Good morning,
I have a long weekend. Took yesterday off and will be off Monday too! Went to Cleveland yesterday to pick up my race packet, when I walked into the expo I started to tear up....I get emotional about these darn races, even though I don't have a prayer of placing or anything like that, it is just the whole atmosphere I guess and when I see the sign "welcome athletes" it just gets to me. Still find it hard to even fathom that I am an athlete. I know you all understand. Tomorrow waiting for the race to start I will also say to my DH " tell me why I am doing this again?" Get nervous too. I did get to talk to Jenny Hatfield though, wish I had had a camera to get my pic with her. I still have a dumb phone wih a not so good camera.
Karen....weather tomorrow for Cleveland should be about the same as yours, think it will be really chilly in the morning though. I do hate standing around waiting in the cold, but the temps should be great for the actual run. Better than the last 2 years when it was suddenly so hot, even though I love the heat.
GD won their first softball sectional game last night in the bottom of the 7th inning! They only play 7 innings so it was an exciting game. Fun and nerve wracking to watch.
Going to the nursery today and get some flowers to plant, even though it is really chilly out. Nope, still not sure Spring is here and it is the middle of May! We get a day or two of warm weather to tease us and then we are back to cold and cloudy, kind of depressing.
Everyone have a good weekend.
Oh my bib number is 7175 is anyone feels like checking on me. Don't be shocked by the slow pace, that's my normal, LOL.
ginny
http://ginnybess.blogspot.com/
6/8 Hatfield/McCoy Half, 8/18 lake Erie Shores and Islands Half, 9/21 Mighty Niagara Half Lewiston, NY, 10/7 Cleveland Rock & Roll Half 10/6 or Detroit Free Press 10/20, A Christmas Story 5 or 10K Cleveland 12/7, Santa Hustle Half Cedar Point 12/15
Run to live; live to run
Nothing for me. I have a scratchy throat. So running doesn't feel good. I have to lay mulch today too. Sigh.
Puppy pool first
Marjorie
Happy Saturday! Taking it easy today since DH and I have Bay to Breakers 12K tomorrow. It's a big street party sort of race and we are doing it just for fun. I walked over to the expo from work yesterday to pick up our race packets, then walked around the expo a couple of times, then up a few more blocks to get BART home. All that after PowerBlast class in the morning. Legs are seriously tired today!
Good luck to Karen and Carol who are racing today! And to Damaris on her marathon tomorrow!
Ginny, I love the excitement, emotion, and all of the stuff to see and do at race expos. Have a great run tomorrow and enjoy the day.
Marjorie, good luck with your chores and with fighting off whatever the scratchy throat portends.
Tessa, I'm sure it's good to be back in your own bed after your travels. You having any problems from the fires? Is the smoke affecting your air quality?
Lisa, are you still at that swanky hotel in SoCal? Looked like you were really roughing it, haha. What was the trip for, anyway?
Hi to everyone else!
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR
Tessa
Marjorie, take care of that throat. Good luck with the mulch laying.
Ginny, you are an athlete! (I was there when you crossed the Detroit finish line, remember?) Hope it goes well tomorrow.
GatsbyBird, good luck to you and DH at B2B. Please tell me you're both keeping your clothes on.
No fire near here so far, thank goodness. RN and I put in 16.5 this morning in just under 3:30, faster than I usually run, slower than she usually runs. DS and DD and I are going to a wedding this afternoon and then to the reception for which we have helped prepare food, so I have 46 cupcakes and a black bean enchilada casserole ready to grab between wedding and reception. Looking forward to it.
Oh, Karen -- I pulled the trigger on both Hartford and Rhode Island registration. What day are you flying into Boston, Friday?
Didn't PR, didn't break 1:40 but I did finish 3rd female overall!!!! They changed the course this year, and while I think it was a much better course and showed off the town more, it was also hillier!! Not all of Illinois is flat. Most of it, yes, is pancake flat, but along the Mississippi River there are bluffs and hills. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny, no wind, about 43 degrees.
Had dinner last night with my brother, his wife and their 5 year old. Hung out all afternoon with the parents, and my sister and her husband and kids are coming over for dinner tonight. She showed up at the finish line to cheer me on, and Mom and Dad have gotten much better at their spectating. And I'm pretty sure my sister and I have my mom convinced to do the 5K next year. She will probably just walk, but she's a fast walker and I think would be able to finish under 50 minutes. Plus she's 71, and both this year and last year, there was no one in her age group, so she'd win!
Ginny, good luck tomorrow! So glad Cleveland is not going to be another sweat fest for you. And yes, you are an athlete. And I just checked the race results from my race today - you'd have placed in your age group in the half here.
Tessa, I haven' signed up for the races yet - this month's Visa bill is kind of high, so I'm waiting until after the 20th when a new billing cycle starts. But I do have hotel rooms for Hartford Friday night and Newport Saturday night. I haven't thought about getting there yet - flights for me are cheap. And I also realized I have that Monday off. Maybe stay in Newport and enjoy Sunday afternoon and evening and go back Monday?
Gatsby, I wasn't a runner when I lived out there, but Bay to Breakers sounds....interesting. Don't they get naked runners and costumed runners and stuff? Have fun!
Marjorie, aww, hope you're feeling better. And that you took it easy today if you weren't feeling well.
karen
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Tessa, thinking a little more. The drive to Hartford (on the way to Boston) wasn't bad. Look at Baltimore or National to fly into too - I may end up just driving. Especially if flights to here are cheaper for you.
Ginny - I agree...you are an athlete!!! Good luck tomorrow - will be stalking - errrr, tracking you! I get the same way sometimes before a race, I just love the atmosphere at the expo's and pre-race festivities....it is so fun to be around so many upbeat and positive people!
Marjorie - Hope you feel better!
