Thanksgiving marathoners

Bob has joined the ranks of "marathoner", whereas he finished the Atlanta Marathon this Thanksgiving. The race is the morning of Thanksgiving, and as I have told many people, it's one way to earn your turkey and stuffing and potatoes and pie and everything!

Bob did awesome, he ran the marathon in 3:35, about an hour faster than me. He was a little bit disappointed though. You see there is a 5-mile hill after the 20 mile mark, and in Bob's book, that is just plain rude to put a 5-mile hill at that part of a race!

This is my second marathon, and I highly recommend skipping the first and going straight to the second! The race itself was different, but recovery has been much easier the second time around. I remember the first time, it was 5 days after the race and thinking, "when am I ever going to feel normal again". Here it is the 2nd day after the race and I'm just a little sore.

But the race, yikes! I didn't mind the 5-mile hill at mile 20. I had already hit the wall and was hating life, so the hill was just another brick on the 'wall'. You see I tried to do the Gallaway method of 8 minutes run/ 1 minute walk. I'm not so experienced with this method and ended up going too fast. At 13.1 miles (half way) I was on pace for a 4:12. My previous marathon was 4:40. Bob actually saw me just before the halfway turn around and said to himself, she's having a very good race or is going to crash and burn. And guess what? I crashed and burned! But I made it to the end and actually finished really strong.

So my stats are:
5 mile ~about 48 minutes
10 mile ~about 1:35
13.1 mile 2:06
26.2 mile 4:34.17

Out of 730 finishers, I was 543.
Out of 178 women finishers, I was 123.
Out of 17 40-44 women finishers, I was 12.

Bob stats are:
13.1 mile 1:43
26.2 mile 3:35.21

Out of 730 finishers, he was 138.
Out of 552 men finishers, he was 127.
Out of 77 40-44 men finishers, he was 18.

Not too shabby.

Newest bootcamp instructor!

That's right ... you got it, I took the next step after doing bootcamp for seven months and asked if I could join the instructor ranks! Yesterday was my first day leading a warm-up. I was nervous but everything went smoothly.

My "Joel Award"

Each year Inman Park recognizes individuals who have made significant and continuing contributions to the neighborhood. Joel Awards, named in honor of Inman Park's developer Joel Hurt, are acknowledged at the Butterfly Ball which is the big kick-off party for the Inman Park Festival.

This year I was honored to receive this esteemed award. Here is what is on my plaque:

Joel Award

She came to neighborhood meetings
Before they even had moved;
She gave us all hearty greetings
Then worked to see things improved.

She saw that our fine neighborhood,
Though strong and quite united,
Was lacking a new tool that would
Help keep us well provided.

With up-to-date tidbits about
'What', 'where', 'how' and 'who'.
She stuck her neck out
And asked, "Do you Yahoo?"

Hundreds of us signed up, of course;
Now we chat unabated.
(And so that things don't get too coarse
She keeps us moderated.)

But wait, there's more to tell, you know
(as if that wasn't enough)
She's helping run the April show --
Security and Traffic stuff.

She also minds their two-boy crew
While Bob takes care of his home-brew.

Please won't you join us in giving
As much praise as you can manage
To our most excellent neighbor,

KRISTINE (THE NEECHYKAT) SANDAGE

Purple party

My 40th birthday party was a purple party. Everybody asked why a purple party. Because I like purple! We had purple flashing balloons, purple glowing cups, and purple m&m's.



The cake was by Rachael, of course! www.rachmakescakes.com

I am ...

I've had this idea for a poem/essay that briefly and concisely captures the essence of me. So happy 40th birthday to me. This is who I am.

I am the first born.
I am shy.
I am the kid at school that never said anything.
I am the kid at school that the teachers always said "was a joy to have in class" because I never said anything.
I am a "schoolie".
I am a rebelious teenager trying to ditch the "schoolie" image.
I am best friends with the boys (but not in that way).
I am a Catholic high school student … and not Catholic.
I am nobody's steady girlfriend for more than 2 weeks.
I am an honor roll student.
I am breifly a sorority girl.
I am Bob's wife.
I am a Structural Engineer.
I am a CFO.
I am Colin's mother.
I am Nathan's mother.
I am a marathoner.
I am an Aries.
I am stubborn.
I am determined.

