Run Log: April 2012

Running in April was not as nice as March!  I didn't make a single run club because Patrick has had tennis. {that's really ok, because I like to watch him pay tennis}  I didn't run much the first week because I walked all over Washington DC. {we woke up WAY too early & went to bed WAY too late to run anyway} I did manage to run quite a bit on vacation...in the 80 degree weather...and on the beach (joyful) and I overcame a tight Achilles tendon to run the Hermes 10-miler.  Good, no GREAT, race this month.  I'm hoping my May race (Red Bird Run on May 12) is equally as wonderful.


Here are April totals:
76.5 miles for the month 
287.5 miles for the year
0 biking miles for the month
52 biking miles for the year
114 miles for my shoes that are actually still pretty white & I still like my elastic (3rd grade) stretchy laces.
and 1 mile swimming for the year...


Some interesting facts:

Longest run this month: 11 miles!
# of bags of Candy Cane Kisses left in my cabinet: 1 (I should probably mention the bag of mini dark Reese's cups that I ate)
# of boxes of Girl Scout cookies left in the cabinet: 1&1/2  (and I ate that half a few days ago...again, self control)
# of books I read this month: 3 (yeah for spring break)
Biggest YMCA pet peeve (story) this month: I went to pick up our GOLD ironman t-shirts...and they were gone...GONE...as in no more...all gone.  I'm standing there thinking, "But I want my GOLD MEDAL t-shirt.  I will not be happy with a return of my money.  I want the t-shirt."  I'm really upset, but I really can't yell and get MAD about a t-shirt.  So I SAID, "I'm kinda upset about that."  And I have to say that Alyssa at the YMCA is rather wonderful.  She said, "I know.  I'm upset too.  I don't know how, but I'm going to make this right."  Fast forward/rewind...here's the story.  Alyssa figured out how to get them to print two more (we're still waiting for that to happen) but she also figured out what happened.  Diane saw Stephan Barton come in and said, "Hey, your mom and dad's t-shirts are here.  Take them home with you."  I'm sure Stephan had no idea what that's about, and I bet they are still riding around in his car!  I would be ok with getting the shirts from Stephan, but Alyssa said, "They've been riding around in a teenager's car for two weeks; I'm getting you new ones."  Shout out to Alyssa!
B Fit 4 Life Challenge...quit ~ stupid ~ won't do again.  I guess I don't need to be challenged to be fit for life.
Monthly mileage record: 80.5 miles March 2012 breaking the old record of 72.75 miles set in March 2011
Highest mileage record:  13.1 miles ~ May 16, 2010 (Cleveland 1/2)

10-miler

Race Day!

In April.  In Cleveland.  The weather is always a question.  Today was the Hermes Cleveland 10-Miler at Edgewater Park.  As any good racer will do, we watched the weather for today all week long.  Monday said: Rainy & 57, Wednesday: Rainy & 50, Thursday: Rainy & 45, Friday: Rainy & 40.  And it was 40 today...with just a spit of rain around mile 7 & a little bit of SNOW as we waited for Cheryl to finish.  But, dressing right made it a great race.  I felt good!  The heel/achilles thing felt FINE this morning. (Note to self: stretch daily...not just when something finally hurts.) and I beat my goal time, which I set at 1:30:00 ~ very doable ~ and I very did it! 1:21:29.  That's an 8:09 pace!  I'm really happy about that since I've been running 8:45 to 9:15 paces during training runs.

Anita and Kirsten met us at the start & Allison was at the turn.  It's always enjoyable to have people come and cheer you on.
I really liked this race for a number of reasons: 1. very laid back  2. not too crowded  3. very cool t-shirts  4. FLAT course with a downhill at mile 9 (so needed that)  5. it turns back on itself so you can see the leader (wow! was he fast) & you can watch the crowd for peeps you know.  Saw Mike coming at me and then realized how close I was to the turn-around.  He was shocked (and scared) at how close I was to him. {he finished in 1:17:03 ~ amazing} It was really motivating to see the people running faster than me & then seeing those I was ahead of 6. at the finish line the announcer called out, "Here comes Becky Barton from Madison" ~ How cool is that?!
This always happens and it always amazes me:  Today, around mile 3, I come upon a woman running like Phoebe (on Friends).  Seriously ~ she looked like she was trying to run all akimbo and awkward.  And I have to ask myself...how was she ahead of me?

