Up And Running

I have to start by apologizing for having taken an unintentional blogging hiatus.  I've been so ridiculously busy, but mostly having fun, and I've composed many partial blog posts in my head, but haven't come close to typing them up and downloading suitable pictures...hence my accidental vacation from the web.  I didn't realize quite how bad I've been until today when I learned that A. Liz in Texas called my mom and asked if I'm all right because--bless her heart--she follows the blog and noticed I'd dropped off the face of the blogosphere! and 2. I tried to log in and couldn't remember my password. And not just for a minute, but completely couldn't come up with it and had to answer my security questions just to get in.
Recent events that should have warrented blog posts (and still might) include:

Me singing and dancing my way through the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s in the Bangor Rotary Show,
me acting in All My Murders (put on by Bangor Community Theatre so that means I helped produce it), 
Alan acting like--and probably wishing he was--a single dad while I was busy playing,
baking cheddar apple scones (yes, Emilie, they're everything you said they'd be),
falling in love with Chocolate Silk,
transitioning to running outside again,
the most convoluted car swap ever: me running 8.57 miles one Saturday as my commute home from a choir retreat and Alan running 10 miles the same day to retrieve the car from where I left it (don't try to make the math work--Alan added in an extra loop),
me running 9.69 miles the following Saturday while spectating the Kenduskeag Stream Race,
Alan running 15 miles (in circles at the Rec Ctr) and subsequently registering for the Maine Marathon (October 2nd),
both of us running our first race of the season (the Healthy High 5k--also the anniversary of my first road race ever),
Easter, and the return of Boy Bunny (watch for a guest post by James. Pester me if it doesn't happen soon.),
a successful Administrative Professionals Week event for my IAAP chapter held yesterday at Hollywood Slots,
Madeline in the 5th & 6th grade Disctrict V Chorus concert just today (with a solo, no less!).

And--oh yeah--we're at 1 WEEK until the Big Lake Half Marathon.  Yikes!



Liz has been reassured, my password is reset, and tomorrow the whole family will be up and running...the Animal Orphanage 5k.

With matching tee-shirts no less.

Spring in My Step?

Here's a (long-winded) synopsis of my last three runs:


Last Saturday
The whole family went to the Rec Center: all 5 of us, plus my mom and dad, plus my sister and niece (visiting from Vermont).  Alan went earlier than the rest of us to get a start on his planned 12 mile run.  He wound up doing 11 and it was a long time before he finally made it to the hot tub.

I sent the kids off to the pool with the rest of the gang and joined Alan on the track to do my 5 miles.  I know he was pacing himself for a much longer run, but it still felt good to run past him a few times.  I felt good about my pace, had a nice kick on the last lap, bought a bottled water at the front desk, and changed into my swimsuit.

I swam and visited with the kids and mum and dad and then sat in the hot tub where I visited with Helen and Sam.  And Brenda who used to sing in our choir and her little boy.  And then I swam some more.  And hot tubbed and visited more.  And had complicated logistical discussions with mum.  And sent Jeremy home with dad.  Then got James and Madeline out of the pool but got side-tracked by the sauna.  Then we spotted Emilie, so we went back in the pool and visited with her and her kids, and her brother.  And then visited with Robin, who I've known forever, and her two girls. And then Alan finally arrived so I hot tubbed some more....!

By this time I was starving and dehydrated (despite the 20oz bottle which I drained).

When we finally got out of there, we went straight to Subway and then home to wolf it down.  I had a 6" chicken and bacon ranch sub, sun chips, a caffeine-free orange soda, 2 chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. 

For dinner that night, the whole gang came over and we had a pork loin that mum brought, baked potatoes, carrots, etc, and then two desserts: pumpkin pie and sticky rice with fresh mango slices.  And I think I had a bottle of Sangria. 

For some reason, my stomach was a total mess on Sunday.  hmmmm...wonder why?

Monday evening
Madeline and I went to the Rec Center in an attempt to combine my Monday run (3.5 miles on the schedule) and our weekly Tuesday night cross-training session.  I had no oomph and only managed 2 miles at a rather slow pace.  Madeline did 1.1 after initially hoping for 1.5 or more.  Later, we tried to play ping-pong but they could find no balls, and they also had not basketballs available--small wonder: the place was mobbed with students just back from spring break who apparently were suffering from some sort of hang-out-and-shoot-hoops withdrawal.  She was bummed and we had to leave to pick up James at scouts so we didn't even have time for the pool.

In the car on the way home, I managed to 1.) get mad at Madeline for being overly cranky about it, B.) get mad at James for being rude when I picked him up, and 3.) back into an adult scout's pick-up truck in the parking lot.  Fortunately, there was only a small ginch on our bumper and a corresponding clean spot where I rubbed some dirt off the other vehicle.  I stopped at Thriftway for some snacks for my still not entirely settled stomach.  Oy!

By Wednesday, however, things were looking up.  I emailed Emilie with a daring proposition: to join her and her sole sisters for the last 6 miles of their 17 mile run this coming Saturday.  I determined that--while welcome to join them--I'd have to go to Hampden (foreign running territory to me, and "frickin' hilly" as Emilie put it) and they'd be running around a 10:45 pace.  I hit the Rec Center after work, before Rotary rehearsal.  I did the full 4 miles on my schedule and--aiming to see if I could keep up with the gang--my splits were as follows:  10:37, 10:38, 11:12 (including a 20 second water stop), 10:45 (nailed it!).  While I was really happy with this, I realistically emailed Emilie the next day to postpone my attempt to (literally) run with her crowd.  Yes, I managed to hit the pace for 4 miles on a nice cushy indoor track.  6 miles outdoors on hilly terrain is a whole different thing, baby.

