My make it rich quick scheme

So, I was out running the other day and a thought came to me. One year when I was young I had a 365-day Far Side desk calendar. My mom had a 365 Uses for Duck Tape calendar (really, and she's the normal one). I wondered if we could come up with 365 days of running--some combination of running rules, inspirational quotes, very short stories, etc. This is my make it rich quick scheme. It's gonna be huge, I tell ya.

This came to mind as I've been reminded of my most frequent running rule infraction--wearing non-technical fabric head gear. Specifically, my Penn State ear warmer. Because I love it. Ok, and maybe I don't have a tech fabric ear warmer*. The problem is that it does its job for about the first 30 minutes, then does exactly the opposite of its purpose.

* yet--there's one with my name on it at my local running store, as soon as I can go pick it up. Yay!!

What are some other good things I seem to forget rules? Seriously, if this isn't evidence that I need a running desk calendar, I don't know what would be!

1. Replace your shoes every 300-500 miles. Another rule I'd apparently forgotten until I wondered if I'd cracked a bone in my foot on Saturday. 
2. Don't eat lots of fiber before a run. True story: Meg once picked me up for our long run and I got into her car carrying a box of Mini Wheats and a Diet Coke (read it here). 
3. Hydrate after a hard run.Otherwise live with the pounding headache. 
4. Gu every hour. No more. Or suffer the digestive fallout. 
5. Buy a good sports bra. As I recently told a friend, "no one should have to wear two bras."
6. Double layer socks! 
7. And I think Body Glide almost goes without saying. Definitely a rookie mistake. 
8. Wear ShoeID or RunnerID or something. It took me getting sketched out by a bright blue all-the-doors-open Hummer in the park to finally put on my ShoeID. 
9. Don't take a hot bath/shower after a hard run--your muscles will only get more inflamed. It's hard to resist though. 
10. Per RW, develop mantras to get you through the tough miles. It's not supposed to be easy. 
11. Always tell someone where you're going and about when you'll be back. 
12. Buy a foam roller the very first time your hips ever feel stiff. Don't wait. And if it gets worse, go see a physical therapist or sports medicine person immediately. Because it doesn't have to be horrible. And, foam rollers are lots of fun for the whole family. And yes, my living room always looks like a tornado went through. I blame the 2-year-old. Don't judge me.  
    Oh, and they are also really fun to try to describe to The Beastie on Skype. Especially when she "print screens" you and shows you how ridiculous you look.
    
13. Your shins will hurt for 2 weeks when you're just starting. And you will be slow. And you might not make it far enough from your house to warrant technical fabrics. And that is all just fine. Everyone starts somewhere. 
14. The running blog community is freaking awesome. Awesome. Be part of it. 
15. Celebrate your achievements. I have an Inspired Endurance race tag for each of my marathons and will get another one after Cleveland. I wear them together on a necklace all the time. I also keep my medals displayed to keep me motivated. 

What can you add to the list? Time to strike it rich. And get me a desk calendar. 

Race Report: US Half

Warning: long post!

I'm just back from a wonderful weekend in San Francisco. It was a carefree weekend--the first in I don't even know how long. Probably a year and a half, really, since I had a few days that were both kid- and work-free. Oh, and then there was that race you're here to read about.... :) Here's the recap:

Friday

While in flight to CA, I realized that I had no memory of packing my Garmin. Then I thought about the packing list I'd made the day before and realized that it, too, had not included my Garmin. Fail. At least, I thought, I'd done races before without it. But still, fail. But my flights went smoothly and by dinnertime I was sitting around a table with old and new friends enjoying yummy food and laughing.

Saturday

We slept in and lounged around, then went out in the afternoon/evening for the race expo then some touristy things. The expo itself wasn't much, except that I did introduce Frank to the world of Gu and double-layer socks. I love that she let me geek out about running! Also, I like the race shirt. Check it out. The back is nice too.

