Livin' the Dream in Lima

Yesterday afternoon, I raced the BBO 4-miler in a nearby little town. It was a beautiful  day for a race - 50*F and sunny. Can't get much better than that in early March. I ran this race last year , and it was outrageously  windy. Like enough to make you feel like you were running in place. This year, it wasn't as bad. I had a lofty goal of PRing (25:16) in this race, but wasn't sure it would happen. My PR was run on an all downhill course, and although this course was completely flat, flat is still harder than downhill!  Sporting the pink & black attire. And looking like a fool with a silly pose. So glamorous. I warmed up with a couple easy miles, did a few drills, and a couple stride-outs. There was no chip timing, so I made sure to line up right at the front with all the boys. I'd like to think I intimidated them with my pink shoes, but I'm pretty sure it was probably the other way around. Heh.  When the gun went off, it seemed like the ent...

Sooooo... this week has been interesting to say the least. Hobbling around in my boot at school has been such fun.  The funniest moment of the week at school happened when we were evacuating the building on Tuesday to the bus garage about 2.5 blocks away. Quote from a student: "Mrs. A! If you're having trouble walking, I can totally carry you! You sure you don't need a lift?" And I just laughed. And one of the girls in my class got onto him... "Ewww, why would she want you  to carry her? She can walk just fine! And even if she couldn't... she'd probably make it work somehow!" So to said student - Thanks, but no thanks. I'll manage .  But other than that - the boot has been treating me well. My foot pain is almost * completely * gone, which is fabulous! I have been able to run the past few days, pain-free. I've still been icing like crazy, which helps a lot. My parents are visiting this weekend (woo hoo!), but you know what that means -...

What. A. Day. I mentioned in Sunday's post that we had a bomb threat last Wednesday. Guess what we had again today? A bomb threat. Another evacuation of the building. (This time to the bus garage 2 blocks away. Not so cozy as the Civic Center.) Another attempt to keep 1000+ kids calm & quiet while the administration figured out what to do with them.  This one was even more  serious (do bomb threats have a scale of seriousness?) because today is Super Tuesday! and our school was a polling location. The FBI was called in... whoever did this is in big trouble . But the good news - we are all safe! No one was injured; the building was safely evacuated, and nothing blew up.  So what does a girl do after a stressful morning like that? Baking therapy. Pin It Oh yes. I am fortunate that my Business Man was able to come pick me up once we were released and was able to bring me home. Well, not before we stopped at the grocery store for some baking supplies. And t...

Gosh, this past week has been crazy !  It all started with a bomb threat and evacuation of our school on Wednesday. Imagine 1000+ students and teachers walking 3/4 mile down the streets of the Bean Town to make it to the Civic Center from the high school. No worries... the threat was false, and everyone was safe. Sure made for an interesting (and short) day of school Wednesday. Kudos to our students (and teachers) for keeping calm and collected.  Thursday afternoon, I visited the athletic trainer at school in regards to my foot. I'd had a rather painful run Wednesday morning, and wanted to get an opinion from someone who actually knows their stuff. (One can only do so much google diagnosing.) She was afraid it was a stress reaction, and suggested I go see an orthopedist at the sports injury walk-in clinic at OIO . So, Friday morning, that's what I did. A few hours and an x-ray later, we determined it is NOT a stress reaction! Woo hoo. But it is a pretty bad case of...

Many awesome things happened today. First, I received a special package in the mail from a giveaway I won at meals & moves ... four bags of Nature's Path granola! I am so excited. There is even a chocolatey flavor. I cannot wait for breakfast. Second, I ran my long run this afternoon. OUTSIDE! The goal was 16-18 miles. Here are some observations: Getting ready to run, I couldn't find my iPod anywhere. (Don't tell my Business Man. I'm hoping it will turn up somewhere.) So, I decided to take my phone with me and listen to Pandora. Which is pretty much the best thing ever. The only down side is that I had to carry my phone. But then! I realized I had facebook access and email access at my fingertips for the whole run. And camera access. Hmmm...... It was 48*F today! And sunny! And so I wore shorts outside and it was so liberating. About 2 miles into the run, I encountered a nice little lady on a scooter. She was driving up behind me (going much  ...

Highest mileage training week so far, check! I've been dealing with a bit of foot pain this week (on the side of my foot). It's very strange - it hurts right when I wake up, for the first 2 or so hours of the day. And then the pain completely wears away. By noon I don't feel anything!  So I have been running in the afternoons most days. On Saturday I ran in the morning around 9am, and definitely felt pain, but it went away about 20 minutes into the run.  Other than that, training has been going AWESOME! I actually got in three quality sessions this week - a 9 mile GMP run, my first 20 mile long run, and a 4-mile tempo, with 58 miles total. Last week, I was lacking motivation, but this week I was on fire and ready to run each and every day. Even today, which was my rest day. (Which is unusual... typically when I rest, I rest . As in sit my bum on the couch all day.) Instead my Business Man & I took a beautiful walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the sunny 40*...

The day after last week's 15-mile long run, I went for a little bitty shake-out run. We were on the coast of Michigan for a little getaway weekend and planned on spending the day walking outside, shopping, doing the typical tourist thing. About 1.5 miles into my run, a horrible, awful, no-good, very sharp pain appeared on the outside of my right foot. I hobbled back to the B&B where we stayed, found some ice, and started googling symptoms on my phone. And subsequently freaking out. "Is it a stress fracture? Is the pain in my bone? Is there even a bone on the side of my foot where this hurts? Is it something else? I don't have experience with other injuries, really... what could it be?!?" Needless to say, walking around that day was painful. I had pain in every step. In the back of my mind, thoughts were racing. "Am I going to have to take time off? Will I have to throw in the towel for my spring marathon ? I've got a 20-miler next week! Training ...