So my plan for tomorrow...(oh, yikes, I mean, today! How did it get to be midnight?!?)... is to 1. go to bed! 2. have a power-boosting delicious breakfast with the kids 3. run on the track for 3 miles and then attempt a 5k loop outdoors.  Maybe.  That's sounding rawther ambitious all of a sudden.  And I know it's going to get cold again tomorrow.  But the main point is to GET OUTSIDE! because before I know it, I'm going to be standing in the middle of a road waiting for someone to say "go!" and I really need to get used to running on actual terrain again before then.

Plus, it's (technically almost) spring!!!

Spring in the Air and On Our Plates

Everyone seems to be blogging about how great they feel, how fast they're running, how far they've come...and with springlike weather and snow melting everywhere it's no wonder we're all feeling a bit of a lift!

I, too, am feeling much better.  Last weekend was a bit rough:  I overdid it Saturday and my stomach rebelled all day Sunday and I couldn't sooth it with the calming fizz of a coca-cola and I was still really wanting the caffeine....and then Monday at the gym was a bit rough, too, but I'm feeling much better now.  I still want coke, but I don't need it, although even Alan was advising me that it might not be a bad idea to post-pone the remainder of my observance of Lent until after the Rotary Show.  So far, I'm holding steady at no caffeine of any kind, but next week is "hell week"* so we'll see how that goes.

Back to now and feeling good, though [she asserts, through clenched teeth from spending the last hour composing this post, trying to duplicate an earlier recipe search, and doing internet calisthenics just to upload two pictures].

Tonight, was my first evening spent actually at home with my family with no extra guests and no scheduled activities in, well, quite a while.  Madeline and I went to the grocery store and bought what we needed for a nice family dinner.  I'd been wavering between two different pasta dishes that I found on the Food Network site so I opted to make both for fun and variety and added difficulty (you know, like adding an extra revolution into your platform dive).  We pan-fried some small steaks, threw together a salad, and spent most of our time on the pasta, dirtying as much cookware as possible (also worth more points).

Both recipes were from the adorable Giada de Laurentis (LOVE her!).

One was Penne a la Carbonara but we used orechiette aka "little round hat" pasta, for both dishes.  I pretty much followed the recipe but cut it in half and skipped the parsley.  It was predictably rich and creamy.  The pancetta was nice and salty and super easy because I found some pre-cut in the gourmet deli section.  James (my fellow alfredo lover) has a new favorite and already has dibs on leftovers tomorrow night.

The second was my favorite.  It was so simple and so delicious!  In fact, I didn't bother to print the recipe; I just watched the little video online and was able to wing it from memory.  Now, I can't for the life of me find the video, but search-master Alan found the recipe for me here: Little Thimbles Sciue Sciue.  The "thimbles" are the pasta she uses and "sciue sciue" (pronounced "shway shway") is a description of how free and easy it is to throw together.  So easy I can recap it like this:

Cook the pasta al dente.  Heat some olive oil in a large pan.  Cook up some minced garlic.  Dice tomatoes and cook with the garlic.  Meanwhile, chop fresh basil and cube some fresh mozzarella.
When the pasta is done, drain it and toss with the tomatoes and garlic.  Fold in mozzarella and basil. Serve immediately.

Not pictured, but also included in our good-for-us dinner: thin steaks with a little garlic, salt & pepper, spinach and mixed green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers, cheesy focaccia bread and chocolate soy milk.  The whole meal was subtitled "it's good to try new things".  The chocolate Silk elicited responses ranging from "Can I have some with breakfast, too?" (Jeremy) to "I tried something new; can I have regular chocolate milk now?" (James) to "I'll have the rest of his!" (Madeline).

By the time we finished cooking it was 7:30pm and by the time we'd eaten and cleared the table and I had thoroughly soaked the floor by the pot sink (more bonus points) it was past Jamie and Madeline's 8:30 bedtime so no movie night after all.  But hey: I found some time to blog, for a change!


*"Hell week" is a common theatre term for the week prior to a show opening.  Rehearsals are long, tempers are short, everything goes wrong and everyone's in a panic. And somehow, a sort of catharsis is achieved and it all comes together.  Or so we desperately hope. No really, it's going to be a great show!

Nancy, Unplugged

No, I am not on a campaign against the Coca-Cola company.

I have officially given up my preferred caffeine delivery system for Lent and I am, therefore, officially in withdrawal.

Wednesday was day 1 and it wasn't bad at all, but my day was non-stop break-neck pace from 8am to 8:30pm, so I really didn't have time to notice my caffeinelessness.  Until 9pm when I suddenly lost all oomph and began yawning incessantly.  I had a bowl of cereal for dinner and crawled into bed to faceplant in the latest Runners World magazine.   Aaaah....

Thursday, I was draggin'.
It was a good thing that I carefully planned to drink the last coke in the house on Tuesday because otherwise I might have failed right off the bat. Yesterday--as any addict would--I found myself seriously asking "why am I doing this?  I like coke and it's not that bad for me, and most days I only have a little one, and then I drink water the rest of the day, and it settles my stomach.....".  But I was good.  I popped some ibuprofen and filled my travel mug with ice water and today has been much better already.  I'm sluggish, but I have a fun day off from work to enjoy...at a slighter slower pace than usual.

