The Hurricane and My Weekend Recap

Before I get into my weekend, I wanted to touch on Hurricane Sandy.  Charlotte was basically untouched by it, save for cold temperatures and a little drizzle last week, but I do have family members that were directly impacted.  My brother lives in Hoboken, NJ, and he, my sister-in-law, and one-year old niece were at their condo when the storm hit.  When I first checked in with him Monday, they were all just home together waiting it out, but by Tuesday, things had taken a more serious turn.  I didn't get the details til later Tuesday night, but eventually he was able to contact me to tell me how things were going.  Overnight, my brother was up almost every hour to check the water level in their lobby, which reached about four feet.  They are on the second level, and he was worried the water would reach their apartment.  Thankfully, it didn't.  Their parking garage also sits on the ground level of their place, so once the water level receded on Tuesday, they were able to check out the damage and see that their car is most likely totaled from water damage.  They, like so many others, lost power at their apartment.  They had a good amount of food and water, but with my one-year old niece they still worried and felt that getting to somewhere safer was a priority.  Word was that the water needed to be pumped out of Hoboken before the power could be turned back on, and this process might take about six days.  Luckily, my sister-in-law's family was able to come get them and take them to south Jersey for the rest of the week.  Last night I talked to my brother and power has been restored at their building, so he was on his way back to check everything out.  He also spoke of wanting to get back up there to help others in some way too- to try and donate clothing, water, or food if he could.  I spent a good amount of time in the past week watching all the news footage of the events.  I donated to the Red Cross, and also made a clothes donation to a friend's family in need.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  Anyway, my heart goes out to those impacted.  I really can't even imagine even what my brother and family have been through, let alone people who have lost love ones, homes, and even entire towns.  It's really terrible.

I have to say, about the marathon, I am conflicted and feel as many others do- it was probably the right decision, but made at the wrong time.  I can't even imagine traveling all the way to NY, picking up my race bib and getting excited at the expo, and then finding out a race I'd trained months for was called off.  That's terrible and heartbreaking in it's own way.  If you've trained for a marathon, you know the amount of time, suffering, and just general effort that goes into it.  For me it was kind of all I thought about for the months leading up to mine, and I just can't fathom throwing that away.  That's why despite the devastation and obvious need to cancel the race, I still really feel for the runners and think that people that haven't trained for a marathon don't quite understand what those runners are feeling right now and should not be angry with them for feeling the loss.  If it were me, I would definitely do as many NYCM runners have done and find an alternate marathon to run so that my training was used.  It's just a terrible situation all around though.

Anyway, speaking of races, Saturday morning I headed to the Rock and Read 5K, to spectate at a slew of my runner friends participated.

(There's a picture with me and Tanya in it as well if you check Kelly's blog).

I was able to spectate with Tanya, who I have not seen since summer and is now 38 weeks pregnant.  We had a good time discussing our pregnancies while the runners were out on their 3.1 mile loop.  Everyone did great!  Tanya's speedy husband was the first to come barreling through of our group.

Next up were Kelly and Michelle.

And then came Caitlin and Cindi.  This was Cindi's first 5k and she accomplished her goal of not walking at all, despite the reportedly hilly course.

I was proud of all my friends, and a little jealous.  I'll have to find a comeback 5K to do in the spring once I get my bearings after the baby is born :)

A bunch of us followed up the race with breakfast at Bad Daddy's.  Though I've been a bazillion times, breakfast is one meal I have never had there.  I got an omelet with cheddar, applewood bacon, tomato, and spinach, with potatoes, and OJ, which went unphotographed- sorry.

After breakfast I decided to check out a local maternity consignment shop I had heard about, called The Womb.  I scored a cute shirt.  I also did a mall run and found a maternity sweater at Gap Maternity, along with a few Christmas presents for some of my family.  We're doing Christmas early this year, so I need to get a jump on my Christmas shopping!

I was going to spend the afternoon with a little downtime, but then opted to check out a local festival with Sara, her husband, and little Elena.  I again neglected to take any pictures, but it was basically a little street fair with food, drinks, and assorted booths.  I scored some free dog food for Clyde, a Publix giftcard, and a chocolate covered strawberry.

Last but not least, I went to Cowfish for dinner with Jen, Michelle, and Dion, along with spouses, and some strategically placed "dates" for Jen, which kept us entertained all night.  We got the always delicious Crab Rangoon dip and some edame to start.  For dinner, I opted for cooked sushi.  I have only had it a couple times since I got pregnant and it seems to fix my cravings for sushi.  This was was particularly special because the roll is named after Dion (she's a TV news anchor).

