Age Groups Rock

Three Things Thursday A Little Early

2012-02-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

1. Within three days three appliances have stopped working.

"Help! Help! What is happening?"

First the microwave stopped heating. Fortunately we had one just like someone used at college and we were soon good to go again.

Next the dishwasher washed the dishes but didn't dry them. So far we've done nothing. We'll see if it happens again (glass half full) or if we can live with it.

Third the crock pot stopped working. Dinner was supposed to be cooking away when I realized there was no smell. A touch to the side determined there was no heat. The dish is in the oven and a new crock pot will be bought soon. I can't live in the winter without my crock pot.

So that's three and it should stop now.

2. The top of my foot was swollen and hurting so I didn't do my run Monday night. As I thought back I realized I had stopped to loosen my shoelace more than once but it never occurred to me that it would become an injury! So no run Monday or anything, a swim Tuesday instead of a run and home sick Wednesday so nothing again. Is this really what I should be doing a week and a half before a half marathon? I wasn't going to taper because it is just a half on the way to my A race. I won't run again until Sunday and that will be a week. I'll probably swim tomorrow. I'm using this sick day as a way to extend my non running time hoping that will get rid of the top of the foot pain once and for all. I haven't been wearing shoes that tie in a bit so it's hard to tell how it is. It is definitely better but I don't want to bring it rushing back. I could squeeze a run in after my swim lesson on Saturday but I think I'll give it a solid week and then try it again.

3. The other day a friend kept using the words a false tri or some such nonsense to describe a sprint tri. She seemed to think it wasn't a real tri. I tried to compare it to a 5K, 10K etc being real races and not false races but she didn't get it. I had to drop it as it was really irritating me to no end. When I do my tri believe me it will be a REAL race.

Polar Cap Four Miler

2012-02-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

Before the race - warm, no snow or ice - very different

weather this year

The race on Saurday was much warmer than it has ever been in the five years I have been doing this race. It wasn't bad at all waiting at the start. Once we started though and were going up the first hill I felt like my legs were encased in cement. Was I even moving forward? I couldn't imagine what my time would be. But when I got to Mile 1 the volunteer shouted out 9:15 and I realized I was doing fine. My second mile was my fastest at 8:57. The third and fourth mile have a long hill before you hit a downhill and then home stretch. Those two miles were 9:39 and then 9:00 flat. The last part is long, it takes awhile to go through the finish. One guy who kept swapping places with me did pass me before the finish. My final time was 36:31 which was about 15 seconds faster than last year! My pace was 9:08. I was 132/234 not quite in the top half. I was 2 out of 5 in my age group, my fifth year in a row of getting an age group prize! Plus it was fun to go to the race with a friend and Christa was there.

But the prize.....the same prize the race winners got was this ~~hideous~~ lovely scraper! After I came home I checked back to see what the prizes have been over the years. The first year I won a nice plaque, engraved as an age group prize. The second year was an engraved medal. The third year was a snowflake pin. Last year was a bowl. This year.......the scraper. Let's go in the other directions guys and start improving the awards!

I shouldn't have shared this.....you'll all

be flocking to this race in the future and

no more AG awards for me!

So Karen, yes to the AG Prize, no to the hardware.

Karen said...

have a great race! Hope you come home with some AG winning hardware :)

After the race Sara and I did a little shopping. First to Target which we have none of in Vermont. I didn't buy anything terribly exciting but got a few things I needed. Then a stop at Eddie Bauer where I only got one shirt.

The shirt - I like the Polar Bear much

better on the shirt than the scraper.

Today's 12 mile run was much better than last week's 11 mile run because I made myself eat something. It was colder than I would have liked it to be. It's not too bad when you are out there but I am chilled forever when I get home.

We took a couple of pictures. One is taken on the road that my header picture was taken on. I wanted to show you the difference in the snow. There is snow in this year's picture but there is not much at all. Yesterday when I drove to New York once I left the town I teach in there wasn't even a ground covering anywhere! The other picture just has our lovely mountain in the background.

Polar Cap 4 Miler Hopes

2012-02-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

I have a race on Saturday and I don't really know what to expect. I have had great treadmill runs lately but been so slow outdoors. Races in 2010 had paces in the 9s for me with a couple of exceptions. I have always placed in my age group at this race - they have 5 year age groups. I am hoping to place in my age group and be in the low 9s with a smidgen of hope of sneaking into the 8s.

The weather should be warmer than usual. I have a friend going with me and there are stores to shop at after so all in all it should be fun. No Targets in Vermont but there's one in Lake George!

Polar Cap 2008 36:03 2nd place AG
Polar Cap 2009 35:02 3rd AG
Polar Cap 2010 35:48 2nd AG
Polar Cap 2011 36:46 2nd AG

On another note.......was this the longest Friday ever? I thought the weekend would never get here!

Quote.....Books......Workouts.........January Stats

2012-02-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

1. The podcast Marathon Training Academy had this quote on Facebook the other day and I absolutely LOVE it.

‎"I made a pact with myself to never complain about an event I've successfully finished. No matter what my finish time or pace, I will cross the line with a pocket full of gratitude. Records are meant to be broken, but those moments are far and few between. Every adventure offers an opportunity to evolve, explore, and celebrate life. And that is the gift that keeps on giving." Jenny Hadfield

2. I went to the library and my favorite librarian who likes to recommend books for me was there. She ~~made me check out~~ suggested I try:

The Passage by Justin Cronin She told me twice not to give up on it. It is the first of a trilogy.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness also the first of a trilogy.

Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder

The Innocent by Taylor Stevens

Does anyone know any of these and want to chime in? Then we got talking about young adult series and she recommended City of Embers I believe. I figure I can get that one at school. She told me to have all four at once ready to go. I think it was four.

I also checked out the newest by Robert Tanenbaum and a couple of chick lit types by Marcia Willett.

I also got Next to Love by Ellen Feldman because the jacket made it sound good.

I think I am set for awhile. I need to stop writing this and go read!

3. This is a different week for me workout wise because most of my workouts are early morning. Mondays was early because I squeezed it in before my doctor's appointment. Tuesday was my swim day. Thursday will be a second swim day due to the race this weekend and no swim lesson on Saturday. The only day I worked out after school was Wednesday. I love the early morning stuff but it rarely works out this way. Plus the tireds catch up with me.

4. January Stats

Miles Run: 112.7

Miles Biked: 0

Yards Swam: 11,600 Love this one. Doesn't it sound huge? I still have no real comprehension of reasonableness for swims so this sounds Olympian to me.

Number of Races: 1

Number of Visits to the Gym: 14 (I counted the Saturday pool lessons since the place is affiliated with my gym and that's why I can go there.)

Not such a good run

2012-01-30T20:04:00.000-05:00

1. Sunday's run was terrible. There is no other word for it. And I think I know why. It was 11 miles which is my longest run in quite some time. I didn't eat before it but I seldom eat before runs. Generally though 10 miles or longer is my rule of thumb for when to eat before a run. But I have had several 10 mile runs without eating which were just lovely runs! Well, the 11 yesterday - not so much. The last few miles were tough and when I got home I immediately collapsed on the couch. Once up I really felt pretty lousy the rest of the day. Today I was my old self again so I do think it was the not eating or drinking much thing and trying to make my body move forward for 11 miles. I need to remember that 10 mile rule.

Heading up a hill before I died. This is a hill I only get to

when I am going more than 10. Vermont isn't very

pretty this winter is it?

Today I had my annual physical. As I have said before I love my doctor. I was with her for over an hour. She doesn't just examine my body she also talks to me a lot about my family, my exercise passions, possible stresses. She truly wants to know what's going well in my life and what I am worried about. She has lots of practical suggestions and will research on your behalf if she doesn't know. She lets me brag about both of my children and seems genuinely impressed with what I tell her. She wanted to know about my triathlon goal and always makes me feel like a fitness goddess. I think if she was to make a poster for aging well she would put me on it. She said my cholesterol and blood pressure were "fabulous." She told me my weight/BMI were good. She did have a couple of small concerns and is looking into those but overall - the report was "I am doing GREAT."

Thanks to those of you who answered my swimming questions in this post. Please still weigh in if you haven't on long sleeve or sleeveless wetsuits. I don't think I am going to rent as I want to try swimming in one beforehand. Do you have good websites for buying (less expensive please) wetsuits or particular brands you like? I won't be shopping for one for quite awhile but I am doing some planning now. I'm sure I will have LOTS more questions so please bear with me and thanks for your input!

I just realized tonight it is about time to get new shoes. This fitness stuff does cost money but it's for a good reason, right!

I have to leave with at least a couple of pictures of Jax from Saturday. And I did take Jameson out to lunch without Jax before I left so I wasn't ignoring my son completely!

Jax sitting between my legs and below in his kennel

by HIS choice sleeping on the toy

his Aunt Emily gave him for Christmas.

11 Things

2012-01-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

Bet you haven't seen that title before! Ha! It is certainly making it's way around Blog Land. I have been tagged five times by:
Tonia at Racing With Babes
Lisa at Chasin' Bunnies
Kandi at Kandi Land
Tales of an Ambitious Slacker
Christa from Living a Little Life

So I better get busy and do it.
Here are the rules.

Here are the rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them.6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

I am not going to tell you 11 random things though and then answer 55 questions from all these blogs. Believe me I am not that interesting and no one would finish the post. So how about some questions from each of these posts (and I get to pick the questions) and we'll pretend it is 11 answers and not however many I do. That's the first rule I am going to break. There may be others. My apologies if you have read all this random stuff before.

1. I live 4 miles from where I grew up and teach in the town I grew up in (and in the same school.)
2. My mother also taught in the school. I had her for English.
3. My husband also went to this school. He had my mother for a teacher and claims he was her favorite student.
4. I can remember my husband (when he was my brother's older friend) telling my mother that he hated winter and I thought Ewww. Weirdo.
5. My parents died young and one thing I love is that my husband knew my parents and they knew him even if not as my future husband.
6. I always wanted to be a teacher and even though I have bad days I have never regretted that I became one.
7. I love planning lessons as much as I love teaching them.
8. Teaching is many things but it is never boring. No two days (or hours) are the same.
9. I love 8, 9 and 10 year olds. They are the best!
10. I love that those 8, 9 and 10 year olds think I am a super racer.
11. Sharing favorite books with those same kids rocks.
Hey those were all about teaching, not running. Sorry but I got into a flow.

Racing with Babe's Questions:
1.  Birthdays. Love them or hate them. Why? I love them! Always have, always will. First they beat the heck out of the alternative which is not having a birthday. I love being queen for a day and do exactly what I want. I always do something I want to do. It generally involves running or biking. And lots of eating......some of that unhealthy food. Plus I love presents!
2. You get one wish. No restrictions. What is it? I would want my family to be healthy with no serious illnesses throughout our natural lives.
3.Cake or Pie? Easy - cake. With lots of frosting. Favorite kind - chocolate with white frosting - lots of it. Do you think I have a sweet tooth?
4.   Biggest pet peeve? I have a lot of pet peeves but I'll talk about the most recent one. I can't stand it when people don't park in parking spaces at a convenience store. They pull up and park near the gas pumps because it is near the door. It doesn't matter that now no one can use the gas pumps because they took so much room parking near the door. They are maybe saving 10 steps. Really? You're that important that you can create your own parking space to the inconvenience of everyone else? For whatever reason, this one really annoys me.

Onto Chasin' Bunnies questions:
5. Coffee or Tea? I don't just prefer coffee to tea. I love coffee. It is one of the best parts of my day. I particularly love Green Mountain Coffee - flavored please.
6.   Spring or Fall? I love fall. I love the coolness of the air and the perfect temps for running outside. I love the beautiful fall colors we get in Vermont. I love the thought of winter approaching. I love my regular routine of heading back to school and a new year. I love getting out my cozy cold weather clothes.
7. Breakfast or Dinner? Breakfast anytime of the day but it has to include dessert.
8.  Glass half-full or half-empty? I truly think my glass is half full at least a good deal of the time. I try not to sweat the small stuff and bury my head in the sand if something is going to bother me. But having said that I do tend to worry about my children and I don't always see the glass as half full then.

Kandi's questions:
9.Do you prefer dogs, cats, or some other pet? I prefer yellow cats except for Jax!
10.  If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be? Ireland
11.  If you were invited to a wedding reception but not the ceremony, would you be offended? It depends. If the ceremony was very private and small - family only etc. I would be fine. But if many people were invited to the wedding and I wasn't I would be offended.
12. What is the last thing you took a picture of? The above mentioned Jax.

Tortuga Runner's Questions:
13. What is your favorite TV show? Right now it is NCIS. But really - The Good Wife or Gray's Anatomy.
14. FroYo or Ice Cream? Fro Yo
15. What is your worst chaffing area on a long distance run? Above my breasts - always
16. Now for the fun stuff, forget what you are doing now, if salary wasn't an issue what would your dream job be? I like this question but I need to think about it. I am thinking working on bike tours all over the world.

Christa's questions:
17. Do you prefer sweet or salty? Sweet, I have a major sweet tooth.
18. Do you make your bed everyday? Absolutely. I could not get into it. I would make it if it wasn't made before I got in.
19.  Do you think talking on the phone in the grocery store is rude? I do and I don't do it.
20. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Would you stay where you are? In reality I would stay where I am but let me dream a little of where I would go if I didn't stay here. I love love love Washington DC and might go there. I would also love to live in Maine but only on the ocean where it was fairly private. Money couldn't be an issue. There are many places I could live for awhile but I would want to return to Vermont at some point.

Here are my 11 questions. Is there anyone left to tag?

1. What tv series do you recommend?
2. What is a book you couldn't put down?
3. Serious movies or chick flicks?
4. What is a race you would recommend hands down?
5. What grade did your favorite teacher ever teach?
6. If you could live anywhere where would you live?
7. What was one of the best days of your life aside from marriage and childbirth?
8. What food could you never give up?
9. What is a place you would NEVER want to live?
10. What famous person do you admire?
11.

Now I need to try and tag 11 people. If you have been tagged I apologize. If you don't want to do it and I tag you, no worries. Those of you who tagged me answer some of my questions in the comments please!

Liz
Suzy
Jesse
Char
Alisa
Jen
Amy
Jamoosh
Lily
Whit
Ewa

Swimming questions - help please

2012-01-28T17:37:00.001-05:00

I have been trying to decide if I am going to need a wet suit for my first tri. I was thinking not because of the expense yet it helps with buoyancy and swimming and man do I need help. So I am leaning toward getting one.

What do you think? Do I need a wetsuit?

Does it need to be a triathlon wetsuit or can it just be a wetsuit?

Check out these at L.L. Bean. They are not tri wet suits but I like dealing with L L Bean. They are so easy to return to if something isn't right. The reviews are good.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/40332?feat=2-SR0&attrValue_0=Black

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/40328?feat=2-SR0&attrValue_0=Black

Should it be a full wet suit? Sleeveless? Short sleeves and legs like the one above?