Oh, and my funny story:  I was running along...around mile 6.  As I'm coming through an intersection {another reason I love to race...just going right through those red lights and all the cars waiting for us to pass...oh the power}I see a man and a woman talking on the street corner.  I see the man gesture toward me.  I'm kinda intrigued as to why he might me talking about me so I continue to watch him as he palm-up open-handed points at me as he's talking to the woman.  I watch and watch until they realize I see them talking about me, at which point I give 'em the double biceps...I don't know what they thought of it, but it made me laugh.

My results:  I placed 384th overall & 13th in my age group & ran incredibly consistently:  40:44 for the first 5 miles and 40:45 for the second 5 miles.

good luck?

I must be really lucky...
Today, while running past the Unionville Tavern a bird pooped on my right thumb...plop, white crap on my thumb.  You know what, it doesn't shake off.  Then I found myself running with my thumb poop-side-up.  Like it's going to matter if it drips off?  Seriously.  I wonder about myself.  So I ran home and washed my hand.
But this is the SECOND time that a bird has pooped on me this month.  In DC, as we were walking to the American History Museum a bird pooped on my left hand.  So now I'm equally pooped on...waiting for the good luck to come rolling in!

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUCE

Show #8. April 17, 2012
I have to call it: The best show ever.
A packed crowd at Quicken Loans Arena.  Bruce lit up the stage ~ so much energy.  The mix of his energy, his voice, his ideals, and the crowd make a kind of kindred spirit that is unlike anything else I've ever experienced.  There is a sharing of the human experience that is heartbreakingly tender and rock solid, all at the same time.  His music touches my soul.  He gave us an opportunity to say good-bye to The Big Man in a way that reminded us that when you love someone they are truly never gone from our lives.  They live on in what they've left with us.  Watching Jake Clemons fill those big shoes was moving in a way I can't adequately put into words.
The songs just kept coming...Badlands, The Ties That Bind, The E Street Shuffle, Jack of All Trades, Trapped, RACING IN THE STREET, Because the Night, Light of Day, Out in the Street...Blows any set list I have ever dreamed up OUT OF THE WATER.
At the end of the night, Bruce was the last to leave the stage.  He waved and saluted and made us all feel that he enjoyed the night as much as we did.
I wish I were a poet
I wish I had the words

So Glad I was THERE.

Setlist:
Badlands
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
The Ties That Bind
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
The E Street Shuffle
Jack of All Trades
Trapped
Youngstown
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Shackled & Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Racing in the Street
Apollo Medley
Because the Night
The Rising
We Are Alive
Light of Day (including You Can't Sit Down)
* * *
Rocky Ground (with Michelle Moore)
Out in the Street
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

My BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN History~ The Boss ~ I've seen him in concert at the Richfield Coliseum on the Born in the USA Tour July 9, 1984, The Tunnel of Love Express Tour March 14, 1988, The "Other Band" Lucky Town/Human Touch tour August 22, 1992; at The Gund Arena on the Reunion Tour November 14, 1999, The Rising Tour August 14, 2002; at The Wolstein Center (CSU) on the Devils and Dust Tour May 15, 2005, And at Quicken Loans Arena (same place as The Gund) on the Working on a Dream Tour November 10, 2009.  ~ where he played this song, just for me.  ~ at Quicken Loans Arena on the Wrecking Ball Tour April 12, 2012 (Best Show Ever)

Florida!

"I don't think your supposed to take your wife and kid to your very first spring break in Florida," says my husband.  But that is what we did.  Now I get why people head to Florida in the spring.  85° and sunny every day.  Every single day.  Do they rejoice when it rains or does it ruin their week?  We had the most beautiful weather, house, beach...the waves in the ocean could have been a little more; it was very calm the whole week ~ we have bigger waves on a regular basis in Lake Erie, but the shell hunting was fun and the dolphins fed every morning right out in front of our house.

