On the Verge

Wow. So here I sit, just a short 2 full days from the end of an era. Or a decade. The Big 3-0. Ever since turning 29 it's like its just been "there". How old are you? 29. 30-1. Almost 30. Why is it that 1 year, 1 day, can just sound infinitely older than the day before? It's so odd. When I was closer to 29 than 30 I didn't have any issues with getting older, in fact it sounded awesome. To be 30. To be more mature than a twenty-something. I've always looked young for my age and when I was fresh meat straight out of college I'd get lots of clients questioning my age, "was I really old enough to work"? I mean, WTF, why would I work if I didn't have to??? And certainly not in public accounting! So, they got the hell audited out of them and they quit asking. And then you don't get that question anymore, and suddenly you realize you no longer have to prove that you are a smart cookie because a)you quite possibly have become one or b)you're at least old enough looking that people think you've been out there long enough to actually have some experience, and possibly a 401(k). And I don't exactly know when that switch flipped but then one day you are no longer the youngest person in the office, and in fact there are several people younger than you, and you wonder "Did I sound that naive when I was 24?" And "kids" call you ma'am (at least here in the South) and you no longer flinch, you simply consider them well mannered. And the times you don't get carded - well, they're no longer few and far between - and in fact it starts to be pretty exciting when you DO get carded. And maybe that's when you start thinking that the aging thing - it's not so hot. And then one day, during a random run when you're feeling pretty darn spiffy because the guys who scan your card at the Y asked you about your running, because they could tell you were a RUNNER and not just a treadmill zombie, you realize - 30, it's not that bad. In fact, I am going to bring sexy back to 30. Not that it left, but 30 - I'm just saying you need to watch out for me. Because it's ON. You are I are going to be best friends the next 10 years, and I don't exactly know what's going to happen during those 10 years, but I can guarantee it's going to be a wild ride. The 20's are going to be hard to top, so much happened. We graduated, we got married, and we bought a house - all at the age of 21. The rest of the 20's was full of changing jobs (a FEW times), makings some friends and losing others, adventures all over the country, PIPPIN, quite a few hamsters-Dumbledore, Walker (Texas Ranger), his partner Trivet, and also Ozzy, then there was a new house and lots and lots of work. We've accomplished so much in our 20's, and grown more than I really ever thought possible. And I really don't think our 30's will disappoint either. I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up, but I also think I don't have to know. If my 20's has taught me anything it's that the road will curve and wind and sometimes be hilly and maybe bumpy, but it's there and it's worth the effort.

So, two more days of 20's and then......watch out 30's. But for now, my pork loin is beeping at me. Because sometimes, when you're almost 30, you stay in on a Friday night and roast a beautiful whiskey marinated pork loin and do some painting.

Have a great weekend!!

Rae

WiDTW-
Sat-13.1 mile half marathon
Sun-rest
Mon-30 mins elliptical, swim class+extra meters after
Tues-4.2 run
Wed-450 m swim at lunch, 650m swim later
Thur-4.2 run
Fri- 1 hour Hydrorider class (spinning in water)

The Middle Half Race Report, aka Where's my Shade, yo???

W'sup!!!! I am so over how quickly weekends go by. Americans need more time off. And why do I feel like I ran more than a half yesterday??? Geez, I think someone whacked me in the back with a baseball bat or something. Aleve and I have been BFF the past 24 hours.

Anyway......the race report. Saturday morning the alarm went off at a very, very early hour. It started with a 4:, which is not a good thing. I ate a Clif Bar and a banana, did my business, and we were out the door at 5:45, right on plan. The sun started coming up as we headed towards the 'Boro and we pulled into a parking lot right on schedule at 6:30. We went straight for the porta-john line. There were only 2 porta-potties near the start, and the line moved pretty quickly. I was out of line with exactly 5 minutes to spare. Sweet. Before-hand we ran into some former coworkers of Brent's that we see at the races from time to time and Michele also saw me right before! Yay!!

