Weekend Report (Part 2 of 3): MDI Half Marathon 2011

Saturday, September 17th

When we dragged ourselves out of bed in the wee small hours it was definitely nippy, but it proved to be a gorgeous day with blue cloudless skies, and crisp clear air...a most exquisite early fall Saturday in Maine. 

Much of the day turned out as planned (or better).  We arrived at the starting line appropriately equipped and on time for the horn (barely, in my case, but it meant I could skip the pit stop later).  The Nanas managed navigation and timing such that they met us each at several points on the course (including the crucial first stop where they handed us our camelbaks), didn't lose or damage either of the kids, and got everyone back to the Y in time to see us finish.  Mum even got some pictures.  Here I am swooping in for a hug from Jeremy at the top of Eagle Lake. 

I only paused long enough to get my headphones tangled up and to correct Mum when she mistakenly estimated that Alan would be back at the top of the lake in approximately 8 minutes.  We were four minutes apart at that point so her calculation would have him doing 6 miles in about 12 minutes.  Um...no.  [It turns out, he had been trying to help her determine how far behind him I would eventually be, but no matter.]   Here's Alan having completed said circuit (a reasonable amount of time later).

Alan just after mile 10

Alan--considering this just another training run, and part of his taper at that--had planned to take it fairly slow ("but not shingles slow" because that would just be embarrassing).   His final time was 2:33:02, a new PR for him (compared to 2:46:59 last year, and 2:47:57 at Big Lake).  He wasn't actually complaining about the finisher's "prize" when this picture was taken, but it does look that way, and the caption expresses our general feelings on the matter.

A freakin' TRAVEL MUG??!!  Where's my #@&#% medal?!?!

I knew I'd be faster than last year, but didn't think I'd be in a position to beat my time from May, so I was shooting for 2:50:00 and was going to be happy as long as I was under 3 hours.  This is me feeling pretty darn good about my own PR of 2:43:17 (compared to Big Lake's 2:47:56 and last year's sad, slow, shingly 3:13:13).

 

Nancy triumphant!  (and ready for a shower!)

Here we are with our support crew and Emilie-the-Great, who looks like a rock star and ran like one, too.  Note that SHE has a medal....

Medals vs Mugs

After polling registrants a couple months back as to whether we'd like an engraved travel mug in place of a medal, the race organizers decided to offer a choice of a mug or a medal.  That sounds reasonable, but unfortunately they grossly miscalculated how many people would want the hardware and so RAN OUT OF MEDALS by the time the back-of-the-packers arrived (you know, the people who are less likely to have an excess of race bling and more likely to care about it).  While I wish I had a medal, I really wish the organizers had been gutsier about the whole thing.  They should have picked one item, made it a quality item, and presented it with style.  The finisher's prize is a mug?  OK, then make it a darned nice mug, put a ribbon on the handle and hang it around my neck.  I'm serious! And make sure it says that I completed the race, instead of looking like something anyone could buy at a fundraiser and using it to advertise the store that sponsored them.  While I applaud efforts to be unique and interesting, this did not cut it.  I hope very much not ever again to bust my butt for 13.1 miles to be handed [I am not exaggerating here] A WHITE CARDBOARD BOX that says "MADE IN CHINA".  Unless I'm in China, in which case that last part would be fine.  But there better be something cool inside.

Other races have truly unique prizes:

• The Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon  medal has a removable ribbon, a giant refrigerator magnet on the back and is shaped like a surfboard with a shark bite taken out of it that doubles as a bottle opener. 
• There are companies like this one devoted to creating unique medals.
• And, it doesn't even have to be a medal.  Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival gives out cowbells and I heard of another race that gives out small pieces of granite on a ribbon [hello? pink granite would represent Acadia nicely.]

Also, Alan was disappointed to be fourth in line for a post-race rubdown when they announced they only had time for two more people.  But other than that, everything was really well organized, the course was pristine and magnificent, and everyone was incredibly nice as always.  For all my razzing about the mugs, we know this race is special: there's nothing quite like it anywhere else and we're truly fortunate to experience it. 

