Friday, October 17, 2008

FINISH LINES

I finished the Chicago Marathon! And now it is time for me to finish my blogging "career". I started training for marathons after my dad passed away. It seemed like something positive to focus on. I also think that when someone dies those left behind don't want to take their life for granted. All of those "I will do that someday" wishes seem like you better do them today. So my someday marathon became the Flying Pig in May. And that lead me to the Chicago Marathon in October. Both of these marathons have been amazing experiences for me. I do believe they have helped me immensely this year. Running the Chicago marathon and raising money for Team Lungevity was so important to me. But now the marathon is over, the money has been raised and I am going to retire from blogging and marathon training for a bit. I still plan on running (but am going to focus on distances shorter than 26.2 for awhile) and I still plan on blogging (expect lots of comments on my friend's blogs and maybe a guest blogging spot on Knit One---Purl Too!), but now I am going to focus on me for a bit.

"I'm just traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling, traveling through." -DP




Thursday, October 9, 2008




















THANK YOU to everyone who came to the Team Lungevity Happy Hour at Jeffersonville Hall. It is these memories of fabulous friends and fun times that I will keep with me during 26.2 miles on Sunday.

Monday, October 6, 2008

5 : 13 : 11 : 54

OMG! The marathon is in 5 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes, and 54 seconds, and getting closer every moment. I cannot believe that Sunday is the BIG DAY! It has seemed like a long training season. I am a bundle of nerves and excitement. I am confident that the trip will be a lot of fun, that meeting the Lungevity team will be an amazing experience, and that the marathon will be full of surprises. I am not confident in my running ability. I just need to stay positive, live in the moment, and realize that I will make it through and that not only finishing the marathon, but every step I've taken to get there is something to be proud of.

Distractions, distractions. In order to stop thinking about the marathon (eee-gads), I will focus back on a fabulous weekend. Thursday night Matthew and I roadtripped to OU to see both my sister and Indigo Girls. I had never seen Indigo in concert (just sang along with tear tracks in my bedroom), so it was a delight to hear them live. Their voices are amazing and it was amazing to hear them live. I am a masochist and hoped they would play only their most depressing of songs, who doesn't think "Last Tears" makes a crowd pleasing encore? But they mixed it up, playing "Hope Alone" (me plunging in to depression) and then bringing back my will to go on with "Closer to Fine" and other upbeat songs. Overall, it was a great concert and a great trip with Matthew.

The other part of the trip was a visit with KRitz. Amazing, wonderful time with the little sister. I got to see her college apartment, she caught me up with the latest and greatest in the world of music (Lolly-Lolly anyone?), and we both helped keep Smirnoff in business. The visit was so much fun and I cannot wait for a repeat performance.

Then it was rush rush back to Cincinnati for the Team Lungevity Happy Hour at Jefferson Hall. Another wonderful, fun evening. Thank you so much to all of our friends who came out and to all the randoms who helped support the cause. BIG thanks to Em for making our AMAZING marathon tees, so we could debut them at the happy hour. The event was both fun and we raised money for Team L, so a big success.

Sadly all that fun led to me spending the rest of the weekend racked with a horrid sore throat and cold. But I am pumping in the cold meds, getting plenty of rest, and ready and waiting for the starting line...



Thursday, October 2, 2008

Remembering...

Today is RJR's birthday. Happy Birthday to him. I am going to celebrate for him by leaving work early, taking a road trip with Matthew, visiting KRitz at OU and seeing the Indigo Girls in concert. A day he would certainly love to have been a part of.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

What's On My Mind...

Cake. Chocolate cake. I want some. NOW.
I may be a piggy, but at least I have standards. This particular craving is for Busken's fudge cake. Just hoping I am strong enough to not let the POS steer herself into the Busken parking lot on my way home from work. Though maybe it could help motivate me for tonight's 3 miler. A 3 mile run to Busken's for a choc-fudge and then a leizurely stroll home with a cakebox snug in my arms?

This is the problem with tapering. Too much time on my hands. Time I used to spend dreading the long run ahead, is now spent drooling over yummy treats. 16 weeks of running my socks off, building up my metabolism so I can indulge in guilt-free treats, but now I'm not running enough to justify the treats, but my body has been conditioned to crave them. Oh, the horrible irony of it all.

The marathon is just 11 days away. Maybe I can resist the chocolate urge until then, when I will have actually earned it.