Greatness

Dictionary.com lists 23 separate definitions for the word "great" and I bet I could list 23 things about last Sunday's Great Island 5k that were great.  [Actually, I came up with 19 pretty darn fast, but decided in the interests of time and readership tolerance to narrow it down to just the most great great things.]

The Location

Great Island truly is a great place to hold a road race: stunning views, beautiful homes, narrow roads, mostly flat, a wonderful park for the start/finish.

 

The Community

New Castle is an affluent island town with a wonderful sense of community. The race is a major fundraiser for various recreation programs both on and off the island, including the park where the race was held and the Portsmouth Track Team. Dozens of businesses donated goods and services for post-race doorprizes.

The People

1340 people registered for the event, with approximately 1200 finishers, including adults, teens, kids and babies in strollers.  That's certainly greater than anything we've run so far!  Plus, everyone--the event organizer, the locals cheering from their lawns, the many smiling participants--was incredibly nice (OK, except for the driver who flipped us off after Alan honked to warn him he was about to back into us).  For such a populated course on small roads, it never felt uncomfortably crowded.  Even the porta-potty line was organized, fast-moving and wound through a lovely little glen.

The Volunteers
Dozens of kind people covered registration, packet pick-up, the course, the sound system, parking, food, etc. 

The Post-Race Food

Water, bananas, apples, bagels, cream cheese, donuts, pretzels, gogurt, more donuts...we're talking variety and volume.  We stayed til the bitter end and there was still food left!

Our Times
Ok, so they wouldn't be great on a lot of other people's watches, but we both had 5k PRs and were really happy with our results.  Alan's net time was 30:31.  He was 801 out of 1145 finishers and 114/127 for his division.  My net time was 34:46.  I was 981/1145 and 153/189.  When you calculate the actual length of the course (3.16 miles per GoogleEarth), I had exactly an 11 minute pace.  It's still a big deal for me to run the whole distance, even in these short races, so that was a big achievement. Best of all: I had hardly any shingles pain! Finally!

The Door Prizes
I mentioned before the generosity of local businesses.  Not only were there probably 150 good prizes to give away, but they were distributed efficiently and fairly to the people who hung around for the awards presentations.  They just kept pulling numbers out of that fish tank and rattling 'em off over the loudspeaker until there was nothing left.  [And, No, we didn't win anything. This is why I don't play the lottery, folks.]

The Weather
No, it wasn't great: it was utterly perfect. A classic New England fall day, cool but sunny with just a little breeze off the water and gorgeous foliage.  This is why we chose Columbus Day weekend for our wedding.  Little did we know we would eventually realize it's also perfect running weather.

The Nuns
Yes, there were Running Nuns! and they were rocking the running shoes with their habits!  I was too shy to ask them to pose for a picture, but I snuck a few shots in the parking lot [which, due to technical difficulties, aren't loading here.]  They were from the St. Charles Children's Home which hosts their own 5k annually.  Cool.



The Occasion
We discovered this event when searching for a way to celebrate our anniversary.  We specifically wanted something far enough away to justify a hotel and leaving the kids behind. We weren't running away from the kids, but we were running....away from the kids.  Anyway, we had a nice time, albeit on a tight budget, in a pleasant new motel in York and enjoyed the scenic drives and a (yes, I'll say it again) great event.  We even got a good laugh when we picked up our race t-shirts saturday night (on our actual 17th anniversary) and saw that they said "17th Annual Great Island 5k". 

Plans for Next Year
Of course we have great plans for the future, that's what we do! 
Next year, we plan to do up our anniversary big by 1) doing the Great Island 5k again, 2) spending two nights in a hotel, 3) indulging in a romantic carbohydrate-laden pre-race dinner, and 4) shopping at the Kittery outlet stores (for sports apparel of course) on the way home.  And finally, since the race will be on the right date, we'll inform the race director that it's our anniversary, too, so maybe he'll steer some of those great door prizes our way!

Independent Verification

Thanks to a local photographer who already posted pix on facebook, here's digital proof that we were where we said we were today: at the Great Island 5k in New Castle, NH (with about 1200 other people).  This is at the start--Alan is reaching to turn on his mp3 player while I'm enjoying the view (literally. I'm pretty sure I was looking at a lighthouse).





















Real race report to follow.
Right now I'm off to bed with a slice of homemade apple pie.

Cherry on Top Award

Claudia over at ...and so I ran  gave me an award a while back which was very sweet of her and perfectly describes why someone gave it to her in the first place.  So now I am supposed to answer a question and then pass the award on to others.

1. Answer the question: If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
Claudia's answer was great.  If there is a "right" answer, hers was it.  Basically, she said that sure, she's done things she wished she hadn't at the time but they all made her who she is and brought her where she is today. 

That's hard to top. 
So I won't even try. 

