My Back Pages

9:02:23 PM EDT
Feeling Cranky

 

Hailey and I have decided we are seriously sick of sucking at volleyball. LOL. So this afternoon, we brought ourselves down to the Park Point recreation area to practice.  They have five or six sand volleyball courts and a beach house... and of course miles and miles of beach. Beforehand we stopped off at Mike's office to pick up his volleyball (which was in his trunk).  I think he was impressed that we took the initiative to go practice.

It was such a lovely day... about 77 and sunny, but with very gusty winds so the ball was flying everywhere.  It was quite a workout running after that silly old ball in the sand.  I already ran four miles today, and did lunges and squats... THEN ended up jogging through the sand and chasing after the ball for an hour.  It was great exercise, and guess what???  Of course, when I am just with Hailey and not nervous, my serving is pretty good!  I got the ball over the net probably 80% of the time.  I tried different ways of serving, trying to find the technique where I was the most consistent.  Hailey did very well, too!  She had some really good dives for the ball and also fooled around making videos of us with her camera.  It was some lovely bonding time.  We just had a nice relaxing time fooling around with the volleyball in the pleasant afternoon.  Macy came too, of course, and sat in her carrier and snoozed and drank a bottle while we bopped the ball around.

There were some other people there, playing at the court on the far end.  They looked like young, athletic college kids... shirtless and wearing bikinis.  Basically they looked like Abercrombie models.  LOL.  The types we saw down at the mud volleyball tournament this past weekend.

Next weekend is our next race already.  It's actually going to be on Park Point, and will start right about where we were playing volleyball today.  Park Point is a 2.5 mile long sandbar.  We will start at the far end of the point, run to the end, then turn around and run back to make 5 miles.  My goal is to finish in 45 minutes.  Today I was able to run 3 miles in 28 minutes (9:20 pace) but then I had to slow down a bit and finished the fourth mile in about 9:45.  Either way, it should be a fun time.

Macy is starting daycare on Monday. That's going to be traumatic!  Wow.  She will be going to one daycare temporarily for two weeks, and then switching to another one, because my primary daycare provider will be on vacation until August 4th.  I am comfortable with the people I selected, so that is a good thing.

Well, time to feed Macy.  Have a great night!

Oh yeah... Hailey started a new journal.  It's called "Hailey's Modern Life."  Check it out and show her some love!!!  The link is on my sidebar:)

 

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 10 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

11:10:03 AM EDT
Feeling Cheerful

Haha! Isn't this picture the cutest?  It's like Macy is looking at us and saying, "HEY YOU GUYS! I'M AWAKE!" LOL

Actually, Mike is not sleeping here... he's just pretending.  Macy is getting better at sleeping through the night now so we're doing less of our "couch visits."  However, last night, I don't know what was the matter with her!  She wouldn't fall asleep until about 11:30.  She cried and cried until she was red in the face, then finally passed out.  I figured she'd be out cold for hours, but imagine my horror when I heard her peeping already at 3:30 a.m. (the same time HAILEY was going to bed!! YIKES!)  Anyway, I laid there thinking OH NO she is NOT getting up now is she... and believe it or not, I just laid there, I did not jump right out of bed at the sound of the first peep... and within about 15 minutes she was back to sleep.  Mike woke up for work at 6, and Macy was still sleeping, in fact she slept in her bassinet til 7:30!  We never did have to go downstairs for our couch session.

Isn't this the cutest picture?  We took this on the fourth of July... she had a cute little patriotic outfit on, but the poor kid was so hot and sweaty I stripped her down to her onesie and she was MUCH happier, as you can see.  It was about 90 degrees that day.  Macy is now smiling all the time, and even laughed for Mike the other day!

Hailey stays up very late making and uploading You Tube videos.  One of our local newstations is having a contest where you can win $1000 by submitting a video and having it receive the most votes from viewers.  She's going to enter and I sure hope she wins!  The kid has such a vivid imagination.  All the time she is coming up with ideas for her videos... such as staging talk shows, music videos, commentaries... you name it.  I think Hailey has a future in acting.  I tell her she reminds me of Amanda Bynes...she is very witty and creative and quirky.  I always thought Amanda was very funny as a young girl... and I liked the show she had on the WB although I only found it just recently in reruns.  It's called "What I Like About You."  Hailey just rolls her eyes when I tell her this stuff... LOL  Hailey was invited to go camping with her best friend this weekend, they're also going to a water park and Hailey is SO excited.  She informed me that I need to give her $30 for this excursion, and I told her if that is the case then she is going to be my personal helper all week long. LOL  (insert another eye roll).

