Swift and Beautiful for Thee

Just got my GCC women's XC 20 year PAC champions T-shirt in the mail today. Lisa - you'll be happy to know that you are listed on the shirt as both Lisa Gregor AND Lisa Gehring.

Honolulu Marathon

In my effort to keep up on marathons around the world, it slipped through the cracks that I was going to be in Honolulu for this year's marathon. We started seeing signs on Thursday night about traffic detours, etc. and then back from the recesses of my mind I remember that we contemplated doing this marathon our senior year of college, mainly because of the convenience of the date right after cross-country season, but clearly our college incomes didn't allow us to make the trip. Anyhow, don't know if it makes my top ten list for next marathons. It starts at 5 am. Course is not spectacular, but not bad either. Its during the rainy season in Hawaii. (They got dumped on!) Here are a few pictures:

We only came across the actual marathon route because we were attempting to watch what we thought was an 8 am HST Steelers game. We did not realize it had been switched to a 4:15 pm EST game. (Still enjoyed breakfast though.)

All the soggy runners.
A Hawaiian warrior stops for some replenishment.
Two nearly nude Hawaiian men (and one is BAREFOOT)!

puppy running

Since Megan added Fresca as a member, i thougt i would post on behalf of Reggie.

This morning that aweful human person i live with let me run on the leash...normally she's all, "stop pulling me so hard." (wimp!) So i took control of my end of the leash with my mouth and dragged her about two miles...but she was such a pain and wouldnt let me stop and sniff or anything. Then just to get back at her i peed on her bed!

SO there you have it! I ask you, my friends, how far is too far for a 4-5 month old puppy? She is used to walking that little 2 mile loop and she seemed to like running it, but then i got puppy terrorism on my bed. Perhaps unrelated??? But she has NEVER done any kind of urination on my bed before and she has been pretty well house-broken for a couple of weeks. So i think it was terrorism. Do you guys have any idea what kind of distances dogs can do?

Thanks!

Calling All Spinners!

I haven't been spinning in f-o-r-e-v-e-r and am planning on going this Thursday night at 6 pm at the downtown YMCA. Todd Kart is the instructor who is friends with Emery; he has fairly recently moved back to Pittsburgh. (Emery had asked me if I knew of any accounting jobs for Todd, so that's how I am connected.) Let me know if you might come and I'll keep an eye out for you!

Running Movies to Watch

OK, two weeks since the MCM have very quickly slipped away with no running accomplishments to speak of. (There WAS that leisurely bike ride with Em on the Montour Trail, but that barely counts as cross-training.) I HAVE finished the third book in the Twilight series AND blazed through all 9 episodes of True Blood (Nathan was out of town), so I've done my fair share of being a couch potato. To add to that, I have some running movies to add to our list of "must see running movies":

• The Spirit of the Marathon (2008)
• Born to Run (2008)
  
• Run for Your Life (2008)
• The Long Green Line
• Indulgence: 1,000 Miles Under the Colorado Sky
  
• The Games (1970)
• The Four Minute Mile (1988)
• The Jericho Mile (1979)
• Run Lola Run (1999)
• Fire on the Track (1995)
• Forrest Gump (1994)
• Across the Tracks (1989) stars Brad Pitt
• Second Wind (1976)
• Personal Best (1992)
• Chariots of Fire - How can this NOT make the list of must see running movies?
  

Some appear to be oldies but goodies...they came from a Runner's World sidebar.

20th PAC Championship

Grove City wins 20th straight conference title!

Marine Corps Marathon - Post-race

Birthday girl, Krissy Gleason, made signs for us...she only saw Jessie along the course, though.
Three happy Crazy Daisies after the race was over!
Congratulations were passed around.

Marine Corps Marathon - Race Photos

Flying by at the reservoir near Georgetown
Near mile 2 (Lisa and Debo are right in the background)
Our first sighting of our spectators
Happy spectators before any of the action began.

Marine Corps Marathon - Pre-race

Our supporters mapping out their spectator route the night before the race.

Getting dropped off at the Crystal City shuttle location.

Yes, it was cold!
Little does Lisa know, but she is about to run the whole marathon!

Final Run on a Frosty Morning

Today I was finally able to head out the door into the frigid air and be cozy warm in long pants and a sweatshirt. I don't know why I have that stupid rule that I can't wear pants unless it is 39 degrees or below. I am thinking about amending this rule to allow for pants-wearing in the fall when it is 45 degrees or below. The springtime is a different story, because after months of below freezing weather, anything in the thirties actually feels warm!

So Fresca and I enjoyed a short run that was the final run before the Marine Corps Marathon!

Sunrise and Sunset

Only one more official to run to go before the big race! I just had to comment on the gorgeous sunrise we saw on our last long run of the MCM training this past weekend. As we were coming up Beechwood, we could look off to our left and see the sun and its magnificent colors beginning to pop up. Then on Tuesday, for our last speed workout, Lisa and I saw a great sunset, while up atop the hill where the Avonworth track sits. It was frigid and windy up there!

New Runner Perks

Looks like I could have a bit of luxury thanks to my latest shoe purchase - it's amazing how companies are getting their name out there.

