Lots of rain overnight, should move out by lunch.
Did my virtual Richmond half yesterday so I can enjoy the blanket guilt-free. The marathon course goes 4 blocks from our house but it's mile 4 so I think it'll be closed by 9am but if the kids are up early enough we'll walk down and cheer. (Who am I kidding? Of course the kids will be up early enough )
Liz, have an awesome race tomorrow!!!!
5k 24:53 (2020) |10k 52:24 (2021) |HM 1:57:14 (2019) |FM 4:24 (2007) |50k 5:57 (2022)
TGIF!!!
Watched Cameron all day yesterday (went well yay!) so I did not get much done. Tomorrow we're throwing a baby shower here for Grand #5, so I cleaned bathrooms instead of running this morning. Only bc DH doesn't think I can get it all done. Silly man. Just need to clean the house and make macarons after work.
Karen--so exciting about your new house. I hope your furniture arrives soon.
Kat--Have a great trip!!
Margaret--looks like a beautiful hike!
Later y'all
Great job getting the virtual done, cc! You should definitely go down and spectate.
Liz, first post-baby race for you this weekend!!!! Have so much fun.
Kathryn, hope travel was trouble free.
Margaret, enjoy the change in scenery.
Not much new here, just living in a house. I'm thinking a little run this morning (not the 11 on the schedule for yesterday, I decided this week of training was going to be seriously compromised and that's okay, I'll get back to it). Not sure I can get through all the construction to run much in my neighborhood, but the one across the street looks really big and should be fine.
Dogs loving the yard, seem to miss their couches. Yesterday we were taking a little break from things and I had DH take a picture. We have a whole house, and this is how we end up. Too much time in the van?
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May try to get in a short run after work. I fell asleep pretty well on the sofa "watching" the Ravens game (didn't miss much) and then could not sleep once I went upstairs to bed. Ugh. Then our phone started ringing before 8am with MIL's place. Something had happened where she got woken up in the middle of the night and was really agitated. Happy Friday to us. At least I'm working from home today so can get stuff done without interruptions.
ccoakley, nice job on the virtual HM. What is the blanket like? There is a full & HM that I've done where they give out blankets made from sweatshirt material. They are so warm.
CrazySue, enjoy the baby shower tomorrow!
AnonymousGuest, guess you are used to the togetherness from the van.
Running with the Turtles
Mix of rain/snow here today. We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow night. I am not ready for that! Did something that I will most likely regret, signed up for a 5K on Dec 5. It's at the Milwaukee lakefront so it's guaranteed to be windy and cold. There is a nice woman sized hoodie though. Marathon recovery has gone well, did a couple runs this week. Put my bike on the trainer to pedal for a bit but found I had a flat rear tire. Bummer. Going to meet TF for a late lunch in a little while, he figured meeting me for lunch would motivate him to go to the YMCA to swim. He has his half Ironman in a month so he needs to do his swimming!
Liz, good luck! Have a great race!!
Karen, big congrats! Love the videos on FB. Happy doggos.
Kat, I hope you have a fantastic trip. I'm looking forward to seeing pics!
CC, congrats on the virtual half! Depending on how things go, I may end up running the Richmond Marathon next year. We shall see!
Sue, Grand#5!! That is so awesome.
Kupcakes, sorry about the lack of sleep. Hopefully you can catch up this weekend.
Margaret, P&G has a big warehouse in Moreno Valley. The flight... that sounds really, really gross... have a great time exploring!
Laura, yep, enjoy that light in the morning while it lasts!
Damaris, glad the calf is doing well! Your Pilates room looks great!
Cathy
Cupcake Connoisseur
Hi everyone! Ugh, been MIA because, well, life.
Gearing up for tomorrows race. SO. EXCITED. I think its just to be a part of a race again. Its been since Fall 2019 since I was at a start line. Super excited. I am calling this my comeback race . I am having some serious FOMO of the marathoners, but that just isn't feasible for me right now. Not with pumping and my crazy baby schedule. However, I am really proud of myself for even stepping on that start line tomorrow. It has been less than 6 months since I had the baby and felt like I have had to start at 0. Just excited to be out there doing the thing I love! I am NOT going to race. Going to just have fun out there! Training has also reminded me how much I hate taper. I haven't ran in 2 days and I am just DYING to burn off some energy.
