Team 'Ohana--No One Left Behind: The Continuing Adventures

[jbucci]

Happy 4th

Julie: glad to hear the surgery went well, hope he is back to himself in no time

Mel: thanks for the tooth encouragement, I'm doing better this week and will wait for the dentist to make a decision in a few months. Enjoy your disney trip, sorry we won't overlap with you guys.

Nicole: welcome to NJ for our heat wave

Corinna: great job on a hot, tough ten miler

We had a 5K this morning. It was at least eighty degrees at the start and way too hot for my liking. I had fun but was not anywhere near my PR. I started too fast and tanked at about 2 miles to finish in 32:16. DD6 walked a 1 miler while Dh and I ran. We then went home to swim and BBQ. Took a little nap and are now waiting for fireworks.

 

[deekaypee]

A quick catch-up post now that I'm back from a 4th of July family reunion with the ILs. Only happens once every four years, and it takes me that long to recover.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, filled with fun, sun, and runs. I know I did. I highly recommend the Rochester, NY area for running. I was able to get out on the Canal trails and parks area for shaded runs on gently rolling hills & lovely sights.

John: How are the puppies pads? I can only imagine how painful that was, and heat waves with lots of sun across the nation must mean you're always having to be on the lookout for such things these days.

Corinna: Wow, it sounds like you bonked on your race, what with the chills and all. I'm super glad nothing serious happened and that you shaved off 5 minutes, particularly given the 20 degree difference in weather. You're in such better condition than last year. And it sounds as if you didn't experience much of a setback, if any, post-race, so that's incentive to keep pushing yourself, methinks.

Richard: I had no idea that an IM was that expensive. Well, we all know there's a fine line between a hobby/interest and an obsession. You're not the first one to cross that line among us. (And the IM fees aren't the first sign of it either, you Half-Fanatic you!)

Maria: Big, big congrats to Dennis on his half finish! I can understand why you're reluctant to pull back to a shorter distance when the longer ones are working for you. Perhaps you could treat the 5K as a speedwork day? Or the race distance as part of a double-dip day? I think you hear me longing for bling on your behalf.

Thanks so much for your cruising recommendations. They sound right up our alley. And really, I just need to narrow down the choices; the vacation planning of this kind (rather than our work vacation) fall in my boat. (Yep, couldn't resist.) This information helps a lot!

Had no idea about POR being in rehab over the marathon. Huh. DOOD's interested in renting a house off-site, so maybe it's a sign.

So, what do you do with an intern? Not anything remotely resembling hazing I'm sure. I'm just wondering because the NYTimes did an article on how summer internships are ever more competitive and I know they've changed a lot (in terms of professionalization) in even just the last few years. Does she get college credit (and A's for saying "Y'all")?

Jackie: I KNOW you understand my ambivalence about the Values. But I'll probably run myself ragged and have no problem falling asleep. And I'll be working, so there won't be much time at the resort. I keep telling DOOD to beat me with the hotel-rate stick. I've never gotten a PIN code like that, so it makes an extended stay possible, which is good for the Food & Wine Festival. Now if I just weren't a vegetarian so I could sample all the goodies.

Btw, how is your hip doing? Did your chiro give you a definitive answer to your injury and/or an ETA for coming off the IR list?

About accents. Same reaction this weekend in listening to DOOD's family from the Upper Peninsula (Michigan). I grew up in Michigan, but not that far north. Those "Yoopers" and their accents brought back memories of Fargo, once I was able to pick up the speech patterns again. You betcha, eh?

Rose: How did your Bluegrass 10K go? I'm sure it went well, even though I suspect it was hot.

JenB: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry to hear about the tooth extraction. That sounds incredibly painful and a long recovery/correction (?) procedure. I had no idea such things could happen. I do hope that what happens next is less painful and minimally invasive. I don't quite have a fear of dentists – perhaps a healthy respect bordering on aversion. Your story reminds me of why. I also feel the need to floss now. Wonder why.