Okay now.........probably a dumb question. Today at my swim lesson I started breathing every fourth stroke instead of every other. Each arm counts as one. This felt good but was hard. Should I keep working on it? Is it going to speed me up?

My fear is I am going to do all this work and retreat back to my prior form in the heat of the race.

Today the coach told me twice that my kick was looking better and stronger. I am not sure he is not throwing me a bone but I think he was sincere. He told me a couple more things to work on. I am doing my own thing as the others do what sounds like Greek to me. I don't even know what he is talking about. Today at first as usual I questioned my wisdom in going but as the lesson went on I felt better. The hour did drag though. I couldn't believe each time I looked at the clock how little it had moved.

I did follow up with visit to Jax, seems to be my reward for working hard.

Next week I won't be going ( a race) so I may hit my local pool twice this week. I am getting a bit addicted to that post swim feeling.

This week I had "bad" dreams a couple of nights. One night it was about snakes - we had been doing math problems about snakes in school. We had moved to a house where there were lots of snakes near by (we used to live there) but my biggest concern was I didn't have my nice run route anymore.

Then last night I was trying to practice an open water swim in the middle of the winter! It's like spring here but it's not that warm!

Three Things Thursday Eating, running, swimming

2012-01-26T18:05:00.000-05:00

1. I wish I was as a dedicated healthy eater as I am an exerciser. Nothing gets in the way of my getting my workout in. I just do it. No excuses.

But as far as eating goes I can find many reasons to be less than good. Part of my problem is I am either great or terrible without a lot of middle ground. "I had a piece of cake so I might as well eat a lot of other stuff I don't usually eat for the rest of the day." Now I am a fairly intelligent person so I can see why this is a bad idea on so many levels but truthfully it is how I operate. Right now I am in a totally eat what I should frame of mind. I generally count points (WW). Here are a few examples of my "goodness."

Monday lunch was provided at school for teachers. I brought my own from home.
Snacks being shared and passed around at meetings - no thanks not even a bite.
We went to a party where there were many good things to eat. I only had veggies.

Part of the reason I do this is because I know once I go "off" it's all over for a little while. Stupid stupid stupid! But when I am in this frame of my mind I have a great time sticking to eating well and enjoying how my clothes feel. Mind you I am not wearing many of my pants yet but the ones I am wearing are comfortable again! I just need to keep it up. And if I have a piece of cake, oh well, don't blow the day!

2. Can I say that once again I am having some great treadmill workouts? Wed. night I ran 6 + miles on the treadmill increasing the speed with each song farther "up" than usual. Monday night I had an awesome speed workout on the treadmill. And tonight another awesome run on the TM. My TM runs are much faster than my runs outside, mainly because I set them that way. I have a race in a week and a half and I need to see if I can actually get up a little speed in the great outdoors!

The only thing that almost interfered with a great TM run was the last two days when I went to work out someone was on MY treadmill! Fortunately each day the other person got off within 3 minutes. Was it the scowl on my face? The tears running down my cheeks? It doesn't matter.......I could use MY treadmill after all.

3. Tuesday I swam a mile. I wasn't fast and I'm sure it didn't look good but I had a blast. There was one other guy there and myself and then he was gone. Once I was done and showered there were about 8 people in the pool so I was thrilled I had timed it so well. I'm relaxing a little (for now) about my swim in the tri but I'm sure my anxiety will heat back up. I know I can swim it though. The next question to resolve is whether I need to try and get a wet suit.

I am thinking I am going to have a snow day tomorrow! I brought home things I need to work on over the weekend in case. It is a pretty lousy forecast and not changing. Fingers crossed and pajamas will be inside out!

Versatile Blogger Award

2012-01-23T19:49:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Jesse at Journey Thru Life and Amy at Juice Boxes and Crayolas with The Versatile Blogger Award. The rules are to share 7 things about yourself. Then to tag 15 people. If you have been following me for awhile you may know the 7 things I am sharing but here goes.

1. I love to read. I always have and always will find time for reading. I must admit following, reading and commenting on blogs has cut into this time. I like to read fiction mostly although I also like biographies especially sports ones. I love reading to kids at school and right now I am reading my all time favorite book to the kids. (Kavik the Wolf Dog by Walt Morey)

2. I am a rather shy person. I don't make small talk easily at all whereas my husband lives to make small talk with strangers. I prefer to be around people I know for my comfort level but I do like meeting people. I have had to come out of my shell as a teacher dealing with parents and various situations.

3. I get upset when people complain about their parents as I feel they are lucky to still have them.

4. Riding in a hot air balloon and bungee jumping are on my bucket list.

5. The two places I most want to visit are Ireland and Alaska.

6. I prefer northern climates to southern any time and have no desire to go on a tropical cruise. If I was on a cruise ship it would be headed to Alaska.

7. Am I on 7 already? This was easy. I think part of the reason I like blogging is because I love to get mail. Comments are like mail right? I write letters every week to a few elderly people who I figure also love to get mail. When I was a young teen my father gave me a key to our mailbox at the post office and it was one of the best presents I ever got. For awhile I checked the box several times a day. One thing I liked about the present was how well my father knew me.

As far as tagging 15 people I am going to tag Darlene at My First 5K because she isn't running and it can be hard to know what to blog about when you aren't running. But anyone else who hasn't done this an wants to, please do!

What he said and didn't say

2012-01-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

Today's Swim Lesson

This is what I posted on Facebook before I left this morning.

‎"If I had worried about looking fat and jiggly or old and slow every time I went out for a walk or a jog OR SWIM I would never have done it. If you're doing something you like, that's good for your body and mind, then how you look when you're doing it is the absolute least important thing in the world."

from Slow Fat Triathlete

I get there - early because that is what I do but not as embarrassingly early as last week. Soon the swim coach appears.

"Hi Andrea did you get a chance to practice those kicks this week?" I hope she spent her time 24/7 in the pool or this lady is going to sink to the bottom of the pool.

"Did you say you were getting ready for a triathlon?" She must be getting ready for a triathlon as no one who swims this poorly would be here for any other reason.

(While using the kick board) "Your kick looks better, I like where your feet are." My God does she realize the swimmer next to her has been up and down the lane 4 times to her one time. Is she even moving?

"Did you get that?" There is no way she got that. I better tell her again. Maybe she is hard of hearing.

Okay I need to be clear. This coach is a very nice person but I project my thoughts on him all the time. I swear the swimmer next to me had flippers on when we were using the kick boards. In fact the whole time. I pay no attention to the number of laps he tells us to do because I know I won't even come close! I just do what I can and stop when every one is at the end waiting for me. (Remember that Facebook quote, Andrea) He had us work on our stroke also which I liked though I suspect I wasn't even close. I do think I am going to need to go the private route but I will try this a couple more times. I'll go next week and then I have a race the following weekend. The coach did tell me that I would be need to be careful and save energy for the bike and run. Good advice as the swim tires me out. I had already moderated my kick effort some as I knew there was no way I could do what I was doing last week. Resting at the end of every length is not going to get me ready. I suspect I will do a combo of free and breast in the race. I did have a little tri talk with a guy who was there for the first week. My first tri talk with a racer as a possible triathlete myself!

Good news.........I did wear one of my new swim suits which fit much better than a couple weeks ago!

Then once again swim lessons were followed with a visit to see Jaxon (and of course Jameson.) My I love that dog!

Look at the joy this dog brings my son. I would

love him for that alone!

TTT Including why eggs at the dump are okay

2012-01-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

1. I had lots of questions about getting eggs at the dump. Reasonable questions for sure. I have gotten fresh eggs from a few different places this year. A girl in my class brings me some at times. :) I have bought them from a teacher at school. I have bought them from a man at the recycling center/dump who has chickens and sells them. Jeesh. Did you think they were lying on the ground and I picked them up and took them home? I am one of the most germ phobic people I know when it comes to food. Wouldn't happen! And they are definitely the best of various fresh eggs I have gotten. Cooked some just last night and I added broccoli, peppers, mushrooms and had veggie sausages to go with them. Delicious! Am I a food blogger now?

2. I did go swimming this morning and had quite a good time. No one there to tell me what I was doing wrong. I am not faulting the swim coach - that is why I go to lessons - but I couldn't take it every time I swim. I tried to practice some of the stuff - probably only somewhat successfully. I was also remembering that yes I want to get better but I can go the distance. I did a test to see if my breast stroke was as fast as my free style because then I was going to concentrate on my breast stroke. But nope! Even though my free style is slow, it is faster than my breast stroke.

3. Alisa wanted me to post a picture of the dress I got at Athleta. Here goes. This is the color I got as it was on sale - in this color!

True confessions. Yes, I sent back the sweatshirt I didn't like as I mentioned in my last post.

But I also got this tunic/tee (but in blue) and leggings. The leggings are incredibly comfortable! And yes that is me modeling the leggings. I didn't eat lots of cake balls and pie and cheese and bread and cookies and all of that at Christmas time. I look just great!

Random Random Random

2012-01-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

Three days in a row at the gym on the old treadmill. Two of the workouts great including a run of 6 miles and one today that was a luke warm workout.
I haven't been swimming since my lesson last Saturday. I usually go on Tuesday but this week it worked out better to go tomorrow morning. I am dreading it in some ways when I usually look forward to it. I need to concentrate on what Kate said, I need to just now drown, the rest is gravy. That is definitely my mantra right now.
Looking forward..........Saturday we have a party to go to that a lot of fun people will be at.
But first I have to go to another lesson.
I have been doing a lot of post Christmas shopping. Today I wore a new dress my husband saw ina catalogue (Athleta) and liked. It went on sale and I got it. Super comfy! I also got a tunic and new leggings which are also super comfy. I sent back a sweatshirt I was less than thrilled with. That is my rule for on line shopping. I have to take the time to send it back if I don't like it. I also have gotten two swimsuits - huge sale. Although I first got them in petite elephant size and had to exchange them for full grown elephant size. Those I needed as my other swim suit was waaaaaaaaaay too thin from many wearings. I also got one more season of NCIS and two triathlon books.
No snow here because it just rained but the cold has settled in. Today at school the kids had indoor recess because it was too icy on the playground. I hope hope hope they can go out tomorrow but I don't see the conditions changing.
Two more days and it is the weekend. I do love weekends.
I love that being active is such a big part of my life. It has also made me a braver person. I go to races alone. I go to races alone that are not very close. I have done marathons. I am going to do a triathlon.
Someone called me an athlete recently and I am still amazed (but oh so pleased) by that description.
I wish I could eat anything I want and be healthy and thin. (I am in my "good" eating phase right now - getting rid of those holiday pounds - or at least some of them.)
I got eggs last week at the recycling center (dump) and they are the best eggs I have ever had.
Now the New Year "Resolutioners" are coming out - the gym has been packed.
That's it.

Brrrrrrrrr

2012-01-15T20:06:00.001-05:00

Last week I may have called myself a wimp for using the treadmill during the week but on the weekend I am anything but. T and I got out there today in very cold weather. The thermometer said - 3 degrees shortly before she arrived. We were both layered up and headed out to run 10 miles with no thought of changing the distance. It was manageable for the first 5 miles. We did lots of chatting with just a few mentions of cold toes or fingers. The picture below was taken just before the half way point.

Once we ran around the corner at the halfway point we were both complaining a good deal more. You will see below I have my face covered and I pulled my hood up over my hat. I was trying to use the finger things that come down over your hands as well as my mittens. I never removed any of this and pretty much froze the rest of the way. The last two miles were brutal as it was when the "tireds I want this to be done" hit. Once home it took forever to warm up. I am still rather tired and just a bit lame from my swimming yesterday.

Speaking of swimming thanks to all of you who gave me sympathy and suggestions on yesterday's whiny post. I am still discouraged although I am trying not to be. I won't get in the pool again until Thursday because of some meetings I have this week. I plan to practice what I was told and concentrate on my legs. And I will try to find some patience. In the meantime I will remember what Kate, who is much smarter than I, said in her comment: .you just have to be able to not drown for your tri...anything more is gravy. :) Because that is a quote I suspect I will refer to frequently it is now the quote in my header. Of course I would like to be faster and more efficient. I don't plan to stop swimming anytime soon because I love it, at least I used to before yesterday, so I want to be a better swimmer whether I am training for a tri or just enjoying a good workout. But as Kate said as far as the tri goes, the big picture is I just have to be able to not drown!

I Just Don't Get It

2012-01-14T15:57:00.002-05:00

"Yes, keep my body up especially my legs."

Lock your knees and kick near the top of the water.

Put your legs closer together and kick near the top of the water.

Use your legs to power down the lane.

Your legs are your strength in swimming.

Try practicing with the kick board.

Kick hard powering with those legs.

Sounds easy but..........! Shouldn't I have some strength in my legs from all the running I do? It doesn't seem to be transferring to the pool. I was ready to quit 10 minutes into my lesson. He had us doing this streamline thing kicking down the lane and not using our arms. Really? You want a drowning today? I COULD NOT DO IT. I had to use my arms some and even then I sucked! I had to pause - okay stop - and rest after every length. The instructor quickly saw the "writing on the wall" and had me doing different things than everyone else. I was so tired after each and every lap. I had to stop and regroup every time. I was having a hard time getting to the end of the lane each and every time. Will this seriously get easier? I thought I was doing better but man I am not. Now I question my ability to complete the distance - at least using the free style.

My son talked me down off the cliff. I called him as soon as I was in my car. He really berated me for being so discouraged so quickly. He told me I need to give it more time. I had already decided I would give it four times. Then I would go the private lesson route. I may do that anyway. I will see. I think I was most discouraged by two things. I can't keep my damn legs up and I was so tired. The instructor told me he could see some improvement and my pace was faster. Really? I felt like the kiddos in my class who at times just don't get it. I can explain something in several ways and nothing brings the concept home. It is actually good for me to experience this and get an inkling of how they feel. And just like with them it isn't for lack of effort.

But I did visit Jameson and have some Jax snuggle time so that was very positive!

Three Things Thursday

2012-01-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

1. I read a book I loved about the Ironman. "You Are An Ironman: How Six Weekend Warriors Chased Their Dream of Finishing the World's Toughest Triathlon by Jacques Steinberg. It followed six people training for and completing Ironman Arizona. I found it particularly interesting having followed Emily in the Lake Placid Ironman as she trained and then completed it. I liked being part of the Ironman crowd in the days before the race, attending the athlete's dinner and watching the race itself. It was a fast paced book that was hard to put down. I would recommend it for anyone who has completed an Ironman, is interested in an Ironman or has been a spectator at an Ironman. Watching Ironman Lake Placid was a great experience that made me want to volunteer some year. This book was an inspiring read of what ordinary people can accomplish.

