In DC! Lots of pictures!

Wednesday was a busy day.  I worked from 8-3 trying to finish all I needed to do to close my classroom as I was leaving at 3 to catch a plane to DC. I managed with not one minute to spare.  The flight was uneventful in spite of sitting on the runway for 20 minutes due to thunderstorms somewhere??  I arrived in DC to find my beautiful daughter meeting me at National Airport! We jumped on the Metro and headed to her apartment.  As soon as we got home we headed off on a run hoping for a night run but it was still a bit too light out.  Nonetheless it was a great run!  It is not everyday I run by signs directing me to The White House.

The Mall was packed!  There were so many tourists everywhere.  One thing that amazed me more than anything  was what many of these groups chose for their outfits.  It was humid and hot out and I saw dark outfits, long sleeves, corduroy, stockings, jackets, jeans, suits.  These people must have been dying. I saw one of the groups again the next day with the same multi layered outfits. It is only getting hotter folks!


We ran by the White House, many of the monuments, through the streets back to Em's apartment.  We "just" ran 5 miles but it felt much longer to me.  When I ran at home Tuesday morning at 5ish it was 38 degrees. To say I am not acclimated is putting it mildly!  After we changed we headed out to eat. I suspect between walking home from Metro, run and walking to and from dinner I put on a lot of miles on Wednesday!

Whew! I thought it was hot! Here I am glistening, Emily looks cool as a cucumber.

Thursday I took my time getting going (this is vacation) and then met Em for lunch.  I got to go to the office where she works and meet some of her coworkers.  Then we hit up Sweet Green always a good place for a great salad.  It did not disappoint.  I then headed off and did a lot of walking and visited The  American Art Museum and National Portrait Museum. I enjoyed it especially the Impressionists.  Then I walked and walked and walked and finally found the Metro and headed home.  I changed into my running clothes and headed back out to meet Emily at Independence Avenue and 14th?   Can't remember but I met her.  We then headed to Hains Point where I ran and she biked. Perfect workout for both of us. She did 5 loops plus a little to my two.  I had run here during the MCM Marathon a few years back but barely remembered it as I was pretty tired by that point. It had a ton of cyclists, not many runners.  The loop we were doing was slightly more than 3 miles.  It is a peninsula of land and you are running along the water. It was quite windy when we rounded the corner to go back but it felt good.  When we finished I headed home via Metro and Emily rode her bike.  Then out for another great meal. 

 Emily very kindly walking her bike to stay with me on the way to Hains Point.

Hains Point

Hains Point - another view

Today - Friday - I headed to the Mall to do the Runner's World rave run!  I started out by going to the Jefferson Memorial, my favorite part.  Then I visited FDR, another favorite.  I followed the water watching carefully as the signs that say - careful low hanging branches - are not kidding.  Last fall I bonked myself good!  I got over to the WWII Memorial and spent some time there before I headed to the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Monument, Vietnam Memorial and over to the Washington Monument. Then I headed along the Mall toward the Capitol before I headed back to catch the Metro.  I was in heaven in spite of the very hot temperatures!  It was magnificent!  Then I caught the Metro, hurrying so I could get home, shower and get back to the same area to meet Emily.  Well, I was just congratulating myself on how well I was doing with the Metro when I heard next stop Chinatown.  Wait, I have never heard that and that is not on my way!  I quickly got off to find I was going in the complete wrong direction. So up to the next level, down the escalator to the platform on the other side. Oh well, a mistake that was easy to fix!  

Jefferson Memorial - I personally think it is the most beautiful one.

Washington Monument from Jefferson Memorial 

Franklin D. Roosevelt - very impressive memorial

WWII another impressive one

Korean War Memorial

The White House

From Lincoln Memorial

From the Washington Monument looking toward the Lincoln Memorial

This afternoon after another lunch at Sweet Greens with Em - I had a Capitol Tour  It was just Emily, myself and Ben, the tour guide from her office!  He was a great guide with lots of fun facts. I love stuff like this and had a great time.  Em had to go back to work so I went to The Natural History Museum for a quick tour.  Back to the Capitol to meet Emily and at this point I was fading big time.  I went to Happy Hour with Em and her coworkers and I must say a beer revived me!  I should be getting to sleep to be ready for our race tomorrow. 