And congrats with your 5K. Given this heat I think that's a fabulous time! I know I wasn't hitting any records this weekend in my runs, and I was out at 6 a.m., earlier than your race must have been (and cooler).

Julie: Great news about DS's surgery. I'm sorry I missed out on the news earlier. How did everyone enjoy the holiday?

Mel: Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's this about thinking about moving? You're a Florida girl, through and through? What's up with the possible relocation? Don't think you can slip that one by me without comment. Is this part of Jackie's nefarious plan to get us all to her fabulous neck of the woods?

Nicole: That's so cool that you get to LA as often as you do, although the random part makes me think that it's kind of hard for you to schedule races? I suppose that's a trade-off?

Thanks for the heads-up on the food court at ASmu. I'll have to check it out, even though I'm planning on eating mostly at Epcot for the Food & Wine. (Okay, you caught me. I'm planning on drinking my way around Epcot and using the food to cleanse my palate. Hey, we all have our foodie specialties. Someone else can handle the food.)


Oh, as for the kids thing...I'm the one who says, "I already take care of my inner child. I don't have the energy for an outer one." Although Jeanne's idea to have many kids and many celebrations seems solid, too!

AFM: Well, a couple of weeks of stability, then we're off on another trip. DOOD's work, plus a mini-get together with his parents. It was my idea, so I can't blame him. (But I'm trying.)

We STILL haven't signed up for January and are holding on to our $$$ for as long as possible. Have any of you noticed the races aren't close to filling yet? Odd?

And in other news, registration for the Princess opened today. A week earlier than last year, and I'm not sure why. That dates doesn't overlap with spring break here, so that's annoying.

 

[MouseDogMom]

Corinna - The guinea pig story has been a source of great amusement for me for several days now. I can be sitting at work and think "Martha" and just start laughing. Thanks for that! As for disappearing accents, my mother complained that DD "sounded like a Yankee" when she was in elementary school. I explained to her that all of her classmates were from the north - there were no true southern accents left in our area! Great job on your race, despite the heat and feeling not so well!

JenB - I gave up races on the 4th after my first year running. I did a 5 miler in the heat, and decided it was just too darn hot on the 4th. They've now shortened that race from 5 miles to 4 - because of the heat!

Debra - If only they hadn't moved the dates for the Princess... DD had it all worked out - family vacation over her spring break, all 3 of us do the race (but NOT together), and then they changed the date. So no Princess for us. As for January, I like the fact that the races aren't filling, since it gives us an opportunity to decide that we might, just might, go back in 2011. And maybe be creative and do something like stay - shhhhh - offsite? If we do the race, we may opt NOT to do an entire vacation trip and make it more of a race only, since we'll only do it if some friends here choose to do it for their first time.

I've now seen the chiro 3 times, and go back tomorrow morning. He says it's a hip alignment problem that's gotten completely out of control, and has been doing adjustments and ART treatments. There's definite improvement, but he won't give me any timetable yet for a return to running. I tried a few steps tonight with the dog, and realized I'm nowhere close. That was depressing, but I know I have to be patient. This injury has been developing since March in one form or another, so if he can eliminate the pain, I'll let him do it! The hard part is that DH has started a training plan for my friend who's running MCM and me, and we'd just gotten started when I had to quit completely. They're still running together, and I can't go along.

Jackie

 

[FFigawi]

Debra, the dogs' pads have almost fully healed. It's amazing how quickly the concrete of a pool deck can tear them up and rip the skin off, but equally amazing how quickly they heal up again. Bag Balm is a wonderful thing.

Congrats to Corinna and JenB for your races this weekend. After a miserable 5k in the heat last year, I decided that was enough and spent this year relaxing at home after yoga.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Corrina--Congrats on the PR! What do you think the chilled feeling is from? I have had that a couple of times on long runs--just feel chilled all of a sudden, then it goes away. I have never stopped sweating, so I don't think it's overheating. I thought it was just a weird thing that happened to me, or had something to do with my strange heartbeat.

