I do love apple pie...

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional Those who like you crave security

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Went to the new Tuesday Locale again tonight. Once again got there early enough to do a loop with B. I forgot my contacts so I couldn't see much but the trail. It was still pretty warm, I started in shorts and a long sleeve but changed into a short sleeve after the first loop. If it hadn't been so windy I would have opted for the sports bra only. It is going to get cold quick though. I could feel it.

Right when we started B says he thinks I will like the Mizuno's, I am like how the heck did you know I got Mizuno's? Thought to myself there is no way he checks my blog so how the heck did he know about the shoes, I just got them last night! This proves that there is a difference between men and women. First thing the boyos check out is a runners gear. He noticed I had Mizuno's on right away. Bizarre, but then again without the contacts all I could see were white blurs where my feet should be.

The shoes felt good throughout the workout. The ball of my right foot was a little sore but I think that is just my feet, not the shoe. We shall see how they shape up over the next week.

B2, Su, and CK show up as we finish the first loop so we head out for another 3 loops with some hill intervals on the 2nd loop. This week we did 2 on the first hill and 2 on the last hill. Dang the last hill is a heck of a lot longer than the first!

Boring Stats:

loop 1 (2 miles): 17:05
loop 2: 18:02
loop 3: 0:55, hill 1 up: 1:01, down: 1:21, up:54, 14:04 continuing loop, hill2 up: 1:44, down: 2:12, up: 1:35 continue loop: 4:16
loop 4: 15:14

Total around 9-9.5 miles in 1:18:28.

I am happy with it.

Totally forgot to mention that Sunday I went with CK and checked out a local cyclocross event. Holy Crud! Those people are seriously hardcore! Pics to follow.

B (45 minutes) race start

I couldn't believe how close some of these guys were riding throughout the race which was on paved, trails, mud, hills, bridges etc. Plus add to that places where they had to dismount to hop over logs. Wow!

Womens leader in the C race.

The womens winner about to take a nasty curve

Cool Bridge Pass

Can you say hills boys and girls? 45+ minutes of an extremely hilly ~1 mile course. Uggh I wouldn't have made it around the first lap.

Our Friend R kicked butt!

There were several of these guys riding around with two bikes (on their way to the A race). I would have seriously bit the dust.

Checking out the damage. A log took a huge chunk out of this guys crankset (thats the part with the teeth right?) in the first lap

I won!

Seriously you all have to go over to Rae's blog and read the race report for the first annual BRPTT! So great!

Sunday I did not win anything for sure. Unless there is an award for the runner who put too many miles on her shoes and paid for it with really sore shins and calves and had to walk back. Yuck! That is okay. Everyone needs a lesson in humility every now and then. I went out with my regular crowd Sunday and my left shin and right calf started bothering me pretty soon into the run. I stopped and stretched and slowed way down but it did not get any better. So when I got to the turn for the 5 mile loop I took it. And I walked the 2.5 miles back to the bagel shop. It was cold but at least it wasn't raining or snowing.

Yesterday was about 65 degrees and I would have loved to go running but I didn't because I knew I needed to get into new shoes before I headed out. Hubby and I went out to second sole and I tried on about 5 pairs of shoes. The guy looked at my feet and he says that the asics I have been wearing are way too much stability for me. The other guy also agreed that there is no way I pronate enough to need that much "shoe." So he had me try on a bunch of neutral shoes. I have no clue what that means but he thinks the pain in my right foot I have been having may be because the asics weren't letting me go through my natural range of motion.

So I decided to try out a pair of Mizuno's Wave Riders. They definitely feel different. I am going to try them out tonight and decide if they are keepers.

Hubby and I went out for a 40 minute walk when we got home and since it was so warm we let the cats out on the front porch and we read for awhile. It was a very nice evening.

Now we need to get everything put away so we can have a housewarming party before the holiday's. It is getting there! Slowly but surely!

Rundown 11-28-05

Derek put out his probes to get a weekly rundown posted and I volunteered. What was I thinking?

Here goes nothing though.

The last rundown focused on the ING NYC marathon. Since then running bloggers have been busy with a few other big and not so big events. This rundown will focus on the Philly Marathon and Thanksgiving runs.

Philadelphia Marathon

November 20 the Philadelphia Marathon was held. You can check out this site for some of the major stats: Race Stats. There is a nice recap of the event and it goes through all the major stats you could wish to know as well as some of the background. "There's an interesting story about the female winner, Emily Kroshus, at philly.com. This Philadelphia resident had run two previous marathons (one of them was last year's New York City Marathon). In both of those races she had to bow out early. Everything came together Sunday, and Kroshus won the women's race with a time of 2:43:07. In the men's race, Joseph Nderitu of Kenya won with a time of 2:21:02."