View from the porch

We left Friday night, leaving Patrick home 'alone' until he left on Monday.  Rather weird feeling to have a kid old enough and responsible enough to be left home.  He really stayed with friends, but we pretty much ditched him for the beach.  The trip only took just over 17 hours, so we made it for a late Saturday lunch.  And then we spent the week, getting up, going for a run, eating, laying on the beach, eating, taking a walk on the beach, swimming in the ocean, showering, going out to eat, watching the sunset, going to bed, repeat.  Exactly what I wanted to do for my week off of school.

Day is Done

There were a few variations to the theme: Mike and Jacob went parasailing one morning.  Another morning we loaded up the bikes and went to ride the Pinellas Trail.  It's an amazing trail that runs a really long way.  We road from Seminole Park over the water to Walmart.  It was about 6 miles total.  Gracie didn't make it down the first hill ~ poor kid.  Lots of blood and road rash ~ Now we just call her Crash.  Mike and Jacob tried their feet on a skim board...not as easy as those little surfer boys make it look.  It was fun, for a little while.  If you can't be a surfer, look like one!

surfer boys

At dinner one night, Phil wore his goin'-out-to-dinner shirt.  {It sure looked a lot like a bowling shirt.}  We walk into the restaruant and see that the band is wearing the exact same shirts, just in a different color.  The lead singer shouts out, "Hey, what time is our lane open?"  That's Phil for ya!

Then we spent Thursday at The Magic Kingdom.  I love this photo op @ Cinderella's Castle; you know my deep desire to be a princess.  Best ride: Space Mountain.  Stupidest thing: The Enchanted Tiki Room {aniatronic singing birds?}We had the most magical day ever ~ as you look at the faces of all the people around 4:00 in the afternoon you can see that they have used up all their magic.  There are even some kids in full melt-down...they used up more than their share of the magic.  I don't understand why you'd take little little babies to an amusement park...but that must just be me, judging by all the babies in the park.  We road in a car, a ferry, a bus, and the monorail.  A full transportation day that started when the alarm rang at 5:00 am and ended at 1:00 am when I collapsed into bed.
So funny to meet up with everyone we know 1100 miles from home ~ almost everyone was there...including my boss {he still doesn't know who I am}.  Everyone was there to see the Blue Streak kids.  Madison High School Marching Band marched down Main Street, USA at 2:30.  It was very cool to see my 17-year old trumpet player front row marching in the most magical place on earth.  He had 5 days of fun...I just picked him up and he's EXHAUSTED!  We missed the best thing, he said that Harry Potter World is the best place ever.  Another trip, I suppose.
Now I must go make dinner & grade those papers that I brought home almost 2 weeks ago!  {can you say procrastination?}

#9

I love vacation...it's a great time to read.  And I love Elizabeth Berg...she's a great author!  #9 on the year is Range of Motion by, none other than Elizabeth Berg.  Berg's prose is almost like verse; she can weave a beautiful tapestry with vocabulary.  {How I envy that gift} Lainey (short for Elaine {love it}) is such a true-to-life character going through a tragic situation.  Her husband, love of her life, is in a freak accident and in a coma.  We learn of their love through her hope that he will wake up and her desperation that he won't.  She gives her characters roles...and describes them in ways I know to be true but could never express.  Mother, lover, wife, friend, care taker, mourner.  Let me share my favorite quotes:
p71 ~ If I lie on the floor kicking and screaming, who will be moved?  The hard and constant lesson is that we are only observers here.  We do not move the pieces.  We do not chart the course.  We have our little parameters, like an insect captured in a shoebox  We strut back and forth, arranging and rearranging the arbitrary layout of the grasses we've been given.  But with all the head-nodding we do, all the lip-smacking, all the self-satisfied pats to our overfull bellies, all the putting forth of what is really only speculation from our beginning brains, we aren't aware at all of the thing that is before us.
p132 ~ {on giving advice to a friend} But it's not my job to drive Alice's car.  It's my job to verify the scenery.
fl: They say that one of the reasons for tragedy is that you learn important lessons from it.  ll: I am saying that all of this all of this, all of these things are the telling songs of the wider life, and I am listening with gratitude, and I am listening for as long as I can, and I am listening with all of my might.

Magic

Yesterday we spent the day at The Magic Kingdom, the happiest place on earth...

Lots of exciting things, that I will share in vacation recap later on...but the most exciting thing happened for Jacob.  

