slow!  It felt nice, actually.  I hit my first mile around 7:45, and my second in about the same, maybe a tad faster.   I am not looking at my garmin, but I think at around mile 3 was where it started to get a bit hilly.  The water stops were not very long, and that was sort of a problem.  I felt lucky to get water at the first couple of stops.  The crowd was pretty thick, and it seemed like the volunteers were too close making it too narrow.  I hit the hills and slowed down quite a bit.  There were 2 pretty large ones in Cherokee Park.  We actually ran the opposite direction that traffic normally flows, so while I knew the park, I had never run up these hills, I had run down them.  It didn't seem like that big of a deal, though, because at least I knew how long they were in my mind.  Those lastest until about halfway in before it flattened out a bit.  I got nervous for a bit when the 1:45 guys were right on my tail.  I felt like my gu kicked in, and I was able to put a bit of space ahead of them.  Sadly, we had a headwind on the flats, and I started to get tired.  With about 4 miles to go, the pace group caught me.  They were a bit ahead on their pace, so I tried to stay with them as much as I could.  I hung on for a while, but with 2 miles to go, I fell back a bit.  I did try to pick up the pace towards the end, and I caught up with my former Team Marathon teammate, Jessica.  She was having a rough time.  She did really well at a half marathon just 2 weeks ago, and was feeling the burn out that I felt.  I cheered her on a bit and got a little ahead.  I just kept watching the time to try to make it under 1:45.  I picked up the pace during my last .1, and got in just a few seconds under according to the finish clock.  My actual finish time was 1:44:50!  I got a picture with Jessica before continuing through the finish chute.  

Makers Mark was a sponsor, and one drink was included at the party tent.  They let me get a shot for my dad (since he was just on the other side of the fence).  We went back to the finish, but I wasn't really sure when anyone was going to come in.  We watched the finish line for a bit, but with my mom waiting at home for us to return, we didn't stick around too much longer.  We had a long walk back to the car.  The start and finish were not  very close to each other.

I got home and checked the results, and as it turns out, I was 10th in my age group!  Awesome!  My goals were met for this race.  AND, I did have fun.  I also used our master bathtub for the first time too, as a cold bath.  I don't do a complete ice bath due to my arthritis, but filled it up with cold water, threw on some sweatshirts, and plunked in.  Don't worry about my total lack of hygiene, we have a stall shower, but about half my showers are actually taken at the gym. 

Check out my last month's bling!  I can't believe I did all three of these races in less than one month!  The cool thing about this medal is that it was dipped in the wax that they use to seal the bottles of Maker's Mark.  You only got a dipped medal if you were 21 or older, though.  It was a great medal, large, and I LOVE the fleur de lis on it.  They are on the ribbon and around the border of the medal itself.  It is a symbol of Louisville, and I can't get enough of it while we are here. 

I am not sure if I will do this race again.  I did enjoy it, but the course was difficult, and it is late in the season.  I just don't know that I NEED to do it again, like doing it the first year was very novel.  I don't know if it will be that novel next year.  I enjoyed Indy better, and could do even better at it if I planned properly.  I don't know.  I might have a total different opinion next year, though.  It is nice that it is local and on a Saturday, though. 

Today, I am super sore and tired.  I did get a whopping ELEVEN hours of sleep last night.  I pretty much went to bed a bit after the kids went to bed, and slept until a little before 8am.  The kids were worn out too yesterday.  Ryan enjoyed his camping and climbing trip, and was tired too.  We are both sore today.  I have been hitting the ice and the advil hard.  I hope after a few days of rest, I will have no lingering aches and pains.  Boston training starts on Dec 12th, so I have some time to recover.  I will be hitting the pool tomorrow, I hope!

