Welcome back.

Hello, readers! I am currently one day short of going a whole month without blogging. Sigh. I really hate saying that, as this blog is really important and meaningful to me. My only defense: I've been busy. So, in this post, I'll offer a quick recap of my activities over the past month. Then, in my next post, I'll tell you about my most recent race: the 2012 Father's Day 10K, which happened yesterday.

At the time of my last post, I had just finished TriRock Annapolis. The weekend after that, Andrew and I had engagement photos taken.  For the location, we chose the site of our second date: DC's Chinatown. We picked this spot for the scenery and the fact that this date was pivotal in our relationship. We hit it off on our first date, but #2 was the date that really sealed the deal. A few highlights:

At Graffiato restaurant, which is awesome and was wonderful about letting us shoot there!

Arm-wresting: how active couples resolve conflicts... or maybe just something we do.

A re-creation of our first kiss, in the spot where it happened. I LOVE this picture!

The next weekend, (aka: Memorial Day weekend), Andrew and I took a much-needed weekend away. First, we went to Frederick, MD, where we toured a brewery and ate at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Volt. (You can read about my first trip to Volt here.) This was my second time at Volt and it was every bit as spectacular as the first!

Andrew prepares to have his taste buds dazzled.

After a lovely day and night in Frederick, we headed down to Norfolk, VA to spend the rest of the weekend with my soon-to-be in-laws. I am very lucky to be marrying into an amazing family and I love spending time with them. A big highlight of this trip was meeting Andrew's 90+ year-old grandmother and hearing stories about how she TOOK HIM TO ALASKA BY HERSELF when he was 12. What a remarkable woman! She reminded me so much of my own awesome grandmothers.

Another highlight was the opportunity to help Andrew's younger brother Marquis pull off a big surprise for his parents. Andrew's parents met Marquis through a church mission and took him into their home nine years ago. Over the past few weeks, he's graduated from high school and been accepted to Randolph Macon college. On the occasion of his high school graduation, Marquis decided that he wanted to throw a thank-you party for Andrew's parents. (Smart kid!) So, Andrew and I helped keep his parents busy at the Norfolk botanical gardens while Marquis prepared the party.

With my future in-laws (minus Marquis).

The proud parents and son at Marquis' party.

After Memorial Day weekend, Andrew and I were home for a few days before heading up to Hunt Valley, MD for the wedding of our great friends Nancy and Jessie (who, coincidentally, got engaged the night of my last trip to Volt!). I DJ'd the wedding, did a reading, and gave a toast. Andrew joined forces with my friend Michelle (the only non-liberal arts people at the wedding) and figured out how to hang lanterns for the reception. We both enjoyed witnessing the union of two people who are absolutely perfect for each other. They are role models for us!

Nancy and Jessie, post-ceremony, leading their guests in some traditional Jewish wedding dances. Those dances turned out to be quite a cardio workout! 

Just three days later, Andrew and I celebrated my 33rd birthday and another wedding! This time, it was my cousin Charles marrying his long-time girlfriend Ashley.

Looks like a happy couple to me! 

Charles brings two kids into this marriage, and Ashley brings three. So, now they are a family of seven! That's pretty daunting, but they seem to be taking it in stride and enjoying it. I'm impressed!

Ashley with her maid-of-honor and all five kids- supermom! 

A mere two days after that wedding, I packed up my camping stuff for my 3rd annual weekend volunteering at Camp Forget-Me-Not/Camp Erin DC, a grief and loss camp for kids ages 6-16. My previous experiences at camp have been so amazing that I've blogged about them several times before. You can read about my 2010 camp experience here and here, and about my 2011 experience here. Or, if you want a really great idea of why this camp is so special, you can watch this video:

Needless to say, my 2012 experience was just as rewarding and unforgettable as my previous experiences. If this video moves you, I strongly encourage you to visit the website of The Wendt Center for Loss and Healing in DC and learn how you can get involved as a donor, a volunteer, or a referral source for campers!