2. I registered for my second February race the Polar Cap 4 Miler. I have raced in this for several years now. It is usually unbelievably cold. Last year Darlene was there but unfortunately she won't be this year! But I have the friend who ran the Great Island 5K with me doing it and maybe - I think - Christa is going to also! I'll race no matter what but friends racing with you just improve the experience immensely!

3. Loved the four day work week I had last week. This week 5 days is hard! And next week most of the country has a four day week. But not here in Vermont schools. We don't have MLK Day off. That feels rather disrespectful to me that sends a message: We are not very diverse in Vermont so it's not an important holiday for us.

How Do You Make The Treadmill Bearable?

2012-01-11T19:48:00.000-05:00

Out of my last five workouts the best one was tonight on the treadmill. That has been the case often lately and I am not sure why. My two outdoor workouts this weekend were fine - one was a 10 miler which is always an accomplishment and the other was 6. It wasn't too cold and they were good runs just not special. Monday's treadmill workout was a bit harder. Tuesday's swim was one of those where I doubted my ability to do a triathlon and wondered who I am trying to kid. I am really counting on my swimming lessons beginning this Saturday to help. Although I am also worried because if I come away not thinking they are, then what?

But today's treadmill run - pure awesomeness all the way!

What makes it work when it is really an incredibly boring activity for this runner who bases so much around finding scenic spots to run (and bike?) First the music. My playlist today was a good one - one of Genius's selection with Give A Little More - Maroon Five being the starting song. Another thing that makes the difference in a good workout is my energy level. I can generally tell almost immediately if it is going to be a high energy day or one to get through. Today's started out great and never changed. I generally just run 4 miles on the treadmill. That's enough for me. But I won't be running this Saturday (swimming lesson and I don't want to be worrying about fitting anything else in) so I wanted to do one longer run on the treadmill if I could. I was planning to go for five.............but................with no great effort I went 6. Another thing that works for me is to start at a lowish pace and increase the pace with every song. I go up for seven songs and then start coming back down. Monday when the energy was less I allowed myself to start back down after 4 songs. I don't do this often but I like having the "out." Usually 10 songs is about what I need for 4 miles. I can't look at the distance covered until I have gone at least 7 songs. Tonight I didn't look until I had gone 13 songs at which point I had gone 5 miles and knew I would keep going for 6. Do I sound anal? Yeah, I know I do but that's me and IT WORKS! I do let myself have walk breaks sometimes (not today). I can do that after 7 songs but have to finish the next tenth and one more tenth before I take the walk break for two tenths. Anal anal anal but it gets me through those miles.

Why do I run outside in any temperatures - truly - on the weekend but go to the gym during the week? There are really two reasons - I don't like to run in the dark and pretty much don't. I don't mind the cold very much first thing in the morning. I just get up and go outside and run without thinking about it. But as the day goes on my mind wraps itself around how cold it is and it just seems horrible horrible outdoors. Weird I know.

But as long as I am getting my workouts in in a way that works for me.............life is good.

Winter - I Love It

2012-01-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

What I love about winter

I love running in cooler temperatures.
I love the look of everything after a snow storm.
I love to turn the light on when it is dark and watch it snow outside. Magical.
I love snow days when I stay home from work.
I love the excuse of sitting next to the wood fire to be warm reading a book.
I love the slower pace of weekend days.
I love the chance to wear all my fleece and running half zips.
I love running when it is snowing.
I love running when no one else is outside and the roads are empty of cars and people.

Trouble is this year.......I'm mostly waiting for winter to happen.

What's That Smell?

2012-01-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

There are many smells one doesn't want associated with oneself and I'm sure I could come up with many. But the smell that I have had several people remark on around me is particularly bad for an elementary school teacher. When your children come home from school and you ask them how their day went, I bet you aren't hoping to hear, " I had a good day. And did you know my teacher smells like beer?" Yup, that is what I keep hearing.

The first time was a couple of months ago at a meeting. We were in a small room and a few people remarked that it smelled like beer. I didn't think much of it, I certainly didn't think of myself as the smellee. We all had a good laugh thinking of stories as to why the room smelled like stale beer. The idea of drinking a beer in this building is not one I ever entertain.

Then one day walking down the hall with my class a student remarked that it smelled like beer. I jumped on that pretty quickly and said they were probably just smelling my lotion, it certainly wasn't beer. (At the time I didn't really think it was my lotion. I was just trying to preempt any home conversations.)

Time passes.........then yesterday a teacher I work with mentioned that she smelled beer and I was the only person around. I said maybe it really was my lotion. (Body Shop - cranberry body butter) Today a different teacher mentioned it in a different room when I was standing next to her. Enough already. Last I visited my son after school and he wondered why it smelled so much like beer in the room. He said it multiple times. When I told him I was beginning to think it was my lotion he told me he would get rid of it if he was me. He also told me it has really smelled like beer in my car before but he didn't want to say anything. Now I am wondering if parents who stopped in the classroom before school - today for instance - thought the same thing! Horrors! Seriously! Huge horrors!

So....... I came home and looked to see how much of this lotion I have. I am too cheap to throw it out. I have moved it downstairs next to the rocking chair where I am apt to put lotion on my feet at night. Yeah, exciting evening adventure right?

Hopefully I have nailed it - it is this lotion and I can stop using it in public. Maybe Jamoosh and MCM Mama would want to smell like beer but this 3/4 teacher wants to keep her job and needs this odor to disappear pronto!

TTT Plus One

2012-01-05T06:53:00.000-05:00

1. I have become a Shutterfly addict. Really. First I made my husband a Vermont Life calendar for Christmas. He has complained in recent years about the real one so I took photos all year and made him his own which featured a lot of our land, our town, our state. Then I made Emily a Lake Placid Ironman book. It featured photos of the days leading up to Ironman in Lake Placid and each part of the Ironman. Jameson took a lot of great action shots which made the book easier to make. A lot of love went into both of those projects. I made Jameson a mug which featured his oh so cute puppy as well as a writing pad for work.
Then I decided to make myself a Racing 2011 photo book. It came today and I LOVE it! I have already started one for 2012. I am tempted to make myself a biking photo book but I deleted pictures and didn't document well where I took them or when. So that is next summer's project. Then everything at Shutterfly went on sale even more after Christmas so I spent part of my vacation being Shutterfly obsessed and made myself (I love things like this so why not make them for me?) a photo book of all my trips to DC. I just ordered that one. Then I decided to also make myself a calendar that featured running and biking photos. I kept it simple and just did 1 for each month. I am done for now other than working on a 2012 racing book in a timely fashion.

2. I just registered for Half at the Hamptons! It was filling up and I am not sure why I was waiting but thankfully I didn't miss it. It is expected to be full in the next few days. Yay for half marathons on the ocean in February!

3. It is cold. Very cold. The thrill of my day was wearing my mitten/gloves and flipping the top down several times without having to remove my gloves! Love them!

4. New Years has come and gone. The gym was very uncrowded tonight. But the pool yesterday at 6 in the morning was crazy crowded! Go to the gym people, go to the gym. I share better at the gym. Believe me no one wants to be sharing a pool lane with me!

2012 Here I Come!

2012-01-03T18:31:00.000-05:00

2012 Here I Come!

Once again I have a lot of goals. I can't seem to help myself. It makes working out more fun for me. I am a huge list person and I love to be able to keep track of things on a chart that I make for the year. Yeah, huge geek here which I'm sure has been long apparent. I have some very different goals which I find rather scary but you have to keep growing in life right?!

New Goals

1. I want to race in a triathlon. My goal will be to finish it before all the volunteers have gone home. I want to do at least part of the swim doing free style. I would like to do at least two triathlons before the season is over.

2. I want to ride a new bike route out of my biking books at least four times.

3. I ~~want~~ need to learn to change a flat tire.

4. I want to learn to ride with clipless pedals.

5. I want to ride a century. This past summer I reached a new distance of 62 miles. Next summer I want to get all the way to 100.

6. I want to take swimming lessons to help my "technique" if it could even be called that.

7. I want to race in Central Park (hopefully with Darlene.) Though Darlene has had a huge recent setback. :(

Repeating but want to keep them goals

8. I want to work on my speed by improving my times as the year progresses.

9. I want to race in at least 4 new races.

10. I want to compete in at least 4 half marathons.

11. I want to place in my age group.

12. I want to be in the top half of the field.

13. I want to do a race a month.

14. I want to meet more bloggy friends.

15. I want to race with my family.

16. I want to race near the ocean.

17. I want to do scenic races.

First Run/Christmas Blog Exchange

2012-01-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

We started out 2012 with a 5K. This is one of the only races my husband ever runs with me. In fact it is the only time he runs period and he beat me! How fair is that? Oh well. The weather was perfect, I am used to FREEZING at this race. There were 970 people there which I have to think is a record. Lots of people dressed up in some great costumes although I was not one of them.

I ran it in 28:06 with a pace of 9:06 which is pretty much what I did a lot of last year. I was happy with this. My mile paces were: 9:31, 9:36, 8:33 last .1 8:04. Can you tell which parts were uphill and which were downhill? I did try to get under 28 as I approached the finish but it didn't happen. The finish was a bit of a bottleneck and I wasn't sure exactly where the finish was.

I loved racing with my husband and my son and his dog came to cheer! I won a random prize of $40 at a Green Life Store. I don't know what that is but I will find out. I LOVE how this race does random prizes. They draw them all while you are racing, post them on the wall with the winning bib numbers and you pick them up after the race. No long wait. No lots of drawing of numbers of people who aren't there!

After the race we headed over to Jameson's to visit Jax and of course Jameson too. After a lot of horsing around Jax because sleepy and wanted to snuggle! I had a very hard time leaving!

In non racing news: I got my Christmas gift from Jill's bloggy exchange and it was perfect for me. I got a gift certificate to Dunkin Doughnuts so I can get lots and lots of coffee. I am saving it for when I get back to work. Thanks to Jen from Miles, Muscles and Mommyhood.

I have found swimming lessons to begin in two Saturdays. Bad part is they are about an hour away but the good part is they are cheap and you just drop in. They are targeted to adults who want more endurance or to improve for tris. If they don't work I will try private or semi but I am hopeful it will be what I need. This Friday I went for a second swim even though it was an off day for me. I do truly enjoy it even though I felt more inept than usual that day. I ran into someone today at the race who knew I was doing the tri. I can't back out, so I better keep moving forward.

Three Things Thursday

2011-12-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

1. I love how automatic it is for me to get my work out in. I never wonder if but when. I have very high standards when it comes to finding the time. I give myself almost no excuses. I am afraid that if I start it will be a slippery slope and I will do little exercising. Now in reality I know that that won't happen but there is this little part of my mind that fears it so exercise I always do. Now if only I could be as automatic with healthy eating.

2. I super love how I seem to be discovering new ways to work out. I always knew I liked to bike but in the last two years I have grown to absolutely LOVE IT! And now I feel the same way about swimming. How did that happen? I guess I am proof that you can suck at something and enjoy it regardless. Who knows what else is out there waiting for me to discover with great joy? Skydiving? Yoga? Tennis? Scuba diving (not a chance)?

3. This morning when I ran it was negative 4 degrees but it didn't feel it. There was sun with no wind and it was gorgeous out after yesterday's storm. This was a strange storm. I have friends about 10 miles away who still have green grass and we got more than 12 inches! I took my camera with me this morning so I'll end with a few pictures - what a surprise right? I loved my run in the snow today - when it comes to winter I say - Bring It On!

Random Vacation Thoughts

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

I love love love being on vacation! Time to be lazy and enjoy life.

I seem to be a little addicted to NCIS right now. Just finished Season 1 and immediately began Season 2. I was headed to the big city today but there is a giant snowstorm so I turned around. My husband will be so proud that I made a sensible decision.

This is a road I only get on when I go 10 or more....

same river - different spot. Looking up the

road below.

This morning when I finally got a 10 MILE RUN in there was rain and snow. For awhile it was snowing heavily and I had to be careful where I put my feet. When I got home I was SOAKED! The 10 miles were slow but fine. It is so nice to be able to get a long run in in the middle of the week! I have a race on the weekend so didn't want to do it then.

I went swimming yesterday morning and tried some of my new swimming toys. I don't think I used the swim buoy right but I gave it a shot. It was nice to have the time and not worry about being done to get to school on time. I kind of question the time I am putting into this sprint tri already with lots more to come but really I am loving the swimming and would like to be a better swimmer no matter what. I don't see me not swimming on a regular basis even without a tri to train for.

????????????Question???????????

I am also thinking about picking out a half to two. How do I train for a half and a tri? In the past I was running 5 or 6 days a week but now it is 4. Is that enough? If I am following a training plan that calls for 5 days of running do I just pick the one day I think can be left out and call it good?

Jax came back! Two days after Christmas it is my husband's birthday so Jameson and Jax came back for a birthday supper. I made stuffed manicotti and homemade rolls and it was delicious. We have so many desserts around from Christmas that I didn't do anything new. Of course the cats were thrilled Jax was back. They have completely different personalities around him. The "brave" one hides and the "timid" one - pictured above - stands his ground and hisses.

Before Emily left on Monday we went to my gym and worked out. I actually had a very good run and it was nice to be there with Em. It was as PACKED as if it was Jan. 1! I couldn't even use "my" treadmill.

We are getting our first real snowstorm. My husband measured awhile ago (it is still snowing) and we are up to 12 inches. It is beautiful. I am thankful today is not the day Em is driving back to Washington. That makes me nervous enough without adding a snowstorm into the mix.

I was going to do a "quick" 4 miles in the morning but I guess I'll have to find my Yak Trax first!

The Fitness Christmas

2011-12-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

I got some great new fitness items. Some years are like that and this seems to be one of them. Could be that triathlon that is in my future. I asked for swim goggles and a new cap and got all kinds of swim stuff I didn't even know existed.

Cap and goggles - Emily says they are her

favorite goggles.

Hand paddles I think

Speed laces???

A Swim buoy

Triathlon shorts!!!!!

A swim bag...... I love bags!

Lulu shorts for running

Some really fun laces!

And look at all the stuff my hubby got me

at the bike shop to help me with changing a tire. Again, I don't

know what so much of it even is!

Not fitness but isn't this great. Jameson had one made for

each of us - all different. I got the cats!

A beautiful cutting board also from Jameson.

He also got me a KINDLE which I have downloaded

a book about the Ironman onto. So could that

also be called a fitness present? Plus he got

a bike rack for me for the barn.

And so much more........a wonderful wonderful

Christmas with my family.

Christmas Weekend - The Exercise Edition

2011-12-25T21:41:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas. It has been a busy few days and wonderful. In spite of the hectic pace I did get my workouts in.

This is the pool I swim in. It is pretty old but it is in
the only high school in the state that has a pool
and it is nearby so I won't complain.