I changed my VA Beach registration to the Dolphin Challenge. That is the 8K Saturday and the half marathon Sunday. Should be fun! I would LOVE to run the marathon but am honestly not seeing that in my future for several years. I will be back there for the full one day, though! I booked our hotel and everything today. I am going to sign up for the Winter Training Team as well.
Work has been crazy. Travel is over but reviews are starting. My life has been full of conference calls as well. I start my first on call COVID duty on Sunday. It is a week long, ugh.
Let's see what else??? Oh, after race tomorrow my cousin is hosting a Friendsgiving. YUM, what a perfect post race treat! After the pizza of course....
My life is crazy busy but I am loving every minute of it. Especially my precious Baby B! I can't believe my little chunk is over 17lbs now! Growing so fast. She is really starting to get a personality - so cute. She just LOVES herself some Ruger dog
A few shoutouts...
CC – CONGRATS on the virtual half!! NBC12 was RIGHT ON with the color change – they said peak time would be the 12th and they were right. I am sure your run was gorgeous! I was so jealous of all the full marathoners yesterday picking up their bibs.
Susan – Grand #5?!?! Wow! I am sure you are as happy as can be! Have fun!
Kathryn – Have a great trip! I am envious.
Karen – Congrats on the house!! I am sure you are so stoked to be out of the van, haha. I bet the pups don’t even know what to do with themselves! They are used to being so close to you. I was trying to read your shirt?!? What does it say??
Run4kupcakes – Did I read a while back that you weren’t feeling real great?? I hope you are back to normal! Sorry to hear about the interruption last night with MIL. How is she doing? The same? The race blankets are SO WARM – fleece like material.
Cathy – If I didn’t say it before, I will say it again – you are an inspiration, my friend! So beyond happy for you and how you did at the race!! I am sure you are still on cloud 9 😊. What was TF’s reaction?? SNOW?! Oh boy. The Lakefront has a hoodie as swag?!?! I would sign up, too 😊. I really would LOVE if you came to run Richmond next year 😊
Have a great weekend everyone!
October 4 - Milwaukee, WI - 26.2
November 14 - Richmond, VA - 26.2
March 21 - Virginia Beach, VA - 26.2
Hihihihihi!!!!!!!!!! Have a lull between meetings and I may also be streaming my niece's volleyball game I'm calling it a late lunch Not trying to keep a human alive but just busy with work and pupper and kit kat and leaves. So. Many. Leaves. But! No snow, yet, so am celebrating that. Flurries tonight but we've had a pretty spectacular fall. Just doing the usual for fitness and feeling good about that.
Margaret - OHMYGOSH! No. Just no. THAT is my GREATEST fear in the WORLD. I do NOT do puke. Won't even do it myself. Haven't puked since the 8th grade. That is the honest truth. Almost jumped out of a moving car when I was about 12 and my sister was puking in the back seat. I am not sure what I would have done in your situation but I would have been PISSED at that woman. SO pissed LOL. Anyway - enough of that - great pics!!
Karen - WOOHOO for a home! Your yard looks huge! I bet the doggos love it.
CC - congrats on the half! I LOVE my Richmond blanket. So does Lily
Cathy - my goodness does TF work out a LOT. Glad you are feeling good. I saw Molly is back in town I think she's my new favorite. Kicked butt at NYC.
Liz - GOOD LUCK tomorrow! You are a rock star doing all you do. Awwww how CUTE that Baby B loves Ruger boy
Laura - always so consistent with the running! So glad you had a nice birthday.
HCK and Damaris - feel better!
Lori - so impressed with your virtual marathon!
Elina - hope your weeks away are going well!
Kat - have a great trip!
Okay, forgetting so many, my apologies. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I have honestly not been doing a single social thing. Oh! But, I did book a trip to Ft Meyers for Feb - a good friend and her husband bought a condo there last year. Meeting with a woman from rover.com tomorrow to watch Lily while I'm gone - hopefully she works out. That's all! Cheerio and Happy FRIYAY.
Hi!
Karen, great pic!
Liz, good luck!!!!
on the phone running errands so will check back later.
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.
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WINE o'clock somewhere!
CC, congrats on the virtual! Enjoy cheering tomorrow.
Sue, hope you get everything done. Have fun with the baby shower tomorrow.
Karen congrats on the new house. Love the pic!! DH doesn't quite fit on that air mattress, does he. Are you guys putting a pool/spa in? Your outdoor space in your old place was lovely.