I got home from grief camp on Sunday night (which was a little complicated, as my car died over the weekend!). Monday morning, I jumped into an intensive workshop which is part of my training as a Brief Strategic Family Therapist. My three clinical colleagues and I spent 3 days with our BSFT supervisor (who came all the way from Kansas) intensively studying our cases and doing live supervisions. What's a live supervision, you ask? That's when a family (who has agreed in advance to participate) comes in for a session with their regular therapist and that session is observed live (via closed-circuit TV) by the therapist's colleagues and supervisor. Periodically during the session, the supervisor calls the therapist to offer advice and guidance on how to make the session more productive and valuable.

I felt really fortunate to have this opportunity- its something that used to be common, but is now very rare. But, of course, it was intimidating! Thankfully, I can report that it went very well and I learned so much from it. At the same time, it was exhausting! After camp and the 3 days of training, I was as tired as I have ever been in my life. I've been resting as much as possible ever since and I'm just starting to feel semi-normal again.

So, there you have it. A fun and meaningful but VERY busy month! I am looking forward to a little lull in July before my race season really cranks up August-October. Then, there's that whole "wedding" thing, which will take place on New Year's Eve. I imagine that might occupy my time a little bit.

Stay tuned for the story of the Father's Day 10K, coming soon!

The end of Lent and the beginning of vacation!

For those who don't know, this past Sunday was Easter, aka: the end of Lent. So, naturally, the question on everyone's mind is "How did you do with your Lenten resolutions?" Here is the final report:

On resolution #1, exercise every day, I did okay. I did not succeed in working out every day, but I made 30 out of 40 days. This was a major improvement over the beginning of the year. In January and February, I had several weeks where I only worked out 3 times (which is below average for me). Once Lent started, I never went below 4 times, I got to 5 times twice, and I worked out all 7 days one week. Even better, I got back in the pool and started swimming again- something I had been putting off for months. I am happy to report that my return to swimming is going better than I expected and I'm grateful to this resolution for pushing me back to it.

On resolution #2, track my food every day, I did better. I am a pretty typical long-time Weight Watchers member in that I know tracking is a key to reaching my goals, but I have a hard time staying motivated to do it. Tracking is something I had been really slacking on for several months, and my numbers on the scale showed it. Fortunately, this goal turned out to be a real motivation boost. My WW data only goes back 4 weeks, but I know that I tracked for 23 of the past 28 days. I didn't see a huge result on the scale, but I feel like I've made tracking a habit again and that can only lead to good things.

All in all, I feel pretty good about this Lent. From the start of my new job in December until Lent started, I felt like I was slipping out of my healthy habits. Now, I feel like I have some traction again. Just in time, too, because Andrew and I are going on vacation! We are off to London for 1 week, where I will try my hardest to match my worst vacation habit (overeating) with my best vacation habit (I like working out in new places). I'll let you know how it goes!

Progress not perfection.

As of tomorrow, we will be 3 weeks into the season of Lent and about 3 1/2 months into the new year. As you may recall, I made resolutions for both. My New Year's resolution is to establish new routines. My Lenten resolutions are to exercise and track my eating every day. 

So how am I doing? I think a popular phrase from AA is applicable here: "Progress, not perfection." I have not been as successful with any of these resolutions as I had hoped, but I am happy to report that progress is being made.

The first resolution- establish new routines- is probably the one I struggle with the most. My job is new to me, and its also new to the agency where I work. I was hired as part of a new team to learn and implement a specific type of therapy. So, there isn't a senior person on our team to teach us things like how to mange our schedules. We're all figuring things out as we go along. A little more than 3 months in, I feel like I'm just getting the hang of how to schedule my work week. I'm also adjusting to the fact that I no longer have a 9-5 schedule. My new schedule is more like noon-8. 

What have I learned? Most importantly, I've realized that "before work" is my new "after work." Any non-work thing I need to do on a weekday- the gym, appointments, cleaning the house, seeing friends- has to happen in the morning before I go into the office. The challenge of this is not sleeping in. In the beginning, I did that at least a couple times a week. Now, I'm doing much better- once a week, tops.

On a related note, I've learned that I must get to bed on time. When I get home at 10 or 11, I have to resist the temptation to watch whatever TV I have on the DVR or get into some other project. If I stay up late, I will blow my mornings. I don't get this right 100% of the time, but I am steadily improving.

I have not been 100% successful in my first Lenten resolution- to exercise every day- but I am still trying. Before I made this resolution, I was down to working out about 3x/week. That's low for me. Now, I'm back up to at least 5x/week. As an added benefit, I'm finding that this resolution helps with my goal of establishing routines. If I want to exercise every day, I have to get up on time. In turn, every day that I get up on time helps me continue getting up on time. 