A few observations for my own edification:

~It know Coke is bad for me!  All those calories!  All that sugar!  Of course I should quit! 
~I know that I always say I'm giving up Coke for Lent, which means that--on a technicality--I could drink Pepsi [bleck!] or coffee [uhg], or any number of flavored, foamy, delectable, dessert-like beverages [yum!] or otherwise deliver caffeine unto my blood stream if I reeeeeeeaaally feel I need to.  But I will try not to cheat.

~I know that some people--on a liturgically-based technicality--give things up for Lent but allow themselves to indulge on Sundays (Lent is 40 days, plus Sundays). But I consider that cheating, too, so I don't do it.  It only prolongs the addiction, and it means cheating in front of the support group that ought to be backing me up.

~And finally, I also know that on Easter Sunday I will start the day early with 20 ounces of coke-y wondrousness and that is what will get me through two long church services, a big breakfast, and an egg hunt, followed by a huge family dinner at our house.  After that, I'll back off a bit and be better off for having abstained.   Until around Christmas when I'll probably be calling myself a "coke-head" again and occasionally worrying that someone will overhear and get the wrong idea.

Cinderella and Her Prince Go Shoe Shopping

A modern-day, mixed-up, fairy-tale follow-up:

* * * * * * * * *

Poor Prince Charming!  He thought he had it bad when he went traipsing around the kingdom asking random women to try on his glass slipper.  I imagine him patiently maneuvering around over-protective chaperones(you're who?  and you want to what?! with all the single ladies in the castle??) and delicately redirecting over-zealous wannabes (No, dear, you are not the one.  Now would you please allow my footman [pun intended] to accompany you to the nearest hospital to have your toes re-attached?).

But did you ever think about them later on, after the reunion of the precious slipper with its mate and the patient prince with his Cinderella?  Well, obviously a girl can't go around wearing glass slippers every day, even--or especially--magical ones.  So let me take you to Once Upon a Time, say...17 years down the road....

The Prince and Mrs. Charming have taken up running (a natural extension of the midnight dash).  Purchasing their first pairs of running shoes had been a fun little birthday shopping spree.  In the year since, the Prince has replaced his with the exact same model such that the princess recently complained that there were 3 pairs of size 14as in various stages of wear taking up serious real estate on the kitchen floor. 

The Princess, on the other hand, is ready to upgrade and needs to explore her options.

She scours product descriptions and reviews, in books and magazines, online, and in the stores.  Finally, she is ready to start trying things on.  She's already in love with something called Nimbus 12s which cost $125, are praised for their cushiony feel, and make her think she might fly if she wears them.

So, the Charmings take advantage of a kingdom holiday and retain a nanny for the royal children.  First, they spend a couple hours at the village rec center and enjoy a relaxing pub lunch, and then it's on to the shoe shopping.  They go to a very expensive sporting goods store where the sales woman checks over the wear on the princess' old shoes and basically confirms what the princess already knew about her feet and her running footwear needs.  The prince raises eyebrows at the exhorbitant prices, asks occasional questions, but otherwise waits patiently.  The princess assures the sales lady (and her prince) that she is sensible enought not to choose her shoes based on color... but that she does not want orange.  "You can call it tangerine, or melon or whatever you want but it's really just orange and I don't like it."  She has an affinity for purple and the saleswoman is delighted to produce a hideously expensive and funky-soled Mizuno Wave Creation 12 in shades of plum. 

The princess likes.  They feel bouncy and comfy and fun.  And like they cost 140 bucks.

Next, they go to Dick's which has a bigger selection and better sales.

The princess finds the famous Nimbuses (Nimbi??) and discovers that they are not for her at all!  Disappointed (and a little relieved), she tries on many more pairs of running shoes.  She's starting to feel like another famous fairy-tale character in an eternal quest for "just right"....  The prince is more actively involved here, finding things for her to try on and pointing out technical details like which ones have more arch support.  The princess/brown-haired Goldilocks wants lots of cushioning, something that hugs her arches...and pretty color choices.  The prince wishes not to break the royal bank.

Princess/Goldilocks still loves the cost-a-king's-ransom Mizunos, but she has found a less expensive alternative.  They fit well, feel good, meet all her picky standards except one: they're white with orange accents (the company calls it "Sun" *scoff!*). 

So they go to one more store where Princess/Goldy is lusting over goofy looking KSwiss shoes with tubing on the soles.  The prince doesn't think they look very durable but Goldy thinks they are super comfy...and they're purple (shown below in a different color which makes them look so not exciting). 

By now the prince is searching every shelf, every brand, every style for size 7s that might satisfy His Royal Darling, while fending off PTSD flashbacks to those evil step-sisters flocking and flirting and hacking off their heels....  Instead of one shoe and a thousand potential princess, it's one princess and a thousand potential shoes!

They finally return to the castle empty-handed (although not exactly barefoot), but armed with enough information to make an informed internet purchase.   Now it's one PC and a hundred thousand potential shoes....!  Mmmm....more shopping!

*     *     *     *    *     *     *     *     *

A few days later (on pay day, to be precise), I made my final selection.  The aforementioned "Sun" colored shoe was in fact, the Brooks Ghost 3, and does, in fact, come in several colors.  You'll be surprised to learn that I chose the bugg-y looking color palette over the purple-y one.  I'm liking these bright greens and blues...

I had a 15% discount code for RunningWarehouse.com so I ended up paying $108 for my hundred dollar shoes, plus a cheap pair of socks, plus a pair of not-so-cheap Thorlos, plus a pair of borderline-pricey Injinji toe socks for Alan to try.  And I got a free shopping bag.  You can't argue with that!