 

It seems kind of stupid to tell you all about the Fourth of July at this point, since it seems so long ago!  We went to the annual parade in Superior, which was very long and HOT... but fun... then went for a picnic with Mike's brother and sister.  The above picture is taken at the park where we had the picnic.  Mike and I were posing for silly "grad pictures."  You know the kind where you have your senior picture taken, while leaning against a tree and looking majestic? LOL  I think my head looks really weird in the top tree picture, like it's stuck at some bizarre angle.

The flowers are a nice touch, don't you think?  HAHAHAHA!

 

After the picnic, we went home and relaxed for a bit, then went down to the bayfront to watch fireworks.  We were there a little early, so we listened to the bands and sat and chilled out.  Hailey was at her dad's grilling and watching fireworks as well.  It was the perfect evening for it... clear skies and about 68 degrees.

 

Well, I have to go back to work on Monday.  I can't believe how my leave has flown by.  I knew it would go fast... but it's shocking HOW fast.  No more watching Maury and Steve Wilkos and People's Court. LMAO.  I will actually have to THINK again!

 

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

12:44:07 PM EDT
Feeling Jubilant

Morning everyone!  Hope you're all getting ready for a nice holiday weekend.  I have a few pictures to share with you:  Above is Macy with the position that helps her gas pains!

Here's Hailey, rockin' her You Tube account.  If you are ever bored, check out her videos on You Tube.  Her screen name is Hailacious.  She is very talented!

We went to the beach Tuesday!  It was 90 degrees.  We have a very nice beach here on Lake Superior.  It's not exactly Florida, but if I close my eyes and squint I can almost pretend it is! LOL.  It's nice to have your toes in the sand!

I made Macy a nice little tent inside her carrier to keep the sun off.  She seemed quite happy in there!

Hailey wasn't feeling too great at the beach.  She'd been to the dentist that morning and had two cavities filled.  She also needs to get braces.  Cha-ching!  Ouch.

Leaving the beach.  Poor Macy had the sun right in her eyes!

She was so hot and sweaty after the beach I stripped all her clothes off.  Isn't this a cute pic?

Hope you enjoyed the pics.  I'm getting ready for a nice long weekend.  Mike took today off, we're planning to go to Home Depot for plants (we still have a gift card from Christmas!) and also Menards, possibly for a patio set.  They are closing one of their locations for expansion and EVERYTHING is 50% off!  I hope we find some great deals.

Tomorrow we're going to the parade in the morning, then having a picnicand going to the Bayfront for bands and fireworks later.  The weather is going to be great!  It's been excellent for the past two weeks.

Hailey is going to her dad's tonight and Friday.  They're going to grill and watch fireworks. Then Saturday my mom is picking Hailey up and they're going to spend the day together.  My mom's really looking forward to spending some alone time with her.  I'm going to get my hair done!  Yay!  I want it to look nice for when I go back to work... which is only ten days away.  I can't believe how my leave has flown by.

Hey, I started a new journal to document my dreams, plans, goals and progress.  It's called Crystal Vision.  Check it out at

http://journals.aol.com/newsworthy822/crystal-vision/

The link is also on my sidebar.  I'd love your feedback!

Have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.

 

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

8:42:36 AM EDT
Feeling Blissful

Look at that face!  Can you believe how chubby her cheeks are getting?  Macy went to her 2 month check up last week and weighed in at 12 pounds.  She's 24 inches long now and growing like a weed!

Macy slept the longest EVER last night, 7 hours!!  She's doing great lately, I think she's almost getting too big for the bassinet!  It won't be long and we'll be putting her in her own room.  Unfortunately,  She went to bed at 11 - but I couldn't fall asleep until 1 a.m.!  Then I was up with her at 6.  Mike offered to get up with her, but since he did yesterday I wanted to let him sleep.  I thought I'd do a quick entry before I have to get ready for church.

The weather has been so nice here for the past week.  We only had one day of rain on Friday, otherwise it's been sunny and into the 80's.  I've been taking a lot of walks with Macy, and we usually stop at McDonald's on the way back for a sugar-free vanilla iced coffee.  If I don't walk there, I end up running through the drive-thru for one, nearly EVERY day, I swear!!  I was thinking yesterday how I am like an addict with my iced coffee obsession!  I have even started going to different McDonald's so the workers at the one near my house don't think I am weird.  LOL.  I looked up the nutrition facts on my drink of choice and it claims to have 90 calories, but it tastes so good that I find it hard to believe.  I think all they do is add sugar free vanilla syrup to the coffee with ice.  I should try to find me some of that stuff so I don't need to spend $2 per day to get my fix.  LOL.  Anyone know where I can get some?