After expo-ing, we headed to Muir Woods, aka, the redwoods. Due to its obvious popularity, it took a while to find a place to park. When we finally did and I got out of the car I saw this, to my complete surprise. Runners, this is for you:

I'd read runners' blogs about Dipsea. I'd certainly heard of it. But to tell the truth, I never knew what people were talking about. As I learned on Saturday, they are referring to "The Race from Hell." I saw one tiny piece of where the Dipsea trail cuts through the park, and I understood immediately how it got that name. It's a 7-mile race through Muir Woods. Not even through it, but up the side of the mountain apparently. Anyone completing this has my total runner respect. It is the real deal. And completely gorgeous.

A few more pictures from the park.

Frank, me and Jess

As it approached the park's closing time we packed it in and decided to drive down to the beach. I'm pretty sure I was the only one of us who loved the drive down, but I did. It was so reminiscent of those long drives up and down Spruce Knob all those years ago. The vague fear of rolling over a mountainside to one's death overwhelmed by friendship and the gorgeous scenery. It was total zen for little ol' me. The beach wasn't bad either (to say the least!).

After we left the beach, we drove into Sausalito for dinner at a little Italian place. It seemed sort of like something out of a movie, picturesque, upscale, and with a character of a waitress who told us not to order spaghetti and meatballs because she thought it was kind of mediocre. Who does that?!? It (the spaghetti) was lovely.

We headed back to San Francisco to get settled in for the night.

I'd looked at the weather earlier and I knew there was possible rain on Sunday, but I wasn't sure when on Sunday. As soon as we got back, Frank (a nickname she had when I met her, btw) and I checked the hourly forecast. Then the radar. Because the hourly looked like this and we wanted not to believe it.

6am: rain, 100% chance, 60 degrees

7am: rain, 100% chance, 61 degrees

8am: rain, 100% chance, 61 degrees

9am: rain, 100% chance, 61 degrees

10am: rain, 90% chance, 61 degrees

Expletive. Expletive. Expletive.

We decided that for our own sense of self-worth, we had to at least get up in the morning, get dressed, and go down to the start line. We had to at least make an effort to try to make ourselves toe the line. We couldn't go all the way to CA to intentionally oversleep our race. Even if it was 60 degrees and raining and our bodies hurt with various runner injuries. We still had to at least go.

Morning rolled around and by 6am we were in a cab headed to Fisherman's Wharf for the start. We found the start area then promptly found a building overhang to huddle under to stay dry for a while. When the noise of the start area grew louder, we decided to head over, port-a-potty and line up. And once we did that, I don't think either of us really thought there was any turning back. We had to do this. Even if we did verbalize that it was probably one of the stupidest things either of us had ever done. And even if we both knew that, in all likelihood, all PR bets for me were off.

I've never seen a crowd more anxious/excited for the gun to go off. We were all ready to get moving. Finally, mercifully, it did.

Miles 1-4

Miles 1 and 2 passed easily, even if everyone was completely soaked by that point. The first water stop was around mile 2 but I didn't even see it until I was almost past it. Why? Because it was about 50 feet to the side of the course and was ONE TABLE. I decided that was fine, I probably wouldn't have stopped even if it had been more obvious. So on we went. The second water stop came up around mile 4. This one was on course and it was time for a drink.

Let me just say it: I have never seen water stops more disorganized. Ever. The cups were empty and stacked on the tables, a free-for-all for runners to try to grab. A guy, ONE volunteer, was pouring quickly into them and occasionally just putting the pitcher down for runners to dip their cups into for timeliness. It was disgusting. And Frank had to ask him three times to pour her more because she barely got anything in her cup the first two times.

Miles 5-9

Somewhere in mile 5 I lost Frank, at a water stop I think. In mile 5 also came the first real shock of the morning--I turned a corner to find that we were running about half a mile down a steep, muddy trail. At first I was afraid of slipping, but a woman from Nova Scotia next to me gave me a little pep talk about it and I picked up the pace again. There was something fun about getting that truly filthy. It became my own little Warrior Race.

Then we were up and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and coming back. Even in the rain, even with me soaked, it was beautiful. To see the fog and the boats and the waves. Pretty surreal. And yes, the Full House theme song popped into my head every now and then. Ah, TGIF. By mile marker 9 we were off the bridge and headed back.

