Woke up with headaches and cold symptoms. Bleh. No one has cancelled common cold & other viruses, so really hoping this evening's Covid test comes back negative.
''What will happen if I run up the hills? Ah, volcano muscle soreness!!'' (c) Margaret
''Who needs quads anyway!?'' (c) Damaris
Sigh, I wanted to suggest a Europe-based FE at some point, but we all should probably wait until universe calms down with all the latest craziness. I sure know I am not going to US again anytime soon.
Karen, judging from Strava entry, Boston is net-negative elevation course? Or was it an altimeter glitch? In such case no sub-3 for you, this was already easy (joking, of course). Nice even pacing!
CC, that's so nice re: getting to know your, uhm, stalker and I bet having your personal everday cheerleader living so close doesn't hurt, huh?
HCK, the only way that work-life balance statement makes sense is that by spending that much time together in the same spot w loved ones day after day after day sometimes it doesn't take much to start arguing over the most basic and ridiculous things.
Latvia has hit a new Covid-case record and is currently #1 in Europe.... LE SIGH. We'll have awful medical-field consequences even if more restrictions are announced soon, that train has left the station; the slope of new infections.. doesn't look good.
My boss is playing in some 3rd-tier local football league and last weekend his teammate broke his arm, open fracture. They were afraid ambulance couldn't come (overloaded w Covid stuff), but they were lucky.
WINE o'clock somewhere!
Elina, sorry you're feeling under the weather. Bummer you were exposed, obviously hoping the test ins neg.
Hi to everyone.
First of two COVID tests are back (neg), worried about potentially being re-routed to Paris or Amsterdam if there are flight issues, so I am going prepared just in case.
Cleaning and almost done packing. Got up at 5:30am (gasp) this morning. Still some laundry and a load of dishes. Quickie stop at the store (maybe) and definitely a stop at the bank - YES, I finally got paid from the fill-in clinic. FINALLY. They had asked me to pick up some shifts, I think not.
Weather, mid 70's and no rain as of now in Madrid all week.
I think I am a little toooooooo excited for this trip. I have taken small ones for races, but I don't think I have been out of the country in a few years. YIPPIE!
Gonna shower and hit the road to work.
K
Kettle Moraine - June 2024
Beast of Burden - August 2024
Hennepin Hundred - Oct 2024
Javelina Jundred - Oct 2024
Happy Wednesday!
3.5 miles was clicking along fine until....a dog popped out of nowhere. She was whining and running around/close to me. I think she just wanted to play, but really startled the crap outta me. And she was not bothered by the taser sound! I didn't want to trip over her, so I had to walk several blocks. Then another dog was loose, but ran off when I hit the taser. Thankfully the bulldog was not out. Sheesh!!
Right knee feels ok this morning. Yes, I have clipless pedals on my bike. I wore those shoes when I got fitted several years ago. After 50ish miles my left knee starts hurting, so maybe new shoes and an adjustment are in order. If we continue this distance biking thing I will do that. The shoe really chews up my left big toenail.
Laura--glad you are ok!
Elina--I hope you start feeling better and just have a cold.
Margaret--sounds like Ireland was a blast. Glad you had a good trip.
Kat--when do you leave?
Karen--Wow! Great job in Boston!! I know you are more than ready to move in to your house--when do they think it will be done? Lol about the pup seeing a runner gal.
FE--interested!
Have a great day!
4.2 for me - another humid morning. Super weird weather here!
Elina - hope you feel better and your covid test is negative!
Sue - oh, man on the loose dogs, they are definitely startling, even the small ones.
Kat - so excited for you, when you do actually leave?
Ugh, trying to find some mojo here...
Cupcake Connoisseur
4 for me this morning. Hoping to get an ab workout in sometime today. Its been cool in the morning but still humid. I was reading that Fall air is coming for good this weekend! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Baby B only woke up twice last night instead of the 4-5x it has been lately. Progress? I bite my tongue. Ha! She was super grumpy this morning.
Not much else going on here...work work work. I am covering for someone this week so its been busy! Not doing any long distance travel until the sites are switched around. With my promotion my sites get cut in half. I am sure I will be busy doing other things and will have to travel all over VA occasionally. Still excited!
Karen – SCORE on the new house! It is getting so close!! We have ran into a serious issue here in our new neighborhood. A neighbor up the street is moving and had a termite inspection, she has termites. Her house is only 1 year old! My brother lives a few houses down she he had his house checked last week – he has the tunnels, too! Thankfully no damage yet but OMG. He just moved in back in May! We are getting checked later this month. I am sure we will have them. Hopefully not too much damage. Hopefully you get some coverage for a year?? Or maybe you don’t need it since you aren’t in the woods. Aw, super cute of Riley thinking the runner was you. Poor runner, though. Haha.