From the MCM website:

WEAR BROOKSWear your MCM 2008 Brooks gear or Brooks shoes on race day and you'll earn access to the luxurious Brooks VIP Porta Potty. Climate controlled and staffed with an outside attendant, the Porta Potty has hot and cold running water and stalls with full doors!

Marine Corps HALF Marathon

I was down in DC this weekend, so I met up with Jessie to get a little preview of the MCM course. From Jessie's apartment, we ran down to the starting area (just a short little trip; super convenient) and then we ran along a trail beside the river. We didn't actually do much of the MCM course, but it was great to know where the start/finish area is! We had a gorgeous day - can't wait for the actual race!

The 20-Miler (in 5 mile increments)

Mile 0 - all smiles and ready for the run:
Mile 5 - downing the first Honey Stinger energy gel:
Mile 10 - The sun is still shining - what a great day for a run:
Mile 15 - Five more to go and Debo is no longer in the picture...uh-oh:
Mile 20 - Yay! Peace sign/20 mile signifier as the sun sets in the background:
Time to go home and soak my feet in ice so that they fit into dress shoes for work tomorrow!

Nipple Anecdotes

I was corresponding with Mike Roche about a few first time marathoner tips and I mentioned the bloody nipples thing that is so painful to see on guys. Here is his response - I thought it was hilarious!

"I appreciate your nipple anecdotes, better to be forewarned! After the 15 mile run, I didn't initially feel anything, but the next day I realized for like the first time in my life that I even had nipples - because they hurt! So I have been doing the petroleum jelly thing on them too for the longer runs."

Witness to a Bar Fight

The chances of witnessing a bar fight drastically increase when you run at the 8:30 pm time as opposed to the 5:30 am time. I did not actually witness the fight, but I did witness the police showing up at Carline Cafe in Avalon and I overhead this snipet, "Well, when the magistrate gets here, he is not going to want to hear..." I should have slowed down a little to get the rest of the sentence, but the anticipation did help me keep up my tempo pace. Since I was doing an out and back, I was hoping I could get back to the same spot by the time the magistrate showed up. Alas, when I got back to the spot everything was dissolved.

Successful Sprints

I went up to Schenley Park since they have the 1k trail around the track so I thought it would be perfect for the 1k, 2k, 1k, 1k w/ 400m rest intervals. Here are my splits: 4:27, 9:08, 4:44 and 4:12. Guess which one I saw my old track coach and he ran half with me. It was so fantastic to see him in the running mode again and he very naturally gave me coaching tips (like run on the track, not asphalt and not really the hardened trails). I'm not sure if I can follow that for the 9 mile tempo, but maybe part of it... He also introduced me to some of the ladies in his track club as I might try to connect with them after the MCM. They seem very nice and their only requirement was that I didn't run with a purse. Oh yeah, it happened... So I'm off to the PT tonight to find if there is some remedy for my ankle. (Oh AND my coach said that I have plenty of time to heal up before MCM!)

A Test Drive

I finally got a bike this weekend, so I took it out for a test ride this morning. It was still dark enough that I couldn't really see what gear I was changing into and I was under strict instruction to keep low numbers with low numbers, high numbers with high numbers and no extremes in the middle, so I didn't want to experiment too much. It was also very windy and a little misty-rainy outside, so I just did a short ride. Look forward to testing it out more!

Debo's Longest Run

Saturday Deborah and I headed out to the Montour Trail to do our 16 mile long run. We had forgotten that the IKEA half marathon was being held that day, so we had many race officials tell us to get off of the course. We used the excuse that we were cheering for folks and that appeased some of them. We did have to stay off of the course for a little while in the middle of our run, but then we hopped back on until the top runners caught back up to us. We neared the finish line among the top ten - quite fun to be at the front of the pack. Overall, I thought the run went well. I could definitely tell that it was the longest run yet of our training, but that's why we're training, right?

A Steamy Long Run on Bayshore Blvd.

My 12 mile long run this weekend was done in steamin' hot Tampa, FL. I know Amber is running in hot weather and what she might describe as a dry sauna, but let me tell you that Tampa is a wet sauna. As soon as you walk out of an air-conditioned building you are slammed with a steamy wall of hot air and you take a deep breath because it is hard to actually breathe! I woke up at 5:30 am (after only three alcoholic beverages the day before, topped with too much time in the sun and about four and a half hours of sleep) to get out the door while it was still dark outside. The darkness helped slightly, but it just meant that the sun wasn't beating down on you; its not like it made it actually "cool" or anything like that. I ran down Bayshore Blvd. into the city and explored a few different dead ends and then ran back up Bayshore towards MacDill Air Force Base. I really only ran by time (and I counted a ten minute breakfast break at Starbucks that was imperative since I couldn't turn on the lights in the kitchen to get anything before the run b/c there were 4 people sleeping on the floor) so I don't know if I quite got 12 miles, but at least I know that I ran for 2+ hours and sweated at least as much as I normally would in Pittsburgh!

Track Usage

I added two links that should be helpful in determining when our favorite tracks are available. The high school sports link should be good for any high school facilities. And the CMU one should be good for that. (You need to look at the upcoming events on the right-hand sidebar.) I was also glad to see that the CMU track is officially open to the public. I always wonder if we are technically allowed to be there since we don't have any affiliation, but I figure no one enforces it. Well, it looks like we actually ARE allowed to be there!

