Maine -the Shopping Post

Okay I can't run. Not much to blog about so it's a great time to showboat my Maine shopping purchases for those who care.

This shirt is from LL Bean and looks quite good.  After I had already bought some stuff I realized I didn't get this. I didn't know if I left it hanging in the dressing room or what. So I went back. I may have gotten a few more things, one rather expensive one.

Horny Toad dress - I have 3 similar to this plus one with short sleeves. It is a very flattering dress as well as being very comfy. It was upstairs in the bargain section (most of Freeport, Maine is outlets) and it was another 30% off that. And it was my size. I HAD to get it.

LL Bean I had seen these quite expensive stretch jeans in the catalogue - supposedly feel like sweatpants. They were in the outlet and were an additional 50% off so once again I had to get them.

LL Bean -  a dress I had seen in the catalogue and wanted to look at. Flattering. Not on sale.

Okay. This is what I got when I went back to L.L. Bean. I so didn't need it.  I had liked it the first time but didn't like the color. Then I noticed they had more and some in this color, my current favorite.  Did I need a new jacket, flattering, lightweight and fun for biking and running?  You probably know the answer to that.

I didn't forget my buddy, Jaxon.  We went to Congdon's for breakfast.  The woman who helps in my class for lunch and recess and is the most wonderful assistant in the world thinks Congdons has the best doughnuts anywhere.  I had tried them a few summers ago and didn't think so. But we went there for breakfast and I had a couple more - only for test purposes.   I still don't think so but both my friends I went with do.  Haven't they ever been to Middlebury Bagel Bakery who easily makes the best doughnuts anywhere!  Anywhere!

I got this shirt at Patagonia. It was the only one left. It was in my size.  It is pink. It was $6.

And it has a bike on it.  Enough said.

This falls heavily into the I didn't need it category. But it was on sale at Nike and was an additional 30% off that. And it is kind of fun.

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Columbia - one of my favorite outlets. They didn't have a lot this time (that's how outlets are) but I loved these pants.  7 dollars.

On sale for almost nothing at NIke and I had to get it.

On sale at Nike but not for almost nothing. 

Another style I have thousands of.  Loved the gray and orange though.

LL Bean. This is for my son. (Sh it's for his bday.) When I took him the dog cookies he 

was wearing a similar looking shirt. I asked him where he got it and he told me I got it for him at LL Bean. He went on to say it was one of his favorite shirts.  (wrinkle resistant is good for him)  

And that's it.  That's enough.  Except for the jacket everything was a good or great price.  Do you buy things you don't need? Do you have a certain thing you buy a lot of?  Shoes?  Purses?  Jackets are the worst for me.

A Pity Party.... Want to Join?

I hate not running.

My foot doesn't like me being on my feet all day at work.

I'm back to icing.

It's a week. The doctor said I could run in a week to 10 days.  It certainly isn't happening in a week nor will it be in 10 days.

Thank God for swimming.

I hate not running.

If I knew the date I could run it would make it easier.

Anyone have the "Future Running Date Crystal Ball?"

Anyone else want to come to my pity party?

Seven for Sunday

1. I HATE being injured and unable to run.  I HATE not knowing when I will be able to run again.  My ankle seems to have stagnated and no longer is improving.  Yesterday I tried biking on the trainer and it felt somewhat worse.  I am looking at 3 halves I have signed up for this spring.  The first one is mid April. I won't be able to race it but will I be able to run that distance?

2. I have organized all of my pictures in Iphoto.  It is a little embarrassing how much I enjoyed doing this. It was a little obsessive. I thought it would take me months and it took just a few days.  My computer's clock is screwed up so they are not chronological but they are organized into events rather well if I do say so myself.  I threw out well over 1000 pictures.

3.  I am looking forward to the Oscars tonight if I can stay awake. I have seen a lot of the films up for best picture which is unusual. I have two favorites.  Argo and Silver Linings Playbook

4. This is the sunrise which is pretty but I am taking this from my hotel room rather than as I am running along the beach beside it.  Somehow it was not quite the same.

5. I usually do a half marathon in Hampton Beach this month but I didn't because the date was different or my vacation was. Well the race ended up getting cancelled because of the storm so I lucked out there.  It's a race I love but I may do the fall version one of these years.