Jackie: I KNOW you understand my ambivalence about the Values. But I'll probably run myself ragged and have no problem falling asleep. And I'll be working, so there won't be much time at the resort. I keep telling DOOD to beat me with the hotel-rate stick. I've never gotten a PIN code like that, so it makes an extended stay possible, which is good for the Food & Wine Festival. Now if I just weren't a vegetarian so I could sample all the goodies.

Thanks for the heads-up on the food court at ASmu. I'll have to check it out, even though I'm planning on eating mostly at Epcot for the Food & Wine. (Okay, you caught me. I'm planning on drinking my way around Epcot and using the food to cleanse my palate. Hey, we all have our foodie specialties. Someone else can handle the food.)

I'm a vegetarian, too--and I was kind of disappointed last year with the limited veggie choices, but then again it was sooooo hot last year, we ended up eating a lot of ice cream at beaches n cream and skipping the food altogether! The drinking around the world sounds good, but I know I need a day or so to recover from the half, so I don't know if I'll have time this trip. Honestly, it was almost too hot to drink last year. All I wanted was water!

I've now seen the chiro 3 times, and go back tomorrow morning. He says it's a hip alignment problem that's gotten completely out of control, and has been doing adjustments and ART treatments. There's definite improvement, but he won't give me any timetable yet for a return to running. I tried a few steps tonight with the dog, and realized I'm nowhere close. That was depressing, but I know I have to be patient. This injury has been developing since March in one form or another, so if he can eliminate the pain, I'll let him do it! The hard part is that DH has started a training plan for my friend who's running MCM and me, and we'd just gotten started when I had to quit completely. They're still running together, and I can't go along.

Jackie

Hope the adjustments start kicking in soon.

Mike and I did our 10k on Saturday. It was my first 10k, and I must say I was pretty happy about the whole thing. I was really stressed the night before and had a bad dream involving high school, cheerleading, and not making it to the race on time. It was a really bad dream! We got to Lexington at 6:15 and walked to the start at about 6:30. It was 67 at 6:30--so very pleasant. We had our hottest June on record, but the weather broke for about 4 days. We were really lucky! The course was advertised as flat, but I would not have called it flat. At one point there was a mile and a half of incline. Granted it was very gradual, but still. We talked to a guy at the end, and the first thing he said was, what did you think of the hills. So, definitely not flat. We ended up at 1:06:08. Our second 5k was just slightly faster, so pretty happy about that. Thanks for asking everyone!

We are thinking about running a half in Indiana over Labor Day and just treating it as our long run for the week. There is a Dis meet in Indy, and if we go, it will be hard to get a long run in so this would work out great. Last night we ran after work--95 degrees at 6:15. Yuck. I told Mike, it is so humbling to run in the heat.

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Good Afternoon, Cousins!

I was able to do "office laps" this morning for over an hour before a colleague showed up. That's my exercise for the day. The good news is tomorrow I can put my contacts back in! I am really looking forward to a run, I'm just hoping it won't be almost 90 when I can do it This is my last work day for this week, so hopefully I can get two good runs in before the weekend.

Rose -- I am very impressed you ran in 95 degrees. I do not have that kind of fortitude! Now that's commitment! Glad to hear the 10K went well, it sounds like you really had a good time, even with the "flat course"!

John -- Yep, that was me relaxing at home, too! I'm glad I didn't have a race planned since my eyes sidelined me. My exercise consisted of ladder ball and the pool. I don't think that really counts! Glad to hear the furbabies are better.

