That's a whole lotta running

I spent all day Friday and Saturday in a van with 6 other people, running occasionally. For those of you who have never done a 200-mile overnight relay, it's one of the greatest, craziest, most exhausting things ever. And those are only some of the positives. I participated in my third such event for the last two days. This one was the "easy one" because it wasn't the first and I wasn't doing the longest legs. I still lost it before the third leg for a few minutes but then went out and ran it faster than most would. Thank god for caffeine. I helped us be organized and enthusiastic and still managed to get the requisite hour and a half sleep. And, I may do it again next year, if something better doesn't come along ... like the 2014 Boston Marathon. Can't believe I haven't posted since Marathon Monday, the day that truly changed my world on so many levels. I was 3 blocks away from the second bomb that went off on Boylston Street, where they stopped the runners. Though I am lucky that my running family and friends and I are all safe and sound, every day I find out something new about it and it still makes me angry, frustrated and sad. And that order changes depending on what I learn. What all of this means of course is that I want to run next year. My qualifying time from Chicago 2012 still counts, but I am only 3 1/2 minutes ahead of the required 3:55 so it's possible that too many faster-qualified runners will register before I get a chance. The TIRs have a lottery for the 2 bibs we get and I will try that if I don't get registered on my own. Otherwise, I will work the mile 4 water stop and zoom to the city after and stand right where I did on April 15, 2013 and cheer and shout and take pictures of all those that get to run. And I will be proud to be a runner and a Bostonian. And what do I do with these? I pulled them out of the drawers and cabinets that they have been stashed in since I started seriously running in 2008 and want to do something purposeful with them. Though I am certainly proud of all the accomplishments (some age group winners I had totally forgotten about), the hardware isn't that important to me. If anyone has a suggestion about what I can do with them besides displaying them or making them ornaments, please let me know. And now, it's time to bike. I need to train for the MS Ride which is now just over 6 weeks away ... very scary. No intense running for me between now and then. I am going to try to ride and hour a day minimum 3 days a week, and go hard core on weekends. I am so afraid of getting on the bike on day 2, I don't know how to get over that except get on the bike a lot between now and then. And then, get back to running. Training for Dublin starts in July with the Boilermaker. Boom!

Friends

Busy day on the brain so I am going to get it out. 7 years ago, I started my weight-loss journey which continues today, because keeping the weight off is much harder than losing it. Every day I make conscious choices about what to eat, what to do for activity, and how much rest to get, though the rest part is some times out of my control since the brain takes over in the middle of the night and prevents me from sleeping, so that I can stay healthy and enjoy the best life possible. I am so lucky and I know that, but there are still those days that I don't know how to appreciate it and today is one of those days. I ran this morning with a friend and it was a good run despite the 18" of snow that fell yesterday. Then I came home and actually spent a minute or two on my foam roller while I baked chocolate chip cookies that will be dropped with groceries at another friend's house. When I think about why I am doing this today, it makes me sad. My little friend Sally is fighting for her life every day and she's not even 13 yet and I am just doing something to help her and her family get through today and maybe have some snacks for the next few days. I wish I could do more. Last week, I raised $2000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society - another great thing. It was a great party and I had fun and I think everyone who was there did as well. So why isn't it enough today to make me feel good and important and worthy? My 13-year-old is awesome and her teachers and her friends' parents all tell me all the time that she is, and I have to have something to do with that, right? I don't want to take any credit for that though, because it is all her. I think the key to good parenting is letting the kid be the kid. And now it's time to pick up a birthday cake for another friend.

I am the mother of a teenager

As my daughter left for a movie date with a friend who was wearing more makeup than I did last night on my "big night out", I realized I am a lucky, lucky woman. I don't remember most of my childhood for one reason or another, but I know it wasn't "a happy one" for the most part, and 7th grade especially conjures up all kinds of bad snippets of memory. My girl, on the other hand, has been having a great 7th grade. She brought home her 2nd near perfect report card. She has many friends, often spending no time at home on weekends. I guess I am lucky she is at my house mostly during the week when there is homework to be done and Dance Moms and Switched at Birth to be watched. We have funny conversations sometimes when she is taking a bath ... they are the best. I learn so much about her then. All that said, I know there will be a moment in the not-too-distant future that she can't or won't talk to me and I will want to metaphorically throttle her. It's the nature of mothers and daughters and I don't imagine that I am so special that I will not be tortured by her at some point. I tortured my mother and my daughter will torture me, but then I hope, like I did, later on, when she's old enough, she'll realize how much I love her, how much I respect her, and how proud I am to be her mom.

Happy New Year

I have been reading so many blogs of late and realized it was time to commit to the fact that in less than 8 hours it will be 2013. So crazy in so many ways. Highlights of 2012: 1. Captaining not one, but two running teams to really great success. The Shock Top Shufflers dominated the TIR Grand Prix series from the beginning ... and it had very little to do with me. So proud of the team showing up more than everyone else's and for those of us who earned extra points doing marathons, wahoo!! My friend Nick is a rockstar runner. And for Reach the Beach in May, D's Divas rocked it out. Van 1 was so fast and furious, those of us in Van 2 had to get up earlier than expected! What an amazing 30+ hours with all of you.

2. The Chicago Marathon - loved every minute of it except when I wanted to die. PR and BQ of 3:51:03 ... who would have thought. Marathon #5 will be Dublin, Ireland. Wahoo. 3. Seattle and the Couv with the girls, their guys, the best travel companion in the world, miss Emma Jane, to see our friend Katie arrive after RIDING HER BIKE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I am in awe - and will be forever.