I weighed myself Friday, and I only lost .2  I wasn't TOO upset, because I know I have been doing everything right... watching my eating like a hawk, and I even ran 30 miles last week.  My body is like that, though...oftentimes I will stay the same for a week or two and then see a good drop in weight just when I am about to give up.  Anyway, I told myself the other day... I LIKE MYSELF.  In fact, I think I even LOVE myself.  LOL.  And even if I stayed right where I am today and did not lose this last stubborn five pounds...I would STILL love myself.  I saw something about this on Oprah on Friday... some of those positive thinking people were on again.  I am not sure if it was the same episode I saw before with the vision boards (because I didn't see the whole thing) or a new one.  Anyway, they were saying that we want things, such as success, money, weight loss, the perfect mate, material things, the perfect job... whatever... because we want to feel the way we think we will if we get those things.  Makes sense, huh?  In the past, I was always telling myself I would be happy and fulfilled if only I would lose weight.  I don't think that way anymore.  I was my skinnest in about 1995, (113 lbs. was my all-time adult lowest weight) and I was the most miserable person on earth.  I also found that weight SO difficult to maintain, and I desperately feared putting on an ounce, so much so that my life revolved around every precious calorie I put in my mouth and getting exercise every day but not enjoying it.  I am so far from that now.  I don't base my worth on my weight.

Mike and I are training for another race on July 18th.  It's called the Park Point Five Miler.  My goal is to finish in 45 minutes.  He went out yesterday to do his run, and came back drenched with sweat and beet red.  Apparently, it was a little too hot to run outside!  After looking at him, I decided to do my run at the gym.  I hate running that far on the treadmill, but it's better than suffering in the heat and getting dehydrated.  The gym was pretty dead.  I have not run that far (5 miles) on a treadmill in I don't know how long.  I usually can only stand 3-4 miles on the tready and have to go outside for the longer runs, because it's so freakin boring running nowhere like a hamster on a wheel.  LOL.   I was 2.5 miles into my run yesterday, and I already wanted to quit!!!  So, like Gwynn did the other day, I started thinking of the "Don't Quit" poem, and before I knew it I had finished the five miles!

I got my picture proofs from the marathon the other day.  These are the two I am going to order:

In the above picture you will see my "running angel," that woman who came along and ran with me from the halfway point to the end of the race.  As you can see, we crossed the finish line together.

My mom came over for a visit yesterday, it was really nice to catch up.  We sat in the living room and chatted and laughed and she held the baby and visited with Hailey a bit when she got home from her dad's.  My mom keeps asking when we are going to let her babysit.  LOL.  I think we are going to need a night out pretty soon!  Mike and I used to go to the movies almost every week!!!  Since Macy has been here, we have not been out to a movie.  That's okay, though... we will again soon enough.  Friday night we sat home and watched "Thelma and Louise" on one of the HD channels.  It's been years since I've seen that movie, and I love it.

Well, I better get ready for church.  Hope you have a great Sunday!

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

11:18:47 AM EDT
Feeling Determined

Dick Beardsley, Grandma's Marathon course record holder (1981) and 5th fastest man in marathon history

You'd think I wouldn't have much in common with the 5th fastest man in marathon history!  Strangely enough, though, we have quite a few similiarities.

Grandma's Marathon has been a tradition in my family for many years.  As a young child, I can remember going down to London Road to watch the race at the house of a family friend.  We'd get up super early and drive down there to watch the runners go by.  My dad always talked about Dick Beardsley, calling him "Beards."  The most exciting part of the day was arriving early enough to see "Beards" go by.  When I was around 10 or 12, my brother and his friend ran the marathon.  When they made it to London Road, they were in pretty rough shape.  My dad ribbed them and tactlessly informed them that "Beards went by about two hours ago."  LOL.  We laughed about that for years afterwards.

I loved the marathon festivities every year, but never thought I would actually run the race myself.  In 2002, when I was working at the news station, I signed up for the marathon.  I was wayyy out of shape and very unprepared.  I barely trained at all.  Anyway, prior to the big day, I was sent out to do an interview with Dick where he was appearing at a local bank with his new book, "Staying the Course." 

He was such a nice man, I told him I was running the marathon and he was very encouraging and raved on and on about what a wonderful, well-run and amazing event Grandma's was.

I went home and started reading his book.  At that time, I was still partying quite heavily.  The book was a fast read and it blew me away to learn of Dick's unbelievable commitment to his training and how he lived and breathed running.  Later on in the book, I could not believe the painful recollection of his prescription drug addiction and how he heroically overcame it.

Now, he has his own foundation www.dickbeardsleyfoundation.com and raises money to help people who are not able to seek chemical dependency services.  He also travels around to schools all over and tells his story of triumph over addiction and also why it's so important to live an active lifestyle.

His wife Jill just sent me an email yesterday.  She said she started reading my book and was going to give me her feedback when she finished.

I went to Dick's website and found this poem - which brought a tear to my eye.  He said he has always liked it but was not able to find out who the author is.

