No Sticker Yet

So I did get diverted at Mile 11 to the half-marathon finish (due to the tornado rolling in to Nashville).  My time was 2:22, which is my slowest half-marathon time.  But considering I didn't know whether I was running a half or a full until Mile 11, it is what it is.  Found out the Apalachicola marathon in October is basically 26 miles uphill.  So now I'm looking at OBX (see countdown, right), which is already a special place as it's where I married the cute husband.  That gives me three weeks until training officially starts...

well, all right then

From the marathon website:

Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon Weather Contingency Plan:

After consultation with all the involved city authorities, due to the weather forecast in the Nashville area which is projecting severe afternoon storms, the MARATHON will most likely be subject to an abbreviated timeline.

At this time, there is a contingency plan to limit the marathon to 4:30 and under*. Any runner who is behind this pace (10:20 per mile) at mile 11.2 will be directed to complete the half marathon course. This timeline may change based on what actual race day weather pattern.

While we know that this will be a disappointment to some (as it is to us); if implemented, this plan is in the best interests and safety of all involved, especially the participants and volunteers. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

*Time based on chip time, not gun time.

Tornadothon

Forecast:  Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a tornado with some storms.

As the cute husband said, next time I blog, it'll be from Oz!

Nashville Forecast, 3 days out

High: 76 degrees, T-storms.

Running in rain is fine, but I don't typically make it a habit to run in thunderstorms. This could be interesting.

Bostonian Pimp

I'm sure it's obvious, but Bostonian Pimp is the name of the shrimp pizza I had at Hearth last night.  It was good, but my favorite is still Jessica Says Eat Your Vegetables (butternut squash on pizza??  brilliant!).  Anyway, I mention the pizza by name here because the 114th running of the Boston Marathon is about to begin.  Very exciting!  Unless I get competely immersed in work this morning, I'll try to follow the race and at the very least keep up with how Steve Runner is doing. 

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Nashville Forecast, 5 days out:  High of 82 degrees, scattered thunderstorms

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I bought a race outfit yesterday (and some Espresso Love Gu!) at Sports Authority.  I'm very excited about my first running skirt!  I never played tennis, so I missed out on sports with cute outfits (rugby... not as girly as you might think).  Time to get going.  Happy Patriots' Day!

sloppy, shorter, stuff, and soon

sloppy:
I'm still struggling to "eat clean" and avoid bad stuff in food.  I bought my girl Tosca Reno's workout book this week, and it has nice pictures, but I could have saved my money.  I do highly recommend her cookbook though (see left) and while I'm at it I recommend The New Rules of Lifting for Women.  Anyway, the point here is I made turkey/black bean sloppy joes this week, and they were quite tasty and a hit with at least one jimmy and one adult (me, obviously).  The other two people in the house are hopelessly picky.
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shorter:
Got my hair cut and highlighted today.  So far no one's mistaken me for Kate Gosselin (today anyway).

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stuff:
Oooh, new favorite podcast:  Stuff You Should Know (blog is here).  After my run today, I know all about Tourette Syndrome ("Bob Saget!"), Zoos:  Good or Bad (answer: bad with a very few exceptions that do not include Zoo Atlanta), and How McDonald's Works (although I had already seen Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation, so I already knew more than I ever wanted to).
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soon:
See the counter to the right. (Bob Saget!)

Nashville Forecast, One Week Out

Sunny and high of 80 degrees, i.e., completely the opposite of what they were predicting yesterday.

Forecast for Nashville, 8 days out

High:  72 degrees
Showers
Precip:  60%

Oh goody.

getting ahead of myself

watching:  Parenthood
feeling:  happy not to have daughters

So I've narrowed down my fall marathon choices to either the mountains or the beach.  There's one basically in my hometown that's small but with rave reviews... Ridge to Bridge Marathon  And then there's one in the town with my favorite name (Apalachicola)... Running for the Bay! (exclamation point included)

How to decide?

weekend recap

So I took the jimmies to the hometown for a weekend visit to cap off a lazy Spring Break.

The good:  I spent some quality time on the parents' deck enjoying a perfect day yesterday after an 8.5-mile ("short-long") run reading my new favorite book about a fellow Smithie who rowed across the Atlantic (see left).  Through a hurricane.  This chick seriously rocks.

The bad:  I got a speeding ticket in Chesnee, which could have been a lot worse.  I got really lucky.  I think I'm going to suck this one up and pay the fine and accept my 2 points.  This is actually the first moving violation to stick in 21+ years of driving with a lead foot, so I can't really complain.

The ugly:  During the good (see above), I may have taken a little nap and expanded my retard sunburn from last weekend.  I'm hoping the red will spread and turn to tan by the time the pool opens.  It could happen.

Team Edward

watching: Cubs @ Braves (J-Hey!)
feeling: way too full from Taco Mac

Did I say I was going to blog every day until race day?  Did you actually believe me?  Well, the good news is I haven't missed any runs despite not blogging about it.  Alas, I was hoping to go to my second dance class last night but ended up working until 7:30 instead.  My girl Lori is in Ohio anyway, so I may as well wait until she gets back to try again.

So there's not much going on with me.  I would let the cute husband share his own news, but that will never happen.  So here's the good and the bad:

First, the good news:  the cute husband is officially a pledge.  Let the hazing begin.
And the bad:  he doomed himself whilst refereeing last night.  I'm trying to talk him into getting a Hoveround (which I am so going to borrow). 

On the bright side, he's finally getting his 5 servings of veggies.  (If you can count holding a bag of frozen peas on one's knee.)

and by sugar-free, I meant not counting 3 packets of Gu and 1 post-run 20-ounce Coke

Well, I did it.  26+ miles are in the plugger, as the cute husband would say if he'd said anything this decade.  I have a retard sunburn (half of the back of my upper arms, back of my calves) to show for it too.  Now I'm just trying to stay awake for the duke game.  Or at least until tip-off.  Okay, it may not happen.  There was a recovery Fruity Pebbles beer and then a Harlem Globetrotters beer, so I'm fading fast (except for the sunburned parts, of course).

sugar-free

Today is Day One of my 21-day No Sugar Challenge.  Not sure why I decided to start this 2 days before Easter.  But here's 146 reasons maybe why.  Or maybe it's just because the jimmies get mad when I steal their candy. 

Did I mention 26 miles tomorrow?  Oy vey.