Thursday

I went swimming with Emily. I had already gone once this week but couldn't resist the chance to swim with her. She gave me some drills to do right away. There are reasons - many of them - I am not going fast. I must say these new drills messed up my breathing again but I need to fix some things as and I quote "I have a lot going on." Okay, I'm not surprised and I have a lot of time left.

These two bathing beauties are me. I cannot believe I am

posting them but I have no shame I guess.

My plan was to take swimming lessons in the new year to help my stroke so onward with that thought! I got some great swim stuff for Christmas (more on that in a later post) that will help me with it.

Friday

A sunrise run...

Our cute cute visitor.....

The cat is not as sure as the rest of us of the puppy's cuteness.

These don't look like much but man they taste good.

The ones below look a little better. Next time I will experiment

with more kinds.

I got up and went for a run when it was 8 degrees. I need to get over this running in the early morning mindset. It was cold! I went 8 miles and decided once again that that was plenty. I had lots to do when I got home including trying to make cake balls. I am not a cook! I was quite discouraged with my first batch (although they taste good) but later ones came out better. They are much bigger than they are supposed to be but that meant I was done sooner. Worked for me! Also later Friday the cutest dog ever came to our house for Christmas!

Sunday - Christmas!

I had a great late day 4 mile run! I felt a little faster than I have lately. I let Emily use my Garmin so I have nothing to prove that but it felt great! Now we are watching Crazy Stupid Love for the second time tonight. A little extra time with Ryan Gosling is a fine way to end the day.

He Was Robbed!

2011-12-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

My son had a door decorating contest at work.

They decorated their door with a present on it........secure enough to hold Jax, his puppy.

When it was time for judging they put Jax into the box.

And they didn't win!

A Baker's Dozen Random Thoughts

2011-12-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

1. I lost a follower on the day of the breaking elephants post. It certainly wasn't about running but was it that bad?

2. Sunday I ran on our coldest day yet. It was 4 degrees and my face was mighty cold. I'm just not used to it yet and I was happy to do only "8" miles rather than the maybe 10 I had in my head.

3. I had told my students about the first broken elephant last week. I updated them on Monday and I'm sure they were impressed with my coordination and brains. They probably went home and told the story and there are parents calling the principal as I write this to switch their children to another classroom.

4. I have a very sweet foster grandmother (from the foster grandparent program) who volunteers in my classroom 3 times a week. I could hear her laughing heartedly as I was telling the story. Perhaps she isn't so sweet.

5. Okay, I'm moving on past the elephants.

6. I registered for a race on January 1 to start out 2012 the right way!

7. I stayed home sick one day this week. Hate feeling lousy especially now when I have so much to do.

8. These days the series I am watching is NCIS. It's a good one.

9. I'm rereading Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts. Also good.

10. The day I was home sick I played a lot of Words with Friends. I responded almost immediately each time my phone binged. Today I'm already way behind again.

11. Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day of work before vacation. All teachers should get triple pay on the last day of work before vacation even though it is a fair thing to say there won't be a whole lot of learning going on.

12. I swam today since I missed it Tuesday. I didn't feel great but if I can get to work I can do something I enjoy too. So I went swimming and I went to my staff party. In fact I was one of the last to leave my staff party.

13. Enjoy these last days before Christmas and have a great holiday!

Goals # 11 - 15 And That's a Wrap!

2011-12-21T05:33:00.000-05:00

Yes I had tons of goals in 2011. The way I look at it is lots of goals means lots of success. I repeat a lot of them like racing with my family as that is just the best thing ever. It takes no special skill on my part but I still list it as a goal perhaps to keep track of it. I am sure I will have similar number of goals for 2012. I am usually a rather succinct person both in writing and talking but NOT apparently when it comes to thinking about my passions in fitness.

11. Be in top half of field. Success in 9 races - I'll take it!

St. Patrick's Day 8K - 1199/3176

BAA 5K 1855/4187

Sunshine Run 33/250+

Lincoln Magic Mountain 4(woman)/ ? 20 or so

Zoe's Race - 53/145

Adirondack Distance Run - 208/498

Great Island 5K 500/1186
Let Them Play 15/31
A Time to Give 30/144

Goofing off at the Great Island 5K

12. Have one overall PR in any distance. Mostly Fail

I had a PR at an 8K and a 10 miler because they were new distances.

13. Race near the ocean. Success

This is one of my favorite goals. I raced near the ocean 3 times, twice in New Hampshire along that tiny strip of ocean and once in Rhode Island.

Yes, you wish you were racing by the ocean in

February in New England too!

14. Race with some bloggy buddies, old and new! Success - not as many as last year but that's okay. I got to race with Darlene twice who doesn't really live close but in my world she does (about 2 1/2 hours away.) She is also a racing nut like I am. I also got to meet "Dash" (and Liz) when I went to DC and I won't be surprised if I run into her again. Love her posts and she is one fast racer!

15. Secret goal- find a duathlon and race in it! Tell no one as when they see you show up on a mountain bike looking not one bit like a bike racer they may not let you enter! Be prepared to come in last. Yes Yes Yes! I did this and was quite proud of it. I thought I would come in last but I beat several people even though most everyone had a road bike. I'll be back next year hopefully with a road bike of my own!

Goals 2011 Review # 6 - #10

2011-12-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

Goal # 6 - 2011 - Run/race in a new state. Success!
I ran a race in Rhode Island in July which gave this goal a big fat check. Plus it was my last state in New England to race! I liked the race but even if I lived there it wouldn't be one to add to a must do list. There we were by the gorgeous ocean and we barely saw it. The neighborhoods we ran through were fine. But I had a great trip there and am glad I did it.

Goal # 7 - Race in a marathon. Fail

Since I started running I thought I would do one marathon a year. Last year I trained for one but didn't get there because of injury. This year I didn't run one because I didn't want to. I wanted more time for what I hoped would be some more duathlons but I never found any more. But I also wanted more time for biking and that was a huge success. I don't see this being added back in for 2012. I plan (gulp) to try and tri or two or three and I want A LOT more time for biking!

8. Run in at least two half marathons. Huge Success!

I ran in not two or three or four but five! I love half marathons! I ran Half at the Hamptons in Feb. for the second year. This is a race I LOVE in spite of the freezing temps. I raced in the Unplugged Half and got my PR for the year. I ran in the Middlebury Maple Run for the second year and do like it but man is it hilly! You can't keep me away from the VCM 2 person relay. ( I had brief thoughts of doing this marathon this year but nope!) Then I took a break until this fall when I ran the Adirondack Distance Festival which was gorgeous, hilly, well organized and a blast and I will go back!

9. Race with family members. A huge success!
Right off the bat I raced at the Albany Winter Series with Jameson on a VERY cold day! Thanks a ton Jameson for going with me! Then I raced in DC with Emily in the St. Patrick's Day 8K! Next I raced in the BAA 5K with both my children! What could be better? VCM found all of us racing again. Jameson was a huge support to both Emily and me. Then Jameson went along with me this summer to a race in Isle La Motte which was gorgeous but instead of a cold January race it was an extremely hot July race! Jameson was involved in helping run Zoe's Race and I ran in it so I am counting that one too! And I would have raced with my husband on New Year's if I hadn't been sick. We are going to try again this year.

10. Place in age group. A Success!
Believe it or not even with my slower paces this year I did this a few times. It helps being older and as you know.... Age Groups Rock. I placed at the Polar Cap 4 Miler (2/5), Isle La Motte (2/3), Kingdom Run (2 out of maybe 2?), and Adirondack Distance Festival (Half marathon - 2/19!). The last one is the one I had no clue I would place and left for home without getting my maple syrup!

If it's breakable don't drop it.......

2011-12-18T19:22:00.001-05:00

I was trying to get my son a decorative elephant for his new house for Christmas (his request). Last Sunday I found a ceramic elephant I liked that wasn't expensive and brought it home. I was getting my bags out of the car when I dropped them on the ground and the elephant broke into a few pieces. I was furious with myself as it was a stupid thing to do but my husband thought he could repair it by gluing it back together.

Here is the elephant. Cute little guy - doesn't look too

bad, does it? This is the "good" side.

The chip!

It actually worked quite well and there is just one small chip missing. I didn't feel really good about giving a chipped elephant as a present though so I asked a friend to pick me up another. She went to the store and there appeared to be none there. But they went "out back" and got her another one. I saw her Friday night at a party, got the elephant, brought it home and put it on the counter. Before I went for my run on Saturday I decided to clean up a bit and took a few things down cellar, the elephant being one of them. It was still packed in the box it came in. When I got there the top of the box came open (I was holding it sideways) and the elephant slid out at rocket speed and SMASHED on the concrete floor. I started screaming and aimed a few choice words at my brilliance once again. My husband got home a few minutes later and I think he thought I had broken the water pump or something serious before he saw all the pieces. He once again told me he thought he could fix it but I mumbled something sweet like, "Don't be ridiculous."

I was going shopping and thought I would pick up yet another one. When I got to the store they had 3 more but I COULD NOT bring myself to purchase one. I had no faith whatsoever that I would not break yet another one.

I went from store to store having a good time browsing when I found a cute inexpensive elephant hook. It could be used to hold keys or some other small thing. I got it. And guess what? It is made of metal and I would have a pretty hard time breaking it.

Here's the elephant hook - much better than another broken

ceramic elephant!

I was still shopping going in some stores I don't usually frequent when I hit the mother lode of elephant stores. It was where I should have started. I couldn't resist one more small one - also made of metal and seemingly unbreakable.

When I got home my husband had brought the smashed one upstairs and had the glue warming up to room temperature. I told him to hold off. I am wrapping all four and Jameson will have to hear the story and open them in the proper sequence. If he wants his father to try to repair it that's fine but I thought we could have a little fun out of this debacle on Christmas Day. What person doesn't love to open a present that has shattered into several pieces?

The elephant from the "elephant store." I could

drop him a few times and he'd look just fine!

Seven Things About Emily

2011-12-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

Jamoosh tagged me to tell 7 things about Emily. I think this is going to be hard. What can I tell that she or I haven't already told that she won't shoot me for?

Not only are we racing together here - we won the mother/daughter division!

1. Emily started racing because she had no money and I had no one to race with. One year for my birthday she gave me several coupons to cash in for races with her. She did it as she was poor and I was always whining about no one to race with. Well as you probably know before the year was out......she was hooked.

2. Emily gives great presents. (See above) She does an outstanding job on stockings. One year for Christmas she gave me the gift of being a character in a book. She had been at a charity auction and this was one of the prizes. You got to be in a book and she bid on it to give it to me. The author was a Vermont author that I read so I was beyond excited!

3. She was a vegetarian for a few years. It began after we were in Maine a couple of times eating dinner on a deck while watching a tuna being sliced, diced and chopped every which way. She is no longer a vegetarian but I still don't think she eats tuna.

4. Em was good at many things. When she joined the swim team it was something she did not excel at like everything else she had tried. But she didn't give up. She had a great coach and now all those years of swimming on a team make her quite a good swimmer in the tri world where many people seem intimidated by the swim.

5. Emily loves clothes especially if they come from Lululemon. Somehow she got me loving their stuff too even though I think the prices are ridiculous.

6. Emily ran track in her junior year of high school. She did the longer distances and made it to States. She was going to go out for cross country in the fall but stayed on the swim team instead. I wonder if she ever wishes she had raced more in high school.

7. Emily hates hates hates snakes. I am afraid I may have had something to do with this. But she must be braver than I because she has moved "south" where there are more of the critters and less cold to keep them away.

And the really good # 7 is that in about 7 more days she will be here for Christmas!

I Am A Freestyler.......the Swimming Kind

2011-12-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

I am going to be able to do the sprint triathlon! Dare I say I have it in the bag? Just kidding - I don't want to jinx myself!

This past weekend I figured out that I needed to swim the equivalent of 24 laps in the sprint triathlon I am hoping to try for my first triathlon. I panicked at the thought of swimming 600 yards of freestyle all at once. I know I can breast stroke too but I want the possibility of swimming it all freestyle to be a reality.

(A little history - This fall I started out swimming 1 lap of freestyle, slowly made it into two until I had worked my way up to 5 in a row. Last week was hard and I whined about it on my post. I didn't see me increasing it from 5 for a long time if ever. Well.)

Well.

This week I did 3 sets of 5 and I was on my fourth set. As I neared the end of this set it occurred to me that I "had it." I could keep going. I continued to 10 laps with no hesitation and kept on going. Before I stopped (mostly because I had to go to work) I had swum 30 freestyle laps in a row! 30 in a row out of a total of 45 freestyle laps. (60 laps in all)

I did my next to last lap on my back which I always do. Just so I wouldn't get too big headed the swimming gods had me slam my head into the wall when I got to the end!

And then when I got to school and took off my boots the shoe gods had their laugh too as I had packed two left shoes. But as I have said I work with a great team and my colleague insisted I go home and get my shoes while she took my students for half an hour!

But even those two things could not overshadow the euphoria I felt all day from my accomplishment! It ~~may not have been~~ wasn't fast and it ~~may not have been~~ wasn't pretty but I did 30 freestyle laps in a row!

And there were requests for pics of the best Christmas tree yet. Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And we love Charlie Brown trees!

Going up to get the tree.....

The stand of trees has gotten just a tad tall.....

This is the before shot......look at the top.

Here it is in all it's glory. Martha Stewart I am

not but I do love my tree and all it's decorations.

Monday Ramblings

2011-12-12T19:15:00.001-05:00

I love the Christmas season but it is a hectic time for sure. I am trying to do some Christmas projects and still work and still work out and it is tricky! I went to the gym today not wanting to be there even one little bit. I gave myself permission to take an early walk break and keep my speed lower than I have been lately. Once I started though I could see it was going to be okay. I was able to do my workout as usual with no problem. Maybe it was knowing I had "permission" to change it up but it went off without a hitch. I'm still reading - Forward Momentum is Your Friend. It is a great book! I love the author's sense of humor and his relationship with his boys.
This weekend I ran a 10 miler and a 6 miler. That is the most miles I have done in a weekend in quite some time. T and I caught up on a lot of happenings in each others' lives. The weather was a little cold but bearable. Life is good.
Saturday my husband and I went up back and got our tree. It was rather tall (not trimmed) so we used the top. Every year I think our tree is the best one yet and that still goes for this year. Amazing how that happens.
Yesterday the hubby and I went shopping together. He is a speed shopper so I didn't get too much done but I found one gift I really liked. Problem is when I got home I dropped the bag and it broke. It was completely my fault and I was rather upset with myself. But a friend went back to the store and got me another one. It was not an expensive item but it was still a careless thing to do.
This morning when I checked my email I saw that Marathon Guide had charged my credit card. At first I thought??? but as I went on reading I saw that it meant I GOT INTO THE CHERRY BLOSSOM 10 MILER! Emily got in too!!! I can't wait!
Also thanks everyone for the kind words and advice on OWS. See, now I even know what the initials are for. Tomorrow I swim again and I'm sure it will be better than last week.