At the Capitol standing in the center of the city, supposed to be good luck

The Museum of Natural History

100th Post

This is my 100th post!  I am stealing from Alisa at Ambitious Aspirations Make Great Accomplishments.  This link is to her 200th post which I loved! I have made several lists about me.  Each list is not in any particular order, I just wrote them as the thought came.  You can see the school year just ended when you get to my 9th list. I had to include it whereas ordinarily it never would have occurred to me!

10 races I want to do

1. Mt. Desert Island Marathon
2. Bridge of Flowers 10K
3. Big Sur Marathon
4. Quebec City Marathon
5. New York City Marathon
6. Bataan Memorial Death March
7. Krispy Kreme Challenge
8. North Olympic Discovery Marathon
9. Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
10. A marathon in Ireland

10 things I like to eat

1. Bagels
2. Ice cream
3. Chocolate
4. Cake
5. Fresh zucchini
6. Fresh summer squash
7. Pasta
8. Glazed doughnuts (see 7 above)
9. Fresh berries - all kinds
10. Sandwiches esp. turkey

Racing with my hubby in Bridges 4 Friendship

10 favorite races I have done

1. Vermont City Marathon
2. Stowe 8 Miler
3.  Half at the Hamptons
4. All Women and One Lucky Guy
5. Archie Post 5 Miler
6.  Mohawk Hudson Marathon
7. Bridges 4 Friendship 10K (sadly no longer a race)
8. Shaker 7
9. 100 on 100
10. Inaugural 5K

10 things I need as a runner

1. Wicking clothes, lots of wicking clothes
2. my Garmin
3. Brooks Adrenaline shoes
4. Races, races and more races
5. Time to run
6. Friends to run with
7. Scenic routes to run on
8. At least a few runs each year on the ocean
9. Sunscreen and a hat
10. Chances to run with my kids

10 random things I love

1. The ocean
2. The mountains
3. Jackets
4. Bags
5. My computer
6. My books
7. Summer vacation
8. Brunch
9. Going to the movies
10. Cats

10 things I dislike

1. SNAKES!
2. People having loud conversations on cell phones that everyone around has to listen to
3. Being unable to get back to sleep
4. Being injured and unable to run - majorly dislike
5. Not having a lot of running friends that like to race
6. Driving in big cities
7. Not being able to eat whatever I want without consequences I don't care for
8. Being overwhelmed at work
9. Worrying about my kids
10. SNAKES

10 of my favorite books

1. Pillars of the Earth
2. Five Smooth Stones
3. The Stand
4. The Bruce Edwards Story
5. Buffalo Soldiers
6. Horse Whisperer
7. The Usual Rules
8. The Hobbit
9. The Polar Express
10. Kavik the Wolf Dog

10 Favorite Authors

1. Maeve Binchy
2. Jodi Picoult
3. Chris Bohjalian
4. Anna Quindlan
5. Ken Follett
6. John Lescroart
7. Nora Roberts
8. Jeanne Ray
9. P.J. Tracy
10. Penny Vincenzi

10 Great Teacher Gifts

1. A nice note written by the child
(recent example - Thank you for making me feel more confident about math writing and reading and that tells me that you are the best teacher I had.)
2. A gift that shows the child knows you
(poem that accompanied the plaque - Race - The wind swoops by, When we start the race, I run with a mighty burst of speed, I might just win this time, I can see the finish line, 3.....2......1. I made it, I won the race!)

Isn't this great!!!

3. A bottle of wine

4. A nice note from the parent
5. Homemade food
6. Anything chocolate
7. Coffee
8. GC to bookstore
9. GC to restaurant
10. Anything made by the child

Made by the same boy who wrote me the wonderful note!

 A medal - #1 teacher on one side and #1 runner on the other!!

Coasters made by a child who brought something she made me 3 days in a row

Another nice note - loved the A++ rating

10 Good TV Series

1. Friday Night Lights
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Ally McBeal
4. The West Wing
5. Lost
6. The OC
7. Gilmore Girls
8. Six Feet Under
9. Boston Legal
10. Damages

Just realized I totally forgot Brothers and Sisters. I love that show. Remembered it when I saw CF married HF on the news.