900% Price Increase in Swimming

I went to the Downtown Y to swim this morning. Since the price I've been paying for swimming jumped from $1 to $10, that represents a 900% price increase! Yikes! Glad (well, generally) that nothing has changed in the four months since I've been at the Y. Same door code; same guys that flirts with the lifeguard, distracting her from saving my life; same cleaning lady. Only different thing I noticed is that somehow they increased the water pressure in my favorite shower.

On another note, I think I'm ready to bump up my swim plans. I had it set on a 30-45 minute workout and I think today is the first time that I finished under 30 minutes, so I figure that I'm outgrowing the level I am at. Might do another time trial next time I'm in the pool and figure out where I'm at.

On another, completely unrelated note - I saw a guy wearing a Santa tie this morning. He didn't look crazy or anything though. Maybe he just put it on in the dark.

www.pittsburghmarathon.com

I was excited to hear that registration is now open for the Pittsburgh Marathon, but a little disappointed that they don't have their website up and running. Since they had contact information at active.com, I was able to get in touch with the office and find out that it will be available in about three weeks. Since they already filled the first 50 slots that get Dick's gift cards, I'm boycotting registration until the website is live. Not that there's really any question whether or not I'm running it!

The Final Swim of the Summer

Alas, the days in the outdoor pool have drawn to a close. Lisa and I did our last swim of the summer at Avalon last night. The pool will be closed next week since kids are back in school and then it will be open for Labor Day weekend before they shut down for the season. We have been starting to get a chill in the air on our recent swims - incentive to jump in and start swimming fast!

From Dawn to Dusk

After we decided not to do our 13-miler together on Sunday morning, I knew that I was going to have trouble fitting it all in one chunk. I did a quick calculation before I went to bed on Saturday night, factoring in how early I was willing to get up and how much mileage I was really willing to do later in the day. The plan was to do 6 in the am and then 7-8 in the afternoon. (I figured I would add in an extra mile since I was giving myself the benefit of a break.) Well, as the afternoon task list grew, I was comprising with myself, saying, "OK, you can get 6 miles in this afternoon and then do 2 more tonight with Fresca..." Then it trickled down to 4...and eventually I got out the door and did 2 measly miles in the blazing sun. It was pretty hot, so all in all I'm glad that I didn't do a lot of mileage in the afternoon. After the sun went down and we returned from Church again, I headed out the door to do my final 5 miles for the day. (Fresca finished the last 2 with me.) I have to say, even with breaking it up, my legs were feeling pretty heavy by the end of the run.

Swimming with Sarah

OK - I WENT to the pool tonight, but didn't end up actually swimming. My friend Heather called to see if she and Sarah could come along tonight, but we forgot that Tuesday night is Adult Night only at Avalon, so we ended up going over to Avonworth. I ended up being in charge of camera duty and since they don't really have a separate lap lane, I just headed home to start my Olympic watching! Tomorrow will be my speed workout!



Aren't they just the cutest pair?

Lithuania v. Argentina Basketball

If you happen to be getting up for a 12 mile run early on a Sunday morning, this might be your only Olympic watching availability...though I think Lisa actually got some good LIVE action pre-6 am while it was still being broadcast on NBC before it switched to USA coverage.

What a gorgeous Sunday morning long run! Perfect weather and we both felt great on the run!

Once a Runner - REPRINT

After the release of Again to Carthage, by John L. Parker, Jr., I really wanted to read the first book, Once a Runner. Only problem was that it was out of print and the cheapest price I could find for a copy was about $200. Looks like based on the success of Again to Carthage, that they are going to have a reprint of Once a Runner, so it is due out April 7, 2009 at a very reasonable $16.32! You can pre-order now!

The Best Place to Get Hit by Lightning

While doing our speed workout last night, Lisa and I discussed the topic of lightning strikes and we agree - the best place to get hit by lightning would be the track at CMU. While, it is highly unlikely that you actually would get hit due to the number of large metal objects (goalposts, stadium lights, etc.) sticking up into the air that are much taller than a human, it is the ideal place as there are always a lot of people in the vicinity and you are so close to all of the Oakland hospitals - just a very short ride in an ambulance!

This topic came up since a storm was brewing and, quite ideally, started dropping rain on us during our 4th of 5 1k repeats. It started out with a nice, cooling sprinkle and then as we were doing our cooldown it dumped pretty hard on us. It stopped and as we were doing some stretches we saw Erica Howard, who we had just been talking about the other day when we ran past her condo - how ironic!

[Even though we were discussing lightning, there actually ended up being no thunder and lightning in this storm - just rain!]

Swimming Update

Two firsts for today - bilateral breathing (ie every three strokes on alternating sides instead of every other stroke on the same side) and a swim cap!

People Who Run Downtown

So Amber, Lisa and Debo should have gotten "verbal blog posts" from me last night about my experience running with the People Who Run Downtown running club. Needless to say this was a classic case of showing off your running skills and getting totally burned. It was a hot afternoon at 5:30 pm (not my prime for running) and I started off with my friend Heather and one of her friends at what I thought was a reasonable tempo pace. Would have been fine if we were only running a 5k, but since we were running 6, it caught up to me and I had to slow down at about the half way point. Luckily our route was simple - we started at Double Wide Grill, ran across Hot Metal, down the Jail Trail, across Smithfield and back up to Double Wide. The person who did the map took us back up Carson Street, but I opted to do the trail down along the river...and since I was by myself, this was a totally fine option. Afterwards, we waited about half an hour to get served at Double Wide and eventually bailed and headed over to Cupka's II - ah, the Belasco burger, what a way to celebrate a run!

