Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I now pronounce you.....

That's me. The Officient of Em & L's wedding. What an amazing experience. After two full days of showing off my badge, I truly enjoyed the honor of marrying my friends. Even though we'd practiced (and I cried during practice), I cried the whole way through the ceremony. Weddings are always touching, and to have the best seat (stand) in the house makes it even more touching. I could see the joy, passion, love, and emotion in each of their faces as we recited their vows. It was absolutely beautiful. I made sure to speak very boldly for the key line: "By the virtue of the authority vested in me as Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriages, I now pronounce you husband and wife!" (it makes me tingle just writing the line. Such power I had.) My badge is now invalid, but the pictures and memories are with me forever!

Em did a fabulous job planning the event. A and I were seated with her hard core running friends. Wow! A half marathon is very short compared to the 100 mile races these people run. The cake was fabulous, the dancing was a blast, the weather was perfect, and the whole affair was just plain fun!

Anyone out there need an Officient? I received plenty of kudos and can provide references.

Poor Little Stumpy

Stumpy is the three-legged mouse that found his (her?) demise in the trunk of our car last night. When we first met Stumpy, he (she?) had all four legs. Friday night, while we were sleeping in a tent at a campground in NH, Stumpy was busy moving the nuts from our bag of trail mix (in the car) to some secretly located stash. A saw Stumpy (with all four legs) scurrying around the car on Satruday morning. As quick as A is, Stumpy (with all four legs) was quicker. We hoped he'd find his way out...but of course, why would he leave his (her?) stash of nuts?

Sunday night upon returning from a beautiful backpacking weekend in the White Mountains, we set a trap for Stumpy (still having all four legs) in the trunk. Monday morning, we found a closed trap that was drug to the corner of the trunk. In the trap was one little mouse leg. Thus the name Stumpy.

We worried that Stumpy might stay in hiding for a while licking his wounds, and then take revenge on us by chewing wires or doing damage to the car. Instead, the greedy little bugger was attracted to fresh peanut butter on a fresh trap last night. We found him (her?) in whole and dead this morning. Poor Little Stumpy. He (she?) really was a cute fella.

(there is currently another trap in the car, just in case Stumpy has friends)

Saturday, September 15, 2007

I'm currently a Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriages! Today was the rehearsal. A already dreamed that I'd do a great job. After practicing vows with the Bride and Groom separately ('cuz they want their personally written vows to be a surprise), I know it's going to be a beautiful wedding!


When's the next half-marathon? After a few days of rest, I'm ready for a "do-over"..one where I don't get a cramp in my side.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

My first half-Marathon successfully completed!!! I couldn't have done it without my devoted fan, A, who consistently cheered me on from the start of my training, and of course my running mate, Britta! We had an absolute blast of a weekend in Montreal.

A and I woke up early Sat AM and drove (with no traffic) to Canada! We had forgotten our passports...and couldn't remember when that new rule starts. We were already in NH when we thought about it, so we crossed our fingers (A continued dozing) and hoped that we wouldn't be blocked at the border. We weren't. I think A had fun telling border patrol that I was running a half-marathon. We thought it sounded cool, although border patrol didn't seem so interested.

Yes, I'm an international racer :)

We arrived at BR's place before noon and had a full afternoon and evening to sight-see, scope out the race course, pick up our bibs, etc. We checked out Olympic Park and walked through Old Montreal. Britta and I raced some teenage girls on paddleboats and lost miserably. It was ok though. We were conserving our legs for the big race!

Sunday morning's race conditions were perfect! BR and I jumped out of bed, eager to run and took the Metro with the rest of Montreal over to the start. We high fived at every kilometer marking starting with "1 down, 20.1 to go!" and continuing consistently through to "18 down 3.1 to go" and then I got a cramp in my side. Until then I was doing absolutely dandy (despite a major allergic attack in the middle which resulted in major sinus pressure and poofy eyes). I tried my best to run. walked a lot, and hobbled across the finish line!

Thanks Gu!
At 8K we "cheers'd" with our Gu packets and came up with lots of commercial/advertising lines for Gu. (we had a second Gu at 15K, although, I didn't really feel I needed it)

Here are some of them:
-Gu got me through!
-I'm Gu'd to go!