Afterward, we drove around aimlessly for a bit hoping to find a shady spot with picnic tables, then gave up and headed back into Bar Harbor where our minivan circled like a giant silver vulture looking for a parking space.  Finally, we landed on the green (conveniently near the public restrooms) and enjoyed a lovely picnic.  We stuffed our faces, watched the boats in the harbor and even had a visit from a very friendly and trusting little bird that was like something out of a partially-animated, G-rated movie.

"Feed the birds...tuppence a bag..."

It even agreed to be passed around...

...and pecked at Alan's ankle...

...and Madeline's sparkly nailpolish.

So a good day was had by all and at this point all I had to do was figure out how to get up off the grass. 

Oh yeah, and run a 5k the next morning.

Weekend Report (part 1 of 3): On Pins and Needles

Friday, September 16th

After months of tending the countdown calendar on my cubicle wall, I arrived at work dressed in jeans and last year's MDI Half Marathon technical tee and slid the ominous number "1" into its little laminated pocket.

0

Weeks

or

1

Days

until we run the

MDI Half Marathon

I worked a few hours, set my vacation responder to "on", then zipped home to to make a double batch of my new favorite snack--homemade granola bars with dark chocolate and dried cherries [recipe coming soon, I promise, Anne-Marie!].  Then I finished packing my clothes [read: finally decided what to wear for the race], the cooler (coldcuts, condiments, water, gatorade and coke), the green bag full of breakfast stuff (pop tarts, oatmeal, raisin bread & bananas), the picnic basket (plates, napkins, breads, snacks), and the red bag (camelbak parts and cowbells). At some point Nana Mary arrived (with more poptarts, cinnamon buns, brownies, cheese and crackers) and we eventually got all three kids home from school and packed and into the car and over to Mom and Dad's.  We left James there, to spend the night with Gumpy and help push the train in the Charleston Bicentennial Parade, and picked up Nana Lois.  At last six of us were off to Hancock where Alan and I unceremoniously deposited the two kids, two nanas and all our stuff, grabbed a couple of over-sized brownies, and dashed off to the island*. 

Somewhere around Lamoine I had a few moments of internet connection on my phone and updated my facebook status.  Alan asked "so how do you feel?". When I hesitated, he said "I'm guessing you're feeling better than you did last year?".  Hell, yeah!  For the past two weeks I've been a little down on myself for not feeling as prepared as I'd like to be.  I had a really great half in May with good reason: I'd worked hard, plus I was healthy and mentally prepared, too.  But this summer, I didn't really do a lot of the training I meant to do.  I did almost everything on my plan for running, but did virtually nothing else--no weights, no wii, no cross-training whatsoever.  On the other hand, boy, does it feel good to be gearing up for this race again and not have shingles!   So, I've been looking at this year's MDI Half as "the great do-over".  Conditions are really pretty much the same as last year in terms of my overall fitness (although I wish I were improved), the one real difference being that I'm not sick: I don't have nerve pain from my ass to my ankle and I have been sleeping through the night like a normal person.  Crazy!  [Side note: last year a week before this race our friend, Sue, supported me while I was barely able to stand with chills, fatigue and nerve pain, watching my kids run the DI Pie in the Sky fun run and telling me that there would be other chances to run a half marathon.  This year, a week ago, I watched my kids run (adorned in pie-winning costumes!) and then ran the 5k with Sue's husband, Bucky and their dog, Cricket.  What a happy difference!]

We arrived at packet pick-up with time to spare before dinner, so when an acupuncturist asked if we wanted free mini-sessions we shrugged and said "sure!".  Neither one of us had ever tried acupuncture, but we love our chiropractor and I didn't feel like it a would be a big stretch.  Next thing we knew, I was face down on a table with tiny needles in my neck, my lower back and one leg while Alan was draped in a chair with needles in his back and a space blanket draped over him while strangers milled around picking up their packets and talking about "jogglers". 

