Rainy days and workouts. Ugh! I trained both days in the rain this past weekend. Well, mostly. On Sunday I ran a 5K in z2 and after I got home I did 5 additional miles (as opposed to the 10 required per my PT) and it was sunny and 70. Now THAT was nice!
On Saturday I drove to Germantown to meet the team for my 56 mile ride...55.1 miles actually. Not bad since we were only scheduled for 50! :-) Ed's e-mail that morning said the rain was clearing out...but it was pretty wet the entire time. I was soaked, my feet were soaked and cold. I had brought bags for my feet and decided against using them (why now, I have no idea?), and regretted it. LOL My hands stayed warm and dry though, thanks to my winter riding gloves. And my upper half was pretty warm through most of the ride in fact. I was just wet. And splattered with dead worm pieces that looked like mucus. That was pretty disgusting. There were dead/dying worms all over the parking lot before we left...they must have been all over the roads, too... There were some squished frogs, too...and I think a few other dead things. Anyway, having recently had the VO2Max done for the bike, I tried so hard to stay in zone. It was VERY difficult. Almost every hill put me above. Maybe I should have walked those? But I finished even if I was super slow. :) Anyway, this time I remembered to bring a change of socks along with all the other dry clothes so I could have something warm for my feet after. Yay!
Anyway, today I ordered a new rear cassette for my bike that will hopefully make hill climbing a tad easier. And I know I need to do hill repeats.... One thing at a time. I'm also getting new wheels for my bike, too. So I'm very excited. The bad news - the cassette is on back-order. I may look for it elsewhere if it is going to be super delayed...
Sunday my son and I went to the Scope It Out 5K where I was a polyp with a lot of the team. We were 'polyps' and the shirts say "Catch the Polyp" which is what you are supposed to do for colon cancer. Every year our team volunteers as polyps! This meant I ran for free but 'untimed' and got a cool red long sleeve t-shirt and a not so cool red hat out of it. My son has claimed the t-shirt as he plans to use this for track practices. He does not seem to mind running in cotton... Anyway, he raced the 5K and broke 20 minutes for the first time in a road race. His best 5K during cross country however was 18:20.45! Anyway, I was excited for him...he was 4th in his age group, too. We did not stick around too long after, as I promised him we could go home so he could play World of Warcraft...
We stopped for lunch at McDonald's on the way home. I am hooked on the Chipotle BBQ Crispy Snack Wrap... After a couple hours and a couple of loads of laundry I went out for my second run of the day... it was worth the wait because it really was gorgeous out! I ran my 5 miles then cleaned up and took my son who holds a fairly new learner's permit to drive out for his first drive with me. (His dad has taken him a couple of times, too.) It was nice - he did not scare me at all!
Sunday night I went to the JCC in Annandale to do laps and work on form. I swam about 1700 meters. It is amazing how much 'longer' a pool that is 25 meters seems when you are used to swimming in a pool that is 25 yards!
My goal this week is to get all the work outs in. I am even planning on going to the track workout tomorrow morning - April Fool's Day - at 6:30! And this better NOT be a joke! Besides, I've already received my first April Fool's prank...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
How do you know? (long...)
(Or ‘the Fabulous weekend’, continued…)
The weekend with the Moms on the Run (MOTR) really WAS fabulous. And full of laughter! Before we even left DC, we were out on the train platform at Union Station…we walked down a ways then ‘picked’ a train car to get into. We’re all lugging our stuff up the aisle, struggling to load it overhead…finally a passenger who is behind us comments, “I thought this was the ‘quiet car’?” Well, we heard THAT and cracked up and agreed we had to get off of that car! It took us a couple of tries, but we found a car that worked for us…
When we arrived at Penn Station we bought the passes (3 peeps on one ticket) and managed somehow to get through the turnstile. Dragged our bags downstairs (thump-thump-thump) THEN inadvertently got on a “C” train as opposed to the “E” train we should have been on. When we finally realized this (not too far out of our way, fortunately) we could not just switch where we were…nor could we go back one stop…we had to go back a few stops to Penn Station, drag our suitcases back all around up and down the stairs to the other side BEFORE we could get on an “E” train. We called this “Subway Surfing.” And it can be a LOT of fun but only counts when dragging luggage.
Anyway, we (the MOTRs) have all been using the word ‘fabulous’ lately, followed by a *toss-toss* of our hair…the word kind of came about from an incident in a little shop we visited on Thursday after our late lunch at Rue57. Before we left Rue 57 we all used the ‘facilities’, which were downstairs. I had a salad with grilled chicken and a chocolate martini. The tossing of our hair is from seeing the show, “Wicked,” which we all loved. Of course, one of us did fall asleep for a short time at one point. It wasn’t me but I was getting drowsy there at one point. After the show we got our second wind and went for a late night snack at Lindy’s. We used the ‘facilities’ there, too. They were downstairs. Their blueberry cheesecake and potato pancakes were awesome.