In service of both my routines and my exercise, I recently join a pool across the street from my office. In fact, I joined it so recently that I haven't done any swimming yet! Its going to take a little work to figure out when I can get away from the office to do my swimming, but joining the pool was the first step. Maryland is currently experiencing an early Spring- temps in the 70's in March!- which is a good reminder that tri season is coming up fast.

My second Lenten resolution- tracking my food- is where I have been most successful. As with the exercise, I'm not at 100%, but I've probably improved from 50%-85%. I am happy with that, even though I'm still waiting for the results to show on the scale.

So, there we are. Progress, not perfection!

Resolutions and routine.

Hello, readers! It has been far, far too long. I have been mentally drafting a post about my New Year's resolution for nearly 3 weeks now, and the fact that I'm just getting to it now shows just how much that resolution is needed. So, without further ado, my New Year's resolution for 2012 is...

Establish a routine.

I do my best in pretty much every aspect of life when I have routines. When life is semi-predictable, I eat better, exercise more, get more work done, and experience a lot less stress. When my routines get disrupted, or I go a long time without a routine, things start to fall apart. Classic example: In 2002, I took a job as a home-based counselor for children in a very intensive program. I saw clients at home, went to tons of meetings all over a very wide geographic area, and fielded endless crisis calls. For most of my time at that job, I had no set office and worked anywhere I could find space. Whenever I tried to establish a routine, something would change. The result? I gained weight, didn't exercise, and got myself into a string of less-than-healthy relationships.

Toward the end of my time at that job, I started ADHD treatment. In addition to taking medication, I also started working on getting organized and making my life more predictable. Since then, I have gotten better and better at establishing good routines for myself and life has become exponentially more manageable. Last year, I worked some of my best routines ever and a ton of great things happened for me: a marathon, a triathlon, weight loss, graduating from school, finding an amazing boyfriend, and- finally- getting a great new job.

Of course, the problem with all of the great things that happened to me last year is that they completely threw off my routines. Having a boyfriend takes up time that I used to spend on things like the gym and managing my house. It also means eating away from home more, which often results in unhealthier food choices. (I'm much better at just not going to restaurants than I am at going to a restaurant and not ordering a steak!) At my old job, I worked a pretty normal 9-5 schedule. At my new job, I often work until 7 or 8pm and my hours change from week to week. Also, while I really do love my new job, it is way more challenging than my old job. For me, challenging= stress= temptation to eat junk food or drink wine when I get home at 9pm.

I met my boyfriend in late August and I started my job-changing process in October. By the end of December, my average weekly time at the gym had plummeted and my weight had reached a number I haven't seen since 2003. I was also struggling to manage my house, keep up with friends and family, and (obviously) keep up with this blog. Thus, the resolution. January 1, I began work on making a new routine.

I am happy to report that I am making progress. To begin with, I thought seriously about my schedule and figured out when I am able to work out. The answer? Early in the morning and (sometimes) in the middle of the day. Early in the morning means that I have to be diligent about getting to my 6am classes and I also need to mix in some extra running and biking after those classes from time to time. I've been doing great with the first half and I'm still working on the second. Working out in the middle of the day means finding somewhere to exercise near my work. I have a couple of leads to investigate on that front.

I also talked to my boyfriend about my exercise and eating going downhill. He's awesome, so he immediately got with the program and began supporting/encouraging me in my habits. So, we've been eating at home more and he's started going to the gym with me whenever he's around. Yay supportive loved ones- they make such a difference!

Finally, some outside events came together and helped me with my goal:

My office: I spent 6 or 7 weeks of my new job in office limbo- I'm in a new site for my agency and my office was still under construction when I started. Finally, the week of 1/9, the construction ended and I got to move in:

I'm a real therapist now!

Not having to hunt for a spare computer whenever I need to do paperwork? Priceless.

A lovely table for family activities and lunch. Also, after 11 years of higher ed, a home for my diplomas.

A corrallary of my "I need a routine" rule is "I need designated spaces for things." I am way more productive when I have set places for things like work, paying bills, exercise, etc. So, having my office together has really helped me feel settled and more on top of things.