I'll just be my shallow, self-centered self and talk about the one thing I would have changed about recent events.  Well, first of all, given the choice I would have opted to just plain not get Shingles.  Since I didn't have the choice, though, I'll say that I would have checked myself into the hospital on Labor Day.  I tend to appear stoic with doctors, I guess.  Even when I am in tears and obvious agony they seem to think I want to tough it out.  Don't know why, not sure what medical jargon I need to learn that will adequately translate to what the rest of us would hear as "DO SOMETHING THAT HELPS ME! NOW!!", but I'd love to learn it.  So in my present state of mind, my answer boils down to "I'd have complained enough to get IV drugs". 

In a more enlightened mood I might say something like "I would go back in time and complete all the things I promised I'd do for people but haven't yet".  I would really enjoy not having the guilt of all those unfinished projects/promises clawing at my back. I have seriously been wondering if Shingles is some kind of divine retribution.  If so, I'm sorry already!  Give it a rest!  And Do you really think that by obliterating the last month of my life you're helping me get caught up?!?!  Instead, why not slap all those terrorists out there with nasty cases of Shingles in their nether regions? Huh???  That'll teach 'em, or at least slow 'em down for a bit.

OK I think I got off topic a bit there.  I will now pass the award on to others who may or may not take it a bit more seriously and see what way better answers they provide for our mutual enlightenment/enjoyment.

2. Pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have been selected for the award.   I choose:

Emilie at One Mom in Maine, because, well, if you read my blog at ALL then this is a big DUH, but also because she's the one who made running seem less like creamed spinach and more like ice cream sundaes (you know, with cherries on top).

Kristina at Marathon Mama, because she just ran the real,-Berlin Marathon and Boston Qualified (how's that for a cherry on top?!?) and she is one funny, sassy blogger-runner-mama.

Mel at Tall Mom On The Run because she is soooooo energetic and such a great cheerleader for everyone she knows and her big beautiful smile is totally the cherry on top.  [Other bloggers please take note of how many pix Mel manages to post with herself in them.  The rest of us are pretty universally guilty of leaving ourselves out of the visual documentation.  Not only does Mel have a great record of her joys and accomplishments, but people recognize her at races all the time.  How cool is that?!?]

Alan (not my husband) at One Day at a Time because he is on an amazing weight loss journey and is smart enough to realize it (and document it) and brave enough to share it with us all.

Irene at Magazine Smiles because I love her pretty layout and how every blog entry title is also the name of a song, and because she clued me in to...

Colin at Resurrected Runner who is deliciously funny (but maybe has a little too much time on his hands?).  I love his wacky parodies: really well done and running specific (mostly).  His blog isn't necessarily "pretty" but it gets bonus points for making me laugh out loud.

Post-race Recovery

This can be described the same as the race: long, slow, and uncomfortable.

And here's a news flash:  Spending 3+ hours slogging through 13.1 miles on foot is actually not the recommended treatment for Shingles.   Who knew?!?

I'm still really glad that I didn't bail out on the race, though.  I'm extremely proud of myself for getting through it and I'm looking forward to more events in the future.  Alan and I are already congratulating ourselves for setting our own personal bars so low that next year should be an easy PR!  I, in particular, will be looking to redeem the overall experience.  We have a 5k planned for our upcoming anniversary weekend, and Emilie's Race for Pie to look forward to, and we're also looking at other races we might want to do in the spring (Big Lake Half Marathon, perhaps....?).  So, while I cried at the chiropractor's office, and I haven't been back to work yet because I'm still eating ibuprofen and having trouble sitting for long periods of time, and still can barely type two consecutive sentences over the course of a half hour, and somehow took 20 minutes to drive home from Rite Aid in Old Town yesterday,  I did not kill my desire to run.  Which is saying a lot. 

The race was not fun, but I love my medal and my awesome tech tee, which, by the way, can only be described as "anti-viral blue" for the horse pills I've been knocking back 3 times a day for two weeks now.  Isn't it pretty?  I have to go wash it now so I can wear it (and my medal) when I go back to work tomorrow.

Leading Up to the Race

Now that you've read the race report, here's a synopsis of the two weeks prior.

13 days to go:  Got shingles, didn't know it (thought maybe I had  pinched nerve). Ran/walked 10 miles.  Took to my bed, but haven't actually had a complete night's sleep since.

12 days to go: Saw doctor.  She agreed with pinched nerve diagnosis, gave me steroid shot and mega pain killers.

10 days to go: At 4th doctor visit for the week--following appearance of angry red, spots on my rear end--found out it was shingles. Got on anti-virals.

7 days to go: Unable to eat anything for several days and unable to stand pain meds any more, switched to ibuprofen.

4 days to go:  Finished week-long course of anti-virals.  Still felt lousy but thought I was on the mend. Worked a half day.

3 days to go:  Worked a half day.  Drove to my "happy place" (the Stillwater River Trail off Bennoch Rd),  ran an out-and-back totalling 2.5 miles.  Felt better than I thought I would at first, but then got a little shaky at the turnaround.  Definitely not feeling like my usual self.  Very slow.