That is it folks! This post took me forever!  Off to get dressed to go for a run!

Capital City Stampede 10K

Shortly after the start we were running immediately in front of the State House.

I didn't want to get out of bed. It was raining and I was mega tired!  But I dragged myself out of bed and started going through my prerace  routine. I had packed my bag the night before so I took a shower, drank some coffee and made my toast for the ride.  I double checked that I had my shoes and a hat.  I arrived in Montpelier about an hour later and got right to the race. When I got out of my car it was freezing and raining. I registered and came back to my car to finish getting ready.

Put on bib - check.

Put car key in shirt pocket - check.

Put on socks- check.

Take shoes out of bag and put on - wait.  

Where are the insoles?  Sh**!  I grabbed my newer shoes but I have most recently been running in my older shoes which have the super feet in them.  These shoes have no insoles what so ever!  I always have an extra pair of shoes in the back.  Not today. I wore them on my golf field trip on Thursday.  What do I do?   I put the shoes on - they fit very strangely and I walked to the running store sponsoring the race.  They are not open.  The door is unlocked and I go in anyways.  A few minutes later an employee arrives to work - probably wondering why I am in the store and how I got in.  I tell her my sad story and she turns on the computer, gets me some super feet, cuts them for my shoes and I am good to go.  She so easily could have said -"Look lady, the store isn't open,  why are you in here - get out and never enter this store again!" Whew!  She did not say that and could not have been nicer.  So I go back to the car and finish getting ready.

It was a fairly small race, more than 100 but not a lot I don't think.  Once we got going there were all the fast fast people out front.  Then there was a whole clump of people ahead of me.  Then there was me.   I didn't know if anyone was behind me. I thought  I was last.  The racers in small races put on by running clubs tend to be faster in my experience.  Soon after we got going I wasn't cold anymore.  There was just a light drizzle.  But there was a lot of mud and my newish shoes no longer look new.  First we went up  a hill, then along the front of the State House  (preview of running in DC). That was neat. Then a few more hills and off the the flat part along a bike path.  There is a river through Montpelier and some of the  race was alongside it.  It has flooded there more than once and I am including a few pictures from the floods. 

 Back to the race.  Then we were running on a dirt road full of pot holes. Just before the turn around I passed a runner plus once we turned I could see that a ways back there was another whole clump of runners.  So yeah, I wasn't last.

I was trying to run my miles in under 9 minutes a mile.  I worked particularly hard to do this in the last two miles when I was tired.  My splits were:

8:51   8:42    8:57      8:57       8:48      8:53      8:04(last .2)

 So my splits were fairly even and all under 9!  This was better than my only other 10K this year so overall I was pleased. I did NOT win a prize for my age group. Results aren't posted yet but there were some awesomely fast women there that were more than 50!  I did have one youngish woman telling me after the race that she kept me in her sights the whole race and I helped her along!  The post race food was excellent - huge bakery cookies, bananas etc.  The prizes 3 deep in age groups were gift certificates to the running store that sponsored the race.  Plus there were two randomly drawn 100 dollar gift certificates!  My name wasn't called!  But all in all a good race and I enjoyed the post race feeling all day.

The river yesterday

Today I ran 10 miles to finish out the first week of marathon training for that marathon I haven't picked out yet! But I am close. Weekly total - 35 miles - yeah marathon training is beginning!

Non running
We had our staff party Friday night - very enjoyable and went out to eat with friends last night. Usually when I go out I have wine but I guess I have been reading about it so much on MCM Mamas and Jamoosh's blogs that I needed to have beer.  I have to say I enjoyed it a lot and may need to keep the new trend up for awhile.  Today I have been packing to go to DC, finishing report cards and catching up with odds and ends.  Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Three/Actually Five Things Thursday

1. On Saturday I am in my first race for June, a 10K about an hour away! Should be fun. I have never done this race before.

2. We have fresh strawberries!  Yum.  I have had them on cereal several times. I made my husband strawberry shortcake but I am indifferent to SS. I  love them on cereal best!