DON'T QUIT

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will....

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill....

When the funds are low and the debts are high....

And you want to smile and you have to sigh....

Rest if you must, but don’t ever Quit. 

For life is queer with its twists and turns....

As every one of us sometimes learns....

And many a failure has turned about....

When we might have won had we stuck it out....

So don’t give up though the pace seems slow....

You might succeed with another blow....

Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man....

Often the struggler has given up....

When you might have captured the victor’s cup....

And you learned too late when the night slipped down....

How close you were to the golden crown ....

Success is failure turned inside out....

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt....

You can never tell how close you are....

It may be near when it seems afar....

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit...

It’s when things seem the worst....

That You Mustn’t Quit

 

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 7 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

11:30:19 AM EDT
Feeling Relaxed

It's the day after the big race and I am pretty much still recovering.  Actually, I'm not feeling too bad.  Just some minor aches and pains and some general stiffness, but nothing serious.  I think I am holding up rather well after running thirteen miles.

Friday night, the night before the race, we went out for dinner with my friend from work and her boyfriend.  They came down and watched Mike run and then we all went out to eat.  I was not planning very well, considering I had to be up VERY early for my race the next morning - and we didn't even get to the restaurant until about 8 p.m.  Anyway, we arrived... and had been so busy talking as we had the whole evening that I barely looked at the menu.  It was so good to see them... I have not seen my friend since I went on maternity leave, although we text all the time.  So we were sitting at the restaurant gabbing for about a half hour before we even ordered.  When the waitress came to the table, I panicked and flipped open the menu and picked something.

Ok, I'm sure you've heard of "carbo loading," something marathoners do the night before a race to ensure they'll have plenty of fuel for the grueling workout to follow.  Usually Mike and I eat spaghetti at the spaghetti feed which is part of the Grandma's Marathon festivities, but this year we didn't really feel like it - plus they've raised the price to $12 per person.  We instead went to a restaurant AWAY from the downtown area to avoid the traffic and hoardes of tourists.

My meal choice the night before the marathon was: get this: onion rings and chicken quesadillas.  I don't know.  It just sounded good at the time!

I had given myself license to eat whatever I wanted the night before the race, and I was starving when the food came... but even though I could've pigged out, (in the past, before big races, I ALWAYS ate and ate and ate the night before...til I could hardly move.)  I didn't WANT to this time, though.  I  believe I have now trained myself to not eat to the point of being stuffed, because I always hate the way I feel.  I ate three onion rings and gave the rest to Mike, then had about half of the quesadillas...which were served with some kind of spicy sauce...something I would regret the next day!  More on that later.

We didn't leave the restaurant til 9:30 - rushed home and I started getting ready for bed.  Mike took over "Macy duty" and Hailey was staying at her dad's, so all I had to do was get my race outfit ready and do my nightly bedtime chores.  I didn't get to bed until probably 10:45 - then fell asleep about a half hour later.  My alarm was set for 3:45 a.m.

Mike woke me up at 4:15.  Yikes!  We overslept!  I had to be downtown to catch the shuttle by 5:20 and we had to allow extra time for traffic.  I didn't take a shower (who cares, I was going to be sweating all day anyway!) but I REALLY wanted to go to the bathroom, (if ya know what I mean).  My worst fear is having a "stomach problem" out on the course.  Ugh.  So, I worked on my bathroom project and had success... but those quesadillas and possibly the three onion rings too had done a number on my stomach and all was not well in that department.  I was worried they would still come back to haunt me.  I ate a bagel and had some tea, got dressed and we were off.

Made it to the shuttle right on time, on account of Mike's smart decision to take back roads instead of the freeway into town.  It was a gorgeous morning, wish I had taken a pic of the beautiful tangerine colored sky and wispy cirrus clouds tinged in red as the sun came up.  It was about 64 degrees with a light breeze.  Not bad, but still too warm for me considering it would heat up to 75 by the time I was finished with the race.  It could've been worse.

I bounced and jostled up the North Shore on a yellow school bus...feeling slightly nauseous because the driver had the heat blasting - and chatted with the girl who sat with me, finding out she was from Duluth, too.  It's funny because I rarely meet people who are actually from my city in this race because so many come from all over the country and the world to run in it. 

We got up to the start about 6 - then began the process of getting in line at a port-a-pottie and waiting a good 20 minutes to get your turn.  Then, it was time to line up in the corral with about 5,500 other people and wait for the starting gun to fire.  (the full marathon had almost 10,000 runners, and 1100 for the 5K - which made a total of about 18,000 runners for the three combined races.  It just gets bigger every year!)