6.  I seem to be looking at lots of race sites and thinking about future races. There is a half in Maine in the middle of July that is very appealing to me. But the idea of Maine traffic in the summer is not appealing.  There is a tri the same weekend (different day) that I wanted to do last year but then couldn't because of my wrist. The tri is closer and cheaper but I really like the looks of the half.  I have quite a few tris lined up in my plans so if I don't do this one I can save it for another year. The most appealing part of it may be that the swim is only 1/4 mile!  And the Shipyard Half has the best medal!!

7. Back to work tomorrow.  Ugh.  Within an hour I will be overwhelmed with stuff to do and it will be like we didn't have a vacation. It was good while it lasted.

The Land of Denial

I woke up Sunday to an expected snowfall.  Remember I like running in the snow and snowing while at the ocean is unusual enough for me that I could be colored very happy.  So up I got and off I went.  I generally run at least  a bit on the beach and I was about to head down the steps to do it this time.  But there were rocks everywhere due to the storm the week before.  I could have crossed them but they looked slippery and wobbly and rather precarious so I decided to be careful and I didn't go down to the beach.

I continued up to Nubble Point Lighthouse which I probably have 100 or more pictures of but I always take another. I particularly like it in a storm when the light is on.  So here is Sunday's picture.  Honestly it is not one I already had.

I headed toward Short Sands taking the scenic route of course.  It wasn't too slippery and I was watching where I was going.  I thought.  Then all of a sudden I was on the ground having stepped in a pothole. (So much for that wise decision to not go down to the beach.) I got up fairly quickly and things seemed to be okay.  My ankle was sore but I could bare weight.  I limped for a few feet and then what did I do?

Did I continue to limp the shortest route home?

Did I call my friends to come get me since they had a car and I had my phone?

Did I try to get help of any kind?

Did I decide it didn't really hurt and continue my run?

If you guessed the last one you are correct of course and I am guessing I am not the only one out there who would have done this.  I did decide not to lengthen my route.  I also planned my runs for the rest of vacation while I continued this run because I was firmly vacationing at this point in the Land of Denial. Another spot I am guessing I am not the only one to have visited.  When I got back my friends thought I must have gone a long ways since I was gone awhile but I said no it just took me awhile.  I then took off my shoe.  Oops.'

Pefectly normal looking right?  Did I stay in the hotel and put my foot up and ice it?  No, we continued to Freeport and shopped as planned.  It truthfully didn't hurt much and at one point I wasn't even limping. I was very encouraged and still planning the rest of my runs for the trip. I did not share these thoughts with my friends  knowing the reaction I would get.  

The next day when I got up (I was wearing a brace I bought at Rite Aid - truthfully to help on the  run I would be taking although again I didn't tell my friends that was why I was buying it.)  But I knew during the night that I would NOT be taking a run the next morning. When I got up and struggled to put on my shoe I heard H whisper to M, "Is she going running?"  I grumpily answered I was going to get some ice and acted indignant that she would think I was stupid enough to go for a run.  So off I went to the next building to the ice machine in my pajamas to get a bucket of ice.  I didn't care at all who saw me as I was now firmly in the Land of Grumpiness.  I then proceeded to do this off and on for the next hour.

I took pictures of it again and was surprised to say it was swollen on both sides. I had not noticed it the day before.  It was turning black and blue and not looking that great. I spent a lot of time googling swollen ankle, when to see the doctor, when you can run again. All the sites seemed to say, "Never say JUST a swollen ankle, it is a serious injury."  Great.  I did not go to the doctor/ER while in Maine.  

I kept my foot up in the car but again I did not stay put just elevating it and icing it all day.  We went out for breakfast and then went to Portland to Shipyard Brewery. Some of our plans had to be changed because it was President's Day and things weren't open but the brewery was. It was rather a fun tour and a good place to pick up some souvenirs!  I liked the Prelude the best of all the samples I had.

I did head back to the room before going out for burger and a beer to ice and elevate.  This was definitely not the vacation I had planned.  When we left on Tuesday there were many people out running along the ocean and I was green with envy. When I got home I called my doctor's office and they had me come down immediately.  The doctor was very impressed with how much it had improved. He seemed to think I had been doing all the right things to reduce the swelling.  He told me I could swim and bike any time but no running for a week to 10 days. 

 So for now I am listening. I have been swimming the past two mornings and it was wonderful! I have not tried the bike yet which is a good indicator that my foot hurts a fair amount and running is not in my immediate future.  Putting a boot on is a bit of a challenge. Going upstairs is much easier than going down.  I read more than once that you can run again after you can jump up and down on that foot three times. Right now that thought makes me cringe.  So I think I have left the Land of Denial.