2 days to go:  Woke up feeling fevery and nauseous, definite signs that the virus was still alive and kicking (my a$$).  Worked a half day.  Got refill on anti-virals.  Living to toss back 800 mg of ibuprofen every four hours.

1 day to go: A bit freaked out, yet still barely able to function.  Packed up my stuff and helped pack up the kids for overnight.  Got on the road around 4pm. Met Mum and Dad in Ellsworth and traded: our Sienna filled with 3 hungry kids and saintly mother-in-law, for their empty CR-V.  Breathed deeply on way to Bar Harbor.  Checked in to motel, picked up race packets, attended pre-race dinner (billed as spaghetti, turned out to be lasagne...not bad but didn't quite hit the spot).  Returned to motel, ate snacks, tried to relax. Discovered I'd been given someone else's bib number.  Called organizers and left message that I would swap it in the am. Slept very badly, up frequently, still popping ibuprofen and wondering if I was going to make it.

Day of race:  Took showers, got dressed, filled our camelbaks, tried to eat something, managed not to barf.  Drove to YMCA and got the bib numbers straightened out.  Used restroom. Met up with Mum et al and handed off camelbaks, went over instructions for the hand-off one last time.  Saw Emilie and her friends Jen and Susan, and another running friend, Doug.  Emilie asked how I felt, I said something to the effect of "lousy".  I explained that really the final decision had come down to the fact that if I didn't run, I'd be traipsing around the park with my parents and my kids supporting Alan and I didn't think that would be any more relaxing.  Quoth Emilie with a knowing smile on her face: "That's why we run!".

In Case You Haven't Heard...

I'm finally posting the good news about Saturday's Half Marathon:

We did it! 

I knew Alan would be fine and he did great.  A little slower than he'd hoped and half the family wasn't immediately on hand to see him cross the finish (woops!), but he ran most of the way and didn't let the hills beat him.  In every picture he looks athletic and strong and confident...except for this one right before the start where you can replace "confident" with "impatient".  He's saying "it's time to go, Lois!".  I was just getting over feeling like I might need to barf, so this was about my best moment of the day in terms of physical health.

Here's Alan approaching Eagle Lake:

Here I am getting my camelbak from mom-in-law, Mary around the 2-mile mark:

Just before this, as I crested the first major hill, my legs were feeling really shaky and I was actually contemplating when and where I might choose to quit.  But then I saw my awesome fan club sporting neon green signs (one of which featured a roof with shingles on it...get it?..shingles??  yeah, that was Dad's contribution!) and clanging cow bells.  It was very rejuvenating, and adjusting my camelbak and having some water distracted me enough to get me back on track.

Here I am approaching the water (and pit) stop at the top of Eagle Lake.  I was thrilled to see that my fan club had grown and split in two:  in the first group I saw Mum, Madeline, Jeremy and college roommate, Kathy with son, Alex.  In the next group I saw Dad, Mary, James and Kathy's husband, Dave, their daughter, Elizabeth, and Dave's mom Tera.  I knew Kathy and the kids were planning to show up but Dave and Tera were a bonus!

There was one person behind me at this point.

I'm off again in a blur (of Mum's making, not speed), but I like how it sort of looks like I'm running through  bubbles.

When the girl behind me came through, Mum made the sweeper wait for me to get out of the lou.  Over the next 2 miles I gradually caught up to her again.  We chatted a little, and then I pulled ahead.

I wish I had pix of all our supporters, but there was a photographer there and I know he took some so I'm eager for them to appear on the event website.

I had a rough time of it pretty much the whole way. I was "smiling and moving" every time I got to a water stop and saw my friends and family, but in between there was a LOT of walking and a lot of pain and discomfort. Fortunately it was a cool day so my right butt cheek(which has been feeling a lot of heat from the shingles) didn't feel too bad. The nerve pain in my hip was pretty intense, though, and radiating right down my leg. There were times when I had to actively flex my toes to wake up my foot. At one point I was thinking how nice it would be if the whole leg just went numb. I logicked that while I would probably lose all function of the leg and collapse in a heap, at least I wouldn't be hurting anymore.


Despite these thoughts, I kept moving around the lake and even almost enjoyed the nice downhill stretch. The back half seemed longer than I remembered, though. I finally made it back to the top of the lake and found the whole Fey family there to greet me. We'd told the 'rents not to wait for me there in order to be sure to catch Alan at the finish, so it was great to have a whole extra family on hand.  Here'a a picture of them we took after the race:

After leaving the Feys and the beautiful lake and the 10-mile marker behind, I felt spent but hopeful.  I knew that the next (and last) hill was going to be a bear and was prepared to walk it.  I was all alone--couldn't even catch a glimpse of anyone before or behind me, but I didn't mind.  Somewhere around miled 11 or 12, though, I started wondering if I was going to make it after all.  I had gotten to the top of that hill and thought I'd start running again but I really didn't have any "run" left in me.  I'd try to start up and then go all jello-y and cut back to a walk. and then try again.  If someone had come along and offered me a ride I just might have taken it. 