Is that Alan or a giant baked potato??

Actually, I found the whole thing very relaxing.  The needles only prickled when they were being inserted or moved and she managed to calm down a nasty knot in my neck and help relax the issue I've been having with my achilles.  Alan took a little video of a needle in my ankle wobbling in rythmn to my pulse. Weird. Right afterwards I was a little chilly and worried that I'd tighten up again, but we donned our fleece jackets and walked to dinner so it wasn't an issue.

We turned straight to the pasta menu at Poor Boy's Gourmet.  We'd never been there but it lived up to its internet reputation nicely--excellent food, very nice people and very reasonably priced.  We enjoyed huge bowls of pasta with delicious sauces on their pleasant, mostly-enclosed porch--again, I was afraid I'd be cold, but wasn't--and listened in to some other runners dining at the next table.

I had dessert--white chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust and raspberry chambord sauce.  Mmmmmmm...

By then I was nicely stuffed, relaxed and ready to go.  We drove back to the cottage, where we reviewed the plans for the morning with Mum and Mary.  I took a Tylenol PM and Alan set his alarm for 5:30am. 


*Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park, Mt. Cadillac, Bar Harbor, Reel Pizza, Little Notch Bakery, Seawall, Blackwoods, Jordan Pond House, Wonderland, the mice from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and so much more.

The Adventure

[That's Jeremy's title for what happened Friday afternoon at Choir Camp.  And what follows is our joint rendition of that story.]
Friday was the last of five days of singing and fun with 35 kids at our beloved St. Johns.
All had been going well...when suddenly: SLAM! a door was accidentally closed on Jeremy's fingers!

"OPEN THE DOOR!!!" Jeremy yelled. 

[more happened at church: the door was opened, the room was cleared of extraneous children, Dr. Creaser made a makeshift splint, freezer pops were applied and a very nice camp mom, Michaelene, sat with Jeremy and kept him company until I arrived....but Jeremy doesn't think that part is interesting.]

Flash forward to McDonald's where we got a snack and a nice lady gave Jeremy an "ice glove" to replace the now-melted freezer pops [not THAT's interesting...!].

Then we went to Dr. Martin's office, where Jo-Jo the Monkey sits, and Jeremy was told he needed X-Rays. [Cool!]

The X-Ray technician was very nice and Jo-Jo got some X-Rays too [but didn't actually make it into the shot].

[Mom got to watch from the tech room which was really neat.]

Here are the actual images on the computer screen:

Verdict from the Doctor?  No Fractures.  Hooray!!!

And Jeremy made it back to "full contact choir camp" just in time to robe up and sing the Evensong.

At the reception, Jeremy got hit by a flying grape and bonked his head on a railing.  Ouch! 

Later on, we all went to Denny's and had a very nice dinner, after which Jeremy fell down in the parking lot and added a scraped elbow, another bonked head, and butt pains to the injury list. 

We all agreed that he won the contest for most hurt that day.

  THE END!!!

First Day of Summer

Tuesday was the first offical day of summer!

The kids are finally done with school.  We had been informed that the last day of school would be Friday, June 17th (following some post-haste adjustments to in-service and mini-days), but as I stood in the kitchen reading the notice--on April Fools Day while we were all home for yet another snow day--I knew it was an unintentional joke. The real last day of school ended up being on a Monday, and a half day at that. I am not aware of anything other than end-of-school-year parties taking place that day. Frankly, I applaud the teachers just for showing up. Especially the two who are retiring. Oh wait: one of them left for space camp last week. Oh well, good for him!

I had a day off as well. I will end up working four weekend days this month--very unusual for me--and so I find myself needing to take some time off.   For someone who is usually scrimping and saving (take a long lunch to attend a school event--work late; leave early for choir--work through lunch; etc) and often ends up using little bits of vacation time anyway, having the potential to be OVER time for the month is very unusual. The best part is that two of those weekend days "worked" were at a conference on Cape Cod.   Rough life, eh? [Actually, while I did have fun, I was pretty exhausted after that trip so I do feel like I deserve the time off.] 