So, the big contro at this race was the stupid ipod ban. And honestly, going forward I will only support races that don't have this ban. I think it's dumb and if it cuts back on the number of events I do a year that's fine. I completely get it in the tri-environ, but not the running world. It's dumb. SO, all that to say I proudly put my ipod on and started weaving through the crowd to find where I wanted to start - hearing many murmors of "oooooh, she's wearing an ipod". You would have thought we were in kindergarten. I never put my buds in until the race has started and we've gotten a good half mile or so in - when it thins out a bit. So, the gun went off, off we went and I settled into my pace. It was so freaking hot, and we were running right into the sun. It was 70 with 88% humidity at start. Ugh. Not a cloud in the sky. I plodded along, hoping I could stick with my 9 min/mile plan.

Mile 1 beeped off at 8:24. I was really concerned about that being too fast, so I tried to slow down a little. We were weaving our way off the MTSU campus, and had to head back past the START line again. It feels sort of defeating to pass under the start banner once again. Then we started heading towards some monument that marks that the 'Boro is the geographical middle of the state. I had no clue there was an actual monument there, and I completely missed seeing it because Brent was stopped on the left side with his camera, so of course I was posing it up for him and totally missed it. It's a good thing he took some pics of it.... Mile 2 was 8:14 and Mile 3 was 8:28. (Brent wasn't able to get a shot of me with the monument, but he did get the three Kenyans the race brought in.)












I was watching my miles tick off and was still concerned I was going too fast. This section was basic suburban road - 2 lanes divided on each side as we wound our way past boring suburban developments. You couldn't buy a tree around here, what I wouldn't have given for some shade!! I wish they wouldn't knock every last tree down to build shopping complexes, but they do and I was starting to get concerned about the heat and how I would hold up. Around mile 4.5 Michele and Lana blew past me just as Brent was set up for his next photo opp so he got some cute action pics of us together! Then I saw a coworker of his set up taking pics of his wife, so I yelled to him that Brent was out doing the same thing. I felt like I was really starting to slow down, so I ate a couple of Clif Blocks and kept on trucking. Mile 4 was 8:27 and Mile 5 was 8:37.













The Clif Blocks really started to kick in, and I decided to zone out and focus on my Tunes. I know a lot of people proclaim safety issues for this ban, but I never have my headphones so loud I can't hear people, and I never run city streets/non-greenway/non-blocked off roads with them. In a race I am very careful to have the volume low so I can hear waterstop peeps, etc. Brent came up behind me once in the race and I could hear his camera clicking above my tunes and knew he was there. That said, during this race the music REALLY helped me. It was so sunny, so shadeless, and so hot that having that distraction really helps me zone out and not focus on the suffering. Different songs remind me of different people, and different moments in the races I've run over the years. Anything JT reminds me of Mouse, Pink reminds me of Elizabeth and meeting her in Cincy (Pink was playing when we saw her on the hill during the Pig), Cold reminds me of my first marathon finish and My Chemical Romance reminds me of my last half finish at CMM, Rascal Flatts reminds me of Susie, Sweet Home Alabama reminds me of Jayhawk, and the list goes on and on. And if ipods were never allowed in races I know I could still do it, but I don't feel like I'd have those same strong emotions helping me mentally.

From here we were slowly heading through the commercialized part of town towards the quaint Town Square. Mile 6 was 8:48 and Mile 7 was 8:58. I knew the sun was getting to me, and I was just trying to keep it under 9, knowing I had banked some time in the "keeping it under 2 hours" goal. I could also see Lana and Michele just ahead of me, maybe 30 seconds up, the whole time, so that also gave me something to try and hold onto. We did a couple of little out and backs through here. I'm not a huge fan of running stuff like that on my own, but in a race it's nice to see people in front of and then behind you. I always enjoy looking for my friends and watching the leaders. Of course the first female was this awesome masters runner, who has the best abs EVER. She is insane. Before circling the square we ran through a SHADED neighborhood of beautiful antebellum homes. I was hoping this treed section would last forever. Mile 8 was 9:06 and Mile 9 was 9:03.