Get through my boring rambling and be prepared for puppy cuteness!

2011-12-08T07:32:00.000-05:00

1. I had my usual Tuesday swimming morning. I increased my total number of laps and the number of free style laps to stay at half of what I was swimming but this week it was all hard. I swallowed more water than usual. In a pool it is easy to stop and get it back together but what do you do in an open water swim?
I felt like 4 laps of free style was hard so what will I do in an open water swim? I am slow no matter what I am swimming. Would I do better to try to speed up my breaststroke which I am more comfortable with than to keep working on freestyle which is so hard for me? Which should I do in an open water swim? I can't imagine yet not having the safety of that nearby wall or the end of the pool. Tuesday was not a confidence builder. It took me back some. I cannot imagine swimming 800 yards straight or whatever it is you swim in a sprint. Who do I think I am to think I can do a tri when I swim so poorly? You can see the question that kept going through my mind as I swam. I think I did more laps just to end on some good ones which I did. I did feel good all day from having swum in the morning and I loved having more time after school to get stuff done and not be running off to the gym. But .....again.........Tuesday's swim was tough.

2. I am still doing fine on the treadmill. Not at all sure what that is about. I'm looking forward to getting outside this weekend. I don't remember a December ever being this dark so early in the afternoon.

3. Did anyone see Runner's World newest Rave Run? I think it is in Norway. (I'm too lazy to walk upstairs and check.) It is a stunningly beautiful winter scene. It's one of my favorite Rave Runs I've seen.

4. Jameson came down last weekend with his sweet little puppy, Jax. He shook (Jax not Jameson) most of the time he was here as those pesky yellow cats (who are much bigger than he is) were everywhere. I got some great pics though. Then I visited ~~him~~ Jameson on Sunday after my Santa race. Jax fell asleep in my lap :) and was so much more relaxed at his house.

Goals 2011 Review - #1 - #5

2011-12-06T19:15:00.000-05:00

I am going to review my goals from 2011 a few at a time while I consider my goals for 2012.

1. Stay uninjured and run smart! (Not a complete success)

Did I do this? Partially but I am still working on it. I did end up with some heal problems again. I am still doing my exercises almost every day to help this. I am also trying to incorporate even more cross training in. This last year I added cycling but I didn't really take anything away. Now I have gone from what used to be 6 days of running although more recently it was 5 to 4 days of running. I am swimming one day. As spring comes and I ramp things up I will be getting ready for a tri so I am not sure what will happen. But I certainly want to continue to be a smart runner as much as I can.

2. Cross train especially in warmer weather. Don't forget what a friend the bike was to you when your feet failed you. Success!!

This is the same as the one above. I will probably combine these two goals for 2012.

3. Improve 5K and 10K time throughout the year. (Small Success/Fail)

I improved my 5K very slightly. I improved from 28:15 to 27:46.I only did one 10K so no chance for improvement. I find it very hard to believe I only did one 10K as I did a lot of races. I guess I was too busy doing half marathons!

4. Race one race a month. At the same time don't race too many races. (Success/Fail?)

I have done one race a month. I did do a lot of races (23). Was it too many? I don't think so although there was a stretch of a lot of races in May.

5. Run in some new races. (Huge success - 14 new ones)
Here are my new races: Albany Winter Series, St. Patrick's Day 8K, Unplugged Half, BAA 5K, LIncoln Mountain Magic 5K, Dynamic Duathlon, Adirondack Distance Run, Up Around the Bend, Isle La Motte 5K, Kingdom Run 10K, Zoe's Race, Adirondack Distance Festival, Let Them Play, Santa Run 5K

As you can see this was an easy goal for me. I love running new races. Many of these are races I will try to return to. I particularly enjoyed the Unplugged Half and Adirondack Distance Festival which were new halves for me. I hope to do both in 2012. The Isle La Motte race was stunningly beautiful plus I ran it with my son. I loved the Adirondack Distance Run which was my first and to date only 10 Miler. It is a great distance for me.
The Dynamic Duathlon built my confidence like no other race this year. I can do more than just run!

The Unplugged Half had unexpected snow.

Around the Bend - a new race in Rhode Island

Very happy after finishing my first duathlon!

Another race with Darlene at the Adirondack Distance

Festival

Unplugged Half

The Albany Winter Series was seriously cold!

But I got my January race in.

Nice sights for the St. Patrick's Day 8K!

More goals yet to come!

Santa Clause 5K

2011-12-04T19:14:00.001-05:00

As we were lined up for the race there were Santas as

far as you could see behind us.......

.......and in front of us.

This race was a blast! I loved seeing hundreds of Santas in every direction. As I drove through Burlington to park this morning I saw several Santas warming up. I never thought I would find my friends in the sea of Santas but I found two friends and one other friend found me. Several people had individualized their outfits. One lady wore a green lei which was genius as she was very easy to spot. It was fun to see school kids also racing dressed up as Santa.

I actually found my friends, Christa and Becky.

Sara found me!

I had decided I wasn't even going to try to race. I left my Garmin at home and carried my camera in my hand to take pictures. I stopped a few times for pics but took many on the run. The suits that we were given were very cheap. I wasn't sure I would be able to keep the pants up and saw more than one person stopped trying to fix theirs. The worst problem was the belt and wisely many people wore their own. Note made for next year. I had to stop about half way as my belt broke. I tied it together but it never worked well the rest of the race. My coat kept flopping open to show my - horrors - blue shirt! I didn't think my shirt would show or I would have worn black or white.

The race has started.

We're headed up Battery Hill.

This is Willard where I had to fix my belt.

Headed down Main toward the finish.

Here is the finish. I took this picture before the race.

It was great to see all the people watching the race. Kids got high fives from Santa after Santa. As we headed up Battery Hill cars were stopped. Kids were watching us from inside the cars with eyes as big as saucers! It was awesome!

There was a feel good attitude for this whole race. Afterwards I did some shopping and kept forgetting I had this Santa costume on. No problem though because so did many other people in the crowd. It was quite hysterical. Many people asked about the race and talked about doing it next year. This year they cut it off at 1200 but they announced the cut off next year will be 2000. I suspect it will fill quicker as so many more people know about it now. As I type this I am waiting for the news to show a clip from it. There is going to be a You Tube video which I will share when I can find it.

There was a mat for both the start and finish which is not usual around here. Plus there were medals - nice ones - for a 5K! And a top notch breakfast after at one of three locations to help with crowds. This may have been an inaugural race here but it was very well organized. It's one I can see becoming a December tradition.

It's an awesome medal. I will definitely take

it to school to share with my students.

Thursday Tidbits

2011-12-01T19:28:00.000-05:00

1. Are you sick of hearing about swimming? If so skip ahead. This week out of 50 laps 25 of them were freestyle! 50% my friends! My first set was my most recent 3 in a row. Then I decided I needed to try 4 and the rest were 4 laps in a row with one last lone "speedy one." I am still very slow (I had a friend swimming near me and she lapped me so many times it was pitiful) but improving and having fun. I feel so good all day after I swim in the morning. I am smiling as I write this even though it is more than a day later.
I had 3 runs at the gym. The first one was great but I felt like I was going to pass out on the second one but not because of any amazing speed. I just felt off so I convinced myself to take a walking break. Then I got back to it and finished the miles but I was drenched with sweat. Something was a bit off for sure.

2. A good friend who was a long term sub leaves this Friday. I never met her before late summer but she will be truly missed. A bunch of us went out to eat Tuesday night and we had a great time. The best part of my job is the people I work with and I hate it when a friend leaves!

3. I just started reading: Momentum is Your Friend: The Metal Cowboy and his Pint Size Posse Take on America. Someone recommended this book on their blog, Kate? Karen? Whoever did it was right - it is a great book! I am only a few chapters into it but I like the author's humor. Here is Amazon's description of the review.

Most people bring their inner child on an epic adventure. Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie actually took his two kids along. For a 4,000-mile bicycle ride across America, Joe’s seven-year-old son, Quinn, rides a tagalong bike attached to his dad’s; and behind that is five-year-old Enzo in a bike trailer.

Our hero the Metal Cowboy answers the question “What are you, crazy?” with a resounding and cheerful “Yes.” Unassisted—with no support crew except his boys’ comic relief and the periodic kindness of strangers—he pedals hundreds of pounds of gear and offspring over mountain passes, across the wide plains, through thunderstorms, and into the heart of what it means to be a dad.

4. I have a race this weekend and it should be a good one. It is a Santa 5K where you have to wear a Santa suit the whole way. There are 1200 (the limit) people registered which is a sizable race around here. I have a feeling that I truly won't race this one but may just run it with some friends. I don't think I'll feel very fast in a Santa suit. There is going to be a videographer there so it can be on You Tube shortly after the run. I will post the video or at least a link!

21 Random Things about Me

2011-11-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Alisa at Ambitious Aspirations make great accomplishments to tell 21 random things about myself. I'll give it a try.

1. I love desserts and have a real sweet tooth. I particularly like pumpkin and chocolate.
2. I am a cat person but I have recently fallen in love with a puppy.
3. I really don't like to cook much. I especially hate having to cook supper (yeah, that's what we say here in Vermont) night after night.
4. Friday night I don't cook supper because on Friday nights it is time to have popcorn for supper.
5. I taught school one year in Northern Canada (Chibougamau, Quebec) and LOVED it.
6. Summer is not my favorite season. It is a distant third.
7. I have taught school for more years than my children have been alive.
8. I like to read cheesy magazines.
9. I don't watch much tv but I love tv series DVDs.
10. I love coffee. It has to be hot and flavored with hot being the most important attribute.
11. I love to organize things. I wish I could be paid for it.
12. I don't like public speaking at all.
13. If I travel somewhere, I want to have travel books about the place, I want to read books set there and find out as much as I can both before and after I go.
14. I didn't learn to swim until I was about 11 years old. I never got good at it (although I am working on it now!).
15. If there weren't such things as races I probably wouldn't run.
16. I have a very dry sense of humor and appreciate it in others.
17. Patrick Dempsey has a crush on me.
18. If I couldn't live near the mountains I would want to live near the ocean.
19. The state I most want to visit is Alaska.
20. The country I most want to visit is Ireland.
21. A place I have been I want to go back to is Italy. (And of course DC!)

This was fun to do.
If you haven't been tagged go ahead and do it. I love reading these about other people.

Jameson's new puppy

2011-11-27T08:56:00.000-05:00

This post is mostly pics. Who wants to read my drivel when you can look at puppy pics?

Just about to head home with Jax. What a face!

This is Jameson just before we get Jax.

They meet each other.

Just another shot of "the cute puppy face."

He slept most of the way home. It was a long

ride from Alabama. (We picked him

up in New Hampshire.)

Home and chowing down.

Playing with a toy.

So much to explore.

Climbing the stairs right after Jameson said he was

too little.

One more shot of the new best friends.

You went really slowly why?

2011-11-24T21:01:00.001-05:00

Across from my house when I got back from my

run.

All of my runs outside lately have been so slow and today was no exception. But today I had an excuse! There was black ice everywhere. For those of you not from northern climates - black ice is hard to see and makes things rather scary whether in a car or on foot. It is not unusual to hit a few patches of black ice as I tend to run early before the sun has done it's melting magic. But today it was almost continuous and I had not worn my Yak Trax because........

it is way too early

the road was bare.

So of course I couldn't get going fast! Right? Right!

The BLACK ICE which was everywhere.

It's much too soon for this.

On the other hand all and I do mean all of my runs on the treadmill have been great. They have all been fast and continuous with no breaks - something I am not always able to do on the TM. They have all been slightly under a 10 minute pace which is great for me in a non race situation. They have been relatively easy and rather enjoyable. When I paid my monthly fee recently for my gym membership I felt a little better as I have been actually using the gym (twice a week but that's way up from no times a week) and liking it.

This week when I went to the pool on the other hand I forgot my cap and goggles. I almost turned around but I went anyways. Once I got used to it it was okay. I did all my usual laps. No increasing the free style laps yet. It is still hard for me to do 3 in a row but before the new year I will try 4. I promise.

Saturday I am going with my son to New Hampshire to get a new puppy. I also promise that I will post puppy pictures. A lot of you asked if my indoor missing cat had appeared. Yes. But. He spent about 3 days underneath some cupboards and rarely coming out. When he did he acted scared to death. Today he has been "out and about" for most of the day and is currently sitting in my husband's lap. I don't know what caused him to freak out so and hide but he is over it for now.

I finished The Night Strangers Chris Bohjalian's newest book. It certainly engaged me but once again I did not like the ending. I won't say too much and I would recommend reading it but if you do let me know what you think of it. I took a book to my son's today and read while he and my husband watched football. I had a wonderful quiet Thanksgiving with them. We missed Em but she will be here at Christmas and she was with a lot of friends.

Our first Thanksgiving at Jameson's house.

I hope you all had a great day with friends and family.

I also can't resist showing you a few pictures from my other life. We have been studying habitats at school forever..... and the final project was a flip chart (a cleverly disguised report) and a project. Most kids chose to do a diorama and they truly thought they had died and gone to heaven whenever they were able to work on them. Here are a few.

This student spent forever making the creatures.

This kid went to a craft store to buy sand and impressed

all the other kids who used dirt from the playground.

Notice the palm tree and alligator. Lots of clay

was used in these projects!

Toothpicked signs for labels were also a big hit

One student did a photo story which was fabulous.

At one time this would have been the first choice for

all but I guess there are more opportunities to use

technology so it isn't the draw it used to be.

The Thankful Post

2011-11-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

Last November I did a thankful post every day. First let me say I am thankful I am not doing that! It was hard to post every day. But I would like to give some thanks as Thanksgiving Day approaches.

1. I am thankful for my family: my sweet husband and wonderful children. They all make my life richer in so many ways.

2. I am thankful for my parents. I didn't have them nearly as long as I would have liked but I always felt loved and special.

3. I am thankful for the beautiful state I live in. I love Vermont in all it's seasons. Whenever I return from a trip away I know I live in the best place for me.

4. I am thankful for a job I enjoy, that is never boring and that keeps me challenged on an ongoing basis. I love the children I work with and my team is the best. I work with many wonderful people.

5. I am thankful for the joy exercising brings me. I can't imagine a sedentary life.

6. I am thankful for races. They are the frosting on my exercise cake.

7. I am thankful for injuries that have allowed me to discover yet new ways to exercise that I love. Last year I began to fall in love with biking again. This fall I am discovering that I like swimming. That is the surprise of the decade for sure.