But here's the ultimate punch line:  AFTER I placed my order, I was flipping through (read: drooling over) a Title Nine catalog and they featured a very familiar looking pair of shoes--MY shoes!  In MY color choice even!--under the heading "Goldilocks Runners"!!

Just right!!

Counting Down and Up-Dating

10

weeks

or

70

days

until we run



I hijacked Mum's personal planner today and wrote in the dates for all our major events for the year.  I wan to be sure we have the Gumps "booked" for race support (or, in some cases, babysitting).  We might even get them to enter a 5k or two.  I'll keep you posted! 

And now, because I'm on my mesozoic laptop (read: big, old, slow) I'm refusing to spend another age adding much more to this blogpost, so here's a synopsis of the week: 

Lots of logistical calisthenics to accommodate running, rehearsal and social schedules.  Nancy drags Alan on a shoe-trying-on excursion so she can fall in love with $140 running shoes (funny story for a future post).  Madeline is selected for District V chorus along. I do my first treadmill run (very slooooow, much fiddling with settings, have to learn to time it so I can watch a whole TV show instead of missing the dramatic conclusion, felt super dizzy afterward).  Sponsors and a second speaker are found for Administrative Profs day event (much to my relief).  I'm approved at work to go to a conference in Montreal this summer.  The kids go to Nana Mary's in Milo from Thursday until today; Madeline yanks out a baby tooth.  Alan and Nancy enjoy Wii time without the kids.  Mad and I both get our nails done (an early birthday treat for her).  I hit all my miles for the week but don't do any cross-training.  More snow + fluctuating temps = lots of icicles.

WHYDTWTMYFP?*

First off, I do hereby most sincerely apologize for causing that debilitating feeling of emptiness that surely must have ensued when I didn't provide one of these stirring posts last week. 
(You may stop laughing now.)

Also, I was going to regularly include my "not so proud" moments but I've decided not to hold myself to that, partly in the spirit of ACCentuating the positive, and partly because I don't feel like typing [and you don't feel like reading] "I ate a lot of junk" every week.  Let's just say that one's a given until I say I'm proud of not doing that. 
(Don't hold your breath.)

Getting on it with it--

This week I am proud because...
~Twice, I ran three miles with negative splits.  oooooh...don't get all excited: I'm still slow.
~I scheduled a session with a trainer at the Rec Center specifically to learn how to use the treadmills.
~I worked on planning the Administrative Professionals Week event coming up in April.
~I made a poster for BCT's upcoming play (All My Murders).
~I seem to be juggling work, running, choir, IAAP, BCT, Rotary... AND my husband and kids still recognize me as someone who resides in the same household (so far).


Sources of inspiration this week include...
~Lots of awesome posts by various bloggers I follow, especially Marathon Mama whose phenomenal whit and humor on any subject from superbowl half time shows to gynecologists to the Boston Athletics Association regularly causes me to come this close to shooting oatmeal out my nose and onto my flat-screen monitor.  This is especially dangerous on days I put dried cherries in there [hey! that's something good I've been eating].  Perhaps next week I'll be proud of learning not to read funny blogs while eating breakfast...but probably not.

~A photo of me! in the MDI Half that I happend to find on the 5k sports facebook page.  The streaming sunlight reminds me of the excitement I was feeling and conveniently obliterates all memory of stress, discomfort, and general anxiety.  I feel like that pig in Zuckerman's barn.  You know: RADIANT.

Have an awesome weekend everyone.
*What Have You Done This Week To Make You Feel Proud?

WHYDTWTMYFP*?

Wow, last week went by quickly--very full!--and I'm already overdue on my "cheers and jeers" post.

This week I am proud because...
I guilted my mom into reading my blog!
I got my parents to get a membership at the Rec Center (by dragging them there and arranging for them to get a tour while I got started on my run).
I got in almost all my planned running miles (minus one tenth due to a lap-counting error). 
Alan rocks (see previous post extolling the virtues of my hand hubby).
James brought home a report card with all As and Bs--way to go!
I wrote and conducted a choral tribute to our interim choirmaster. The choir sounded great and it was very well received.

I am less proud about...
Inadvertently lying to you in this post last week: I did NOT get in all 6 days of training (I missed Sunday 2 weeks ago and again today).  I wasn't just slacking, though; Sundays are often ridiculously over-booked. I may have to examine how realistic my expectations are there.
I am behind on my crunches and have been eating junk food all week.
Also, we are disappointed that our team did not pull off a last-minute Superbowl win (while we were eating said junk food).  *Darn*

*What Have You Done This Week To Make You Feel Proud?

Coming Clean

Do you remember that our dryer broke the week before Christmas? 
And that, for my birthday, Alan took loads and loads of sopping wet clothes to the laundry-mat to dry them?
And did you know that we haven't done laundry since then??
Yes, we have an obscene amount of clothing in our home, and yes, 98% of it is dirty.  Well...95%, now because....

IT'S ALIVE!!!

The new washer and dryer arrived in late January and Alan has been slaving away at getting everything hooked up.  This means that he has done major plumbing, carved various holes in the walls of our bathroom (yes, I'm Ok with that),  installed a vent, run a new electrical line up from the basement, and attached a stacking kit.  Oh yeah, and actually moved the things into place (with some lifting assistance from Gumpy).We're talking serious handyman work and I am so very proud and thankful for my dear, sweet, wonderful, talented, strong hubby.  He is very tired.