All the volunteers were really nice and I'm particularly grateful for the die-hards who stayed out there until the bitter end.  I got to the turn where a nice man dutifully stood at the intersection pointing the way and announced "one mile to go" and I mentioned that I must have missed the 12-mile marker.  He sheepishly said he thought they'd picked them up already.  I laughed and said, yeah, I can't blame them!  Earlier I had seen the truck picking up the tables and water jugs from the aid stations, so I knew they were ready to wrap things up.

I kept slogging.  Earlier I'd at least been able to walk fast, now I was just plodding. Past the golf course, past the lady in a lawn chair who said I was doing great, past the man who advised me to cross to the other side of the road....  A month ago I had thought about where I would start my kick, now I found myself trying to just make myself run.  I had Avril Lavigne on my mp3 which was supposed to be edgy and energizing, but I suddenly listened to the lyrics and heard "isn't anyone tryin' to find me?/Won't somebody come take me home?" and I was sobbing and hoping Emilie would come...so I switched to Dilana singing "Ladylike" which is very UNladylike and makes me laugh.

And then there was Emilie right before the last turn!  And I sobbed some more and she said things like "you're doing it" and "this is it; this is your moment" and she took my hand and said "do you want to run?" and I just nodded and let her pull me out of my lethargy.  And then we rounded the corner and there were the kids and Alan and Mum and Dad and the finish line!  Here's Emilie and the kids bringing me home:

Here's Alan in the finish line shute (a good half hour earlier):

I'm so proud of him!
















And here I am sobbing in his arms:




















And here at last is the medal I busted my hump for (note the flo-jo nails that match my shirt!):

Official results:

 287* Alan Marks               42 M Orono          ME   799 2:46:59 12:45
 295* Nancy Soule Marks   41 F Orono           ME   582 3:13:13 14:45

*out of 296 runners.

Ick Factor Update

While I'm definitely not 100%, I am feeling soooooooo much better than I was a week ago. 
And that's saying a lot.

I've had such a miserable, painful ordeal, that it was a bit of a surprise for me to realize just how much of an ick factor people associate with Shingles.  A couple people at work (I stopped in for a whole hour today) were kind of inclined to steer clear out of fear of contagion, which I totally understand, but I'm safe, I promise.  And mum set up a nail appointment for me and the gal called, having consulted her own doctor, with some questions regarding the status of my sores.  Again, I understand, it just never occurred to me that anyone would go out putting people at risk if they were actively "oozing" to use her word.  Do hideously contagious people really go out and get their nails done?!?  Anyway, I guess I can enjoy the advantages of not having the things on your face, although there are certain disctinct disadvantages to having them on your hind quarters.

But I'll stop there, in acknowledgement of the ick factor.  That, and I need to stand up for a while.  Ahem!

So, thanks for all the well wishes.  I'm really on my way back, and I'm still hoping (or rather, I have hope once again) that I will make it to that starting line on Saturday.  Oh yeah, and the finish line, too!!

PS: If I sound a little loopy, it's the meds.  I can't drive, but I think I can manage to throw some spaghetti on to boil...

NOT What I Had In Mind, Part 2

Sorry to load this on you, folks (feel free to skim), but writing this all up is somewhat therapeutic, plus, if I pass out or something, Alan can just refer the medical professionals here.

Tuesday Morning

We get the kids off to school and I call in sick to work. My boss is sympathetic--he's a runner and he's had back problems. I call the chiropractor at 8am and explain the situation. They are full. The receptionist is very nice but the schedule is full. The best she can do is call me if they have a cancellation. I'm assured that I'm top of the list. I hang up in tears. I call Mum who is poised to help with transport in case getting in to the chiro conflicts with Alan's teaching schedule.  Shortly after that, the receptionist calls me back and says she can get me at 2:30pm and will call if anything comes up earlier.  So, at least I know I'll see him that day, which is a big relief.  I call Mum back with the news.  She must hear how miserable I am (she's my mom, after all) and ends up coming over later to cook me butterscotch pudding and keep me company for a while.  I'm so lucky to have such awesome family. [As I type this, Jeremy just walked up to me and gave me a sweet little hug and rubbed my back, as if illustrating my point.]

*******************************

OK, I give up on the long-winded saga.  On Wednesday, I was worse, not better.  I
 had what I thought was an allergic reaction to the steroids, but it turns out that I have Shingles.  This is only the third time my doctor has seen the pain manifest before the rash so that's why she didn't pick up on it at first.  In addition to the massive nerve pain in my hip, my butt looks--and feels--like I sat in boiling oil.  I am NOT having fun. Hubby has been wonderful schlepping me to doctors and fetching and carrying stuff and dealing with the kids and the house and commiserating when I just can't do anything else except shiver and cry. 