This is the most anxious time of the day for me... this waiting for the start.  I'm standing there, sandwiched in with all these other people...heart racing, palms sweating.  I did some light stretching, half-listening to the conversation of the people next to me.  I looked over and saw a tall, lanky guy of about 50 in a tie-dyed t-shirt.  It was the husband of one of my mom's former co-workers (does that make sense?LOL).  We've known their family for years.  Anyway, we started talking and it helped pass the time, soon I forgot about my anxiety.  He gave me a hug, saying, "WOW Melissa, didn't you just have a baby?"  His daughter also gave birth about a week ago or something.  He was standing next to this tiny woman who looked very "runnerish."  She was from Duluth, too, (didn't get her name at that time) and was running her second half marathon.

Before I knew it, the national anthem was sung and we all stood quietly.  Then the starting gun went off minutes later, and we were off!  The 18th annual Garry Bjorklund half marathon was underway.

It's funny how long it actually takes to cross the starting line, as you get pushed so far back in the corral with 5500 others.  It takes a couple of minutes to actually get to the start.  We all have timing chips on our shoes, so we start getting timed when we cross the starting line, not when the gun goes off, to make it fair.

I ran the first two miles FAST.  I think my first mile was about 8:30...then my second about 8:45. I heard some people around me saying they needed to back off on their pace.  There were water stations everytwo miles early in the race, and I didn't even stop for water until I'd run four miles.  I got to the halfway point in about an hour and three minutes.

Okay, once I hit about seven miles, we got to the edge of town, and I was feeling ROUGH.  I seriously felt like I was going to puke, and my stomach was doing something awful.  It felt unsure of itself.  Like I may have to hit the port-a-pottie at any second, and it was NOT to pee.  Oh my! That was my worst nightmare.  I tried not to think about it.

I started my little mantra in my head, "I can do all things by the Lord my God who strengthens me."  I repeated it a few times, thinking,  "I could really use some help."  I kept thinking about how I could not believe I had run THREE full marathons, and here I was only halfway into this HALF marathon, and feeling like crap.  LOL.  How did THAT happen?  I seriously wanted to quit at that point.

As I was slogging along, feeling miserable, someone came up behind me and linked her arm through mine.  She said, "There you are!  You left me in the dust back there!"  It was the lady from the starting line, the one who I had been talking to along with that old friend of the family.  At first I thought, OH NO I do not feel like talking to anyone right now!!  I also figured she was going to run too fast and I would not be able to keep up with her, bad as I was feeling. But I didn't realize she was going to save me!

She came up beside me, and we started chatting, about all sorts of things... our kids, jobs, running routine, ETC.  She even told me about a breathing technique she uses that REALLY helped me.  We found a nice, comfortable pace and before I knew it, we were just clipping along, leaving the miles behind us.  The time was flying by!  She kept saying things to me like, "Wow, you saved me girl, I couldn't have done it without you" and I told her she was a Godsend and she said "ditto." LOL  To think I was worried I could not keep up with her!  I was wrong.  We did great until we got to the last mile, where things got rough again - but we still stayed together... and even kicked it into high gear during the last half mile and sped through the finish area where everyone was sitting on bleachers cheering wildly as the runners approach the finish line.  It's total mayhem during that final stretch... and SO cool... hundreds of people, screaming, cheering... a huge balloon arch and the finish clock just ahead in the distance.

So we kicked it in and crossed the finish together, at exactly the same time.  2:11:18.  I was so glad she found me!  I am convinced God sent her to me so we could help each other though the race.  (this also happened for me in 2002!!!  And of course I had Mike in 2006 and 2007 for those low "wanna quit" points in the race.)

As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped running, I seriously thought I would throw up, but I didn't.  However, I DID have to RUN like the wind to the nearest port-a-pottie.  I said goodbye to my friend and she said to look her up next year. I am kind of sad I didn't ask for her number or something so we could run together sometime.

Anyway, here my stomach problems (which had been on hold), said HELLO-you need to spend some time in the bathroom. LOL.  UGH! Port-a-potties are SOOOO gross.  I had to clean the toilet seat with hand santizer and cover it in a two-inch thick layer of toilet paper. LMAO.  I didn't care, though, I was just so glad my stomach held off until I was done.  Thanks for that, too God!

Mike & Macy came and found me in the finish area...and Mike was so proud.  I actually got a LITTLE teary-eyed, mad at myself that I didn't reach my goal of finishing in under 2 hours.  I really tried.  It was just not meant to be this year.