I did it!

When my alarm went off today at five, every excuse in the book popped up as reasons why I should stay in bed. Instead, I got up and slowly left the house embarking on the same run that we had planned for last week but were unable to do since the Grand Prix was going on. The morning was quiet as I climbed hill after hill. Forbes might have been easier than Panther Hollow/Beacon - the hill that just KEEPS going up and up. Overall the run was good, I had a longer stop near the beginning but total time was 1:55 so not bad going solo on a tough course. Oh yeah, to extend the 11 mile route I went up Commercial at the very end into Swisshelm Park - that was slightly masochistic. Glad to be done for the weekend but really wanting to take a nap at work!

Don't Try to Breathe on the Left Side and Count Strokes at the Same Time

OK - I better not ever have to do accounting while underwater - I can't swim and count at the same time. (Plus, I was making it extra hard because I was trying to breathe on the left side...I am not an ambidextrous breather.) I ended up with a nose full of water while trying to count my strokes during a "freestyle DPS" set (distance per set). It was a chilly night for swimming - the kind of temperature where you just want to stay IN the water and not expose your skin to the cold air!

Successful Swimming

I am loving the swimming workouts I am getting from swimplan.com (recommended by Kat). Swimming is not my strongpoint, but it feels so good and though I'm not getting too far very quickly, it seems to be a good workout. I did not actually complete the time trial they suggest you do upon signing up; I just guessed as to where I was (basically one level up from "Save-Me-I'm-Drowning!") Yesterday was my first timed swim and I hit the first 100 interval right on the nose. I got a little slower as they went on, but no more than 10 seconds over (and during two of the 100s there was an "interference" from 1) a ball, 2) a kid floating through the lap lane). Again, while I'm not good at it, I like the focused swims, like streamline, one-arm freestyle, push and glide, breathe right-breathe left, that make you focus on your swimming and then when you go back to normal freestyle, you feel like you learned something and can apply it!

Too Hot to Handle

Even though we had originally decided that later night track workouts would be better, Megan and I left work promptly at 5 and headed to the track. I'm not sure if today was an Ozone Alert day or just very close (tomorrow is supposed to be as well)...The first four of 12 400s went well - 94-96 seconds apiece. After our first water break, things went drastically downhill. Megan was able to stay somewhat consistent. I, however, could not as I was on the verge of vomiting for the first time ever running...We made it through 8 repeats total and decided to back off due to extreme weather conditions. Next time we will definitely wait a few hours to start our run...

Weekend Overload

Met up with Megan and Deborah at the North Park Boat House for our ten miler. We decided to do a 9 mile loop so as not to repeat loops around the lake. Since we reversed the loops, we unofficially did 10.12 miles - not bad, especially with that hill during mile 7! Yoga came next where we baked in the hot sun and apparently I was the only one getting attacked by fruit flies...annoying.

I got home and planned to do some "gardening" (otherwise known as ripping the weeds out of the potential garden area) but found Geoff getting ready to cut down the biggest and nastiest of the hedges in front of our house. So five hours later, we were finished cutting and chopping and digging and cleaning up...

As if my legs hadn't gotten enough work, Geoff and I played tennis on Sunday. I only lasted about 45 minutes and could move no more. But it was super fun to play on the clay courts for the first time!

Update for the Week

After a not so good weekend, I was able to get back on track with the whole training thing...

Swim on Tuesday - switched around the schedule to ease back into the program. I was very upset as I was driving to Avalon under a looming black cloud. I was nervous that it would be closed again. I was even more nervous when I got there and everyone was packing up. Well, I was in luck, third time is a charm - it was adult swim night. A little weird that they had four lifeguards for four people but I got in my 1400yd swim (I asked for an easier plan and it was longer than the last! - OK only by 50 yds, but still!). I love swimming and am so glad we have a program that requires cross training!

Speed on Wednesday - I did the 4x 3min fast/3min slow. I thought I might have been cheating since the first fast segment was all down-hill. In defense it was a very strong downhill performance...BUT it turned out that I only had two minutes fast on flat land remaining - the rest was uphill! Yikes! And to make matters worse, I was doing sort of an out and back loop, but I didn't turn back quite soon enough - I guess an extra mile of cool down never hurt anyone!

Tempo on Thursday - I found that the owners with the nasty unleashed dogs go walking right after work. So going in the morning or late evening (also nice as the sun has gone down a bit) is my best bet not to get bitten. My tempo was a little off as my two mile easy was faster than easy as I seemed to be working off stress from work. The tempo run actually felt good! And it was nice to get a compliment at my 'speed' even if it was from a three year with training wheels!