Friday morning we woke up to snow! Yes – snow on the first day of Spring. We got a late start to go to the Today Show, but that was OK. So we weren’t front row or anything and as a group we did not get on the show, but…the birthday balloons we were carrying around did. The ‘other’ Gina had recently had a birthday and we were celebrating…speaking of the other Gina, let me backtrack here. There were six of us on the trip…three of the six are left handed and there were TWO of us named Gina. Those are all very odd odds! Five of us had names that ended in ‘a’. Okay, back to business…
There were two of us who definitely were on camera (not me!). However some of us got to shake Meredith Vieria’s hand. And Meredith LOVED our matching MOTR t-shirts. I think she thought they were just fabulous. David Gregory was filling in for Matt and OMG is he tall! After the Today Show (not the end but when we got tired of standing in the rainy snow) we went into Rockefeller Center – to the NBC Studio store. I got a cool NBC Chime thingy. We did not go up to the Top of the Rock as it was rainy and it was $20…that is something for a clear / dry day. When we left the NBC Studio store we literally almost ran into David Gregory on the street. Someone commented how tall he was. He was just walking along, dragging his suitcases. We guessed he was heading back to DC…
Since it was snowing and raining on Friday morning one of us had the great idea to try to change our spa appointment to Friday from Saturday. We called them and they were willing to accommodate…so after a quick snack we were off to the spa! The entire SPA was, you guess it, downstairs! Two of us got finished early after an painful facial experience…they left for a bit of exploration and Bloody Marys…and the secret of the mural. The rest of us waited till we were all done. We walked out of the spa to sunshine! Yes!! Then it was pizza at Ray’s - open 24 hours, of course. We headed back to our suite and reconvened with the others. By this time it was time to think about cleaning up for dinner. We had originally been planning to eat at one Italian restaurant in Little Italy but our Concierge told us of another Italian restaurant located near there. We decided to give it a shot. We were told we did not need reservations, either.
We took the Subway, correctly this time, to Spring Street. We walked through SoHo till we found a place to have a drink. On the way we stopped at various shops. It was fun. The restaurant we stopped at was one that served organic food. Interesting. I had a White Russian there. It tasted kind of like a chocolate martini! I can’t quite remember, but I think those facilities were in the basement.
Off to Little Italy. I’ve noticed that Italians call Italy “It-ly” – they say it without the ‘a’. All of my family (that is my mom and her sisters) call it that. Our concierge also pronounced it It-ly. Anyway, along the way there were many Italian restaurants trying to entice us into their establishment…we thanked them and said we already had plans. We finally got to our location, Il Cortile, and presented our concierge’s business card to Stefano (the maitre d?) and he looked at it blankly…we’d been assured that he would know our concierge! Anyway, after a moment he said “I have met him before.”
We were showed us to a table where Angelo, assisted by Mario, would be waiting on us. Hmm, they put us in a table in the corner. We proceeded to have a fabulous time there. The wine was flowing, the food was delicious, and dessert was on the house! And…the bathrooms were downstairs.
We planned to call a cab for the ride home. Funny, they said there was a limo / driver that would take us where we needed to go for $40…so we accepted that offer. Before we left we took a group photo and a group photo with Angelo. And…according to someone in the group, Angelo has a firm @$$.
The limo ride back to the hotel was hilarious. I think we blinded the driver once or twice with all the pictures we took…darn that flash! We got to the hotel and our nice driver took another group photo with the limo behind us.
We proceeded into the hotel and then found the bar for a nightcap…not that we NEEDED a nightcap, but what the heck! We were in the city that never sleeps, after all. I had another chocolate martini. Mmmmm. With a chocolate stir stick!
Saturday morning…I was tired but felt pretty good. We got up for a day of exploring the downtown area. One of us was a tad under the weather so one MOTR stayed with her – she had already seen these parts, so it was all cool. Four of us rode the subway to the World Trade Center stop…on the correct train, too, and got off the first time. We went looking to explore ground zero, and thought that the WTC PATH would get us there. But as it turns out, the WTC PATH is ACTUALLY a train station…the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) station at the World Trade Center location. Duh…who know? Well, we do, now! Anyway, after we figured THAT out we walked kind of randomly.
Then we were thinking we needed to go to a restroom and found a little Italian café where we got sandwiches and drinks. We got to talking the gentleman who worked there and he told us we would be able to use the facilities in the pizza bar on the other end of the building. No problem – we did just that. We walked into the pizza bar and did a double-take – as the gentleman working there looked like an exact replica of the person we’d just spoken to. It was his twin brother. LOL Anyway, he proceeded to give us some other cool sightseeing advice and we took it. We walked the perimeter of the downtown area – Battery Park – and took pictures of the Statue of Liberty.
From there we continued along until we reached the South Street Seaport Pier 17 area with shopping and dining. We found lunch. At this point we had heard from the other two…they were up and at ‘em and looking to join us. We gave them instruction on where to go on the subway and how to meet us. After an hour or so they did not show up. It turns out they had missed the last stop at WTC and went back they way they’d come – they even thought there were two Spring Street stops on the Blue line. They had to re-visit Penn Station to do the changing sides routine to come back and they eventually met us. However, they did not get confused by the WTC PATH. They got there just as we finished our lunch so we moved inside and they had lunch. Before we left we used the facilities. We had to go downstairs for that. Of course.
From there we left to explore Chinatown and Little Itly (in the day light this time), and also to visit the bakery we missed the night before because we’d gotten dessert on the house. Everybody who already did not have a scarf bought one to keep the chill off…and some of us bought new ones anyway. We got our yummy desserts, too. Now, by this time we had to use the facilities. Again. We saw a Starbucks and decided that would be the place to go. Now the bathrooms were not downstairs, but the line was longer than the drink line and moved much slower. Only one was open to the public – the other was for the employees. One woman tried to CUT after we’d been waiting nearly 30 minutes. We told her no way – even though it was an emergency. Someone who worked there directed her elsewhere. After we had some relief we ate our bakery items there while drinking Starbucks.
Then we left and moved on. I got a really fabulous jacket at Yellow Rat Bastard. It was on sale for $40 marked down from $125! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Someone else needed to use the facilities by this time. The SoHo Café was available and the line was not as long and moved more quickly. It also was not in the basement. Maybe that is a SoHo thing…but I don’t think so. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel suite to freshen up for Saturday night and the comedy show we were going to find. After we decided on a plan of action we walked out towards Times Square – which looks fabulous with all the lights at night – we ran into someone peddling discount tickets (which they do EVERYwhere by the way).
