Half Marathon

Finally, I've signed up for a half marathon and actually run it. See...I have a little history with the half marathon.

Last year, I tried to sign up for the Myrtle Beach marathon, but it was sold out. Sold out! After I'd trained and was up to 10 miles. Then, I signed up for the ING in Atlanta, kept training but ended up with a ruined left knee. So, I couldn't do it. This year, I signed up for Myrtle Beach again, but it snowed. At the beach. Enough said.

So finally, this weekend I ran a half. Finally. The Columbia Half Marathon. It was a bit interesting. Here's a rundown:

Will dropped me off at the start, and I hightailed it to find the port a potties which are a race staple. I looked and looked and saw none. NONE! Then I saw a long snaking line of women coming out of a bathroom at Finley park. So what should have been like 30 potties was 3. Really!? Yes, really.

SO the race starts, and there's no excitement for a while. The race website said that there'd be water every 2 miles. No water until mile 3, and then only at 6, 9, 12. I'm a running nerd and wear a camelbak so this wasn't a problem for me. But had I depended on water every 2, I would have been a mess. In tears.

The other misconception about the race was that it was advertised as having "live entertainment" throughout the course. Let me tell you what that consisted of...a B106.7 bus at mile 3 and then again at mile 12 and a police car radio. The most AMAZING live entertainment I've ever experienced.

Oh wait, one more. There were mile markers through mile 6, then none until mile 11. WHAT!? Yea, seriously. We ran 5 miles with no idea where we were. So much for trying to stick to our pace.

All in all...none of this matters because we ran and finished not at all off pace, but I just know that so many races are so cool and this one was so silly! Still counts though so that's worth it all.

Oh, and there were 15 port a potties at the end of the race. That was helpful!

It's a Porch

This weekend, Will's been in the process of making two of these steps which are awesome.



Next up, these two piles of stone will become a pond.

More Progress

The deck is taking shape! Here are a few shots to show the latest progress.

Progress

This was the progress from last weekend on the new deck. Holy gravel!




Then there is this weekend. The weather was awesome which made for a very productive day.



Tomorrow...Will and Jason will do something with this load.

Half Marathon Dud

This weekend was supposed to be the half marathon I've been training for. Of course, in SC this year we are actually observing winter, which has meant repeating threats of snow. In Columbia, these threats have not come to fruition until this weekend. The race was in Myrtle Beach. They were calling for snow there too. But why would it EVER snow at the beach, just not possible, right? Wrong.

Headed down Friday afternoon. Took a half day from work and everything. Went to the expo, no cancellation announcement, just a 30 minute delay. Really, 30 minutes? I had some fun spinning the Chick Fil A wheel only to win a free small coke. I did get a couple cool stickers because I'm a nerd who likes stickers. They really are cool though. One says, "In my dreams, I'm Kenyan" and the other, "I run for wine." They were buy 1 get 1 so really a steal, right?? But both are true...I am much speedier in my dreams, and I usually do reward myself for running over 10 with a glass or two of wine. So, I love my stickers. If you are interested in stickers, go here: http://www.onemoremile.net/

So, after sticker buying, we go check in and hit the local steakhouse to order plain chicken and a baked potato, the meal my sister and I have decided is the perfect night-before-a-run meal. We did sneak in some chocolate cake, but whatever. So the night progresses with snow starting to fall, surely this would stop, right? Wrong again. At 10:30, across the TV screen rolls the announcement that the MB marathon has been canceled, not to be rescheduled. WHAT!? Yep, seriously. Apparently, the decision was made by city officials, not because they were concerned about runners slipping on ice but because of the possibility of drivers losing control and hitting runners. Okay, so maybe this was a smart thought? I don't know.

So...this should have led to us heading right out to mourn our sadness with beer or something, but it didn't. Instead, Lifetime and Will and Grace would have to do. Headed home the next morning. Ran 11 today to attempt making up for the canceled race and rewarded myself with 2 glasses of wine and some Godiva truffles tonight.

Boo for snow at the beach. Boo for races being canceled.

Luckily, there's another half here in Columbia in two weeks. Will be there for sure!

Cupcake

The other day I baked 72 cupcakes, but only 48 turned out to be edible. What have I learned? You should always keep a box of Betty Crocker mix on hand. Always.

I recently bought this book, Baking Illustrated


It's supposedly THE baking book. It definitely is cool and has all the basic baking recipes you would ever need plus some. There's also an explanation about the "science" behind the baking, which is good stuff to know I guess.

So I made the yellow cupcake recipe from the book. It was good, but I didn't love it. Hence, Betty Crocker and the 24 cupcakes that I tossed in the trash can.

I want to own a cupcake store one day. Obviously I won't use Betty Crocker box mix for the biz, but in a crisis, what other options are there really? I don't know any, so I'm sticking with Betty!

Food Blogs=Blogaid

As someone who is slightly addicted to several food blogs (that I check multiple times a day from my iphone), I think this is super super cool. Check it out.

http://blogaidforhaiti.blogspot.com/

Loser

I have majorly mixed feelings about Biggest Loser. This is the first year I've actually watched this show. I know right now as I write this that EVERYONE on the planet is watching Lost, but I'm not. Instead I'm riding an emotional roller coaster thanks to the weight loss show.

So here's why.

The show starts with these two teams who got kicked off coming back after 30 days of working out at home. One team lost 63 lbs. and the other lost 75ish. Fabulous, right? So they talk about how proud they are of themselves and how hard they've worked, and I realize that I am weeping. WEEPING! Over weight loss? And not even my own weight loss. I don't know what my problem is. I need help.

The show moves on to be somewhat boring. Working out, challenges, blah blah, whatever, giving me time to pull myself together. Then comes one of their product endorsements. This week it's the Yoplait Smoothie kits. Bob walks in to find a couple of the people on the show making a smoothie before their workout. I've actually tried these smoothie things, and they are good, but for some reason I find this annoying. Here's how it went down:

Bob strolls into the kitchen, "Hey guys, what are you up to?" as IF the producer didn't set that up.

Weight loss people respond, "Oh just making a healthy snack, Bob! A smoothie!"

"A smoothie? Ohhhh, the Yoplait Smoothies?" Bob says, turning the package over to check the nutrition facts pretending that he doesn't already know that they have 220 calories!

"Yea, Bob! They are so quick and easy."

"Wow! Only 220 calories? What a great snack!? Look it's all prepared for you and you just add milk and blend!? And it's got real yogurt with live and active cultures!?" Bob exclaimed.

"Yea, and they are good too! We can't wait to workout!"

Okay in reflecting on this...a couple thoughts:

1. OMG.

2. Live and active cultures?

3. WHY the heavy product endorsements? Last week (I can't believe I've watched this show so many times!!!), Jillian talked about how storing your fresh fruits in Ziplocs is a great idea, etc., etc. On and on. Really!? What a brilliant idea! I would've never come up with that one on my own.

4. When's the last time you drank MILK before working out and felt good mid-workout? Seriously? Dairy before a workout? Not a great idea.


I can't stop asking questions and writing in all caps. I apologize.

All right, now these girls on the show have just run for 5 minutes on a treadmill. That's a first for them and I love running, so I'm back to weeping. Bob has decided they should now do a little yoga, and he's saying encouraging things about changing your life. Sob!

Maybe the next product should be Kleenex?