Getting Excited

I think my last post made it look like I was not thrilled about running this weekend.   I am feeling better about it, and Ryan isn't upset about it, and in fact, is going to be going on a camping/climbing with the youth from our church in the Red River Gorge, so he is pretty excited about that.  It was totally last minute, but it is helping Ryan enjoy the weekend and do something he hasn't done in a while.  We haven't climbed outdoors in what feels like forever; since Soren was born.  Ryan has climbed indoor since, but I have not climbed at all since Soren was born.  I enjoy it, but I would rather bike if I have the free time to workout.  Hopefully now that the kids are getting older, I can get back to it.  But I digress.  The point of this is that the weekend should be pretty awesome for both of us.  My parents are coming into town to watch the kids while I run.  I am glad I am racing, otherwise I would just be hanging out with the kids all day.  I don't think it would have been as easy to convince my parents to come down unless I had this race.  Also, it is a fun way to get in a decent long run.  Will I be fast?  I have no idea.  I plan to start out very conservative, make it through the hilly section that starts at mile 3ish, and then see what I have left.  I am not going to shoot for anything.  It is a smaller race, with about 2800 people.  I am hoping I can be in the top 10 in my AG, if not place.  Although, since it is hilly, perhaps only fast people will show up.  I don't know.  It is hard to set goals like this because it isn't up to me. I am just saying top 10 because at Detroit I was 12 out of 800 people in my age group.  I am not sure how many people were in my age group in Indy, the results didn't display the same, but I was 15th there, and the field was just a tad smaller.  I am not sure the AG size.  Anyway, I am thinking I will try to settle into a pace, and then just try to hold my standing and not get passed.  I want to go out and enjoy the priveledge of being able to run 13.1 on a fall Saturday morning.  The course goes through the parks where I rode over the summer.  I did run here a couple times, with the stroller, and I got my rear handed to me.  Hopefully it won't be as bad without the stroller.  Hopefully all this racing I did will just help me. 

I went to the expo (or non expo, I should say), and got my packet.  It was one of those virtual packets, which I love because it is just less junk to sort through.  The chip is in a big foam rectangle stuck on the back of the bib.  It wasn't really an expo, just a room not even the size of our living room, where you could pick up your bib, shirt, and a clif shot.  They didn't have any cool signs or anything to stand by for a picture.  They did have a medal and a small sign.  Soren stood by it for the picture since he was the perfect size.

I was really happy with the shirt.  Here are a couple pictures:

It is pretty much the long sleeve version of the shirt from Indy, with less stuff printed on it.  Major plus.  My shirt from Indy stuck up a bit on my shoulders (hopefully it will lay down better once it is washed), so that bummed me out since it is Adidas. The Boston gear is Adidas, and I was worried that I wouldn't fit well into it.  That would make me super sad.  However, the long sleeve version of the shirt fit perfectly!  Maybe it was just the weight of the sleeves that pulled it down, or I have a funny one from Indy.  Either way, my doubts have been put aside that my Boston gear will look bad on me, once I get it. 

Anyway, I am still working on my neighbor to run.  She is entered, and I got her stuff for her today.  She would be a good running partner for a couple of the ladies from my rides, so hopefully I can hook them up with each other before the race.  I hope she does it.  She was part of the reason I signed up.  It is opening day for hunting season, so her husband is going to be out of town.  She has sitter options, but that is weighing on her decision.  It would not be super fun to watch the kids all weekend after killing yourself on a half marathon.  I am excited to race with Rhonda, who was my fearless leader of the VO2's chick rides on Monday.  She did IM LOU, and was the one who dragged me down to the Underpants Run.  It will be fun to race with these ladies!  Just about everyone in this pic shouold be down there!

Not to leave out Keira, here is a picture of her from yesterday.

We turned the house into a dance party, and just one tutu was not enough for her!  (and yes, she is using the foam roller as a stool).  My hip was actually sore from all the dancing!  I pulled it last year slightly while trying to zip up a knee high boot while wearing a super snug old bridesmaid dress for my Halloween costume, a queen since Keira was a princess.  I could not breath in it, or bend over to zip my boot, either, apparently.  I am sure I will be fine for race day, it hasn't bothered me in a long time.  I always feel so achey on my taper.  I am looking forward to just working out again, though, and be done with this taper/recovery cycle that I have been in for about the last month or so. I'll need a few days for recovery next week, but then I can add back those swims I have been skipping and get some time in on the trainer.