4. Lots of fun times in NYC, St. Thomas and just hanging around Dedham with a guy who made me feel special. 5. Oh, and I had the SAME JOB all year! That's a first in a while. And what for 2013? Running races every weekend in February ... why?!?? Because I can. The MS Cape Cod Getaway. Just me and Fisher on the roads from Quincy to Provincetown in June ... oh yeah and the 100's of other bikers riding to cure MS. A cruise to Halifax with Emma and the cousins. And a trip to Dublin with the TIRs and hopefully some of the girls as well. So fun. And now to change into that cute outfit I have planned in my head to eat sushi and see some comedy and ring in 2013. I am a lucky girl.

Post Event Stress Syndrome

I don't know, but it is so weird to me that 9 days ago I accomplished something that most people will never do in their entire lives and yet, here I sit, in my cube, doing my day job and trying to figure out what's next. 3:51:03 baby ... I rocked Chicago and Chicago rocked me. It was a great race despite the death moments between miles 17 and 22 ish ... but that's the fun of marathoning. Truth be told, I had too much fun during miles 1 through 16. My pace group wasn't that well organized and we were all going faster than the 8:35 miles we needed to do to be consistent for 26.2. I ran with a 42 year old lawyer named Ro for the better part of the first 18 miles. She has 2 kids, an active boyfriend and a professional athlete for an ex husband. We hit the 1/2 way point right around her office and she said she had told people to look out for her but of course we were early!!!!! The man friend made it to the start which was AWESOME and a first for me to have someone there who is there just for me. He also was at 2 other points but foiled by traffic to be at the end, but considering how little I remember of the finish, I probably wouldn't have seen him. Thanks CB!!! It was AMAZING to see you right before mile 20 and definitely a reason to keep moving. I have felt great since the 7th. The training/recovery/sleep/eat combo I followed really worked for me and that is another great success. I still want to run and do boot camp and keep a "regular schedule" rather than a training one. That's going to the tough part ... staying motivated but not getting psycho. What's that like? Another new experience for me :D Thank you to all my blog supporters ... I will attempt to be more regular and more interesting from now on.

5 : 19 : 32 : 35

Countdown continues ... Chicago here I come. It's been quite the year so far and since I decided to do this marathon somewhere around February 1st, I have been training, mentally as well as physically for 9 months or so which is crazy. I feel ready and that's the scary part. How can you ever be ready for something like this? Because I have worked hard ... trained hard ... behaved myself and taken care of myself. Eaten pretty well, exercised a lot, despite the fact that my Activelink only says 91% effort. It's going to be great and I can't wait.

Just wow

So I am on the Acela on the way to the big Apple reading all these food and running blogs that I follow and I realize it's been almost 4 months since I posted. WHAT?!?!?! How is that possible? So much has happened but not seemed blog worthy? No, that's not possible. I actually thought last night as I was buying 4 bags of ice at Terri's Market for my inaugural ice bath - and I needed it because I had been shooting a bat mitzvah in heels all day, not because I had put on serious mileage, just want to be clear about that. Anyway, I digress. I thought to myself, "I may have taken on too much." Now, for those of you who know me, that doesn't happen very often. Actually, I can't remember if I have ever actually articulated the thought. So here it goes ... my list. This is what I have done in the last month which, though busy, probably wasn't the busiest of the year, but maybe it was. I have lost track in my old age. Today is September 9, 10 days from Emma's 13th birthday which may or may not turn out to be one of the scariest days of my life, so since August 9th, I have done the following: August 10th: rode my bike 50 miles along the Cape Cod bike path with TIRs August 12th: ran Falmouth Road Race finishing as the top woman from Dedham - WTF? August 24th - August 31: took Emma to Seattle and Vancouver with my great friends Jess and LC and their great men, Nick and Jason, to meet our great friend Katie, who HAD BIKED ACROSS the country - see, really I am a slacker :)

Oh, and while in Seattle I ran 18 miles in the glorious, not humid, 70 degree weather at 8:32 pace average. You know what that means? In Chicago, I can actually hit 3 hours and 45 minutes. A nice feeling. We flew back on the red eye for Saturday morning, September 1st. Seriously, September, already? How is that possible. Katie left Portsmouth, NH on June 23rd, the day I was in NYC watching Camille's friend Nial swim around Manhattan - all 28.5 miles of it. HOW CAN IT BE SEPTEMBER? How can Emma be in 7th grade? How is it possible that I will be done with Chicago Marathon 4 weeks from today when I signed up for it in February. This morning I got out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:44. I know weird time to se it for, but it seemed right. I did my morning ablutions and then went for a 10+ mile run in the drizzle. Oh yeah, side note: on Labor Day, I did my 20-miler running from my house in Dedham through Hyde Park and JP and to Berkeley Street behind Back Bay station and back. It WAS NOT pretty. Well, the first 10 were. Back 10, not so much. But the good news is, I am TAPERING. For those of you who have trained for a big event, this is the greatest and scariest word in any plan, but I am going to do it and do it well. Then, because I knew I would be in town to shoot Caroline's bat mitzvah, I had signed up to host the TIR fun run. I had diligently plotted 5K, 5M, and 10M runs. I was so psyched when I only had to accomplish the 5 miler. Great to run with others ... and the coffee and bagels after helped. And now, a week in NYC, seeing the "man friend", working out of the NY office, and running ... 3 days. And some yoga with friends. WOW. Just wow.