Winter trainings: With the new year came new sessions in both the Annapolis Striders' race training and the Wonder Women tri group. So, now I have at least two tough workouts scheduled each week and two groups of training buddies to motivate me on the days in between. This has been a big boost to my exercise goals.

So, I'm not there yet, but my New Year's resolution is off to a good start. If it continues to go well, you will hear from me more often in the coming weeks!

Just in time for 2012: My 2011 Year in Review

So, 2011 ended on a bit of a low note. New Year's Eve morning, I left the house at 6:45AM, intending to run to the first meeting of this year's Annapolis Strider's half-marathon training. I made an early start because I am signed up for a marathon in March (more on that soon!) and need to add extra miles to the half-marathon training runs. Less than 10 minutes into my run, I hit a pothole and fell. Hard. It really hurt, but I was able to get up and walk home, which meant no major injuries (phew!). When I got home, I found a seriously skinned and bruised knee, along with some cuts and imbedded gravel in my hand.

Not how I wanted to end my running year! 

After a good hour of fretting and pouting, I gave up on running for the day and proceeded to have an amazing New Year's Eve with my lovely boyfriend. Now, I am trying to stay focused on the positive, entering 2012 with a good attitude. What better way to do that than to review my accomplishments from 2011? So, here we go!

January: No races this month, but I did start my 2nd year of the Annapolis Striders' half-marathon training plan. I also started swimming and gathering gear for my first triathlon: IronGirl.

February: On 2/12, I ran the AS Valentine's Day 5K, my first race of the year and the first leg of the 2011 Champ Series. I was trying to come in under 30 minutes, but didn't quite get there. I finished in 30:16.

Also in February, I attended the AS annual banquet where I picked up my first IronMan award!

The 2010 Iron-people!

March: On 3/6, I ran the B&A Trail Half-Marathon for the second time. I finished in 2:18:55, an improvement of 5:10 over my 2010 time!

Val, Marie, and I after the 2011 B&A Half. This was Marie's first half! 

On 3/20, I ran a 5K with the Howard County Striders to support my friend and new runner Jaquisha. She finished her very first race, and I ran my 5K PR for the year: 27:19. That's over 3 minutes faster than my 2010 5K PR of 30:22!

April: On 4/4, I ran the AS Cherry Pit 10-miler, which is the 2nd leg of the Champ Series. I finished in 1:47:31, my 2011 10-mile PR and an improvement of 1:23 over 2010.

Also in April, my friend Pat and I competed in the Ridgeway Triathlon as part of the wedding of our ultra-running friends Krista and Ray. The event was run-bike-canoe. I did the run, Pat did the bike, and we both did the canoe. The run was just over 5 miles (5.14) and I ran it in 47:49. When you consider that my 2010 5-mile PR was 52:04, that's pretty awesome.

My teammate and I post-race and pre-wedding. 

I finished out April with my 2nd running of the Arbutus Spring Fling 5K, which I finished in 27:28. Not a PR, but still a 2:58 improvement over 2010!

May: No races in May, but I really got into my tri-training with the Wonder Women.

June: I celebrated my 32nd birthday with what I dubbed "Extreme Sports Weekend." On Saturday, 6/4, my friend Katie and I ran the first-ever VA Wine Country Half-Marathon. I finished in 2:17:16, which was a PR at the time. Then, after a wonderful day of post-race wine tasting, I got up on Sunday and did a practice tri with the Wonder Women. I was pretty impressed with myself until my tri coach Ellen mentioned that she ran a full marathon on Saturday... and won.

Katie and I post-race in VA Wine Country!

With the Wonder Women on my 32nd birthday. 

Also in June, I ran two 10K's. The first was the AS Father's Day 10K on 6/19, which is the 3rd leg of the Champ Series. I finished that one in 1:01:37, a 2011 PR and an improvement of 5:19 over 2010. The second was the Dreaded Druid Hills 10K on 6/25. That race truly lived up to its name, but I still managed to finish in 1:05:15.

Dreaded Druid Hills. This is at the start, which is why I don't look like I'm in agony. 

July: This was a crazy month, including the most intense training for IronGirl and the start of my 2011 marathon training. Somehow, I also squeezed in two races: 

On 7/9, I ran the AS Women's Distance Festival 5K. In 2010, I twisted my ankle on a trail run the night before this race and had to drop out. This year, I finished in 27:30. 

