suggestions, please!

T-Bag and CoCo - I'm mainly looking to you guys for help with this one...

I'm running either a full or half marathon this Sunday (I'll decide at mile 11 where the courses split if it's too hot!) and I know it's going to be tough either way. The forecast is calling for high 80s and humid. Fortunately it's on a rail trail so it will be flat and shady, but still, it's probably going to suck. It's also a tiny race so there will be few fans.

It's called the 1/2 sauer 1/2 kraut marathon...held by the husband of a german pastry chef! There will be runners in lederhosen and an accordion player.

So, I will need some good musical motivation. You guys know I'm a classical nerd, and while I love popular music too, my tastes usually run more on the alternative/indie/singer-songwriter side, which isn't the best running music. I need some songs to add to the ipod today that will really keep me going!

Thinking of eating this at the end won't exactly be the best motivation

Please comment with your hip-hop/rap/generally awesome suggestions. And any of you lurkers with Ke$ha/Usher/will.i.am (are they even cool? I have no idea, I just wanted to use a dollar sign in soemone's name) taste, please chime in too!

#26

I have successfully learned to change a diaper. I don't think I can say yet that I've mastered it, but I've had recent practice on a 2-month old and a couple of 2-year olds.

We spent last weekend as stand-in parents for our three adorable nieces, pictured below with Uncle Kyle: Lauren, Kate and Jenna.

Kate is almost 5 so of course she is in full-on panty mode. Lauren is almost there, but Jenna's still rockin' the diapers. So between putting them to bed, frequent costume changes, swimmy diapers, and drinking lots of water to stay cool, there were also many diapers.

very pleased with themselves to be getting Uncle K wet

Jenna on the swing

Lauren, or "Oro" as her sister calls her

I've also been getting some practice on the homefront from our neighbors and friends across the street, who had the cutest baby born in 2010 just two months ago. Kim read my list and promptly offered up Bianca's dirty diapers for me to learn on - thanks, Kim! :-) Here we are together after a nice full one.

See - I told you she is cute!

Changing diapers wasn't as bad as I expected. I left the real challenge to Kyle...emptying the diaper genie! When it's finally our turn to have little ones, I think we will be putting gas masks on the registry to deal with that job!

waiting

They say bad things come in threes, right?

1. Monday. 11 AM. Checked bank account online. Checking account includes:
5/24/2010 Austin Grill $27.10
5/24/2010 Weber's Cider Mill $31.03
5/24/2010 Gunpal.com $500.00
5/24/2010 Gunpal.com $500.00
5/24/2010 Parkville Library $12.00

Yes, I know that's a big overdue fine, but let's back up to gunpal.com. What?!
Investigated charges. 800 number provided by classy-sounding website bad. Left work early to get to credit union before it closed at 4. Got new debit card, submitted fraud claim.
Bank refunded $1000 by 11 PM that night. Gunpal.com refunded $1000 on Tuesday.
Hoping we get to keep both $1000s.

2. Wednesday. 7:45 AM. Driving to work through the ghett-o.
Bang.
New person to add to hitlist: Mohammad R. (along with Eric R. and Christopher C., others with whom I've had accidents)
Mohammad tried to go straight in a right-turn only lane and hit my rear passenger side. Minimal damage, no injuries. Got to stand in the sun and hang out with the homies from the neighborhood.
Have to leave work early tomorrow to bring my car to the Progressive service center in Glen Burnie.
Hell yeah. Watch this It's awesome and worth your time.

3. ??? I'm following my Papa's advice and watching my back!

30 before 30

My first year of forever 29 has begun. My birthday was great - it began with a bomf run accompanied by Tera & Brett, then included not working, shopping and exploring some lesser-known (to me) neighborhoods, eating an indulgent lunch, and ended at my step-brother and his wife-to-be's rehearsal dinner with my family. I wouldn't have changed much about it! Well, except maybe chocolate cake instead of red velvet.

So now I've been 29 for a week and have been thinking about what I want to accomplish this year. The older I get, the more I've learned that I need specific goals to stay motivated. So, I've borrowed the idea of some other ladies and created a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. I'll try to keep you updated on my progress (but keeping you updated will not be one of my 30 things). Here goes...

1. Really qualify for Boston
2. Organize and play in a benefit chamber music recital
3. Plant a vegetable garden, peonies and hydrangeas
4. Spend a weekend with my h.s. girls
5. Take more pictures and actually smile nicely in them
6. Consolidate our retirement savings plans
7. Complete a half ironman
8. Remember and recognize birthdays and anniversaries of family and close friends
9. Read the Bible (yup, the whole thing)
10. Go on at least one 3-night backpacking trip
11. Renew and use our passports (just got invited to a wedding in Ireland!)
12. Weatherize our patio furniture
13. Organize our cd collection - get rid of cases and storage binders
14. Consider saying certain things one more time before I open my big mouth
15. Keep two weeknights/week free whenever possible
16. Create our wedding album
17. Plan a surprise get-away for me and Kyle
18. Hang my old window frame picture display
19. Get back in touch with one friend each month
20. Forgive faster
21. Learn basic bike maintenance and take good care of my bike
22. Go to the beach
23. Give one surprise, non-birthday gift a month (May - done)
24. Question more
25. Eat vegetarian a couple times a week
26. Learn to change a diaper
27. Finish planning our Patagonia trip

28. Decide what my go-to cocktail should be

29. Eliminate one time-consuming activity from my life (I cut back on my back on my feet days to just Friday. I'd still like to eliminate one entire activity, but this is a big step for me and a good start)

30. Have the wingback chair and piano bench cushion recovered

Here's to my final year in the 20s! Yikes!

badges of honor

I made it through Boston! It wasn't pretty at times, like forthe 40 or so minutes it took me to get from mile 17 to mile 21, but overall I felt good about my performance. I definitely lacked control at the beginning and started out too fast, then paid for it through the Newton hills, but I was able to pick up the pace a little bit again for the las five miles and gut it out to the finish. I ended up 33 seconds over re-qualifying for next year which is a bummer, but I'm trying to use it as motivation to keep training hard for the fall!

Lots of people have been congratulatory and I've been very appreciative. It's easy, though, to get caught up in my disappointment with not quite reaching my goal and to discount my accomplishment. I hate to do that because I do know that it's a pretty big deal that I've come this far since my first 4:30 marathon 5 years ago! So, here are few badges of honor to celebrate my first Boston Marathon.

First, a medal that my sister brought me after the race. It's an antique - the Women's Voluntary Service Medal in it's original case. There's a seal of the Royal Mint inside. Must be from England. On one side of the medal is a sort of monogram of WVS, and on the reverse are the words Service Beyond Self. This reminds me of all the mornings I've spent doing easy miles with the back on my feet crew instead of a "real" workout - but usually I get way more out of those easy miles, mentally, than I would from a tougher workout. The friends I've made there were a big inspiration during the race.

Next, the medal from the marathon! It's way classier than most marathon and half marathon medals given out. It's simple and very nice quality - pewter! Usually they feel like you could bend them if you tried hard enough - not this one.

And finally, the REAL badge of honor...two black toenails! Well, more like red and purple. I think the downhills did them in.

are you kidding.

Today's installment of unbelieveable: THE DOUBLE DOWN from KFC.

Have you seen the commercials for this? It looks even more disgusting in grilled version. Somehow they managed to keep the calorie counts pretty reasonable (which makes me doubt its existence as actual food) but the fat and calories are outta control.

Sandwich Calories Fat (g) Sodium (mg)
KFC Original Recipe® Double Down 540 32 1380
KFC Grilled Double Down 460 23 1430

Here's a picture of the real deal taken by some brave eater.
Maybe I'll rant soon about my opinions of food in America, but for now I leave you to digest this. Haha, pun intended.

Also, check out this link for a much more in-depth description of the DD: http://www.avclub.com/articles/kfcs-double-down-sandwich,32804/

Ready to Run

After six years of long runs, intervals, races, reading about running, talking about running, recovery runs, cross-training, volunteering, hoping and praying, I'm finally headed to the Mecca of running...the Boston Marathon!
To many runners, "Boston" means the marathon, not the city, and it's every runner's dream to get there. I am especially fortunate to be going this year. Even though I missed my qualifying time by a lousy 4 seconds (how many times do you think I've replayed those last few miles in my head?!), the B.A.A. gave me their blessing just in the nick of time. This is only the second year the marathon has filled to capacity, which was reached in November...way earlier than in February last year. So many of my well-deserving friends were left out, and I'm on a mission to prove to myself that I deserve to be there and re-qualify for 2011!

I've been thinking a lot about which mantra(s) I will use to achieve my goals in the race.

When I ran Outer Banks this fall, I had just finished Born to Run, which features a mantra "easy, light, smooth, fast." I kept that one in mind and it helped me to focus on keeing my shoulders relaxed, my steps light, and my cadence steady as I repeated it with every four steps.

I read somewhere that a marathon should be split into three sections: mind, legs, and heart. This jives with the way I've looked at marathons: a 10 mile warm-up, a half marathon, and a 5K race. This outlook makes extra-good sense in Boston since the first downhill stretch will be all about disciplining myself not to start out too fast, the middle miles will need to be kept fast and strong, and the final third will be all about guts and heart to make it up the hills and stay strong through the finish. The heart portion especially hits home with me since I know I should have drawn on a little more of it to get those last four seconds at OBX.

The hills will require a mantra all their own, and I often think of one from my high school cross country coach when doing hill work. "Light and little", April would call out about our steps up the hills. She coached us to lean forward, keep our elbows back, and focus on our shadown in front of us while tackling them, all the while keeping our steps short and easy.

I often think of a mantra my sister shared with me a while back which applies to running and life - "It's only temporary." Whatever pain or hardship you're experiencing, it's helpful to remind yourself that (most likely!) it's only temporary. This one definitely helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel when the going gets tough in a race.

Finally, there's a passage in the Bible that resonates with me especially during races - Philippians 4:13 reads "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is a reminder that it is not ME who has control over the race, but God - who gave me this body and the determination to train, who will give us whatever weather He wishes to challenge us with that day, and from whom I will gather my strength on Marathon Monday morning! I often choose one thing to pray about for each mile during a run or race. Normally the first few focus on my own body and spirit, then they open up to other runners and friends and family. If you have a prayer request for one of my miles, please let me know!

If you're a runner or athlete, what mantra(s) do you use to motivate yourself? Even if you're not, are there any mantras you use to get through life in general? I'd love to hear them and may borrow them for the big day!