I also got to see Hailey at mile ten, where she was sitting with her dad out in his front yard.  Yep, his house is right on the course.  Hailey said I looked really good when I went by.  LOL.  Last year I stopped to talk to them, but this year I just kept on going, I didn't even feel like I needed a break!  When I finished, she sent me a text that said, "Great job Mother! I am proud of you!" LOL

Mike, Macy and I stayed in the finish area a while with the gigantic crowd, watching the full marathon runners come in, but I was not really feeling like enjoying the post-marathon festivities - as is the case every year. LOL.  One of these years, we are going to head back down for the party!  We were home by 11 and lolling on the couch.  I took a much-needed nap.  The rest of the day was pretty laid back.  We did go out to eat at a A&W type drive in.  I had a BLT, which is not exactly diet fare, but is still better than a greasy burger and fries!  Plus I had hardly eaten all day on account of my upset stomach.  Every time I tried eating anything prior to that, I was running to the bathroom five minutes later!  Luckily that problem is resolved now.

Well, there's the marathon recap.  It went as well as can be expected.  I just love taking part in Grandma's every year.  Even though it's a yearly thing in Duluth, it NEVER gets old.  The excitement builds as the months go by...making every year seem just like the first time you ran.  Kinda like, "it feels like the first time."  LOL

I am already looking forward to next year's race!  Will it be the full marathon for the half???   

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 7 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

5:43:30 PM EDT
Feeling Ecstatic

Here I am at 4:30 this morning, getting ready to leave for the marathon start.  Well, I did it!  I finished my 13.1 mile race in 2 hours and 11 minutes.  I did not make my goal of finishing in under 2 hrs, but I can always use the "I just had a baby 2 months ago" excuse, right?? LOL.  Seriously, I only had 6 weeks to train and did only two long (ten mile) runs for my training.  It should've been a lot more.  So, yeah... I am pretty happy! 

Let's jump back to Friday night and Mike's race for a bit.  He did AWESOME in the 5K!!!  In the above pic, with the three people, you can see him running on the far left.  It was soooo hot...almost 90 degrees when he ran.  He finished in 22 minutes, 54 seconds... placed third in his age category like he wanted to (go honey!!!) AND finished 83rd out of 1100 people!  WOW!  I was so proud of him. 

Traffic on I-35 while driving to Mike's race Fri. night

Mike before the race

Spectators at Mike's race - the William A. Irvin 5K - which is named after that large ore boat you see in the picture

Me, giving a copy of my book to Dick Beardsley (Grandma's course record holder - 2:09! STILL! No one beat his record this year, either.  I think he's held it since 1980 or something?

Here I am with my finisher t-shirt, following the race

Mike with Macy in the Baby Bjorn.  He did EVERYTHING for me so I could get ready for the race, let me go to bed last night, got up with her in the night and also got up early and got her ready this morning.

People sitting on the grass in front of the harbor near the finish area

The Aerial Lift Bridge, arguably the most recognizable landmark in Duluth.  Huge lake and ocean going vessels pass under this bridge every day, in the nation's largest inland seaport.  A bit of trivia for ya there, ha!

Slip which holds the William A. Irvin (retired ore boat) and the Vista Star (sightseeing boat for harbor cruises - VERY FUN!)

Shot of runners in the full marathon coming into town, there's only about a mile left at this point!

So, I made it through the race and was totally done by 8:40 a.m.! This feels like the longest day ever!  I came home and crashed on the couch for 2 hrs.  Man, that felt soooo good.  I only got five hours of sleep last night so I needed it.

Well, it has taken me forever to load these pics and we're getting ready to go out to eat now so I will have to give you the details of the race later.  Thanks to everyone for prayers, good thoughts and well-wishes!  I DID IT!  Can't wait to do another race!!!!!!!

(Did you see my pink shirt? It says "Running is my Happy Hour."  I got it at the fitness expo!

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 15 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

2:50:34 PM EDT
Feeling Inspired

Macy is eight weeks old today!  Isn't this dress the cutest?  Grandma Sue (my mom) got it for her.

Okay, remember how I've been complaining about the cold weather this spring???  May and the first part of June have been cold and rainy so far... however, as marathon weekend approaches... once again, it's scorching hot... well, scorching to we Minnesotans, anyway!  Right now the temp is 82, sunny, very muggy and just well... uncomfortable.  Poor Mike is getting set to run his 5K at 6:00 this evening.  Please pray for a nice breeze or SOMETHING! We may have some storms this afternoon, so that would help to cool things off a bit. 

Mike wants to place in his age category - I know he can do it.  He looked up the winning time for his age last year, and he has beat that in his training runs.  The heat will complicate things, though.

I weighed myself today.  Friday is my weigh-in day.  I lost TWO POUNDS last week!  I am so happy.  Prior to that, I'd only been losing about one pound per week.  That brings my grand total to 23 pounds lost since I had Macy.  Only a few more to go.  Gwynn, you are sweet to say you don't think I need to lose more weight - however I know I am not there yet because some of my clothes are still a bit snug.  MOST of them fit... but there are a few particulars I want to be able to wear once I go back to work.  Such as these white American Eagle pants I bought last summer!!

My race is tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m... the forecast says it should be about 60 degrees at that time, so that won't be too bad.  We picked up our race packets last night.  They have a fitness expo down at the arena with all sorts of running products and things like that.  Also, they have different speakers, usually superstars in the running world. 

The other night, before I went to bed, I wrote in my paper journal, "My book will get into the hands of the right people."

Well, I wasn't even thinking of that when we went to this expo, but as we were leaving, I saw that Dick Beardsley was there and had a booth set up with the books he has written about running.  Dick is the course record holder for Grandma's Marathon - he finished in a time of 2 hours and 9 minutes.  Year after year people try to break his record but can't.  Anyway, he is from Minnesota (now lives in Texas) so it's cool how he comes back to the marathon every year.  He is now 52 years old yet can still run a 2:30 marathon.

Anyway, Mike and I were standing there by his booth... looking at his books. I read his book "Staying the Course" in 2002 before I ran my first marathon.  I was really surprised to learn he had once been addicted to prescription drugs.  At that time, I had not quit drinking yet, but still found his book inspiring.  As I was looking over the books last night, I didn't realize Dick was there.  His PR person saw us standing there, came over and said, "Do you want to talk to Dick?"  I was kind of taken aback because I didn't realize he was there.  Anyway, he came over and chatted with us ( I met him in 2002 when I was working for the news).  I reminded him of the interview we had done back then, and told him his book had been inspiring to me.  Then I mentioned that I had quit drinking five years ago and also wrote a book about my recovery.  He was like, "Wow!  You're going to have five years in August????" Then he came out from behind his book signing table and hugged me.  It was so weird and cool!  He also said he would love to read my book, so I told him I would bring him a copy when I was down there tonight for the 5K race.

He also tours around the country doing speaking engagements about his running and his recovery - don't know if you guys recall I used to do a lot of that.  Of course, I don't have a "hook" such as being a world record marathoner - but it was still phenomenal to discover how much we have in common.

I couldn't stop thinking about it last night.  Then when I got into bed, I read what I had written the night before... "My book will fall into the right hands."  Maybe Dick Beardsley of all people is going to help me do that?

Well, as I finish writing this, the sun is back out... hot as blazes.  I've been whining so much about wanting warm weather, I guess this is what I get!! LOL

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 13 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

12:03:42 AM EDT
Feeling Excited

The above picture is so ridiculous.  LOL  Mike is acting like a seal, clapping his hands to show how much he liked his Father's Day gifts.  This is how goofy we are together.  This is one of the reasons we get along so well, we both have the same bizarre sense of humor!

How are you all doing this evening?  We've been having a stretch of awesome weather here this week.  Today was the second day it was in the upper 70's... so nice.  This trend is supposed to continue through the seven-day forecast!

Well, only TWO DAYS until the marathon!!  I am getting so pumped.  It's like you can feel the excitement in the air...already the traffic is getting heavy and people are rolling into town.  There's a record number of people registered for the races this weekend - 9,888 for the full marathon and I think 5,000 for the half.  Both yesterday and today I did some speed training - I ran three miles in 27 minutes.  This is the pace I will try to keep up for the race.  It's harder on a treadmill - so I am hoping I'll do even better once I get out on the course.  Here are some pics from marathons/races years past:

 

Grandma's Marathon, 2006.  This was my second marathon, mine & Mike's first race together.

Out on the course

Before last year's race - Grandma's 2007

Out on the course last year

Near the finish line - 2007

Aerial view of the race last year

Hailey and I finished our vision boards.  I forgot to take pictures of them but I will when I get a chance.  I put mine on the wall I face next to our bed, then I face the wall as I am falling asleep and I fixate on the board.  One of the things I have on there, boldly displayed, is "1:58:06" - the finish time I am going for in the race Saturday.  Hailey did a great job on her board, too.  Now we just have to get Mike going on his. LOL

Macy has been sleeping GREAT lately!!!  For the past few nights, she's gone to sleep around 11 and slept til 4:30 or 5.  Then, she has a feeding and goes back to sleep for a few hours.   Also, we switched her to soy formula and she is MUCH less gassy and fussy.

That's about all I have for now.  Have a good night!

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 11 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

11:30:50 AM EDT
Feeling Excited

Happy Monday, everyone!  Hope everyone had a great Father's Day.  Above is a pic of Mike, Macy and Hailey... my beautiful family.  We had a wonderful day and tried to make it extra special for Mike since it's his first Father's Day.  Really, it was not his FIRST, since he has been with Hailey since she was 8 and we have been celebrating it the whole time - but it was his first with the new baby.

I have the Boppy around my waist, we ALL use it constantly!  I need to get another one!  It's nice for the baby, and not only that I like sitting with it behind my back and even sleeping with it.  What a great thing!  They never had those when Hailey was a baby.

I thought this was such a cute picture of Macy and Hailey.  Hailey is so dear with her, and really helps me a lot when I need to do things such as housework, laundry, showering, etc.  We have not left Hailey alone with the baby yet... probably won't for a couple more months at least - but I can see she is a great and loving big sister and will probably be just fine when we do decide to let her babysit.

Here is Macy, out like a light.  LOL. It's funny how she sleeps with her eyes partially open sometimes.  She has slept GREAT the past couple of nights!  Saturday night she slept for 6 hours straight, and last night 5.5 hours.  I think we're finally getting her on a schedule!

We went to church yesterday morning, then came home and Mike opened his Father's Day presents.  I mostly got him clothes... Mike will NOT buy himself clothes unless the world is ending (LOL), he will wear them and wear them until they turn into rags.  Haha.  He says most of the clothes he has are "Clothes Rums bought me."  Hailey and I went shopping and got him new dress socks, cargo pants from Old Navy, a dress shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of jean shorts.  We also got him the new Kenny Chesney CD.  He seemed to like all of his stuff.  I made him try on his stuff and give us a fashion show.  LOL

This is Mike doing a pose like one of those Dockers men in the commercials. LOL

 

This is sort of like a Chippendales pose.  I don't know if he'd like it if he knew I posted this picture here!  I told Mike it is so much fun buying him clothes.  He is like a doll, because EVERYTHING fits him.  You know how we women are... we have to try things on, see if our butt looks good... (LOL) and everything is "cut" differently... sometimes your usual size is too small, or you hate the way it looks or whatever.  That's not the case with Mike.  He just tells me, "get me some pants, 30/30," and I go pick them out and they always fit perfectly and he loves them. LOL!!

Anyway, we went to church, came home & opened gifts, hung out for a while... then around 4 went to pick up his dad and brother to go out for dinner.  Mike's sister met us there, too.  It was such a nice day and I think everyone had a good time.

Mike with his dad, brother & sister

Hailey & I with Mike's dad

I ate a salad and a hamburger patty for dinner.  Just the burger, no bun or fries or anything else.  After dinner Mike & Hailey wanted to go to DQ.  Instead of DQ I had a sugar free iced coffee from McDonald's.  It seems I've been having one almost EVERY day lately!

The weather is finally getting nice here.  This week it's going to gradually get warmer and warmer every day until it gets into the 80's by the end of the week.  I love nice weather, but I do not LOVE running in nice/hot weather... which unfortunately appears to be the case for the weekend.  The only good thing is that I will begin my race at 6:30 a.m. so I will be finished before the sun gets too hot.  Poor Mike though... his 5K is Friday afternoon/early evening...and it might be pretty warm then.  He REALLY wants to do well and has been training for months... he is hoping to place in his age category and can run about a 6 minute mile.  It seems this is the time of year it starts warming up around here... the marathon is always the third week of June.  I am thinking they may need to move it up a month!

This week I'll only be running a few miles a day as I get ready for the big day.  I keep thinking these numbers... 1:58:06...like a big billboard in my head.  These are the numbers I will see on the clock when I cross the finish line.  I'm hoping!!  We will see!!

Marathon weekend is exciting.  Thousands of people come to town... this is the world's 12th largest marathon and many love the course because it is right along the shore of Lake Superior and has some beautiful scenery.  There's tons of stuff going on all weekend, too... Friday night is the spaghetti feed, fitness expo, (lots of speakers from all over the country) then Saturday is the race of course and afterwards there's a huge party down at Canal Park with bands, vendors, lots of happy people and just general revelry.  LOL.  We always say we are going to go down and see the bands - but then always end up falling asleep on the couch because we are too exhausted from the race.  LOL!!  We will see.  Maybe this year???

I am going to wear a cute running skirt I bought a while back.  I actually bought it while I was pregnant... and looked at it wistfully for months when the marathon seemed so far away and I felt so huge, like I would never be able to wear it AND look halfway decent.  LMAO.  Hey, did I tell you I went to the doc last week?  I am pretty much completely back to normal, after seven weeks postpardum!!  My uterus is "tiny again," (her words) and I'm all healed.  I have also lost 21 pounds.  It was nice to go to the OB and see that much of a weight loss.  For so many weeks I was going to see her and my weight was going UP UP UP.  LOL.  I only have about 5 more lbs. to lose.

Okay, time to quit stalling... it's a gorgeous day today and I need to do about a three mile run and then shower and pick Hailey up from church.  She is volunteering for Vacation Bible School this week.  I hope it does her some good!!!

Have a great Monday. 

Written by newsworthy822 Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 12 comments: Show Recent | Add your own