A closer look at at the roll...  The Neon Dion Roll

Tempura coconut shrimp, kani and English cucumber roll coated in crispy tempura flakes. Topped with fresh papaya, avocado and Cajun marmalade, and dusted with coconut flakes to finish

So delicious!  We didn't stop there though, we ordered two desserts, which was cool because in my many trips to Cowfish, I have never had dessert there.

We got the Mousse is Loose, which was chocolate heaven...

And the Very Berry Tall Cake... which is lemon poundcake layered with berry and ice cream goodness.

The Mousse is Loose was my favorite of the two, but both were awesome.  The group I was with was truly hilarious.  That's the hardest I have laughed in a while.  Hope the baby didn't mind!

Anyway, I had a great weekend, and after all the action I partook in on Saturday, Sunday was definitely more leisurely.  Hope you had a good weekend too!

Rock & Read 5K {Giveaway}

In my last post I mentioned I miss running.  I even left out wine and beer and ONLY mentioned running, so you know it's serious.  I know I'm overly paranoid and probably could have done some running during my pregnancy, but after what I've been through, I just wasn't willing to take chances on anything I thought could potentially affect my pregnancy at all.  I've been a consistent walker, and I'm fine with that while I'm pregnant.  Running will be there when I have a healthy baby, and I hope to get back to it when I get the chance.

One of the things I miss the most about running, is the races.  When Jon emailed me about the Rock and Read 5K happening on November 3rd in Charlotte, I knew I wanted to be involved.  I'm an avid reader, and obviously I love to run, so this race combines two of my passions.  All proceeds benefit the 2012 Friends effort to fund raise for book collections at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library.  Also?  The race features music at each mile, food, and drinks and promises a festival atmosphere. This sounds like my kind of race :)

I'm not going run myself.  My plan is to spectate, because I have a lot of friends running it, and as I found out when I went to the Savannah Marathon, spectating can be really fun.  I thought about walking it, but honestly, I just love RUNNING races, and didn't know if I'd really enjoy walking it as much as I love running races.  I think it's a better idea for me to come and cheer my friends on and celebrate with them after the race.

Even though I'm not going to run, you CAN.  Jon has graciously given me a race entry to give away!  All you need to do is comment on this post, and I'll pick a winner on Friday, October 26th.

Good luck!!

Charlotte Racefest and The Aftermath

This recap is really late, I know.  I spent most of yesterday getting organized, packing, and driving to Folly Beach, SC, where I'm currently sitting witnessing a lot of this...

That would be my cute niece :)

Anyway, to back up, Saturday morning I awoke at slightly after 5am to prep for my 10K.  The last 10K I ran was back in 2010- the Hilton Head Turkey Trot.  I knew going into this 10K that I basically had almost zero hope of a PR because that 10K was during marathon training, I was in much better shape, and I wasn't contending with any injuries.  Oh, and it was a flat out-and-back course.

Really, until Friday, I hadn't made up my mind about whether I'd even run the Racefest 10K, because of my ankle issues after my 5 miler last Sunday.  I'd spent the week feeling like my whole left leg felt off and the only run I'd done since the 5 miler was one mile on Wednesday night that also felt crappy.  I had also felt some hamstring tenderness all week, so I knew this race might be a bad idea.  I decided to give it a shot though.

Saturday morning, I got to South Park for the race and picked up my packet.  I found Jen and Kelly via text before the race.

Jen and Kelly were on the fence about which race they were doing- the 10K or the half marathon, even though they were both registered for the half.  Jen decided to do the half and Kelly decided to drop down to the 10K at the last minute (she ditched her chip so she wouldn't throw anything off), since she's had some hip flexor issues.  This ended up being awesome for me because Kelly ended up running the entire race with me, which really helped me.  In fact, the entire distance really felt like no big deal- it was just a leisurely run with Kelly.  We talked and kept each other going the whole time.  Around mile 3-4 I had a little bit of discomfort in my left leg (various places), but it wasn't enough for me to need to stop, I just kept my easy pace going.  Kelly motivated me up a couple hills near the end, and before we knew it we had the finish in sight and were crossing the line together.

My time was 1:02:16 (chip time), almost 7 minutes slower than my PR, but you know what, I was really happy with it considering the year I've had and being semi-injured last week.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that's the longest distance I've done since my marathon!  My friends will tell you that I was pretty giddy on my runner's high after, and it kept me smiling for hours.  This is why I run :)

The race was followed up with breakfast at Flying Biscuit. 