8. I am thankful for authors who write good books to keep me entertained and to continue to help me learn new things.

9. I am thankful for my cats who are constantly entertaining and affectionate. Although as I write this one of our cats is missing. Can you lose an indoor cat?

10. Last, I am thankful for all the bloggers who support me by giving me advice, commenting on my posts and giving me much to think about in the exercise world through thoughtful and entertaining posts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Who doesn't like free things?

2011-11-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

I ran errands Saturday and came home with new things I didn't pay for ...........sort of. Don't worry I didn't steal them, let me explain.

First new free thing. I can peruse this during the coming months. From just glancing through it I don't think it will be where I get my training plan but it is a good starting point and is beginning to make me realize

I am going to have a lot of questions. For instance .........how long is a good training plan for a first (sprint) triathlon? This one worries me a bit as the first two tris I am looking at are in June. I don't know realistically how early I can start bike training in the spring.

But back to the free part...........I had a gift certificate to a Barnes and Noble from a student last spring. My cost - $1.00. Not technically free but close enough.

Second new free thing. Okay this was several new things. I bought 10 giant cookies at Fresh Market in Burlington which has the best cookies! They are
slightly doughy which is how I like them. I had my son with me so he took 4
of them for himself and friends, I took home 4 and I took 3 to a neighbor who has just had surgery. Why did I buy 10? I had a Jump on It which is our local
Groupon and I had to spend $20. I have a confession to make about this deal. When I bought it (I really bought two) my daughter asked me if I really wanted it and would use it. I said of course. Well, when I went to use it first I started to go to CITY Market and as I was about to pull in I said to myself - "Wait, AJH, that coupon did not say CITY Market, it said Fresh Market." So I didn't turn in, went to Fresh Market and wondered what in the world I had been thinking. It is a great place for cookies but 20 dollars worth? City Market would have been much better. But Jameson went with me Sat. to help me spend it. While we were there we saw several prepared meals in the frozen food case so I gave him the other coupon to use to give himself some meals another time. So was this free? Of course not. The two of them cost me $20 for $40 worth of food. I got $20 worth of food I do not need although I was able to visit my neighbor with a treat, give my son and his friends a treat and ensure that my son will have some good meals in the future. At one time I paid the $20 but it was so long ago it certainly felt like free and it didn't stay in my pocketbook unused and expired. A win for sure!

Third new free thing. A week ago I went to The Body Shop for one of their sales. I bought a tote bag for $5 and filled it with as many things as I wanted for 30% off and as a Love Your Body member I got another 20% off. As I was checking out they gave me a coupon for one free thing a week for 6 weeks maybe. I figured it was going to be a small sample in an envelope that was basically unusable. So I was surprised and pleased to get a full body duo which I have never tried. I did not buy the $10 scrub that you could also get so I didn't spend one cent. Yes I did buy the original tote bag and filled it with things I ~~needed~~ wanted a week ago but I spent nothing on Saturday!

So in my book, I came home with many free things! What is the last "free" thing you got?

Try to Tri

2011-11-17T21:09:00.000-05:00

It will be no surprise to anyone who follows my blog if I say I am going to attempt a tri next summer.

Although as short a time as 6 months ago it would have been shocking news especially to me. I have never been a swimmer. I learned very late and never got good at it. Doing a duathlon last summer was way outside my comfort zone and as far as I thought I would go. Yet I remember well when a marathon was unthinkable. I can also remember a time earlier than that when I admired my friend, T, because she raced! My life has changed drastically in the last 10 years and it seems as though there are yet some major things I am willing to try in the athletic part of my life.

Yes, I will attempt a tri next summer. I hope to attempt at least 2 so I can see some improvement. I am already scouring the Internet looking for tris with very short swim portions in my area. And they are out there - many many more than a simple duathlon which is part of my motivation. I just plain like to race! There are even some with the swim portion in pools. A coworker told me about someone she knows my age who recently started doing triathlons. This woman is very athletic looking, in fact MJ told me she was the athlete of the year for New Jersey at one time. Well, guess what? She came in next to the last in the results of one tri I was looking at. Good God! If she came in next to the last I will be last for sure. That is why I have to do at least two. I hope to at least see some improvement as I do a second one.

I am not great at any of the disciplines and super bad at one of them. I could wait until I turn 60 and do my first tri in my 60s but I am too anxious to give it a try.

I am also hoping to get a road bike but not just because of this goal. I ended up doing a lot of cycling this summer and hope to do even more next year. I could see a distinct difference between those with road bikes and those without. I didn't feel the difference was based on fitness as much as the bikes. I want to rack up even more miles next summer and I don't want to be held back by my bike. Of course there are many levels of road bikes you can get plus I really will have to learn to change a tire but it will all be worth it as I explore new and old routes all over my beautiful state and beyond. I am thinking if I want to get one anyways I should certainly do it well before my first tri so I can have it and learn to use it including those foolish clipless pedals.

When I do something new, I always like to read about it. Any recommendations for Tri books out there esp. for first timers?

And waaaaay before next summer when I try to tri, go over to Run With Jill's blog for the second annual bloggy gift exchange. Last year it was a lot of fun. Join in the fun!

Three Things Thursday

2011-11-16T20:38:00.002-05:00

The Birthday Girl!

Listening to the Proclamation about the Day in Her Honor

(Her husband is near her - he is 98!)

1. Monday night I went to a very special birthday party. My friend's mom turned 100! The party was at the nursing home she is living in and the party was packed with friends from her town. I was amazed at all the people who came. When we left the line of people waiting to wish her happy birthday was still out in the hall. She was a cook at the second school I taught at and homemade bread and rolls were one of the many constant wonderful things on the menu. Her younger sister (now 90) was the other cook! This woman is one of the people I bore on a regular basis and send a letter to each week. The poor woman knows far more about me than she wishes to I am sure but she puts up with my drivel to help fill her mailbox! The town she is from declared it a day in her honor Monday and read the proclamation at the party. My colleague had the students do some math problems related to her mother today such as telling them the year they got their first car and how old her mom was each time the Red Sox won the World Series. If I remember correctly it was 7, 93 and 96. Then they all thought of a question they wanted to ask her. I hope if I live to be 100 I have half as many people who want to wish me happy birthday! Her husband was there too and he will be 97 in a few weeks. MJ comes from some good genes.

2. I seem to be getting to the gym twice a week these days. ( 2 gym days, 1 pool days, and 2 outdoor running days on the weekends). I have to say all of my treadmill workouts have been great. Maybe because I have to keep up with the pace I set I have better runs pacewise than outside. I workout by songs. I start at a pace and each time a new song comes on I move it up. I move it up for 7 songs and then start going down. Lately this plan has worked great for me and before I know it my miles are done. I do a minimum of 4 miles running which generally takes about 10-11 songs. I usually feel I can keep running for one more song. I can take a walk break after 7 if I want but I often keep going. It is just one of the many mind games I play to get though my treadmill workouts but lately they really have been going very well.

3. Watching - The Good Wife - I am almost at the end of the second season. I love that show.

Reading - Tag Man by Archer Mayor - a Vermont author. This is one of his best books yet. I have the new book by Chris Bohjalian, another Vermont author (who was also at the gym tonight) waiting for me at the library.
I'm still reading the book about running on all 7 continents at the gym. I don't read much there so a book takes me forever. I just finished the chapter about running on Antarctica and I loved it. There is a small part of me that thinks that would be such an awesome thing to do!

Who Do You Admire?

2011-11-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

My school day starts with a Morning Meeting from Responsive Classroom. These help set a positive classroom climate and get many a kiddo's day started in a positive frame of mind. One element of Morning Meetings is Sharing. Currently for sharing, 2-3 people a day are sharing someone they admire. Many of the kids have shared about a family member they admire and the stories have been very sweet. Today it was my turn and I certainly could have shared about family members but I chose to share about Matt Long. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak last summer at Lake Place Ironman and recently read his biography. My admiration for him runs deep. I could not believe what he overcame as I read his biography and found out more details of his horrific acccident of being run over while riding a bike by a 20 ton bus. This morning when the kids arrived I had the Runner's World site up on the whiteboard to show the kids a short video about him. They were reading the article and were already intrigued before I even spoke. They were fascinated by the story. When they heard he had run the NYC Marathon after the accident they wanted to know if he won. Loud groan here - they always ask that. I said, no the important thing was that he finished. When we did watch the video he said the goal for him was to cross the finish line! The more they hear it isn't about winning for everyone the better! When the video was playing you could have heard a pin drop. They were completely into this story! We talked about how he persevered and managed to do what seemed so impossible. They were very impressed by his muscles and his scar. I may have managed to sneak into my story that the reason I was able to hear him speak was because my daughter did an Ironman. (I had told them what that was as I was telling them Matt Long's story.) When I said my daughter did one they gasped! Maybe some of their admiration for her spilled onto me! It was a great way to start the day.

I had been swimming first which seems to be my favorite way to start my day at least once a week. Yesterday I got up early and went to the gym for a good workout but swimming in the morning is what really works for me. I have such a satisfied feeling the rest of the day. I did my 6 sets of 3 laps of freestyle again. I was a little worried when I started as I felt tired right away. But once I warmed up I was fine. Speaking of warming up the pool was 89 degrees! Yuck! I hope that changes. Before I got out of the pool I did one more lap of freestyle this time for "speed." I have not done any laps of freestyle for speed and it felt quite good. Baby strokes, baby strokes. One lap for speed is fine. The rest continue to be breast stroke which is my safe stroke - no fears of drowning or ending up on the bottom of the pool.

Who do you admire? Who do you hope students would admire?

I have been glad they have admired family members and not some of public figures in our society that are not admirable at all. One girl shared today that one thing she admired about her family was she knew if there was something going on at school, someone from her family would always be there. That is NOT something that is true for all students and I loved that she appreciated it about her family.

A Time To Give 5K

2011-11-13T18:15:00.000-05:00

I am freezing as I wait for the race to start!

Saturday I ran my second 5K of November. It was an excellent race for a good cause. It is run by a family whose son had pediatric cancer to help other families with expenses. I was surprised at how many people were there. Three years ago I won my age group because I think I was the only one in it. That was not the case today.

T has been surprisingly easy to talk into racing lately!

First T and I had the ongoing discussion about what to wear. We never believe we will warm up quickly and wear too much. I instantly knew I had overdone it once we started but it was so cold and windy waiting. I really really wanted to beat last week's time and yes I did! I beat it by more than a minute and a half! Yeah for not what you want race times to make you look good the next time. I ran it in 28:07. My pace was 9:04. Only the first mile was in the 8s but none were in the 10s this week! I was 30 out of 144 which looks falsely good because there were a lot of people there who are not runners but were there to support the cause. I was 6 out of 19 in my age group which is a lot more people than 3 years ago.

The race was on a path in the woods I have raced on a few times. What I did not realize was........
part of today's race took place on Ti-Haul Trail.

This 1.1 mile route was created decades ago for moving the steamship Ticonderoga from Shelburne Bay to its home at Shelburne Museum two miles away.. The gravel path starts on Harbor Road and and continues to Bay Road via field, wetland and forest. The Ticonderoga was pulled from the lake and moved two miles overalnd to Shelburne Museum where it is a National Historic Landmark!

Nice little piece of history!

Cold, cold chocolate milk post race and lots of it!

Great bagels and pumpkin cream cheese! The only thing was

there was lots of maple syrup given away and neither

of us won any!

Silent Saturday - The Other Two Yellow Cats

2011-11-12T19:53:00.000-05:00

Three Things Thursday

2011-11-10T19:47:00.000-05:00

1. I am a creature of routine. Three Things Thursday always appeals to me because it is short, simple and follows a routine. Students like routine too and let you know when you change things. I try to give warnings but some kids just don't handle it well. The first things a lot of kids do when they come in the room in the morning is look at the agenda to see what is happening. Trouble is more often than not I have forgotten to change it and it still reflects the day before. But no worries - they often change it for me and our day is ready to start.

2. I had another good workout on the treadmill. I never think - "Oh yeah, I am headed to the gym to run on the treadmill." but I do often feel great afterwards. I did remember my I pod today which helped ever so much. Plus it was cold out and raining which made going to the gym ever so much more appealing.

3. The playlist I listened to was from an episode of last year's Grey's Anatomy. It was the musical episode which I loved. But I read some reviews of it on line and most people seemed to hate it. They compared it to Glee which I don't watch so that didn't bother me. I just enjoyed it probably partly because of the songs they chose. I liked a lot of the artists and songs which included:

Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol

Breathe - Anna Nalick

Universe and U - KT Tunstall

Grace - Kate Havnevick

How to Save a Live - The Fray

The Story - Brandi Carlile

TTT Bonus:

I am running a race this Saturday, another 5K. My goal will be to beat my last week's time for sure. It is for a great cause. I ran it two years ago and really enjoyed the whole atmosphere. It is for families that are dealing with pediatric cancer. The race is in honor a family who had a boy who had cancer but is doing well. They now raise money to help other families get through it. As I said, very heartwarming.

The Next Dana Torres

2011-11-08T20:11:00.000-05:00

Look out Dana Torres. So you were the oldest swimmer in the Olympics? There just may an even older swimmer in the next Olympics!

The last time I went swimming I did 6 sets of 2 laps of freestyle (plus all my breast stroke laps.) Originally I was doing one lap only! I stated the other day that soon I was going to try 3 laps in a row. So what did I do today? Hold onto your hats..........I swam 6 sets of 3 laps each of the freestyle. That my friends is 18 total freestyle laps compared to the previous 12. Pretty steep improvement right???? I figure with that rate of improvement I will surely be ready for the next Olympics. You can all say you knew me when!

Seriously, I am very impressed with my improvement. I am still doing my job at the pool of making everyone else feel good about their technique but I am also beginning - just beginning to feel good about mine. I still cannot imagine doing the freestyle for a quarter mile or a half mile or whatever distance it is you swim in a sprint tri (see how little I know) in a lake with no walls or solid ends of lanes. Today was bad enough when both walls were taken and I had to swim in the middle of the pool! My biggest worry was that I would swim into a swimmer in a neighboring lane. But 3 laps in a row! Whoever would have thought? The time in the pool flies by. If I wasn't going to work I would stay longer but I have increased my overall number of laps to a respectable but manageable amount for a slow swimmer. I'm glad I have a lot of time until summer.

On the running front I had a great treadmill workout yesterday. I went immediately after school but I had to be back at school for a parent conference. So my time was limited and I pushed it and had a terrific semi speedy workout. The other bonus - when you go to a parent conference straight from the gym (smelly maybe?) the parents don't linger and talk and talk and you get home at a decent hour!

I rarely post about giveaways but I want at least one shirt from this company so I am. But don't bother go look. It probably isn't to your taste.
The giveway is on Juice Boxes and Crayolas blog. I have a feeling one or two of these shirts will be on my Christmas list.

