A Grasshut and a Donkey

We've Moved

2011-02-15T18:12:00.001-05:00

Thanks for having us Blogger! The Grasshut and Donkey blog is now at www.grassihut.com.

BRR (not to be confused with Brrrr)

2011-02-02T16:18:00.000-05:00

Ever since I finished Tussey I've been reluctant to commit to any running-related events. It's hard to say whether it's because I'm bored, burnt out, lazy, or some combination of all of the above. I attempted to register for the Hashawha 50k a few weeks ago and ended up having to put my name on the wait list because the event filled up so quickly. "C'est la vie" I thought.

When lottery entry for the Bull Run Run (BRR) 50-miler opened up last week, I half-heartedly put my name on the list. Entry is limited to 350 runners and with 600+ people on the list, I figured that if I didn't get in then it just wasn't meant to be. And I was perfectly okay with not getting in. In fact, a part of me was actually hoping not to get in so that I wouldn't have to buckle down and start training again. In the back of my mind I knew that this likely meant one thing: I would get into BRR because that's how the universe likes to screw with me.

The VHTRC has a very involved process for determining who gets in. I was just about to put an extra topping of whipped cream on my hazelnut hot chocolate yesterday afternoon when Mandy broke the "great" news to me. We both got into BRR. Oh, and to top things off, I got an email from the Hashawha 50k's race director to let me know that a slot opened up and that I could now run. Thanks... I think.

Fish Hat

2011-01-21T16:04:00.001-05:00

I was waiting for this hat to dry and laughed when I saw that Bubba posted a picture of ~~someone~~ Hermie who had just made this fish hat that you can get from Knitty. It's a great pattern that's easy to follow and a great way to use up scrap yarn. I didn't like the way the eyes looked on the original so I crocheted my fish's eyes and eyeballs.

Look Bubba and Peg!

2011-01-21T15:58:00.000-05:00

I'm using the stitch markers that you gave me for Christmas.

Thanks again!

2010 from the Rear-View Mirror

2011-01-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

Nothing to See Here

2011-01-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

No exciting news to share with you all so here are some pictures that I found over the weekend.

I'm not sure where to begin with this first picture of my sister and I. The socks? The shoes? The hideous dress? The hair? Judging by the, "You gotta be kidding" look on my face, I'm perturbed about something.

My sister was a tad bossy as a child. Here's her giving her most threatening Care Bear stare.

Our love of food starts at an early age as evidenced by these pics.

Christmas Highlights

2010-12-27T17:28:00.000-05:00

Our niece Maddy on Christmas Eve sporting the hat that I made her:

The annual kids on the stairs picture at Mom and Dad's house on Christmas Day with our cousin John, the newest "kid" in the family:

Nerf dart guns with human targets:

Chris realizing that her White Elephant gift is the Shake Weight:

If you haven't seen the infomercial for the Shake Weight, it looks pretty obscene. Each person was only supposed to spend $10 on their gift, but Steve thought the extra money would be worth the laugh... and he was right. Here's a video of Chris being a good sport and entertaining the rest of us. Yes, that's me cackling uncontrollably.

Hope everyone had a fun Christmas!

Marsan Cap and Summer Flies Shawl

2010-12-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

It's time for a craft update! I knit this Marsan Watchcap pattern for my cousin John. It'll be his first winter in the U.S. so I figured he'd need something to keep his head warm. The design is pretty simple, but I liked that the hat folds up and does double-duty to keep your ears warm.

I finally knit this Summer Flies shawl. Considering the blustery weather we've been having lately, I'd say that summer is long gone. The pattern is very well-written and easy to follow. I decided to use Naturally Caron Country yarn in silver service since I already had a few skeins. The yarn looked to have a slight shine to it, but unfortunately it ended up looking more drab than fab after it was knit.

Army-Navy Game

2010-12-14T16:05:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Steve and I hosted my family's annual Army-Navy football game get-together.

The little guy in front of me is Gino, my cousin Dina's 4-year old son who she adopted from the Philippines a few years ago. He's kinda awesome.

My immediate family knows that Jesus and I have been on a break so I'm sure that seeing a nativity set in my house puzzles them. (Steve likes having it out at Christmas, so we set it out for decor.) Sometime during their visit, baby Jesus was visited not only by the three wise men, but also by the pooping reindeer and Buddha who came bearing a soccer ball.

This is why drinking and decorating don't mix.

ICE!

2010-12-02T14:43:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we decided to check out the ICE! at the National Harbor. This year's theme was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Pretty cool - figuratively and literally. They keep the place at a nippy 9 degrees. By the end of the exhibit I was more than thankful for the parkas they make you wear.

Tussey Retrospective: Race Day and Post-Race

2010-11-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

I'd better wrap this up before I completely forget what happened.

Race Day

First, the things I think went well on race day:

The temperature the morning of the race was in the 40s and it was breezy. The support vehicles had to leave the starting area before the runners so I opted to wear my jacket for the first few miles. I'm sure I would have survived a few minutes standing around in just my t-shirt, arm warmers, and shorts, but I was glad to have the extra layer for warmth. By the time we saw Steve around mile 3, I was warmed up and ready to get rid of the jacket.

Speaking of Steve, he did a great job of telling us how far until the next time we'd see him. Having him tell us the degree of difficulty of the upcoming leg was also helpful. Even though I had looked at the course description a zillion times before the race, I could only remember a handful of the leg descriptions. I hung on to those little nuggets of information that he was feeding us like my life depended on it. Okay, that's a little dramatic but the info did help to frame my mindset for what was next.

With the exception of a handful of potato chips, I stuck with what I had eaten during training (Gu gels, Gu Chomps, and bananas) and felt just fine. The nutrition plan I trained with provided me enough energy without ever feeling too full and bloated. My only concern was that I may not have absorbed enough of the water I was drinking since I peed four times during Tussey. At Big Schloss I only needed to go once during the almost 10 hours so four times seemed like an awful lot. Fortunately, it wasn't hot the day of Tussey so I wasn't sweating tremendously. Had it been warmer, I would have been worried about dehydration.

Packing all my nutrition in an easy-to-access container also worked out really well. Usually, I just stuff a freezer bag with as much as I can which usually results in me dumping half the contents to get to what I want. The plastic container I brought was large enough to fit all my nutrition (and extras) and easy to open.

I take after my mom and always pack plenty of snacks for road trips. I knew Steve would be on the course all day and wouldn't have a chance to go off and grab food if he got hungry so I packed him plenty of munchies and drinks. Peanut butter-filled pretzels, lunch meat, bread, Kashi bars, trail mix, V8, Pepsi, water, and the all important toilet paper. We also packed beer and Mike's Hard Lemonade but that was for post-race. :-)

A couple of things to improve:

Better planning as to when I would need to refill my water and nutrition. My 11 hour and 18 minute finish included almost 40 minutes of not moving so I could definitely spend less time at the support vehicle. I decided to look back at previous events to see how much time I spent not moving:

o Big Schloss: Total time = 9 hours 55 minutes; Non-moving time = 1 hour 2 minutes

o Skyline Challenge: Total time = 8 hours 8 minutes; Non-moving time = 30 minutes

o Capon Valley: Total time = 6 hours 50 minutes; Non moving time = approximately 24 minutes (I started my watch late for this one so my data is a little off)

Granted I stop and take in the views, snap some pictures, pull briars off of me when I fall, etc..., so there will always be some amount of non-moving time. I'll just have to make sure I don't overdo it.

Try to train with any shirt I might wear during the event. Most of our training took place in the dead of summer when it was hot and humid so I usually had a sleeveless shirt on. I ran a few times with a short-sleeved shirt, but I failed to do a long run with any of these shirts while wearing my Nathan. For Tussey I ended up wearing a short-sleeved shirt I hadn't worn during training and discovered that it kept riding up my back. Not only was this annoying, but my back was chafed by the end of the day.

Continue to keep the stuff in the support vehicle organized as much as possible. Toward the end of the day I thought the back of the Tahoe was starting to look as if someone lived in there. It was starting to get a bit cluttered with all of our gear combined with Steve's snacks and other stuff. I'm sure some of this is inevitable so I'll just have to try to make sure I put my crap back in my gear bag or where it belongs.

Make sure the support crew knows where everything is located and how things work. Steve did an excellent job and was able to quickly figure out how to refill my hydration pack, but I probably should have taken the time to make sure he knew how to do this beforehand. I also assumed he knew how to use our camera and asked that he take pictures since I wasn't sure I'd ever do this event again. He took a ton of pictures, but unfortunately had the camera on the macro zoom setting so many of the pics he took ended up blurry.

Post-Race

After Big Schloss I attempted to run the Monday after and really struggled. Not wanting to repeat that disaster, I didn't run for an entire week after Tussey. My first run was the Saturday after and it was really slow on a flat trail. As much as my mind thought I could run sooner, it was good to have that break to recover.

My biggest post-race problem is falling asleep. You'd think that after being on my feet for 11+ hours I would have been dead asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. Instead, I was wide awake and probably only got 4-5 hours of sleep. After tossing for hours after Tussey, I drank a Mike's Hard Lemonade at 2 a.m. hoping that it would knock me out, but even that didn't help. I've had the same problem after the 50Ks and can't figure out what my problem is. Physically I'm tired, but it's almost as if I can't shut my mind off. When I do manage to doze off, I constantly wake myself up because I'm tripping over a rock or a tree root in my dreams. I'm not sure how to fix this so I'll have to do some research to find a remedy that won't leave me brain dead the next day.

Xenocryst

2010-11-12T12:53:00.000-05:00

What's that? According to my quick Google search, it's "a crystal foreign to the igneous rock in which it occurs".

It's also the name of the latest hat pattern that I finished last night. I came across the pattern while I was thumbing through the Fall 2010 issue of Knitscene at Adirondack Yarns in Lake Placid this past summer. The pattern uses an Estonian cast on which I had never heard of, but fortunately the author provided a link to this video. The Estonian cast on is definitely more attractive than other methods I've used so it's a keeper. This simple pattern was easy to memorize so it was the perfect companion for a few glasses of wine and the latest movie from NetFlix.

I wanted to test drive Debbie Stoller's Bamboo Ewe yarn that I bought from JoAnn's a few months ago. The color is Twilight, a purple/blue color that reminds me of grape-flavored Nerds. The yarn is 55% bamboo, 45% wool. For less than $5 a skein, it was nicer to work with than I expected. It was fairly soft and didn't split like some of the cheaper yarns I've worked with (ahem, Naturally Caron Spa AND Country). It had a couple of knots (including a section of yarn that seemed to be tied together by a 12" strand) but nothing so bad that I couldn't work it out.

Thanks to Ula for modeling. Yes I know she/it is creepy, but get over it.

Tussey Retrospective: Pre-Race

2010-11-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

Now that I've had a couple of weeks to recover physically and mentally from Tussey, I thought I should put together a retrospective. "Why bother?" you might wonder. Well, let's just say that I might have to refer to this information at a future date. For today, I'll just focus on the pre-race lessons learned.

First, the biggest factor: training. Overall, I think the training plan worked out pretty well. I was running five days a week. The entire training plan was 23 weeks long. (UGH - I just realized that's almost six months. No wonder I was ready to be done.) Two of the three weekday runs were between 5-8 miles, while the third weekday run ranged anywhere from 6-12 miles. Those mid-week 12-milers during the peak weeks were a bit cumbersome, but I think they helped with the mental "stick-to-it-ness" training. Saturday long runs included eight runs of 18 or more miles. Sunday runs ranged anywhere from 6-12 miles. Looking back at my log, I seem to have only missed 17 of the 115 scheduled runs during the 23 weeks which means I did 85% of the runs I was supposed to do. That's pretty darn good in my opinion.

The 50-mile training plans available online vary so much. Some have you running back-to-back long runs on the weekend (e.g., 20 miles on Saturday, 20 miles on Sunday). I think the thought behind this approach is that you train yourself to run long that second day to simulate the exhaustion you'll feel toward the latter part of the race. PHOOEY. Mandy and I both thought that that approach would SUCK since we'd basically be giving up most of our weekend. Instead of back-to-back long runs, we opted for the longer mid-week run. We did run three, back-to-back long runs over Labor Day weekend (25, 10, and 14 miles) to see how our legs felt after running a total of 50 miles over the span of a weekend. I personally didn't feel much more tired after Labor Day's run so I took that as a good sign.

After a few mishaps early in the training, I finally found a nutrition plan that worked and stuck with it. Basically, taking in a gel or 3-4 Gu Chomps every 30 minutes after the first hour of running. I think that works out to be somewhere in the range of 190-200 calories an hour. When it was convenient, I'd substitute a banana for a gel or Chomp to mix it up and just to eat real food. I decided to just drink water during the runs and skip the Gatorade. Before Saturday's run I'd also eat a bagel with peanut butter 1-2 hours before we actually started running. Post-run I'd either have Endurox or chocolate milk.

Other things I think I did right:

Buying a new pair of shoes about three weeks before the event and breaking them in over the course of 3-5 runs. My shoes felt bouncy, but broken in for Tussey.
Not lifting at all the week before the event. For past events, I would just skip my leg workout the week before but this time, I decided to not lift at all. Not sure how much this helped physically, but I think it did help me sleep more since I wasn't worried about getting up to get to the gym. Which leads me to...
Getting plenty of sleep the week before. I think I slept 8-10 hours the week leading up to Tussey.

As for things I could do better...