I went with the bacon and eggs breakfast with poached eggs, potatoes, turkey bacon, and of course the biscuit.  So delicious after my 6.2 miles.





After breakfast I headed to Trader Joe's to stock up on stuff for Folly Beach, then headed home for a while to pack.  This was interrupted by my friends forcing me encouraging me to accompany them to Menchie's for froyo.  I couldn't say no...



Cindi, Caitlin, Kelly, Sara, and I enjoyed heaping cups of the cold creamy stuff with countless candy toppings.  It's a wonder I even had room for dinner later!

Clyde and Cindi's daughter had fun examining each other.

It was great to see the girls.  With all the babies, moving, work, and busy stuff we all have going on, it's been harder to find time to get together lately.  All in all, a great race and great Saturday in Charlotte! 

More to come on my Folly Beach adventures...  :)



Tweeting And Trotting

Happy belated Thanksgiving!  I'm back in Hilton Head to spend the weekend with my family.

I took a half day on Wednesday, headed home to pack up, and gobbled down this salad of spinach, goat cheese, pear, walnuts, and vanilla balsamic, before hitting the road for the 3+ hour drive to Hilton Head.

Traffic wasn't to terrible, and I arrived in time for dinner with my fam, which was a nice bean pasta soup my mom made.

And some easy cresent rolls on the side.

Oh and we got into the pumpkin cheesecake early.

We turned it fairly early because we had to be up early on Thanksgiving for my Turkey Trot!  After being indecisive about running and racing ALL YEAR long, I decided to go ahead and do this race, since I had a great time running it last year.  Last year I was already entrenched in marathon training and ran the 10K, but this year I opted for the 5K, deciding I wasn't quite ready for 6+ miles just yet.  3.1 sounded fine though.

I had the typical pre-race breakfast.

It was much colder this year, so I was kind of bundled up pre-race and cold in my shorts!

My parents were good sports for hanging out in the cold with me!

I think the cofee helped!  We amused ourselves by watching many people ready to run in costume.

We loved this guy in the full turkey suit!

I really had no plan for this race.  I know my running has been sporatic all year, and looking at my only other two 5K times, I estimated I'd fall somewhere in between 33 and 27 minutes- my other two finish times.  I guessed I'd finish in about 30 minutes...  I really didn't care.  I actually forgot my Garmin in my jacket, so I didn't even time myself.  Really, I was just out to have fun and get a 3 mile run in before consuming mass amounts of Thanksgiving food so I didn't put any pressure on myself to PR.

I underestimated myself.  I felt pretty good on the out and back course, and just ran as fast as I was comfortable with.  I ended up finishing with a gun time of 27:33, which is a 5K PR for me (my previous best is 27:48)!  I also love that this race gives medals!  Fun to add another one to my race bling :)

After some water and a small hunk of bagel, we snapped some quick pics with the blow-up turkey, and headed home for breakfast.

My mom whipped up a frittata with goat cheese, spinach, pepper, and mushrooms.  We had that and leftover crescent rolls with Nutella, and some fruit.

While eating we saw in the paper that Old Navy was open, so we headed over there to check it out after breakfast.  I got a pair of jeans and a pair of running crops for pretty cheap!

Mini-shopping trip done, we headed home to start the turkey/stuffing prep.  A little story behind my turkey, I won it from EarthFare (Huntersville) on Twitter!  It was a fresh, organic, veg fed fella.  Thank you EarthFare!

Clyde looked on with interest as my mom cleaned it.

Once the bird was prepped and in the oven, we decided to head out on a walk on the plantation trails to enjoy the beautiful weather.  It was in the low 60s, sunny, and generally gorgeous.

I love these bridges over the marsh to the island in the plantation, gorgeous...

About 3 miles covered, we headed back and actually changed into bathing suits to go to the pool for a dip!  The pool is heated, and it was a little chilly, but not too bad!

Mom and I finished making dinner after our dip.  The EarthFare turkey came out great!

We made turkey, stuffing, sweet potato, mashed potato, mac and cheese, green beans with almonds, and cranberry (from the can- love that stuff).

With more pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

Thanksgiving is by far Clyde's favorite holiday.  He knows the word "turkey" because it's his favorite food.  He made out like a bandit.

A great day was had by all, even Greg, who was stuck in Houston and didn't make it home.  He was invited to a friend's house for some food and had a good time too.  We're planning on a mini Thanksgiving of our own next week.

Hope your Thanksgiving was as great as mine!  I'm thankful for all of you who read and support me, you guys rock!