Mum's here now taking her turn as nurse and my only goal for the day is to stay medicated, eat a little, and rest as much as possible. 

Please think good thoughts for me, folks.  I'm trying not to think about 9 days from now.

Labor Day Weekend: NOT What I Had In Mind

I've been trying to fill y'all in for the past two days but it's hard to synopsize while the saga is ongoing and while you're yo-yoing between drugged up and woozy and just plain miserable...so I'll try to boil it down to the basics before heading off to bed.

Saturday 
I didn't manage to get the run in but made major progress on organizing the play room with Jeremy.  Decided to run Sunday am so Alan could go Sunday eve.  Might as well keep my no-church-all-summer-long streak in tact.  Is running my new religion?

Sunday Morning
Finally headed out the door to attempt 10 miles around 10:20am.  Got a late start because right hip/lower back was kind of bothering me, feeling twingy.  Probably too much slouching in bed watching downloaded episodes of the Wire every night.  Made mental note to try to see Chiro this week, meanwhile hoping run would help loosen me up.  I have decreased the frequency of my chiropractic appointments a lot this past year; I feel like running is very symmetrical and often works the kinks out from slouching at my desk.

Sunday Run
Wasn't feeling energized out the door but I looked good in lots of neon green accents.  I realized early on that the shiny black crop pants were too hot for 67 degrees.  Mentally looked back and thought maybe being overheated in them had hindered me on previous runs.  May have to strike them from the Half wardrobe, despite the cool green stripe.  Did 8m loop from home, to UM bike path, through Old Town and home via Park Street. Walked early, walked often.  Some good points in U forest but mostly slogged.  Uphill stretch after mill in Old Town was misery.  I noticed the butt twinge especialy while walking up hills, which usually provides a welcome stretch. Thought seriously about bagging the extra 2 miles but Alan and the kids were at our driveway with a cowbell and high fives to and that cheered/guilted me into continuing on. Felt a little better: felt the luv, knew I was in the home stretch, plus got a little breathing while giving directions to a grad student.  OK in the end with a total time of 2:17:16. Legs felt OK, butt/hip hurting a fair bit.

Sunday Post Run
Ate PB&Fluff sandwich and took a long hot shower, then spent rest of day sprawled on bed watching TV.  Could NOT get comfortable; in constant pain punctuated by frequent stabs of worse pain. Pretty sure I had a pinched nerve. Alan asked: "So, what Voodoo priest did you piss off??"

Sunday Night
We order take-out and are still eating when Mum and Dad arrive.  I'd invited them over to play a game I bought Dad for his birthday.  It's called "Orijinz" and you try to guess a word or phrase based on it's derivation.  It was fun and a welcome distraction. I played from a sort of bier of pillows on the floor covered with a blanket with a warm rice bag on my butt.  I went to bed early, but the pain had me writhing all night, and desperately holding onto hope that my beloved chiropractor, being Canadian, would actually be open Monday (Labor Day), but figured I was probably delusional.

Monday Morning
I made Alan call our chiro's office. Which was closed. Expletive, expletive, expletive. He left a message that I needed an emergency appointment first thing Tues. I made him call our GP. They were open for walk-ins and my doc was the one on duty, so that was good.  We like her because she "gets" running and she "gets" chiropractors.  In fact, she goes to ours and collaborated with him helping Alan with his Bell's Palsy. I go in hoping for the speedy acquisition of drugs.  Surprisingly, while not yet on drugs I convince Alan that we don't need a sitter, we should ALL go and when I'm feeling miraculously better we can go do some of that back-to-school shopping that was the original plan for the day. We sprawl around the waiting room for an hour.  The kids are restless but relatively well-behaved and sympathetic. Me, I'm pacing around the place in my socks, stopping frequently to clutch my back and wince and moann.  I look like I'm in labor, and it feels like the back labor I had with James. He gets a few scowls he doesn't deserve. 

Dr. Benson confirms my pinched nerve diagnosis while the kids bounce super balls and argue over video games. She gives me shots of steroids (Alan accused me of doping) and something she calls "souped up ibuprofen", and a script for hydrocodone with acetaminaphen. We inform her that I'm running a Half Marathon in 12 days, but part of me is really not sure of this.  She isn't down on it, but doesn't particularly reassure me.  I think she sees that if I feel then the way I do now I won't be running by my own choice.  Alan tells me he is not running it alone which is exactly what I needed to hear.  She wholeheartedly endorses plan to see chiro ASAP, but we forget to ask her to call his office to make sure I get seen right away.