Here are our results:
Britta - 1975 2:16:04.3 6:27 2:12:22.0 4201 B 601/829 68/81 Femmes 24 & - 1:14:59 1:01:06

Me - 2063 2:19:57.9 6:38 2:16:15.2 640/829 128/157 1:14:02 1:05:57

Metadata:
I came in 2,063rd place of the entire race. The race clock said 2 hours 19 minutes and 57 seconds. My average pace was 6min and 38sec per Kilometer. My personal time (according to my chip) was 2 hours 16 mintues and 15 seconds. I came in 640th place out of 829 women. I came in 128th place out of 157 people in my age category. I'm in the female age category of 25 – 29. I ran the first 11K in 1 hour 14 minutes and 2 sections. I ran the second 10.1 K in 1 hour 5 minutes and 57 seconds.

There were 2,396 participants in the half-marathon.

Meanwhile, Em PR'd (again) and won her age category in a 10 mile race on the same day!!!

Tomorrow, I'm off to CA to do my wedding officient duties. Each night, I practice my line..."By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!". The fireworks always go off in my dreams. I wonder if there'll be fireworks on Sunday....

Friday, September 7, 2007

2 days 'till race day!

I did my last and final training run (around the reservoir) last night. It felt great! The run felt good, I had a good rhythm. And it felt great that it was the final training run! My body has really been working hard through all this and it's looking forward to a break.

But first, I've got a few people to whiz past on the race course. Bring on the 13 .1 miles!!!

(More importantly, bring on the Britta! YIPPPPEEEE!!)


We watched "Wild Hogs" last night. Good Cast. Well Done. Funny. (some stupid parts) Overall, very entertaining. A great blob out and laugh movie.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Well, I moved the 10 mile run up from Sunday to Saturday. It was very successful once I actually got running. I woke up before the troops (A's dad and bro were visiting) filled up my fuel belt, ate a banana, went to the bathroom, etc. Then I drove all the way to the river, parked the car, and went to put on my fuel belt. It was still on the counter in the kitchen! So, back to the house I went.... grabbed the belt and headed back to the river. I ran west from the "Publick Theatre" where I park to Watertown Square and then east back to Harvard Square and back to the car. It was a nice run. I felt good. My feet and legs thanked me for the break.

I hit my Tues AM run and my Wed AM run this week with flying colors! Only one more pre-race run tomorrow and then the real thing! 13.1 miles in Montreal on Sunday!

Yesterday, I think I ate a bazillion of those little tiny bugs that hover over the running path. The geese, however, have been in the water and not on the path, which is nice.

Last Weekend's Highlights:
Friday night - A and I enjoyed a quiet evening just chillin'
Sat AM - ran 10 miles
Sat early PM - caught up with Sis on the phone
Sat late PM - A took his dad and bro on a walking adventure in the neighborhood. I took a 2 hour nap!
Sat night - Pizza and a four person game of Super Scrabble!
Sun day - We adventured to Battleship Cove in Fall River and toured the U.S.S Massachusetts and some other WWII ships
Sun night - Bill (friend of A, A's Dad, and Bro) came up for the night and we hit the night time scene! We checked out a new bar call Joshua Tree for dinner (great wings!) and won 2nd place in the Trivia contest!
Mon day - Took Bill on a walking adventure of downtown Beantown and introduced the crew to the China Pearl in Chinatown. A's dad and Bill were down with the dim sum, Andrew stuck with ordering something "normal" (lemon chicken).
Mon night - I hit the Super Stop and Shop to prep for book club tonight and restock our shelves :)

All of a sudden it was time to go to work again! The weekend was quick.

What's going on in the kitchen?
Last night (Tues) I cooked up a storm. Made some soup (even though it's summer time) with beans and tomato broth that Mom left us....I cooked up pork ribs and corn on the cob, we scarfed all of that down quick.... and of course, I baked some brownies. YUMM! Now, we have food to eat in the fridge...

Tonight's menu for book club is corn on the cob, fresh tilapia marinated in Cheriyaki glaze (handed down from Mom and Pops), cous cous, and asparagus sauteed with baby portabella mushrooms...with brownies and ice cream for dessert. Hopefully it turns out yummy!