Here's what we did:

We all slept in (or rather, awoke and arose of our own accord as opposed to being jolted awake by alarm clocks or cranky parents), had Mac's for breakfast [sorry Clean Food Challenge participants: I am not like you. But more on that later.], lounged around on the deck feeling sticky and getting caffeinated, and watched the chickadees squabbling and gorging at our new birdfeeder.

I made lists: groceries, what James needs to take on his youth group mission trip, what the kids need for clothing, shoes, etc for summer, etc. I love lists.

Alan stayed home to work--discussion groups to manage, papers to grade, comments to be commented upon, comparisons to make between the UMaine campus and the neighborhood where Jack the Ripper wrought havoc...just the usual stuff of online teaching.

The kids and I made sandwiches and packed them in a plastic tub along with crackers and cheese and M&Ms, filled our water bottles and went shopping.

First stop: Goodwill

We blitzed the place. At one point I had a kid each in 3 of the 4 changing rooms with conversations like this taking place:

a kid: "uhhhhh... Mom?" 

me: "Doesn't fit? Take it off.  Next item!"

 or

a kid: "Iloveit, Iloveit, Iloveit..."

me: "Great! Take it off. Next item!"

They each picked a reusable tote and we filled them with summer pants, tee shirts, and a fleece for James. Shirts, skorts, fleece and flip flops for Madeline. Shorts, shirts, pants, fleece and camouflage faux-crocs for Jeremy. A folding step stool for me. 

Here they are (annoyed with me for doing the mom-with-the-camera thing, and look at that, James is tormenting his brother) just moments after the actual equinox.

Aaaaaah summer...

Second stop: Hands of Hope Thrift Store

Didn't buy anything but I think the kids sat on every couch and comfy chair in the store.  .

Third stop: next door to K-Mart

We were just going to get water bottles... but then we saw bathing suits, and we needed flip flops, and underwear...so we ended up spending a while in there. The boys were a bit antsy while Mad tried on suits (with no luck) and we were all near faint from hunger but we survived, used the restrooms and escaped retail mediocrity soon enough.

Fourth stop: Bangor City Forest

By now it was after 3pm and we were starving! We sat at the picnic table, swatted flies, and watched a bird who seemed very interested in us (and may be the inhabitant of the nest under the picnic shelter).  Somewhere between Goodwill and the forest the kids had all managed to don at least one new article of clothing. James had on a giant Fred Flintstone tee shirt. Madeline had a new pink top. Jeremy had on his new "crocs".

  Armed with our water and the camera we embarked on a short walk.   We saw a frog.  

I got a phone call from Alan on his new cell phone.   I think he did little to no work following the arrival of the T-Mobile delivery.   We had a brief conversation which ended with me saying something like "I'm in a bog. I'm going to enjoy nature now. G'bye." And suddenly we were truly IN a bog! We had turned onto the Bog Trail while I was on the phone, not one of us ever considering that the name might be an intentional indicator of what to expect along the way. Duh. James pioneered the way across the first (and ultimately, the most daunting) obstacle. This involved me standing on a floating log to steady it while each in turn made their way across a series of logs, a teetery plank, and some smaller logs more aptly called sticks, while grabbing onto me, some tree branches, and James in turn.   Jeremy lost his balance and stepped one foot right in the little body of water almost up to his shorts!   He quickly pulled his foot out but the croc stayed behind! "My croc! It's LO-O-OST!" He valiantly reached in to try to find it, but didn't right away and seemed reluctant to try again. I was dreading reaching into the murky water myself but thankfully there was a "bloop" sound and up it popped like a surfacing whale. Yay! Crocs float! 

our water crossing

survivor Jeremy

sometimes the path was clear

sometimes not so much



There was some nervousness about not know what lay ahead and we were greatly relieved to make it back to the road. 

Jeremy said he never wants to do the Bog Trail again!  But he does want to go back to Bangor City Forest.  Well, duh!