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Race Recap

I am not going to hold anyone in suspense.  I did not qualify to NYC.  I did have a good time, a good day, did my best, but it was just not good enough for NYC.  I have no regrets.  I may have gone out a tad fast, but I don't think that made the overall difference, since I was only a matter of seconds off my plan in the beginning, nothing major.  I tried to run it like I ran the derby, but I just ran out of steam.

I ended up leaving on Friday afternoon, just me.  We went back and forth debating on if we should all go or not, and when I told Ryan when I needed to leave on Friday, that was the deciding factor, it would be too tight to make it to the expo.  If I couldn't make it to the expo, there was no point in going down the night before if I was going to still have to track down my bib.  I did learn that there was race day pick up available if you asked, but I like to have my stuff in advance.  Also, I learned that the exit I planned to use for the race would be closed, due to the race, and was able to get somewhat better directions. 

After leaving the expo, I went to Noodles and Co where I got my favorite meal.  Pasta Fresca on whole grain linguine.  Yum.  There were a lot of restaurants in this area, and I saw a LaBamba!  This is not a good pre-race meal at all.  More of an end of the night kind of meal when you are already going to be sick anyway, if you know what I mean.  They had one of these at OSU. 

There was also a 5 Guys (which happened to be where Ryan took the kids back in KY while I was gone), and a City BBQ.  It was a nice area, and my hotel was just a couple minutes away.  I had a little bit of trouble finding the hotel because Google directions were very different from the directions on my confirmation letter, and it was really difficult to see the hotel from the road (although I am guessing you could see it better from the highway, but since I went out to eat first, I came in another way).   It was a really good hotel for the money.  I picked the cheapest place, and to be honest, was a bit worried about it.  I had planned to switch my reservation if the kids did come along, so that it would be easier to watch them without a car while I raced.  This would not have been a problem.  They had a decent breakfast (which I skipped in favor of a Marathon Protein bar), indoor pool, and wi-fi.  Ryan and the kids would have been fine, because my room had a huge king bed, plus pull out sofa (with a half wall separating them), a microwave, and fridge, all for $53 (before tax).  I am not sure if this was an upgraded room or not, just because it was not very busy.  I think I only saw a few cars in the lot, and it was very quiet.  It was not new, but that wasn't a big deal because it was clean.  It was a Quality Inn at Southport.  When we come back to Indy to just check it out, I think this might be where we will stay, because it was only about 10 minutes from downtown.  I went to bed fairly early, and woke up at night once, due to coughing.  I wished I had brought the humidifier, because the air was dry.  I put a wet washcloth on the heater, drank a bottle of water, and then slept until 5:27, and I wanted to get up at 5:30, so I felt alright when I woke.

I got ready to go and headed downtown.  I had one issue getting there, because the way the lady told me at the expo to work around the road closures had me going the wrong way on a one way street.  I wonder how many other people she told to do this!  I tried taking the next street to circle the block, but that wasn't a square street, and it curved around.  I took one more turn, and was ready to turn around completely when I encounted Washington Street, which was the street where the race started, so I took that and got into the parking garage I wanted very easily.  It wasn't very full.  I am wondering if they estimated incorrectly about the number of people they were expecting.  It did not seem nearly as crowded at Detroit or even Derby, but it was supposed to be the same size as Derby.  They didn't have the start line set up when I got there, which was strange to me.   See, no timing mats yet!

I met up with Jen, from Team Aquaphhor, between the start and finish areas, and she thought she was initially in the wrong spot!  She had friends with  a tent in front of the statehouse, and we hung out there to keep warm before the race.  It was cold, 35 degrees when I got there.  We met up with Mike, also from the team,  and took a few pictures.

We hit the port o potties one time, and there was no line, however, when we opted to go again, it was a mess.  They had them too close to the street, along the street, so there was no place to form good lines.  It was a mess, and I feared people were just cutting in front because it seemed like it never moved, but we did hear a bunch of people yell at a guy who did just try to jump in one, and so I guess it wasn't happening, but just really slow.  As a result, I bailed on the port o potty, and was just going to deal with it.  I ran into Jen and her friends again, and we opted to use some bushes in front of the statehouse!  They weren't super tall, but tall enough that people could just see the tops of our heads.  It got the job done.  They didn't have corrals, but three small sections at the front, elite, seeded 2, and seeded 3.  I was in seeded 3, and lined up with the 3:10 and 3:15 pacers.  I wanted to stay in between them, but they we were only with the marathoners until mile 7, so I knew I would have to rely on myself.  I didn't have the same problem with my Garmin in Detroit, with the buildings interfering, but I did remember to take off the autopause.  I went out bit quick to get free, but I crossed the mile 1 marker at 7:15 (although my Garmin said I hit mile 1 at 6:53, and I was pretty close to the start line, so I don't think it took me 25 seconds to cross the start.  Something was up with the mile markers.  I was right with the 3:10 group, though, so I felt OK.  I got a little ahead of them because I kept checking my Garmin and it had me going slower, but never too far ahead.  They had a clock at mile 2, and I was OK according to the clock, but a little ahead according to my Garmin.  It was as if each mile seemed to be a bit longer than the next, because my miles on the Garmin were not lining up, and each one got more and more off.  I did OK until about mile 7, staying on track, only having used up a little of my "extra time".  I did get passed by the 3:15 group, but then they peeled off, and I knew I wouldn't get passed by the 3:20 since they went the other way.  By mile 8, I had used up all of my extra time (a 7:20 pace left me with about 55 seconds to spare), if I could just speed up to 7:20 again.  I kept trying.  the whole rest of the race I would run at 7:20 and even got sub 7 for a little bit, but I couldn't keep it up.  I was doing crazy math, like, if I can hold onto a 7 flat pace, I can do it for 4 more miles, right?  Wrong.  Each mile got progressivly slower, with my slowest being an 8:02, and I also was more and more concerned because each mile marker seemed further and further away from what I had on my Garmin.  My finish time was 1:41:33, for what my Garmin had listed as 13.32 miles.  What a bust!  I barely improved over Detroit!  What the heck?  I got my finishers medal, blanket, and hat.  I filled the hat with portable food (skipping the bowls of soup), had my picture taken, and then left, feeling dejected and stupid for coming out here. It sucks when your best is just not good enough! 

I was afraid to call Ryan.  I wasn’t sure if he would be angry we had spent the money to come out here or relieved that we didn’t need to spend more money on a trip to NYC.  I tried so hard!  It wasn’t good enough.  Even when I did hit 13.1 on my Garmin, I was still over 1:39.  I asked a couple people what their Garmins said, and they were all a bit long.  Jen wasn’t at the tent, so I just headed out.  I got on the road, had a good cry, and then called Valerie.  She helped me put it into perspective that I didn’t train specifically for this race, and that I had been sick, which caused me to recover more slowly from Detroit and miss some valuable training time.  Also, when I ran super fast in the spring, I had just come off a full marathon training plan, and was doing so much more mileage.  Perhaps that is what I need to be able to run a really fast half.  I am happy that I tried, though, because now I know.  I don’t have any “what ifs?”  Ryan was not upset, at least I don't think he was.  He was glad I held up my end of the bargin and was already on the freeway when I called him, and got home in time to take the kids to their birthday party.  Jen called while I was at the party, and she said that everyone said that the course was long.  The full was OK, but the half was long.  Mike had it at 13.4!  I did go back and calculate what my finish time would have been had it been 13.1 based on my Garmin pace, and I would have had a 1:39:47or so.  I feel like I am able to compare this time to my Detroit time more accurately, and better represent the improvement I made.  That time is almost 3 minutes better, instead of just 1.  Still not a PR or NYC qualifier, but it is not meant to be.  I was 15th in my age group (a drop of a few places from Detroit, surprisingly).

Up next is the Louisville Sports Commission Half on Saturday.  I do know that I am going to start a lot slower.  This course is very hilly, and I don't want to walk up any hills!  I know these hills, and they blow.  Why did I sign for this again?  To be social with a bunch of people who aren't running anymore?  Right.  Thankfully, Rhonda and several of the other ladies from the Monday Night ride that I used to do will be running it.  That really cheered me up.  One of my neighbors is injured, and signed up but can't run (she had her dog stop right in front of her while running, tripped, and messed up her back and hips), and has a bib to give away.  I was hoping my other neighbor would take it, but she turned it down. 