Savannah From The Sidelines

Saturday morning alarms went off at 4am at my parents' house in Hilton Head.  Kelly, Brad, and I scrambled to make coffee, eat, get dressed, and prep for the marathon.  By 4:50, we were all in the car, and after a brief run back into the house for my phone (that would have been bad), we hit the road for Savannah.

Since I'm fairly familiar with Savannah, I knew that Savannah Mall was quite a ways from the start and that we'd need to build in a lot of extra time just for the bus ride to the start.  When we got close to the mall there was a ton of traffic going in to park, but we eventually made it in and then walked to the buses. 

I actually met a really nice guy on the bus and we chatted about various races we'd done, our dogs, and Savannah on the way over, so it was a pleasant ride.  When we arrived I told him and his wife good luck in their races and headed to the porto potties with Kelly and Brad. 

Mission bathroom accomplished, we headed to the start on Bay Street and then decided to duck into a nearby hotel to stay warm for a bit.  Once inside, we looked around and then I spotted Allison!  Random!  She and her boyfriend, Ryan, came over and pictures were taken.

Excuse my desheviled look.  It was early.

When it got close to start time, we headed outside.  Kelly was in corral ten, so she got into the corral then waited on the side near the fence so that Brad and I could take many pictures of her hang out with her. 

At some point there was some shuffling and Kelly ended up in corral nine, but decided to just stay there.  We waited about 5-10 minutes til her corral finally crossed the start line, then she was off! 

A few minutes later we saw Allison in her corral.

This worked out great because Ryan was right there on the sidelines too, so Brad, Ryan, and I were able to hang out while the girls ran.

Once they were both on their way, we made our way towards mile 8, which we'd picked to be a good spectator location.  We decided to get warm and get some breakfast at J Christopher's, which definitely was participating in the marathon spirit.

I got a hot chocolate, which was a little too sweet and had more whipped cream than I knew what to do with on it.

I also got some pumpkin pancakes, but only could finish about half.

The Guys!

After chowing down, we headed over to Mile 8 to watch for the girls. 

A bunch of people in funny attire ran by...

I don't know how people run in stuff like that!

Fairly soon after we got to our spot, we saw Kelly!

See her in the back, just right of the middle with the white hat?

She looked strong!

A few minutes later Ryan got this text from Allison, which cracked me up!

Nice Allison!

Soon after her text we saw her come running up.

Allison wanted lip balm from Ryan.

Lips lubed, she headed out on her way.

With both of them past us, we decided to head to the finish area at Forsyth Park.  On the way we past this table of GU.

Soon we arrived at the park and found a spot in the grass to hang out.

We were only there a couple minutes when I turned around and saw Tina!

Tina had just run the half marathon, her first, and killed it with a time of 1:50!

We chatted for a bit before her and her husband moved on, and Brad, Ryan, and I collapsed in the grass to wait for Kelly and Allison.  To kill time, the guys explained the rules of football to me, which some how I still haven't grasped even though I'm in my 30s!  I think I might have a better understanding now though!  We also tracked Kelly using Brad's phone and Ryan's map to see where she was on the course. 

We had lost touch with her weren't sure where she was.

After a while we decided to head to the finish line and prepare for the girls to come across it.  We knew around the 4 hour mark we should be on the look out.

We cheered a ton of people on as they finished their last .2 miles.  I was excited when I saw Meghann pass me!  She looked happy and strong!

We were worried about Kelly since we'd lost touch and the last thing we'd heard from her was a text message that she wasn't feeling well.  Then we saw her!

Her time was 4:38, which is 13 minutes faster than her Disney Marathon time!

Brad and I split from Ryan to go to her and found her under a tree in rough shape.

She told us she'd had shortness of breath and foot pain and had struggled through much of the race.  :(

After a few minutes of Brad and I telling her how awesome she did, she perked up and we took some victory pictures of her.

I liked the medal, it has the Forsyth fountain on it.

Before leaving Forsyth Park, we got in one last photo.

My feelings about the marathon were mixed.  There were times when I wanted to be a bigger part of it and be running in it.  But part of me did feel like I WAS a part of it, and that because I'm a runner and a marathoner, I was still part of everything because I had been through it.  I actually had a great time at this race and would definitely spectate again.  I also do want to run in another major race someday, and a big race like this one would be really cool.  I noticed a big difference in the size and energy of this race than some of the smaller ones I've run in, and it would be really cool to be a part of that.  For now, I'm going to keep trying to start a family, but someday I'll hopefully be back at running long races again.

To read Kelly's recap, click here.