As for some more personal stats Sean was able to finish his first marathon despite sever quad cramping "I continued the race walk until the crowd thickened and the cheers from the crowd became deafening. Many of the spectators lining the streets were urging me to run the last few hundred yards, thinking I was walking due to being tired, not understanding my physical injury. Finally, in the last 50 feet I picked it up to a jog and trotted across the finish line, finishing my first ever marathon in 4:41.15" His brother Scott had signed up to do his first marathon with Sean! They started together but ended up finishing apart. "A couple of minutes after I crossed the finish-line I saw Amy, Sara, Kyle, and Brett. I stumbled over to the fence and shared a moment with Amy. She kindly informed me that I literally had foam coming out of my mouth and sent me for water. I was proud of myself, but I truly felt empty. My primary concern was finding Sean…finishing the marathon would mean nothing if Sean didn’t cross that line as well. I was partially delirious and couldn’t make sense of what had happened. I knew that Sean was in better shape than me, and without really realizing how bad his cramps and spasms were, I wasn’t sure if he had passed me somewhere, been forced out of the race by the pain or what. Word then came from Sara that Sean had finished and THAT was truthfully the best moment of my day."

This picture is definitely better than any words. Ree announces "Well. I did it. I ran a marathon. A full one. A bug full marathon. Full of aches, pains, people handing out gummy bears and brownies, and beautiful Philadelphia sites."

Chad had many good things to say about the marathon: "I just fired off a letter to the organizers thanking them for a job well done. The event was well organized and from a user point of view went off almost flawlessly. The volunteers were great. The kids who worked the refreshments, baggage, and chip removal were polite, cheerful, and eager to help. Where do they get them? It makes me optimistic about the next generation.
The weather cooperated with almost perfect running weather. Cool not cold, light winds, lots of fall sunshine." He also learned a new trick "Tried to get my chip off and began to cramp when a young volunteer came to my aid. I asked her if she could retie my shoe which she cheerfully did using a method I had never seen before. After thanking her profusely I also thank her for showing me a new tie technique and how great it was to learn something new. I think she got a kick out of that."


Jay T finished the marathon in 4:13 and had these things to say about it:
"Marathon day came, I ran the race and now I ache.

The end.

Now that I've finished with the summary, I'll get into a little detail. Because I know you're just dying to hear the details." And added:
"Sunday arrived (FINALLY!) and everyone headed down to the Art Museum for the start. I'd like to give a really detailed description of the race, but that's not going to happen. Because A) there's not a lot to describe and B) most of the race is a blur. Here's what I do remember:
- Philly has a lot of really, really nice architecture and it impressed some of the out-of-towners I spoke to during the race.
- Nature started calling around mile 4. Nature started screaming at me and causing incredible pain around mile 10. Thank you, Fairmont Park and your many wooded areas.
- Running by yourself for 4+ hours gets kind of boring. It also causes you to over-focus on any aches and pains you're feeling so you think they're way worse than they really are.
- There are a number of people very lucky that I was more interested in finishing the race than smacking them upside the head for stopping right in front of me at various water stops. Move to the side and THEN stop,...

So, after 4 hours, 15 minutes and 27 seconds (4:13:29 chip time) of running and a little bit of walking, I finally crossed the finish line. I didn't even come close to breaking 4 hours, but I'm not going to complain...this time. I'll just have to make sure I do it next time. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the experience and bask in the glow of finishing a marathon. Well, as much as someone can bask when everything aches."

Will Run for Turkey

Last Week was also Thankgiving and lots of runners were getting in extra long workouts or heading out for their local Turkey Trot to make up for all the extra holiday food.

Our fellow blogger Rae set up a virtual Turkey Trot for those of you bloggers without a local Turkey Trot to attend. Results should be posted later today!