We decided that that worked for us and we backtracked to the club. There we got drinks and appetizers and waited for the show to start. The hostess was Meghan – and she made me so laugh hard I cried. She took one look at our MOTR group and said “What is this? PTA Gone Wild?” Did she hit the nail on the head, or what? Well, not THAT what, but it was really funny. The comedians were hit or miss – good or bad. It was good though, bottom line.
Next stop was Times Square – just walking and enjoying the sights and sounds. I took pictures and had a great time. We walked to about the end of it down one side then crossed and worked our way back.
On our way back we decided it was time…time for our late night nosh session and we stopped at the Brooklyn Diner, which had been referred by one of our co-workers. Chicken noodle soup tastes great at midnight after a long day of walking the streets and seeing the sights! And the desserts that followed weren’t bad either! After we closed that place down it was time to head back for the night. So sad…our weekend was almost over!
Sunday morning…we got up and slowly got motivated. We went wandering around - we were going to have Mimosas and Bloody Marys but they don’t serve in NY until Noon. So we killed some time: First we walked in a small part of Central Park. I was reminded of scenes from “Home Alone 2.” Then we stopped by Magnolia Bakery for the cupcakes to take home to our families. Then it was back to the St. Regis for the aforementioned drinks. I did not know you could get a $25 Mimosa…but if you don’t specify the type of champagne you certainly do!
After we finished these drinks we hurried back to the suite to gather our already packed luggage and hail a cab for our first cab ride in the city to near Penn Station for our connection to the VA Moose bus for our cheap ride back to DC. I’m never sitting in the front seat of a NYC cab again…that is for sure! Our driver could not find the location but the other one did and funny enough got out of their cab right in front of the folks who we’d been sitting behind at the comedy club the night before. How weirdly random is THAT? They called us and we got out of our cab and just walked. We waited a few minutes and got on our bus and found seats together. The ride home was uneventful and I even managed to sleep…but obviously I’m still not caught up. They even stopped at a rest stop in Maryland I think for snacks. I got a latte from Starbucks… then we were back home (well at the Rosslyn Metro stop) where we caught our last train home. we were greeted at the Springfield/Franconia metro (the last stop) by two of the husbands and then it was truly over.
What I learned on my trip…that the bathrooms in most NYC establishments are…downstairs! The WTC PATH is not what you’d think. And there really ARE two Spring Street stops (Blue and Green lines) on the subway. Finally, hanging with the MOTRs is a blast and I cannot wait to do it again!
The weekend with the Moms on the Run (MOTR) really WAS fabulous. And full of laughter! Before we even left DC, we were out on the train platform at Union Station…we walked down a ways then ‘picked’ a train car to get into. We’re all lugging our stuff up the aisle, struggling to load it overhead…finally a passenger who is behind us comments, “I thought this was the ‘quiet car’?” Well, we heard THAT and cracked up and agreed we had to get off of that car! It took us a couple of tries, but we found a car that worked for us…
When we arrived at Penn Station we bought the passes (3 peeps on one ticket) and managed somehow to get through the turnstile. Dragged our bags downstairs (thump-thump-thump) THEN inadvertently got on a “C” train as opposed to the “E” train we should have been on. When we finally realized this (not too far out of our way, fortunately) we could not just switch where we were…nor could we go back one stop…we had to go back a few stops to Penn Station, drag our suitcases back all around up and down the stairs to the other side BEFORE we could get on an “E” train. We called this “Subway Surfing.” And it can be a LOT of fun but only counts when dragging luggage.
Anyway, we (the MOTRs) have all been using the word ‘fabulous’ lately, followed by a *toss-toss* of our hair…the word kind of came about from an incident in a little shop we visited on Thursday after our late lunch at Rue57. Before we left Rue 57 we all used the ‘facilities’, which were downstairs. I had a salad with grilled chicken and a chocolate martini. The tossing of our hair is from seeing the show, “Wicked,” which we all loved. Of course, one of us did fall asleep for a short time at one point. It wasn’t me but I was getting drowsy there at one point. After the show we got our second wind and went for a late night snack at Lindy’s. We used the ‘facilities’ there, too. They were downstairs. Their blueberry cheesecake and potato pancakes were awesome.
Friday morning we woke up to snow! Yes – snow on the first day of Spring. We got a late start to go to the Today Show, but that was OK. So we weren’t front row or anything and as a group we did not get on the show, but…the birthday balloons we were carrying around did. The ‘other’ Gina had recently had a birthday and we were celebrating…speaking of the other Gina, let me backtrack here. There were six of us on the trip…three of the six are left handed and there were TWO of us named Gina. Those are all very odd odds! Five of us had names that ended in ‘a’. Okay, back to business…
There were two of us who definitely were on camera (not me!). However some of us got to shake Meredith Vieria’s hand. And Meredith LOVED our matching MOTR t-shirts. I think she thought they were just fabulous. David Gregory was filling in for Matt and OMG is he tall! After the Today Show (not the end but when we got tired of standing in the rainy snow) we went into Rockefeller Center – to the NBC Studio store. I got a cool NBC Chime thingy. We did not go up to the Top of the Rock as it was rainy and it was $20…that is something for a clear / dry day. When we left the NBC Studio store we literally almost ran into David Gregory on the street. Someone commented how tall he was. He was just walking along, dragging his suitcases. We guessed he was heading back to DC…
Since it was snowing and raining on Friday morning one of us had the great idea to try to change our spa appointment to Friday from Saturday. We called them and they were willing to accommodate…so after a quick snack we were off to the spa! The entire SPA was, you guess it, downstairs! Two of us got finished early after an painful facial experience…they left for a bit of exploration and Bloody Marys…and the secret of the mural. The rest of us waited till we were all done. We walked out of the spa to sunshine! Yes!! Then it was pizza at Ray’s - open 24 hours, of course. We headed back to our suite and reconvened with the others. By this time it was time to think about cleaning up for dinner. We had originally been planning to eat at one Italian restaurant in Little Italy but our Concierge told us of another Italian restaurant located near there. We decided to give it a shot. We were told we did not need reservations, either.