Broken Leg

I don't think I have told any of you the story yet, but Nathan's dad broke his leg! He fell off his bike as he was riding into work in the morning. It was a "one-bike" accident, ie - he was not hit by a car or anything, he just sort of fell over. He was only three houses away, so he hobbled back home and Maggie (the physical therapist in training) took a look at him. As she was looking at him, she got a little nauseous from the concrete burns he had on his leg, so the two of them were both laying on the floor in agnst when Nathan's mom came downstairs to check out the action. He is taking it in a light-hearted manner and luckily he has a co-worker proficient with photo-editing tools (see photos below)! (He is probably out for the Great Race this year...)

Palm Tree Wading Pool

OK - this really has nothing to do with running or related cross training, but figured I'd include another kiddie wading pool picture...this is Nathan's second cousin, (what does that make him to me?) Trent. His parents just sent us Fourth of July pictures!

I finally got a chance to try out my grab bag swimsuit tonight...I now understand why speedos have drawstrings in them...almost lost my bottoms when I pushed off from the wall tonight. Pretty much had the pool to myself - there were no more than seven other people there throughout the time I was in the pool. I also tried out the swim workout provided by swimplan.com.

Best Quote from the Olympic Trials

“Now I’m thinking that maybe it’s a blessing from God that I don’t have to run the marathon in Beijing. All the marathoners are complaining so much about the event there, but I’ll get to stop after six miles. Maybe I’ll come out to the 26-mile mark of the marathon and cheer for them near the finish.”

- Abdi Adirahman, after coming in first in the 10,000 meters

(I guess sometimes even worldclass athletes just don't really want to run that far...)

Pirate Ship Wading Pool

I had a fairly uneventful 9 mile run this morning. I decided not to do the Sewickley route on my own for fear of getting lost (Don't worry, Debo, with Lisa and my powers combined, we should be able to get through it.), so I extended my normal tempo run route. Its basically down California Avenue, so its a road I'm familiar with in a car, but I have never run that far; you see different things when you run as opposed to drive, including this exciting Pirate Ship Wading Pool (the highlight of my run)!

Brentwood 5k

The Troxells seventh annual running of the Brentwood Firecracker 5k......and Miles's first!

Downtown Bellevue at Noon

Things have been slow in the office and I figured why sit at my desk ogling the outside when I could just take a day off and enjoy the summer. Nathan joined me on my spontaneous day-off adventure. We started with 9 holes at Clover Hill with our friend Matt Misja and then Nathan had to do his one obligatory work meeting downtown, so I hammered out the tempo run. I was hitting downtown Bellevue right around noon and let me tell you, I almost plowed over at least three blue hairs. Bellevue is a happening place at high-noon. Just as my run was ending it started to sprinkle (I've been contemplating how many of our recent Pgh posts refer to a rainy run...you would think we lived in Seattle or something). I took a quick shower and Heather & Sarah Misja picked me up for a girls lunch at Sewickley Cafe - delicious - tomato dill soup & a tomato, basil mozzarella sandwich on ciabatta. The rainy afternoon led into a relaxing nap - oh, what a perfect day!

No swimming for me again

I was all ready to go swimming tonight even though it was below 70 degrees. I had called earlier in the evening and they were still open. Of course by the time I drove to the pool, it was dead and there was no luck for me. I now have the # in my phone so that I can call on my way to be sure...So after taking 1:45 to get home from work (traffic was a disaster), I rocked out on my rowing machine. It was a little like spinning with changing tempo with whatever song might come on - no planning necessary! (At least I had six different stations to flip through quickly if I didn't like a song). My favorite part was that a Lincoln Park song came on right at the end which was truly reminiscent of a great spin class!

Girls Weekend

What a fun weekend with the girls - we started with the WYEP Summer Music Festival, continued with a morning run/bike & outdoor yoga in Tunnel Park...
...(Miles did some of his own cross training in the water), enjoyed delicious smoothies & waffles at the McKinneys...
...stuffed our faces with cupcakes...
and then finished with some shopping, the viewing of Sex & the City and cocktails at Kelly's!

XXIX Olympiad Stamps

You may well know that I am excited for the Olympics to begin on 8/8/08! Here are the US postal stamps you can get in anticipation of the Olympics that will soon be upon us. There are lots of trials starting this week - T&F today; swimming on Sunday. Here is the television coverage listing for T&F.

Unsuccessfully outrunning the rain...

Since I can no longer get out of bed before 7:30, I missed the morning storm. However, I got off the bus last night and the sky was gray and the air heavy with the humidity of an impending storm. I waited around for about a half hour hoping that the rain would start and it wouldn't feel so oppressive. No luck for me! During the tempo part in the middle of Frick Park I was afraid that I might be stranded the way the trees started blowing and how very very dark it had gotten by 7:30. There was also no sign of wildlife like there usually was - everything was already under shelter.
I do want bonus points for doing 3 miles at tempo pace - 2 as scheduled and the last mile that happened while the storm slammed the area. I thought about stopping but then I would just be wet and stranded in Regent Square. So I sprinted home as much as I possibly could with the water coming up around my feet as fast as it was coming down. I normally don't mind running in the rain - or even storms- but I had never been so close to the lightning and felt the thunder! Glad I made it back - hope my shoes dry out before Saturday!

P.S. Luna has this new powder for a smoothie treat post exercise. I tried the strawberry bannana flavor - NOT Good! I will try the chocolate, but I assume it will not be much better!