And now there is some serious washing being done. It's a little daunting, sitting on the john and seeing this giant tower of appliances looming in front of you....but the whole family is sooooo in love with the pretty digital read-outs, lift-off-seems-imminent-spin-cycle, and the lilting chimes of the "wash complete" song....

This just in from Jeremy: "Mommy, the dryer is done!" 

Sweeter words have never been uttered!!!  OK, so I exaggerate...but only a little.

What's A Girl Gotta Do...

...to get her own mother to read her blog??

My mom recently informed me that she's been following Emilie's blog in order to keep up-to-date on Emilie's mom, Beth, and her breast cancer fight.  This is both laudable and understandable. 

But I had to ask (hopefully):  "Have you read my blog lately, Mom?"
And she replied (without apology): "Well, no."

So I wonder, What's a girl gotta do?!? 

Fortunately, I recently discovered an option in my blog settings where I can type in email addresses and new posts will automatically be sent to them.  Eureka!

So, to my PARENTAL UNITS who have theoretically just received this via email: 
Did it work? and Don't dump your daughter in the spam folder!

Also, to Stacy, who asked a long time ago how she could get blog updates via email: 1. thanks for caring, and 2. ta da!!!  (I hope...let me know if it worked).

And to the rest of you:  Thank you so much for actually following me! 
Now, MOM, it's a cold, snowy day, when most everything has been closed or cancelled; isn't this a great time to catch up on all those posts you've been missing?!?


Who, me?



WHYDTWTMYFP?*

The Biggest Loser theme song asks:
What Have You Done Today To Make You Feel Proud?

It's a great question, and I keep trying to incorporate it at home with the kids (i.e. conversation-starter at a family dinner), but haven't really made a regular habit of it.

I've been thinking about my food diary and how it's not helping me change my ways because no one else sees it.  It's harder to write down "Breakfast: one slice of tollhouse pie" if you know it's going to be public.  While I'm not quite ready for full disclosure (and that would be ultra-boring reading!), I do think it would be helpful to regularly proclaim "the good" and fess up to "the bad and the ugly".  Plus, I'm really trying to blog more consistently. 

Thus, I am hereby starting a weekly blogpost of accomplishments and confessions (just the highlights, I promise). 
Here goes:

This week, I am proud because...

~I worked out 6 days out of 7, which is what my Hal Higdon training plan says I'm supposed to do (last year, I basically blew off the whole "cross-training" concept).

~Alan and I have been doing much better at planning dinners ahead.  This amounts to "real" meals (although we're still pathetic about fresh vegetables), much less stress, and more time spent together as a family.

I am less proud that...

~I didn't do all the running mileage I was scheduled to do, but I'm ok with that.

~The tollhouse pie entry? Yeah, that was true (It was warm and melty and accompanied by a caramel latte and I change my mind; I'm not sorry after all!).

And now the question goes to you:

*What Have You Done This Week To Make You Feel Proud?

Quick: Say Something Inspiring!

So, the latest crazy news is that I've had not one, but two people whom I respect and admire call me "inspiring" recently, while a third one wrote "we bow to their buffness" referring to Alan and me completing the MDI Half Marathon.  Seriously? Are you sure you mean me?!?  'Cause I certainly didn't start out trying to inspire anyone (other than myself) and I know I don't qualify as "buff"!  It's a neat feeling, though, and it gives me hope that we might have some positive effect on our kids. 

Even more surprising is that all this comes afer a 3 week hiatus from blogging.  I may have lost momentum online, but I have been keeping more or less on top of the physical stuff so far. For example, while I haven't exactly done 30 crunches every day, I have done the equivalent of 30 crunches every day.  I haven't run as often as I planned to in January, but then again, it's January (you know, that month right after Christmas that starts off with sleep deprivation and a sinus infection followed closely by three family birthdays?).  I should have known I wouldn't have much energy and it's OK because I am getting going now, and my training plan for the Half doesn't actually begin until February.  I'm even adding in fitness sessions on the Wii and Madeline and I have a weekly gym date.  I'm keeping my food diary (subtitled "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly"), although my nutritional intake is still pretty deplorable.  That's ok too, though, because the point is simply to pay more attention at this point; I can add loftier goals later.

Since long before my dreams of fitness kicked in, the New Year has always brought dreams of organization. I think running has finally taught me how to set goals and actually meet them and I'm applying this to other areas of my life as well.  For the first time I can remember, I was actually ready for a birthday party 10 minutes before the starting time: Jeremy's cake (complete with sugar-cube-igloo and cavorting penguins) was fully decorated and on display, the favor bags were assembled, the craft materials were ready and waiting, and I even had my make-up on!

I recently bought a book called One Year to An Organized Life.  I haven't totally bought into the dream boards and journaling aspects yet (it gets really involved with self-analysis, psychotherapy, and affirmations) but I used some of her more basic advice to conquer our upstairs bathroom.  With the imminent arrival of our new washer and dryer (coming Wednesday! Becoming operational...um...whenever Alan gets all the water, electrical and venting hooked up) I really had to clean out and completely reorganize all our storage in there.  It is sooooo much better now!  I'll post after pictures once the appliances are in (no, I wasn't tasteless enough to take before pictures. Gross.).


Since I have no words of wisdom of my own, I'll stick with the motto used by the Campaign for Mount Holyoke:

ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS.
It only works, though, if you realize that even (or especially) the little things are the truly "great" ones.

Oh, and if you want REAL inspiration, Read Emilie's latest posts here, here, and here about her totally awesome, brave, funny mom. 