We took the Subway, correctly this time, to Spring Street. We walked through SoHo till we found a place to have a drink. On the way we stopped at various shops. It was fun. The restaurant we stopped at was one that served organic food. Interesting. I had a White Russian there. It tasted kind of like a chocolate martini! I can’t quite remember, but I think those facilities were in the basement.
Off to Little Italy. I’ve noticed that Italians call Italy “It-ly” – they say it without the ‘a’. All of my family (that is my mom and her sisters) call it that. Our concierge also pronounced it It-ly. Anyway, along the way there were many Italian restaurants trying to entice us into their establishment…we thanked them and said we already had plans. We finally got to our location, Il Cortile, and presented our concierge’s business card to Stefano (the maitre d?) and he looked at it blankly…we’d been assured that he would know our concierge! Anyway, after a moment he said “I have met him before.”
We were showed us to a table where Angelo, assisted by Mario, would be waiting on us. Hmm, they put us in a table in the corner. We proceeded to have a fabulous time there. The wine was flowing, the food was delicious, and dessert was on the house! And…the bathrooms were downstairs.
We planned to call a cab for the ride home. Funny, they said there was a limo / driver that would take us where we needed to go for $40…so we accepted that offer. Before we left we took a group photo and a group photo with Angelo. And…according to someone in the group, Angelo has a firm @$$.
The limo ride back to the hotel was hilarious. I think we blinded the driver once or twice with all the pictures we took…darn that flash! We got to the hotel and our nice driver took another group photo with the limo behind us.
We proceeded into the hotel and then found the bar for a nightcap…not that we NEEDED a nightcap, but what the heck! We were in the city that never sleeps, after all. I had another chocolate martini. Mmmmm. With a chocolate stir stick!
Saturday morning…I was tired but felt pretty good. We got up for a day of exploring the downtown area. One of us was a tad under the weather so one MOTR stayed with her – she had already seen these parts, so it was all cool. Four of us rode the subway to the World Trade Center stop…on the correct train, too, and got off the first time. We went looking to explore ground zero, and thought that the WTC PATH would get us there. But as it turns out, the WTC PATH is ACTUALLY a train station…the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) station at the World Trade Center location. Duh…who know? Well, we do, now! Anyway, after we figured THAT out we walked kind of randomly.
Then we were thinking we needed to go to a restroom and found a little Italian café where we got sandwiches and drinks. We got to talking the gentleman who worked there and he told us we would be able to use the facilities in the pizza bar on the other end of the building. No problem – we did just that. We walked into the pizza bar and did a double-take – as the gentleman working there looked like an exact replica of the person we’d just spoken to. It was his twin brother. LOL Anyway, he proceeded to give us some other cool sightseeing advice and we took it. We walked the perimeter of the downtown area – Battery Park – and took pictures of the Statue of Liberty.
From there we continued along until we reached the South Street Seaport Pier 17 area with shopping and dining. We found lunch. At this point we had heard from the other two…they were up and at ‘em and looking to join us. We gave them instruction on where to go on the subway and how to meet us. After an hour or so they did not show up. It turns out they had missed the last stop at WTC and went back they way they’d come – they even thought there were two Spring Street stops on the Blue line. They had to re-visit Penn Station to do the changing sides routine to come back and they eventually met us. However, they did not get confused by the WTC PATH. They got there just as we finished our lunch so we moved inside and they had lunch. Before we left we used the facilities. We had to go downstairs for that. Of course.
From there we left to explore Chinatown and Little Itly (in the day light this time), and also to visit the bakery we missed the night before because we’d gotten dessert on the house. Everybody who already did not have a scarf bought one to keep the chill off…and some of us bought new ones anyway. We got our yummy desserts, too. Now, by this time we had to use the facilities. Again. We saw a Starbucks and decided that would be the place to go. Now the bathrooms were not downstairs, but the line was longer than the drink line and moved much slower. Only one was open to the public – the other was for the employees. One woman tried to CUT after we’d been waiting nearly 30 minutes. We told her no way – even though it was an emergency. Someone who worked there directed her elsewhere. After we had some relief we ate our bakery items there while drinking Starbucks.
Then we left and moved on. I got a really fabulous jacket at Yellow Rat Bastard. It was on sale for $40 marked down from $125! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Someone else needed to use the facilities by this time. The SoHo Café was available and the line was not as long and moved more quickly. It also was not in the basement. Maybe that is a SoHo thing…but I don’t think so. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel suite to freshen up for Saturday night and the comedy show we were going to find. After we decided on a plan of action we walked out towards Times Square – which looks fabulous with all the lights at night – we ran into someone peddling discount tickets (which they do EVERYwhere by the way).
We decided that that worked for us and we backtracked to the club. There we got drinks and appetizers and waited for the show to start. The hostess was Meghan – and she made me so laugh hard I cried. She took one look at our MOTR group and said “What is this? PTA Gone Wild?” Did she hit the nail on the head, or what? Well, not THAT what, but it was really funny. The comedians were hit or miss – good or bad. It was good though, bottom line.