Miles 10-11.5

From mile marker 9 to mile marker 10 was a leg out, then the turn around was just past mile marker 10. It was at this point that I realized that I'd held back too much. I still had WAY too much in the tank at mile 10. I realized immediately that after the muddy goat path around mile 4, I'd gotten too apprehensive about not knowing what the next turn might bring. Even though all bets were off the moment we arrived on site in the rain, I was still frustrated with myself for having left so much slack. I should mention in here that there finally was a well-organized, hygienic water stop. Finally.

Mile 11.5-13.1

I think I did a respectable job at the kick. I kicked about a mile and a half out, then stronger at a mile out. It was probably the best kick I've pulled off, but also probably because I held back too much earlier on. Part of this stretch (and about half a mile of the last section) were right along the beach. I sort of had to pinch myself that I was running with the surf splashing up around my feet. Again, even in the cold rain, it was really beautiful. By mile 12 or so we were a little further off the beach and on a street. I just put my head down and ran. I walked up one insanely steep and very short hill, then poured it on through the finish. The finish felt great. It really did, even knowing then (even without my Garmin) that I hadn't PR'ed. I *did* get cool new bling.

Official race results put me at 2:17:02. At first I didn't believe it. I thought for sure they had somehow added 10 minutes by accident. Since they haven't rescinded the race results yet I have to accept that I really ran a 2:17 half. Other stats:

Females 20-29: 333/705

Gender: 697/1623

Overall: 1637/2976 (I should mention here that there were 5,000 registered participants)

Things I learned this weekend

1. What people are talking about when they say Dipsea
2. That it really does help a LOT to know a course beforehand
3. That yes, Garmins really do make a difference
4. That sometimes nature's got you beat, and you can't do much about it
5. That my Detroit Marathon jacket is fabulous, but not in fact waterproof
6. That San Francisco is really beautiful
7. That a little down time, and friends, are really good for the soul

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed about my finishing time. But at the same time, I think I did reasonably well for me for those conditions. And doing something kinda stupid every now and then just reminds me that I'm still alive. I wouldn't change that for the world.

Race Report: Lewis & Clark Marathon

The last 24 hours have been such an incredible experience. Marathon #2 is in the books and I cannot wait to tell you all about it!

Pre-race

RunningFirst came into town yesterday afternoon. We picked up our race packets, spent some QT with my boys, and had the traditional pasta dinner. I turned in pretty early in anticipation of the 4:50am alarm.

At 0-dark-fifty I dragged myself out of bed. Attempted to eat some oatmeal. Nervously checked and re-checked my do-not-forget-these-things-under-any-circumstance list. Worried about my back, which was giving me some shooting, pinching pains 'cause I slept on it funny. Took the obligatory pre-race picture. Packed up. Headed out.

At 5:25 we left my sleeping boys behind and left to head to the race.

It was probably 40 degrees at the start line, but warmed up quickly once the sun came up. We pre-Gu'ed (ate runner food), put our bags in the bag drop, and lined up right about 7am.

Miles 1-5

After just a mile I'd warmed up and was just enjoying the sunshine. My strategy was to run the whole race and walk the water stops. So, dutifully, I walked through the first water stop. And then my right shoe was off. You read right. The guy behind me stepped on the back of my shoe. RunningFirst helped shield me from the stream of runners (I was *right* in the middle of the road) while I put it back on. Shoe back on, and we were off again.

9:59

10:31 (shoe incident)

9:43

9:45

9:54

Miles 6-10

Were pretty easy. I Gu'ed at mile 6, as planned. Around mile 7 we hit the bridge over the Missouri River, which was lovely. Shortly thereafter we turned and started running along the river. We talked our own ears off all the way through mile 10 (read: I talked non-stop and RunningFirst responded every now and then), which helped to make the miles pass a little faster.

9:33

10:10

9:56

10:29

10:02

Miles 11-15

Gu'ed again at mile 12. As we approached the half-marathon finish I started scanning the crowd for my boys, since the plan was to see them at the half and at the finish. I looked and looked and looked and didn't see them. I started to fear that I'd missed them. Then we were past the halfers' finish and getting toward the start of the Katy Trail and I still hadn't seen them. I was holding back the tears with everything I had. I hated thinking that they might be out all morning and we missed each other. I worried that they'd gotten lost or run into trouble along the way. Seeing them in a race is always incredibly emotional for me, and the idea of missing them tore me up. And then, just as I was giving up hope, I saw them! My boys! They both yelled "Momma!" and I just beamed. And maybe cried just a little. You would too. Don't lie.