Gatsby - Enjoy your race tomorrow. Hope your tired legs perk up!
Tessa - Nice on the 16.5 AND on the marathon registrations
Karen - Great job on the race! Glad you are enjoying some family time
Had a great time working the Expo last night. Pretty big race for this smallish city, probably about 3,500. Since I was working the "solutions" table (meaning I was changing bib #'s for people changing races, etc., I decided to just "solution" my bib to the 10k Glad I did I had a great race PR for me by 1 minute, was thrilled with that and I won 1st place AG! I'm sold on these fitness classes for cross training.
Up early tomorrow to help out at the half/full marathon.
Carol
I do feel better. Throat is a lot better. I think my tonsils are doing their job. I'm thinking they will whip this. It is so much better already.
Layed half the mulch so the front is done 46 cu feet), 19 bushes/trees all trimmed up, stone boarders for the beds all re done. Sides need to be done and back. Planted 6 plants. But really the hardest is done.
Sides is 20 cu feet mulch but only a few things to trim and those stone boarders are easier. I need to thin the cana lillies but not hard. The back is pretty straight forward too. Another 23 or so cu feet of mulch. (I had 90 cu feet mulch so I have 22 bags left and 44 cu feet) I should do the sides pretty fast tomorrow. Probably will take just an hour or two. The three beds in the back won't be bad. I need to do some work around the palm. I have 4 plants to put in that bed. Need to get some blood meal to keep the dang rabbits out this year so need to send dh to the store when I'm ready for it. I hope to get the back done too but if not that is okay. Roses do need to have all the first round cut back as those blooms are done and I need to get those off before the Japanese beetles come out in the next few weeks.
Good luck on the race Gatsby
I'm glad no fires Tessa. Mulch was good. Now if I could just find garden gloves I didn't wear out in one wearing! I've tried tons of different ones. I always end up with fingers wearing through. Geesh. Not like I'm digging with my hands but each summer when I do extensive work outside I go through the gloves. I'd say at least 4 or 5 pairs a year. I don't know which to try next. None seem to work. Even those that are supposed to last
Karen I cannot imagine running that fast. You've come so far these last few years. Congrats on placing.
Good luck Ginny.
Carol I think working an expo would be fun.
Hi Everyone, late check in for me!
7 morning miles, was really nice out; of course, it rained on and off all afternoon for my son's soccer game. We have yet to have a nice day for baseball or soccer, yikes.
18 on tap for tomorrow with RP, should be interesting lol
Ginny - you will do GREAT tomorrow! I still get nervous, too, especially leading up the race. I am usually calmed down at the start, but the few days before kind of get to me.
Marjorie - feel better, that bug I had was nasty for about 4 days, I am pretty much back to normal now, except for a bit of a cough. Hope you had fun at puppy pool!
Gatsby - have fun tomorrow! I would love a 12K never have done that distance. Nothing super fun this weekend, but a quiet one is okay ha ha. BF and I went to a fundraiser dinner tonight, was quite fun. 'won' a few things at the silent auction, ended up with some cute gift baskets and BF bought a shop vac, which we needed.
Tessa - great 16+!! Hope the wedding was fun!
Hi Karen - great job, as usual!! Sounds like a fun family visit!!
Carol - the expo sounds fun, I really want to live closer to help out/volunteer at races, would be fun. Great job on the 10k!!
Karen, that's a thought. I'll check flights into BWI and Reagan also. However, given the time difference, it may be an issue getting there by Friday midmorning. We need to pick up Hartford packets Friday, right? How long is the drive from your area to Hartford?
Wedding was very nice. Heading for bed -- tomorrow I go from run to WW to church to picking fruit for Food Forward (harvesting peoples' backyard fruit trees) to a concert at church to my parents for dinner. Yowza.
18 miles in the bag - was very tough from mile 12 on and I am really glad to be done lol! Route was fairly hilly and today is relatively warm compared to what I've been running in for the past 8 months ha ha!
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Woke up at midnight and was sick all night. Could not run the Half in Cleveland. I am so bummed. All that running in that rotten cold weather and then I couldn't even do the Half. Still mad hours later. I feel fine now of course! I am off again tomorrow, so I just may run my own half marathon, I am thinking about it....pace like I was really running one and see how I do. I had my strategy all thought out for this one and was really hoping to do well. Oh well, it happens to all of us one time or another.
Karen....sounds like I need to run your races! That is the second one that you said I probably would have placed in my AG! Maybe Cedar Point in June, we shall see. Are you still going to maybe run it?
Once I felt better today DH and I did get a lot of planting done. It is a beautiful day.
Ginny
Ginny - so sorry you were sick last night, that stinks! Glad you are feeling better today
Marjorie - Glad you feel better! You got a lot of work done even being sick!
LCruns - Woohoo on your 18!!! It is alot of miles isn't it... Looks beautiful for Bayshore next week-end!
Ginny - Sorry about your race...but better to stay home, then go and suffer! Sounds fun to do your own half tomorrow. Don't look as it as wasted miles this winter....think of it as the motivating force that got you out the door Now on to Cedar Point!
Tessa - Busy Sunday for you!
Had a fun time volunteering today at the Marathon. Was a beautiful day here.
10.2 and a crap ton more yard work. 70 cu feet total mulch laid this weekend. 20 more to go. But that is just left in the back so no one can see it. The bags are laying where they go Will wait until next weekend to finish it. Just didn't have the desire to stick it out for another hour.
Nice 18 Laura. Way to stick it out. My tonsils seem to have contained whatever it was. I'm glad it didn't continue.
Tessa hope your busy day went well.
Ginny glad you feel better. Sorry you didn't get to race. It was pretty here too. Looked like rain several times and get very dark and cloudy but never rained while I was doing the yard work.