For Tussey, I probably could've gotten away with running fewer technical trails and instead run more hills (versus walking them). I did a couple hill workouts, but probably could have benefited from running more hills. Some of the hills at Tussey weren't so steep that they couldn't be run (remember the older gent who passed me?), but I didn't have the confidence to run more of them for fear that I'd bonk later on.

Traveling Woman

2010-10-26T13:01:00.000-04:00

My Tita Joy (that's aunt for you non-Flips) moved to the U.S. from the Philippines (yes, legally) a few months ago. I came across this Traveling Woman shawl pattern and thought that it would be a perfect gift for her. Not only will it keep her warm, but I thought the name was appropriate considering her big move to the West.

I was a little worried about how much time I spent knitting this shawl when I first saw it after I finished the pattern. Quite bumpy and misshapen don't you think? I know, the harsh sunlight was a bad move on my part when I took the pic.

Just like a shower is refreshing after a long, hard run, blocking does wonders for a knitted piece. Here's the same shawl after it was washed and air dried.

I hope she likes it (and I hope she doesn't stumble upon this blog before Christmas).

Tussey Mountainback 50-Miler

2010-10-19T13:22:00.002-04:00

The short version: Perfect weather. I had a lot of fun and finished in 11 hours, 18 minutes.

The long version...

It was about 49 degrees at 5:30am and weather.com predicted that the temps would fall into the lower 40s for the next few hours before finally starting to climb into the 50s. We got to the start area around 6am, checked in, and registered the U.S.S. Grassi (a.k.a. the Tahoe) as a support vehicle. Knowing that Steve would be on the course with all our gear and crap was definitely a plus. Although the race allowed for drop bags, it requires that you be able to predict at what mile you might need something. I can do a pretty good job of estimating when I'm going to need more gels, but I have a harder time knowing if and when I might want a change of socks, shirt, or something different to eat other than Gu.

Mandy and I filled up our hydration packs and loaded up on enough gels and Chomps to last us about 2-3 hours. The great thing about Tussey is that there are 11 transition zones where you can restock at the aid station, or visit your support vehicle. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted to carry the Nathan that I had trained with, or a single-bottle belt since the transition zones were at the most 6.2 miles apart, I filled up both. My plan was to start with the single-bottle and see how it went for the first leg.

At about 6:50 we made our way down to the start line where a bunch of other runners stood in the cold. We chatted with a few other runners including Erin, a woman whose brother talked her into running Tussey but then backed out. We also spoke to a young couple who said they had driven the course and that it was in fact hilly. There seemed to be at least 15 other runners who were running their first 50-miler so I took comfort in knowing that I wasn't alone.

Chilly Start

The funny thing about the 50Ks that I've done so far and Tussey is that the start is so underwhelming. The race director basically stands at the start and yells "Go!" There's no fanfare and buildup like there is with most marathons or triathlons. There's no announcer counting down the minutes before the gun goes off, no hoopla that makes you think that what you're about to do is any big deal. You just kinda start running and that's what we all did at 7am.

According to the race's website, the first leg was 3.2 miles and "difficult." Mandy and I ran along curious to find out what they meant by "difficult" and were happy to find that the climb, while long, wasn't at all steep. By the time we got to the end of leg 1, I was sufficiently warm and decided to throw my jacket into the Tahoe when we saw Steve. Legs 2 and 3 flew by since they were mostly downhill. I found that having to pull my bottle out of my belt was causing me not to drink enough water, so I swapped out my belt for my Nathan. Sure it was extra weight that I've had carry, but the Nathan made it so much easier for me to take a drink.

After leg 1's difficulty rating of "difficult", I started leg 4 with the expectation that it too wouldn't be as bad as the Tussey folks had rated it to be. Boy was I wrong. This time "difficult" really was tough. We did some combo of running and walking up the mile-long hill. We were passed by a threesome of Ryan Hall-looking guys who I assume were running the relay. They flew by like gazelles but were kind enough to throw out a few encouraging words to the ultrarunners that they passed. It was on this climb that I was also passed by a guy who had to be in his late-60s/early-70s. The dude wasn't moving fast but he was moving faster than me. Yes, I am THAT slow, but kudos to anyone who's still running at his age.

Legs 5-8 were a blur. Mandy had some stomach issues during one of these legs so we walked a bit more. We also met a few of the other ultrarunners. It was easy to tell the ultrarunners from the relay folks because they were running much slower than the relay runners. I chatted with some guy named Scott who said he ran this last year for the first time and bonked at mile 15 because he started out too fast; needless to say, the next 35 miles were hell for him. We met a woman from Reston who was also doing her first 50-miler, and a guy who recognized us as the cat rescuers from the Skyline 50K. We joked that although we may never be known for our speed, we'll be remembered for our good deed.

Transition zone 9 was at around mile 36.5. I was thrilled to feel as good as I was feeling especially considering this was the furthest I had ever run in my life. We knew that the next two legs were supposed to be hard so we refilled our Nathans again since our pace was probably going to get slower.

Transition Zone 9

Leg 10 started out with a gradual climb past the greenest field I've ever seen. Mandy's stomach was starting to bother her again so I walked while she took care of business and caught up to me. We got to a mother of a hill and walked for what seemed like eternity. I couldn't help but tease the relay runners that went by that they must have drawn the short straw to have gotten stuck with this leg. Fortunately, many of them laughed instead of kicking me down the hill.

We got to TZ 10 and were disappointed to hear from Steve that there was yet another tough climb ahead of us. Bummer. Our friend Jimmy had warned us that there was a brutal hill around mile 41, but I was really hoping that the last hill was the one he was referring to. No such luck. The next section was an out and back so we did run into a few ultrarunners we had seen earlier in the day. Even though seeing them on our way out as they were coming back in meant they were ahead of us, I found it to be a nice distraction. We stopped at the top of the climb and took a few pictures before cruising downhill.

View From the Top

I was surprised at how good I felt and knew at this point that I was actually going to finish this thing. Yippee! I got to TZ 11 and was surprised not to see Mandy behind me. Steve offered me my arm warmers but I declined - a decision I'd regret during the next leg. I decided to hit the port-o-john at the bottom of the hill and asked Steve to let Mandy know I'd meet her there.

I was surprised not to see her there when I got out so I hung around the relay teams and volunteers. They were all looking at me funny since they had just cheered for me a few minutes earlier when I ran by. One of the volunteers finally asked me if I needed help and I let him know that I was waiting for a friend. I figured that Mandy had put up with me for months during training so I didn't want to abandon her now. By the time we got to this last leg, the sun was beginning to set. Mandy was having severe stomach pains and wasn't able to run. I walked ahead of her hoping to hear her behind me. She's a tough cookie and always manages to muster up the energy to catch up and pass me even when she's not feeling well. She was getting further and further behind me so I knew that she really had to be feeling bad. The temperature was dropping and I was starting to shiver. Sure wish I had listened to Steve and taken my arm warmers. A relay runner passing me was kind enough to offer me the jacket tied around her waist. I thanked her but declined. One of the things from this race that I really liked was how supportive the relay teams were to the ultrarunners. Many of them would yell supportive words as they drove by. Each time we got into a transition zone, someone would yell "ultra" and the relay runners would clap and cheer for the ultrarunners coming in. They really did make you feel like some kind of celebrity.

Some volunteers driving by pulled up beside me and yelled, "Great job Cherry!" I thought it was pretty cool they knew who I was but then realized it was probably because there weren't many people left on the course. Oh well - I'll take whatever encouragement I can get. We passed mile marker 49 and I yelled back to Mandy to let her know we only had about a mile left. My Garmin was about a quarter mile ahead (49.25ish) so I thought for sure we were almost done. I was really shivering now so I told Mandy that I was going to run for a bit to warm up. I jogged ahead but found that the downhills were making it hard for my legs fight gravity. My Garmin buzzed as it clicked over to 50 miles but nothing looked remotely familiar yet. Hmmm... I kept running along thinking that the finish line was just around the next bend. My eyes finally saw a sign that said "1/2 mile to next transition zone." What?! By now, I wanted to be done and wanted to b*tch slap the person who put the mile 49 marker up 2 miles from the finish. I finally caught sight of the finish and could see Steve in the distance. I crossed the finish line in about 11 hours 18 minutes. It was a long day, but it was the first time in a while that I've felt that "runner's high" so it was well worth it. Mandy came in about 10 minutes later still not feeling well, but she finished.

Blurry Me at the Finish

Would I do it again? Yes! Maybe not next year, but I would run Tussey again. The course is mainly on dirt roads with some paved sections so it's not technical. I'm sure a lot of ultrarunners turn their noses up at Tussey because it's not a trail race. Whatever. I enjoyed the course and had a great time. Plus it was awesome to be able to see and talk to Steve (and Mandy's mom and nephew) so many times during the day.

Mandy's Nephew and Mom

Pumpkin Picking

2010-10-12T18:03:00.000-04:00

I had never picked my own pumpkin so this past weekend we ventured over to Wegmeyer Farm in Hamilton.

"Seriously? Why?"

2010-10-10T11:13:00.000-04:00

Those are the questions my sister asked me last night when I told her that my event next weekend was a 50-miler. So during this morning's run, I mulled over the question of "Why?" and came up with the following reasons.

Because it's a challenge - Imagine if I said, "Next weekend, I'm walking to the end of the block." Big deal right? But what if I said, "Next weekend, I'm walking to the end of the block on stilts blindfolded while balancing a bottle of Bacardi on my head." Now that's a little more interesting because we've upped the ante. It's obviously more difficult so you can't help but wonder if I could actually do it. You might even think, "I need to be there to catch that Bacardi because I know she can't do it."

We all take on personal challenges. They may not be as extreme as climbing Everest, but we all do things that test our limits. It could be trying to get to the next level of a game, earning a black belt in martial arts, or snowboarding down a black diamond without falling. It's the same thing with running. I pick a goal that's a bit out of reach when I go into it with the hopes that I can overcome obstacles and actually cross the finish line. Any time I set a goal to do something difficult, I always learn a little more about myself. It's not always a pleasant learning experience, but hopefully I've put those lessons learned in my back pocket for the next time.

Curiousity - It always begins the same way:

I wonder if I could finish a 10-miler?

A half-marathon is only 3 miles more miles. I wonder if I could do it?

I've run a few halfs, I wonder if I could finish a marathon?

Remember when you were a kid and you'd try to hold your breath while going through a tunnel? Even if the tunnel went on f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I'd count the number of seconds and try to hold my breath longer than the last tunnel. There was no prize involved, but it satisfied my curiousity. As adults I think it's important for us to keep that childlike curiosity alive. Too often we get bogged down in reality or let the fear of failure keep us from exploring new adventures. So what if I never win a race. It's FUN. Part of what makes it fun is not knowing whether I'll succeed. Don't you ever miss the rush from trying something impossible and ridiculous? Have you ever experienced the thrill of actually accomplishing something you once thought was out of reach? Give it a try. There's no substitute for a rush of adrenaline.

To fight demons - My demon comes in the form of an overweight, out-of-shape teenage girl. She wears baggy clothes and often shops in the boys' department because she's uncomfortable in her own skin and would rather disappear into the crowd. I've managed to keep her at bay most of the time, but she occasionally rears her chubby face with a gallon of ice cream in hand. While she never mocks me, she does push me to keep moving forward when I think about how she struggled to run a mile in high school. I've heard of others who run to fight addiction to drugs or alcohol. Running gives them a sense of purpose, a focus that they pour their energy in to.

Demons come in forms you wouldn't expect. Someone I know runs because her friends didn't have the confidence to believe that she could finish a marathon. Another person I know runs because she wants to avoid the health problems that the rest of her family has surrendered to. They tell her that she's wasting her time. Great support group huh? Running serves as an escape, even if temporary, from the things in our life that we can't always control. That chubby teenager I was didn't have the confidence to tackle new challenges. Fear of failure and rejection kept her from accepting who she was for years. These days she's still a slow runner, but she's mustered up the courage to say, "Screw it." and at least try.

The Big Schloss 50k

2010-09-28T18:57:00.000-04:00

This weekend marked the end of our peak training weeks for the 50-miler. Since we had to get in 30 miles on Saturday, Mandy suggested that we run the Big Schloss 50k. It was advertised as a no cost, no frills event. I had some reservations about running this event because I got a sense from the reports that I had read that it was a rocky course. Being that Tussey isn't technical at all (it's almost entirely on fire roads), I wasn't keen on the idea but figured I'd rather have the company of other runners than schlep through 30 miles solo. Plus, the entry fee of 2 gallons of water in exchange for aid stations and post-run bratts and burgers seemed like a pretty good deal.

Even though the run didn't start until 8am, I met Mandy at 5am to make the 2 hour drive to Wardensville, WV. We got there around 7am and chatted with some of the other runners. At 8am we all scampered off into the woods. The first 4 miles rolled up and down and were pretty runnable. That is, until we took a turn and ended up in what looked to be a quarry. Boulders, rocks, and more rocks! Had it not been for the runners in front of me, I would have wondered whether I had missed a turn. I should mention now that my footing is dreadful on a rocky course. This proved to be exceptionally difficult since (a) fallen leaves surrounded the rocks so you couldn't tell how far your foot would fall if you stepped off the rocks, and (b) some of the rocks - even the bigger ones - shifted when you stepped on them. After much internalized whining and grumbling, I got through that first challenge.

The next few miles to the first aid station were mostly downhill. Mandy took off since she's a speedster on the downhills, while I did my thing and eventually made it down to aid station #1 where Elvis greeted everyone. After topping off my Nathan and grabbing a cookie, Mandy and I headed off.