Still smiling: must be lap 1!

On 7/16, I ran the AS Wall Mile, which is the 4th leg of the Champ Series. I was trying to finish under 8 minutes, having clocked a 7:44 mile during training with the Wonder Women. Unfortunately, I shot myself in the foot by showing up early to put in some extra mileage for the day. A 5-mile warmup meant that I had to fight for every second of my 8:11 finishing time. Still, that's an official 1-mile PR and a 16-second improvement over 2010. Also, the AS photographer took a great picture of me crossing the finish line: 

Look at me go! 

August: This was probably the biggest month of my athletic year: the month of my first real triathlon! Before the tri, though, I ran the AS Dog Days 8K on 8/7, which was the 5th leg of the Champ Series. Marie and I did a tough bike ride beforehand, so this race was a struggle. I finished in 52:52, an improvement of 2:18 over 2010. 

Then, 8/21 was the big day: IronGirl! This was my first triathlon and it was both harder and more fun than I ever imagined. I finished in about 2:45 and I am looking forward to cutting that time in 2012! 

My training buddy Marie- I would not have survived without her! 

On August 28th, I had a big disappointment: for the 2nd year in a row, I didn't get to run the A10. In 2010 it was my appendix; in 2011, it was Hurricane Irene. On the bright side, I used the extra time to go on a first date with the guy who is now my amazing boyfriend. So, I guess that all worked out! 

September: After August, I shifted gears from focusing on IronGirl to focusing on November's NYC marathon. I also ran two races: 

On 9/11, I ran the Parks Half-Marathon for the 2nd time. I was hoping to finish in 2:15, but that dream ended early in the race when I waited in a bathroom line for 7 minutes. Instead, I finished in 2:22:02. I was a little bummed, but that's still an improvement of over 11 minutes from the previous year. Even better, Parks was my worst half of 2011, but I ran it faster than my best half of 2010 (which was 2:24:05). Woot!  

On 9/24, I ran 2 laps of a 40-mile ultra trail race with my friends Krista and Ray. The full race was 5 laps. I did a total of 16 miles, Krista did 24, and Ray did the whole 40! This was a serious trail race and I did not want to get injured, so Krista and I took it easy and enjoyed the sights. As a result, our shared 16 miles took about 4 hours. Not fast, but fun! 

This trail was MUDDY! It's a miracle I didn't fall. 

October: Two big races this month! The first was the AS Metric Marathon on 10/2. I went out way too fast in this race and the last few miles were AWFUL. Still I managed to knock almost 10 minutes off my 2010 time, finishing in 2:55:31. This was the 6th leg of the Champ Series. 

On 10/15, I ran the Baltimore Half Marathon in 2:16:31. I could not have been happier. Baltimore is a tough race and I managed a PR and a 10:01 improvement from 2010! 

I was very proud of this medal! 

November: This was the 2nd-biggest month of my athletic year: marathon month! The first weekend of the month was Extreme Sports Weekend 2 of 2011: 

On Saturday, 11/5, I did the worker run for the AS Down's Park 5-miler, which is the 7th leg of the Champ Series. My time for this race is unofficial, but I clocked myself at 48:35, which is 3:21 faster than 2010. 

On Sunday, 11/6, I ran my 2nd marathon: NYC! Despite some intestinal issues, I had an amazing day and finished in 5:31:05. That's over 38 minutes faster than my 2010 marathon time! Even better, I got to spend time with great friends and support a great cause: St. Lydia's church in Brooklyn. I even got a Christmas card: 

The marathon wasn't the end of my racing month. On 11/19, I ran the inaugural Annapolis Half Marathon. Both the race directors and I had some issues, but I enjoyed seeing many local friends and finished in 2:19:25. 

The race wasn't perfect, but the medal was beautiful! 

December: In December, I hit a racing milestone: I ran a race for the 3rd year in a row. The race was the AS Anniversary 15K, which is the 8th and final leg of the Champ Series. I had a great race, finishing in 1:37:44. That's nearly 7 minutes faster than 2010 and over 16 minutes faster than 2009! This race also sealed my 2011 IronMan award. 

IronMan award, here I come! 