Next stop was Times Square – just walking and enjoying the sights and sounds. I took pictures and had a great time. We walked to about the end of it down one side then crossed and worked our way back.
On our way back we decided it was time…time for our late night nosh session and we stopped at the Brooklyn Diner, which had been referred by one of our co-workers. Chicken noodle soup tastes great at midnight after a long day of walking the streets and seeing the sights! And the desserts that followed weren’t bad either! After we closed that place down it was time to head back for the night. So sad…our weekend was almost over!
Sunday morning…we got up and slowly got motivated. We went wandering around - we were going to have Mimosas and Bloody Marys but they don’t serve in NY until Noon. So we killed some time: First we walked in a small part of Central Park. I was reminded of scenes from “Home Alone 2.” Then we stopped by Magnolia Bakery for the cupcakes to take home to our families. Then it was back to the St. Regis for the aforementioned drinks. I did not know you could get a $25 Mimosa…but if you don’t specify the type of champagne you certainly do!
After we finished these drinks we hurried back to the suite to gather our already packed luggage and hail a cab for our first cab ride in the city to near Penn Station for our connection to the VA Moose bus for our cheap ride back to DC. I’m never sitting in the front seat of a NYC cab again…that is for sure! Our driver could not find the location but the other one did and funny enough got out of their cab right in front of the folks who we’d been sitting behind at the comedy club the night before. How weirdly random is THAT? They called us and we got out of our cab and just walked. We waited a few minutes and got on our bus and found seats together. The ride home was uneventful and I even managed to sleep…but obviously I’m still not caught up. They even stopped at a rest stop in Maryland I think for snacks. I got a latte from Starbucks… then we were back home (well at the Rosslyn Metro stop) where we caught our last train home. we were greeted at the Springfield/Franconia metro (the last stop) by two of the husbands and then it was truly over.
What I learned on my trip…that the bathrooms in most NYC establishments are…downstairs! The WTC PATH is not what you’d think. And there really ARE two Spring Street stops (Blue and Green lines) on the subway. Finally, hanging with the MOTRs is a blast and I cannot wait to do it again!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Fabulous...
The trip to NYC was Fabulous! I will post more with a few pictures later, but we (the Moms on the Run) had a blast. I feel I could go back and comfortably navigate the subway system, too. We pretty much did everything we wanted to do, and then some. Some things got switched around and most of us did not get on the Today Show (but some of us did...as did the birthday balloons). If we got there bofore the crack of dawn it might have helped. LOL I did get to shake Meredith Vieira's hand though! The show "Wicked" was fabulous, too. I can see why it is so popular! I've never been a huge fan of "The Wizard of Oz" but I am now inspired to watch it again.
Anyway, back to reality!
Anyway, back to reality!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Today is like...
Today is like Friday to me. That is, after I leave work today my weekend starts. That is because i have a L-O-N-G weekend ahead. That's right! Tomorrow morning at 9:25 my train leaves the station. Literally. I am going to New York City for the weekend with 5 other ladies. We are the "Moms on the Run." We came up with this name, or MOTR for short, because our husbands and significant others were giving us grief for going away. In fact, they tried to stop us by picketing us at our planning party, I mean meeting. Yup - they rang the doorbell, walked in, and tried to crash the party.
One of the ladies has a time share of sorts right in NYC...and I think we are going to have a blast! Thursday night we are seeing "Wicked." I have heard it is excellent, so I am looking forward to it.
We all wanted to go stand outside where they tape the "Today" show. Somehow we thought it would be fun to wear matching t-shirts. These are the shirts we'll have on on Friday morning. My DVR is already set to tape the show...just in case we are ON!
Anyway, I'm very excited. I'm ready to go NOW. Funny, I'm getting out of work for at least an hour and a half to take my younger to the orthodontist....too bad his appointment wasn't later...then I wouldn't have had to come back. Hmm, better planning for next time is in order, I think.
One of the ladies has a time share of sorts right in NYC...and I think we are going to have a blast! Thursday night we are seeing "Wicked." I have heard it is excellent, so I am looking forward to it.
We all wanted to go stand outside where they tape the "Today" show. Somehow we thought it would be fun to wear matching t-shirts. These are the shirts we'll have on on Friday morning. My DVR is already set to tape the show...just in case we are ON!
Anyway, I'm very excited. I'm ready to go NOW. Funny, I'm getting out of work for at least an hour and a half to take my younger to the orthodontist....too bad his appointment wasn't later...then I wouldn't have had to come back. Hmm, better planning for next time is in order, I think.
Monday, March 16, 2009
There was only one...
There was only one photo of me running the Lower Potomac River Marathon. I was hoping to get a finish photo because I was so happy I finished. However, I am smiling in this one! I'm not quite sure where this one was taken but looking at the tall grassy stuff behind me I'm guessing one of the segments closer to the water.
What DOES my birthday say about me?
I took What does your birthday say about you? quiz (on Facebook) and the result is June:
"Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn."
Very interesting. I agree with some of the above...not all of it though. LOL Anyway, that was fun...of course to see my results I had to tag 15 other innocent victims with the same quiz...
And to follow-up on Friday the 13th...maybe it was a bad luck day for me after all. My son was pulling out of his parallel parking space at school on Friday afternoon and stopped when he saw someone coming. Unfortunately that person apparently did not see him. They collided. His front bumper cover came off his car (a 2004 Scion xB) and the other driver's rear bumper (on their Rav4) came off...the Scion got towed away...and is awaiting extimates and repairs. But the good news, the best news of all really, is that no one got hurt. *sigh*
Happy(?) Friday the 13th. Hmph.
"Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn."
Very interesting. I agree with some of the above...not all of it though. LOL Anyway, that was fun...of course to see my results I had to tag 15 other innocent victims with the same quiz...