10:20

9:55

10:07

9:32 (this was through the half-marathon finish, and it just pulled me along)

10:02

Miles 16-20

One word: hilly.

9:53

10:17

10:27

10:04

10:38

And in case you were wondering what my boys were doing to pass the time, I give you this:

Miles 21-25

I still hadn't hit the wall. In fact, I kept waiting for it and it kept not coming. Score! At mile 23 I took about half a Gu. I was starting to tire out, but I kept going. Between 23 and 24 I really wanted to walk, but there was no way I was going to run that far and walk when I had less than 3 miles to go. Plus, I knew my time was way under my target and was starting to believe I might hit a 4:30. At mile 22 I told myself to get to 23 so I could Gu. At 23 I told myself to get to 24 and see how I felt. At 24 I told myself I had to wait until 25 to pick up the pace. At 25 I was not fast, but I was determined.

10:06

10:15

10:28

10:32

10:17

The Finish

I saw the finish line from about half a mile out. I just went for it. My Garmin was showing lap time, lap pace and total distance, not total time. I knew from what people around me were saying and a quick mental math estimate of time, that I was close to a 4:30. I didn't know if I was going to do it or not. As I passed my boys, Mr. Joanna yelled "Great time!! It's a great time!" I knew he also thought I might be under 4:30 but also wasn't 100% positive. Neither of us could see the clock on the finish line yet AND I didn't know what it had said when I started. I smiled at him (or tried) and went for it.

When I went over the line, the clock read 4:33:28. I didn't know what the start clock had said, but I knew it was going to be close. Two things that didn't occur to me at this point: 1) to stop The Vengeance (my Garmin), and 2) to check my history for the total time. It turns out that I remembered to stop it 65 seconds later, and didn't think to check the history for about another 5-10 minutes after that. Do you know what it said?

4:28:28

Somehow, beyond my wildest dreams, I'd come in under 4:30. Chip time puts me at 4:27:23. 27:31 faster than my PR. I prayed in thanksgiving. I made a few calls. I gave Mr. Joanna the whole run-down of the race. I beamed.

RunningFirst came in a little over 5 hours. I am super proud of him for toughing it out to finish. And still thankful for his company over the first 13.1. I don't know if he'll blog this or not, but if he does, be sure to stop over and tell him congrats.

What Lies Ahead

The US Half, November 7. Time to get faster and shorter. But for now, a week off!! Thank you all SO much for your encouragement, advice, and friendly support that got me to the finish line!

543.5 + 3.8 + 26.5 = 573.8 miles

How do you know?

This is a question I've mauled several times in the last few weeks--how do you know when it's time to replace your gear? I've replaced shoes after 250 miles, 300 miles, and my current pair has about 485 on them and they are just starting to break down. I would shudder to think how many times my running shirts have been washed and worn, or how much sweat they've dutifully wicked over the course of their lifetimes.

**TMI alert**

Recently I've started wondering about one of my sports bras. I've loved it. It's accompanied me through most if not all of my races in the last 3 years and gets worn at least once every week. The last time I wore it I noticed a little extra bounce. This morning when I headed out for my 3-mile recovery/easy run, the bra and I had a firm discussion about our upcoming divorce.

It will be swift. It will be a clean break. It will be hard for us both to move on.

But I have younger, more attractive things to move on to. You see, the new bra I've had my eye on (thank you, RW reviews!) happens to be one of the few running bras sold at REI. Which is right next to Whole Foods. And I am in love with the entire experience. I've never been much of a foodie (which makes me terribly un-hip, I know), but just the thought of the sandwich I had at Whole Foods the other day makes me salivate. And the REI sells a good range of Gu/Chomps/etc flavors for a decent price, plus they carry my beloved Brooks Adrenalines and this bra I've been coveting.

I suppose this is the beauty of moving to a city?!? Who knew?? It just makes me love running that much more.