Once we got through the square we did another little out and back towards some antebellum mansion. I was reaaaallly starting to hurt. I was glad to see one of my coworkers (running his first half) not too far behind me, and doing well. I ran with Lana a little and as soon as we came out of this mansion neighborhood we were straight in the sun again. Ugh. By this point it was nearly 79 degrees and wicked sunny. Mile 10 was 8:58 and Mile 11 was 8:54. I ate a couple more Clif Blocks and tried to keep on trucking. I started feeling better as we got closer to campus, and they had some oranges around Mile 11 which was JUST what I wanted. I knew I was going to break two hours and I just had to keep on moving. Mile 12 was 8:51.







I knew we would finish on their track, I just had no clue where their track is. The course was mostly flat and you could see quite some distance, so I kept watching for the people to turn off in front of me. FINALLY, we turned and I could see it - the FINISH line. One quarter around the track and we were finally there. The track was a nice springy change from the asphalt. I saw coworker (whose husband was running) one last time, waved to the crowd when the announcer called out my name and crossed the line in 1:55:39. Mile 13 was 8:47 and the .1 was at a 6:46 pace.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. The first person to greet you put an ice cold towel around your neck. I almost wet my pants. Seriously, I did (almost). I was so sweaty, and around Mile 12 I had actually had some chills, so when that wonderfully cold towel touched my skin I nearly lost all control of bodily functions. Then I remembered where I was and snapped back out of it, got my medal and was found by Brent. I started inhaling water, talked to Michele and Lana for a bit, then waited on coworker #1 to cross, then coworker #2, then saw a former coworker finish, talked to more people, tried to eat some food, spent a very long time in the bathroom (twice), tried to eat again, talked some more, saw a few other people we knew, and eventually left, at 10:30 right as the awards were starting.

What I didn't get was how high I placed in my division. 1:55 is not a remarkable half time - by a LONG shot. For me personally it ranks right around half-way in the half marathons I have run, and it's 5 minutes off my PR. There are not many halfs here - 1 local one in the spring (excluding CMM), and 1 in the fall. Normally all the fasties are there and I am nowhere near placing. For some reason very few of the usual swifties-particularly women- ran this race, and I ended up 5th in my division. Naturally 5th isn't in the top 3 - but here's the twist. 1 & 2 in my division - were 2 & 3 overall, which means I was 3rd in my group once they "move" up. And here's twist #2 - what about my ipod irreverence? Will they truly go back and disqualify me??? Who knows, and either way it doesn't really matter to me. The website says awards are not mailed and I guarantee if I had been there to accept an award the Ipod Witchhunters would have started a scene and possibly burned me and my nano to ashes. One girl posted on the local running board afterwards about how she wore her ipod and her general not understanding of the strict enforcement of this new rule, and someone else posted back that she's lucky there was more than one person with her first name in the results because he would have turned her in. What a ridiculous witch hunt. The ipod debate has seriously gotten out of hand here on the local message boards. A lot of people posted about how they saw people with them strung up through their shirts and how they'd take them out of their ears at water stops and other places where race crew was located. I say either wear it full on or quit being such a pansy and conform. Don't be a ninny.

Overall, I would recommend the new Middle Half to anyone who wanted a flat half, and doesn't mind heat with little shade. It would be better if it was a month later since it's still wicked hot here this time of year (it should not be 90s in September, this is just stupid). The course was very clearly marked, and although it was boring at times (a lot of the time) that's sort of how they had to do it to get you to and from the "scenic" points. Race volunteers were great, water stops were very efficient, and the post race grub was excellent. The icy towels were AWESOME, the medals are nice, and there was a ton of food afterwards - pizza, cookies, the usual fruit, milk, ice cream, sandwiches, etc. Door prizes were efficiently done before hand with winners numbers posted on a board that you could claim quickly without waiting through a billion drawings from a bowl. And the shirts were nice, too. Since it's a tech shirt I will certainly be wearing it (the men's were white and the women's blue, I sort of like the white better). All in all, I would call the race very well organized for a first year, and even though there was the ipod contro I appreciate that the directors spelled out how they would enforce it weeks ago.