And to follow-up on Friday the 13th...maybe it was a bad luck day for me after all. My son was pulling out of his parallel parking space at school on Friday afternoon and stopped when he saw someone coming. Unfortunately that person apparently did not see him. They collided. His front bumper cover came off his car (a 2004 Scion xB) and the other driver's rear bumper (on their Rav4) came off...the Scion got towed away...and is awaiting extimates and repairs. But the good news, the best news of all really, is that no one got hurt. *sigh*
Happy(?) Friday the 13th. Hmph.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Happy Friday...
Happy Friday the 13th! I remember one time, way back when, I had an apartment with a roommate. It was really the only time I lived away from home before getting married. Of course, now I'm not married... Anyway, we had the apartment for one year, so it was some time between July 1986 and June 1987...whatever the month was the 13th was on a Friday. So we had a Friday the 13th Party. We borrowed our neighbor's black cat, put out broken pieces of mirror, and set up a step ladder. Oh yeah, we also opened an umbrella. Now, most people (I hope?!) know all these things are 'bad luck'. But some people at the party actually asked why we had a ladder in the apartment. We were like, 'never mind'...because if you had to ask it just wasn't funny. Of course, the fact that they DID ask WAS funny...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Lighthouses..
Here is a picture of my finisher's medal from Sunday! It is hard to see, but the lighthouse we ran by is on it.
And this is the actual lighthouse! I got the picture from the museum website. The museum website can be accessed here.
Spring MUST be on the way...
Spring must be on the way because I have two little patches of crocuses in bloom right now. Yay! My tulips are starting to come up, too, as are my daffodils.
Oh, and a funny PS about my ride back from the marathon on Sunday...while driving back north on Rt. 5 twice I was passed (going in the other direction) by horse drawn buggies! You don't see that around here very often. OK, not at all! That was pretty cool.
Oh, and a funny PS about my ride back from the marathon on Sunday...while driving back north on Rt. 5 twice I was passed (going in the other direction) by horse drawn buggies! You don't see that around here very often. OK, not at all! That was pretty cool.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Race Report: Lower Potomac River Marathon
Race Report: Lower Potomac River Marathon
Wow…well, I finished AND I was smiling – my two goals. That and I stayed in low zone 2 the bulk of the time.
The Lower Potomac River Marathon is a small race – limited to 200 runners – and organized by the Chesapeake Bay Running Club. But for such a small race there were people from all over – I was surprised when I looked at the results. The race was held in Piney Point, Maryland, way, way down off of Rt. 5. It started and finished at the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship. Ever heard of it? I had not! It was a nice facility – more about that later. Of course after training in the winter the high for race day was to be about 70. Nice…not! But that’s ok. I wore a sleeveless shirt. I also purposely stayed in low zone 2 because I knew the heat would get to me…which it did.
So first, I got up at 4:00 AM race morning, mind you my body thought it was 3:00 since the clocks went forward an hour. LOL I was out the door by 4:40 AM and drove about 82 miles to the race site with no traffic but it was dark and hard to see all the signs at times. However no driving mishaps. I got to the race site at 6:15 and checked in and picked up a pretty nice technical T shirt. I then went back to my car to get my stuff to drop off for the special needs tables, which they had at two locations: mile 14.6 and mile 22.9 – they were across from each other on the last leg…see below. Then I just hung out till the start.
The weather at the start was really nice – kind of cool and a bit breezy. I knew that wouldn’t last though. The course was basically an out and back with 5 different segments. The start/finish was one of those. After leaving the facility the first two segments were little ones and were both along water so there was a nice breeze. We first went up and over a little bridge to St. George Island where we went down to the end of a one lane road and back part way to go down to the end of another road and back. Then back over the bridge to the third segment. The third leg was down a street called Lighthouse Road, and there was a lighthouse at the end of the road…and a museum with facilities…that flushed! Lighthouse Road was a pebble beach along one side (my left going down) and homes along the other (my right going down). The beach was Zen garden-like – very cool looking and pretty. The turnaround was at the lighthouse with the museum and flushing facilities. I took advantage of those facilities. I think this was at 10.5-ish miles. Then back out to the main road and now on to the fourth segment.
The fourth segment was the killer. This was just before (or after?) mile 11 to the turnaround at mile 18.8-ish and back to the finish, basically. The 26 mile marker was just before the turn back into the race site. This is where both the hills and the heat came out to play. And the sun made a pretty good appearance, too. Now the hills weren’t too bad. But they were there. Oh, and the water and the nice breeze went away. I just kept plugging along at low zone 2. When my heart rate got too high I just walked the hills. I made my next stop at the special needs table at mile 14.6…here they had a port-a-potty. Yes, I stopped again. After visiting the port-a-potty I filled up my Camel Back with my first replacement bottle of HEED and grabbed more nutrition. It was time to move on. This part gets pretty boring – just out, out, and out to the turn-around…then back. Of course there were a few more ups and downs (the hills that is), too. They had orange slices at the turn around though – and these were oranges that had all been peeled and sectioned! This sure made them a lot less messy. I took a few – and they tasted delicious.
Finally on my way back. That was a nice feeling. Mile 19 was just after the turn around. It sure was nice seeing the mile marker numbers go higher and higher. At mile 21 or so they had another port-a-potty. Yes, I stopped THERE too… Then on to mile 22.9 to the special needs table and filled up my Camel Back with my second bottle of HEED. I think I got half a banana here… the pretzels they had were like eating cardboard though. Somewhere along this portion I ran by a little farm and there were three sheep hanging around together .Their coats were quite full – they must have felt the heat yesterday too. I wanted to ‘baaaa’ at them, but did not… Just a little over 3 miles to go…up and down…and finally I saw the 26 mile marker with the turn to the finish. Boy was that cool. And at the finish there was a cute little girl handing out really cold water and a nice lady to take the stub off my race number and give me a finishers’ medal.