I finished my 2011 racing season on 12/17, with my first running of the Celtic Solstice 5-miler. I was not feeling it in this race, but I was determined to set an official 5-mile PR and I did it: 49:28! 

All in all, an amazing year. Counting my two tri's (Ridgway and IronGirl), I completed 22 races and set PR's in every distance. For every race I ran in both 2010 and 2011, I finished faster in 2011. According to my calendar, I worked out 253 out of 365 days in 2011 (an average of 4.9 times/week) and ran a total of 568 miles.

I could not have done any of this without the amazing love and support of you: my family, friends, and readers! I can't wait to share 2012 with you! 

Its that time of year...

I am not great at sending Christmas cards. Much like the Olympics, it tends to happen once every four years. This year, though, I had a photo opportunity too good to pass up:

Happy Holidays!

Marathon photos and quick updates.

Hello, readers! Apologies for my lengthy absence. In the weeks after NYC, I had volumes of writing to produce for various projects and I had nothing left for anything else. Fortunately, almost everything is done now and I can get back to important things like blogging!

This past Saturday, I ran the Inagural Annapolis Half Marathon. I will give that race its own entry later this week. For now, I'll just note that my post-marathon recovery remains smooth, as evidenced by the fact that I could run a half less than two weeks later!

In other news, I finally have a start date for my new job: December 5th! Unfortunately, I also have a final date for my current job: December 2nd. That's right- I am quitting one job on Friday and starting the next one on Monday. I really hoped I would be able to take some time off in between, but things simply didn't work out that way. Oh well. I'm trying to think of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday as my between-jobs break.

Finally, as promised in the title, I have a few more NYC marathon photos to share. These are the professional ones:

I'm not sure where this is, but obviously its fairly close to the North Pole. Note Santa in the background.

Not sure about location here, either, though the leaves in the background make me suspect Central Park.

I'm pretty sure this is on the Queensboro Bridge.

Victory! I was so happy at this moment!

That's all for now! Stay tuned for my report on last weekend's race.

Side trips.

Hello, readers! According to my handy tracking app, the NYC marathon is 3 days, 20 hours, 56 minutes, and 10 seconds away! I will have more to say about that soon, but first I have some miscellaneous updates. I will tell you about these updates via the stories two trips I made this past weekend.

First- I got a new job! This has actually been in the works for several months, but I got an official "yes" about two weeks ago. Things are still in process, so I don't want to give too many details at the moment, but the gist is that I will be part of a small team providing a specific model of family therapy at several sites in the Baltimore area. I won't have an official start date until our whole team is assembled, but I think it will be sometime next month. I am very excited that I will actually be using my degrees soon!

My boyfriend Andrew also started a new job not too long ago, so we decided to celebrate both of our successes by going out to dinner last Saturday. At first, we were going to go the steakhouse route. Then, the temperatures plummeted and the DC metro area got hit with the freak early snowstorm known as #snoctober. Given the nasty weather, I lost all desire to put on a dress and we both decided that a pub would give us a better "first really cold day" atmosphere. The OpenTable app on my Iphone suggested a place called Hunter's Head Tavern. It looked awesome to me, so I suggested it to Andrew.

What I failed to realize is that Hunter's Head is down in VA wine country, a good 45 miles from Andrew's house in Alexandria. A less generous and adventurous guy would have put the brakes on this idea, but Andrew was game for making the drive. So we drove, through the oddly beautiful landscape of fall leaves and snow, until we got to the pub. Only when we pulled up the driveway did we realize that we had both passed Hunter's Head on previous VA wine country trips and really wanted to stop in. For that reason alone, we both agreed it was worth the drive. It didn't hurt that the food was delicious and the atmosphere was really fun.

The weather was awful for photos, so you will have to trust me when I tell you that we were standing in front of one of those old-fashioned red London phone booths.

  

Foxes featured prominently in the Hunter's Head decor.

The morning after our pub-travel adventure, Andrew and I woke up to find that the snow was gone and the sun had returned. This was excellent news, because Sunday was Marine Corps Marathon day! Late in the morning, Andrew and I went to Crystal City and joined my marathon coaches at mile 22 for the Annapolis Striders water stop. We were handing out several things, but the most popular turned out to be pretzels. They were so popular, in fact, that we were running out just a few minutes after Andrew and I arrived. Knowing the area, Andrew suggested that we make a 10-minute walk to a nearby Costco to get more. Thus began the Great Pretzel Trek.