Marathon mom

It's a life goal of mine ... to run the marathon.

Last October I started training and ran 5 miles, my longest run since before both boys were born.

About two weeks before m-day (marathon day), I started experiencing pain and swelling in my ankle. It wasn't going away entirely so six days before the run, I went to the doctor for x-rays. I wasn't going to run, if it meant doing permanent damage. Luckily, I got the a-ok from the doctor that it was just tendon damage and that he didn't know if I would finish and it could be painful, but I could run. So lots of anti-immflamatory drugs later ..

It's the night before the marathon, I planned on getting to bed very early so I would be well rested for my marathon debut. I started out good and was in bed by 9:45pm. Fifteen minutes later, Simon started yowling. She is siamese cat, and a siamese yowl is a pathetic sound. I figure she misses Neechy so I didn't want to be too hard on the cat. Went out to the stairs where Simon was sitting and shooed her down the stairs. This went on until 11:30pm, and finally Bob had enough of it and went downstairs to convince Simon to be quiet. Ahh, almost midnight and I'm finally getting to sleep. Not exactly the way I wanted things to go.

Then at 2:30am, I wake up with an upset stomach. Great, now why is this happening? I went downstairs to eat a granola bar, maybe I was hungry. I didn't really eat very much the night before at the pasta pot luck that the Operation Bootcamp training team put together. Well, the granola bar didn't help. As the hours wore on, it got closer to 5:00am (wake up time), and my upset stomach got worse.

The babysitter was late, and we were finally out the door. Almost immediately my stomach issues were gone. So I guess I had a little bit of anxiety? You think?? As I was going to sleep, I kept thinking "at this time tomorrow, it will be over!". Maybe not the best thing to be thinking!

The race started at 7:00am. It was cold, but at least it wasn't raining. There was a chance of that. I didn't mind the cold too much, I got to wear my blue nylon jacket that has a big pocket in the front that is good for holding gloves, energy gu packets, and whatever else I wanted to carry. I've worn the blue nylon jacket for all my training runs and bootcamps, it's like a part of me by now.

My goal was to just finish, however, I anticipated completing the marathon in 5 hours or less. I started out with a 9:45 min/mile pace for the first 6 miles. A little faster than usual for me. Must have been all that adernaline. It was amazing, the people, the runners, just the whole thing. Between 6 miles and 20 miles, my pace was held steady at 10:30 min/mile which is more like my speed.

Then at 21 miles, I started to feel a little something in my foot/ankle. By 22 miles I was sure it was going to get worse before it was over. Mile 23 was very painful and lots of walking, then at mile 24 I decided to just suck it up and run the rest (and just block the pain!). My pace was 12:01 min/mile for the last 6.2 miles.

As I approached the finish line, the time on the clock read 4:58, just under 5 hours! I couldn't believe it! And that was the time on the clock, my actual time was 4:40:15. I'm very happy with that time, especially considering that I walked a considerable distance at the end (the time could've been 4:35 or less without the injury!).

Bob did very well too in the half marathon. His time was 1:52 which averages out to a 8:35 minute/mile (amazing!). He was experiencing a lot of pain too, but running was less painful than walking for him! He is just a glutton for punishment sometimes.

I've also have to note the beer stop during the race! Right before going into Piedmont Park about 22 miles, there was some folks out with beer and offering it to the runners going by. Not many people were taking them up on the offer, but I did! Boy, did that beer taste GOOD!

Another funny that I have to share. On the way back home after the race, Bob and I were going to the Peachtree Center Marta station. This Marta station is under Peachtree Center and there is a super long steep escalator that you take. Well, I got on the escalator and in my exhausted condition didn't trust myself to stand, so I just sat down for the long ride down. The people coming up the escalator were laughing so hard at me, the running girl in her sweats and medal just sitting on the escalator for the ride down. One woman commented that she wished she had her camera!

Now the question is ... am I going to do another marathon? There's a good chance, I really enjoyed this one, despite the ankle injury and hills. (Did I mention that this course is one of the hilliest marathons out there!) Maybe I can get my time under 4:30? That would be a good goal.