Have you ever visited the Land of Denial?  How long were you there? What got you there?

Frosty Knuckle 5K Race Report

I have my computer back! It's been 10 days since I was able to use it. I'm trying not to panic that my Iphoto had to be completely thrown away and reinstalled. I have all my photos! But I don't have all my folders/albums I had organized them into.  I have been wanting to reorganize and clean out the huge photo bank I have and I guess now I can get started.   A blessing, right?

Back to the race. It was a great race and if I lived locally I would do it every year. When we drove up I had my doubts as to say it was tacky in the race start area is an understatement.  I figured my idea of a beautiful setting was not to be. We got there plenty early and had lots of time to look around.

I was not overwhelmed by the beauty of the start area.

This is just before the race started.  

Once the race got started though I was pleasantly surprised. 

This is the beginning.  I'm toward the back wearing purple and black and

waving to my friends.

We were in only in the "ugly part" for a short time.  Then we were headed down a beach access road with marshes on both sides.  I felt like my pace was good and tried to pick it up for a bit while we were on the flat part. I had a major cough going on but didn't notice it while I was racing. The temperature was great for racing.  Once we turned onto the path to the beach I got a huge smile on my face. Even though I slowed down considerably I loved racing on the beach near the ocean!  The smell, the sound, the beauty!

Racing on the beach access road.

Going on the path to the beach.

We're there.

Running/racing on the beach was pure delight!  The only thing was you had to jump over the streams coming out of the ocean frequently. I did it for the most part although sometimes I just slogged through and near the end I got up a bit farther on the beach to avoid them. I was surprised  at how quickly it ended. You came off the beach and turned and there was the finish.

Running where the sand was hard but avoiding the 

incoming tide created it's own little fartleks.

There seemed to be these little streams every few feet.

I don't have my times with me but the first mile was the low 9s, almost 8.  The second mile was in the mid 9s. And the last mile was in the 11s! Oh yeah, I ran slower on the beach. But I didn't care as it was quite fun!  As I said if I lived close by I would do this race every year.  My overall pace was just under 10.  I wasn't sure if I would get an age group award or even if they were giving them.  I hadn't seen a lot of older looking women around.  But I hung around just in case.

We're trying to show the time I'm drinking in the morning.

The beer was warm and not very good.

I'm with my friends after the race.

The "lovely" bar.

My age group prize.

I did win an age group prize.  I was third and of course I thought maybe there were only 3 of us but that wasn't the case.  It was a frosty knuckle bottle opener.  I kind of liked the shirt too.  So I was 3/8 in my age group and 77/148 overall. Not quite top 50% but oh so close.  My time was 33:45 and my pace was 9:57.  

So it was not even noon, the race was done and we had the rest of the vacation ahead of us. We drove up through New Hampshire along the coast (that took a long time) and then into Maine.  We got a bite to eat and checked in so I can take a shower and warm up. Then we hit the outlets before a celebratory first vacation night meal at the Maine Diner which never fails to delight!  

Great chocolate cake for dessert! 

Shipyard Apple Head

Excellent clam chowder and lobster roll!

Maine vacation......to be continued!

  

Frosty Knuckle 5 K

Vacation is here and just let me give a giant Woot Woot!
I head for Mass.tomorrow to race in the frosty 5 k. I hope to have fun and start out my vacation with a bang. Racing on the beach will be totally awesome.
Still no computer so this post will be more than brief. They are having a hard time getting I photo to work so no wonder I couldn't fix it!
I seem to be able to read blogs on my phone but my comments don't show up .
If you know a fix for this let me know. I type a comment, hit publish and nothing!

Odd workout week

I had no workouts outside this week.  None!  This is because that cold floating around finally caught up with me.  So at the beginning of the week I got in my speed workout and a regular run at the gym. They were both somewhat hard (perhaps because of approaching cold) and I even talked to my husband about feeling rather self congratulatory for getting them done.  Many people think I just can't wait to work out but that is so often not the case.  When I am done work for the day it would seem great to just head home and put my feet up.  (Ha ha - after dinner and all that stuff).  But I give myself no out and just go and get it done.  My workout ethic truly is a good one.  I also got in my swim this week which was nothing special, not sure why.  Then I got sick.

I thought I would get my bike training session in when I was home.  Usually when I'm sick I worry about missing workouts because I can't go out in the public and work out when I am missing work.  Not with my salary being paid through tax dollars. The public frowns on that.  I have ever gone into work less than healthy so I could get my workout in.  But.......but........now I have an indoor option at my house and I was scheduled to ride the trainer on Thursday.  Perfect.  But it didn't happen.  I.....just....plain......felt......too........lousy.  So okay, Friday was a snow day but I was still sick so let's squeeze it in.  Nope.... still feeling too lousy.  So how about Saturday.  Again, not happening.