3.  Today at school in the continuation of winding down the year we took a field trip to a golf course.  The kids have been golfing in P.E.  Rain theatened and many classes cancelled trips but we grow them tough in third grade and went. The weather gods smiled upon us and the weather was great but began down pouring soon after we arrived back at school!  The kids learned about making holes (putting in the cups) on the putting greens, got to learn how the mower works and see it work, they all practiced putting and were amazed at how hard it was.  One of the favorite things was driving the balls at the driving range. They even talked me into trying it and I think I made several of them feel good by how bad I was!  The other favorite was - no surprise - the ride in a golf cart!  We then ate lunch outside before touring some of the athletic facilites of the college we were at. Many of the kids go home thinking, "Yeah, college might be okay!"  Some of the behavior was less than what you usually see on a golf course.  That is discouraging when kids just don't appreciate the opportunities you are providing. But most of the kids were great and loved it.

4. Since I knew the weather was going to be lousy and I had a meeting after school I got up at 5 a.m. and ran. I love it when I do this which is very rare! But I just have such a hard time getting up that early!

5.  Last but not least in less than a week I will be in DC with my daughter!! We will run, race, eat, and catch up on all the things going on in each others lives.  I miss seeing her on a regular basis.  Yes, I saw her at Boston but that naturally was all about the marathon. And she was home for VCM but much of her time was connecting with friends. This visit - it's all about Emily and me!!!!

Last visit to DC in the fall

Mostly Work with a little running

It is ALMOST THE END OF THE YEAR!  Yeah!  At this time of the year it is hard to keep students motivated and under control.  Yowzers!  They are done, done, done and the year needs to end.

Today though we did a couple of very fun things.  First, we have been studying the rain forest.  We concluded it with  a presentation for the parents.  The kids sang, read poems, shared research, shared pages of class books we had made and on and on.  Then we had "rain forest" food the parents had made.  It was excellent. All in all it was a huge success. The kids did well, abandoning the goofy things they were doing during our rehearsals and the parents loved it.

Then we had a guest presenter at our school.  He did two different presentations.  Originally my grade was scheduled for the first one which was on cute little salamanders. But we couldn't go to that one because of our presentation. Our librarian nicely switched us to the second one which was about snakes. Some of you know I am not fond of snakes, not one little bit.  This Middlebury College Professor is a herpetologist.  He showed many many many slides of snakes.  I must say he was incredibly interesting and the kids were spellbound. There were 5 classes of third and fifth graders and he totally had them under control.  He was engaging and very funny while imparting an incredible amount of information. After he talked about each kind of snake he would go back to a map of Vermont which showed all the towns.  He would have highlighted where the snakes could be found.  An amazing amount were in the town I teach in.  The kids would cheer like they had scored some huge victory.  One snake was a huge black water snake which was not found many places but surprise surprise - it was in abundance (he didn't want to say infested because infested implies something bad) in our town!  He kept telling the kids to document snake findings and email them to him to get credit for locating snakes in their town.  I am sure many went home to immediately get out the cameras. Now I only spent about 1/4 of the time looking at the slides as they were a bit too much for me.  The speaker spent a lot of time telling why snakes (for the most part) are not dangerous and why we shouldn't be afraid of them.  One of my boys kept turning around and grinning at me as they know exactly how I feel. I say it doesn't matter if they are not venomous (I learned not to say poisonous today.) If one bit me I would die of a heart attack and the end result would be the same.  I spent a lot of my lunch hour telling the teachers who weren't there about the presentation, then I came home and shared many of the stories with my husband.  That guy was some great presented to so fascinate me who HATES and DESPISES  all snakes! (Some of my teacher colleagues who know me thought I should get an award for taking my students to this and staying for the whole thing!)

I have been back working out full force  this week and all 3 runs so far have been great. I have strength trained twice and am feeling pleasantly tired from a good effort!

I now have more than 100 followers and am almost at my 100th post!

BTW I may have to delete this image soon as I am feeling sick just looking at it even briefly!

Monday Brain Exchange/Future Races/Etc./99 followers

This is me last fall in Portland Maine so so so glad to be done!  I ran the whole way and never walked.  I had to keep changing my goals as the race went on and this is the one I made!