Let Them Play 5K

2011-11-07T19:39:00.000-05:00

T and me before the race

Today I ran a race that never even made it onto my sidebar because I didn't know I was running it until this morning. I decided I might as well to get November's race in. It was sunny and gorgeous out but it was also freezing. The temperature was in the high 40s accompanied by a very brisk wind. I played the "What should I wear?" game for quite awhile. I ended up with capris, 3 layers on top and a baseball hat. I considered a fleece headband and gloves as well as one layer on top. I was confident about the capris the whole time. The hat turned out to be a good choice. I probably could have left the jacket off but I wasn't dying of the heat with it on.

I liked this flat stretch.

It was a pretty course with 3 hills. I haven't run much this past month so I didn't know what to expect. Plus I ran 6 miles yesterday which these days equates to a long run for me. I never run the day before I race but this time I did. My first mile was around 8:55. The second one was 10:05 (in a race???) and the third one was 9:40 I think. The last .1 was in the high 8s again. I did pass two women and stay there. I was looking at my watch and saw that I was in danger of being over 30 and I did not want to be at all. As it is my time was 29:43 which I think is my highest 5K ever. But it was one heck of a lot faster than yesterday's run. I actually stopped and reset my Garmin and checked the settings as I thought it wasn't working. Nope! I was really going that slowly.

T ran with me and she was way up in front with the faster women. I haven't found any results on line and there may not be any. This was an inaugural race and it was very small. I felt badly they didn't get more people but the advertising wasn't great. After I came home I found a different November race I did two years ago that I really liked. So I may end up with two November races. I also registered for a December race that looks really fun.

I love having races to look forward to. What do you have left for 2011?

We got a fleece hat and a water bottle.

Running and Cats and Dogs and a little Pumpkin Too

2011-11-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I may have taken my pumpkin obsession a bit too far. I had a pumpkin spiced coffee. At lunch I had pumpkin cheesecake. Truthfully I was disappointed with this, it tasted too much like pumpkin pie which I love but I wanted cheesecake, not pie. I had a pumpkin muffin. I may have had one or more of those Halloween pumpkin candies which I am almost sick of. We went out to dinner with some friends of ours and I had unbelievable pumpkin curry soup ...........to die for. This is a restaurant we frequent from time to time and we usually get some free things. Last night we got free pumpkin spice cupcakes which were delicious! Absolutely delicious!

When I got home the other day this guy greeted me by jumping on my car! I guess I wasn't getting out fast enough.

Saturday when I ran it was obvious that hunting season in Vermont was underway. Before I headed out my husband gave me a warning. First thing I saw was this dog with his hunting season vest on.

I also put my bright biking jacket on over my running clothes. It was 20 degrees out so I had a fair amount of clothes on. There was ice on the trees and a heavy frost on the ground.

Last weekend I ran in DC to very different sights. This weekend I was back home to my normal views. Where I live the leaves have pretty much fallen off the trees but if you are in the valley there is still some nice foliage to see.

I went to visit Jameson and Teddy was over visiting. He seemed to want to curl up right next to me, the non dog person. Jameson has ripped up his carpet and put down a floor. When I left he was doing the moldings.

I am off to do a race today - rather unexpectedly. I ran yesterday and have done nothing to get ready for this race but it will let me cross November off the list. There aren't a lot of races that I know of around this month. It won't be a fast one for me but it is going to be a gorgeous day. All of the New York City Marathon Racers must be having a blast! Good luck to all of you!

Three Things Thursday

2011-11-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

1. I got my swimming in on Tuesday for this week. Have I mentioned that I am really enjoying swimming? I still suck at it but maybe a little less each time I go. I still do mostly breast stroke but increase the number of free style laps each time. This week I swam 12 freestyle laps all in groups of two. Soon I am going to go for 3 in a row. The gravity is not pulling me toward the bottom of the pool as strongly during my current two. I think I could maybe do 3. By summer who knows? I am doing the whole (my version) rhythmic breathing thing. It goes by quickly and starts my day out with a great feeling. I love my swimming day routine but right now I only want to do it once a week. I have not been on my bike for a week and a half though!

2. I ran on the treadmill on Wednesday. Not a lot of fun but I did what I set out to do. I also ran today with no Ipod. That was really no fun but another 5 miles done.

3. I'm rereading a Jodi Picoult book, not my favorite but I always enjoy her books. This one is Second Glance and she autographed it when I went to hear her speak at a Barnes and Noble. It's been awhile since I read a book that really grabbed me. But having just said that I really enjoyed the book about Matt Long. It is a very good story and makes any injury I have had seem like something I shouldn't even mention it is so inconsequential.

Nothing too exciting here although being back at running is always exciting. I am considering a race this weekend to get one in November but no definite plans yet. Enjoy the weekend. Mine starts tomorrow. Now that is exciting! And I have plans for the day which are all about me! Then evening plans that include my husband and friends.

Another Day of Cleaning and Time to Go Home

2011-10-31T10:11:00.000-04:00

It is amazing what we accomplished in the last two days. Things are put away, laundry is done, groceries are bought and things are looking good.

The weather today was great but first thing we were good cleaning bees and got back to being busy cleaning and organizing while waiting for the best guy in the world to come by with a car and take us to Target. We bought all kinds of necessary things including a zillion hangars. But the big thrill for this small town girl was the shopping cart escalator. Really? That's what I said when I asked Emily how we got upstairs with the shopping cart. Here is the proof. Yes, I don't know anyone here so why not take a picture?

Once back "home" we were right back at it and I got to assemble a bunch of crates - oh joy - I am so good at anything mechanical. Several swears later it was done. Em wanted to go to Pilates again thank goodness so I got another run in, this time on a stunningly gorgeous day. What a great day for MCM especially after yesterday. I took the same run since I love it and it was the right amount of time. The Lincoln Memorial was much more crowded than yesterday.

I was happy with my run. I feel like I have been talking a lot about how I like the run once I am done but the runs I have had here I have loved while I have been running. Maybe loved is a stretch for yesterday but Friday and today were great. They felt good and I just had such joy during the runs.

New day new place

I didn't get a run in this morning - Em and I went for a quick breakfast instead. But the taxi drove along my run route. ( I have my own run route in DC. I love it. I love knowing where I am a lot of the time!)

Now I'm waiting at the airport after having both my bags thoroughly searched. They didn't like the tube of Nunn hiding in my bag! But I'll forgive them because they now have free Internet at National Airport! I won't be sitting here long before I have to board to fly to NYC to sit for a much longer time where the Internet isn't free. A direct flight would have gotten me home so much quicker but getting here and back a harder way hands down beat not coming. I'm glad I could come help Emily. I don't think - truthfully - she could have done it without me. There was a lot of moving and lifting that you just can't do with crutches. I don't see friends hanging in for the whole weekend needed. I HATED leaving this morning - would like to stay for the whole month she is on crutches. I did get one more load of laundry done and folded - a simple task that is not so simple right now. I wanted to buy her a 12 pack of diet coke as she was craving it and it is too much to carry (you think) but I ran out of time. I needed to get to the airport for the extended bag search. I got a text from her that she dropped her breakfast on the Metro floor. Sucky things happening continue on. But there are good things too. Tonight she is meeting a good friend for supper. Tomorrow night she is doing something awesome sponsored by Lululemon. We both had gift cards to Lulu and stopped there last night after working out. I may have gotten two new things.

One thing I know - I will look at anyone on crutches with new eyes and try to think of what I can do even in a small way to help.

A Bit of a Pity Post

2011-10-30T09:35:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a work day for sure. Sadly it was interrupted by a visit to Urgent Care. Emily has an ear infection from being in the pool which of course she can no longer do. When it rains it pours as they say. Which it was doing yesterday. And by the way do you realize how much it sucks in general to be on crutches? Try it in the rain, in the cold. I wanted super human powers so I could carry Emily place to place or beam her there. Unfortunately she had to just slog along on her own. By suppertime we were defeated with the whole crutch transportation thing and I just went and picked up some pizza. It was also the first time I had my first real coffee of the day which is also an indicator of how bad the weather was which sounds strange but I just couldn't deal with one more thing and getting coffee was one more thing. Okay I will move on from the pity part of the post.

We did get a lot done yesterday but there is still much to do. We are currently waiting for a friend with a car to take us to Target.

Well, maybe a bit more of a pity party.

Yesterday mid morning Em went to Pilates and I went for a run. When she first opened the door and ~~swore~~ exclaimed over the weather I suggested we not go. It was so cold and pouring. I don't mind running in the rain but I like to be home immediately after so I can jump in the shower. But I sucked it up (Em is the one on crutches and I am the one whining?) and off we went. I left her off at Pilates and took off running. I ran to the Mall, along the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial. I had spent about half the time I had so I turned around and headed back. I didn't want any worries about being lost so it was an out and back run for sure. After I picked Em up we headed to get lunch (I am soaking wet but I am a trooper). Once out on crutches you do what you need to before heading home. Then it became obvious that Urgent Care needed to be a stop and sooner rather than later. The good thing about ear aches is you can get a prescription and it starts feeling better much sooner than a broken foot. But to get that prescription it involves more trudging around in the bad weather. I was worried Em was going to slip. While at the drug store we may have gotten pretzel M+Ms, Halloween pumpkins and some chocolate/peanut butter candy.

Did I mention that for some of these errands I was soaked from my run? And it wasn't exactly balmy? Yeah. I did run home and shower and change (only to get wet again......but not as wet) while Em was actually in Urgent Care. I have heard it is cold out today but at least it isn't raining.

I did enjoy my run yesterday - a great deal in fact - but the whole after thing....not so much.

First Day in DC for the Healing Trip

2011-10-29T14:50:00.000-04:00

It took FOREVER to get to DC. Usually I make my reservations way ahead and fly non stop for about an hour and a half. Never had a delayed flight, cancellation, anything. This trip had to fly a different airline with a stop in NYC. Delays at both Burlington and NYC. I thought I'd get to DC about 9:30 but it was closer to midnight. No question that I was taking a taxi and not the Metro. Got to Em's, muttered Happy Birthday and tried to fall asleep. The operative word is tried. I slept poorly and will probably pay for it later.

Emily on her way to Fuse Pilates

An early morning sunrise

We were up bright and early. Em went off to Pilates and I decided to go for a run. I wasn't quite ready to run in the dark alone in a major city so I took the Metro to the Smithsonian and by the time I got there it was light. I took off and had hardly gone anywhere when I thought I saw someone I recognized. It was Katie from This Amazing Day who was also staring at me. We exchanged quick hellos as we crossed the road in opposite directions. She had someone with her I didn't recognize but I hope I didn't ignore a blogger I know. I would especially upset to ignore Kandi, my Words with Friends pal who is running her first marathon this weekend. I hope to meet her on a trip down here but this one is a bit busy. I ran in the opposite direction I usually do and headed along the Potamac "home." It was a pleasant run, just over 4 miles.

Fall colors surprise me other places than Vermont.

I am a bit of a foliage snob but there are

pretty colors here.

I always like this part of my run.

Soon I headed off to Em's job to pick her up to go to her doctor's appointment. It was the first time I had visited her here.

Visiting Em at work

Later I went out to lunch with her and three of her co workers. Then I walked for a solid 2 1/2 hours, not strolled, walked! I was beat. I went back to the Mall, walked from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, all around the Tidal Basin (my favorite walk in DC which had been closed) and then back to the Capitol and back to Em's work.

Walking around the Tidal Basin

A Chance to see a New Memorial

More color

Then it was out to supper to celebrate Em's bday where I laughed more than a little. Saturday will be mostly work with very little play!

Three Things Thursday The Quick and Dirty Edition

2011-10-27T16:39:00.000-04:00

1. I am so glad to be in the airport and know I am on the way to DC to see my girl and help out as much as I can. I can go to her doctor's appt. tomorrow and get the info about her healing process right away! I can offer moral support if it isn't what she wants to hear but I hope it is encouraging! I will see how in the world she is getting around the city on the crutches. I can't imagine it. Pictures to come.
I can't say I mind leaving the snow prediction behind either. It was spitting out snow when I left my yard this morning. I do love the stuff but just not yet.

2. This has been one of the most hectic weeks going. There was so much to do at school to get ready to leave, to get ready for conferences and to just plain teach. I love my team who has helped me out in many ways to make it easier for me to be gone. I took my workout clothes to work yesterday as I was going to run after work. Part way through the day I knew it wasn't going to happen. I got to school at 7 on Tuesday and left at 5:30. Wed. it looked like another similar day plus I had a lot to do at home. As much as I hate saying I am too busy to exercise........yesterday I was truly too busy to exercise. Letting it go lowered my stress. I just couldn't do it and have any time with my husband before I left and get ready.

3. I did run on Monday on the treadmill and it was a great workout. Then Tuesday I was back in the pool. I went from 8 freestyle laps to 11 with all of them involving rhythmic breathing. I wore a swim cap and goggles and felt like an impostor. Each first lap was easy but part way through the second I would find myself swallowing water. But I could see improvements and for some strange reason I am enjoying it a lot.
I know I will swim in DC with Em so that will be fun and different for my visits there. CAN'T WAIT TO GET THERE!

When a Mom is Needed

2011-10-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

At the end of the week I'll be heading to DC again. I hadn't planned to go this fall as Emily was very busy with running and the weekends I could go she wasn't there. Well, if you follow her blog you know things have changed. There has been more than one time this past month when I have HATED not being closer. It is so hard not to be there when your kids need you. Phone calls, emails, texts just don't cut it. So I am taking a little time to go down and help her. She will need some help getting settled into her apartment as she is not able to do a whole lot of moving things around, organizing etc. I hope to help her set up her room, do some laundry, buy some groceries, go to a doctor's appt., anything needed. Yes, I am sure I will have fun but that is not the point of this trip. I am going to be a mother and help as much as possible. The bonus is that it is her birthday and I will be there for that. It's awhile since I have been with my first born on the actual day.

She can't run but I hope to do a little running while I am there. She can swim so I am hoping I get at least one or two hints on improving my stroke. You all know I need it.

This week I am going to have to stay late at work for a few days to make sub plans (you cannot imagine how much time sub plans take unless you are a teacher) and get ready for parent conferences which start the day I get back. I will have to hit the ground running. I need to give information to all my team members for their students that I teach too. I hope to start on a form I want to use tomorrow. But cramming all this work in now and after will be worth it if I can help my girl.

This trip will be a little more like this visit.......

.......than this one when we were both in great running shape!

But that's okay because running is not the only thing that matters.

This weekend I did things I enjoyed!

2011-10-23T18:51:00.000-04:00

First....

I went for a run. It was only 4 miles and it was slow but it felt great! T came down to run with me even though it wasn't a long one. We didn't even begin to catch up on things. We stopped by the library book sale to pick out books for her mother as her mother likes the books I send better than the ones T does. Funny! I was tempted to run again today but decided every other day for a few days.