Solitary Swim

After getting stuck in Pirates/Yankees traffic, I finally made it to the pool. I paid my dollar fee all in dimes, much to the amusement of the attendant. I knew Megan would be late if she was able to make it at all so I jumped in (well, slowly and painfully lowered myself in) and got started. There was no one else in the lane with me and I was a little uncreative with my workout. I swam for a 1/2 hour but then was so bored that I just quit. I have since then registered with swimplan.com and have a great workout for next week!

"Crazy" is an understatement...

One of my crazy owners had the bright idea to do a tempo work-out this morning in the middle of a rainstorm. Needless to say, after 4 grueling miles we arrived home soaking wet. Now I have to listen to the owners complain about the 'wet dog' smell. It's not my fault she leashed me up and dragged me out in the rain...

Outrunning the Storm (and a Train)

This weeks marks the official beginning of our training program for the Marine Corps Marathon. We started with our first speed workout yesterday. Lisa and I met downtown and crossed over the Smithfield Bridge so that we could run along the trail in the Southside. Speedwork was 1 minute fast, three minutes recovery x 6. (Easy to start!) There were some ominous clouds blowing in as we ran and we witnessed the Monongahela covered with whitecaps - blowing UPstream! We basically outran the storm and made it back to a covered PPG building where we did our stretching at the end.

(We also saw three trains on our run - the most I think I've seen on that trail...the first train required us to pick up the pace in order to cross the tracks so we didn't have to stand there and wait for it.)

A Run Up Memory Lane

No strolls down memory lane for these gals...we did a traditional eight mile loop that we used to always do in Shadyside. We met at "the corner" and then headed up Beechwood, through Squirrel Hill and back down Wilkins. Notable occurrences from the run - a comment on that blue car with corrugated aluminum on all the windows - "Has that car EVER moved?" (Answer - I don't think since we've all lived in Pgh that it has moved.) Also, we witnessed the aftermath of a hit and run accident on Murray. We are pretty sure no one was injured, but a car sideswiped at least three cars and a bike (chained to a parking meter) and pushed a jeep onto the sidewalk, enough that it broke the store front window it was next to. We witnessed the firetruck coming to the scene a few moments later (unfortunate occurrence, but good distraction for making it up the Murray Avenue hill).

Women's Shoes

Remember how the guy at Athlete's Foot told me that my feet are too wide and I have to wear men's shoes? I guess I never thought it through the whole way, but it is an option to get shoes in a higher width and I guess I just never exercised that option. I continued to suffer through wearing blah-colored men's shoes. I finally had the revelation to just buy women's shoes in the next width up, so I got cute teal-colored shoes and I took them out for their first run this morning!

Cool Evening Run

After spending all day in an over air-conditioned office, I had to fight every inclination to go home and curl up under a big blanket. I was handsomely rewarded when I had one of the best runs I've had in long time. The weather was cool and it looked like it was going to rain the entire time. The cool temperatures were actually a relief and I ran a quick 4 mile loop. I think yoga is already paying off. My stride is noticeably stronger and longer and my core is stable. I finally understand what Amber went through when she would always run ahead of us since "it was too painful to slow down". Now my only hope is that I'll figure out how to pick up my feet! The only not so good parts were the dozens of leash-less dogs who outnumbered their not so aware owners - including two pit bulls who were playing/fighting...

A Misty Morning Run

This morning we had the best guided tour through the Sewickley area! James Hendrickson agreed to join us on our run so that he could show off some of Sewickley's fine routes. We started in the Village and enjoyed ourselves on wide, tree-lined streets with million dollar homes, including Mario Lemieux's (okay, maybe his is a multi-million dollar home). Then we got into the more remote areas and the terrain turned to rolling hills. We had an absolutely gorgeous western Pennsylvania forest to run in and we had a light rain that came at just the right time. The best part was that our last mile or so was all downhill back to our starting point - a reward we had earned with all of our hard work getting up to that point!

(The least idyllic part of our run was the snake roadkill we came across...the thing was massive!)

Just some information

Hi! This isn't really to talk about running...since I've been cramming a lot in my schedule this week with carpooling/CPA exam classes/studying and working, but I am trying to fit it in whenever I can. I work out at a gym in my office building, so it's easy enough to get to. Yesterday I only had 10 minutes before I had to leave for the carpool, so I jumped on the treadmill and ran as fast as I could for 10 minutes. Hey, it was something right? :)

SO, I wanted to clue you girls in on the wedding plans...at least where they are right now. I'm heading to Oregon after work (with Ryan). We were intially going there to celebrate multiple birthdays and Father's Day, but now it has turned into a cram-as-much-into-the-weekend situation to check out wedding locations/info. Poor dad (and mom). I'm meeting with a photographer tomorrow morning - his photos look cool, and he's not too spendy (and we get the digital photo files), so we'll see. Then Sunday in Portland, on our way to the airport, we're checking out a church, reception place, and rehearsal dinner place which is also a place where out of town guests would stay. It will be busy, for sure. We're still thinking early May of 2009, in Portland, but we'll see about that. We'd like to get married sooner, so who knows.

AND - I get to finally try on some dresses in Albany (the bridal shop will be interesting...). I just wanted to keep you girls in the loop. I thought this might be easier than writing multiple e-mails. :) I miss you all and SOOO hope you can all make it to the wedding.

Have a great weekend!!