This coming weekend I am going to race the Capital City Stampede - advertised as Vermont's fastest 10K. We shall see!  I think Run for Empowerment that I am missing because I will be in DC has to be the flattest 10K (or 5K) as it is on Burlington Bike Path which is pretty much totally flat!  I haven't signed up but unless something comes up I am there!


 Jill's Monday Brain Exchange     Here is the question:
What are some of the things you have learned on your own personal journey through fitness, whether it be from triathlon, running or just simply training? 
I am thinking about the ending of my half marathon last weekend and how terrible I felt.  I have to think I was somewhat dehydrated as it took a long time afterwards for me to drink enough to have to pee.  I always worry in a race about having to go to the bathroom and the time it will take and I tend to drink too little.  I didn't respect the half as a  very real distance on a hot day. I can get away with this attitude in the winter but not on the last weekend in May.  I would have been much stronger with water/Gatorade and I think I could have made up the time a bathroom stop would have taken.  Even if I lost time I can't afford not to hydrate properly!


This weekend T and I got to run together after a long dry spell due to busy schedules and races.  We had a lot of catching up to do and it was GREAT running with her again. We ran in the rain both days. Today it poured for a lot of the run and I was SOAKED when I got home!  But it wasn't cold so life was good.


I am still pondering my fall marathon choice.  I got conflicting advice from my last post which is natural. I need to make up my own mind.  I am leaning toward Mount Desert Island.  I need to redeem myself after my last marathon. Previous to that I was 5 minutes away from BQing.  Last year in Portland, ME I was about 25 minutes away, my second slowest marathon ever, the only one I haven't PRd in.  Oddly enough I got second in my age group.  I think I would rather run a marathon for pleasure (if running 26.2 miles on a challenging course can be called pleasure) and go for a BQ another year.  I have wanted to do this marathon for awhile and then Runner's World gave it so much good press it heightened my interest even more.  The biggest problem is it is 8 hours away.  But it is what I am leaning toward at this moment.  


Today I very happily sorted and organized my books.  I put authors together, picked out books I want to reread and separated ones I am ready to get rid of.  A great way to spend a still very rainy afternoon.  

Did you see the Rave Run in the new edition of Runner's World?  It's not very often I can look forward to running the Rave Run!

And one more thing...........I am at 99 followers! Come on someone who is lurking - join up and be a follower and help me reach that 3 digit number!!!  Thanks!!

Three Things Thursday

Jameson and myself running up Church Street - THE BEST - Emily is taking the photo!

VCM 2010

1. I haven't been running this week, letting myself thoroughly recover. It has been very strange.  I especially felt odd not running on National Running Day!  I felt like a priest skipping mass!  Oh well, my muscles are thanking me.  I have been surprised at how tired I have been each evening when I haven't been running!  I think I needed the break in more ways than one.

2.  I have been on an interviewing committee for a 4 month maternity leave at my school. There were many many applications and the people we interviewed were very good.  And these are the people looking for a temporary job!(maybe not their first choice)  I am certainly glad I am not looking because for years in Vermont getting a teaching job has been very tough.

3. It is just about time for me to start marathon training if I am going to run a fall marathon. I am having a very tough time choosing one. I had one pretty much decided upon when I looked at the website again and discovered it starts at 10.  Even in New England I don't want to do an early October marathon that begins so late. Am I being too picky? All other marathons I have done started at 8:00 at the latest.  Even in the fall in New England.  I keep going on MarathonGuide.com and also think maybe I am letting some of the negative comments influence me too much. Do I want to repeat a marathon? (Hudson/Mohawk - flat, scenic, very small - not necessarily a plus for me) or do a larger one with pacers to try to qualify for Boston(Hartford) or a flat faster one that starts at 10 (Smuttynose Rockfest - new marathon) or a scenic one that is very hilly (Mt. Desert Island) or go farther in New England (Amica ) and have pretty ocean views but a more rushed trip due to distance.  Is anyone doing any of these? Thoughts?  I need to decide soon although I can just start training with an approximate start.  Some of these may fill up.  Momentarily (it changes constantly) I am leaning toward Mt. Desert Island.

I am adding to this after the first few comments. I wasn't specific enough, actually the last 3 are on the ocean.  Only the first two are land bound!