Kathi, isn't that SO annoying when you can't keep your eyes open and fall asleep on the couch then can't sleep in bed. Happens all the time to me.
Cathy, SNOW??? No way. I hope you enjoy the race on the 5th.
Lizzie, always nice to hear from you when you post. Miss ya! Such a whirlwind your life is currently. Good luck tomorrow and enjoy. Just take it all in and have fun.
Sandy, miss you as well. No really, do tell how you feel about puke. HAH! You're reaction made me laugh. Leaves, no thanks, hired a cute lawn guy to do that.
Hi Damaris!
LONG but easy flights here. Super strange, with all the COVID stuff, getting into the country was a breeze. I flew to Atlanta, then to Amsterdam, then onto Lisbon. (San Antonio SUCKS to try to get anywhere.) So I land in Amsterdam and am switching gates. Had to go through their customs. Usually customs is a mad house and nerve-racking. (Do I have the right paperwork???) Nope. Two people in front of me. Handed the guy my passport and boarding pass noting I was going on to Portugal. Asked when I was leaving and what I was doing there. Eating and drinking I replied. He chuckled. THEN, in Lisbon, NOTHING. And I mean nothing. Grabbed by suitcase and left the airport. Nobody looked at any documents, no customs, just left. I did show my documents in San Antonio to the check in dude, but that was the ONLY person.
So, now it is after dinner and I am enjoying a glass of wine back at the hotel. Dinner was pretty good, fish (cod) which had a great flavor, but was only somewhat warm. At least not cold. Not outstanding, but better than just tolerable. The dessert was FAB. Pistachio cake/ice cream. Tomorrow is a four hour Tour of Lisbon. Then a late afternoon sunset cruise. Weather is phenomenal! Mid to high 60's, no rain so far in the forecast.
Oh yeah, Portugal has the highest vaccination rate in Europe at 89%!!!!!!
Starting to fade.
K
Kettle Moraine - June 2024
Beast of Burden - August 2024
Hennepin Hundred - Oct 2024
Javelina Jundred - Oct 2024
Did 3 miles & strength training. Run was probably the least crappy I've felt since Halloween.
Lizzie, enjoy the HM tomorrow! I've had some really sluggish runs since mid September, turns out my iron was low. It wasn't to the point of anemia, but enough that running sucked. Since it had been warmer than normal through October, it seemed sort of like that was it, but then I started strugglinng even with 200s and knew something was up.
Seloc, we had tons of trees around our house growing up. I do not miss raking leaves. I swea we would spend hours raking and then more leaves would cover the yeard within a day.I don't deal with puke well. Clean up dog crap, ok. Dog puke, nope. Can't do it.
Turtles, oh, a nicec hoodie sounds like a good reason to do a 5k. I assume TF is traveling to somewhere warm for the HIM?
KatS, nice that customs was so easy. I wonder if you do that at the first "stop" in the EU? I know nothing about travelling overseas...
Another quickie check-in. In today's edition of SoCal adventuring, I went over to San Bernardino/San Jacinto National Forests for a trail run. I do not have mountain legs or lungs at the moment, but it was so beautiful up there, I didn't care. I went up to a peak at 8800', with amazing views (and only a little haze). My conclusion is that there are great places for hiking and running here, but they all seem to require at least an hour driving on 3 different freeways and dealing with Los Angeles drivers. But again, worth it. DH has been working his butt off and I'm traipsing around. Sounds fair.
Lizzie, have a great run tomorrow! Smart to focus on what you know is do-able right now. Just being there so soon after having Baby B is super impressive!
CC, yay for virtual HM! Enjoy that blanket.
CrazySue, busy weekend for you but it sounds like fun stuff.
Karen, it took me a minute to realize that the picture was not of you standing but rather lying on an air mattress. I had to study the dog pile to understand this. Yay for being in the new house!
HCK, annoying about the 8 am phone calls about MIL. At least they did not call you in the middle of the night.
Turtles, Moreno Valley seems to be full of big warehouses. I wish I liked Sketchers because they have a factory outlet warehouse not too far away. A nice hoodie is a totally legit reason to run a race. Have I said congratulations to you on a great race? Congratulations!
Sandy, Feb will be here before you know it. FL will be a great getaway from MN winter. Yay for keeping up on fitness stuff and all the leaves.
Damaris, hope the calf continues to feel better.
Kat, wheeee Portugal!
This is from today's run. Have to plan something for tomorrow.
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR