Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Slacker Blogger! Quickie...

Hello Everyone!

Yikes, time seems to slip away from me so fast!  I just wanted to drop in and say "hello" and that I'm still alive.  My new 'real job' + other side jobs + running are basically all I do right now, so I hate to say that my life has been pretty boring. 

I will do my best to have a 'real' post with pics this weekend, once I can catch my breath a bit.  Until then, I wish you a happy week full of good times, good eats, and good runs. (atleast those are the three that I'm shooting for!)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Detroit Half Marathon with my Pops!



Happy Sunday Readers!

Sorry for being so MIA, but this past week has been crazy between starting my new 'real' job as well as working my part time gig, running, and trying to maintain sanity.

Butttt.....I wanted to write a post celebrating my Poppy!  Today he completed his first half marathon and I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to run with him.  It was a great day in Detroit!


Me and Pop early morning pre-race (thanks for getting up to take a pic mom!)

The day began bright and early - 4:30am!  Pops and I headed downtown early to beat the traffic, donned our old sweats and garbage bags and snuck illegally into the people-mover shelter to stay warm pre-race.  It was so dark out, even as we made our way into our "C" corral.  Suddenly (15 minutes before I expected!) the race began and we were off!  My pop gave me the game plan ahead of time - to maintain 8:15 miles as long as we could.  I had my Garmin and was in charge of the pace.  The pace groups and corrals worked great, it was so easy to get a good position and the pace felt great with everyone around running around the same pace.  2 miles in, we made our way up the Ambassador Bridge which was gorgeous and one of my favorite parts of the race.  The sun was rising and freighter was driving under us "tooting" its horn- so pretty!  Down the bridge into Canada and along the waterfront.  Pops was holding up well and we were hitting just over 8 minute miles, so I knew we were ahead of pace.  Suddenly, it was already time to go back to the US via the tunnel so down we went!  It got HOT in the tunnel as we got timed for our "underwater" mile.  The breeze was very welcomed coming up and out of the tunnel.  Pops was feeling good, despite some sock/orthodic rubbing issues.  Our pace wasn't dropping too much and I knew we were on target to go sub 1:50 (Pops' goal was sub 2, but I, being the running genius that I am, knew he was in shape for sub-1:50).  Suddenly we were back downtown and the finish line was in sight!  Seeing the finish and running along side my dad was my favorite part of the race.  I felt so priveledged to be a part of this experience with him.  I race so often that I forget how great a triumph it really is each time.  So many people do not have parents who could do such a thing- run a half marathon!  I am so lucky to be able to have two parents who I share running with.  Crossing the line in 1:48:48 - the race was perfect.  Pops recovered easily and we grabbed some bananas and attempted to find the expo (with no success, although I had carried my credit card with me the whole race!)  Once we were thoroughly freezing, we headed back to the car.
Pops, post race with sweet blanket and medal


Me post-race with my bad ass pink jacket.




Yikes!  Super - close self portrait!


The morning was complete with a post-race breakfast of spinach omlette and hashbrowns at a local diner!

Then the afternoon was spent doing a second 'workout' - shopping with my mom for work clothes!  So. fun.  That + frozen yogurt.  Basically my life is complete.

Buttt...where did weekend go?  Between working my part time gig yesterday morning, driving to the parents, the race, and prepping for the week I cannot believe it's back to the grind tomorrow!  Its all good though.  Today was one of those days I just feel so blessed and satisfied.  Hope y'all had a good one too!

Let's embrace the week, k?

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Time Flies, and my life is boring.

Oh, man where does time go? 

This week has been crazy busy between prepping for my teaching job (starts Monday, yikes!) and working my two other jobs (subbing, bakery job).  Add in some running and trying to maintain sanity and I guess that's where the time goes!

Quick recap:
Sunday's half marathon went OK.  I wanted to take it easy and ended up running 1:33-34, which wasn't quite as slow as I thought, but fine none the less.  Actually my 1/2 1/2 marathon split was right around 44 minutes so I was on pace to PR (sub 1:30 for me), but the second half was alllll up hill.  Miles 7-9 gained about 350 feet in elevation!  Needless to say, PR hopes were dashed.  I got 8th place woman overall out of 1200 or so women which I was happy with because generally I try to be in the top 1% at races as my goal.  I was not so happy about dropping from 4th to 8th place in the last 2 miles, but my legs were pretty shot and I think were still feeling my 50K from the week before.

I also listened to my new obsession song "Paper Planes" about 1000 times pre-race.  Thanks sister for introducing it to me...

These are the only pics I have because it was pitch dark when I arrived!

This is the breakfast of champions that I have before most every race.  Banana + brown sugar (in tupperware at top of page).  I love brown sugar and could eat it plain all day, everyday!  This is my way of adding more energy to a plain banana without a huge amount of food in my stomach!


This is a flattering and freaky picture of me licking the remaining brown sugar out of the container.  Yes, I needed all the energy I could get!  And I'm wearing my Boston jacket which is probably my favorite piece of clothing on earth......

Other than that, this week has been pretty solid workout wise.  Highlights included Tuesday night speedwork at the track, and a tough tempo in the grass on Wednesday.  Both with my training partner.  The tempo was intense because it was after a 9 hour workday on my feet at the bakery that began at 6am!  I got some easy 8 milers in during the week too, and today did a 16 miler at a bit slower than marathon pace.  Pleasing.  After 5 weekends in a row of racing, it is nice to have a weekend off.  I'm actually home cat-sitting for my parents, trying to prep for Monday and sleeping in my awesome bed here.  Yes indeedy, life is good.  Next weekend is my dad's first half marathon!  I'm so excited to do it with him and be his "pacer."  He has been training all summer and I know is ready to go!

Eats wise = pretty basic and boring.  Most meals have looked like this:


Sliced deli ham with mustard for dipping.


Smart Pop, mini bag...

Ahh, the glamous life of a broke teacher with 3 jobs...

Well, off to bed.  Lots to do in the morning time.  I'm already getting nervous about Monday and my foree into being a "real teacher!"  I guess I gotta use this college degree sometime......

Word,
T-mart

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Cider Mill!



Today, my sis and bro-in-law made a lovely rainy-day trip to our local cider mill by our parents' house!  It was a great trip, complete with randomness.

First stop...cidar and donuts!


Yes, they are 5 years old!  They are in their matching U of M garb, representing in style before the ugly loss occurred...but I digress...Obviously, they are really pumped about their donuts.  Unfortunately, I could not partake in the donuts (gluten) but the cidar was delicious!

Then, we were off to the apple tent! 

I picked up a 1/4 peck of mixed apples for $3.00!!  It was cool, getting to mix and match and by the look of my face, I was pretty excited.  Yes, I get excited by large quantities of produce!

Then, it was time to take sweet pics including this one.

I pretty much think that no explanation in necessary...

On our way out, we hit up the "petting zoo."  I'm not gonna lie, it was totally sad!  All of the soggy animals standing around in a tiny tiny pen!  Poor little goats!  Atleast I got their picture!


"Baaa, baaaa!"

All around- a great morning!  I'm off to run a 1/2 marathon in the morning!  Catch-ya later!  Happy Saturday!