The next section involved a climb of about 1600' over six miles. This translates to lots of walking. Despite all this walking, my heart rate and profuse sweating were like that of an escaped prisoner. When we finally got to a downhill it was, what else, rocky. I chatted with a few other runners including Curt who was also new to the ultrarunning scene. He also ran the Skyline Challenge so we talked about how tough that run was and compared to it to what we had seen so far. Despite my turtle-like pace, I pulled away from Curt and caught up to Mandy. We passed a few people who looked like they were struggling including Carol, a woman who had been just in front of us the entire way so far. We checked to see if she was okay and she mentioned that she didn't do well in the heat and that she was hoping that a soda at the next aid station would help.

Aid station #2 was stocked full of too much good food and peppy volunteers. M&Ms, pita chips, soda, bacon, and PANINIS! I had a quarter of a panini and had to resist the urge to scarf down a whole one. The volunteers seemed to be having so much fun with their beer and 90s tunes that I almost wanted to stay. Mandy and I had had this woman Pam and Carol not far in front of us the entire way so far. The four of us decided to head out together since we were running roughly the same pace. Strength in numbers. During the first quarter mile Carol teetered back and forth between continuing on and dropping out, but eventually decided that she still didn't feel well enough to go with us. Bummer.

The remaining three of us headed off. Pam had done this run before and warned us that there were two really steep hills left to tackle. Sure enough we got to the first one. Unfortunately for us, the sun was beating down on the side of the mountain that we were climbing making for an even more difficult climb. Every time I thought we had reached the top, we'd turn a corner to find another hill. I took this picture at one point during the climb. I realize that it probably doesn't mean much unless you dragged your weary self up the mountain. Oh well.

After what seemed like ages, we started to go down. By this point, we had picked up another runner on the course - a guy named Pete. Our newly-formed foursome made it into aid station #3 which was decked out in a Hawaiian theme. Experienced ultrarunners tell you not to focus on the total distance, and instead focus on getting from aid station to the next. I was thrilled to see the volunteers and all their goodies. Carol had gotten a ride from AS#2 to AS#3 and decided that she'd try joining us for the rest of the course. Yay! Now we were five strong for the last 8ish miles.

Carol led the way and we all climbed one hill and stopped to enjoy the view. Looks like I shouldn't have gotten too excited about the view because we were still going up. I led the climb up the next hill which seemed to be getting progressively steeper. I knew the climbing had to stop eventually but was puzzled when I came across a wall of rocks. Did I miss a turn? I looked a little closer and saw that sure enough, a rock at the top of the wall was blazed with yellow indicating that this was in fact the trail. I often joke that I crawl uphills, but this time I literally had to use all fours to climb this rock wall.

We all got through the first rock wall and tackled the second one. Here's Pete and Mandy scrambling up the second one.

And here's the view from the top. It was pretty cool to look down and see just how far and how many mountains we had to climb to get to where we were.

After some picture-taking, we made our way down the mountain. Thankfully it didn't involve going down the rock wall because that would have totally freaked me out. We ran on a gravel road for what seemed like forever before making our way back into the woods. By this time, we had somehow lost Pam and Carol. We started to head downhill and I decided to let Pete and Mandy lead so that I didn't slow them down. They took off and I found myself all alone. By this time it was close to 5pm and it was getting a little harder for me to see. I trudged along for a mile or so and was happy to find that Mandy had decided to wait for me. All the water in my stomach combined with the 10 gels I had eaten throughout the day was making me a bit nauseaus. Strangely enough, I was also starving. I wanted real food. Not this gooey gel for runners, but solid food that required me to chew.

Mandy and I continued to follow the pink ribbon and found ourselves in a small field. I thought the rock stairwell down to the field looked familiar so I started to go up, but Mandy saw more ribbons on the other side of the field and thought that that was what we should follow. My sense of direction sucks so I followed her lead. We ran around the field and started running down this hill all the while talking about how we definitely put in the time on our feet today. After about 10 minutes Mandy stopped and said that she thought that the cliff to our left looked familiar. Had we been here before? We looked over the turn sheet and wondered if we were in fact supposed to take that rock stairwell up. We backtracked and took the stairwell and voila - there was the pond that we had passed not more than a half mile from the start.

We could hear the sound of cowbells and people cheering as we ran to the finish which was in a picnic pavillion. It was pretty cool that so many of the faster runners stuck around and showed that much enthusiasm for the rest of us. Pete was there to greet us; he had just finished about 15 minutes earlier. I thought for sure that Pam and Carol would already be there after our detour, but they came in a few minutes after we finished. We chowed down on some burgers, pasta salads, and Cheetos before heading back to NoVA.

My Garmin shows that we ran 33+ miles with an elevation gain of 6,130 feet. Overall it was a good day. A tough day, but I met a lot of great people and proved to myself that even though it was hard, I could do it - even if I am slow.

Next event... the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler.

Weekend at Deep Creek Lake

2010-09-20T18:28:00.000-04:00

While Steve, Joe, and Alex were racing the Savageman Tri

I ran part of the run course and even explored a few trails.

I was having a great time until I saw this on one of the trails.

This was when I decided that that was enough running for one day.

VHTRC Women's Half

2010-09-15T13:59:00.000-04:00

Growing up, I was a girly girl - not an ounce of tomboy in me. I liked my Barbies, painted fingernails, and all things pink and frilly. The closest I came to playing a sport was marching on the football field with my clarinet. Mud and all things dirty were out of the question. This past Saturday I was among 181 women running the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club's Women's Half-Marathon - a far cry from the doll houses of my younger years.

The VHTRC promotes the run as a low-key way to encourage women to take up trail running. Last year I was just starting to run trails when I heard about the VHTRC half. I ran it, had a blast, and knew I'd be back again this year. Although it's not an easy course, there are so many things about the event that make it worthwhile.

The men of the club kick off the race by serenading the ladies with, what else, but Happy Trails. The course is well marked with yellow ribbon so unless you get distracted by Brad Pitt or some other hottie out on the course, you shouldn't get lost. There are five aid stations along the course so you're never more than two miles away from water, Gatorade, pretzels, and M&Ms. I think that the combination of this being a trail run and a women-only event makes it a great choice for those needing extra encouragement. While I did see several people fall, the runners behind and in front of them took the time to make sure that they were okay. The comraderie of this event certainly challenges the notion of women being catty when they're together. The few times I passed someone, I tried to say something like "good job" or "stay strong" and was surprised that those people moved to the side and cheered me on as I was going by. During an out-and-back stretch of the course the leaders who were heading toward the finish were shouting out words of encouragement to those of us who aren't gifted with speed.

Post-race goodies included bananas, berries, melons, pita chips, hummus, and brownies (yum!). While many other races are trying to cut costs, the VHTRC still gives each runner a long-sleeved technical t-shirt. This year we even got a whistle. There's no medal for finishing, but the stretchy bracelets that they were handing out at the finish line did make me giggle. The other cool thing about this event is that one of the photographers, Aaron Schwartzbard, allows you to download pictures for free! Absolutely generous and unheard of at other events. (I should mention that Aaron is an incredible athlete AND knitter in addition to being a great photographer.) Here's one of the pics he took of me as I was heading into the Do-Loop.

Yes, I'm wearing a skirt. There may be quite a bit of that girly-girl left in me, but I'm happy to report that I finished four minutes faster than I did last year.

Bottom line for you ladies: If you've ever wondered if you'd like trail running, this is the event to find out.

Featherweight Cardigan

2010-09-09T15:01:00.000-04:00

After months of working on this project, I finally finished the Featherweight Cardigan I started back in July. The pattern itself was very easy to follow and consisted of knits, purls, and a few increases; definitely a good project for a beginner. More experienced knitters would probably get bored with project pretty quickly, but it's simplicity made it a no-brainer to work on while I watched TV.

I had the Brown Sheep Cotton Fine yarn left over from another project that I had frogged and wasn't sure how'd it would work with the pattern. Turns out it was the perfect weight and gave the cardi that breezy quality that makes it perfect for those cool summer nights. Next time I think I'll use a darker color since my clothing somehow tends to be a magnet for marinara, ketchup, red wine, and chocolate ice cream.

While I think it turned out pretty well for being my first cardi, it does have a few "character flaws" that I'll have to fix the next time I knit this pattern. You'll probably notice that the left sleeve is a smidge shorter than the right one. Another, more annoying, mistake I made was that I didn't pick up enough stitches at the collar's edge. I probably should have picked up another one or two stitches at the edges of the collar so that the collar edge was more even with the bottom hem of the cardi. Oh well. There's always next time.

Taters

2010-09-09T11:40:00.000-04:00

Every baby needs one of these costumes.

Tussey 50-miler Confirmation

2010-08-24T16:06:00.002-04:00

Oh boy. I'm officially registered for the 50-miler on October 16th.

VHTRC Practice Run at Fountainhead Park

2010-08-23T08:29:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club for hosting the practice run and leading us to the elusive Do-loop. Mandy and I have tried to run the Do-loop before but could never find it. I'm still not sure we could find it on our own.

Oak Island, NC

2010-08-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to Steve's bro Ron and his wifey Missy for letting us visit last weekend. Not only did we get in plenty of beach time, we also had lots of oysters and the best mussels I've had since Belgium.

Craft Project Update

2010-08-10T18:23:00.001-04:00

I had lunch with my friend Bubba last week and he made me realize that I haven't blogged about any craft projects in months. Here's a rundown of my projects-in-the-works.

I had started to crochet my Mom one of these shrugs for her birthday back in June. Unfortunately, I realized that the armholes were probably going to be too small for her so I ended up getting her something else. I told my sister she could have the shrug once I finished, but I just haven't been motivated to finish it. Too bad, because all it needs is for me to crochet one more sleeve and weave in the loose ends.

I am determined to knit some kind of cardigan this year just for the sake of saying I've completed one. Since my previous attempt didn't work out so well, I decided to start with a baby cardi. Settle down. I'm not preggers. I just figured it was smaller and less work than an adult cardi. I opted for this Provence baby cardigan and have all the parts and pieces knit. Now I just have to actually knit them together. (Notice the theme? I love to start projects but have a harder time finishing them.)

My last unfinished project is this featherweight cardigan. The yarn I'm using is a lightweight cotton in a cream-ish color. I've knit about 4 inches below the armholes and have another 5 inches to go before I tackle the sleeves and the collar.

We'll see if this one can keep my attention long enough that I can finish it. If not there's plenty of other projects in my queue including this shawl:

These mittens:

And this hat:

There's always another project to start.

Trail Mishaps

2010-08-08T09:03:00.000-04:00

You know it's gonna be a long run when you fall 3 miles into a tough 22-mile run on the Bull Run trail.

I look forward to the day when running on that trail doesn't leave me deflated. The constant up and down makes the footing around the tree roots and rocks trickier the more exhausted you are. 2,534 feet of elevation gain according to the Garmin.

My post-run recovery included a few Belgian ales at Sweetwater.

FOB Family Pics

2010-08-05T18:31:00.000-04:00

A classic from the 70's. I'm guessing this was taken around 1975 after we moved to D.C. Don't you just love the furniture and decor?

It didn't take long for the American culture to rub off on Dad. Mom sent him out to buy a family car and he came home with a red Camaro. I'm guessing it didn't handle too well in the snow.

The 'rents

2010-08-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

My parents on the day my Dad was shipping off with the U.S. Navy.

Steve's parents living it up in the '70s.

Lake Placid Week Recap

2010-07-30T15:19:00.001-04:00

We hit the road at 5am last Thursday and were in Lake Placid, NY by 2:30pm.

My BIL Joe's birthday was the day before the race so we set up a scavenger hunt so that he could search for his presents.

On race day we all wore our duck hats again so that Steve and our friend Joe could easily spot us.

The guys were ready for the 7am swim start along with about 2000+ other triathletes.

Steve had an okay swim, a great bike, but dropped out of the race around mile 10 of the marathon due to dehydration, nausea, and cramping. He thought he might be able to walk the marathon but even that caused his legs to cramp with every step.

We spent the rest of the week playing ladderball,

Checking out the shops in town,

Visiting the Olympic ski jump facility,

Taking a boat tour around Lake Placid to check out the mega-homes (that's one piece of property with multiple homes and boat houses),

Hanging out at the beach,

And goofing off.

Good times.

More pictures on Shutterfly.

DIY Friday: Replacing a Broken Soap Dish

2010-07-16T16:44:00.000-04:00

Today I finally decide to tackle replacing the broken soap dish in our master bathroom's shower. Not only is it broken, but the caulk around it is coming off and nasty. (Yes, Steve does use Irish Spring.)

I did a few searches for how to do this and chose these instructions on eHow. I think I ended up picking these instructions because they were closest to how I would have written the steps. Of course, I would have added pictures. ;-)

With a chisel and a hammer, I broke off the old soap dish and eventually was left with this:

After more chiseling, I got the back of the old soap dish off and also removed the old cement. I'm a little worried about seeing that cardboard-y looking backing:

I cleaned out any loose cement and debris and spread on a layer of tile adhesive. Kinda looks like frosting doesn't it?

Finally I put the new soap dish in place and decided to tape it place while it sets overnight.

