Where to begin ...

Such a great week off! Hard to say what the best part of it was.

Taking Emma to the Selena Gomez concert and experiencing that teeny bopper 1st concert sensation?

Or surprising her and confirming why I have a day job by flying to Orlando last minute and spending more money in 3 days at amusement parks than I have in the last 3 months?

Or perhaps, it was dancing in the middle of Hanover Street in the North End with Emma and 100+ of my new closest friends?

No matter how much I want to complain—and don't get me wrong, I find something almost every day—I am the luckiest person.

This last 10 days was amazing and as I sit here enjoying a Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat and sushi, things I never would have even tried 5 years ago, I thank God (or higher power or whatever), Weight Watchers (yes truly), and the power of determination that keeps me going.

What a way to end the summer ... sooooo much fun and I got to see my girls Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday ... what's better than that? Now, if I can only survive tomorrow ...

I swear I didn't lie

When I was in line yesterday waiting to pick up my number, I chatted with this lovely woman who had come from Albany to run with her fiance. She was probably a couple of years older than me and she told me she was in the grey corral. I said I was in orange, not knowing what that meant.

When I arrived in Woods Hole this morning, I had to ask after I realized the orange corral was the 2nd start time. Did that mean that they were giving the slow pokes a head start? I asked one of the officials, and she said "no, honey, that means you are fast."

What makes me fast? I can't remember which race time I used on the application but I am assuming it was Hyannis or James Joyce or the Marathon or something, none of which made me feel particularly fast at the time since there were many people ahead of me and I didn't even place in my age group at any of those.

I was particularly nervous going to Falmouth this weekend because a) I haven't been training at all ... maybe running once or twice a week, b) because it's freaking August and it's hot and humid all the time and I have been so slow this summer and c) I biked 50 miles (a distance I haven't even gotten close to this summer) with the TIR's on Friday so I wasn't sure how the legs would hold up.

Today was actually awesome. I ran into many people I know now through running - a Children's Hospital Team member, TIR's, friends of friends I have met at other events and I even saw Teddy Bruschi a number of times. The race was fun - cloudy, breezy and hilly and if I had been training and better prepared mentally, I could have rocked it, though I did achieve my goal which was to break an hour.

7.1 is a weird distance: when I hit the 10K marker and my Nike + was still at 5.5, I just laughed. I caught up to my friend Jimmy, who actually started in the wave 5 minutes behind me, at mile 6 and he said he was on pace and I should just keep going. I said I was "all over the place" and all over pace, so I ended up about 10 yards behind him for the rest of the race . Thank God he was there because I don't know how I would have finished without a rabbit - I had passed my first one on the last downhill : )

It was a great weekend. I exercised and ate tons - ice cream every day - and did some work and slept badly and just did it. I have to get out more ...

46/3/2011

Tomorrow, I will be 46. It's a boring birthday because it's more than 1/2 way to 50, but still on the lower end. To celebrate, I am helping the TIRs run the Four on the 4th event in Dedham ... it's going to be fun. Sally and Emma are riding in the lead car. I am NOT running, but acting as course marshall and photographer. Lots of fun.

So I have had my tattoo for 9 years now ... crazy to think about. Since I got it, I have gotten a divorce; bought and sold a house; run 3 marathons; done a sprint tri-athalon and an overnight relay; changed jobs 5 times in a down economy; and some how managed to keep almost 60 pounds off my 5' 1" frame. WOW. Looking at it like that is pretty cool.

Emma is awesome ... I am a lucky Mom. She's a 5th grade graduate and already taking a middle school prep classes. She's smart, funny, and ridiculously popular. I am so proud.

At almost 46, I am healthier than ever. "Happiness" still alludes me ... never know if it is real or not. Daily life is an utter disaster on some days and completely awesome on others. I led a WW meeting today for the first time in over year and had a member come and thank me. What a great feeling.

Happy Birthday to me. I look forward to a great day.

The night before

So strange what a difference a little over a year makes. It's the night before the Boston Marathon. I am running 26.2 tomorrow and I am psyched. I have nothing to prove and everything to enjoy.

When LC and I were in Phoenix last January because I said I wanted to see if I could qualify, the night before the marathon, we went and checked out the finish and then had dinner. Today, I was with KEP as we checked out the finish—one I know SO well. This was a great weekend in general as I got to see so many friends from so many places ... the Children's team, TIRs, old work buddies. It's been wonderful.