My Four-Legged Running Partner

Most of you already know, but Amber didn't and I wanted to get a picture up anyhow - Fresca is my new four-legged running partner! The Melders are moving to a house with a smaller yard and also just aren't quite positive that Fresca won't someday maul Koen (highly unlikely, but you're allowed to be overprotective on that front). Anyhow, we are loving having Fresca around. She makes us get outside more and we have been exploring the trails in the woods back behind our house. She does a pretty good job running, especially considering that its about 70 degrees warmer than what her ideal running temperature would be. Huskies won't slow down when they are hurt or tired (kind of like us). It is a survival thing for them (unlike us...for us it is more of a pride thing), so I will need to keep a good eye on her. She especially loves licking the salt off of me when I am done with a run!

I've asked Fresca to be a Crazy Daisy and she agreed, so you can look forward to future posts from her!

Hello from Afghanistan!

We received a response to the package we sent as our service project for Girls on the Run:

Hello Girls on the Run!! It was so kind for your organization to think of us. The cards are great & helped add some color to the walls of our barracks! I hope you all do great on your 5K. I enjoy doing triathlons & miss not being able to do them this summer. I don't think there are any Afghan Triathlons! Lol!

Again, thank you for thinking of us over here. It makes us fell good to know that we are not forgotten.

God bless America!

Trevor

PS - Here's a pic of me with some of the local children we're helping.

Circle Swimming

Lisa and I had our first experience at the Avalon Community Pool. They basically have one lap lane set up which separates the shallow end from the deep end. As we got into the pool there was this hugely cranky woman saying that she was waiting to swim in the lap lane next (there was a very slow guy in there by himself). I asked her if we could circle swim and she said she didn't think this guy knew how to do it and she didn't think that's how they did it here. Lisa and I were beginning to realize that this lady just wanted something to complain about, so the next time the guy came around, we asked if he would share the lane. Of course he was willing, so we all hopped in. Four people in a lane is a little much, but I knew that once we got going, the slow guy would head out. He was really just in there because I think he was bored of playing with his kids. Then we just had cranky lady to deal with. Luckily, Lisa could smoke her, so we (by we, I mean Lisa) showed her what was up and we generally had a good workout. Occassionally, you get kids crossing through the lane to get back and forth between the shallow and deep ends, but the lifeguards were good at blowing the whistle on them and it worked out pretty well. For an outdoor community pool at $1 admission, I think its worth it!

Two little fishies

Megan and I met up at the Avonworth Pool tonight (well I was VERY late but she was very patient). It was $1 since we were there after six and they had one lane reserved for lap swimming. We were very happy with that but were stunned by the woman who had sat there for 10 minutes and was very angry that we just expected to get in the lane before her! She was pretty condescending - especially to the guy who was currently swimming in trunks with no goggles - she just assumed that he was uninformed and quite stupid and wouldn't know how to circle swim...well, it made me feel better that I was able to not only pass her quickly but even lap her - I think she actually helped me stay focused and swim faster. I lost count of my laps quickly since I was busy maneuvering around her and other random kids who got stuck in the lap lane positioned between the main pool and the deep end. We got at least a solid 35 minute swim in - which I'm going to estimate to be between 1000 and 1200 meters. I'm planning on going every Wednesday and I might even go on Mondays if the weather is hot enough...

Top Three Things

The top three things from our run on Saturday amidst the humidity and heat:

1. Seeing the REI building come into view (which meant the end was in sight)
2. Cold smoothies from Caribou Coffee
3. The Greyhound bus station (a bathroom break and water stop...ah, the air conditioning felt great...and despite our sweaty presentation, I don't think we were the smelliest people in the building)

4. (This was not discussed w/ Lisa, so its not official, but I am adding it on...) The fountain at the Southside Works - you may have only seen children playing in it, but Lisa and I stepped in, feeling no shame!

This run brought back many Chicago memories!

Summer is Here!

....with a vengeance. Last week it was in the low 70s with a humidity level in the 20s. All of the sudden it was 90 and HUMID yesterday. My car thermometer said 95 when I left my client and dropped to 89 when I got home at 6:30.
Even so, the sun made it impossible to stay inside (it has been raining for a few days) and I went out for a nice run. I forced myself to do it slowly and I went through the park where there might have been a 5-10 degree temperature drop (I love trees!). Since I did loops through the park I was able to pass a water fountain every fifteen minutes. I was happy that I was out for 55 minutes - no idea of the mileage - I would like to say 5.5 but who knows - it was slow.
Also, part of the purpose of the run was to use my new GPS watch for the first time. Well, I need more practice since I shut it off before the first minute was over! Oops! Maybe I can get it to work on Saturday.
I am PUMPED for Yoga after our runs!


P.S. Very excited that we are motivated to write about our runs again!

It was a sweaty one!

Only a two mile easy run w/ Fresca, but I was drenched in sweat by the end of it! It is hot out there (and this was at 5:45 a.m.)!

Saw an article on the Runner's World website about the upcoming track and field Olympic trials - check it out!

GOTR Sighting

During tax season, it became sort of a ritual if I was working later than I should and Geoff was not home during the evening then I had earned enough self-pity to get Eat 'n Park take out. Well that was the case tonight as I went to work sick and ended up staying until 7. But much to my surprise and delight, I saw Autumn and her family in the checkout line! She was almost as perky as usual as she had just had some sort of shot related to dental work. It so reminded me how fantastic those girls are!