Sorry so long, I just didn't feel like this was a "big" enough race to break down into 500 parts and I've started and stopped a billion times today during various interruptions (aka BRENT and gassy Pippin) and as I've been in and out. Hope you all had great weekends!!!

Rae

Finished!

Here comes another one....

Why does signing up for a race 40 miles away that starts at 7 am ever seem ok to me??? It seems like the day before a race I always get that "oh crap, why did I PAY MONEY for this again??" feeling that seems to continue all the way up until I stumble across the finish line.

So anyway, tomorrow is the Middle Half. And I can tell you EXACTLY why I signed up for it - it's an inaugural, and if there is ANYTHING I am a sucker for it's an inaugural event. I don't know why being the first to do something speaks to me, but it just DOES. That got me into both the Flying Monkey Marathon last fall (awesome and worth it) and the Atlanta Marathon back in March (horrible and I would never, ever do it again). I hope tomorrow's event is much more like the FMM (and maybe they will have las poletas popsicle) and not so much like Atlanta aka Bring-your-own-fluids-death march. One of my coworkers was nice enough to pick up the race packets for several of us and so far so good. The shirts are nice tech shirts and there were some pretty decent samples in there, of course one of them being a big ole thing of Accelerade, which they are serving tomorrow. UGH! I'll be sporting my own Gatorade. They also went ahead and had our chips in there, so that will be a nice time saver for tomorrow's early wake up call.

Heaven forbid there's ever an Inaugural Bridge Jumping event here or an Inaugural Ironman Nashville.

But naturally, there is controversy. They've taken one stupid ass stand on headphones. Fast forward through tons of emails, posts on the local running board site, etc and their rule is you get a DQ if you are wearing them. Ok, I'll take my DQ. It doesn't matter to me whether or not I'm in the official results, and without me there people will feel like they placed better than they did and I'll have my music and be happy and they'll be happy, too. I mean, seriously, what a retarded rule. I don't have to have music to run. Last week I ran 10 and the week before 12 without them, so it's not a requirement to make my legs move but I just love to run with the emotion of whatever I have cued up in my ipod. So sue me. Or DQ me. Whatever. The ironic thing is that at Brent's last race as a 29 yr old he got DQd for changing on course from the full to the half, and my last race as a 29 year old will also "never have happened". Funny, huh? (Of course I do reserve the right to sign up for last minute races next weekend since I have 2 more weekends in my 20's counting this one!)

Several people from my work are running it, as well as Lana and Michele, so it should be fun! Brent's going to be on his bike snapping pics, so that will give me something exciting and new to look for! And it's about the flattest course ever - net gain - GET READY FOR IT - 45 feet. Seriously. I'm not sure what my goal is, I'd like to be 9 min miles, so we'll see. It's going to be hot - upper 80's, so that'll be a factor, too. I'm using this one as a tune up for Memphis just to see where I'm at. I haven't tapered for it, but I did lay off yesterday's workout some and won't workout again tonight although I am DYING to hop on my bike! It's a really nice evening here.

Swimming this week is going well. We've made wicked progress with freestyle (finally) and I am basically having to reteach myself breastroke because I started in on some bad habits and have screwed the whole thing up. Backstroke is always my best, and I'm just working on speed there. We're getting faster, stronger, and far less embarrassing. AND, it's not that uncommon for us to no longer be the worst swimmers in the pool. Sweet!