All that's left to do after it dries is caulk around it. Of course, while I was in there I noticed that the existing caulk and grout in some areas needed to be replaced. My 2-hour soap dish project has now been extended to 3 days. I spent the rest of the afternoon removing old caulk/grout and getting the areas cleaned. Tomorrow I'll have to apply the new caulk and grout, and let that dry overnight. The next day I'll have to seal the grout and then wait for that to dry. I think this is what you call scope creep.

Meet Ralph

2010-07-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

Ralph our "pet" rat is kind of fugly and missing an ear, but he makes me laugh. Steve and I take turns hiding him in random places for the other to discover. This morning when I went to make the bed I found him on my pillow. Bad Ralph.

Monday Microwave Blues

2010-07-12T09:49:00.000-04:00

Dangit! I broke the microwave handle off.

Skyline 50K Race Report: Mud, Rocks, and Cat Walks

2010-07-12T09:46:00.000-04:00

The short version of my race report: Tough, hilly, muddy, rocky course. I finished in about 8 hours 8 minutes. Here's the actual elevation profile and highlights.

The long version:

Mandy and I headed over to the Winchester/Gore, VA area late Friday afternoon. After checking into the hotel and dropping off our gear, we made our way to the Cove Campground to pick up our bib numbers. After about 3 miles on a dirt road, Dueling Banjos started playing in both of our minds when we realized that we had taken a wrong turn. We got back on track and finally got to the Cove Campground where packet pickup was supposed to be. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the race volunteers that because there was no one to be found. We saw a bunch of tents, coolers, boxes, and a sign for the race, but not a soul in sight who could get us our bibs. Hmmm... starting to not feel very good about this race's organization. We talked to a few other runners who were waiting around and heard one of them say that the course map had changed three times in the last few months. Again, not helping with my confidence in the organization. Mandy and I decided to pick up our bibs the next morning since the sky was starting to darken and we were both getting hungry. We grabbed dinner at CrApplebees where we were called "honey" by various members of the staff (must be a Winchester thing). When we left the restaurant it was raining like a MoFo. All I could think about was what this rain was going to do to the course.

Saturday morning we got up at 3:30am so that we'd have plenty of time to get our gear situated, have breakfast, and get to the campground. We met up with some of the other guys from our running group and exchanged ideas/questions about why the race had a 12 hour limit. Was it because the course was really tough? Was it to give newbies plenty of time to finish? Was it to account for the usually hot July temperatures? Around 5:50am, the race director said a few words about the course. Something about we'll probably hate him during the first half and understand where the "Your pain is our pleasure." tagline came from. The rain also started to pick up. When I'm already running and warmed up, rain is a welcome relief as long as there isn't thunder and lightning to go with it. But when it's raining before I even start running, I just want to crawl back in bed where it's warm and dry.

We finally got going around 6am. Mandy and I position ourselves toward the back of the pack since we're slower than most runners. We weren't even a quarter mile into the race when the entire pack in front of us slammed on their brakes. Turns out the front runners had missed a turn and we were all following along blindly. Ooops. We got back on track and came across the enormous puddle that the race director told us to look for; it looked more like a pond to me.

Not long after this was the first of many climbs. The rain had turned the hill into a sloppy, muddy mess and getting solid footing was proving to be difficult. As much as possible I tried to stick closer to the trees so that I could use them to pull me up when I couldn't get a good grip with my feet. Unfortunately my Tarzan hill-climbing technique didn't work too well on the second hill. It seemed that every step I took, my foot would slide down the hill and sink deeper into the mud. I really didn't want to be covered in mile the first mile of a 31 mile event. I almost fell a few times. Once the guy behind me who was hanging on to a tree grabbed my hand until I was able to steady myself. Another time I managed to stop myself by putting my hands down into the goopy mess that my feet were lodged in. Lovely.

I tried to do some bad math at this point and realized that we were averaging just over 3 miles an hour. Holy crap. At this pace, I was looking at a 10-10.5 hour finishing time. I decided to push this out of my head for now and just keep pushing forward. I know I had a 12 hour limit, but really preferred not to have to be out there for that long.

The really fun climb began after the first aid station. The good news is that this was wasn't muddy like the first two hills. The bad news was that it was rocky, steep, and LONG (about 1.5 miles). This was when I first met this 60-something woman (in the red shirt below) who seemed to be a pro at climbing hills. By this point, it was pretty clear that the course elevation map I saw was nothing like what we were actually running. So much for trying to be prepared.

What goes up, must come down. Down was a long series of switchbacks that required some serious attention since there were a lot of rocks, roots, and fallen tree limbs. I couldn't take my eyes of the trail to admire my surroundings because I probably would've gone tumbling off the side. I noticed that my right foot was hitting a lot of rocks and that I was tripping a lot. Not a good sign. Sure enough, my right foot hit a rock, my ankle twisted and I went down around mile 12. I'm just glad that we were on some flatter ground and that Rhonda (red shirt lady) was nearby to help pull the thorny branches off of me.

Miles 12-22 were an out and back on a gravel road; about 4.5 miles out and 4.5 miles back. This section was pretty tame compared to the rest of the course and it was fun to see Rob, Chris, and Peter along with the front-runners. On our way back, we came across four kittens who appeared to have been abandoned. One of the other runners handed me one and it was decided that several of us would each take a kitten to the next aid station. At first I wasn't sure it was a good idea since I thought that maybe Mom Cat would be back looking for her kids. After holding the furball for a few minutes I realized that this kitten probably wouldn't stand a chance if a dog or fox got to her. I was afraid to run with her since I wasn't sure if there was a cat equivalent of Shaken Baby Syndrome so I walked the 1.5 miles back to the next aid station. It was a runnable section so I lost some time but whatever. It's not like I was going to win prize money or set a PR. Besides, who could resist this face?

We dropped the cats off at the aid station and were relieved to find out that one of the volunteers was going to find homes for them. Yay! Now back to running...

Remember those switchbacks from earlier that we came down? Well, now we had to go back up. I probably sweated about a gallon going up and was really bummed to find out that I had run out of water. I guess with all the kitten activity, I forgot to refill my hydration pack when we got to the aid station. This made the next 5+ miles really difficult. Not only was I thirsty (a bad sign anyway, since this is a sign that you're already dehydrated), but I also couldn't take my gel since I didn't want to take a chance of it upsetting my stomach since I didn't have anything to wash it down with.

It seemed like an eternity before I got to the last aid station. I guzzled down the best cup of Gatorade I've ever had. I was so thirsty at this point that I didn't care if it sent me running for a potty break. I topped off my hydration pack and headed off. Four miles to the finish! Of course, we had to stop and take a peek at the view since it was too foggy the last time we were at this aid station.

Although the last few miles were downhill, my feet were feeling completely beaten up. I

should have probably run the downhills harder to make up some time, but my tootsies and the bottoms of my feet were feelin' pretty raw, bruised, and battered. I was happy to see one of the ladies from our running club around mile 29.5. She kept me company the last bit of the race. She's a speedy woman, and I had to laugh when I realized that she was walking faster than I was running. No wonder she's been winning so many races lately.

I crossed the finish line around 8 hours and 8 minutes and was happy to find a buffet of burgers, pasta salads, and sweets at the finish line. This is why I run! BTW, the kittens made it to the finish line safely before I did and some had already been adopted.

Would I run this race again? Not sure. The organization of the pre-race events including registration, bib pickup, and the website need a lot of work. The course was tough, but pretty runnable except for the muddy hills and rocks, the latter of which I wasn't expecting. The trails through the woods were very pretty: lots of moss, very shady, and lush. Other than the pre-race organization, my biggest concern with this race is that it's in the dead of summer. We lucked out and had cooler temps plus the rain to keep things tolerable. Had it been any warmer, I may have been closer to a 10 hour finishing time if not longer.

Tree Climbing Adventures

2010-07-08T18:38:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite pics of Steve:

Your Pain is Our Pleasure

2010-07-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

That's the tagline for the Skyline Challenge 50K that I'll be running this Saturday. Sounds fun eh? I hadn't planned to run this race, but Mandy thought it'd be a good training run in preparation for the 50-miler in October. (I think this means I'm committing to the 50-miler.) Skyline is around the same area as the Capon 50K that we ran in May and the elevation profile looks to be similar. The steepest climb looks to be around miles 13-14 with a section that has a 16% grade. I'll plan my walk and snack break around that time.

Although I didn't think I'd be nervous about this race since it's suppose to be just a training run, I did have a dream last night that indicates a bit of anxiety. In my dream I showed up to the race completely unprepared: I hadn't eaten breakfast and had no trail shoes, no hydration pack, no nutrition, nada. When I went back to wherever my gear was, I found a relative I'd never met eating my breakfast including the last bit of my peanut butter. We got into a fight and at one point my pinky finger was stuck in their ear. Nope, I'm not nervous.

Review of Escape from Corporate America

2010-06-29T10:59:00.003-04:00

I bought this book from Amazon on a whim when I was feeling a bit disgruntled about my job situation a few months ago. While I wouldn't go as far as to say I based my decision entirely on this book, I do admit that it helped validate some of the things that I was thinking and doing.

I thought that the book, despite its topic, was actually a fun read. Skillings has a way of putting a lighthearted spin on the dreary topic of job hate (or dislike if you're not 100% miserable). Her description of the six phases of corporate disillusionment is both dead-on and hilarious. I found myself thinking, "Yup, been there." and feeling like she crawled up inside my gray matter. She not only goes into some of the key reasons people are unhappy with their jobs, but she gives practical suggestions for how to fix or improve your situation even if you can't leave your job. For example, if you want to spend time on a hobby - whether it be sewing, singing, or making Lego sculptures - she has recommendations so that you can devote more time to doing the things that truly make you happy. Some of her recommendations are common sense, but sometimes it's the obvious that we're blind to.

For you folks that had to deal with me when I was comparing one of my previous jobs to a bad marriage, you'll appreciate the "Break Up with Your Job" section where Skillings compares a bad job to a bad relationship. We've all been there. There's the "boring partner" job that has no spark, but feels safe with its good bennies and nice office. There's the "clingy stalker" job that has you working 60 hour weeks. It wears you out, but makes you feel important and needed. And finally there's the "sugar mama/papa" job that you're tolerating just for the money. BTW, I should mention that the book isn't entirely against working in a corporate environment since there are good companies out there.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

If you are not passionate about what you do, then find something that you can be passionate about. There's nothing more depressing than dedicating your days to something that doesn't fulfill you. (Richard Tait, Founder and Grand Poo-Bah, Cranium)

There is a perception that risk is negative. To me, risk means getting out of your comfort zone, and that allows you to grow. If you feel the call to do something different, do it. It's actually more of a risk to stay where you are then to move forward in the direction of your dreams. (Marie Elena Rigo, Feng Shui consultant, interior designer, and life coach)

You can check out Patricia Skillings' website here.

My Working-At-Home Oath

2010-06-25T09:14:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I alluded to my working-at-home oath. Now that I'm no longer facing people every day, I wanted to give myself some ground rules so that I don't become too much like a caveman.

(1) I will shower and dress daily. Ah yes. The luxury of working from home is that no one will ever know that you haven't brushed your teeth or gotten out of your jammies. I could easily throw my hair in a ponytail and consider myself "dressed" wearing the same clothes I had on the night before. I could skip my usual routine of blow drying my hair and putting on makeup, but I won't. There's something about seeing myself in the mirror looking like I was being held hostage in a dungeon that zaps a little bit of my confidence. Right now, I need all the confidence I have left to place bids on projects that have a high probability of being awarded to someone else. Plus, it seems kind of unfair for Steve, who is currently my financial backbone, to go off to a client and come home to someone who looks like Pepe the Prawn from the Muppets. Just because I may not be making much money doesn't mean I have to look like I'm homeless. With that said, my rule is that I must be dressed and groomed enough that I could face Steve's business partner, the UPS guy/gal, or the stay-at-home moms at Costco.

Caveats:
• I'm sick enough that I'm unable to work.
• I will be doing some form of manual labor such as resealing the deck. Of course, if this is the case then I'm technically not working anyway.

(2) I will continue to work out. This involves setting the alarm and getting to the gym or the trail just like I was doing when I actually had to go into the office. BTW, I am sleeping in until 5:00 a.m. these days; it's amazing how that extra 30 minutes in the morning makes me feel more human. Yes, there will be days when the snooze button wins and I oversleep. Just like before, I'll have to make it a point to either work out later in the day, or make up for it later in the week. "Why bother?" you ask. Just like getting showered and dressed, working out makes me feel more alert and better able to tackle the day. Now that we're paying for our own health insurance, it's even more important for us to maintain our health. Case in point: Steve's high cholesterol reading from two years ago resulted in his premium being almost $100 more per month than mine. Exercise also ties into rule #3 below. Since we're living on a tighter budget, I can't go buying bigger clothes for my bigger self.

Caveats:
• Sickness.
• Looming deadline that requires extra hours.

(3) I will not shop for new clothes. I have a lot of clothes. Scratch that. I have an obscene amount of clothes. This is partly due to (a) I like shopping for clothes, and (b) I keep stuff forever. Forever as in I still have jeans that I bought from Kohl's when Steve and I first bought our house in 1997. They've got holes all over and are about as outdated as Obama's infamous mom jeans, but I love lounging around in them. Plus, they're now short enough that I can wear flat shoes with them. Anyway, back to my point...

I don't need any more clothes. In fact, since I no longer have to dress to go into an office, I could probably get rid of some. I've been reading more about recycling/redesigning your existing clothes on sites such as Made by Lex, Wardrobe Refashion, and Turn-Style. I have to admit that this refashioning business appeals to my crafty side so I may have to try it.