In other news

I've been running! (duh) After the 12-mile treadmill run last weekend, I followed up on my plans to buy a 1-month membership at the rec center at my work. I used it to do a 5k tempo run (plus w-u and c-d) on Tuesday and a mid-distance run (5 miles) on Thursday. This morning I did a 3.3 mile recovery/easy run around my neighborhood.

About the tempo run--I want to thank you guys, especially Music Says it Best and (the gimpy but fabulous) Sarah the Savage. After my last post you guys reminded me that I need to keep my knees happy and need to stay focused on speed work if I'm going to PR both of my fall races. I needed both of those reminders. Thank you for helping me stay focused!

mileage:

383.8 + 4.0 + 5.0 + 3.3 = 396.1 miles, and clearing 400 this weekend. Something I didn't do until the Detroit Marathon last year. Which was, uh-huh, in OCTOBER.

What, we run hills! Well, sort of.

It's been a great weekend full of running and hanging out with my boys. Here's the recap:

Friday: I fully intended to underachieve. Really. I didn't mean to run 3.9 miles Friday morning. I only meant to run 3. It just sort of happened. I might have loved it, too.

Friday evening (like every other evening), I had the pleasure to do some totally different running. Running after my son. Every day when I pick him up and he realizes we're home he starts almost frantically saying "cars, cars, cars!" or "outside" or, my favorite "ball," which we all know is a ruse. He takes the ball, throws it down the driveway, then takes off running down the sidewalk while I run after the ball.

He positively barrels down the sidewalk for 2 blocks, where he stations himself at a busy corner to watch all the cars go by. He often points and says "car" or "truck." We get waved at a lot. I love this kid.

Saturday: 10-miler with the Team. The got through the first 5.5 at a pace I was really happy with. Things got a little dicey for a few miles, but I finished strong. Overall, pretty happy with that long run. And then we ate our faces off at Panera. YUM.

I've been wanting to add more running pics. So yesterday when I met the Team and the trees were in bloom and we had amazing weather, I was kicking myself for forgetting my camera.

Sunday: Meg gave me the chance to correct that error when she missed the Team run. She needed to make it up today, so I decided to tag along, ostensibly to man her water stops and be there in case her injured leg gave her trouble (which it didn't). It just so happened to also be a good excuse to catch up with her a bit, cram in a couple extra miles (2.2, to be exact) and get some pictures.

(above: approaching our first water stop/starting & finishing area)

(above: I've never seen these before--metallic looking green and blue flies)

(above: this is approaching our second water stop, around 5.5 miles)

(above: what most of the course looks like)

(above: most of our course is wooded, but part of it runs alongside a golf course)

AND FINALLY...the dreaded hill. Mr. Joanna looked at this and said, "The old you would laugh at you for dreading that hill." I responded that I laugh at myself every Saturday for dreading this hill. Compared to where I grew up this is nothing...but at the end of a long run it's enough to make us groan. And in fairness, this picture only shows the first half of the hill. It continues past the bend. That's the fabulous Meg charging up the hill, almost finished with her 10-miler.

It was at least 75 degrees while Meg did her 10-miler, so to cool off and refuel afterward we went to DQ and indulged. Man, I love running.

177.2 + 3.9 + 10.0 + 2.2 = 193.2 miles (there's some rounding error)

So that's how it's gonna go down?

I apologize for the blog slacking! Here's the recap of everything you've missed.

Monday: On Monday while working from home I checked the hourly forecast for the rest of that day and Tuesday. It looked like this:

PERFECT, rain, rain, dinner/family time, dark, windy, windy, windy, windy, dark.

So I got up and went running. A good 4.8 miles around the neighborhood then right back to work. I love that my work can be flexible like that right now. It won't be like this for long.

Tuesday: Admission of truth--I am not a reliable cross-trainer. Actually, I just don't do it most of the time. Which is why I'm going to go ahead and count mowing the lawn as exercise. If Mr. Joanna can count ping pong as exercise (which he does...true story), I can count mowing. When I finished I looked back at the yard, all proud of myself. Then I saw this. One missed strip of grass between rows and no time to weed whack it. FAIL. I still cross-trained. Right?