CC – Too funny about the stalker! Maybe she can start her return to running with you! 😊 Great news on the hamstring! Hopefully it continues to stay quiet 😊. HCDH will keep the pizza job. We share money for bills, groceries, etc but we still have our separate accounts with our own spending money. He refuses to leave his job (he is SOOO underpaid) so he kinda needs the second job in order to afford things he wants! That’s ok! Whatever works for him. Interesting about the Farmers Market. They didn’t look really socially distanced to me! I took baby B to the sitter Monday and got SO MUCH done! Mostly errands.
Margaret – Oh, I am so glad you had a fun time despite the challenges. OMG on flight cancellations..that sounds like a nightmare. Did your dad enjoy himself? I say an FE in RVA since CC lives here, too! 😊 😊 Also because I am selfish and want everyone to meet baby B.
Laura – Nice run yesterday and today! OMG I have been doing the same thing lately. Waiting until the last minute to run and then having to scramble to get ready. That is super scary about the car with no lights! Good thing you were paying attention. Going back a few days…did you reschedule your DS senior pics or find another photographer?
Lisa – Mary Kay over Zoom, huh? How did THAT go? 😊. Nice job with the running of course. How is baby Mila doing? My boss told me my salary was the hardest to get changed. Probably because I was the lowest of all the others getting promotions? I don’t know. But it will be in line with everyone else on the account that will be in that position. She told me she knew I would move to another account if they didn’t compensate me enough. She is right. Normally when you get promoted on the same account, my company only does a 10% increase. If you switch accounts you can get more. Anyway, super happy!
Run4kupcakes – Nice workout yesterday! Agree about work life balance…that is true if you WFH but not so much in the office world.
Kathryn – SO excited for you!! You can’t be too excited 😊. I remember when your trips were cancelled due to COVID, so totally get why you are so excited! I want to come! 😊
Kilmisters – I hope you feel better and your COVID test comes back negative!
Susan – You were attracting all the pups this morning!
October 4 - Milwaukee, WI - 26.2
November 14 - Richmond, VA - 26.2
March 21 - Virginia Beach, VA - 26.2
This was me in the middle of our trip, and it turned out to be a common cold. I hope it's the same for you. I'd be up for a FE in Europe once things settle down a bit, assuming they do...
Kat, very smart to have negative tests in hand in case your flights get changed. Airlines seem to be doing that a lot more now than ever before. Yay for getting your moola, just in time! Weather sounds perfect.
CrazySue, so annoying about the dogs being out. People around here are pretty good at keeping pets inside since coyotes and mountain lions wander down from the hills for a snack every now and then.
LC, ick on the humidity. Nice job getting it done.
Lizzie, yes, we need to meet Baby B! I'd head east for a FE for sure. Maybe something like Richmond in the fall next year? UGH on the termites. Weird that new houses are having that problem, but at least it was detected relatively soon after the house was built.
HCK, maybe they think "better work-life balance" means more work, which they think is not happening now? I agree with you, losing time to commuting is not good for either part of that equation.
Lisa, curious about how the Zoom facial worked out.
Karen, so exciting that the house is coming along and the end of your nomadic life is in sight.
I was up at 4:30 am this morning. I guess the body clock is still a little turned around. Of course I didn't do anything productive with those early morning hours other than make and drink coffee. I took today as a vacay day too but I need to log into work to catch up on emails. I'm hoping to save any real work for tomorrow when I'm officially back on duty. I'm still getting over this stupid cold so I'm not running for a few more days. I "paused" my run coach for this month, then will resume in November.
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR
Morning! You ladies have been chatty! I ran 6 outside today. It was foggy but so nice at 55F.
My butt is sore from the two days in a row outside so we will see. The PT is helping but I'm still afraid of how painful it could get during the marathon. I guess only one way to find out!
Elina, hope you feel better soon!
Kat, yay for packing! Can't wait to see pictures and hear all about it.
Susan, oh, no at the dog.
Laura, nice run.
Liz, nice 4.
Margaret, love your pictures from the trip!
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
FE: I also selfishly vote for Richmond There is the marathon and HM in Nov but I also want to throw out Dominion Riverrock festival. It's typically mid-May and is a weekend long festival of all things outdoors. There's a trail 10k Sat am and a trail HM Sun am. It's downtown right on the river (close to hotels in case not everyone can fit at Liz or my house) and they have kayaking, SUP, slackline, rock climbing, a frisbee catching contest for dogs....food trucks, beer trucks. Here's the website so you can see previous year's events https://www.riverrockrva.com/
Need to eat lunch and I'll be back for personals
5k 24:53 (2020) |10k 52:24 (2021) |HM 1:57:14 (2019) |FM 4:24 (2007) |50k 5:57 (2022)
Unless the race in May has normally 50F or below I'm not running a race in anything warm.
How about doing the FE where we had the last one at Glass City? Or do we want to run something different?
Lizzie - nice run and yeah for more sleep!! Ugh on the termites but, like Margaret said, glad the problem was found relatively early. Yes, on the pics, my co-worker is going to do them for us, she does photos on the side and is learning. She said she'd do them and she's not charging me other than with booze LOL. So, if I'm not happy, I can go elsewhere. I am not too worried about it, though. This other gal has not even sent me a text apologizing. Some people, I swear!