Goals for 2011

This is not by any means an exhaustive list of all my hopes and ambitions for my life this year, but here are the (fitness-related) things I'm really going to strive for and how I intend to achieve them. After all, it worked last year to say them out loud, so why not do that again?

What I want to Do:
Run 500 miles (or more) in 2011;
Better my times for races I did in 2010;
Complete approximately 10 road races, including 2 Half Marathons (Big Lake and MDI--full list coming soon to the bloggy side-bar);
Stay as healthy and injury-free as possible;
Be more mindful about what I eat (and perhaps make some better choices?);
Wind up with some running pictures of myself that I actually like.

How I'll do It: 
Follow my training plan for the year (based on Hal Higdon again) which has me running 3 times/week;
Include more cross-training (I need to get a little more specific about this, but I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering the Wii-fit soon...);
Do 30 crunches/day;
Take my vitamins;
Keep a food diary [oh man...it's already not pretty, but at least I'm thinking about what I eat...!];
Find and purchase a pair of running shorts that actually fit (and maybe a running skirt?);
Get pix at every race;
Enlist the aid of family and friends again for advice, accountability, motivation and race-day support*.

Wow. That sounds like a lot, but as Madeline says, "I can DO this!"
Um...I think.

*This last item "race-day support" is HUGE for me so it deserves additional explanation.  Alan takes no notice of the sidelines, blissfully--and intentionally--lost in whatever's emitting from his earbuds.  I however, have discovered that I am a glutton for external motivation.  Several times throughout the year I thought I would eat my motto's words "Smile and Move" but no matter how lousy I feel, I almost always smile at people when I run.  And if I'm in a race and those people are clapping, hooting, hollering my name, waving signs, ringing cowbells, or otherwise cheering me on, then I can't help but smile!  So I hereby promise my undying gratitude to anyone willing to show up and help me smile. In fact, I will happily pay baked-good-bribes to race-day support crews! Seriously. My chocolate bread is delicious.  And by the way, as the Fey family knows (I so totally owe you guys like 3 loaves of bread...), and as we know from our day at the Vermont City Marathon, being the cheering section can be lots of fun, very inspiring, and the highlight of any vacation.

2010 Goals: Check!

As the year drew to a close, Alan was watching his total running mileage creep up and decided that he wanted to complete 500 miles by December 31st, and he did it!  So, of course, we've been thinking about how many miles we'd like to run in 2011 and what races we're planning to do (and therefore what our training plans need to look like).


I decided I'd better check in with last year's goals to see how I did.  Below are excerpts from my post on 01-10-10 titled "Nancy's Brave Plan" and it sure did feel brave at the time:

Goal 1: Become a "runner", specifically, someone who can run 1.5 miles 3 times per week by April.
Method: Hal Higdon's 30/30 plan
Additional tools: HH's Beginner Runner's Guide (arrived in yesterday's mail), new sneakers (Alan and I bought them for each other for Christmas), new sports watch (birthday gift from Alan)...do you sense a theme here?
Well, I did that all right!  Starting with the 30/30, I ran my first consecutive mile in late February.


Goal 2: Run a 5K Memorial Day Weekend (or thereabouts--still looking for a local race around then, or maybe Alan and I will just set a date to run that distance by ourselves and let our weekend house guests baby-sit/cheer us on).
Method: Hal Higdon 5K training plan, beginning April 4th (which is why I need to be able to do goal #1...).
I met this goal early: I started Hal's 5k training the second week in March and ran my first ever roadrace, the "Health High 5k" on 04-20-10.  


Goal 3: Run and/or walk the MDI HALF MARATHON in September (I can't believe I'm actually saying this! I'm anxious for the online registration to become available so I can't back out!)
Method: Hal Higdon Half Marathon training plan starting in late June; run the Fourth of July 3K as part of training.
Additional tools: Alan, Emilie, Jenn, everyone supporting me along the way...right guys?!?
I never said it was going to be pretty--and it wasn't--but I met this goal too.  I walked a lot of it, and was pretty darn miserable for a lot of it, but I'm really proud of myself for finishing.  I absolutely could NOT have done it without Alan, Jenn and Emilie's support from day one, without Emilie running me home, and without so many friends and family cheering me on.  [I hope you're not sick of me yet, because there's more to come!] 


Goal 4: Run the Turkey Trek on Thanksgiving Day.
Method: Try not to be in an air-cast, and get my baking done ahead of time!
Done! (although I did take a few short walking breaks and I lucked out when we decided to move our Thanksgiving feast to Friday). 

And I accomplished so many other things while achieving--and surpassing--those original goals.  This brings me back to one of my favorite quotes: "self esteem expands when we accomplish something that is difficult and has meaning to us."  I'm proud of me and proud of us and am finally excited about saying next year's goals out loud.

Cheesy Snowman: This Year's Holiday Mascot

I found this Martha Stewart recipe last year and it has become my go-to item for holiday parties.  I've made several now but keep forgetting to get pictures.  I made this one for the office party and our Director of Tech Mgmt, Benny, whipped out his phone.  I guess he was amused.  Anyway, he kindly emailed it to me.

Unlike Martha's, mine has cinnamon stick arms which Jeremy noted were missing from the recipe.  Also unlike Martha's, this one is not exactly neat and trim because I neglected to put the cheese ball mixture in the freezer before hand.  I was afraid it would be too hard, but erred in the other direction: he was a very melty looking snowman and proceded to sink into himself over the course of the party.   No one had the heart to eat his head so I finally had to decapitat him and let people have at his torso.  

Alan says I should start making them a la Calvin and Hobbes. 

I think I'm gonna need more cheese...