Wednesday: RunningFirst and I decided to believe weather.com's claim that the rain was over, so we headed to the track dutifully at 6pm. The workout: warm-up, 3 mile tempo run, cool down. My mile splits were 8:04, 7:54, and 7:48. Decreasing splits! Unlike a true tempo run, I took short breaks between miles--shorter than if it were an interval workout. I'm happy to report that I was absolutely unafraid of this workout. It was one of the easier ones we've done, intentionally, since we're now close-ish to race day.

In the middle of the cool-down, RunningFirst (who ran parts of the workout with me) lamented the state of his preparation for our race and the difficulty he'd had in joining me for portions of the tempo run. So there on the spot he decided that our track workout was going to be written in the history books like this. I freaking love it. It IS true that I appreciated being paced so well. And it's also true that he's about half full of it. On purpose.

Thursday: A pigeon flew into my office through the one small window that opens. The pigeon and I were both too freaked out for a photo op. I called some people with nets who came and released it back into the great outdoors.

And now, because I'm in a really random mood, I'm going to give you a totally unrelated and unsolicited product review: Lemon Curd.

It has come to my attention that a lot of you have never heard of lemon curd. Let me introduce you. It is sort of like really thick lemon pie filling that you put on toast. You convince yourself that it's as reasonable as eating jam. It's expensive and ridiculous and pretty much the best thing on Earth. You can find it in most grocery stores next to the jam/jelly section. Give it a try!

I'm planning a FAQ post about this blog, so if there's anything you'd like to know please just post a comment and ask!

167.4 + 4.8 + 5.0 = 177.2 miles

Palm Sunday, martinis, and a 10-miler

Happy Palm Sunday! Holy Week is my favorite time of the church year. Such a powerful illustration of God's promises and boundless grace and a reminder of my own unworthiness. It's humbling and powerful in a way that shakes me up a little bit every year. This year we read the Passion according to Luke, which you can read here.

Church this morning was a revelation for me in a different way, too. I ushered this morning and as I greeted and talked with people, I realized how many of them I have come to know. I thought back to the first fall we were here, right after we joined, when one Sunday I sat looking around the church wondering if I would ever be able to put names with faces. If Mr. Joanna and I would ever have conversations with and about the other parishioners and the ways our lives had become intertwined with theirs. I guess that happened, and it sort of snuck up on me. I am excited about graduating and starting the next chapter, but I'm savoring what's left of this. Proof: I took a picture today while washing dishes because it seemed like a good reminder of the fun I had last night with some friends I'm going to miss terribly.

Moving on to all things running--yesterday was a slow 10-miler in cold, windy, but beautifully sunny & clear weather. Meg & I decided to take it easy as we did the mileage hike. We just jogged and talked and got 'er done. We also had three coaches there and Mr. & Mrs. LifeSaver. Mr. LifeSaver was on fire! I've never seen him so fast on a long run. (btw, what in the WORLD am I going to do when I have to settle in with a new running group?!?) Next week is a cut-back, then we're planning to really attack the 10-miler the weekend after that. I tried the lemon Gu and loved it. Seriously, how did I not know the glory of the Gu?!?

Meg appears to have sprung an injury. She's pretty sure it's a sideliner, but won't know for sure for about two weeks. I'm hoping, really hoping, she's wrong and it was something like, oh say, the world's worst bee sting (in March, yes...whatever! I'm desperate for an answer...and ignoring how insanely over-qualified she is to self-diagnose). I'll either have the best cheering section EVER or we'll PR together as planned. Either way she's awesome, but keep your fingers crossed for the best.

133.3 + 4.1 + 10.0 = 147.4 miles

best.workout.ever.

Meg and I played hooky for a few hours today! This is unheard of! It was fabulous! We went to our local running store (shoes for her, runner food for me), had an excellent & cheap lunch, and went cake shopping for my graduation weekend. F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S. (channel your inner Fergie, if you must)

A few hours of super-productive work, then...

The best interval/tempo workout ever.

1 x 1600 warm-up (1600 = 1 mile)

3 x 1600, ~3 min rest in between each

1 x 1600 cool-down

The intervals broke down into these 400m times:

1:49, 3:45, 5:42, 7:39

1:51, 3:52, 5:47, 7:41

1:49, 3:46, 5:46, 7:40

Apparently I haven't run this particular workout since 6/27/2007. According to that post, we ran them faster tonight by 7 seconds, 1 second, and 10 seconds, respectively. Plus, the weather was awesome. Plus, Meg killed it. Plus, RunningFirst kept us on pace. Good, good times.

