Run Log: March 2014

Today is warm. (50)  Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. (60).  I NEED this!  I waited until after lunch to run today ~ just so I could NOT BE COLD!  I still ran in capris and a long sleeve light shirt ~ the wind was still blowing ~ but I was not cold.  It felt marvelous.
This month:  Run Club met a few times (2 that I can recall) {run club is me & Cheryl}  Dodd & I ran early morning in DC {that was cold}  I signed up for a 1/2 marathon and the Red Bird Run.  & The 10 Mile Drop before I complete another run log.  I'm ready for racing & running in warmth.

March’s Totals:

97.32 miles for the month {only 13.42 miles from doubling my Jan-Feb effort}
208.06 miles for the year 

287.35 miles for my bright blue Brooks ~ getting on in mileage, but still cushy ~ dirty, but cushy

1 mile swimming

60 miles biking

Still taking the Kickboxing class on Monday & Yoga Wednesday & Sunday.  Need to start more swimming.

Training for: 10 Mile Drop on April 13 & Lake Health Half Marathon {Hill, Yeah} on June 15

My WEIGHT:  OOPS ~ lots of Girl Scout Cookies & those evil Marshmallow Treat Oreos have me back at 136.4 pounds...Pants still fit well, so that's not much motivation to quit eating the cookies. AND I've got two more boxes of GS cookies...and graham crackers spread with Hazelnut Spread & Marshmallow Fluff...that's so very good.

Some interesting facts:

Longest run this month: 10.04...ready for that 10 Mile Drop
Favorite place to run this month: MMS down Dayton to 84 to 528 to Middle Ridge to MMS...Run Club 5 miler
# of books I read this month: one...and a half.  Had the one I started last month taken away on page 528...really a 700+ page book...I can't read that in 3 weeks during the school year.
Monthly mileage record: 155.46 ~ August 2013!  WOW
Highest mileage ever-at-one-time:  26.2 ~ October 13, 2013 ~ Northern Ohio Marathon
Toenail color:  Fresh French Manicure ~ just bought more white & pink at the Wal-Mart

PR's:
5K: 22:45 (Rabbit Run 10/30/11~ but I think it was a short course)
10K: 52:02 (Cleveland 5/15/11)
10-miler: 1:21:29 (Hermes Cleveland 10-miler 4/28/12)
half-marathon: 1:47:35 (Cleveland Half 5/19/2013)
marathon: 4:01:04 (Northern Ohio Marathon 10/13/2013)

#7 This is Where I Leave You

One of the books in my "it's going to be a movie, you better read the book" pile.  #7 is Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You.  It is a sorry tale about dysfunctional people from a dysfunctional family attempting to live together while they sit Shiva for their dead father.  The characters are likable even with their all-too-human flaws.  The unfaithful wives, the druggie brother, the angry older brother, the overbearing mother...and then SPOILER ALERT there's the ending that is NOT an ending.  I hate it when books don't wrap it up.  I was told that this is the first of a yet-to-be-written sequel...so that makes it a little better ~ but the ending was dissapointing.

Quotes & Words

p82 ~ cataclysmically

    relating to or denoting a violent nateral event

p182 ~ there's always a last time.  If you could remember every last time, you'd never stop grieving.

p 265 ~ nomenclature

   the devising or choosing of names for things

p286 ~ That's the thing about life; everythign feels so permanent, but you can disappear in an instant.

p328 ~ Life is huge, but it can turn on a dime.

fl: "Dad is dead," Wendy says offhandedly, like it's happened before, like it happens everyday.  ll: Tomorrow is anybody's guess.  I've got a baby girl on the way, a borrowed Porsche, and fourteen grand in a shopping bag.  Anything can happen.

Catching up

Jen & I show off our Ohio Glasses

Well, I haven't blogged in a while...not because stuff hasn't been happening...but I've been pretty lazy with my "free time"
Back in the beginning of March, I accompanied the 7th graders to Columbus ~ for the abbreviated version of the former Ohio Tour.  We left early in the morning & saw some sites in C'bus.  We were so very lucky that it was in the 50's for the day...great weather considering the winter we've had!

<===I'm rather into the selfies ~ as I'm tired of never being in the pictures ~ and I AM that far behind the times.  Lori & I rode the best bus (as always).  Erin and I had a blast on the roller coaster machine!  And I drank a cup of sugar ~ it tasted amazing.

The Ghost was active in the house during the month of March ~ {come to think of it, however, Fonzi has stopped nipping at the air in the family room...} BUT: one night Mike & I were watching TV when we hear an abrupt crash of something from the front room.  We just look at each other...and I make Mike go check it out {certainly checking out strange noises is a blue job}  SOMEHOW the music stand, which is NOT in the least bit loose, had lost its tilt & all the music folders crashed to the floor.  Strange happening, for sure ~ ghostly activity? maybe.

JB over Al's left shoulder

Patrick came home from Cincy on spring break & JB went to NYC with the band on that Wednesday.  He had a great trip, with very little sleep.  But what do you expect from a TV celebrity?

The band made the Today Show ~ with a big blue banner in the window & lots of face time both in the window & during an outdoor segment.  It was great to see my boy on my TV from the Big Apple.
We picked him up Sunday morning & he crashed on the couch...didn't even wake when Fonzi licked his face.

The Monday before the DC trip, we went to the dealership to look at new cars & found this adorably red Chevy Equinox ~ 2013 with 2800 miles on it.  Couldn't pass it up ~ so I bought it.  My lovable 2003 Yukon has 215,000 miles on it ~ and it's hard to give it up ~ but I'm glad I did.  Mike did all the leg work while I was in DC ~ so all I had to do was go sign papers & drive it home on Saturday.  He's the best ever ~ because I know it was a pain and a lot of leg work to get the loan.  Thanks, honey.

 My selfie tour of our nation's capitol.  The White House.  The Capitol Building. The bus.  The Lincoln Memorial.  The Jefferson Memorial.  FRD Memorial.  MLK Memorial {we don't konw what Julie is doing}
This trip is always filled.  Filled with fun, tired, anxiety, annoyance, laughter, yelling, lost kids, found kids, sleepy kids, happy kids, grumpy adults, slap-happy adults, history, rememberance, memories...and a reminder that I really enjoy what I do for a living.  I will not be able to hear Frozen's famous song, "Let It Go" without thinking of this trip.

My most favorite selfie: Me, Dodd & JFK

And that brings us to a week of Spring Break.  Here's the view of our backyard this morning:

I AM TIRED OF WINTER