Margaret - hope the emails aren't too bad, definitely a good idea to get that stuff sorted through before you head back tomorrow! The Ireland pictures were great!
Damaris - great 6!
CC - that sounds like a fun weekend, have you ever done the trail race? Does Richmond (Nov) have a marathon relay? I think that would be fun if a few people didn't want to do a full. I would visit Richmond for sure!
Kilmisters, sorry you’re still not feeling well. Fingers crossed for your test. Will any of the new restrictions have a big impact on you? During out peak delta phase my biggest fear wasn’t covid per se but needing a hospital for other reasons and being turned away or getting subpar care.
Kats, super smart being prepared for any flight detours. I think flying on the original flights booked and arriving within 30min of original time is harder than winning the lottery these days.
Sue, you seem to have to worst luck with dogs, glad it wasn’t worse.
LC Runs, we’re cold and humid here too and it’s super weird combo. I don’t know how to dress for it. I’ve done the trail 10k twice. The first time it was my very first trail run and I had no idea what to expect. The day before had been a torrential rain storm so they had to reroute almost half the course to use service roads and some surface roads since the trails were washed out. I had no idea the extent they had made it easier. I finished thinking trail running wasn’t so bad and was in for a huge shock the next year when they went back to the original course. No relay at Richmond, just a HM and I think a 8k.
Liz, yes Sunday is going to get cold! I’m torn because I’m super excited about sleeping with a comforter again but I don’t know how I’m ever going to get out of bed at 6am when the bed is that much cozier than outside. Hope the progress with Baby B continues. Yikes on the termites. They can do a lot of damage quickly.
Gatsby, hope you feel better soon. I think flying west is usually the easier adjustment so hopefully your body clock is back soon. Good luck with only dealing with easy emails.
Damaris, nice 6 in the fog. Yeah, May will definitely be above 50.
Did an easy 5 this morning. Didn’t see my stalker cause I wanted to scope out a couple things somewhere else. There’s a farmer’s market almost 2 mi away that I think I want to take the kids to Sat. I discovered them during early covid when the grocery stores were so bare and I was trying to source local food options but their covid protocols were super strict and I couldn’t bring the kids and they had hr+ lines to get in. I think things are back to normal now.
ccoakley, I am still worried about the subpar care even though MD's covid numbers are fairly stable. At the most recent press conference, they mentioned that the amount of time the hospitals have been in some form of alert has been much higher this year. The usuals are either "ER is swamped, don't come unless it's an amergency", we have no bed to move you to or the hospital will not take ambulances and send them elsewhere. Or all of the above. And the cherry on top is that Patient First reduced their hours due to high volume and now if you need attention between 8pm and 8am, you don't have many options besides the ER. Our health secreatary is very concerned about flu season and it's impact on hospitals.
Running with the Turtles
I'm back from Boston! Not gonna try to catch up on everything here. It was a whirlwind trip, got into Boston late Friday afternoon, no troubles with my flight but it sounds like everyone that flew out on Saturday had issues like Karen. We were BUSY the entire time, either meeting up with TF's friends or my brother. Unfortunately could not find a time to see Karen so I am bummed. We flew back yesterday and back to training for my marathon today.
Some things about the trip for those interested... TF booked a room at a hotel a couple blocks from the finish line, over $350 a night. It was TINY. It was actually pretty funny, the shower was about as wide as I am... the room was not much bigger than the bed. The elevators were right behind the wall by the bed and TF said that would not work, it would keep him up all night. So we went down and talked to them and they switched us to a different room for a little more money. But it was a huge room, 3x as big as the room that he originally had, so it was worth it.
I've been to Boston many times but never during the marathon. So many blue jackets. I ran the shakeout run with TF and his friends the morning before the race and ran the final part of the course to the finish line. It was cool, a lot of energy, and everyone talking about the marathon. I ended up just staying near the finish line, TF said he did not think it was worth it to try to take public transportation out to spectate because there was a chance I wouldn't get back for the finish. He was one of the early people on the bus so after walking him there I ran the Freedom Trail and then met up with TF's coach (his wife was running) and had lunch, then we waited for people to finish.
TF ran 16 miles with a friend, until he had to slow down. He finished in 3:13:19, pretty respectable for someone that just ran London a week before. He was cramping up as we walked back to the hotel and I had to help him back or he would not have made it. But after sitting in a hot bath he was fine and we went back to the finish line to see the coach's wife finish. She's currently battling Lymphoma, and she said that this is her final marathon. She has a knee injury but she was determined to finish and she walked/limped the 2nd half of the race.
It was a great trip, very inspiring. It was nice to see a big race again. I'm exhausted from peopling for so many days in a row!
Lori, do you have your 1st US trip planned yet? I saw they're opening the land border for all vaccinated Canadians to come over for any reason.