Alrighty, time to get some pasta in the pot!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Rae

WIDTW-
Sat - 10 mile run
Sun - 11.5 bike, 550m swim
Mon - 4.2 run, 2 hours pool (class + practice)
Tue - rest
Wed - 4.2 run, 600m swim
Thur - 30 mins elliptical
Fri - 500m swim

A Case of the Mondays

Do you ever have one of those days, and then it sort of becomes one of those weeks, and then you think what is it like to not trip over basically EVERYTHING? In the past week I've stepped in dog poo twice, dropped my cell phone in a glass of water and killed it, completely forgotten which door is the out and which floor I'm parked on, suddenly become totally incapable of doing the breastroke, become aware that my ovaries are getting old and if we wait much longer our kids will have 3 heads and 6 toes, and been told to take the same calcium pills my grandma takes because I don't eat enough cheese. But cheese is fattening?? I can't have it ALL! And now I am starting to freak out about my 30th birthday which is now just 12 days away. Can't I stay 29 forever?? 29.99 is light years younger than 30. 29.99 is young and carefree and enjoying life and 30 is an adult and responsible and grounded. And I know we are all those things already but I just don't want the number. And now another season of Biggest Loser has started.......as if I'm not teary eyed enough from getting old. Thank God for the chocolate chip pie I made last weekend. That's calcium, right???

Let's see....workouts. I ran 10 miles last Saturday morning. I ran the Shelby Park greenway with my bike support right behind me snapping away with his camera. Saturday was a big day at the park - Mayor Purcell dedicated the new Shelby Park nature center and they had a topping off ceremony for the new bridge that will connect miles and miles of greenways and make riding long, long rides SO much easier! The weather was gorgeous, probably mid 70s when I got started at 8:30. All of the fences we've had to climb and lift our bikes over were taken down for the ceremony, and I ever ran up the gravel road to where the bridge is being built until some construction workers made me turn around. It was so awesome!! I can't wait 'til the bridge is finished. We made it back to the nature center just a few minutes before the ceremony started. We love the current mayor, he lives a few blocks over. His term limit is up this week, and we're so glad for all the greenways and bike lanes he's added to our city. Eight years ago we had NO bike lanes, now we have over 100 miles of bike lanes. It's really amazing. The new mayor is going to have some big shoes to fill. After the ceremony we got to walk through the new nature center, and then from there I finished my run home. My pace wasn't super fast, but I easily knocked off the 10 miles and feel fine heading into Saturday's half marathon.

We spent the rest of Saturday, all day, working in the yard. We got a ton of stuff done out there, and we're getting ready to put up a new fence. It's going to be SO awesome. Sat night was Brent's art show. He sold two pieces and has had a couple of other requests from the show, so that's great! Sunday we biked and swam, and last night we had swim class. Since we had to fire our last swim coach (no show, no call, no apology, no good) we are just now getting started back with our lessons. Our new coach is nowhere near as dynamic as our last one, but one class is just one class. I certainly know she's not going to end up flaking out on us. Anyway, we've come a long way in swimming already, and our endurance is really starting to pick up. Somehow though my breastroke has totally fallen apart. I'm doing everything wrong now, but oh well. I'll get it eventually.

WIDTW
Tue-4.2 miles
Wed-30 mins ellip, 550m swim
Thur-4.2 miles, 7 miles bike
Fri-rest
Sat-10 miles run, 6 hours yardwork
Sun-11.5 miles bike, 550m swim
Mon-4.2 miles

Like Father, Like Son

Last Friday I was a mile from home and realized I had stepped in poo (Pippin's) and had to turn around and come back home to change shoes. (It was bad people, real bad.) Today as we were about to leave we ended up having to take Pips to the emergency vet. I think Pippin is trying to keep us (or me anyway, since I also freaking stepped in poo Monday am) from working.

Last night I was sorting laundry post a lovely bike ride while Pippin was in the adjoining room chewing on his purple Halloween stuffed owl. Innocent enough, right? Then he had a major squeal, jumped up and sort of curved his back in pain. I thought maybe he bit his tongue in his owl destruction mode, so I checked his tongue, made sure he was ok and he decided to roll around in the dirty laundry instead and finish off the owl later. The rest of the night he seemed a little lethargic, he wouldn't dance for his dinner and he went to bed pretty early. I didn't think a lot of it because we all have nights like that and he and Brent had had a really nice session of chase earlier and I thought he might be a bit buggered out.