Shoreturtle was up bright and early for the first annual BRPTT:

"I ran the BRPTT 5K on Thanksgiving morning at 8:30am. Race temperature was in the low twenties. There was a coating of snow, but it did not affect the participant. I ran 5.5 loops around the Stroudsburg athletic fields and park. Yes, I even wore the official Poconos BRPTT bib with my race number, 2693, which is the highest elevation of the Pocono Mountains. I obviously wasn’t running at the peak, so it was more symbolic. There was a group of run/walkers that I passed twice at the start of my race. I would have stopped and explained why I was wearing a race bib, but I was racing! The first time I passed them I heard them talking about my turkey trot bib. The second time that I passed them; they told me that I must have cut the lap short because they hadn’t made much progress. I was relying on my footpod pedometer, so I wasn’t worried about being heckled. They left after my second lap. I was a little disappointed. I had wanted to explain who Brent, Rachel & Pippin were. I wanted them to know that I belong to the Running Blog Family and I was part of the 1st Annual BRPTT. Oh well. I ‘m sure that they thought that I was a little off or maybe I was a little lost. I battled through the wind, cold and sleepiness and finished with the wind at my back. Post race goodies (furnished by the Hampton Inn) included bagels, muffins, fruit, yogurt, cereal, sausage and eggs."

Carissa did her local 5K with her father. The course was a little long but it was a nice day for a run:

"Thanksgiving morning found my dad, Tim, and I all awake by 8am and in line to register for the Turkey Trot by 8:45am. The turnout was amazing. Lots more people than usual. Maybe the lack of snow and ice was a factor in this. It was a wonderful morning, weather wise, for a race. It was very cold, but not windy and not icy."

Meg counts the Chicago Turkey Trot as something she is grateful for this Thanksgiving:
"* Running the traditional 5k Turkey Trot with my brother. This is only a catalyst for gratitude because:
a) it ends. After only 30 minutes of burning your lungs with frigid air in the early am and trying not to run over walkers who, devoid of appropriate race protocal, start the race in front of you (what, did they think they were going to walk a 9 minute mile?) you can stop - and that feels good.
b) the guilt-free pleasure of saying, "why yes, I'd love a second piece of pie."
c) doing something with my brother, even if he always smokes me in the run, we share in the early wake up call and the post-race victory posturing and gloating to the rest of the family."

And that is all I've got time for today kids! Hope this was at least a semi useful/interesting rundown. I am completely new to the whole search and post thing but I definitely enjoyed reading about everyone's races.

Turkey Trot 2005

Brrrrrr!

It is seriously officially winter folks!!! I wore tights for the race today! Right now in B-Ville the windchill is -1. Detroit (it is 11:30 now) is 17 F and 0 with the windchill. The race started around 8:20 so I figure it was about 15 and 0 with the wind chill. It was seriously windy! I literally almost got blown off my feet and I was forced backwards with one gale! Rough conditions for a 10k! Add to that the fact that about 6,000 people showed up to run the race today!

Pretty Freaking Cool!

The race started about 20 minutes late and I was still not at the start when the gun went off. I was actually exiting Cobo to line up and realized that people were already moving through. Oh well so much for an official start. I was hoping to be a little bit closer to the front. I was about 3 minutes back though so I spent the first 3 miles trying to avoid people while moving up in the ranks. I eventually got to a place where I felt I could actually run my own race. I was very pleased with the last 3 miles, all around 7:10 pace.

There was snow/slush all over the place. Most of the time it felt like you were running through quicksand. But I am kind of a believer that conditions don't make the race, especially since I tend to run better in bad wintry conditions.

I am definitely glad I ran this morning! More Turkey for me please!

KT and Saverio were also there and I heard J made it out. KT did very well, we are pretty sure she ran faster than last year. No pics of us this year. We got separated right before the start. I saw her around half way surprisingly but missed her coming in for the finish. She did beat sponge bob square pants though! And a half naked guy who really should have kept his shirt on!

My dad claims I beat The Flash! Nice!

Time by my watch was 45:49 I am pretty sure that is what the race had me as too. Good for 319 overall and 14/346 in my age group.

Splits:
1: 7:29 (We literally came to a stop about 1/2 mile in, they switched the course start this year so that it took us through a tunnel, BAD idea. I had to leap over the railing on the left and up above the rest of the runners who were in a dead lock with a bunch of parked cars and the huge curve just beyond the tunnel)
2: 7:42
3: 7:37
4&5: (I missed the 4 mile marker) 14:19
6: 7:11
.2: 1:28


Good thing I had pops take this pic before the race!

I am the one in the pink hat in the middle of the crowd, yes the race has already started!

Yeah that is me, the amazing running tree!

I am the one in the pink hat running down the hill.
This also was a bad idea. Tons of slushy icy snow on a downhill at the end of the race.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! LET'S EAT!

Running on thin ice

Literally.