Pregnancy vs. marathon training

Okay, another non-kid related post. I guess it's got indirect kid references, but it's all about me me me me. As I eluded to in some previous posts, I'm training for the ING marathon at the end of March. It's a personal goal that I've had for a long time. I started training last October with only being able to run 5 miles. In November I signed up for bootcamp which I've been doing pretty much since then as my cross training.

Bootcamp really emphasizes on eating well, like eating 6 smaller meals, lots of protein, never eating a carb without a protein. Stuff like that. So this starts to remind Bob of when I was pregnant and watching my nutrition very closely.

Bootcamp also advocates no alcohol. So I try to limit the amount I consume, well sometimes I try, sometimes not. My thing is that I gave up alcohol entirely for 18 months when I was pregnant with Colin and Nathan. I can do it, but I not giving it up entirely again. However, I can really tell when I haven't been good because my workouts will be really difficult. So I might give it up entirely for the last month before the marathon. Well, not entirely but really limit the amount. God that sounds so wishy-washy, I hate it when I sound like that!

Now as my long runs are getting longer, I'm experiencing some abdominal cramping. When I was in high school and college, I had real bad cramps during "that time of the month". Those cramps were a lot like labor pains. And the cramps I'm currently experiencing are like both. Then last week, I ran 18 miles (woo hoo), afterward I had severe abdominal cramps just like labor. This makes me a little nervous. The next long run (and last one before the race) is 20 miles. Really going to try and take care of myself, eat right, drink lots of water, and pray for no cramps -- at least not as bad as last time. So pretty much do like I did when I was pregnant minus the waddling.

Polar bear club

New Year's Day, Inman Park has a Polar Bear Club at the neighborhood pool. Bob thought I was crazy, but I thought this sounded like a fun idea. They even have an "Ice Man Triathalon" where you bike around the block, run around the pool and then "swim" across the pool. The water is about 40 degrees, so not many actual put their head in the water but just wade across.

I don't have a bike and thought that Colin's tricycle would take to long to ride around the block, so I just ran the bike part of the triathalon -- I wasn't the only one to do this. But besides that, I did it and got a shirt too! BRRR - that water was cold. Luckily, it was only 40 degrees outside, they've done it when it's been colder. Yeah, I know it's rare down here in Atlanta, but it happens.

I did it!!

While Bob was on his two week trip to the orient, I went to Candler Park's Fall Fest and talked to some folks with the Operation Bootcamp Program. Well, I was feeling motiviated and signed up ... I mean it started at 6am and I could get back before the kids got up, so why not!

Today I graduated from bootcamp!! Four weeks of intense workouts. The first two days were brutal, and I had to take aspirin to make it. It wasn't easy, but I did it and I am very proud of myself!

Hoo wah!

April 15-20 trivia

This post is completely not related to the kids, but about stuff that happens between April 15-20. It's very bizarre, but this time frame is like the modern day Ides of March. All kinds of bad stuff. Here is a list:

April 15 (Tax Day)

1865 - Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth.

1912 - The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, causing the deaths of about 1,503 people.

1989 - Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, a football stadium in Sheffield, resulting in 96 deaths.

April 16

2007 - Virginia Tech massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in American history, leaves 33 dead, including the killer.

April 18

1880 - A F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.

1906 - An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9, destroys much of San Francisco, California.

April 19

1993 - The 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die.

1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, is bombed, killing 168.

April 20

1889 - Born: Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born dictator who ruled Nazi Germany during the Second World War (d. 1945)

1914 - Seventeen men, women, and children die in the Ludlow Massacre during a bitter Colorado coal-miner's strike.

1999 - Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves in the Columbine High School massacre.

Sorry for such a downer post.

Mom's Birthday

April 18th is my birthday so when Bob came home from work that day, he asked me to stay upstairs for a little bit. When I got downstairs there was an ice cream cake waiting! My favorite! So Colin and Nathan are sitting on my lap, they start singing "Happy Birthday", Colin really knows the words to that song, and Nathan is clapping like crazy! It was so sweet!