125.0 + 3.3 + 5.0 = 133.3 miles

Duck tape & kimonos

Maybe 6 weeks ago I called my brother, ODP, and we randomly picked a weekend that looked good for a visit. So this past weekend the babe and I went to Detroit to visit Kdot, ODP, and The Princess of Detroit (their 1 year old--this is their nickname for her). It turned out to be a great weekend for a getaway. We've had SO much going on in our lives here that the away time and silliness was much appreciated, plus it was a great excuse for the kids to see each other. Here are some highlights from the past week, including the trip (which I'll have more pictures of in a few days).

The Bestie

I had to cancel my weekly lunch with The Bestie last Tuesday due to a house-related meeting. I was pretty bummed about this. So when hunger struck at 11am on Wednesday, and my brown bagged lunch looked unappealing, I shot her an email asking if she was up for an impromptu lunch together. After a few emails back and forth we decided to make a dash for it and make it work into our essentially conflicting work schedules for the day. I know an impromptu lunch doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's pretty unusual for us and it was a great time. I also learned a few funny things about her but I think she'd kill me if I posted them here.

Meg

With me out of town and with her constantly hectic work schedule, Meg was left to fend for herself for this weekend's 8-miler. But oh man, am I sorry I missed it. I had this email waiting for me upon my return:

"Dude, running 8 miles without you on a cold, overcast, windy day sucks....And I lost my shorts around mile 5. Yes, I was wearing tights, but it was not a hot look."

Enough said.

ODP

My college roommate had a Redneck Point Allocation System for estimating how redneck someone might be. She allotted me a substantial number of points simply for being from West Virginia. It is true that when you're from where I'm from, you are given a certain amount of redneck points at birth. I've heard it said (jokingly) that all babies born in CA are given sunglasses and bathing suits at birth. We're given redneck points.

I choose to display my allotted redneckedness in a few key areas. I have a healthy level of suspicion about both The Man and the government. I am more or less completely undiscerning about food unless it's escargot, wine, or chocolate, which we can safely blame on my time spent in France. I have a totally unwavering love of sheet cake. And I slip a casual "y'all" into conversation every now and then. ODP, on the other hand, keeps his redneck points in a Swiss Bank Account, metaphorically speaking. He would really rather pretend he didn't have a redneck point allocation stemming from birth. And you would almost always believe him. We wears a kimono as a bath robe (it's not as crazy as it sounds, actually--you'd have to see it). He likes Russian baby names. He owns an espresso machine. And all sorts of other things he would kill me for posting.

He even almost had me convinced that he'd sold or somehow dispensed of his redneck points. Until I discovered the stewed tomato can in his refrigerator. After using part of the can, he'd resealed it....with duck tape. I wish I'd gotten a picture, but fortunately for him the camera was in The Princess of Detroit's room and the kids were napping.

Today's Run

I tried to run in Detroit, I really did. Friday afternoon I was beat, and it rained the rest of the weekend. So, no dice. But it was OK. I really did need some down time. So today I made up my missed 8-mile long run. I could hear Meg cursing the windy, overcast weather she'd faced, as I faced it today (although it wasn't cold, at least). I did a 4-mile loop around my neighborhood twice. Between loops I stopped at my house to ditch my jacket and grab some runner food. It's been a long time since I stocked up, so I was stuck with my Gu Chocolate Outrage that I got at the Detroit Marathon in October. During the race I carried it as a back-up (read: security blanket) in case of an energy emergency. Since then I've been pretending it wasn't in my kitchen. Truthfully, I've always dreaded Gu. I always thought it had the consistency of half-set Jello, which makes me want to wretch. So it was with MUCH apprehension that I tore open the pack today and tried it.

It was freakin' delicious! Look at this--I squeezed that packet until it was FLAT! It was way more like chocolate cake frosting than half-set Jello. I might be a new believer. Maybe.

100.4 + 8.1 = 108.5 miles