We Got a Dog

Okay, maybe this dog doesn't count. This one was abandoned in our room during our cruise. He came with a pile of chocolate so he was welcomed with open arms.

Cruise ship food isn't quite as good as it's fabled to be but that didn't stop us from eating about 10 deserts every day. It got bad when we started to preview the deserts before dinner. We'd try them at the cafeteria and order them again a few hours later. Good thing none of them was as good a chocolate bark.

There was one desert to write home about, chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick. We got that in Key West. My taste buds exploded with that, a perfect combination of fruit and chocolate. Mmmmmm !

30th B-day

At some point this summer I decided it would be fun to get an entire sheet of dark chocolate cookies and cream bark for my 30 th B-day. Michael & Kelly said I wouldn't be able to eat the entire thing alone, thus the idea of a big party.

Whole Foods told Michael this was the first time an entire sheet of bark had been ordered... I can't believe nobody else thought of this idea before.

Thank you to everyone for coming to celebrate my birthday with me. It was a bit chilly but I guess that's to be expected mid-December, I never imagined I'd have a birthday party outside.

For those of you who didn't get to see the slide show of my childhood....

http://picasaweb.google.com/av8rmichael/MichelleGrowingUp

Pictures from the party:

http://picasaweb.google.com/av8rmichael/MichelleS30thBirthday

14 seconds

Today was the Dallas White Rock Marathon...

When we woke up yesterday morning we had an email warning us of the weather forecast. At the time it predicted a low of 65 for today with 90% humidity. During our drive up yesterday morning that forecast made a huge change. This morning it was 50 at the race start and 40 by the time we finished.

I got pretty chilly and probably didn't have enough clothing but I was very thankful when I saw Charles and he gave me the J&A gloves off his hands in return for a soaking wet pair. My hands were warm for a few more miles but I was already in a world of pain by that point.

My foot hurt with every step and I was cold but I've got no excuses. Overall, I am actually proud of my efforts. I went out there with a plan and I stuck too it as long as I could. My body didn't agree with that idea and I was hurting for the majority of that race. But I dug deep and kept insisting to push through as much pain as I could take. My plan and my PR were gone but I was determined to run the whole thing and keep my promise to Michael, even if I blow up I will do everything in my power to be sure I hit my Boston time. I did that, I pushed as hard as I could today with what I had. I crossed the line spent, felt like I was going to faint for a while, and have been shivering for most of the day.

When I saw rich I asked him where Michael was and how he'd done. In true form Michael left everything on the course and dropped at the finish line. He'd been sick this week, woke up in covered in sweat and dehydrated and went out as hard as he could today. In the end he got a 16s PR, missing his Boston Qualifier time by 14s.

We plotted out our splits. The fluctuations based on mile follow the same general pattern but Michael's even splits exhibit a much stronger race than my death march to the finish. Mile 24 cost him the race or maybe it was the cliff shot he took when he forgot he had another Carbboom in his pocket. Either was he ran with everything he had and I couldn't be prouder of my husband.

Also, a huge congratulations to Meghan. She qualified for Boston for the first time ever.

I Pea-ed on the floor

We're 36 hrs away from the start of White Rock marathon...

This week there have been a few key thoughts on my mind;
1) no matter what the pace, it'll hurt for the last 10K. --> push hard and smile
2) everyone has stress before a race and at the end of the semester. --> try to shake it off


Today's plans got a little messed up since Michael was feeling a bit under the weather. We made some adjustments and ended up heading home early.

As I was in the kitchen cooking up food I accidentally reached over and grabbed the hot lid for the rice. I quickly dropped it and opened the freezer to grab something cold. Apparently the bag of peas I found was already opened and in my zealous motion peas flew out of the bag all over the floor. The big clump is easy to see but if you look closely you can see peas all over the place. Michael quickly remarked, "you just pea-ed all over the floor."

I get clumsy when I'm stressed. Even with the best intentions it's hard not to fret about an upcoming race. Thankfully I've got a lot of friends who have called to wish me well and a husband who still has a great sense of humor when he's not feeling great.

GO MG!

Subjects Wanted

I'm collecting subjects for my master's thesis. Here's the text from my recruitment poster if anyone is curious...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subjects Wanted For a Study on the Dynamic Stability of Walking

Researchers in the Nonlinear Biodynamics Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Texas are studying how dynamic stability changes when walking if a perturbation (gait interruption) are applied.

Participants will have their movements recorded while they walk on a treadmill across a range of moderate speeds for 10 minutes at a time, for up to a total of 60 minutes.

The experiment will require each subject to complete one visit. The session will take ~3 hours to complete. Subjects will receive financial compensation for their time.

Men and women of all ethnicities are eligible and encouraged to participate.
If you are a healthy adult between the ages of 18-36, and would like to participate, please contact me

The lost FL pictures

After returning from an air race today, Michael realized there were a few pictures from FL which had slipped through the cracks. I couldn't help but add them to the blog, with a bit of explanation.

As we can see above, Michael is preparing for old age all ready. He's all decked out in his tube socks, t-shirt, and TYR swim suit to go riding. What you can't see from this picture is that his bar end is actually the top to a soda bottle. I'm sure it must have been funny to see some girl in her stream-lined bike clothes drafting off this guy. The best part of the ride was when we got back and Michael realized his bike shoes were in the bag on the back of his bike. He'd been riding with sneakers and carried his bike shoes along for the ride.

The 2nd picture shows off my new favorite laundry detergent. How could I not like this stuff; All Small and Mighty. It's supposedly 3x as powerful as the same quantity of other detergents. I can't believe they named laundry detergent after me.

Red

I see red.... today I learned that I don't always need to catch the red ahead of me. The EAS 10-miler was today and I found myself caught up in the excitement of the first mile. A large group of J&A Jerseys all passed the 1 mile mark at ~6:50. Angie and I had said we'd go conservative and try to do the first mile closer to 7:30's. That didn't quite happen and I quickly learned why I always tell myself to start conservative.

Going to hard at the start caught up to me as soon as I hit an incline. That incline was at mile 2, just about the time Jack ran past me. For some crazy reason I'd actually thought I might be able to outrun Jack if I had a good day. I had to set my ego aside and go with how my body felt. Hopefully I'll put my head back on straight and I'll run smarter at Dallas.

Maybe I needed a day to put things into perspective... at least I didn't get passed by anyone pushing a baby jogger with 4 kids and a case of beer. In the grand scheme of things a good time at a 10 mile run is still less delightful to watch than a sunset over the ocean.