Does anyone have any tips for me for this week?  I think I am going to go for a swim shortly, once this is done, and then maybe run 3 tomorrow, and 2 on Wed?  Or maybe just nothing.  I don't know.  The dry air and temperature changes have been doing a number on my throat and sinuses.  I broke down and took Sudaphed today, which is banned by USAT during racing, because it has performance enhancing properties.  I am fine to take it during the week, and avoided last week in favor of homeopoathic remedies such as Zicam and Emergen C, and felt decent, but I am out of those and they are rather pricey.  Since I don't care so much about this race, I am more interested in being comfortable NOW, and if I have to switch to something less effective come race day, whatever.  I just don't want to get injured.  Maybe I will have a shockingly great day on Saturday.  Who knows.  Maybe I will do OK awards wise since it is a smaller race.  I hope I don't get lost like poor Anita.  She didn't make it either, but that was because she got lost on her course!  I also didn't get to see Shelby.  She had a plush hotel near the start and didn't need to hang out in a cold tent.  Her race report is here.

I need to start training for Boston seriously in a few weeks.  I am now looking for a spring half that is about 3-4 weeks out from Boston to see if I can't get that 1:37 I am so wanting, but it won't get me to NYC anymore.  I think there is one in Dayton that might be OK.  I did enter a drawing for a guaranteed entry to NYC, and should find out on Wed about that.  Wish me luck!  Maybe I will win the grand prize and get the trip covered too!  If you want to enter that drawing, check out my f/b page for the link.  I can't get the form to reopen since I already filled it out.

Quick Update, ups and downs

This post is really all over the place.  I was trying to rest and still get stuff done, and I have about 3 posts worth of material here, but am going to do a light version of everything and cram it all into one.

Funny Story:
Last week, Ryan received a shipment of work related stuff at our house.  He ordered 20 sets of 8 different peices, and they came here because it is easier to ship trial parts to a person and hand carry them into the plant than it is to ship them to a plant that receives zillions of parts per day.  I'm not saying that stuff gets lost when it comes into the plant, but if you are trying to do a trial that is separate from a regular production build, it is best to keep track of your own stuff.  Ryan sent me the fex ex tracking info, so I wasn't surprised at all when I came home from the gym and saw this pile.  8 boxes.  Looked good.

Ryan packed it all up and took it to his vendors.  A couple days later Ryan got a call from his vendor saying that they had some "bad parts" for him to come a look at.  Ryan immediately got all stressed out and ran over there, worried his trial would be delayed.  They handed him a Reebok shoe box and letter.  He was so confused.  Apparently my compensation shoes for doing the test came on the same day as his huge shipment, and one of his boxes had 40 parts in it because they are the same for right and left, so he only needed 7 boxes.  BAHAHAHA!  I am glad to have my shoes.  With the shoe testing, you never really know when your stuff is going to appear, but it is fine and free.  They are production samples, so I am not going to post a picture of them.  The are a stability shoe, not a neutral shoe, but I think I will give them a shot in a few weeks.  AFTER my insane racing season is done.  It was the one box on top that doesn't match the others.  It probably didn't rattle like the other boxes either, but I didn't even look closely at them.  It had my name right on there too!

