The Hills Are Alive ...

… with my burning thighs.

Those would be the bluegrass hills of Lexington, Kentucky, where I completed the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon. The rolling hills of Lexington are quite lovely – if you’re riding past them in your car. Trekking up and down them, and up and down them, and up and down them for 13.1 miles – they aren’t quite as lovely. Not that I was looking at them. I was mostly cajoling my brain to convince my thighs that we could make it up the next hill. Here's an idea of the ups and downs of it all:

Elevation Profile

1043 ft.

960 ft.

876 ft.

793 ft.

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It was a lovely morning for a wog – a little cool, but I wore my race long-sleeved tech shirt for the race. Unfortunately for any spectators (and my official race pictures), the shirt was a snug fit, and no match for my more-than-ample midsection. In other words, it inched its way up my belly to where it looked like I was running preggers. Whatever – at some point I have got to come to terms with my body shape so that I will do something about it. Today may just have been that point!

Anyway, the race was a good one. Beautiful weather, great volunteers and support, and a horseshoe for a medal at the finish. I saw Skinny Emmie along the way and the nine-year-old boy who finished in 1 hour and 47 minutes (Just for the record, I did not finish anywhere close to that time, unless you are counting my half-half marathon time. I did manage to beat the 8-year-old girl who finished in 3 hours and 27 minutes). I did not get picked up along the way, nor was I the last person in. My left hip tried to go wonky on me at Mile 8, but I kept going and it gave up and quit its wonkifying. The worst was when at Mile 11, my left ankle tried to twist sideways. Luckily for me, it only did a half-twist, and I managed to finish on two feet. I got to see horses and foals and riders and lots of fences. It was a great morning, and Steve was there waiting for me at the finish, where in spite of all the ups and downs, I posted the best time I've had in quite awhile (which is still SLOW, you nosybodies!).

It's been a great weekend, and I am just a bit sore and tired, but in a good way - whatever that means!

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Today's blessings: Half marathon and finish time; Big Mac post-race; beautiful day for a race and a road trip; family time when we got back home; Krogering with Molly; Maribeth back home after two weeks in Cuba

Two Days, Two States, Two Races

This morning, Steve and I did the First Annual Team Emmett Courage to Conquer 5K. I entered it because Susanna sent out an email asking people to do it. Steve did it because I said I was doing it. In the end, we all did it. It was a great race for a great cause, and a beautiful day for a wog.

After finishing, Steve and I headed home for a quick shower, loaded the car and headed for Lexington, Kentucky, for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon and 5K (I'm doing the former and Steve's doing the latter). I'm doing the race because several months ago I "won" a free entry (when will I learn my lesson with "free"?).

I've had my doubts about this race, For one thing, it's small - around 800 runners. I like races with tens of thousands of runners - it improves my odds of not being dead last. With this number of runners, I felt like there was a good chance that it would be 799 fast runners finishing in 90 minutes, and then me finishing in 3 1/2 hours.

For another thing, there was no mention on the website about pace times or a time limit for the half. From my experience, most small races are created for fast runners - and they make it pretty clear that if your shoes aren't on fire by the time you're finishing (from running so fast), then you just better not even darken the city limits. I became concerned enough about the pace/time limit that I emailed the race director. He was very kind to email me back with the information that "There is no time limit for our half-marathon. Walkers and runners of all paces are definitely welcome! Just FYI, last year, the official timing stopped around 4 hours - but most walkers aren't concerned about an "official time" anyway." Sounds like my kind of race.

So it seemed like I was going to do another half-marathon. Then I started reading about Skinny Emmie. She's doing the half, on her own terms, and has raised over $2600 for Parkinson's research in memory of her mom. I contributed to her fund raising efforts and ended up winning a bracelet - truly an unexpected treat from an unexpected source!

Tomorrow morning I will be out at the race start, hoping to finish 13.1 more miles. I'm doing it with nobody I know, yet I feel that I'm doing it with friends. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but however long it takes - it will be just fine. In fact, I think the back of the race shirt says it best - You Run Your Race. And I think I just will.

Two Days, Two States, Two Races - both memorable for supporting great causes and wogging with friends, both old and new. What more could I hope from a weekend?

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Today's blessings: 5K-ing it with Susanna and Steve; beautiful day for a road trip to Kentucky and its beautiful scenery; half-marathon shirt; Maribeth arriving back in the states

April 1

Today is April Fool's Day. And it has certainly been an April foolish day. Let me expound ...

I started the day off at Butt Camp and managed not to faint, fall down, or freak out. A good start to the day, right?

Then I came home to prepare my breakfast staple of brown rice. The recipe is simple - put rice and water in pan, bring to a boil, cover and turn to low, and wait 45 minutes. Today after about 15 minutes, I smelled a bit of burning. I went to investigate and found my rice burning up, apparently from my skipping the step that required turning the pan down to low. It was a mess and the smell is still in the air.

So, after a substitute breakfast, I began what would be a series of nappettes (naps lasting 5 minutes or less) during the day. It's been a busy week and my sleep patterns have been terrible, so I need the nappettes.

Meanwhile, Maribeth (who is in Cuba visiting Mathieu) had bought a bedroom set on Craigslist and told the current owners that I would come by and pick it up. Through a series of geometric and algabraic calculations, I decided that none of our vehicles would be sufficient to haul the furniture, so I booked a UHaul van. But I needed to pick it up in 15 minutes. But Steve was out having coffee with Dewey. So I texted and called Molly, who came and took my smoky self to UHaul and I got the van and brought it home.

Anyhoo, by this time I needed a shower, since I smelled like I had just smoked a carton of Pall Malls. Also, I wanted to smell that fresh grandma smell for when Lindley (who is feeling puny with a cold) was coming over.

So, Lindley came over, had two bites of lunch and went down for a nap. Which also meant it was time for another nappette.

We all got up, and then it was time to pick up the furniture. I called the lady who gave me directions, which when I wrote them down, made very little sense even to me. Steve stayed with Lindley (since she was unhappy with everyone else) and Molly came over with her Sonic lunch and off we went. We went around the world to find the condo, only to park in the wrong parking area. We finally found the right place and Molly and Lady and I loaded all the bedroom furniture into the van. In a word, it was ridiculous. But it got loaded and unloaded back at our house (Maribeth is in Cuba and she can't move her stuff into her house for another few weeks).

So then Sam finished his meeting and came to collect Lindley, whom we thought perhaps needed a doctor check to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or some baby illness that was making her sad. Which he ended up doing, only to find out she has a bad cold. Figures - if he didn't take her, she would end up with perforated eardrums.

Anyhow, once they left, it was time to load the van with all the garage sale crap to take to Molly's house. Which we did, stopping only for the dude wanting to sell magazines in her neighborhood. He finally left, we unloaded the van, Steve brought Sonic Happy Hour drinks, I gassed up and returned the van, Molly went to the bank to get yard sale money and picked me up, we went back to her house, and Steve and I stopped by Wendy's on the way home. Where I had a few more nappettes.

Now it's time for bed because I have even more crazy stuff planned for the weekend. And that includes more nappettes!

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Today's blessings: Lindley time; picking up furniture with Molly