My finish time was 5:37:51…this included my approximately 15 minutes of ‘pit stops’. My watch time was 5:22:18. I guess I was pretty well hydrated! LOL. I was 43 of 48 women. And 130 men finished – only one man finished behind me. I was 13 out of 15 in my age-group. Not my best marathon but I finished and I was totally smiling at the finish line. I have to say, that there were so many friendly people on the course. The volunteers were all incredibly nice as were so many of the runners. I spent a lot of the race smiling. One woman was an ultra marathoner. She was running with a Lei around her neck! I think that would give you weird chaffing. There was another woman I kept going back and forth with throughout the day. I finished ahead of her but waited till she came in – she was all the way from California. She was pretty happy to be done, too. And as for recovery and other such things, I was able to eat at the runners’ post-race meal – they had lots of pasta with meat sauce to go around. Of course, you had to go down three stairs to the dining room – who thought of that? But it overlooked the water and was very pleasant. They also had a locker room facility where you could shower after at no charge! It was nice to clean up and change for the ride home.
On the way out of town I drank a bottle of strawberry Recoverite. Then of course, maybe an hour (or less?) into the ride home I had to make yet another pit stop (good grief) but I also got more food…mini sub to order and a chocolate milk at Wawa…where the Girl Scouts were selling cookies…now I have some Thin Mints…I guess I earned a few. When I got back into my area I stopped for my favorite fast food calorie fest – a mashed potato bowl from KFC. Then I finally got home and was able to sit in a cold bath for my legs. Then on went my compression tights and after eating my calories my feet went up and stayed up for the most part. And I am walking just fine and doing stairs fine too, today! Oh, and I had absolutely NO CHAFFING and NO BLISTERS! All in all I’d call that a successful race!
Wow…well, I finished AND I was smiling – my two goals. That and I stayed in low zone 2 the bulk of the time.
The Lower Potomac River Marathon is a small race – limited to 200 runners – and organized by the Chesapeake Bay Running Club. But for such a small race there were people from all over – I was surprised when I looked at the results. The race was held in Piney Point, Maryland, way, way down off of Rt. 5. It started and finished at the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship. Ever heard of it? I had not! It was a nice facility – more about that later. Of course after training in the winter the high for race day was to be about 70. Nice…not! But that’s ok. I wore a sleeveless shirt. I also purposely stayed in low zone 2 because I knew the heat would get to me…which it did.
So first, I got up at 4:00 AM race morning, mind you my body thought it was 3:00 since the clocks went forward an hour. LOL I was out the door by 4:40 AM and drove about 82 miles to the race site with no traffic but it was dark and hard to see all the signs at times. However no driving mishaps. I got to the race site at 6:15 and checked in and picked up a pretty nice technical T shirt. I then went back to my car to get my stuff to drop off for the special needs tables, which they had at two locations: mile 14.6 and mile 22.9 – they were across from each other on the last leg…see below. Then I just hung out till the start.
The weather at the start was really nice – kind of cool and a bit breezy. I knew that wouldn’t last though. The course was basically an out and back with 5 different segments. The start/finish was one of those. After leaving the facility the first two segments were little ones and were both along water so there was a nice breeze. We first went up and over a little bridge to St. George Island where we went down to the end of a one lane road and back part way to go down to the end of another road and back. Then back over the bridge to the third segment. The third leg was down a street called Lighthouse Road, and there was a lighthouse at the end of the road…and a museum with facilities…that flushed! Lighthouse Road was a pebble beach along one side (my left going down) and homes along the other (my right going down). The beach was Zen garden-like – very cool looking and pretty. The turnaround was at the lighthouse with the museum and flushing facilities. I took advantage of those facilities. I think this was at 10.5-ish miles. Then back out to the main road and now on to the fourth segment.
The fourth segment was the killer. This was just before (or after?) mile 11 to the turnaround at mile 18.8-ish and back to the finish, basically. The 26 mile marker was just before the turn back into the race site. This is where both the hills and the heat came out to play. And the sun made a pretty good appearance, too. Now the hills weren’t too bad. But they were there. Oh, and the water and the nice breeze went away. I just kept plugging along at low zone 2. When my heart rate got too high I just walked the hills. I made my next stop at the special needs table at mile 14.6…here they had a port-a-potty. Yes, I stopped again. After visiting the port-a-potty I filled up my Camel Back with my first replacement bottle of HEED and grabbed more nutrition. It was time to move on. This part gets pretty boring – just out, out, and out to the turn-around…then back. Of course there were a few more ups and downs (the hills that is), too. They had orange slices at the turn around though – and these were oranges that had all been peeled and sectioned! This sure made them a lot less messy. I took a few – and they tasted delicious.
Finally on my way back. That was a nice feeling. Mile 19 was just after the turn around. It sure was nice seeing the mile marker numbers go higher and higher. At mile 21 or so they had another port-a-potty. Yes, I stopped THERE too… Then on to mile 22.9 to the special needs table and filled up my Camel Back with my second bottle of HEED. I think I got half a banana here… the pretzels they had were like eating cardboard though. Somewhere along this portion I ran by a little farm and there were three sheep hanging around together .Their coats were quite full – they must have felt the heat yesterday too. I wanted to ‘baaaa’ at them, but did not… Just a little over 3 miles to go…up and down…and finally I saw the 26 mile marker with the turn to the finish. Boy was that cool. And at the finish there was a cute little girl handing out really cold water and a nice lady to take the stub off my race number and give me a finishers’ medal.