Fifth Stop: HOME!

Jeremy got a much needed foot bath and we all relaxed for a while.  I don't even know what the kids did, really, because Alan and I spent the next hour+ playing with our new phones.  Oooooh technology is cooooool.  I don't think I made an actual phone call on it until Wednesday. 

I did drink LOTS of water all afternoon and evening.  Emilie's doing a cleanse (see Clean Food Challenge 2 if you're interested).  I explained it this way to a friend recently:  can you imagine me eating no bread, no chocolate and no cheese?!?  The answer is No, not even for just a week.  I think it's a great concept.  For people who are not me.  I did decide that I could do the drink-a-gallon-of-water-a-day part, though.  I used to drink lots of ice water at work all day and have sort of gotten out of the habit, so I figured I'd ride Emilie's wake a little and do that part and since her cleanse week started Tuesday the timing was perfect.  I managed about 120 oz the first day and the full gallon yesterday.  But the straw on my EMMC water jug disintegrated [let's see, the last time I was in the hospital I was having a baby and my youngest child is 7...yeah, time for a new water bottle!] so Alan bought me a new one last night.  Now I just have to chug two of these bad boys a day. 

purple of course!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy, says Jeremy who has comandeered the old jug and is doing his best to keep up (ooh lemon! good idea buddy!).

Alan and I wrapped up the first day of summer watching a DVRed movie, the end of which failed to record.  Ahhg!  That's okay, though, because I was a little distracted by frequent pee breaks.

I also re-started my 100 crunches a day goal and officially registered for the Flamingo Four-Miler on July 17th (anyone want to join me?).  Also, I am home today (and blogging) because I have a summer cold, so Yes, summer is here and summer is welome (although I could do without the hacking cough)!



The New Face of Nana Lois

My mom has been legally blind all my life.  If she is conscious, she is wearing glasses.  Thick ones. 

If you ask her a queston while she is lying in bed, her first response is "wait a minute, let me put my glasses on" as if she cannot process information or formulate a response without them. 

Every Soule family cat learned early on (first, to bug Dad, because he's the morning person, but in his absence) the way to get Mum up in the morning is to bat her glasses off the night stand. 

She wears them on the boat, at the beach, in the pool and even on the Matterhorn ride at Disney which was a huge mistake because they were immediately flung from her face and smashed to bits.  We know because they were mailed to her later by the lost and found department.  But that's another story entirely.

But all that has changed.

My mom recently had cataract surgery on both eyes (one week apart) which had the bonus advantage of a dramatic reduction in her nearsightedness.  We came home from Cape Cod a few weeks ago to find my mother sitting on the couch knitting...with no glasses on.

I find this to be very strange.  Mum, without glasses, not looking comatose.  Weird.

Here she is (with Dad, naturally) enjoying dessert on Father's Day:

Big Lake Half Marathon: Photographic Proof

[I posted this on facebook but here it is for my blogfriends.]

The Big Lake Half Marathon was a pretty typical one of these events, even down to the professional photographer who camped out on various parts of the course and at the finish to take pictures of us passing by at our wildly varying paces.  The images are all then loaded onto a website where you can find the ones of you (by bib number) and purchase them in various sizes or as digital files to upload on your blog.

Or you can be ultra-cheap and send all your friends the link and your bib number and let them look at the watermarked previews instead.  Enjoy!

My bib number was 16 and Alan's was 17 (that's how early we registered for this thing!).  There are even a few of us holding hands just before the finish line (at which point Alan dropped me like a hot potato to check his garmin.  That's love!).

http://nuvisionactionimage.com/storefront/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=10097

Big Lake Half Marathon 2011: Race Report

Time for a classic, long, bloggy race report largely built around a series of pictures...