Second....

I changed my clothes around. Yes, it was work but it is done and it always feels a bit like shopping. You get out those clothes you had forgotten about that you love so much. I love cold weather clothes! Hoodies, 3/4 zips - can't have too many of those, jackets, fleece, jeans!

Third....

We lost electricity! Why is this good? Well, I was already going for a bike ride but since the electricity went off my husband came too. This is very rare! He couldn't watch football or work on anything so he came. When we were driving to our starting point he asked me if I brought my cell phone. I told him I did. He then wondered if AAA worked for bikes. Once we parked he wondered why I parked in the lower parking lot when it meant going up a hill immediately. But he did great in spite of a very old bike with very few gears and rarely getting on the thing. We did almost 24 miles. The foliage is past peak but it was still nice. The route we took is one of my favorite ones that I took with my friends earlier in the summer. It was nice to share it with him and he really liked it. When we were done we went and got sandwiches to bring home so I didn't even have to get supper. SCORE!

Two bikes on the rack!

This time the road was really closed.

I am loving this ride.

I haven't done one of these photos in awhile.

Here comes my husband.

Sheep on Sheep Farm Road - love this road!

I have bungie cords and straps but my husband gets out the baling twine.

Fourth....

Last night we went to a friend's for dinner and there were many people there I haven't seen in quite awhile. The food and company were great! Loved it.

What was the best part of your weekend?

Three Things Thursday for real

2011-10-20T20:22:00.001-04:00

1. Swimming!

It is great to do a sport you are so bad at because it is so easy to improve which makes you feel like a rock star. Today I doubled my free style distance. If I did that running I would probably injure myself but not in swimming. I did 4 sets of 2 laps each of free style! Yes, that is a big deal! Two laps in a row my friends! No drowning involved. And get this! I used rhythmic breathing for half a lap! Baby steps, baby steps! Again, I enjoyed it a ton and I am sure everyone there was glad they looked good in comparison. I was glad I was in a pool next to the wall for those two laps. Swimming in a lake can't happen for quite some time thank goodness!

2. A Great Field Trip

We went on our first field trip of the year. The forecast was terrible and we almost cancelled it. It turned out to be truly gorgeous most of the day with a few rain showers. The trip involved being in the woods all day, lots of trails and lots of water. That is a sure hit with 3rd and 4th graders! It was nice to be outside and not to be constantly telling kids to use their inside voices and stop tipping in your chairs and please stop the noises. Here are a few of the 1000 pics I took.

A running relay game to start the day

Hiking to the next station

Meeting a tree

Measuring the circumference

"We're not tipping in our chairs today."

3. I found out that bike jacking is a real problem. When I mentioned it in my last post I thought it was a strange occurrence but apparently it really happens with some frequency. In some places children can't ride bikes to school because of it. THAT IS HORRIBLE! What is wrong with people!!!

Holy Sh** Did that really happen?

2011-10-18T20:09:00.000-04:00

This is not something I ever thought I had to worry about even I can imagine many scary scenarios as I run and bike. This morning in my local paper I read:

Bicycle Stolen From Under Burlington Rider

One of the suspects shoved the 19-year-old victim off the bike and rode away, Burlington police Sgt. Matthew Sullivan said in a statement Monday. The other suspect rode off on a BMX-style bike, Sullivan said.

It did happen at 2:15 in the morning which is not a time I am apt to be out riding so I guess I don't need to worry too much. But I must say when I am riding it has never occurred to me that someone is going to knock me off my bike and speed away with it!

Happily my bike rides this week have been less eventful than the above mentioned ride. I commuted yesterday and while not sunny the foliage was still rather stunning.

Today I did NOT commute as I had an appointment two towns away and while I am rather hard core I cannot bike that distance in the time I had. So I drove to work , the appointment , back home and got ready to ride.

But I didn't feel like riding because I was chilled but my choices were:

skip exercising - not me
go to the gym and use the elliptical - right
suck it up and ride even though it was cold

So I guess you know what I chose.

By that time it was 5:30 on a dismalish day (I think I just made that word up) and not very light out. So I got out my two bike lights to ride with. Last time I couldn't get my light off and may have forced it off and maybe it no longer attaches and stays on the handlebars. I ended up putting it in my bento box. Cars could see me but it didn't do much for what I could see.

Imagine the beaver. He is there but I didn't capture him.

It wasn't very dark at first and I had a huge thrill on the first half of my ride. I didn't bring my camera because it was getting dark (true) and I wouldn't see anything I hadn't seen before (false). I went by a beaver dam that I run by on many runs and rides. I always look for a beaver but have not seen one in 30ish years. I am not exaggerating as the last time I saw one I had no children! Well, tonight I glanced over as always and THERE WAS A BEAVER SWIMMING! I watched and tried to take pictures with my phone. Before long he slapped his tail and dove!

I continued on my way and came to a point where I could go longer or shorter. I went longer and was truly enjoying my ride in spite of being way overdressed. I guess it wasn't as cold as I thought. I don't want to tell you what I wore - it was ridiculous for 53 degrees on a bike. Then I came to another longer or shorter point and I went with the shorter route. This was good as the longer route was on my canopy road which would have been really dark. It was getting darker by the minute (duh) and I had to go by the dam again and guess what? He was out again! Are beavers more apt to come out at dawn and dusk? I used to see them all those many years ago when I rode very early in the morning. These beaver sightings put me in quite a good mood. I also was really enjoying this dark riding. It wasn't pitch black but I was surprised at how quickly it grew quite dark. When I got home I really needed a flashlight to put my bike away and walk across the yard. But the ride rocked and took away some stress.

And here's a few more fall photos for those of you who are experiencing a vicarious Vermont fall.

Swimming, biking, running, foliage

2011-10-17T06:32:00.000-04:00

A lot of this post is going to be about swimming and I have no pictures of me swimming. That is only a good thing. So enjoy the foliage shots of Vermont I got on Facebook.
I realize that I have a job when I swim and I do that job well. My job is to make everyone else in the pool feel good about their swimming technique.
I suck at swimming. Sometimes people put down how they do in a certain area but it's not true. Believe me this is true!
I can do the yards in a pool as long as I am doing the breaststroke. Someone implied that if I tried to do a tri using the breast stroke I would embarrass my Ironman daughter. While I don't think that's true I do think it would be a good thing for me to be able to do a faster stroke. So I am listening to the advice.
At least it is supposed to be faster. When I do the free style I am very slow. I can barely make it to the end of the lane and feel my body being pulled to the bottom of the pool. Gravity is not my friend.
Rhythmic breathing? What's that? But I did buy a pair of goggles yesterday in case I ever figure it out.
I need help. I suck at swimming.
I enjoy it. Not like I love biking. But I do like the feeling I have after -similar to running.
I swam twice this week. The last three times I have been I have increased the number of laps I do the freestyle in. First I did 1. Then I did 2. Saturday I did 4. Progress. But I always made sure I was swimming away from everyone so they didn't have as direct a view. At least that is what I tell myself.
I shared a lane yesterday because the pool was crowded. The poor guy who was in my lane probably wondered at my style.
I plan to try to do two laps in a row of free style. I am hoping I don't drown. I get why they tell you not to swim alone.
Two whole laps in a row, maybe. How long until summer and a new tri season? Maybe I should shoot for 2013. I can't believe I asked about clothing. That is the least of my problems.

Sunday I biked. It wasn't sunny but it wasn't raining. I did bike by this scene below but I actually got this photo on Facebook taken by someone with more time and a better camera.

All of our fall weekends have been rather dismal and rainy except last weekend when I left the state.
It has been more than 3 weeks since I ran if you don't count the race last Sunday.
You know you are missing it when it is raining and you enjoy the dash from the car to the place you are going.

Here are a few pics from my ride today.

More Irene damage - I hadn't been this way in awhile.

I had to stop here and wait for a tree to be cut down.

It made quite an impressive noise as it was falling but

it did not end up in the road.

Moving In

2011-10-16T08:41:00.000-04:00

Saturday was spent helping my son move into his new condo WHICH HE JUST PURCHASED! Truthfully I didn't do much to help. He had it under control. His primary concern seemed to be getting his new giant tv hooked up and working. We couldn't run errands for a stretch of time because the all so important cable guy was coming! Somehow I didn't get a picture of the tv. FAIL!

Teddy has come to visit sitting on the other necessary item..

....... a very comfortable couch for watching the giant tv.

I don't have a lot of pictures yet because it was mostly boxes but it is a great place. It's biggest plus is that it is two floors with very spacious rooms. It is at the edge of the development near the woods allowing for more privacy. He seems to know what he wants and needs and is on a mission to get those things.

He's already got dishes, knives, all the important stuff.

I ran out to get the garbage bags.

We did hit up the new cupcake shop for a little cupcake

celebration!

I'm very proud of him. He knew what he wanted and he now has it!

Can't wait to see it become his home.

Two more than Three Things Thursday and Pictures from my Bike Commutes

2011-10-13T20:18:00.000-04:00

1. In case you missed it the lovely pumpkin picture that ended my last post was for Hurricane Irene that destroyed Vermont. It was not for some guy's wife, girlfriend, mother etc.!

2. I commuted by bike this week on two of the most gorgeous fall days imaginable. I finally saw some of those brilliant reds. I think taking pictures for this blog has made me more observant and appreciative of what I am seeing when I bike and run. Both mornings when I rode it was rather cold on the way to work and quite hot on the way home. It simply meant I had more to carry in my back pack on the way home. Today when I drove home from work it was the prettiest it has been but I didn't have my camera with me. This weekend is supposed to be rainy. Boo!

3. This morning I got my one day of swimming in. I went early before school and loved it. What a great way to start the day. But man do I suck at swimming. I mostly do the breast stroke - slowly. I did a couple of laps of free stroke - don't think that is quite what it is called but best I can come up with right now - and I thought I might drown. That is supposed to be faster but don't feel like it is right now (maybe ever). But I guess if I keep at it I have to improve at least some. I would like to find a stroke class for adult beginners. And of course as I put this time in I am thinking about perhaps a tri in the early summer when there are sprints around. So then I think - good God what do I wear? Anything I wear swimming is not going to support me running. I don't see me stripping on the beach and changing. I don't want to buy stuff for one tri I may hate. Do I spend money to come in last? Obviously I have a lot of time to find this stuff out but I have to think about something while I swim. When I left I stopped and got pumpkin spice coffee to take to work. It is the earliest I get to work all week. Love it.

I did laugh because later in the day a student sitting near me said he could smell chlorine. Really? I showered. I put on lotion. I used shampoo and he still smells chlorine??? He has quite the nose.

4. Our NECAP testing is done (No child left behind) and none of my students were absent at all so no make up tests. Yeah!

5. Tomorrow is Friday. Always good news.

Great Island 5K

2011-10-11T19:35:00.002-04:00

Did I know in the morning if I was going to run or not?

No!

I had a breakfast that included a muffin and glazed doughnut, not exactly pre race food.
I didn't drink my coffee to "take care of business" before a race.

When we got there more than an hour early it was already crowded. It was a GORGEOUS day - hot for a race but nice! It was a beautiful setting and we had plenty of time to explore.

We had time to pose for an artist's picture.

We had time to see the lighthouse and walk down to the water's edge. There was time to sit on a bench.

We picked up our numbers and hat, a nice change from a shirt. (below the number)

At this point I still didn't know if I was running or walking. (Everyone told me they knew I would run but I didn't know, truly.) I was changing my mind constantly. Then I took a short little run that felt good and my mind was made up. I was going to run.

The next pictures were taken as I was running. My friend, S, who raced also seemed to find it hilarious that I was taking pictures as I ran. Must be she doesn't have a blog!

This part became very shaded and felt great!

We are done and feeling great!

I always love racing on the ocean and this race certainly satisfied that requirement. It was great to run with friends on such a gorgeous day. I was pleased with my time. Hard parts - You really had to weave through the crowd in the beginning. There were a lot of little kids running which is fine but I never quite trust I am not going to get taken out by one!

My splits were:

8:51

9:23

9:09

8:22 (.14)

My overall pace was 9:06. I was 500/1186 and 29 out of 98 in my age group. I am always pleased when I am in the top half of a race. The food was fine, not as good as I remember from earlier years. The race had starting and finishing mats which I am not at all used to in a 5K or many races for that matter. I loved knowing my net time.

This was a perfect post race snack.

We had a long drive home again but stopped at both a Target and an LL Bean outlet. I got a new watch I have been needing and some $10 jeans that I like. This was a hurried get away but very fun. Lots and lots and lots of laughing!

I am going to close with the above. We saw it

on the side of the road and I turned around

to take it.

(From the comments so far not sure everyone gets that Irene is Hurricane Irene

that destroyed so much of Vermont - not someone's wife or something!)

My Weekend Away - Pre Race (lots of pics - flooding too)

2011-10-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

First one colleague couldn't come. She broke her toe a week ago and although that was much better while walking "funny" because of the toe she "popped" something and could not walk at all. So she was not able to come :( but we kept her in the loop all weekend.

Then it took us much longer then planned because you couldn't get there from here. There are still a lot of roads in Vermont closed because of Irene. So our trip was longer both ways. I was AMAZED at the destruction 6 weeks later. So much has been repaired and cleaned up but so much hasn't. I did get some pictures but we were in only a few of the places that got destroyed. One picture I didn't get was a huge iron bridge that had been swept along and was on the shore of what would have been the river that day. In one small area I saw 12 cars/trucks. I got pictures of those because they were the most obvious to see. My heart breaks for all the people whose lives were drastically changed through this.

Appliances washed out of peoples' homes

Once we got to Maine on Saturday we shopped! I could not get over how many people were there. It was like it was the middle of the summer. But it is a 3 day weekend for most of the country (not me) and it was gorgeous out! I spent plenty but could have done worse. First we went to Eddie Bauer where I scored some pants. Then my next score was at Columbia. Can I say I love Columbia outlets? I always always find some good buys there I love. I bought a hoodie that my friend said was me and I totally agreed. I also got a raincoat that I love. I got nothing at Nike. Well, not nothing. I got shoes for my son that I sent a picture of first to make sure he liked them. Our last stop was Kittery Trading Post where I resisted so much stuff - truly and got my husband one small thing.

Then we went to the beach where once again it was just like the middle of summer. Perhaps there weren't quite as many people swimming but there were some but the beach itself was crowded. We went to the lighthouse which is always a special place. I took more photos although I must have hundreds. It was also crowded with people including a wedding. Then we checked in before heading out for the chowdah and lobster roll. It did not disappoint!

Heading to the water

Have so many pictures of this but always take more

S was seriously fun all weekend.

The wedding

My clam chowder with a pumpkin ale in the background

Could NOT have been better

But there's always room for dessert

Back to the hotel still not having decided how I will execute the race!