Jackie -- Patience is a virtue, grasshopper. You will be rewarded by feeling better than you have in so long...I know it will be worth the wait! omg, I would love some sweet tea today! It is ridiculously hot. It would be so nice to have a glass and "set a spell"...and then dive into a homemade peach cobbler...ok, maybe it wouldn't be good for me, but it sure sounds awesome...and I am seriously feeling jealous of everyone who lives South these days because of the yummy summer foods. I think the lack of running is making me think more about treats

Debra -- Well, since we don't have the funds to pay our intern, she's more of a volunteer who wants to be called an intern. She does not need an internship for credits and can't use it that way, and found herself shut out of the paying/for credit opportunities. She's in between her junior and senior years, so she can handle research that isn't too technical. I have her doing some of the prep work for funding applications, and also doing research projects. Right now she's working on the implications of MA's decriminalization of public drunkenness in 1973, her next project will be to research homeless shelters around the country which charge for bed stays, food, clothing, etc., to see what they charge and how that's worked for them. I'm trying to keep it interesting, and yet not give her anything I can't do without I'll write her a nice reference letter when she's done, praising her effort and contributions. Oh, and of course we'll send her off with a lunch. Honestly, she's already done the things I most needed, so if I get any other work out of her it's a bonus!

JenB -- I love that you are getting DD running! I wish I could convince DS he'd like it...but that would mean leaving the computer and the Wii

Richard -- Wow, I didn't realize you needed a bank loan to do a tri! But, when you find the thing that makes you happy...

Corinna -- I love the "Martha" story! It reminds me of the confusion it caused (not because of any accents), because our cat was named Gecko...his full name was Gordon Gecko, but way too many people don't get the reference...Dennis named him, which I think says it all

Nicole -- How was New Jersey? I've never been there, but with residents like Jon Bon Jovi and Buddy Velasco, how can you go wrong?

Mel -- My biggest moving advice is if you find somewhere you really want to live, just do it! We moved to Boston 14 years ago, and we love it. It just "fits" us. If you've visited and had that feel, I'd go with it!

For the Sci Fi folk, I tivo'd Warehouse 13 last night -- don't forget Eureka premieres Friday night! How can you go wrong with adding James Callis to the cast? Yes, I did just hear Debra squeal!

Maria

 

[deekaypee]

Jackie: I'm so sorry to hear that your hip continues to give you problems, and is cutting into your MCM training time. It's still early, so hopefully your chiro can put things right/in alignment with a minimal amount of pain & sidelining. Never fear, though, as you know Bill will help you make up for that training time. Bit of a drill sergeant, he is!

I, too, like that they're not filling up that quick. More time for my money to stay with me. It's just a bit odd. Then again, Disney's gone back to heavy discounting, after announcing it would be cutting back on the promotions. They've extended free dining into December & I'm getting emails about room discounts for the end of summer - early fall. I suspect folks are holding off on such leisure travel still.

All of this is why it makes perfect sense that you might just pop down for a race weekend in January. And staying offsite...well, your secret is safe with me. Seriously, DOOD like to stay offsite. Though that might not be saying much. He also likes to hunt the elusive perfect Priceline deal.

John: Whenever you say Bag Balm, I think this: That stuff is a wonder! When I was in, oh, junior high, I had a pretty bad scrape up – something about jumping from a hayloft into the bales below, IIRC – and busted up my knees and legs. Bag Balm makes the scars barely noticeable. I love that stuff, and your pups deserve the best!

Rose: I do so love ice cream, so that's a good choice for any trip. As a main course as well as a dessert. Maybe that's how I'll organize my nosh around the world. Hmmmm.

Congrats on your 10K! That's a fabulous time, particularly given the hills. (You know, I'm convinced most RDs say their courses are flat. What is that? Hopeful thinking?) And wow, putting in those miles in 95 degree heat. I'm humbled by all you hot weather runners. And the cold weather ones, too. I'm just such a slacker who will turn to the TM in such conditions.