1. Here are all the things I planned to wear and/or take with me on race day laid out on a chair in the motel room the night before.   I was really pleased with all my wardrobe choices.  Although I took obvious care with color-coordination and even ironed the SOuLE MARKS logo onto the thigh of my capris, I was very careful to choose comfort and practicality.  I had the track jacket and a pair of long pants on in the am and post-race but was very happy that I chose a loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirt and capris to run in.  The weather was fabulous--cool and slightly breezy, sunny but not glaringly so..just perfect.  There were thunder storms saturday afternoon and evening, but not a drop during the race.



2. Here is Alan ready to go.  Across the little pond you can see the crowd of runners forming at the starting line.  I found a picture online taken from the start, and I think you can see Alan standing here very tiny in the background. 

3.  And here I am in the same spot, sporting my froggy greenness.  At this point, I determined that there was no sense pretending I could get through the lengthy port-a-potty line (just behind the camera), so we gave up and headed to the start.  I wasn't desperate and figured I'd take a pit-stop at the aid station around mile 3 or so.  Emilie always cries after a big race; I get choked up at the start.  The combination of nerves and excitement and starting line pomp gets me all verklempt, but other than that I was feeling good.  I saw a woman who looked exactly the way I felt at the start of the MDI Half: she was visibly teary, looked exhausted and was hovering near a tall, supportive-looking fellow.  I don't know what ailed her but I felt sooooo sympathetic.  It made me realize how incredibly lucky I was to just feel normal.

4.  This is the part for which there are no pictures (unless I eventually find some on the web). 

The horn blew and we mosied our way to the starting line for about a minute and then we ran. 

We ran along the bodacious curves of Letter S Road (actual name) and into the center of Alton.

Alan ran with his music on (they changed the rules on that about a week before the race, much to his relief);

I ran music-free for a while, enjoying the spectators and thanking the volunteers holding traffic for us.

Alan cautioned me to watch my speed--I was keeping pace with him--but I felt good. 

A mile and a half in, we ran past the finish line (ready and waiting for our return),

and a bank of port-a-potties (which I ignored).

We ran past our motel and I had no desire to stop for a nap.

We ran past a giant billboard that said "Got Pain?" and I fished out my cell phone and managed to find the camera function and take an almost passable photo while still running and keeping pace with Alan. 

I finally put one earbud in and settled in to listen to some music.

I started wondering where we'd seen that pit stop when we drove the course the night before.  I was quite convinced it was before the long steep climb and when we hit a nice downhill stretch I pulled ahead, figuring I'd be taking a break soon.

5.  This is the view from the Scenic Overlook (around mile 5 I think--we took the picture the night before).  By the time I got here I was chatting with a girl named Daija and feeling A. amazed to still be running non-stop particularly since you have to go UP to reach a view like this, and B. like, where in the world is that pit stop anyway??

6. [A few more photo-free segments here] I finally found the pit stop just before mile 6 (waaaay further out than I thought it would be) and lost several minutes standing in line for it.  I made good use of the time, though, stretching, refueling (dried cherries, dark chocolate covered almonds, cashews and M&Ms) and sucking down lots of water (no reason not to when you're about to pee anyway).  Alan blew past me while I was in line and I watched him pull farther and farther ahead and disappear around a bend.

7. Back on the road, I hit the turn at the top of the loop that told me I was about half way through and brought me back down to lake level.  The downhills were a little tricky--I felt like a runaway tractor trailer desperately trying to brake--but then the course was weaving and winding past gorgeous homes, in shady lanes, with many ups and downs.  I tried to keep myself chugging along, hoping to be not too far behind Alan by the end, but I didn't have the momentum any more to run non-stop. Every now and then another water stop would come along, most with music, some with people in funny costumes, all with smiling friendly volunteers.  They all made me feel like a million bucks even though they didn't know me.  A barbershop quartet even sang to me about being 16 (my bib number).  I didn't need water thanks to my Camelbak, but I took Gatorade at every chance.  This is noteworthy because I hate the stuff: I can only stand it during races.