 

Gingerbread Snowflakes or How to Cheat Impressively

Today we made one of our signature holiday cookies.  It's a veritable study in how many "cheats" one can employ at the same time.  For you my loyal followers, I lay out all my secrets.

1. Purchase Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough (and refrain from reading the ingredients list).

I look for it in the grocery store when I'm doing my Thanksgiving shopping.  It's actually on the T-day grocery list that I perpetually recycle.  This year, I found it the week after at the Hannaford in Bangor (not at Old Town which is closer to home and my default location).  If you're local and you're looking for it, you may already be too late, particularly since I picked up three rolls each for myself and mum.  In fact, it may be about time to look for the easter goodies you love (commercialism astounds me).

2. Wait for the perfect large block of production time.  Today's snow day--a surprise block of quality family time--was the perfect bonus cheat.

3.  Procure cheap child labor, willing to "work" for the chance to disperse flour all over the dining room table, the chairs, the floor, themselves and me, and nibble on raw dough when they thought I wasn't looking.  And when they knew I was.  And after I said to stop.  And after Alan said to stop.

4. Assemble your tools:  a marble or glass board (one per laborer), flour, a spatula (this awesome one is from Pampered Chef), and flower shaped cookie cutters (the tiny one is from a set for use with fondant and voted most likely to suffer a tragic demise in the disposal).  Not pictured are my baking sheets, also from Pampered Chef.

5.  Allow the masses to run amok with 2/3 of your available cookie dough, supervising/advising/getting directly involved enough to forestall injuries, produce some yummy vaguely snowflake-ish looking cookies and even get a few worth decorating and distributing to friends, then send the help away to wash up and have "quiet" time (we use the term loosely) and peacefully crank out  beautiful specimens from the last roll of cookie dough.

6. Decorate cookies to look like snowflakes:  this is the deceptively easy stage.  Buy Wilton White Cookie Icing and Edible Cake Sparkles (and once again don't even think about what might be in them.  The icing looks exactly like a bottle of Elmer's glue and I can't help thinking there's a reason for that).

Here's the finished product (you'll note that only one has gotten the full treatment thus far!).  We store them in the freezer or at least out on the porch where they'll stay really cold, except for the family batch which will likely be consumed at a rapid rate.

November 25: Turkey Trek 2010

This isn't so much a race report as a series of pictures of people standing around looking reeeeeeally cooooooold.

The whole gang bundled up and ready to go:

 Emilie taking the big group photo:

 Jeremy coming in for a landing with Nana and Gumpy (hidden):

 The crew at the finish line/check-in table:

 Plus James who took some time getting there.  We actually went looking for him, but he was fine and did the whole four miles (walking and running) all on his own!

Alan and I ran the four mile loop. 

Jeremy and the Gumps walked a shorter (2 mile?) loop, and

Madeline did the same loop with friends from church and their dogs.

I missed Jenn a lot and the whole idea of recreating last year's St. John's Moms picture didn't happen due to chaos and so few of us being there (although we thought maybe we'd include stay-at-home dad, Eric, if we did do it...).  I didn't bother with my mp3 figuring it would be more fun to be sociable but found myself totally alone for most of the way following the same forest path as at least a hundred other people.  What's up with that? Apparently my pace is totally unique--slower than the other runners, and faster than the walkers. 

On a baking note, this event also heralded my first attempt at homemade baklava.  I made something else first out of phyllo dough (purchased by accident and taking up space in the freezer) but it was a partial failure so I needed to pinch hit.  The baklava was pretty quick and easy thanks to the cooking spray-between-the-layers-instead-of-melted-butter method, but I learned the hard (or rather, sticky) way not to cook the syrup in the microwave.  Can you say "sugar volcano of doom?"  I knew you could.  Yeah, well, I needed to clean that really well before the dinner crowd arrived anyway. 

Emilie and Susan put on a great event and I'm just so glad we made it this year!!!  It really helped that we didn't do our dinner until Friday so we had the whole day to warm up, bake, and "chillax".  The kids watched the remainder of the Macy's Parade and played a bingo game I found online.  [Note to self: dvr it next year so we don't miss the rockettes.]  I had sworn that there would be no more housework on the actual holiday, but I made a liar of myself.  We still had quite a bit of picking up and cleaning to do Thursday and even Friday morning.   But it was so nice to enjoy spending time as a family and doing loads of food prep and decorating for our big holiday gathering.  It was a Good Day.

November 21: Turkey Trot, Brewer ME

In the "everyone's doing it" spirit, we decided to take on Brewer High School's Turkey Trot.  With a fun run for the kids and a 3-miler for us (and Mum and Dad willing to come along and cheer/kid-sit) it seemed like a great way to spend the afternoon. 

So we rose early and attired ourselves in layered assortments of running togs, long underwear, sweats and even pajama bottoms(!) and packed sandwiches and snacks for lunch and....went to church.