Went out last night with my regular Tuesday crowd. We are trying out a new location that has a 2 mile paved loop that is semi-lit. Nice since we have varying degrees of speed amongst the crowd, ranging from beginner to Ironman experience. Also this new location features a decent sized hill.

The roads were icy last night but since I left on time for once I got there early and was able to get a loop in with B before A and CK arrived. Right away I could tell we weren't going to be very speedy because of the ice. I opted to run on the side of the path in the grass because I am extremely clumsy. B and I made it through the first loop in 17:47.

I was wearing shorts, a long sleeved technical, and a medium weight jacket. It was about 32 degrees F with winds ranging from 25-35 mph. So supposedly it felt like 19 F. I checked the runners world dress the runner and it said shorts so I went with it. I actually was pretty warm except for when the wind was hitting us directly in the face.

We waited for A and CK to get there and I realized shorts were only good while running, not while standing around in the dark!

We headed out and finished our second loop in 18:18.

On the next loop CK informs us that we are doing hill repeats, lovely.

Best I can figure the hill is about 175-200 m long. And it starts about 400 m into the loop. So we ran up at a good clip 4 times before finishing out the third loop (in 14:27).

I have no clue what is a good hill split for me but here they are: (up, down)

1:13.58, 1:23.05
1:05.80, 1:28.40
1:00.83, 1:30.40
54.61

Then we went out for our last loop in 16:37.

So somewhere around 8.75 miles last night.

I am not usually a fan of looped workouts but last night wasn't so bad. We will see if it gets old week after week though.

Tomorrow is the Detroit Turkey Trot 10k. I am waiting to see what the conditions will be to decide if it will be a fun run or a race. Shouldn't be too hard to PR either way since I have never really raced a 10k. I think this is a distance I will like racing though. Maybe we will find out tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope everyone has safe trips and fun times with their families this week!

More Details

I use the Nike Training Log to track my training. (Last year I bought the Nike MP3 RUN thingy and it would automatically upload my runs to the site, I decided to continue using it even when I don't use the pod) It is really built for tracking runs but sort of lets you track other workouts. Basically when you track anything besides a run it asks you to input the type of workout, distance, and time. If you don't enter a distance or time it doesn't add that into your total for the week, month, or year. I am really extreme about being completely honest about my workouts to myself so if I have any doubt about how far I went I tend to either leave it out or under estimate what I have done. In the case of walking I really have no clue what speed I walk so unless I am walking a marked path I don't log how far I went. Therefore my totals are skewed. Which doesn't really matter in the end but makes for a confusing totals log as both Zeke and Susan noticed :)

Explanation

Cannot Figure out this screenshot capture stuff really well but in explanation to Zeke's comment:

The orange is distance walked and the blue is time walked.

Obviously I didn't record mileage for three of my walks. Explaining why the totals look like it took me 3 hours to walk 6 miles.

Electric Panel and the year in review

My dad was over today to switch our multiple electric panels into one electric panel. One of the panels was made by a company that is out of business and is currently being sued because of all the panel fires. So we thought it best to switch those out into one main panel. We just finished that up and I am ready for bed! Didn't think about it until half way through the process but we probably should have called the electric company to let them know what we were up to. We will have to have them come out to reseal the meter.

Work today was a nightmare. Basically a task that literally makes my brain hurt. Suffice it to say I am not really in a chipper mood as I worked on the same task all weekend also.

I did manage to get in some running though thankfully. Did the 5k Saturday and then Sunday I went and paced Su for a half marathon. I got in around 14-15 miles total between running to the race and back and also running with SW at the end of her race. Su did a great job and PRd by about 40 seconds, something like 1:53:55. Buckeye runner was also out there and did pretty well herself around 2:04!

The weather was great for the race. I started in my boston shorts, my long sleeve columbus technical, and my wild bill shirt and matching hat. I ended up stripping off the long sleeve though. Gave the spectators a bit of a show. Managed to do it without removing my hat even! All while running around 8:44 pace!

I was updating my Nike running log today and decided to look at some of my totals for the year so far. I am glad I kept this Nike Journal Updated. Obviously there are holes where I didn't know mileage and/or time but this gives me a good perspective on my training year so far. I need to spend more time on the bike and in the water (only biked 26 times and swam 31) as opposed to the 154 runs I did. No wonder my running has improved so much this year :) Already over 1,000 miles!

RUNS & RACES COMBINED
Number of Times: 154
Total Distance: 1018.65 mi
Total Time Engaged: 129:35:07

RUN
Number of Times: 137
Total Distance: 878.85 mi
Total Time Engaged: 111:02:08

RACE
Number of Times: 17
Total Distance: 139.8 mi
Total Time Engaged: 18:32:59

CYCLING
Number of Times: 26
Total Distance: 448.09 mi
Total Time Engaged: 28:40:48

ELLIPITICAL
Number of Times: 1
Total Distance: 0 mi
Total Time Engaged: 00:30:00

PILATES
Number of Times: 3
Total Distance: 0 mi
Total Time Engaged: 01:00:00

SWIMMING
Number of Times: 31
Total Distance: 13.26 mi
Total Time Engaged: 17:26:45

WALKING
Number of Times: 4
Total Distance: 6 mi
Total Time Engaged: 03:02:49

WEIGHT LIFTING
Number of Times: 5
Total Distance: 0 mi
Total Time Engaged: 00:00:00

It is all starting to come together, slowly but surely!

Our 2nd Housewarming gift! How pretty!!!

Pigskin Pics (I should be getting better ones from B2 later)

I am the blurry but fierce runner in the lower left hand corner

B2 sporting the right colors

TNT friends


GO Blue!

Inaugural Pigskin Classic

Had a blast at the downtown 5k this morning. It was the first pigskin classic. They gave out blue or red shirts depending on your team preference. I of course chose blue!

I will post pics later but here is a quickie run down on the race.

Took 2nd overall for females and am very pleased with my run. I was not expecting anything spectacular so I was pleasantly surprised to come in under 21 minutes. Especially considering the windy conditions and the hill coming up the stretch.

Splits:

Mile 1:6:23
Mile 2:6:49
Mile 3.1: 7:42
Time 20:55
Pace 6:44

Not too shabby.

I got a really awesome embroidered fleece blanket! B2 took 9th overall males so he got the blanket too! Go BLUE!!!

Back to running ;)

Went out with CK, B, and Su tonight for a run. We did about 53 minutes. It actually wasn't too chilly out and the snow had subsided. (although we still have snow cover here in Euclid)

We probably were running right around 8 minutes miles I would guess so a little over 6 miles tonight maybe.

Tomorrow B2 convinced me to do the pigskin 5k. I will be proudly wearing Blue and Gold! So I am off to bed to wake up early for that. Not expecting anything spectacular in the racing department. Just going to go and have a good time.

CK got us a GREAT housewarming gift. I will put it up tomorrow and post pics! Any guesses on what he got us?

Tonight was Su's B-DAY! You are still younger than me though ;)

Here are a few pics before I hit the hay.

Happy Birthday Su!

The Birthday Gal!

B and Hubby

Hubby and I

Ta, J, and CK

Hubby's haircut

Mirrored B

I ate over half of this mud pie by myself!

Mud Pie

Ta and Su getting the last of the chocolate

Kurt After eating a wee bit of his dessert ;)

More House and Kitty Pics!

Monte in another of his new fave hang out spots

Milford chilling on one of our many boxes to be put away.

My fancy dishes on display. Those candles smell good enough to eat! Thanks A!

Conference

The TMDL conference went very well. (IMHO) I had a very good time and came away with a much better understanding of how the EPA and states view the TMDL program. I also think that we represented my company very well and helped the conference to be a success.

Some of the speakers talks were really good. I especially enjoyed hearing about some of the USGS projects as well as some interesting eco-friendly BMP type work going on mostly in Seattle. Long story short I am pumped up about getting a rain barrel and rain garden installed at our house ASAP and if my hubby will let me working on a green roof for the garage and some other treatments to decrease the storm water runoff from our rain gutters. I think it is especially important since we are literally just a block upstream of Lake Erie.

YES!

We figured out the furnace! (Rather David did, with a little input from Brooke) We have heat upstairs!

Moving Pics

Our First Dinner at the house


Dinner at Primo Vino's the night before the move

Happy but exhausted the night before the move

The Elevator Man!

Didn't take many pics but here are a few.

IT IS FREEZING IN THIS ROOM! First task on our to do list is to get the furnace pipes looked at. The upstairs vent isn't shooting out any hot air at all. It is nice and toasty downstairs but absolutely frigid up here. We also need to get the attic insulated asap.

I am off to take care of some stuff and perhaps run. I am absolutely exhausted from the conference. Thank you everyone for your comments! I will try to address them soon!

My boys hiding in the basement during the move, no idea how they both fit in the carrier

Chilling on the sun porch, watching the neighbor mow the lawn

Eating Lasagna after the move

Monte in the kitchen