8. Around 2 hours in, I decided that it would be prudent to refuel some more, so I pulled out a free Gu-like thing that came in Alan's goody bag.  It was strawberry-banana flavored and reeeeally thick.  I purposely started sucking on it between water stops so I wouldn't be tempted just to ditch it in the nearest trash can.  This was wise. When I finally told myself to imagine it as mashed bananas it made more sense to my palate and wasn't so bad.  I think it helped, but can't be sure.

9.  By this time, I felt like I'd done an awful lot of walking, and I was quite certain that Alan was approaching the finish line well ahead of me.   On the other hand, I thought maybe I'd kept the walking breaks pretty short because my time was looking good.  My general goal was to do better than MDI which was 3 hours and 13 minutes and I really wanted to break 3 hours.  My estimates made that look very attainable, but the longer I've been running, the less I trust my math.

10.  And then something strange happened:  I turned a corner and was starting up a kind of fierce little hill when I looked up and saw a familiar figure.  There was Alan not far ahead of me!  I said something like "Holy &@#$! that's my husband!" to no one in particular, and then I got me some motivation.  I caught up to him about 2.5 miles from the finish and we stayed together until the end.  I really hope that somewhere there's a picture of the two of us crossing the finish line hand in hand.  We were very much together but apparently my bib (attached to my belly--no comments please!) crossed the line before his (attached to his thigh) because the official results put me one second ahead.  We weren't announced by the guy with the mike by the finish line chute because another guy was using the PA system to give out the age-group awards somewhere nearby.  But as I said in my previous post, that's OK; we were there for us.  Our net times were 2:46:56 and 2:46:57.  That put Alan about the same as MDI and gave me a PR of about 26 minutes.  I'll take it!

11. Post-race, we drank lots of water and wandered through the food line and then got in line for massages.  We probably spent 45 minutes in that line, but it didn't matter.  We had ice cream.  Homemade. With chocolate sauce. And various other foods.  Our medals and tech tees are awesome and colorful and everything was really well organized from online registration right through bag pick-up. There was supposed to be a chance to vote for your favorite water-stop in the "Big Lake Battle" but we never saw anything about that and Alan said the pizza wasn't very good (I opted for a bagel and cream cheese) but neither was a big deal.  And I made friends with a great gal named Lucy who kindly took our picture. 

See how happy we are to have made it into the massage tent? 

This lady gave a great massage AND she hammed it up for the photo op!

12. Back at the motel, I realized we didn't have a good picture of our logo-bedecked thighs.  Alan's was on a scrap of fabric pinned to his shorts and mine is ironed right onto my capris (I scorched it a little in the process).  I did so well these last two races, since the inauguration of the logo, that I think I'm going to have to be superstitious about it. 

Anyway, nice job, legs (all four of you!).



Race Report: Animal Orphanage 5k 2011

[I know, this isn't THE EXCITING EVENT that you're eager to read about, but I have to do this in the proper order.  I slapped these photos into a draft post right before we headed off to NH expecting to finish it from the motel room, but when we got there Alan's laptop said "detecting no available networks" so we were wireless-less...until a brief period on Saturday afternoon...but that's for the next post.]

THIS post is about the Animal Orphanage 5K (and pet run) on May 1, 2011, involving all five of us plus Nana and Gumpy.  We gathered at the Old Town YMCA sporting the matching tee-shirts I made.  They have our names on the front...

...and our new logo on the back.  [In case you can't see it in this picture, it says "SOuLE MARKS" and has a shoe print.]

These photos were all taken after the race and we don't have much in the way of "during" shots because we were all IN it so we had no one parked at the finish line to witness.  The official results show this, however:

62  12/28      81 Nancy Marks          42 F                   31:41 10:12
63  14/20      80 Alan Marks            43 M                  31:55 10:17

Yes, folks, it finally happened: I chicked* my husband.  Woo hoo!  He got an early lead while I sort of checked in with the kids at the start and then I spent a long time trying to catch up.  At mile 2 I was just about there and then *gasp!* he stopped to walk!!  I didn't expect that and when I patted him on the back and said "get moving" I thought he'd follow but it just wasn't his race.  I had my best 5k ever and he was disappointed to have backslid from the week before.  I'm sorry for him but I gotta admit, it felt good being the first Marks over the line for a change!  He said he figured it was just a matter of time before I caught up to his pace.  I always figured his long legs would keep me at bay... 