The walk to Costco was complicated by the fact that we had to cross through the marathon itself twice. Once we pulled that off, Andrew realized that he had lost his Costco card. So, we waited about 30 mins in a crazy Saturday line so he could get a new one. Then, once we got into the actual store, we were told that they do not carry pretzels. I refused to believe it. What Costco doesn't have pretzels??? We walked through the entire store just to verify- indeed, no pretzels. We left in stunned disbelief and started walking toward a grocery store. About 10 minutes into that walk, we came across a Rite Aid and cleaned out their entire pretzel stock- 7 pounds! Then, we made the trek back to mile 22, crossed over the marathon again, and resumed our stations... only to learn that most of my friends from the training group had passed while we were gone. D'oh!

So, I had missed most of my friends, but the immediate gratitude from pretzel-hungry, exhausted marathoners made it all worthwhile. We had a great time handing out goodies and cheering people on. I was happy that Andrew had a chance to see what mile 22 of a marathon looks like- or, more importantly, what a middle-to-back-of-the-pack runner looks like at mile 22 of a marathon. Now, he is all ready for NYC!

As we drove home after the race, I checked FB and learned that all of my friends had amazing races. The first-timers finished strong and the veterans, Val and Noreen among them, all set new PR's. Congratulations, runners!

Footprints.

For the past few days, I've been working on a blog post about my upcoming NYC run and how it connects with my friends' fledgling church, St. Lydia's. I hope to have that post up later today. First, though, I need to offer a little background information, in the form of this story:

Regular readers of this blog have heard plenty about my friend Katie:

Katie and I after the VA Wine Country Half-Marathon, June 2011.

Katie was my classmate in the Pastoral Counseling department at Loyola and my partner in the "Marathon for Murray" fundraiser. Katie is also the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Like me, she grew up heavily involved in the Christian church. Thus, over the course of our lives, we have both become very familiar with the following "poem":

According to Wikipedia, the true origins and authorship of "Footprints" is unclear, but it may date back as far as the 1870's. Since then, enterprising Christians have found ways to slap this text on just about every kind of  product imaginable: framed plaques, quilts, pillows, jewelry, tote bags, mouse pads, mugs- the list goes on and on. I'm sure I've received at least 5 "Footprints"-themed gifts in my life, and I would wager that the majority of Christians (and plenty of non-Christians) can say the same thing. Whether they liked it or not, pretty much all of my Pastoral Counseling classmates knew this poem by heart.

Case in point:

Last Fall, a few weeks before our marathon, Katie and I were sitting in adjacent seats in Psychological Testing class. The topic of class that day was intelligence tests, and our professor was showing us sample items from a number of different tests. One of the tests featured a series of "spot the difference" puzzles. For example:

Got it? Look at the legs.

The whole class was having a great time studying the pictures and calling out the answers. The puzzles got progressively harder, until we got to one that stumped us all for a minute or two. Both sides of the picture showed two people- a man and a woman- walking along a beach. When none of us could spot the difference, the professor gave us a hint: "Look at the footprints." We looked. Sure enough, in the second picture, the man's footprints had disappeared. As soon as I got the answer, I yelled out "It was then that He carried her!" Immediately, the class split between people laughing hysterically and people who looked angry because I got to the joke first.

The week before the marathon, Katie and I exchanged little gifts as good luck charms. What did she get me? See below:

Look closely at the coin on the bottom left: On one side, it has a picture of footprints; on the other, it says "It was then that I carried you."

Nothing like a good "Footprints" joke to carry you through a hard class or a hard race!

My weekend with Irene.

In my last post, I complained about how Hurricane Irene resulted in my second consecutive year of not running the Annapolis 10-miler. Apparently, the universe decided I needed cheering up, because within a few minutes, I got two pieces of good news:

1) I am approved to take the MD state law exam for counseling licensure. This means that my application for an LGPG (Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor) license, which I submitted in late June, has been approved by the Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. Now, I take the law exam (the next date is in late September). Once I pass, I can actually be licensed! This is a long and often frustrating process, but it is actually happening! I might get to be a counselor before I forget how.