I am looking forward to tomorrow for so many reasons. I am going to enjoy and savor every moment, because as I have been saying all weekend, this is my last marathon, unless as PK and I agreed, I am volunteering to be a guide for someone so that I won't have to train to actually "compete". I look forward to the following things:

1. Being at the start line with the Children's team ... the Masonic lodge where we get to hang out is RIGHT there.

2. Seeing the TIRs at mile 4.1 as I turn the corner and try to move a little faster after conserving my energy for the first miles of downhills

3. Finding Emma and Sally and their Dads at Mile 15ish in front of St. Paul's church in Wellesley.

4. Killing the hills, or at least not dying on them, since the good news is, I only have to go out, not back like we did in practice all those times during the winter

5. Hitting BC and knowing that I can make it to the finish because I know that road like the back of my hand

6. Coming into Kenmore after seeing Bill at the Dana Farber stop and passing by UNO and leaving it in the dust

7. Seeing the girls and their signs at the corner of Commonwealth and Hereford and then taking a right on Hereford

8. Hoping that Emma will get her princess spot again on Boylston where I take a left to see the finish line

9. Enjoying the cheers and the excitement down Boylston Street and finally

10. Crossing the finish line and having Marathon Photo actually capture it this time!!

It's going to be a great day ... no matter how fast I go. Time is not all that matters in this. Life is what matters.

And to my friends the Nasers, thank you for allowing me to do this in Sally's name. I have learned so much. And as an "old lady", I don't get to say that very often.

See you on the other side.

Seriously????

What a week ... culminating in the fact that my calf seized up again today. So crazy since I ran 9 on Thursday without even a twinge. The good news is, I had an already scheduled sports massage with the amazing Jenny so I just stopped at the half way point on the team run. That said, Jenny said the calf was actually in better shape than two weeks ago, which is good news overall but still annoying today.

Special thanks to J Liz Rad for letting me shower at their house since it would have been a much less enjoyable day in the city carrying around the stink. When the team was all at Marathon Sports today enjoying our 20% off team discount, it was a little ripe.

So sushi and three beers later, I am ready to go to bed, even though the biggest full moon in the last 18 years is going to be out tonight. But what I am going to do? Stand on the front stoop and look at it with Mr. Smith? Zoe's not even here.

I know, I know, a little bit of a pity party here, but it's been a really long week. Is it wrong for a 45 year old woman to just walk out on her job? I really really want to. It would give me great pleasure. And of course, serve them right : )

18 miles down, 8.2 to go

After last Saturday's debacle, having to stop running at mile 4 of an 18-miler, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to run today, but I did.

Tessa, a woman from Duxbury on the Children's team, was with me through mile 17 but then she had energy and I didn't. The wind was bad and we were coming back through the Newton Hills. I looked at my Nike + band and I was at a 10:53 pace ... I think I walk faster than that.

The great news is, I did it. Pink compression sleeves on my calves intact. 9 minute mile average. All good. And now, I have surpassed my second fundraising goal. First it was $2000, then, $3500. Can I make $4000? The next few weeks, well 5 weeks and a day to be exact, will tell. I think I can. I would like to.

More important than all of this is that last I heard, Sally was going back to school on Monday. She and Emma had a great visit last Sunday evening ... so cute together and so real ... something only 10 year olds can be. Adults on the other hand, often not-so-real.

Bad week

It started on Monday around 7:45 when I got the first call at work that there was an error on a menu ... my bad totally, but I hate that. Tuesday night I left my cell at work overnight which was probably a good thing in the long term but at the time, I was annoyed. Wednesday was a typical hump day when I heard from a friend that I am no longer friends with which is a good and a bad thing I suppose. Thursday night was when I first felt my calf tighten up during a 7 mile run in Hyde Park and Milton during which I got slightly lost and panicky. Friday was interesting as I went on a job interview in the middle of the day. Not sure exactly how I feel about that. And then today, I fell while turning onto the sidewalk just outside Wellesley and then a short time later, my calf screamed at me. I don't think the two moments were related, but after walking about a mile back toward my car, a nice man who was dropping off his shirts offered me a ride back to my car which was still 3 miles away.

I am icing, resting, compressing, and elevating though not really in that order and I know it will be fine, but it still doesn't make me feel any better. The marathon is 6 weeks from Monday which the coaches pointed out this morning right before they said don't run through pain at this point since it's close. It's all going to be fine and probably great, but there are some points when I wish it was just easier, but then would I be bored? Will I ever be satisfied? Hard to say and I will never know as I will always be wondering what is coming next.

A little extra free time this weekend is a good thing, but now my head will run wild since my body didn't. : (