Caveats:
• New workout gear only when my existing gear starts to cause bodily harm to me (chafing, gagging because of imbedded stink, lack of stability/support) or to others (you can see through material, smell me before you see me, public indecency due to shrinkage).
• Someone gives me a gift card.

"Comfortable" says The Weather Channel

2010-06-24T14:43:00.002-04:00

According to The Weather Channel's website it's 98 degrees (feels like 103), but "comfortable" if you plan to exercise. Uhhh.... maybe if you're swimming.

Now they do label it as "Tonight's Fitness Forecast", so maybe it's not fair for me to call them liars. A little more digging on their site did show that it will be a comfortable 80 degrees at 10p.m. Something tells me I won't be running at that time.

Summer of Scanning

2010-06-22T13:49:00.003-04:00

Our new scanner has a feeder so I'm making full use of it and scanning old photos. You know, from back in the day when we actually took film in to get developed?

Here are a few from when Steve and I first met. We were working for the same company and they'd send us (and another person) out on the road for three weeks at a time. You can probably tell from the gargantuan hole behind us that this was taken at the Grand Canyon. I think this was one of our weekend road trips while we were working in Fort Huachuca, AZ. It's probably hard to tell, but Steve is wearing the cut-off, paper-thin Harley t-shirt that I dreaded oh so much.

I think this next one was taken by our friend Rina at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of hell. Hell being somewhere between El Paso, TX and Albuquerque, NM where there was nothing to look at and no radio stations.

Mom & Dad's Backyard Retreat

2010-06-21T17:16:00.003-04:00

Despite having one neighbor with a 6' privacy fence in their front yard and another neighbor with a camo-painted truck on cinder blocks, my parents have managed to carve out a cozy little escape in their backyard.

We tease my mom about all her yard ornaments including this pig's butt that has been mistaken for droopy body parts in the past.

The critters are as well fed as the DeGuzman kids. We caught this little guy drinking from the bird bath.

How goes it?

2010-06-21T17:11:00.003-04:00

I got a call from my Dad last week that went something like this:

Dad: How are you?
Me: Great!
Dad: How's the, ya know, um, er going?
Me: Work?
Dad: Yah. That.

We had a similar conversation yesterday and I'm sure we'll have it again next week. While my parents outwardly show their support for my recent employment decision, I think they're worried and I can see why. These are the same people that have always encouraged me to go the safe, conventional, low-risk route in life. I'm surprised they didn't try to ground me or take away my car keys when I told them I was quitting my job.

"So how are things going?" you wonder. Pretty good. Don't get me wrong; I won't be running off to retire on some tropical island any time soon, but I am loving my new life. I finished up the bartending project and am waiting to hear back on a few other projects that I bid on. Somone from my last company contacted me and asked me to work on a few training packages for them so it looks like that'll keep me busy for a few months.

I think the hardest thing to get used to (besides the steady paycheck) are the "Now that you're not working...." comments and references to my "unemployed life" from people I consider friends. At first these comments really got under my skin, but I've just come to realize that these people will never understand wanting to get out from under "the man" to do your own thing. Their snide remarks are noted and dismissed.

Then there are those of you who have been encouraging and sincerely concerned. I find it funny that the people who I've gotten the most support from are former co-workers. I'm not sure what that says about the places I've worked, but it's an interesting observation. To you peeps I send a big thanks and a hug!

Poco Dolce and the Quest For Chile-Infused Chocolate

2010-06-14T18:27:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago my friend Mandy gave me a few tiles of Poco Dolce chocolate including a tile of the Aztec Chile. I'm usually more of a milk chocolate kind of girl, but this was THE BEST chocolate I had ever had. The chile added a nice kick to the chocolate's bitterness and the occasional taste of salt made my taste buds go wild. This was the kind of chocolate you DON'T share because you just want it all for yourself. Unfortunately, the cost of about $2.25 for a tile is a bit steep for me.

Today I was in Giant and stumbled across these Lindt chocolate bars. While they don't combine the chili and sea salt into one bar, I figured for less than $3 per bar I'd conduct my own taste test.

Both were dark chocolate and as far as dark chocolate goes, were mediocre. I honestly couldn't taste the difference between this and the Ghiradelli dark chocolate I have stashed in my emergency chocolate jar. As for the sea salt and chile, I have to say that I found the flavors lacking and much too light for my taste. Yes, there was a subtle flavor of salt and chile, but it just wasn't enough to give it that wow factor. Maybe for someone with highly sensitive taste buds it might be sufficient, but I prefer a bit more zing. Who knows. Maybe Lindt's strategy is to provide just a hint of salt or chile so that you're wondering whether you actually tasted it so that you end up eating more just to figure it out.

Would I buy these Lindt bars again? Probably not. But if you've never had chocolate infused with chile, these might be worth a try.

Today's Featured Writing Gig

2010-06-10T09:23:00.001-04:00

From the D.C. area's Craigslist:

quasi alcoholic poet looking for similar douchebag to bounce ideas off (DC area)

wanted:
slightly psychotic person to exchange words with over the internet. Send me a poem or a picture of your couch , or a envelop full of your hair and fingernails. If i think we'd mesh i'll send something back. Then we can go from there. Really just looking for a partner in crime. I'll judge you and you judge me, I'll tell you you suck and you can cut my stories to ribbons, we can drink cheap liquor and cry together, and we'll both feed off each other's rejection and become wealthy and powerful. Then we'll quit our jobs-- If we had jobs which, if youre reading this, you probably dont. Me either.

Random Trivia

2010-06-02T09:06:00.004-04:00

Did you know Dom Perignon, the dude associated with Champagne, was a monk? Although he didn't invent Champagne, he helped to perfect the technique for making it. Champagne is basically wine that has had yeast added to it just before the bottle is sealed; the yeast causes the wine to ferment a bit more, hence the bubbles. The name "Champagne" indicates that the wine comes from the Champagne region of France. If the wine is from anywhere else, it's called "sparkling wine".

Now don't get your panties in a knot about the French. We've claimed bourbon as our own product.

Week in Review

2010-05-21T10:42:00.005-04:00

My first week of unemployment, freelancing, rebirth, or whatever you want to call it has been great. This training manual that I'm working on is actually taking up a lot of my time so I've been spending 6-7 hours a day working. As I mentioned before, it's a bartending manual so the content has been really interesting. Today I'm researching and writing about whiskey.

If you're wondering if I've been spending the days in my jammies, the answer is no. I've been forcing myself to still get up early and have been up at 5am to get to the gym (except for today when I slept until 7:30am). I'm abiding by my Working At Home Oath; I'll get to this in another post.

Yesterday was the first nice day of the week so I decided to work outside: loved it.

Steve has been working from home most of the week, but since our work areas are on different floors of the house, we haven't driven each other crazy yet. Having lunch with him most days of the week has been nice.

The only downside so far was something I knew when I took on this project. That is, it doesn't pay squat. Squat as in I could make more money working at Target or Taco Bell. Squat as in I'm not making minimum wage based on the time I've put into it. Do I regret doing this? Heck no! I've never had this much fun writing for work. In the long run I know I'll have to reconsider other options for getting assignments that will at least get me out of the slave labor category. For now, I'm enjoying the work and hope to get a decent reference from the employer.

That's it for now. Back to whiskey....

1997 Pool Passes

2010-05-21T07:44:00.003-04:00

Steve and I discovered these pool passes from we bought our house 13 years ago.

Diggin' It

2010-05-19T08:57:00.002-04:00

Someone (or should I say some critter) has been busy digging holes in the mulch in our front yard. There are at least a dozen holes.

This acorn that is a in a hole in the backyard may be a clue as to what's coming next.

Reset Button

2010-05-16T17:30:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is my first official workday after hitting the Reset button on my work life. I'm sure it's going to take me a little while to get comfortable and figure out exactly what it is I'm doing.

The good news is that last Friday I submitted a proposal for a training manual project before we left for WV. I was a bit worried that I didn't put enough details into the proposal, but submitted it anyway. I'm glad I did because the employer awarded me the project just a few hours later. WOOT! For this project I'll need to write a training manual on BARTENDING! I've started reviewing the existing materials that the employer provided me and it's been pretty interesting and fun so far. Don't get me wrong; this project pays very little, but it's a refreshing break from the hum-drum software application manuals.

My Soundtrack: Last Day on the Job

2010-05-16T17:24:00.004-04:00

As I was leaving the office for the last time on Friday, I couldn't help but sing the Laverne and Shirley theme song to myself. Cheesy? Yes, but so was the ear-to-ear grin on my face as I was pulling out of the parking lot.

Spinning Yarn: The Right Way

2010-05-10T19:06:00.003-04:00

The owners of the Asa Cline B&B were nice enough to show us how yarn is spun. Here's how it's supposed to be done as demonstrated by John, the owner:

Capon 50K

2010-05-09T21:44:00.010-04:00

The short story: I finished! Not only did Mandy and I finish the 50k, but we finished well within the 8 hour cutoff and crossed the finish line in 6 hours 50 minutes and change.

The long story: The pre-race briefing scheduled for 6:30am didn't start until 6:45am. The gist of the briefing was:

Follow the blue and white, striped ribbon
The course was marked on horseback, so be sure to look up if you don't see ribbon
It's raining
Good luck

Pretty anti-climactic in my opinion, but that's okay since I just wanted to start running. We finally hit the gravel road at 7am. By now, the drizzle had turned into a steady rain and the clouds seemed to be getting darker. About a half mile into the course, we were in the woods and already starting to cross streams. There were so many within the first 2 miles that I lost track around the 16th stream crossing. The first aid station was about 3.5 miles into the run and in an old barn. For a small race they had everything you could need: water, Gatorade, Coke, Band-aids, Vaseline, aspirin, M&Ms, and more. The volunteers warned us that the next aid station wasn't for about 7 more miles.

We trekked on and found ourselves walking quite a bit since there seemed to be one hill after another. All this walking was starting to worry me a bit since it meant our pace was slower than if we had been running. I tried to not worry about meeting the 8 hour cutoff for now and just kept going. Around mile 9 we made our way downhill toward the water and I managed to plunge my right foot into a puddle. My big splash covered the back of my right leg with stinky, nasty mud that continued to drip down my leg as we made our way up this really steep hill. You know a hill is steep when (a) you have no choice but to walk hunched over because standing up straight would send you toppling down the hill, (b) your heart is beating just as hard walking as it would be if you were sprinting, and (c) if you did attempt to run, you'd be moving the same speed as you would be walking.

Not soon after this steep hill we got to a stream that was about 20' wide. Up until this point I had been trying to step across the streams on rocks or logs to postpone the inevitable wet feet. This stream was too wide to attempt that so in I went. The water was frigid, but at least I got most of the muddy gunk off of my leg. Steve and my parents were at aid station 2 to cheer us on. Spectators aren't allowed to drive on the course since it's all on private property so they had to hitch a ride to and fro with volunteers. After a quick drink, we left the aid station. By this time the rain had stopped but the winds had picked up. It was as if we were in a snow globe except the snow was pollen; lots of nasty pollen getting into our eyes and lungs. It seemed that all of us were choking on that crap.

We ran through some grassy areas, up some gravel roads, over more streams, up and down through the woods, and ended up near the power lines. We ran down, down, and down some more. As much as I would have loved to let gravity help me pick up some speed, the downhills were brutal on my quads and toes.

We ducked back into the woods, eventually made our way to the next aid station, and then on to a low area that was uber-squishy before finally getting to the longest climb of the day around mile 15. We saw some interesting sites along the way including a few trailers, some on cinder blocks others with their own port-o-john. The most memorable was a wooden home that had every imaginable household item on their front porch (cue Dueling Banjos from Deliverance). We're talking rocking chair, fridgerator, dishes, TV, and so much more. This same place also had about 20 beat up cars in their backyard; beat up as in completely rusted. I wanted to take a picture of the place, but I honestly was afraid that the owners would come out with a shotgun if they saw me.

We trekked on and got to a stretch where it was just Mandy and I in the woods. It was probably around mile 21 and the loneliness was really starting to get to me; not to mention I probably should have been taking in more calories during the run so I was feeling a bit tired. We finally had another group of runners catch up with us and that helped. We crossed a few more streams including the one below.

We got to the last aid station and realized that we might be able to finish in under 7 hours. I personally didn't care if we made it under 7 (I just wanted to finish before the cutoff), but I could tell Mandy wanted to get in sooner.

If you're thinking about running an ultra, this is a great one for first timers. The course is really well-marked and runnable (walkable). The volunteers are great and the post-race BBQ dinner was much appreciated by this hungry runner. My biggest piece of advice would be to do your hill workouts. Here's the elevation profile from my Garmin:

More pictures from the weekend in the 2010 Capon Valley 50K album here.

Spring Break

2010-05-02T18:19:00.004-04:00

I had a dream that I quit my job. Oh wait; that wasn't a dream. Today I gave my employer my two-weeks notice. "Where are you going to work now?" you ask. Not sure. That's right. I'm quitting my job and don't have a position with Company X lined up.

Have you lost your mind? Nope; I'm actually working to get my mind back. I've spent the last few years working on mind-numbing tasks (think preparing PowerPoint slides) and very little time writing or developing new skills.

What are you going to be doing? I've done a little bit of freelance writing on the side and have always been interested in the prospect of doing more of it. So primarily I'll be focusing on freelancing. I've also considered working as a personal trainer on the side because I'm one of those weirdos that actually enjoys being at the gym. To be honest, I'm open to pretty much anything where I can learn something new.

What does Steve think of this? This was actually Steve's idea. He knows how unhappy I've been at work and encouraged me to leave.

Aren't you worried? Yes, I'm nervous and have had more than one Holy Sh*t moment. But I'm also really excited about the freedom and opportunity to try something new. I know it's going to be hard and a LOT of work. But at the same time I know I'll be able to learn a lot more than if I stay in my current situation. Yes, it's a risky move but it's also a risk if I stay put.

What if nothing you do works out? Then I go back to corporate life silly.

One Week Until Capon 50K

2010-04-30T09:09:00.002-04:00

We’re about a week away from the Capon 50K which means it’s taper-time. I like running, but after months of sticking to a training schedule, tapering feels like I’m cutting class... and I love it. Last night’s run with Mandy was a whopping 4 miles – a third of the distance of our mid-week runs from a few weeks ago. Even though I told her I wasn’t making a decision about running a 50-miler until after Capon, I think she’s trying to nudge me into Camp Crazy. She even sent me a modified schedule after I told her I didn’t want to run back-to-back long runs (e.g. 25 miles on Saturday and 25 on Sunday) because that would take up my entire weekend.

Even though more and more people are running ultras, finding a training schedule for a 50k or 50-miler is nearly impossible. The 50k schedule that we’re using is a modified version of the Ultra Ladies schedule from a few months ago. (They seem to have updated their recommended training schedule in the last week and have made some of the long Saturday runs a few miles shorter.) The most significant change we made was to up the 2-mile runs in the early weeks to 6-miles since we already had a decent base. I sure hope this was enough to prepare us for next week.

My new favorite yogurt.

2010-04-19T13:27:00.001-04:00

My new favorite yogurt.
Originally uploaded by cherrydg

Great Falls and great failures

2010-04-18T15:42:00.006-04:00

Ever have one of those days where it feels like everything you try to do ends in failure? As if the universe just didn't like you and wanted to see just how far it could push you until you broke down into a sobbing pile of mush?

Today began with what was supposed to be an easy 10-miler with Mandy. The last run of our 60-mile week. All was going well until about mile 6 when a sharp, stabbing pain shot up my left foot every time I tried to run up a hill. It didn't feel as bad going downhill - probably because I could put more weight on the back of my foot. Of course, the route we decided to run today was hilly so I ended up walking most of the last 4 miles back to the car. Discouraging and definitely cause for concern since our 50K is in 3 weeks. I'm hoping it's just a tired tendon or something minor and not a stress fracture or anything that would prevent me from running Capon. After all the time I've put into training, I would be really, really, really be upset if I couldn't run.

Later in the day I attempted to download data from my Garmin to Garmin's website. My miserable run from this morning downloaded fine and reflected my tortoise-like pace. But wouldn't you know it, my 28-frickin-mile run from yesterday refused to download. It's clearly on the watch because I can scroll through the data and see exactly how long it took me to run every mile. After almost two hours of research, it turns out that yesterday's file seems to be corrupt and the only way to download the data would be to have Garmin support fix the file for you. I sent Garmin support an email but I have little confidence that they'll get back to me in this millenium.

Speaking of yesterday's run, we ran from Great Falls Park to Algonkian Park and back. It's about a 24 mile loop so we had to tack on an extra 4 miles once we got back to Great Falls. Compared to last week's massacre at Sky Meadows, yesterday's run was relatively flat and at a better pace. A few pictures below including one of our very first stream crossing. (Capon supposedly has 40+ stream crossings.)

Since I'm trying to keep off my feet, I decided to upload some pics of our running group to Facebook. At least, that's what I attempted to do. FB decided it didn't want to cooperate and errored several times while I attempted to upload the files. When it finally seemed to cooperate, it looks like some of the files still didn't survive the journey. Bleh.

Steve isn't home and since I needed someone to whine to, I decided to blog. (Yes, you ARE the lucky recipient of my whining.) Even this blogging attempt has failed once already. I'm typing as quickly as I can so that I can post this before the evil forces of nature notices what I'm doing and puts an end to it all.

National Park Week 4/17-25

2010-04-15T09:47:00.002-04:00

Starting this Saturday, entrance to national parks will be free for a week: http://www.nps.gov/npweek/. Go outside and play!

And I ran, I ran so far away

2010-04-11T11:47:00.007-04:00

Ah yes, the Flock of Seagulls were so right. In case you're wondering why I've been such a slacker with the blog updates, it's because I've been running... alot. Mandy and I are in our "peak" training weeks before our 50K. This week, we ran 60 miles which includes a 26-mile romp through Sky Meadows State Park. This is the most I've ever run in one week in all of my life.

The park is in Delaplane, VA and has about 8 miles of trails. We ended up having to run two loops around the trail and adding on on the Appalachian Trail to get to our 26. From the parking lot, the hills don't look too bad; of course, they never look bad until you actually have to climb them on foot.

There was a good mix of scenery including some wooded sections.

Once we made it over the 1000' climb, you got a great view from the top.

After running through a big, open meadow and down through the forest, you had to go through a cow pasture to get to the bottom of the hill. These steaks, er, cows were literally walking around us and watching like spectators.

Almost 7 hours later, we finished our run, drove home, showered, and celebrated with birthday beers for Mandy.

National Marathon

2010-03-21T13:18:00.005-04:00

After running the National Marathon last year, I had vowed to never run it again...until Mandy talked me into it this year because our 50K training schedule called for running 26 miles anyway. Perfect weather and great volunteers.

The good...

The not too bad...

The ugly...

Happy to be done...

Run-on Sentence of the Day

2010-03-19T08:47:00.001-04:00

Kevin is going to be on the Capabilities Committee, there are 2 more possible candidates that maybe joining our team, so Dean will tell me what committee their going to be on upon receiving there information for the WIKI account.

Okay.
Talk later

Japan Day 9: Last Day

2010-03-18T21:47:00.001-04:00

Slept in then took the subway to meet the Gerbers at their hotel. They were staying at a military hotel in Tokyo that offered a Sunday champagne brunch. I hadn’t realized how much I missed American-style breakfasts until I had that first bite of scrambled eggs and bacon. Steve was totally down with the soft-serve ice cream that he sandwiched between waffles. Even thought it was raining again, we headed over to Mori Tower to see if we could check out the view from the top. We didn’t realize we’d have to pay to go up so we skipped it and practiced more jumping poses in front of the building. (Yes, we were running out of places to see in Tokyo .)

We did venture over to Akihabara, the well-known electronics district in Tokyo . We wandered around some 8-floor store which was like Best Buy on steroids. The place was jam-packed with people like it was Christmas Eve. Personally, I had more fun in the grocery stores. Steve and I were both starting not to feel well, and since the Gerbers had to make the trip back home we decided to part ways at the subway station.

Shibuya Crossing

2010-03-18T21:32:00.003-04:00

Japan Day 8: Food and Fun

2010-03-18T21:18:00.007-04:00

Steve and I grabbed egg sandwiches at some coffee shop before heading into Shibuya to meet the Gerbers. We all agreed that the previous night’s dinner was a ripoff and that we would make up for it today. We walked across Shibuya Crossing which is this mesh of intersections. Walking across it doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but when you watch it from above you get a better appreciation for the mass of humanity that is able to make it across the street when the lights are red. The first stop in our food-fest was some Korean BBQ place. The great thing about hanging out with the Gerbers is that their appetites are about as voracious as ours. We finished the BBQ and decided to order a couple of rice bowls since all of us were still hungry.

Next stop was Asakusa to check out Sensoji temple. By this point, I had seen enough temples that unless they lit up or had gnomes dancing around them, they weren’t going to stand out. It was cold and rainy (again) so what better way to inject some sunshine than with some ice cream. I was still on the hunt for the wasabi ice cream my co-worker told me about, but had to settle for almond jelly since wasabi wasn’t an option. It tasted like amaretto and tasted yummier than the “jelly” in its name suggested. Steve decided to test out the rose-flavored ice cream and all I can say is that it did actually taste like roses. It was very subtle and one of those things you’d have to try to understand.

We expended some energy as the Gerbers attempted to teach Steve and I how to perfect their jumping poses.

Of course, all this jumping meant that we needed to stop by the nearest convenience store for some mochi-covered ice cream and some kind of Goldfish-like treat minus the cheese flavor that was filled with what tasted like the same filling used in strawberry Pop-Tarts. We trekked back to Shibuya and got a few laughs at some novelty store that was a cross between Wal-mart and Spencers. Imagine boarding the plane with one of these neck pillows.

Dinner was at a nearby izakaya (think tapas) where we dined on various types of sushi, dumplings, chicken and who knows what else, and mango sours to wash it all down.

Japan Day 7: Back to Tokyo

2010-03-18T21:14:00.003-04:00

Waited for the morning rush hour to die down, then boarded the Shinkansen back to Tokyo . Hotel #3 was in the prefect of Ikebukuro – a few stops north of hotel #1. Our third room at the Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo seemed enormous compared to our previous accommodations. Bonus points for a real mattress and pillows that didn’t feel like concrete. The afternoon was pretty low-key and spent roaming around the area which was filled with the usual shops and mall that surrounded the train/subway station.

That evening we met up with Kim and her Steve, and their friend Byron. We were supposed to meet Kim’s friend from NJ and his friends who happened to be in Tokyo . Unfortunately our first attempt to get to the restaurant where we were meeting was fouled because we went to the wrong location. Since taking the monorail and subway back to where we were supposed to be would take too long, we hopped in a taxi to head back to Roppongi where the restaurant was. The taxi drivers wouldn’t let the 5 of us squeeze into one cab so we split up and of course, ended up getting separated. After about an hour of trying to find one another, we all finally ended up at the restaurant.

Kim’s friend chose this restaurant called Gonpachi because it was the inspiration for some of the scenes in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movie. The restaurant served tapas-style Japanese food. Totally overpriced and overrated. I had about 6 bites of various appetizers and 3 beers and was starving when we got the bill which ended up being about 5000 yen/person. That’s about $60/person. Maybe most of the food ended up on the other side of the table – who knows. Steve and I opted to skip the club scene and caught a taxi back to our hotel since the subway was no longer running. Taxis in Japan are expensive; it cost us about 850 yen (about $8) just to get into the taxi. Once back at the hotel I chowed down on some trail mix and beef jerky we had packed.

Japan Day 6: Never Mind Nara

2010-03-12T18:44:00.004-05:00

We decided we needed a slower day on Thursday after feeling like we had been on the go since we set foot in Japan. We originally had planned to take the Shinkasen to Nara (an hour away), but decided we didn't need to see the big Buddha and shrine there. Instead we stayed in Kyoto to check out Kinkakuji (not to be confused with kinky coochie as Steve and I joked), the golden temple.

Tacky huh? I think I prefer the hazmat orange. I turned my back for a minute to check out the vending machine and when I went back to Steve, he was surrounded by students again wanting to practice their English. Here he is pointing out to the boy where he's from.

This little guy was on a dual-purpose field trip: check out the temple and practice English. He even gave Steve a card he made to thank him for his time.

We needed to stop at the post office to exchange some money so we took the train back to town. The post offices here serve as what we consider a post office and a bank. And their train stations aren't just stations, they're malls - big malls. It was close to my feeding time so we grabbed some yummy shrimp okonomiyaki at the mall.

Fushi Inari was our final destination for the day. There are thousands of torii gates that go on for about 4km. We didn't realize this and walked a good half hour before thinking to find out how much further we'd have to go to reach the end. Walking uphill was not on our agenda so we turned around figuring it'd continue to look the same. Only one side of the gates had writing and we joked that it probably said something like, "Sponsored by Bob's Pizza." I told my co-worker who lived in Japan this and turns out we were close. It's considered good luck to sponsor a gate so the backsides actually do say something about who sponsored the gate.

Japan Day 5: Hiroshima

2010-03-12T18:19:00.005-05:00

We hit the road early on Wednesday to make the 2 hour train ride to Hiroshima. First stop when we got there was a visit to Miyajima which is about 30 minutes from Hiroshima's train station. It took us a bit longer to make our way to Miyajima since it took several rounds of charades with multiple employees at the station to figure out which train we were supposed to take to get to the ferry. The upside is that our rail pass covered both the local train to the ferry and the ferry itself.

If you get there when the tide is up, the shrine at Miyajima appears to be floating in the water. Glad the water was up when we got there, otherwise it'd just look like a shrine in the mud.

Next stop was Hiroshima Peace Park. Steve and I grabbed some goodies at a bakery and had lunch outside. After a quick visit to the restroom, I came out to find Steve surrounded by a group of students. I guess they spotted him as a visitor and wanted to ask him various questions to practice their English. One of the girls was their designated spokesperson and asked all the tough questions: "What is your name?", "Where are you from?", "Do you like Hiroshima?" Steve was a little iffy on how to answer the last question since all he could think of was the atom bomb and told them it was his first time to Hiroshima. The whole interaction was very cute.

On our way to the museum we passed a group of 100 or so students and many of them excitedly waved and gleefully shouted, "Hello!" A few actually said, "Herro!" which made me giggle but to be fair, it's far better than any Japanese words that I tried to say.

Even though it was the end of winter, it wasn't obvious in the Peace Park. The memorials were simple. The A-dome building which survived the bomb seemed out of place with the growth and activity around the park. It wasn't until we went into the museum that we were reminded of what happened here. Some of the artifacts and pictures from the museum were hard to look at: burned clothes pulled off a middle schooler, the charred remains of a tricycle that a 3-year old was riding, pictures of civilians who survived but were burned to the point where they were unrecognizeable. Heart-wrenching stuff that makes you reconsider that whole "eye for an eye" philosophy.

Thanks Peggy!

2010-03-12T18:06:00.004-05:00

After a frustrating day at work filled with conversations like this:

Co-worker: I have nothing to do on project A.

Me: How's the user guide for project Z going? Can you put the files on the network so I can help when I have some downtime?

Co-worker: Oh, I'm 100% on project A so I don't haven't had time.

Huh? Didn't you just tell me she had nothing to do? Argh.

After a day filled with "I'd like to bite you til you bleed" moments, I came home to find a "thought of you" package. Definitely the brightest part of my day.

Japan Day 4: Castles

2010-03-10T19:57:00.005-05:00

We decided to take advantage of the hotel's breakfast buffet on Tuesday morning. The buffet had the usual assortment of pastries (danishes, croissants), and cereal, but also had a few not-so-standard breakfast choices such as corn chowder, salad (as in the lettuce and carrot variety), and potato salad.

We then hopped back on the Shinkansen and headed west about an hour to Himeji to check out the Himeji Castle. The castle had everything you'd expect: moat, walls, hilltop view, and numerous gates.

We opted for a to-go lunch of pastries so that we could get back into Kyoto. Both of us ended up loving the various pastries that we ate while on vacation. They were inexpensive and Mmmm Mmmm good. Today's assortment included some roll that had bacon and cheese baked into it, one with red bean paste, one with dried cranberries, and another filled with some kind of custard.

Back in Kyoto we checked out Nijo Castle. We probably should have seen this one before Himeji Castle. Nijo looked quaint (if you can call a castle "quaint") since it lacked the grandeur of Himeji.

The final stop for the day Kiyomizudera, a buddhist temple with a huge wooden deck. To get to the temple you have to walk uphill along this road filled with shops. You tend to forget about the climb since there's plenty of distractions along the way. The temple is at the top of the hill and almost seems to smack you in the face with its bright color that was a sharp contrast to the hillside background.

By the time we finished checking out the temple and walking back down the hill, we were both pretty spent after all the walking we did. We walked around a bit to find a restaurant we could both agree on and settled on one not far from our hotel. (Since neither of us could read the menus, our search involved finding a restaurant with either a translated menu or plastic replicas of their dishes in the window.) Tonight's dinner consisted of miso soup, and a rice bowl topped with fish. Steve's fish appeared to be breaded then fried. Mine appeared to be cooked within an omelette. Since the restaurant didn't have much to offer for dessert, we "settled" for crepes again.

Tsukiji Tuna Auction

2010-03-10T18:45:00.002-05:00

Japan Day 3: Fish Market & Traveling to Kyoto

2010-03-09T17:28:00.009-05:00

Ever eat a tuna steak and wonder what it looked like before ending up on your plate? We woke up at 4 a.m. Monday to head over to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Before I go into the fish market, I have to give kudos to the hotel desk attendant who was nice enough to walk outside and flag down a taxi for us and to the taxi driver. The taxi driver who was dressed in a suit and tie was so polite and patient with our inability to speak Japanese; he even apologized for not speaking English which made me feel like a complete tool. Riding in a taxi here was like having a limo and your very own chauffeur.

Anyway, when we got to the fish market we roamed around a bit checking out the various shops/stalls while waiting for Kim and Steve. One of the shops we visited us encouraged us to try their various samples. Not sure what I ate, but I figured if it wasn't moving, I was okay. Most of it was fishy with a few sweet-tasting things that I think were beans. It was a cold morning and the shop owners were nice enough to give us hot tea knowing that we were tourist and probably not going to buy any of these mystery foods. Friendly folks...

We finally wandered to the tuna auction where they only allow visitors in for about an hour each day. It was pretty interesting to watch the different buyers inspecting the tuna with flashlights and picks. I'll post a separate entry so you can hear one of the auctions taking place.

After the tuna auction we strolled around to check out the various goods at the fish market. I love seafood but I can totally understand why environmentalists are worried about Japan's overfishing.

Sushi at the fish market is supposedly the freshest you can get so we dropped in at one of the tiny sushi joints that seats no more than 8 people for breakfast. Yes, breakfast. My parents used to serve us fish for breakfast growing up, so that part I'm used to, but sushi breakfast was new even for me. It was tasty, but definitely more expensive than the sushi go-round (about $38/person) and it wasn't all-you-can-stuff-in-your-face. Oh well. It was still an interesting experience.

After checking out of the hotel, Steve and I headed to the train station to board the Shinkansen for Kyoto. The Shinkansen is Japan's high-speed bullet train. It got us to Kyoto which is about 288 miles from Tokyo in about 2 hours.

When we got to Kyoto, it took us a bit longer to find our hotel than we expected. Not many streets in Japan are named, and most of the buildings aren't numbered so finding any place is a challenge. We finally got checked in and took the bus to Nijo Castle only to find that they were closing up for the day.

For dinner, Steve wanted to "eat like the locals" so we went into a diner-like restaurant and ordered what appeared to be their special. The dinner consisted of miso soup, salad, rice, and some marinated beef strips which had way more fat than I like on my meat. To make up for the less than satisfactory meal, we dropped by a corner crepe stand for dessert. My chocolate crepe more than made up for dinner.

Back at the hotel I decided to check out the hotel onsen. An onsen is basically a hot spring bath. The catch is that you go into it nekked with your fellow women peeps (guys go with their guy peeps). Yes, I know publicly nudity isn't for everyone. If you had asked me ten years ago if I'd ever do this, my answer would have been, "Hell no." Now that I'm older and perhaps a bit more uncaring of what the world thinks of me, I figured I'd give it a try since (a) it's part of the Japanese culture, (b) everyone looks the same in their birthday suit, and (c) I'm really never going to see these people ever again. The way it works is you undress in a locker room type area before entering the bathing area. The hotel had about 5-6 shower areas with stools where you're supposed to get yourself squeaky clean before actually getting into the bath (they even have shampoo, conditioner, and soap dispensers there). There were 3 other women showering when I got there so I basically did as they did - although that was probably the longest shower I've ever taken in my life since I didn't want to look like the dirty tourist who didn't clean herself enough before getting in the bath. After you've stripped away every speck of dirt and oil from your body, you mosy on over to the bath "tub". This one was about 20' x 12' and about 3' deep. I have to say that the water temperature was right on and that my tired legs began to forgive me for constant beating they were taking the last few days. After about 10-15 minutes, I noticed that the showering area was starting to get a bit crowded so I took that as my cue to get out. All in all it was a good way to end the day.

Japan Day 2: Tokyo Marathon

2010-03-08T14:16:00.007-05:00

Good thing this was a "fun run" because I actually considered not starting. It was about 35-40 degrees at the start and pouring. Everything I had on (jacket, shirt, shoes, socks, hat, etc...) was absolutely soaked before the race even started. We stood in the starting corral for at least 20 minutes. My uncontrollable shivering had me worried about hypothermia and I was seriously considering dropping out. Fortunately (I think) the gun went off and we started the 26.2 mile slosh-fest; actually they measured the race course in kilometers so I guess I should say "42.2K".

It took me about 5 miles to finally feel warm. Too bad that's when Steve decided he needed to take a potty break. We skipped a few potty stops because the lines were incredibly long (20-30 people), but finally stopped at one at around mile 6. There were about 40 people in line so we spent about 15 minutes waiting. By the time we started running again I was back to shivering.

Miles 6-15 were a bit of a blur. I was a bit agitated because I couldn't warm back up and the course at mile 15 seemed no different than what it looked like at mile 1. Tokyo is a completely urban course. While it does pass a few sites such as the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Tower, it all looked the same to me.

The 4 hours of sleep I had gotten the 2 nights prior to the race where starting to catch up with me in a bad way. I needed to take a bathroom break around mile 16 but was so worried about getting cold again that I didn't want to stop. This resulted in me not drinking anything for a few miles which I knew would result in me being dehydrated which would lead to cramping. After almost having a meltdown at mile 18 (thank you jetlag for making me an emotional mess), Steve convinced me to stop at a restroom stop at mile 19. It was another 15 minute stop but fortunately when we got back on the course, the sun was starting to break through the clouds. In case you're wondering, they don't take any time you spend in the bathroom or at the rest stops into consideration. Once you cross the start line, the clock doesn't stop until you cross the finish line.

Miles 19-26.2 were the best miles of the race for me which is absurd since these are typically the hardest miles for everyone. I guess the first 19 were so miserable that I was just relieved to finally feel normal.

My experience with the Japanese people so far was that they were very polite and quiet. No one carries on loudly and no one talks on the phone while on the subway; heck, they even have signs telling people to put their phones on vibrate or turn them off while on the trains and subways and people do. Having said this, I was really surprised to see these mild-mannered citizens cheering wildly along the entire course. I got high-fives and fist-pumps from more spectators than any of my other races.

This marathon was part Halloween parade, part all-you-can-eat buffet, with a splash of running. Spectators were handing out all sorts of food: everything from candies and pastries to what looked like corndogs. I had to laugh at Steve since he seemed to be treating it like a buffet sampling whatever foods he thought looked interesting. Whatever he didn't stuff in his mouth, he stuffed into his running belt as if he were trick-or-treating. It's no wonder he had heartburn towards the end of the race.

The number of costumed runners in this race was far beyond any other race I've ever done. We saw a guy in a full business suit, Winnie the Pooh, Michael Jackson impersonators, several Minnie Mouses, and an assortment of anime characters. At one time we had Santa, a tiger, and a moose running in front of us. A girl we met got a picture of someone dressed as Jesus carrying a cross. They may seem serious out on the streets, but it's good to know they don't take their running too seriously (click here for a sampling of pictures).

We were exhausted after the 3+ hour commute to our hotel which was less than 8 miles from the finish so we showered, grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant, and called it a night. Yes, it takes a looooong time to get anywhere in Japan.

We're back

2010-03-08T14:08:00.002-05:00

And I have no idea what time it is. We left Japan on Monday, 3/8 at 11:10 a.m. After a 12-hour plane ride (not sure why it was 2 hours shorter coming home than going), we landed at Dulles at around 9:30 a.m. Monday which is before we left.

Obviously I didn't blog about our daily adventures so I'll try to provide a quick recap in the next week or so and will also post pictures.

Japan Day 1: Marathon Expo

2010-02-27T07:28:00.007-05:00

Konnichiwa! After breakfast, we made our way to Tokyo Big Sight (convention center) to meet up with our friends Kim and Steve and to pick up our race packets. After accidentally going the wrong way on the subway, we finally got to our destination. It was chilly where we were waiting so we decided to try a can of coffee from one of the many vending machines that are all over the city. Not only was the coffee tasty, it was hot. Mmmm mmm.

The race expo wasn't anything spectacular.

Came across my first "squat toilet". Lets just say it's not my first choice. I'll definitely be avoiding these after the marathon since my legs may not let me stand back up.

The highlight our day was probably the "sushi go-round" restaurant we went to for lunch. Basically, you sit around a bar that has a conveyor belt of different kinds of sushi going around. You grab what you want - the sushi is priced based on the plate color it's on - then they tally up your plates when you're done eating. Steve and I paid about $25 for about 24 pieces of sushi. BTW, they're not chintzy on the fish here; they put about 2-3 times more fish on their sushi than we get at home.

Tonight Steve and I strolled around Takashiyama Times Square which is an 8-floor shopping center. One part of the building was like going to Macy's, the other side called Tokyu Hands reminded me of Wal-mart/Target in that it had a little bit of everything. Our favorite floor was the 8th where they had the biggest selection paper clips, pens, and pencils I've ever seen.

Besides not understanding a word of Japanese (ok, I know a few words), the hardest thing to get used to is how polite everyone is. No pushing and shoving to get on the subway; they actually wait for people to get off the train before they get in. Every store we went into the employees greet you; I'm not sure what they're saying but they all say something. Tonight while walking through the department store, each employee that we passed bowed and greeted us.

Okay, that's it for tonight. My roomie has been sound asleep for the last hour and I should probably be doing the same since I have a marathon to run tomorrow.

Flight to Narita

2010-02-27T07:11:00.003-05:00

Our flight to Narita was pretty uneventful. The flight ended up taking off about 40 minutes later than it was supposed to. We sat in an emergency exit row so we had about 10 feet of open space between us. I have to say that ANA is far better than any domestic carrier I've flown on. Blankets and pillows for everyone including us "poor" schmucks in coach, friendly and helpful, flight attendants, and tasty eats made the 15-hour journey much more tolerable. I particularly enjoyed the rice cracker snacks (no peanuts or pretzels here) and the noodles, stir-fry pork and rice, and Haagen Daz ice cream. The only odd part of the meal was the random selection of Italian apps - I'm not really sure how mozarella and roasted red peppers fit into this.

Unfortunately, neither one of us slept much. The infant who screamed for about 10 of the 15 hours might have something to do with this. Once we got to Narita we had to take about an hour-long train ride to Tokyo Station to transfer to another train. MADNESS! Tokyo Station was so ridiculously crowded and busy; it felt like we had stepped into a swarm of bees. It took us about 20 minutes to figure out which line we needed to transfer to. I thought the chaos was done, but when we got to Shinjuku Station (near where our hotel is located) we found that we couldn't quite figure out how to get out. Seriously. The station is huge! It's basically an underground shopping mall + train/subway station in one. It didn't help that we were both so exhausted (remember, we had been up since 6am EST Thursday, and it was now Friday around 4:30am EST) and brain dead by this point. A couple was kind enough to ask us if we needed help and guided us to the street and helped us find our hotel.

It was only 8:30pm local time when we finally got to our shoebox-sized hotel room but we opted to dine on an assortment of beef jerky and trail mix that we had brought and crash.

So far, so good

2010-02-25T05:54:00.002-05:00

On-time so far. A good thing since it's gonna take us 15 hours to get there. We should arrive in Japan when you're drooling on your pillow (around Friday, 2:20am EST).

Packing light

2010-02-21T16:11:00.003-05:00

I admit, I'm a chronic over-packer. I'm one of those people who packs six outfits for a weekend trip just in case.

Since we're going to be taking the train around Japan, I really wanted to make an effort to pack light. From what I've read, the trains don't have a lot of room, plus I didn't want to schlepp a humungo-sized suitcase from the train stations to our hotels. In order for me to do this whole "packing light" thing, I knew it was going to take some planning and perhaps a load of laundry while we're away. My friends, I think I've done it.

In my 22" x 14" x 9" bag, I have managed to fit:

2 pairs of shoes
4 pairs of pants, including 2 pairs of jeans
7 long-sleeved shirts, 3 short-sleeved shirts
1 cardigan
2 sets of running clothes and a running jacket (yes, there's only one race but who knows what the temps will be like that day)
Undies, toiletries, and a few other random things like camera cables

While these outfits aren't going to land me on the cover of Vogue magazine, each top was selectively chosen because it could go with every pair of pants.

It may not be a big deal to you, but for me this is a huge accomplishment. And yes, it does close without me having to sit on it!

Ski Jump Practice - Part 2

2010-02-21T16:00:00.002-05:00

Ski Jump Practice

2010-02-21T15:53:00.002-05:00

I completely forgot that I had taken videos last summer while we were in Lake Placid. Enjoy!

Maybe I am from Mars

2010-02-13T14:47:00.004-05:00

Steve got me a Garmin! He bought one for himself a few weeks ago and he knew I've been wanting one especially since my Polar HR monitor has been on the fritz lately. He swears this isn't a "VD" Day gift. Still, I can't help but feel that maybe I'm from Mars and he's from Venus.

I plan to try my new toy out on tomorrow's run. We'll be running the same 4.7 mile route that we ran today, but instead of the 4 loops we did today, we'll only be running 2 loops. Yes - running the same loop 4 times did get boring. Unfortunately, it's slim-pickins since the snow has covered the W&OD, the C&O canal is closed off, and the trails at Great Falls have about 30 inches according the friendly park ranger I spoke to yesterday.

Free Running

2010-02-10T09:13:00.003-05:00

Our office is actually closed today (WOOT)! While I was sipping my coffee and watching HGTV, I saw a commercial on free running and found this. You know ~ something for me to try when the whole trail running thing in nature gets old. LOL.

In need of a little whine...

2010-02-08T15:44:00.003-05:00

Didn't we just finish digging the Great Wall of NoVA?

10-20 INCHES?!

I'm dreaming of...

2010-02-06T11:30:00.003-05:00

hazy, hot, and humid summer days. Snowzilla, Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse. Whatever you want to call it, it's here.Fortunately, our power was back on when we woke up this morning. Unfortunately, the cable is out. I've decided to milk this snowstorm for what it's worth and knit myself into oblivion. I'm working on this vest but am not seeing how it's going to get to its finished state based on how it looks right now.

Time will tell.

BTW, what's up with those neighbors who insist on shoveling their driveways while it's still snowing? Overachievers? I say, enjoy the free pass to laziness.

Pour Me a Drink!

2010-02-02T18:18:00.002-05:00

Nathan Infinity 2L hydration pack for wo-men... because there are no snack bars out on the trail.

Dad's cap

2010-01-31T13:31:00.003-05:00

Dad's cap
Originally uploaded by cherrydg

So my Mom told me that my Dad has been wearing the ornament hat I made him to bed. Turns out his head gets cold at night and keeping it warm seems to help his sinuses. I decided to make him another hat since Christmas is over.

Girlified Ponytail Cap

2010-01-31T13:17:00.002-05:00

Remember that ponytail cap I made a few weeks ago? I was looking through Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments book yesterday and decided to "girlify" it by adding an embroidered flower to it:

Girlified Ponytail Cap
Originally uploaded by cherrydg

Meet Thomas Mill

2010-01-30T13:52:00.003-05:00

Thomas Mill is one of those routes everyone in our running club knows. It's a stretch of road in Leesburg that seems to kick everyone's butt. The first segment of the road is short, but steep; usually my heart feels like it's gonna jump right up my throat. Here's Steve, Mandy, and Luisa running uphill while I dilly-dally and take pictures.

After that first climb, you think it's over but realize that it's just the beginning. The rest of the road continues up and down like roller coaster. Granted it's no mountain, but for these parts of town Thomas Mill is a runner's arch-nemesis.

I'm f-f-f-reeezing

2010-01-29T11:47:00.007-05:00

22 degrees. Windows being replaced. Toes numb.

1st Training Run for 50K

2010-01-24T19:26:00.004-05:00

On Saturday, Mandy and I ran our first official training run for the 50K - 12 miles through and around Great Falls Park.

Oh gear!

2010-01-24T13:02:00.005-05:00

Technical gear is great for keeping you dry while you run. The only thing is that over half of it needs to be hung dry which tends to take over our guest bathroom.

Frozen Hard-Boiled Egg

2010-01-22T15:15:00.002-05:00

In case you ever wondered what one looked like...

What's up?

2010-01-19T16:50:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know I’ve been MIA from this blog lately. Here's a quick rundown of what's been goin' on.

* December’s snow screwed up my training for Tokyo a bit, so I’ve been trying to be super-diligent about getting my runs in the last few weeks. This past Saturday’s run was probably one of the hardest runs I’ve ever done. If anyone plans to stroll the W&OD over by Leesburg, the trail detour is a hilly b*tch (16% grades in some areas).

* Speaking of running, here’s a preview of other races I'm running in 2010 so far:
February 28 – Tokyo Marathon
March 20 – National Marathon
April 25 – GW Classic 10-miler
May 8 – Capon 50K
June 5 or 6 – North Face Marathon or Half-Marathon
September 11 – VA Happy Trails Women's Half-Marathon
October 16 – Tussey 50-miler (if Capon goes well)
November – either the Richmond Marathon or Philly Marathon

* I've been doing some research on what we want to see while we're in Japan. We get to Tokyo on a Friday, will run the marathon on Sunday, and then head down to Kyoto on Monday. We'll make Kyoto "home base" for a few days and hope to venture down to Hiroshima and some other surrounding cities. Then, it's back up to Tokyo on Friday to finish off the trip, perhaps with a day trip to Mt. Fuji.

* I decided to sign up for an online travel writing class. Technical writing has been a bit blah lately, so I figured that this class might get the neurons firing.

* Still knitting of course. I've finished a scarf and a few hats which I'll take pics of soon.

Trapped in a Snow Globe Recap

2009-12-22T17:45:00.004-05:00

Friday night we went to my company's holiday party and stayed just long enough for drinks and dinner before making a dash for the door.
Spent Saturday watching movies including Up, Inglorious Bastards, and Marley and Me. Loved Up, except for that it made me cry in the first 5 minutes, Inglorious Bastards was a dud because Steve accidentally got the original from RedBox instead of the new version with Brad Pitt, and Marley and Me was kinda slow but it was either that or channel surfing.

Also finished up a hat I was knitting for my bro. I was a little disappointed in how it turned out because the swirls on top aren't as pronounced as I expected them to be (click here to see what I mean). I probably screwed up somewhere but didn't want to undo it since Christmas is just a few days away.

Oh well. I do like the color.

After a pancake and eggs breakfast on Sunday, we shoveled and shoveled. Then we shoveled a path to the mailbox. Then we decided to shovel our neighbor's car out since he just had neck surgery. (That's my good deed for the year; no more.)

Ornament Hat

2009-12-16T19:59:00.002-05:00

I've been wanting to knit this Christmas ornament hat for years and finally got my act together early enough this year to knit a few. I made one for my Dad and one for my friend Bubba since they're probably the only two people I know who are goofy enough to wear this out in public.

Dad has worn his a few times since I gave it to him on Turkey Day, and it seems that Bubba likes his too.

My pony...

2009-12-13T16:45:00.003-05:00

tail hat and favorite pattern right now. The front looks like a normal cap.

The back has a gap for your ponytail. Such an easy pattern and the bulky yarn makes it so quick to knit. I think it took me about 6 hours to knit up each of these three hats..

Christmas Tunes

2009-12-11T13:10:00.003-05:00

Some of my favorite Christmas tunes, in no particular order. Click on the name for a listen. Enjoy!

* Last Christmas (Wham): That's right and I'm not ashamed. I'm talking about George Michael and that other guy whose name no one can remember without the help of Google.

* Baby It's Cold Outside (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan): Okay, it’s not really a Christmas song, but I only seem to think of this song during the holidays and wonder why I don't listen to it more often.

* Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses): Perfectly cheesy from the '80s.

* All I Want for Christmas is You (Mariah Carey): She reminds me of an oversized chipmunk, but this song puts me in a good mood.

I know I said these weren't in any particular order, but my absolute favorite is U2's Baby Please Come Home. I could listen to this song all day long.

No PR, but I did get a cheesesteak...

2009-11-23T17:41:00.004-05:00

The weather for yesterday's race was perfect: low 40s at the start, going up to the 50s, and sunny skies. Despite this and 6 months of training, I still wasn't able to beat my 3:59:50 marathon PR. No 9:00/mile average. No negative split.

Things were going pretty well for me until about mile 16. I was going through a water stop and just about to toss my Dixie cup in the trash when my right foot stepped on a cup on the ground, twisted, and landed the wrong way. One of the volunteers saw me and said exactly what was going through my head: "Oh sh*t!" I've never had to stop to walk during a marathon but my ankle was screaming and I didn't have a choice but to stop. The medical tent just happened to be next to the aid station but I knew that if I went in, it would be the end of my race. Decisions, decisions. I hobbled along for about 30' to see how much weight the ankle could tolerate. My hobble turned into a Quasimodo-like jog and I decided to give it a try for a little further to see if the pain subsided or got worst. Fortunately, the pain went away so I decided to press on even though my confidence was pretty shaken. The last 10 miles were slower since I was being more cautious for fear that I'd twist it again. I managed to finish in 4:06 and some odd seconds. Not a PR but such is life.

On the upside, we had yummy Philly cheesesteaks at Sonny's Cafe, checked out Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, and wrapped up the evening with beers with some friends from the running group. In case you're wondering, the ankle I twisted feels pretty good today but the opposite ankle is super-tight. Maybe I ended up putting more weight on the non-twisted ankle to compensate? Who knows. Pass the turkey.

My Latest Addiction

2009-11-18T18:43:00.003-05:00

Brussel sprouts. You heard me right and I'm not ashamed. I can't stop eating these little suckers that are hated by most people I know. Now I admit that my first encounter with them in October was not so pleasant. I made the mistake of steaming them and they stunk up my house and tasted like bitter, mini cabbages.

After filing a complaint with Al who raved about them, she suggested I toss them with olive oil and garlic salt and brown them in a pan. Voila! the love affair began. If I'm feeling lazy I toss them in the broiler for about 15-20 minutes like I did tonight. Mmmm mmm.

How bad is this addiction? Well, if I had to choose between brussel sprouts and chocolate right now, I'm afraid the sprouts would win.

Cheesesteaks, Soft Pretzels, and a Race

2009-11-18T10:31:00.003-05:00

It’s tapering time. After an extraordinarily long training cycle (24 weeks) that started in June, the Philly Marathon is this Sunday. If all goes well, my goal is to beat my last PR of 3:59:50 AND not feel like a heart attack victim those last few miles. My stretch-goal would be to average a 9:00/mile pace which would bring me in around 3:55. My super-stretch-goal would be to have a negative split. A negative split is where you run the second half of the race faster than the first half; I’ve yet to pull this off during a marathon because I usually poop out and slow down between miles 20-26. A few of our other friends are also running Philly so it should be fun. No matter how the race goes, we’ll be celebrating with cheesesteaks and beer afterwards. This is why I run.

Fingerless Gloves: Part II

2009-11-12T18:05:00.003-05:00

After several failed attempts to follow the directions exactly, I decided to throw caution to the wind. Since I didn't have the number of stitches to pick up as specified by the pattern, I just picked up whatever number of stitches I had across the glove. I then had to cast on the same number of stitches to make the finger hoodie.

"Why didn't I do this earlier?" you ask. Because I'm a law-abiding citizen that feels wreckless when she doesn't follow directions exactly as written. In addition, it might be because I get annoyed when someone asks my how to do something in an application that I've written an user manual for. RTFM.

This was a pretty easy pattern to make and while I do love this style of glove/mitten, I'm not sure I'll make it again. Why? (1) I find having to stop knitting to put stitches on hold rather annoying. (2) I find weaving in the yarn ends cumbersome when there's one end. With this I have to weave in the ends for all the finger holes, plus the hoodie, plus anywhere I had to re-join the yarn. (3) There are way too many patterns I want to try to make this one again.

Another Slouchy Hat

2009-11-05T19:04:00.003-05:00

This one's done using seed stitch.