Monday Afternoon
From the doctor's office we head via MacDonald's to Target for the Rx and to do some very random shopping.  The kids love that I'm using a motorized cart but are disappointed at how fast it doesn't go. I'm beginning to feel sick to my stomach so I'm grateful not to be pulling any extra Gs.  I have only a vague idea what we actually buy, other than the red bottle of pills. We finally get back home where I ensconce myself in the family room, medicated at last but still not in a happy place.

Monday Night
I spend the night in the family room where I can be miserable without bothering Alan and can set my watch timer for 4 hours so I know when it's ok for the next pill.  I figure out that when the pills are working I'm spacy but still in dull pain, and when they're not I'm woozy and nauseous, plus they're not working, so it all kind of sucks.  Also my butt is getting sore from sitting/lying down so much.  I catch up on the entire current season of Project Runway (6 straight episodes...well, 6 episodes...).  I alternate between sitting up in the oversized chair and lying flat on my stomach on the couch with pillows under my legs.


Speaking of which... I'm starting to feel really wonky and NEEEED to go to bed so I'll have to continue this tomorrow.  I'm still a wreck.

TWO WEEKS TO GO!!!

Our official countdown calendar now reads:

2

WEEKS

or

14

DAYS

until Alan and Nancy run

the MDI Half Marathon

So many exclamations come to mind, but few are fit to post.  I waffle between butterflies-in-the-stomach and too tired to think.

I've been talking, blogging, thinking, planning, obsessing about this for so long I almost don't want to talk about it any more (and that's saying a lot!).   Mentally, I am ready to taper, but I have another week of real training to go.  I need a good long run this weekend, hopefully today, hopefully as much as 10 miles.  I was totally psyched to run in the rain, but we've been doing some major reorganizing today and at some point *pouf!* the sun came out and I realized I had missed my chance.  Darn.

It was soooooo nice to lounge in bed this morning listening to the rain and feeling a breeze come in through the open windows, the overhead fan on, and the A/C off....aaaaaah.  Thank you, Earl!

When I Took Ballet "Splits" Meant Something Else Entirely...

Check out these splits from last night's run by someone who's accustomed to taking walking breaks and is generally happy to be around a 12 minute/mile pace:

Mile 1 = 10:58
Mile 2 = 22:00
Mile 3 = 33:03
Mile 4 = 44:02
Mile 5 = 54:45

How did I manage that?!?

1. I bailed on both my Monday and Wednesday runs [too dang hot!!] so I
    a. was well rested and
    b. felt obligated to get in a good run

2. I ran inside the (somewhat) air-conditioned Rec Center on a nice smooooooooth track

3. I listened to ABBA's  "The Name of the Game" nonstop on my Mp3.  I'm getting really sick of it, but it works perfectly for me.


How do I feel today?

Pretty darn good!  I have one little niggling ache in a muscle that must be the one that propelled me around those 200 turns (50 laps x 4 "corners").  I think my personal trainer will be pleased to learn it's in my butt (inside, lower, right cheek...can you tell I was turning left?!?), since he loves to kick it so.

Priceless: A Guest Post by The Man of the House

Tearing apart the door:    $0

Finding and replacing the screw that had fallen out:    $0

Straightening the bent rods:    $0

Putting it all back together:    $0

Trusting your husband to know what he's doing:   Priceless

We Would Have Used Duct Tape But It Isn't See-Through

Friday night we wanted to go see the Celtic group at the Folk Festival (saw them today--they were awesome), but Alan started the car and pushed the button to put the window down.  This was followed by a series of disturbing noises, some from inside the door (clunks and whirrs), some from the window itself (a sort of banging and grinding) and some from Alan and then me ("What the...?!?!).  The power window has always sounded a little odd, but now it is completely off its track--it will neither open all the way, nor close all the way--and we think that part of the mechanism is seriously bent. 

How do we know it's bent?  Because we disected the entire door, of course.  Well, Alan did.  While I pranced around wincing and saying helpful things like "Don't break that thing!" and "Are you sure that's supposed to come off?".  We then peered at the window guts with a flashlight and came to the dramatic conclusion that It doesn't work.  And we can't make it work.  And we're going to have to pay someone else to make it work.  At our financially worst time of the year (Alan didn't teach in August so the paycheck nazi will be shouting "No check for you!" on Tuesday). 

But we HAD to leave the driveway 'cause we had a sitter, dang it!

Plus, we had a date with a road race the next morning, so we had to button things up somehow.

After some contemplation I went into the house and procured a roll of clear packing tape and some saran wrap.  And doggone it, we did pretty well.  You can hear the wind rushing by the door and Alan elected to put tape over the window controls so he wouldn't forget and try to close it by mistake, but otherwise it has held extremely well all weekend.

Drive-throughs, ATMs, giving directions, and paying for parking at the Folk Festival are all a little tricky though.




And where did we go when we were done?  Denny's and then WalMart.  About as anti-Folk Festival as you can get.  I know, we're pathetic!