Wondergirl 5k

It was a wet and rainy day, but lots of fun!  All of our girls finished in under an hour and we were proud of them!

Local marathon gets sponsors, to return next May

As written in the Post-Gazette:

Monday, May 19, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The newly named Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon is set for May 3, 2009, the result of a sponsorship deal announced by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato this morning.
The arrangement with Dick's, details of which were not immediately disclosed, brings back the 26.2-mile race after a six-year hiatus. The course is not yet final. But it is expected to start in front of the City-County Building, Downtown, pass through the North Side, South Side, Oakland, Shadyside, Point Breeze, Homewood, East Liberty, Bloomfield, Highland Park and the Strip District before finishing in the renovated Point State Park.
A half-marathon will be sponsored by Respironics, a firm that specializes in sleep and respiratory products.
UPMC Sports Medicine will be the medical sponsor, providing support for runners along the course and training seminars throughout the year.
UMPC formerly was the lead sponsor.

Dare To Be Brave

Katie started writing on this card "Dear..." but she misspelled it as "Dare," so we had to come up with a way to reword it:

The Gettysburg Address

As the girls were making their cards for soldiers, Autumn and Taylor burst into reciting the Gettysburg Address. Not sure what spurred it, but they were good! Autumn particularly spouted it out very quickly! Here are some pictures:

GOTR Community Service Project

Finally, the girls have chosen the "Make Cards for US Soldiers" as their Community Service project. This is always on the list to vote for, but has yet to make it until this year (I'm thinking maybe Molly wasn't there on Wednesday...she's not a huge fan of the war - I'm hoping we don't have to screen out too many of the cards). I think it is such a great idea and fits well into our session when we don't have a ton of time to plan for something. I was actually doing a little prep with getting supplies together and made a sample card. Check it out:

Together Again!

Lisa and I got together for a misty morning run this morning. We figure our last run together was probably the Columbus half marathon, so good to have a partner again! We both admitted to being much more inspired to run (i.e. not stop half way up a hill) when we're with someone else.

Afterwards, we enjoyed breakfast at Dozen in Lawrenceville with Debo and Emily. Our plan was to go right after our workout and be one of those cool runners who looks beautiful and trendy sitting there eating breakfast. Geoff let us in on the secret that those "runners" who look beautiful and trendy eating breakfast, haven't actually RUN...they have probably just walked their kid around the block or something.

From there, I headed over to Trizilla to check out bikes. Now, I know how to ride a bike and since I've been spinning for quite awhile now, I feel like I can do this, but I forgot about the fact that an actual bike is WAY different than a stationery one - requires balance for one thing. So when the guy said, "Do you want to take it for a spin in the parking lot?" I said, "Sure." And immediately then thought, "Oh shoot...when was the last time I was actually on a bike with two wheels that doesn't stay in one place?" I managed to not make a complete fool of myself, but I think once I get into the biking thing that I will need to purely stick to paved trails with no chance of encounters with cars until I get the hang of it again.

XTraining - Outdoor Swimming

This is more for my own reference, but if anyone else get some benefit out of it, great! Here are the outdoor swimming options for the summer:

Avonworth Community Pool - $6, after 5 pm $3
Citipools - $4 (Here is a listing of all the parks, those w/ a swimming pool are marked in the "SP" column)
YMCA - I think $10/visit. (I'm going to cancel my membership for the summer. Too nice to workout inside!)

I'm not sure how any of these options will be for actual lap swimming, but I'm going to explore and figure out what works.

Other outdoor workout option (other than running) for the summer:
Breathe Outside at Southside Works - $5/class

Pittsburgh Marathon 2009?

In the wake of marathon excitement (attending Boston last week and signing up for Marine Corps this week), I thought I would check in again on the status of a potential 2009 marathon in Pittsburgh. Here is the response I got from Kevin Smith of Elite Runners and Walkers:

"If it happens the group will be announcing within the month. If it all does not come together soon, we will have to wait for 2010. Things are looking up for 2009."

This is not a super strong answer and given that I had information last year that "a 2008 marathon is definitely going to happen," I don't have my hopes up.

Bacon is a turn on after all...

On one of our Boston subway trips we were thoroughly entertained by a seemingly drunk girl going on and on and on about all of her favorite types of meats and chimichangas. She obviously saw this commercial before I did and took it for actual dating advice. Poor Thing....

Boston Marathon

Leading the race were the top three women from the time trials held the day before. Nathan said to Deena Kastor, "Aren't you supposed to be throwing candy or something?" She laughed!
Team Hoyt bring tears to your eyes. Dick Hoyt has pushed his son, Rick, in over 65 marathons, including 25 Boston marathons. Read more here.
The elite women - among them are Jelena Prokopcuka (Bib No. 2, Latvia), Rita Jeptoo (Bib No. 4, Kenya, finished third), Alevtina Biktimirova (Bib No. 8, Russia, finished 2nd) and Dire Tune (Bib No. 7, Ethiopia, finished 1st)
The elite men - leading the pack is Robert Cheruiyot (Bib No. 1) who was the ultimate winner.