After doing our bit and blitzing the coffee-hour, and a quick change for Nancy (from choir-appropriate footwear and a skirt to sneakers and sweats [that long running skirt I've been eyeballing would have been totally perfect for this...]) we convoyed to Brewer, scarfing down more snacks in the car.  We arrived in plenty of time to pick up our bibs, use the facilities and figure out where we needed to be.  Mum and Dad, of course, played things a little closer to the wire.  Mum saw the kids start and then retrieved Dad from the car in time to see them finish.  All three did a great job.  They had fun in spite of the cold and were pleased with their times.  Alan was desperately trying to get some stretching in before the start but I just kept thinking how much I didn't want to shed any layers.  At the last minute I shoved my fleece at Mum, along with assorted water bottles and cheese and crackers I'd been nibbling on.  It was really cold while we waited for the horde to surge forward, but after that the chill was quickly left behind.  For almost the first mile I kept pace with Alan.  He was in the zone with his tunes so we didn't chat much but he kept looking over at me as if to say "you're still here?".  I finally let him go and hunkered into my own pace, but I really didn't feel like I'd pushed it that much to begin with.  During my first walking break, Carey from UMaine who I frequently see at running events ran past and said hello.  So I picked it up again and chatted with her for a bit which was just what I needed.  Between keeping up with her and trying to keep Alan in sight I was able to pull off a pretty good pace overall.  The brisk air was certainly invigorating as well!

Afterward, we all milled around in the high school gym and visited with the many people we know.  Once again I marvelled at how much taking up running is like joining a secret society only to discover that I already know a huge portion of the membership.

As usual, we won no prizes, although someone we know walked away with 3 turkeys (yes, age-group and team awards come in the form of frozen fowl) and the $600 cash door prize (one dollar per registrant)!

It was a fun event (even though the kids were a bit unmanageable) and we're very likely to do it again.  At first, I thought the tee shirts were terrible because I thought the turkey looked evil.  They had car decals, too, and Jeremy kept asking if we could get "evil chicken stickers".  I'm thinking someone overheard us because they made a point to announce that the artwork was done (and donated) by the artist who draws The Hulk for Marvel Comics.  Upon closer inspection, it's easy to see that he is not, in fact, an evil chicken, but a hulkified turkey.  No one's gonna cook his giblets!  Way cool.

J, j and M strike action poses

Emilie with her Marks Family flock of newbie runners

November 20: Train Show 2010

This event is an annual big deal for Gumpy (aka the Train Doctor) and his model railroading club.  Funny story:  It used to be held the Sunday before Thanksgiving which was known in the family as "Train Sunday" and might as well have been included in the Episcopal lectionary.  A few years ago they finally got tired of competing with the traffic delays caused by the local Turkey Trot and switched it to Saturday.  I never knew that until this year...when we decided to do the race! And it all comes back to running....

Anyway, back to the Train Show. 

There are rows of tables set up for dealers displaying and selling anything and everything remotely train related from model engines, cars, cabooses (cabeese?) and track of all guages and types, to tiny realistic trees and packages of green dirt to decorate your layout, to the Operation Lifesaver booth with their safety videos and cardboard conductor's hats, to a toy Delorian sold by a cranky and hugely obese guy, to remote control airplanes that take digital aerial imagery while they fly. 

And then there's a silent auction and all the wheelin' and dealin' between vendors and the Train Doctor's booth with his clanging railroad crossing sign and his multi-track board for testing engines and his magnifying visor and his bags full of tools.  I think this is my dad's idea of heaven.

And then there's the little snack table that Mum bakes for and helps staff in between trying to get my dad to eat something (because he was up half the night and early that morning packing and tinkering and lugging all his stuff and didn't eat any breakfast) because she loves him and supports him and his passion.

But the real action takes up about a quarter of the large catering event space.  At least 20 separate segments built by individual members of the club are carefully hitched together to create a giant, rectangular, multi-track model train layout.  They had two very long trains running continuously through the varying landscapes and tiny lifelike scenery.

We brought Madeline's friend, Tony, along and I don't think he had every seen anything quite like it.  I suspect he went home and begged his parents for a train layout.  And believe me: no kid who sees this wants to start out small.

Here they are watching the action:

...along with Jeremy who traded his real hat for a cardboard one (to accommodate his hairdo, perhaps?):

Pretty soon, the wild-haired boy got a hold of the camera and didn't stop moving and snapping for about an hour.  Here are a couple of his more interesting "etudes de blur":

The kids each got to spend $5 so we came home with an assortment of toy cars including one which can only be described as....PUNCHBUGGY YELLOW!! 

*gotcha!*

Pumpkin Pie Redemption

A few weeks back, after my blogpost about pie, I had a hankering for Pumpkin Pie.  So, one day Jeremy and I made one together.  We made a crumb crust out of ginger snaps (pulverising cookies in the food processor was AWESOME!).  Jeremy also had a lot of fun helping me measure out the spices and mix the filling in a bowl, although there was much nose-wrinkling over the smell of raw pumpkin puree.  We filled our sweet pie crust and put it in the oven.  This is one of those recipes that calls for a high temperature for the first 10 minutes or so and then you turn it down to something a bit more reasonable.  The timer went of for the temp change and Jeremy came running in to help with that.  Then we were both off to other things.  I was in the family room.  I kept smelling the pie and at one point it smelled a little burny, so I went and looked at it.  It looked ok, although the crust was getting a little dark.  I chalked it up to the glass pan and thought maybe I shouldn't have used that....  By the time the buzzer went off, the poor little pie was reminiscent of an old black cast-iron frying pan.  When I turned off the oven I discovered that the temperature was on 450!  although I was certain I turned it down at the appointed time.  It's possible that someone bumped the dial (it spins very easily) and it's also possible that someone "helped" again after I left the room.  Either way, I should have given my nose more credit and rescued the pie much earlier.

Dessert that night was pumpkin pie filling scooped from the cast-iron carcass and doused with whipped cream.  And No, I did not take pictures of it.
The rest got dumped the following trash day.  It was very disheartening.
For Thanksgiving, I repeated the entire process--minus the temperature control debacle--and enjoyed sweet, spiced redemption.  Mmmmmm...