This story actually starts six years ago, when Jacob first started playing Play Station games online.  He found a kid, Undely, who he hit it off with.  Over the years they've played Call of Duty, Little Big Plant, MineCraft, talked on the phone, skyped...  They became really good friends.  Well, Undely (otherwise known as Michael) lives in Florida.  When they started talking about our spring break trip, Michael convinced his dad to take him to Magic Kingdom so that he and Jacob could meet.  And Michael's dad did.  He brought Michael and his little brother Brian there for the day.  The boys took off and had a great day together riding the rides, talking, laughing, eating.  It was really cool how it all came together.  

#8

Finished up the Hunger Games series on spring break ~ didn't get much reading done in the car, but I sure did on the beach (and I have the burn on my back to prove it).  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is #8 for the year and was just as poorly written (and at times hard to follow the logic ~ who really was the bad guy?) as the first two.  I know I sound like such a literary snob, but really...some of the reactions these characters have are just ridiculous.   Yet, fascinating story...what does happen in a war?  Are both sides guilty of atrocities against humanity, no matter what?  Is a killing always a murder?  How much does the end justify the means?  We make these types of decisions in everyday life...(totally not in this extreme....)  SPOILER ALERT: I was reading the last few pages very quickly (of course the party gets moving just as I'm at the end) so I may have missed it, but what was up with the corralling of children in the pen?  Who put them there...who killed them...I get that it was the rebel force, and probably Gale, but is that REALLY true to their characters?  Killing children?  That didn't ring true for me.  (back to poorly written) I know Collins needed a way for Katniss to make her decision, but that was pretty drastic.

fl: I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ah settles on the worn leather.  ll: But there are much worse games to play.

They are read and now I can see the movie.  I hate to be left out of things!

#7

#7  ~ read on the Washington DC 8th grade trip...love a long bus ride & a book.  It was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins ~ the second in the Hunger Games trilogy.  Good book with some twist and turns I didn't see coming...I have to say the writing itself did not improve; it may have gotten worse... implausible cause & effect, faulty logic, goofy presumptions, but the plot is so interesting that it keeps me reading.  (just started the third book, and it's actually gotten worse...so my feelings may be a bit jaded)  Interesting commentary on the people of the Capitol.  Their selfish nature and interest only in their good times and entertainment.  Aren't we like that?  If it does not directly hurt us or our loved ones, it's not important enough to care about.  Can we make our world better?

fl: I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the teas has long since leached into the frozen air.  ll: But Gale is not one to keep secrets from me.  "Katniss, there is no District Twelve."

contrasts

Mike came home on Wednesday and announced, "It's the greatest thing ever!"
Now what? I thought
"This Saturday, at the Wolstein Center at CSU, we can see, for only $10, the Burning River Roller Girls."  It's Mike's dream.  So we gather all that want to go, or allow themselves to be bullied into going and go to the derby...which leads me back to a question I asked Stephanie (the only person I actually know who roller derbies), do you PLAY derby?  I think you just derby.
We dressed in roller derby appropriate clothes (? jeans and a sweater?) and headed downtown, where you CAN make u-turns if you want to...
It was actually pretty cool.  They go round and round the ring scoring points and knocking people out.  Not enough contact for Mike...no blood!
Then, a couple of hours later (it wasn't over, but we were), we decided to go get something to eat.  Our first stop was the Tremont Tap House...over an hour wait.  So we go to Fahrenheit.  Very upscale...we neglected to tell the person we asked for a restaurant recommendation what we were wearing ~ Mike, "I think this might be the first time a Carhart coat has been inside this building."  They sat us in the very back corner of the room off of the main dining room ~ and very quickly escorted us to the restroom... but the service was fantastic (as long as we stayed in the corner)
I had the most AMAZING lobster mac & cheese.  "Butter-Poached Lobster Macaroni & Cheese, Cognac reduction, Chives, Brie & Goat Cheese, Rigatoni 24.50 " No words other than AMAZING.  The Cleveland nachos weren't bad either!  "Cleveland Nachos, Crispy Fried Potato, Goat Cheese Fondue, Romano Cheese, Thyme, Scallions, with Crushed Bacon or Smoked Salmon 13"
Some day I'll go back when I'm not in my roller derby clothes :)