This morning he did his normal symphony of licking about 5 minutes before my alarm goes off, and when he got up to go outside while I was getting ready it seemed like he was moving a little slow. When he came back in we noticed he was arching his back a bit and he just couldn't sit down and get comfortable. He was also smacking his mouth over and over again like he does when he's about to puke. He just seemed like he was in pain. We went out with him to see if maybe he would eat grass and puke, but when he wasn't even interested in peeing on anything or running around we knew it was time to call the vet. They didn't open until 8, and it was just now 7 so I called in to work that I would be late and we curled up with Pippin until around 7:45 when we decided to just show up and not wait until they open. Traffic was horrendous and he kept panting and changing positions in my lap. But of course once we pulled in he was all sorts of jazzed to be there.

He is so frustrating - even when his knee was dislocated he would go ape at the vet and end up falling over the place on sheer excitement and adrenaline. It's nuts. So, once again, I'm trying to explain to them how "odd" and "lethargic" our now hyper dog was this morning. And apparently he's quite fond of one of the assistants because everytime she came in he went even more insane. She said she worked on Labor Day weekend (when he was there being boarded) so I guess the little guy remembers her fondly. Anyway, he was poked, prodded, expressed and massaged and apparantly (the best they can tell) he has pulled a muscle in his back. He's got anti-inflamms for a few days and is to be on bed rest. Have you met Pippin? Bed rest is about next to impossible for him, but we did leave him in his crate today while we worked, because he does spend his days climbing our couches, all of them.

So when we left we were talking about how he might have pulled this muscle?? His only painful sound was chewing on a stuffed toy. And then Brent reminded me - he pulled his neck eating oatmeal, so it's just as likely our boy has pulled his back chewing on an owl. Go figure.

Now I'm home from work and I can still tell he feels bad, but not quite as bad as this morning. Hopefully the meds will work and loosen him up a bit.

On tap for this weekend - 10 running miles, some swimming and biking and hopefully some good yard work. It's going to be a GORGEOUS weekend here in TN and our yard needs some TLC. Brent's also in the SNAP photography show that starts tomorrow night, so come out if you're in the 'hood!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Rae

WIDTW-
Sat-12 miles run
Sun - 550m swim, 40 mins toning
Mon - 4.2 miles run
Tue - 4.2 miles run
Wed - 30 mins elliptical, 550m swim
Thur - 4.2 miles run, 7 miles bike

Garage Sale Run

Ok, first of all did you see Britney's performance on the MTV awards tonight?? UGH - Horrible!! I told Brent it looked like me dancing out there. Not fat, by any means, but certainly NOT toned or ripped, and certainly she didn't need to be wearing what she was wearing. She seemed so AWKWARD. Truly horrible. If you're going to have a "big comeback", put some effort in it! In general the whole show sucks. The awards are done so quickly you can't even read who is nominated, they're a total afterthought. In general MTV is just over, or maybe I'm just old.

Regardless, it's been a really nice weekend around here. Friday night we went to the gym (we are so happening, right?) We figured it would be pretty empty, and we were surprised at how many people were actually there. We were both able to get our own lanes though, and there was always an open lane or two. For some reason we were both so out of it, and my HR was off the charts. I was glad to get a few clean laps and made a lot of progress with my breastroke. I have some freaky arm movements and basically I'm trying to make it more difficult than it is. Afterwards I really wanted Thai and we drove around forever in massive Vandy traffic looking for a place that ended up being a sushi place, then we called a very hip and in the know friend who told us where to go, and we finally ended up at Royal Thai Express over near 21st and West End. It was good, but fairly pricey. I was really hoping for more of a "dive" with cheap but delish food.