That brings us to today, Sunday, when I truly did feel better.  Yesterday when I got up my abs hurt like crazy from all the coughing. Saturday night I slept well and hardly coughed at all!  So today I started out by getting on my trainer. I did it for the usual time but as I told my husband it was less than vigorous.  Then I wondered about getting a run in. I didn't want to go outside so I headed to the gym on   a Sunday for the first time in years. I looked up the hours on line and it said 8-12. I got there after 11 so I knew it would be a short workout.  It actually felt very good. I had no trouble running and only coughed once in awhile, more than my neighbors liked.  Since I thought the gym closed at noon I hurried through my workout and did not extend it. But no one appeared to be finishing up or chasing everyone out as noon arrived. On the way out I noticed a sign on the door that said the place closes at 2.  Maddening that the web site was wrong.

So back to work tomorrow and a regular day and a regular workout schedule gearing up for a future half marathon or two but definitely being ready for a race next weekend on the first day of my vacation! Woot! Woot! A new race and it's on the ocean!  On the beach!  Let the racing begin.

No stunning outdoor shots from my run this week.  This guy below is what I saw the most of.  The other two cats weren't  too interested in my being home a lot but this guy spent most of his time with me.

Well three hours later I have not uploaded the picture.  I upgraded,  I upgraded something else. I rebuilt but nothing is letting me import new pictures which as you know I like to do. I am giving up although I did post a question on a forum......no answers yet. I think tomorrow after work in the time I don't have I will go get my computer looked at.  Grr.  Hate computer problems.

Three Things Thursday

1. I'm sick.  Right now I'm lying in bed.  I'm very content to do nothing productive.  I think I just have a cold, none of that nasty flu floating around.  The worst is my chest/cough which is kind of disgusting to listen to.  The idea of talking to  a roomful of kids all day just didn't compute so I dragged myself off the couch at 5:30 (where I had gone when I couldn't sleep) and went to school to make sub plans.  Making sub plans is the worst thing ever.  I thought about making them yesterday but was hopeful I would feel better just couldn't face making them until I absolutely had to. Hate hate hate making sub plans.

2. I have no race this weekend which is a good thing since I don't feel well.  Last weekend, yes, and next weekend, yes, but not this one.  The original plan was to go help my son clean his house.  Take a moment to think about what  a great mother I am.  But those plans may change as he said only if there's no snow - BIG snowstorm headed this way - and it will depend on how I feel.  Back to the whole cleaning thing.  Whenever Often when I go to DC I help Emily do some cleaning. So I got to thinking about it and thought just because I'm not visiting Jameson and staying with him doesn't mean I couldn't help him clean. So I made the offer to him and he is just now taking me up on it. I do spend a lot of time at his house with Jaxon Jameson,  even using his shower after I use the bike path at times.

This is sweet Jaxon standing in the chair, watching

you leave, making you feel incredibly sad for

leaving him behind. CUTEST THING EVER!

Last time he visited our house.

3.  Some people requested a shopping post after Target and Lululemon. Well I got an ironing board at Target so I don't think anyone wants to see that.  But before that I went to Lululemon and spent some significant money.  I was shopping for a care package for  a friend and did quite well but I may have gotten a little carried away shopping for me too.  So I will post those pictures!  

I wore this at the Polar Cap run. Very cozy and it's

reversible (see below).  Love it. It's

purple, prettier than it looks here.

This shirt (a pretty pale green) is the softest thing ever and

can be worn over capris or run in of course.  I wore it last

Friday to a workshop I  went to and all day I kept thinking

about how cozy I was. Clothes are all about the feel for me.

And I also got these capris. I am a sucker

for cute capris.  Love the waist band and the 

bottom of the leg - see below!  

I also got the cutest dress ever from Athleta a while back. When it came it was a little tight but now it fits just fine. (down 11 pounds)  It isn't quite the weather around here to wear it yet but can't wait until I can.

4. I think I always end up doing more than 3.  I just finished Criminal Minds Season 4 without having season 5 available to watch!  I do think I need a break from it so I googled season 5 just to make sure Hotch was still living!  I can't stand it when my favorite characters leave shows.  Now I'm on to The Good Wife. Drama of a different kind.