Seven Things About Emily

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

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

• 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!

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

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

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

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!