Saturday my plan was to run 12 miles since I have a half coming up in 2 weeks. Pippin woke me up at 6:00 to go out (uuugggh), and I decided I really didn't want to run so I turned my alarm off and said I'd do it later or Sunday. Well, our next door neighbor had other plans for us - aka A Yard Sale. Promptly at 6:30 I was woken back up by him dragging things around to his front porch and all the early bird shoppers chitter chattering it up. I just can't sleep through stuff like that so I decided to eat my Cliff Bar and wake my bike support crew up. I headed out a little bit after 8:15 and it wasn't bad out. It was around 82, fairly humid, totally overcast and a light breeze. It was for sure humid, but after all the 105-107s we've had lately I have no weather complaints!! I headed towards downtown with Brent behind me on his bike. He's so cute, when I'm running up a hill he'll yell out for me to push it, or that my form is good. It's so hilarious, I guess it's the closest I'll ever get to all the support the elites get. My Garmin was off from the beginning, I guess due to the clouds so my plan was to run from our house to Centennial Park, do the one mile loop twice and head back. Easy breezy.

As soon as we hit downtown there were SO many people out! As we got closer to the arena I realized there was a very large women's Baptist convention going on. I got a lot of looks of "you should be going to our convention and not be out here sweating". Ha! If only they knew how spiritual distance running was.....I pushed up the hills through downtown and once I made it to the West End/Broad split my stomach wanted to go one way, and not the way I was heading. Spicy Indian and Mexican always work great as pre-run foods for me, but I guess Thai doesn't fall in that category. I hoped maybe I could walk for a minute and regain my "composure", but that was not happening. It was time for a bathroom and FAST. There was a BP nearby, just across the street. That may not seem far but 7 lanes of traffic separated us. And traffic was insane - as I was 4 or 5 blocks from Vandy and the Vandy vs Alabama game was about to start. Not good. I waited until I could bolt across the road, ran into BP and immediately saw the bathroom. And the line. Of homeless people. I am SO not kidding. I said "Are you guys in line for the bathroom" and they just nodded. I turned around and the cashier just shrugged her shoulders. Ok, there was NO time to wait so I ran out and told Brent and I kept hustling up the street to Ms Winners until I saw Atlanta Bread Company. So much better than BP. I ran in, did my business, and decided I'd give it another go. Thankfully all the demons were gone and I was feeling good!

As we got close to the park (which is right across the street from Vandy) the level of college football insanity was clear. People in red ('Bama colors) were EVERYWHERE. Alabama themed motor homes were rolling in and I swear I thought I was IN Alabama. One cheery fan gave me a "you go girl" as we passed by. Since we don't like football this is something we really never see. So, we decided to explore it the only way we know how - on foot and bike. We cut back across the street and decided to run (and bike) through it. I'd call out that we were passing on the left and sort of "clear" a path for us as best I could. For the most part people did move, but Brent still clipped a few (totally deserved). Right as we were coming through the police started yelling that the team buses were coming through, so we stopped to wave to all the players and cheerleaders. It was all very exciting and made us (almost) want to watch the game. (But we didn't. =) ). We ran through and looked at all the tailgaters and excitement and then headed back towards home. It definitely made the miles go by more quickly. As we headed back through all the game-goers I'd yell out "Go Vandy!" to the rude ones and "Enjoy your day!" to the nice ones. It was fun. Then a homeless guy called me SweetPea and stepped right in front of me to ask for money. I was like "SERIOUSLY, there are like 50,000 people 6 blocks up with pockets loaded with money to blow at this football game and you are bothering ME!!" Geez.

Anyway, the rest of the run home was pretty dull, but I did it! Something like 12-13 miles, so that's good! My watch was so messed up from the clouds and crowds that I haven't even looked at my splits. I know I can run 13 in 2 weeks, so that's all that matters. It won't be my fastest, but who cares?

Today was super rainy here, which is great for our dry, dry yard, so no complaints. I did want to ride my bike but there was never a dry enough looking time period to head out. I wanted to swim but was feeling pretty lazy about that TOO, but got a big boost of motivation when we were sitting out on our porch swing and caught a friend out running. She was out logging miles and after catching up on all the local running goings-ons I felt like I needed to get some workouts in myself! We headed to the pool, shared a lane, and got some painful (looking) laps in. Actually, I had a really good swim and I think I may be close to not being so painful looking.

Anyway, I hope you all have a GREAT week!! I still need to sort through vacation pics, so maybe I will get a chance to do that this week while Brent is hanging for his next art show - coming up this weekend! More details to come on that, too!