Yesterday was a sub par day.  I don't want to call it a bad day, because in the end, I got everything done I needed to, but things were a bit stressful.  I am actually super thankful ONE of the bad things happened yesterday and not TODAY, because I was able to fix it, but here is a rundown of what happened.  First, I wake up and check my email only to learn that Ryan needed me to look for his wedding ring because it was missing.  I could not find it, and was really bummed out.  I get ready and go outside to start my car to go to a craft/food workshop at church and not only is it pouring out, but my car won't start.  Won't even turn over.  Ugh!  I called my neighbor who was going to this workshop to see if she had left yet, and she came and got me.  I had tried using my AAA card last night to book a hotel and it wasn't working, so I was worried I had the wrong one since I had to switch everything from MI to KY.  I was glad I went to church because it is only a mile away, and I was able to borrow a AAA card to get the right phone number to call and get my account switched and someone dispatched.  While I waited I made a cute flower for my hair, but I had to leave before the food.  Oh well, I was worried it wouldn't fit in with  my pre-race diet anyway.  I got my car jumped, and was about to have the guy replace the battery when I noticed the check engine light came one.  Really?  I opted to not have him change the battery so I could just drive it to the Mazda dealership after he was not equipped to pull the engine code.  Once at the dealership, I learned that my battery was fine, and all they would do would diagnose the code.  Sometimes that happens with then battery is totally dead.  Oh, and do you know why the battery was dead?  One of the kids had left the rear dome light on over the carseats for who knows how long.  Thankfully, they didn't charge me the full $60 to tell me my car was fine, and only charged me $20, as well as gave me a coupon for $10 off my next visit since they did spend time on it.  And I got home before Keira needed to get off the bus.  Crisis solved! 

The next thing was that I pretty much got busted last night by Ryan about doing 2 half marathons a week apart and 3 in a month.  I was not aware that he was not aware that I was doing this.  I got pretty upset over it.  I am still rather upset about the whole LSC half, but I am going to do it anyway.  He was stuck in traffic next to a billboard for it and called me to ask why I am not doing it instead of Indy, and I said I was.  I am not happy about the fact that I signed up for LSC and the majority of the people who told me they were running are no longer doing it.  I was pretty pissed, in fact.  I love it here, I love being out of our scary condo situation, and I am thankful it is resolved, but I miss having people to run with.  The main reason I signed up for this race is to run/make friends here to run with, and now it isn't going to be a the social event I had hoped it would be.  I know this is stupid and silly, but I totally wish I wasn't running it anymore, but I signed up late enough that it doesn't make any sense for anyone to buy my bib and transfer it because it costs more to just sign up yourself, and I don't plan to lose money on it.  I will just run it before that happens.  I feel let down, I miss my running friends from MI, and sad.  I guess I am glad that I got that out yesterday too, and not today, although I wished I had some sort of master calendar for Ryan to keep track of my events.  I try to keep track of his as best as I can, but he has trouble tracking it.  I probably should have told him that the LSC is not a qualifier and left it at that.  While the course is certified, to me, it is not a qualifier due to the terrain  That wouldn't be a complete lie, but still not completely honest.  I am glad I told the truth, but I am still sour about that race.  Maybe it will be fun, I don't know. 

Anyway, now to worry about Indy.  I head out in a few hours!  I am packed, but still need to get myself cleaned up.  I got the kitchen cleaned, and I need to print out my directions.  I am sort of bummed that Ryan isn't coming, but it is way easier without the kids.  I will be gone not even 24 hours, so it won't be too bad.  I just hope I feel OK to drive home so that we still have a good afternoon.  Our neighbors are having a big party, and I just feel like we really should go to it.  How else am I going to make friends here if I keep going away?  It is this cycle that I am having trouble breaking.  Why is it that I have to go out of town to race with people?  I know moving takes time, but I am having trouble giving it the time it takes.  Sort of like on Whitney last night when the lady said she was 33 and doesn't have room for new friends.   I  have met some fabulous ladies from church, and in fact I am super thankful for my neighbor Amy.  She bailed me out yesterday AND last Thursday.  I don't know what I would do without her.   She doesn't run, though. Bummer!

Versatile Blogger Award

I was nominated by both Erika from This Spartan Will and Big Daddy Diesel (sorry for the late mention) for the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks guys!  I did one similar a while back, and hopefully I am not repeating what I did before.

1.  I had two weddings, and both to Ryan :)  Ryan and I were married for "time", which means until death in the Livonia Chapel our the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  One of the things I love about my church is that one of the beliefs is that families are forever.  In order for a family to be forever, though, you must be "sealed" in an LDS temple.  In order to enter a temple, you need to have passed an interview as well as be a member for at least 1 year.  When Ryan and I got married in the chapel, I had not been baptized a year.  About 6 months later, I was able to enter the temple, and Ryan and I were married in the Toronto, Ontario temple for time AND ETERNITY!  Also, since we have been sealed together before our children were born, they are already sealed to us.  Had we been sealed after their births, we would have needed to bring them to the temple and have them sealed to us.  I wore the same dress in both, however I needed some alterations done before it met the standards.  I ordered extra fabric when I ordered the dress to do this.  We have both pictures displayed in our living room. photo from www.lds.org