On Alan's to-do list tomorrow:  check on our warranty, hope it doesn't rain soon, and maybe pick up an extra roll of packing tape, 'cause for some reason we're almost out....

Bloggy Backlog!

Sorry folks, I've gotten a little behind!
I hope you enjoy catching up on our recent exploits.

Now, we're off to the Folk Festival, so they'll certainly be more to come...

August 28: Northeast Harbor 5-miler

A very pretty course and a well-run race with gobs of raffle prizes.  You could tell there was a lot of local pride involved in this 33-year-old event.

Alan:      109th place (out of 146), 52:23, 10:29 pace

Nancy:   115th place, 56:54, 11:23 pace

For comparison, Alan's pace for the 10k we did back in June was 11:16, and mine was 12:47.  And, unlike the Flamingo 4-miler, I wasn't vying for last place.  A pretty nice improvement.

Once again we neglected to take pre- or post-race pix of each other (really, you should thank us), so here's the finish line right before they dismantled it.  The guy in the red shirt is a high school classmate of mine, Ryan, who we keep bumping into at these events.  He seems to be the race timing guy extraordinaire. 

After this, we drove into Bar Harbor to run some more!  We attempted to run the first big hill of the Half (West St, from Rte 3 up to Duck Brook Bridge), but Alan took a turn he thought was right, but I knew immediately was wrong, but he was too far ahead to hear me so I flailed after him for a while.  He eventually figured out he wasn't in the right place and just elected to keep going anyway.  We ended up back on Rte 3 and ran to the hotel we're staying at in September and then back to our car.  It was hot and we were tired so it was not a fun time, but it gave us an extra 2.47 miles on top of the 5 mile race. 

We had lunch at Little Notch in SW Harbor and then relaxed at Echo Lake before coming home to have a nice family dinner with the kids and Nana Mary.

I mean, SAINT Mary.  I call her that anyway, but she really proved it once again yesterday.  Not only did she arrive Friday night so we could go unencumbered to the Folk Festival (didn't happen: that's another post) and then do our running thing all day Saturday, but she even picked up our friend Stacy from the hospital AND took her to Target AND took her to Wendy's AND delivered her home safe and sound.  She's just that kind of lady, my mom-in-law.

August 21st Long training Run

Announcing yet another new personal distance record:

9.6 miles!

Last Saturday, Alan and I did a sort of dress rehearsal for the Half Marathon.  Nana Mary came to babysit and we drove down to MDI and ran the carriage road portion of the course (8 miles, from Duck Brook Bridge to Eagle Lake, and then all the way around the lake).  But then we had to get back to our car on Dubk Brook Rd, and Alan mapped out a little extra bit to bring it up to a full 10 miles.  My plan was to get around Eagle Lake and decide if I wanted to keep going or call him to pick me up.  As it turned out, we both made some unplanned modifications to our routes:  I took a pit-stop in the woods, and then stayed on the carriage road a little too long before getting on the main road; meanwhile, Alan turned off the carriage road a little too soon, so we both ended up with 9.6 on a day when we had planned 8 and 10 respectively.  I can handle that. 

It seemed to take forever.  It kind of did take forever: my time was 2:12:31 which comes out to a whopping 13:48 pace. Bleck. I walked a lot on the first (uphill) side of the lake.  But then there was a nice downhill, and then my mp3 froze up so I ditched it and ended up chatting with a guy named Jeff wearing an Eden Athletics shirt.  I asked if he was doing the Half (he is) and managed to keep pace with him from about mile 6.5 to mile 8 where we parted ways.  He was very pleasant and really helped to pass the time and keep me going.  I tried to call Alan just to tell him my status but had no service so I just plodded on and eventually made it all the way back to the car in tact.  I had a bloody spot on one toe and the start of a blister and we could both barely walk for a while afterward.  Our grand plan was to get lunch (we found a yummy deli in Bar Harbor) drive the Northeast Harbor 5-miler course (very pretty and unthreatening) and then go for a swim in Little Long Pond.  This last item didn't work out the way we thought it would, but we did end up in a lovely grassy field where we relaxed in the sun.

Aaaaaaah....

Everything was blue and green and summery except for one little spot of red in a nearby tree reminding us just how close we are to fall and school and apples and pumpkins.

On the way home, we stopped at Cadillac Mountain Sports to top off our running-themed day.

On a sad note, while we were doing all that, my friend, Jenn, and my god-son, Ethan, were making the 14-hour trek to Pennsylvania where they now live in a pretty little house near her family.  It's absolutely the right move for them and I'm so glad they've got the support they need, but I can't help missing her all the same.

Way Better Than Mini Golf

A couple of weekends ago we finally got together with my friend, Amy, and her family for a really fun day.

Amy and I sang in choir together years ago under Fred Jones; in fact, with her sister, Heather, we were 3 of the 5 founding members of the Girls Choir.

Amy went to Wellesley College, while I went to Mt. Holyoke.  So we have the women's college thing in common, too.