Maria: for the contacts & a return to running! You've got to be chomping to get out there. It certainly sounds as if you know how to make good use of your summer intern, giving her skills she'll need without putting undue pressure on her (or yourself)! She couldn't ask for a nicer, more efficient internship experience! And really, the research you have her doing seems fascinating – even something she could use in her studies (for a thesis project, for instance). Well done!

Oh, did I tell you? My local cable company added SyFy to our package – so now I get it & am DVRing like crazy! Yes, Eureka!!! And you did hear me squeal. Btw, did you hear that the Law & Order: UK stars Jamie Bamber? (Not to mention that Law & Order: LA will star Skeet Ulrich of Jericho). And Aaron Douglas is in The Bridge? And in other sci-fi connections, I've finally put Castle (Nathan Fillion) in my Netflix. It's up after I finish True Blood, season 2 – a series that, IMO, is superior to the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris.

AFM: Okay, not a lot about me today. Just a slow news day in Debra world. But I do have to share this bit of news with you: DOOD got official word. He's been promoted to Associate Professor! It's been a long time coming, but whew! Now, hopefully things can settle down – hah! – and he can get back to running regularly.

 

[tiberius]

Debra - Congratulations for DOOD's promotion to Associate Professor, not that I completely remember what that means from my university days, but I do remember enough to know it is a big deal! I would feign being hurt over the "obsessive" comment, if you hadn't nailed it with the Half Fanatic membership as proof. I guess it takes one to know one. Jumping form the loft onto the haybales, sounds like you were one fun-loving girl way back, good to know some things never change.

Maria - I wouldn't say that you need a bank loan to do a tri, it's the Ironman name that causes some of that extra cost...that plus the necessity of keeping a course open for 17 hours, of which I plan to use almost all. Thanks for the Eureka reminder, and I wondered what that squeal noise was!

Rose - Good going on the 10K!

Jackie - I'll do my best to send you some good healing vibes to get over your problems. I know you were really looking forward to MCM.

Corinna - I also loved the Martha story, and can sympathize as I have a fair number of relatives from the northeast.

John - Glad to hear the dog's s are healing up.

As for me, my FIL continues to heal slowly, he is getting around a bit at work determined to do some site visits (he owns and manages a water/wastewater utility company). I am sure he looks funny with his walker going about these places, but he is determined. Next week the therapists will try to let him put his full weight on the leg in PT to see what happens.
My chances of doing the Disney full are diminishing as my tri coach is putting her foot down and saying "No marathons!" for me this winter. Then again, she did not say anything about half marathons. Sure, I can go do what I want, but IM Texas is a bigger goal for me next year. One thing's pretty certain, by the time I get ready to run my next half marathon, I think a pretty good PR will be coming my way with all this IM training I've been doing (and will keep doing).

 

[FFigawi]

Hey cousins! Happy 5K Friday!! What's that, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. A friend of mine in Chicago who writes about running, weight loss, and life, is starting 5K Friday. She wants to get people to run 5K on Fridays (or another day of the week if Friday is your rest day) for fun, to connect with other runners, or just to get out there and get some exercise. I think it's a great idea and did my 5K this morning. Not a great run, but given that it was 80 degrees and over 90% humidity, I'll take it. Here's a link to her web site:

Weight In Vain

 

[tiberius]

Just popping in for a moment to wish Mel a
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

[FFigawi]

Happy birthday Mel!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Happy Birthday, Mel!

Maria

 

[deekaypee]

More tomorrow, but the big news....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEL!!!​

​

 

[chimera]

Thanks very much for all the birthday wishes!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Hi all!

Happy (belated?) birthday Mel!

Debra-Congrats to DOOD on the Associate Professor news!

I am kind of feeling antsy in regards to my workouts lately. I over did it physically at the end of the week last week, but mentally could have done more--does that make sense? So tomorrow I'm going to try riding the bike in the morning--or maybe a class--and then run at night. I'm hoping if I don't do strength it will be doable.