My finish time was 5:37:51…this included my approximately 15 minutes of ‘pit stops’. My watch time was 5:22:18. I guess I was pretty well hydrated! LOL. I was 43 of 48 women. And 130 men finished – only one man finished behind me. I was 13 out of 15 in my age-group. Not my best marathon but I finished and I was totally smiling at the finish line. I have to say, that there were so many friendly people on the course. The volunteers were all incredibly nice as were so many of the runners. I spent a lot of the race smiling. One woman was an ultra marathoner. She was running with a Lei around her neck! I think that would give you weird chaffing. There was another woman I kept going back and forth with throughout the day. I finished ahead of her but waited till she came in – she was all the way from California. She was pretty happy to be done, too. And as for recovery and other such things, I was able to eat at the runners’ post-race meal – they had lots of pasta with meat sauce to go around. Of course, you had to go down three stairs to the dining room – who thought of that? But it overlooked the water and was very pleasant. They also had a locker room facility where you could shower after at no charge! It was nice to clean up and change for the ride home.
On the way out of town I drank a bottle of strawberry Recoverite. Then of course, maybe an hour (or less?) into the ride home I had to make yet another pit stop (good grief) but I also got more food…mini sub to order and a chocolate milk at Wawa…where the Girl Scouts were selling cookies…now I have some Thin Mints…I guess I earned a few. When I got back into my area I stopped for my favorite fast food calorie fest – a mashed potato bowl from KFC. Then I finally got home and was able to sit in a cold bath for my legs. Then on went my compression tights and after eating my calories my feet went up and stayed up for the most part. And I am walking just fine and doing stairs fine too, today! Oh, and I had absolutely NO CHAFFING and NO BLISTERS! All in all I’d call that a successful race!
Friday, March 6, 2009
I Am As Cool As They Come
Or at least the quiz I just took said that!!
Are You a Drama Queen (or King)?
You Are As Cool As They Come
Rational and relaxed, no one could accuse you of being dramatic.You roll with the punches, and nothing ever gets you too worked up.You are able to maintain perspective and see the big picture.
And even if you're emotional inside, you don't let it show.You're great at keeping it together, and you're rewarded for that.People see you as an ideal friend, employee, and partner.
So...two days until the Lower Potomac River Marathon! I am getting nervous...but I am excited, too. I am happy we are supposed to have nice weather this weekend but a high of 70 on Sunday? Yikes! At least it will be cooler to start. I hope!
Are You a Drama Queen (or King)?
You Are As Cool As They Come
Rational and relaxed, no one could accuse you of being dramatic.You roll with the punches, and nothing ever gets you too worked up.You are able to maintain perspective and see the big picture.
And even if you're emotional inside, you don't let it show.You're great at keeping it together, and you're rewarded for that.People see you as an ideal friend, employee, and partner.
So...two days until the Lower Potomac River Marathon! I am getting nervous...but I am excited, too. I am happy we are supposed to have nice weather this weekend but a high of 70 on Sunday? Yikes! At least it will be cooler to start. I hope!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Trouble with widgets...
I have this widget...a countdown timer to to IMUSA. I realized today I had inadvertently entered the wrong date - I was a day off so my time said the start was one day after. Blah.Blah.Blah. So I got THAT working right and now my posts aren't showing. ARGH!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
My wetsuit...
My wetsuit was returned! It was delivered yesterday. It looks good - but I won't be trying it on for at least a month. I still need to lose a *few* pounds. LOL However, I am signed up for the Team Z Weight Loss Challenge through FatBet and hopefully by the time 4/18 rolls around I will slide right into my wetsuit. Of course, anyone who has ever put on a wetsuit knows you don't just slide into one. Unless it is way big. This will be interesting, I'm sure...
Tonight is the Annandale High School Winter Sports Banquet and I'm very excited! First there is dinner at 6PM followed by general awards in the auditorium. After this we break into groups by sport for team awards. I will be following my younger son to the Indoor Track awards while my sons' dad will accompany my older son to the Wrestling awards. Once the Indoor Track awards are over we will head over to the Wrestling awards to see what we missed...or vice versa? It is always fun to attend these - the senior athletes generally give good 'gag' gifts to the coaches. Last season the football awards were *quite* hilarious. They gave the head coach, who was/is notorious for getting the kids out late (sometimes quite late) from practice a book on 'how to tell time'. Plus they created a 'List of the Top 10 Things NOT to ask Coach'. All quite hilariuos. I laughed the entire time. The head football coach is one of the wrestling coaches... Oh, and since Indoor Track won Districts this year that should be good and exciting. And Wrestling had one state champ in the 215 pound weight class. All in all it should be a great evening ahead!
Tonight is the Annandale High School Winter Sports Banquet and I'm very excited! First there is dinner at 6PM followed by general awards in the auditorium. After this we break into groups by sport for team awards. I will be following my younger son to the Indoor Track awards while my sons' dad will accompany my older son to the Wrestling awards. Once the Indoor Track awards are over we will head over to the Wrestling awards to see what we missed...or vice versa? It is always fun to attend these - the senior athletes generally give good 'gag' gifts to the coaches. Last season the football awards were *quite* hilarious. They gave the head coach, who was/is notorious for getting the kids out late (sometimes quite late) from practice a book on 'how to tell time'. Plus they created a 'List of the Top 10 Things NOT to ask Coach'. All quite hilariuos. I laughed the entire time. The head football coach is one of the wrestling coaches... Oh, and since Indoor Track won Districts this year that should be good and exciting. And Wrestling had one state champ in the 215 pound weight class. All in all it should be a great evening ahead!
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