We've managed to keep in touch sporadically, but only recently truly reconnected.  When Fred died, Amy--who lives near Portland now--answered the call and came and sang for his memorial service.  It was bittersweet to share that with her.  She came to the house after we rehearsed to hang out with the family and spent the night at Mum and Dad's.  Madeline had the same instant fondness for Amy that I had so many years ago and has wondered ever since, when will we see Amy again?  

We've been promising to get our families together (Amy and her husband have two boys and a dog).  We've also been promising to take the kids to Pirate's Cove to use the mini-golf tokens they got at the fun run in June.  So all summer we've been toying with the idea of combining the two.  Amy fortunately realized that Pirate's Cove has a group limit of five, so that wasn't going to work, and she and Dan invited us to Dan's mother's house in Belgrade Lakes instead. 

It was a bit of a drive, but well worth it!  Alan and I had run 13.1 and 6 miles respectively the day before, so we didn't really mind being seated for long periods.  We packed our swim suits and a picnic lunch and hit the road.  We'd never been to that area before and it was a beautiful location and a gorgeous house and the weather matched. 

We had lunch and visited and then braved the lake for various degrees of wading/swimming, although it was a bit windy. 

Later, we walked into town for Gifford's ice cream.  When we returned, Dan took the kids and me out in their motor boat.  He gave us a wonderful quick tour of the vicinity, took us into the next lake over briefly, let Jeremy steer for a minute, and even let Jamie actually drive a bit.  He was a good teacher, shared lots of interesting tidbits, and managed to catch Jamie's hat, snagging it right out of thin air when it flew off his head!

The kids--ages 5 to 12--all got along really well with a combined Silliness Quotient of 42.6 gazillion megaparts per child.

After that we left in a rush.  Hopefully Amy wasn't late for her telecommute....  We had a great time and went home tired and windblown and happy.
A very Maine outing.  And way better than mini-golf.

Training Update

Announcing Nancy's latest personal distance record:
7 miles
I did 3.5 on the field house track (that's just a little under 26 laps because 7 1/3 laps = 1 mile [whose brilliant design idea was that?!?]) and then ducked out the back door, between the athletic fields, across the bike path and onto university forest trails which took me behind the rec center, around the corn field, onto Park St and then home.

The whole thing took me 1:34:21 which included a 6:20 trip across the field house and usage of the ladies room after mile 3.  If you take out the pee break, then my pace was 12:34 which means I didn't take very many walking breaks and makes me perfectly happy.

I saw three deer along the way, which seems to be the standard number for my evening trail runs.

At the beginning of my run, the kids ran too (some more than others) and, as I type (trying to cool off enough to go take a shower), my own personal Mr. Incredible is working on another 10 mile feat. Yay Marks family!

Oh yes, and another newbie accomplishment:
I placed an order on RunningWarehouse.com
I am so a real runner, now!

Sugoi 3/4 sleeve top

THIS JUST IN-

Alan, having left me a note that read "Planning 10 miles, but we'll see." just arrived home sweaty and sore (and a half hour late--good thing I was too busy blogging to worry) and annouced that
he just ran a Half Marathon! 
My initial reaction was one of jealousy (for which I apologize), but I'm really, really proud of him.  The kids all said "Yay Daddy!" and gave him fist bumps and said "ew...even your knuckles are sweaty" and were sent to bed. 

Tomorrow:  Belgrade Lakes to visit a friend from choir 30 years ago.

Acadia, August 7, 2010

To continue our camping story...

We awoke Saturday morning to a brand new day.  Temps in the 70s and this was the sky:

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before suddenly realizing that we were expected to check out in 45 minutes, so we scurried to break camp and pack everything back into the van with much griping and disorganization, about an hour behind schedule and not really sure what we were doing next.  The kids celebrate our empty campsite:

The Donaheys had taken their leave the night before to spend their last night at Hancock and head back to Vermont so we were on our own.  We ended up shopping the annual library book sale in Southwest Harbor and getting a little advice from the nice lady at the local information center.  After fueling up with sandwiches in the tiny parking lot, we climbed Flying Mountain (aka Fernald Hill), elevation a whopping 274 feet.  We met a nice couple at the top from Florida who took our picture for us.  She turned out to be from Switzerland and was outright laughing at the 87 meters, but she did confess to never actually having climbed the Matterhorn even though she grew up looking at it.  The trail was only .3 miles up, but it was UP and it was a bit of work for Jeremy, with Alan's assistance. We all made it, though, and the views were astounding. 

It didn't register at the time, but we were looking right across to the Northeast Harbor 5-miler route that we're running on the 28th (it passes just behind all those reeeeeeaaally nice houses).  

New family portraits:

After that, it was time to make our way home.  We stopped at Thompson Island to use the restrooms and get the wiggles out, and made one last stop at the Ice Cream Outlet for Gifford's and then finally drove home.