2.  I have almost always owned hatchbacks.  There was a short period of time when I drove a borrowed Toyota (the horror, I know!), but I drove a GEO Storm, the bought the Mercury Cougar, and now drive the blue Mazda 5 door.  That 5th door was super important, because I NEEDED the rear windshield wiper.  Looking back, while that was a dumb reason for spending another 1K on a car, I am glad we did because the opening is way bigger and I could fit my stroller easily, and I was able to put my bikes in there a lot easier.

3.  I was afraid of swimming for a long time.  I still freak out in the pool sometimes if I have to swim over drains or too close to the edges.  I have always been afraid of the drains in the pool, and oddly enough, there have been some really bad accidents concerning pool drains that I have learned about AFTER developing this fear.  See, it was justified!  I do not like the idea of swimming laps in a pool with a "deep end" (diving well).  I have not had to do it, but I went to my dad's pool to look at it one day and told him I don't ever plan to swim there.  I like not knowing where the bottom is in OWS.
This pool looks terrifying to me (from google images), Coe College.  I actually found a picture scarier when seaching, but it wasn't a lap lane photo, just a super scary looking diving well, and a pool with 1 lane in a diving well, and that was super scary, but this is what I meant:

4.  I don't really like cooking, but I do like baking.  I follow a recipe pretty much exactly when I do either, although I am now at the point when I can improvise with baking and make substitutions to make things lower fat (sometimes).  I will reduce the salt in most things I cook, but other than that, I am fairly incapable of cooking any meal except lasagna without a recipe.  I tried replicated some seasoned rice on my own a few times, and both times have been disasterous.  I am about to go back to the mixes.

5.  I don't leave the house without eyeliner, unless I am going on a run from my house (first thing in the morning) or to the gym, and it is packed in my bag to go on as soon as I am done.  Even if I don't have time for a shower, I still put on eyeliner (and usually mascara).  I do put on makeup before a race.  What else am I supposed to do while digesting when I wake to eat up 3 hours before race start?

6.  I really like stars.  I am really happy that I have found some great deals on some star home decor items, and our new tin tile in the kitchen has them in the corners.

7.  I used to own a dog, but now that I have a family, I am really glad I don't anymore.  I guess kids make enough messes, damage things around the house, and are so much harder to take care of, that having something else in the house that pees/poops, and gets hair everywhere is something I am totally over.

Those are my 7 things.  I am supposed to tag a bunch of people, but I think I will just do a few.  Lots of people I know have already been tagged by others.

Richelle from Running Towards A Higher Calling
Meredith from A Runner's World (sorry to keep picking on you!)
Colleen from Irondiva
Cupcake from Bigger Girls Can Run Too
Anita from Running Against the Odds

If you are reading this and want to do it too, consider yourself tagged as well!

Also, on the racing prep front, I have a cold.  Seriously???  Soren woke up several times on both Sat and Sun nights, and last night, I had it.  I slept in the basement where I knew he wouldn't find me.  I also gave him specific instructions that he was not to leave his room for any reason last night until morning time or until we got him out, or his halloween candy would be eated by me and Ryan.  I got the most awesome sleep too.  Ryan didn't want the humidifier in the room (not sure why?) so he wasn't terribly offended when I made a camp in our basement.  I will probably sleep there again tonight.  It is better than the playroom (where I slept on Sunday night from about 4 on because I couldn't get to sleep and I knew Ryan would be getting up at 5, and I didn't want to risk being woken up again).  However, the playroom is right over the garage, so I woke up at 5:30 when the garage door opened for him to leave.  I did manage to fall back asleep quickly, though, since I wasn't forced to get up, get water, take a child to the bathroom,ect.  I have also decided that I am going out to the race on Friday.  I am either getting a hotel or camping out with a team Aquaphor teammate who is going to kick my butt on an easy day for her.  Wow, is all I can say. 

Thats all for now!