2) My professional Iron Girl photos got posted, and they are actually good! As a general rule, I am not a photogenic person, and nowhere is this more true than in race photos. I have never mastered the art of smiling at the photographer, or raising my arms in triumph. Instead, I tend to look like this:

This photo, from the 2010 Cold Turkey 10K, features several of my usual photo problems: grimace, squinting, double-chin, unflattering pose. I have many worse examples, but my self-esteem is not solid enough to post them.

Fortunately, I did better at Iron Girl. Not all the photos are great, but there are enough good ones that I paid to download them. Here are the best ones:

Bike shot #1: before I lost my number.

Bike shot #2: no number. Not sure how they knew this was me without it.

Run shot. I think this is close to the end.

Finish picture. I remember thinking "That's not going to be good" after they took this. Glad I was wrong!

After my flood of good news, I was able to approach the hurricane with a better attitude. I made all the necessary preparations, gathering flashlights, candles, non-perishable food, and, of course, booze:

Always have a flashlight ready so you can find your wine in the dark.

Unlike many of my Annapolis friends, who still don't have power, I wound up being over-prepared. Nothing exciting happened at my house on Saturday, until about 8:30 or 9pm. At that point, I still had power and was reading by a window when I heard a terrifying BOOM on my roof. A few seconds later, a big tree branch landed right outside the window where I was sitting. I stuck my head outside to investigate and saw that the tree branch was not nearly large enough to have made the sound. I looked around some more, but it was dark and I couldn't see anything.

Sunday morning, I woke up surprised to find that I still had power. Around 7am, I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I turned and looked out my kitchen window. Normally, this window shows a view of my neighbor's house. Sunday morning, all I saw were leaves. I had found the source of the BOOM. I walked outside and found this:

That's one branch of a very big tree. This branch alone is the size of a small tree.

The branch from the back.

 Miraculously, this branch managed to fall from the tree, hitting both my roof and my neighbors' house on the way down, without actually damaging anything!

A few minutes after I found this branch, my power went out. I called my parents and told them about the situation, and my mom told me that she and dad would be right over to help with the tree. I asked "How can you do that when I don't have power?," and my mom replied "That's okay. We'll bring the gas-powered chain saw." I hung up the phone, grateful for the help, but also wondering why my parents own more than one chain saw.

Once mom and dad arrived, we made quick work of the branch. After about an hour, we had two piles. The wood pile:

...and the leaf pile:

Then, a few hours after my parents went home, the power came back on. I never even had to light the candles. So, all in all, I was very lucky.

Today, I had one more bit of good fortune to soothe my A10 disappointment. My friend Ryan and his wife Bethany travel up from Atlanta every year to run the race. Their schedule is always packed, so seeing them is always a logistical challenge. Our original plan had been a rushed brunch right after the race. Ryan and Bethany didn't get the news about the race soon enough to change their travel plans, so they wound up in MD with a much freer schedule than usual. Today, we got to meet for a long and leisurely lunch in DC, which was probably much more pleasant than it would have been right after the race. We all agreed that 2012 will be our year to finally run together!

Dispatches from Staycation, #3 (the End)

I have a very exciting post-staycation story to tell later today. Before that, though, I want to report on the final results of my staycation. Here are a few photos from some of the big projects:

New bedding for my room. I also fixed my bed, replaced my broken TV, and moved all my school stuff to my office.

New shelf for the kitchen. Everthing on here had been on the refrigerator, the main table, a smaller table, and the floor. This is much better.

New tray for the kitchen table, replacing a faded wicked tray I had for the past few years.

Re-organized shelves (the brown ones) and a new shelf. These contain all of my grad school books and many photo albums. The two boxes of photos on the top used to be four boxes. I still need to purge things from those magazine holders.

Still in progress: finding some way to organize/display these three boxes full of random memorabilia.

Re-organized shelf of academic work (some of it going back to high school!). Some of these binders are newly added, including my last semester at Loyla and random things like my grad school applications.

On Friday and Saturday, I had to devote most of my time to writing my sermon (see previous post), resisting the temptations of unfidnished staycation projects and this very engaging book (The Secret History by Donna Tartt). It was challenging.

All in all, a productive week. There are still a few projects to be done, but I do feel much better coming home everyday to a neater and more organized home. My marathon and tri training continued during staycation week as well, so I'll write a training update soon!