They hired someone to replace me at work, so looking forward to starting my new positon and getting on a more regular schedule in the next week or so. I'm only working part time and would like to volunteer somewhere, but my schedule is too weird right now to try to do it. We are still debating running a half in Indiana in September. It's not full yet. I need to do some more research into what the temps are in IN around Labor Day.

Have a nice evening.

 

[tiberius]

It sure has been awful quiet around here of late....


I had a good, long bike ride this morning. After waking up at 545, and then getting up at 605 this morning, I got going for an "easy" 3 hour bike ride. In this case "easy" applies to exertion level as I attempted to keep me heart rate at a moderate aerobic level, and certainly well below lactate threshold effort. In addition, I was attempting to keep a solid cadence level (pedalling at least 90 rpm), which necessitated riding in lower/easier gears than usual. In the end I was surprised by my average speed for this ride and finished 45.69 miles in 3:01:52. This was easily my longest bike ride since April's half Ironman event, and not too much shorter than the 56 mile length of the half Ironman bike course.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Hi Richard.

I posted this on the BL thread, so if you read it over there, feel free to skip! We had a good run today--my longest one ever, so I'm pretty happy.

We got up at 5:30 to drive to the park. We got there around 6:30. I slept terrible last night, because there were a lot of loud thunderstorms, so I was a little nervous. It was very humid, but not too terribly hot. Have you all done Ellen at Epcot? It is one of my favorite attractions. I'm not a big fan of the word stupid, but I love the whole stupid Judy thing. Anyhow, we run at a park that is known for it's hills. A lot of the hills are even named. We had been running this very flat loop and some out in the neighborhood, but last week we started venturing out into the park. I kept telling Mike (he plans the runs), no big hills. I had an achilles injury last year, so I'm still a little paranoid.

Last night he went online to recheck our route for today one more time. I did not nag last night, he told me about the plan, assured me there were only tiny hills, etc. Mike runs in this park regularly, but everytime he comes home he has to reroute his run, because he always gets lost. So, I said nothing. I nodded and smiled, the whole time thinking, it's not going to be good. About 6 miles into the run he looked at me and said--not sure how we got on Barret Hill Road. It was all uphill from there. Oh my goodness! All I could think over and over was stupid Mike, stupid Mike, in Ellen's tone of voice. It was the only thing that kept me from killing him!

I am happy to say that:
1. I ran the entire thing--though slow is definitely the new fast in this case.
2. I ran the longest I have ever run in my entire life--10.7 miles!
3. I did not have to go to the emergency room because my heart exploded.
4. Not drinking beer the night before a long run really does make it easier.
5. And I did not kill my husband.

My achilles are a little sore, but other than being really tired, I feel great! I am planning on having my french fries and hummus at the ballpark tonight. Mike is already planning the route for next week, and he assures me it will not contain any named hills!

Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the summer! I have convinced my sisters to do the princess with me in the spring. I booked a room at BWV, now just need to see if they pay their fees and register. Two of us are runners, the other two are fit, but not runners. I think they will walk/run. I think we will have fun. They want to dress up--the whole tutu thing. I will probably lose the tutu at the start, but I might bejewel my visor! I think it will look spiffy. All the humidity is definitely whipping us into shape for wine and dine. We are going out and coming back slow, but at least we're running!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[tiberius]

I am happy to say that:
1. I ran the entire thing--though slow is definitely the new fast in this case.
2. I ran the longest I have ever run in my entire life--10.7 miles!
3. I did not have to go to the emergency room because my heart exploded.
4. Not drinking beer the night before a long run really does make it easier.
5. And I did not kill my husband.

Certainly an outstanding list, especially numbers 3 and 5.

 

[FFigawi]

I'm with Richard on this. Exploding hearts are definitely not good.

Congrats on your new longest run, and with hills to boot!

 

[tiberius]

I'm with Richard on this. Exploding hearts are definitely not good.

I was all for not killing husbands, too!