In other dramatic news, James and Madeline earned awards for 1st and 2nd in their respective age groups!  James ran the first 2 miles without stopping (which was his goal) and Madeline ran the first mile and a half (more than her goal) without stopping, and Jeremy ran the whole last tenth of a mile really fast (we wouldn't let him run before that). Nana and Gumpy crossed the finish line as walkers hand in hand.  Go team!!!!  Here, the kids show off their tees, ribbons and smiles back home on the deck:

Everyone had fun and it was a great day for Team SOuLE MARKS!!

*chick (verb), in road racing, when a girl finishes ahead of a guy, often dramatically.  To be chicked is to be beaten by a girl.  Alan is of course accustomed to having lots of women finish before him, but never his wife.  Until now.  he he he

Race Report: 4.20 Healthy High 5k

On April 20th (4/20), Alan and I ran the "Healthy High" 5k, a little race in its 4th year, put on by the Alcohol and Drug Education Program at UMaine.  This was our first road race of the season and a big deal for me because it was the anniversary of my first road race ever last year.  A lot of the races we have planned for this year are repeats of last year with the simple goal of doing better than we did last time.  One reason why I chose this race last year is because it starts and finishes at the UM Rec Center which is across the street from my office.  The race starts (theoretically) at 4:20pm (ten minutes before the end of my normal work day) right next to the lot where I park for work every day.  This makes it very convenient for me, although not-so-much for all the other university employees who are trying to bolt from campus at 4:30.  My advice: next year plan to run or spectate.  So there.  Actually, that's my one big suggestion to the organizers: get the whole campus involved--make it a super fun event to watch, have contests for the best cheering section, etc.

So anyway....the weather was crazy all day long!  Way crazier than last year.  This April 20th included a strange assortment of rain, slush and hail.  Several hail storms in fact.  In the end I was really glad that the roads were clear--no slush at all--even though I could still see white on the grass in a few places.  I do sort of almost a little bit regret that I can't claim bragging rights for running in a hail storm.  That would have been bada$$, man...!

We left Mum & Dad at our house with the kids and Stacy joined them, too.  They all stood across the street in the mist and the cold to wait to see us pass and then the kids and the Gumps drove to the finish line and to hang out at the Rec Center after.

I had a great run and I owe a of it to bib #1, Dr. Dana, the VP for Student Affairs at UM.  I fell into step with him shortly after the start and felt really comfortable there so we ran the whole way together.  Neither one of us wanted to stop running so we just kept each other going.  And he is so well know and well loved on this campus that every step of the way someone was there clapping, cheering, cracking jokes, waving and smiling.  And he greeted everyone he knew, even shaking hands with the volunteers and asking after family members, but he never stopped.  Together we kept a very consistent, relatively easy pace.  It was kind of like being in a parade with a politician, but it totally worked for me.  Remember how much I love external motivation?  Well, it turns out that I don't even care if it's really being directed at the guy next to me.  I ate it up.

I only have a few shaky, damp looking pictures on our camera and haven't gotten Mum's off their camera yet,  but someone was taking finish line shots and I found this one on the web.  You can see Dr. Dana in the background--I didn't dust him exactly, he paused to talk to the race organizer, one of his star employees.

Finally, a half decent picture of me running.

Alan did GREAT!  He knocked 2 minutes off his time from last year and finally broke 30 minutes (net time).

The race was well organized.  Laurie Sidelko's done a great job creating and developing the event.  They added a 10k this year, and had several sponsors and tons of snacks waiting for us at the Rec Center.  I know they were disappointed with the turnout--they had 500 people pre-registered but a lot of no-shows on account of the weather.  You can't contral that, especially not in April in Maine.

Official Gun Times:

152/259 Alan Marks 30:00

190/259  Nancy Marks 34:01

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!