Rae

WIDTW-
Sat - 4.5 mile trail run, lots of vacation walking, 45 minutes in the pool
Sun - lots of vacation walking, 1.3 mile walk around the lake
Mon - 4 mile run, ocean time, vacation walking
Tues - Vacation walking, ocean
Wed - Sitting in a car for 10 hours
Thurs - 4.2 miles, 40 mins toning
Fri - 4.2 miles, 500m swimming
Sat - 12 miles
Sun - 500m swimming, 40 mins toning

All good things.....

So, we got back a couple of hours ago from vacay. We picked Pippin up on our way home and we're all glad to be home. Pippin is absolutely conked out and he's been so tired from whatever he does when we're gone that we decided to hold onto the treats we got him at the doggy bakery until tomorrow.

Vacay was awesome. I've gained at least 5 pounds and am stuffed with so many bad foods that I'm pretty sure whatever workout I do tomorrow is going to be one of those terrible workouts where your sweat just smells like junk food. You know what I'm talking about. We've had some seriously awesome stuff - shrimp with grits, seafood jambalaya, fried shrimp and scallops, massive burritos, tilapia, belgium waffles topped with strawberries, and the best of all - banana pudding with Moon Pies chopped up in it. Yum. But we have run a few times, been swimming in fresh and salt water and walked a ton, so hopefully the damage isn't TOO bad.

We've been to zoos, aquariums, run through historic neighborhoods and national forests, battled massive waves and tiny waves, appreciated old homes, questioned why it is some parts of the country just can't get over the fact that the South did indeed LOSE The War, and I swear I saw Bobby Deen. And Brent swears he saw Vern Yip. And the runner-up from FoodNetwork's Next Big Star (Rory). And even though we didn't actually see ANY of those people, I sort of think when we're 80 years old we'll look back and laugh about what a fun vacation it was and all of the strange and funny things that happened on the trip that really no one but us could ever understand. Last night we had dinner at a truly awesome Mexican place and our waitress was just so cute and sweet, and young (she was 22). She was asking us what all we were doing there and we told her this year we decided to take a "cheaper" vacation since we're cash poor from home renovations so we road-tripped it to SC since we're trying to see all 50 states together and SC was a big hole for us in the Southeast. (Only 13 states left for us now!! And only 4-5 that neither of us have seen!!) So anyway, we were just sort of talking about life and whatever and she said that she hoped she could be like us when she was older. Brent immediately picked up on the "older" part, but I really think it was a very nice compliment. (Second only to the homeless woman who called me a skinny $$$itch when I didn't give her money. I was like THANK YOU!!! That was SO NICE!! Seriously, made my night.) But I get what our waitress was trying to say. So many people are just so dead, and what vacation always reminds me of is that life is such a fun adventure. There's so much to do and see and sometimes you just have to start laughing at your irrational meltdowns when you want a large Coke and your husband insists on a small. All that matters is that we're together, drinking a coke. That we have that opportunity, and that we take it whenever we can. And in the end, he is so right because he fully understands how tiny your bladder is, because that's sort of what happens after 12 years.

Vacation photos to come, I still have a couple of hours of vacation food splurging to indulge in!!!

Aaaahhhhh, vacation

Vacation. When I can have Wild Charleston shrimp over grits and banana pudding with Moon Pies in it and not feel guilty. And why should I?? We ran 4.5 miles of trails this morning to "see" a waterfall heralded as South Carolina's "prettiest sight" that was so far off you could barely even see it. And swam a million laps in a tiny, but wonderful, hotel pool. And lunch at "Petey's Diner", well, that's another story all together. When else can you have the wonderful discussion over dinner with your husband about how on earth they only brought two pairs of shoes when you brought at least 9?

Tonight, Columbia, South Carolina. Tomorrow, and for the next few days, we'll be swimming with the sharks in Charleston! And we can now mark South Carolina off the states we've seen together. 37 down, 13 to go. I can't WAIT for Hawaii! And Alaska!

Happy Labor Day everyone!