Where's May?

I have no excuse for not posting since April 26th. Well, we were away for a week after the half marathon and i was in excrutiating knee pain for a few weeks, but I suppose neither of those precludes me sitting at a computer and typing. Anyway, after a couple of weeks I actually forgot about the blog, totally forgot! Sitting on my deck this morning with a cup of coffee, before the sticky 90 degrees arrives, I was thinking about yesterday and, for some reason, yesterday reminded me I should write in my blog!

First here's a couple of photos from our trip to Folly Beach in South Carolina. . .

It was peaceful, relaxing and fun! (Seems a lifetime ago already!)

Anyhooooo, I damaged my knee in the race. Usually my knee begins to hurt at around mile 7 or 8 but on April 30th, it started before mile 4!!! Stubborn chick that I am I had to finish and Gloria (my running buddy) and I continued running, walking, running, walking to the finish line. Needless to say, I could barely walk during the next week and a half. . . .
It has gotten considerably better but still is sore and last week I finally went to see a 'knee dude' at TOA. He said he wants me to get an MRI, which is happening on Thursday. He told me "NO BOOTCAMP" until after he's looked at the MRI results. I must say though, it is feeling SO much better and I'm thinking it may have healed itself? I don't want to waste the MRI machine's time and energy. . . . ?  I guess I should get it checked out, just so we can make sure it's okay to run again . . . keep you posted.

Now I need to tell you about yesterday's weirdness, but time is flying and I've got dogs to walk so I'll do it tomorrow . . . . it's Memorial Day. Thinking of all the good military folk who defend us and especially the many who have lost their lives doing just that. Thank you . . . .

Ready . . . . or not.

Three days. Well two and a half really. After an ungodly getting up time on Friday, to watch Kate and Wills tie the knot, I will pick Kim and Vivian up at the airport at 10am, ready for our Big Weekend! We have to get to the Expo and then check in to the Hutton, generally loaf about, consuming carbs at every chance, probably including the hotel's pasta dinner. Early to bed, early to rise and we'll hoof it to the start line for the race. Gloria, Kim, Viv and I are in Corral 22. Kelsey, Luanne and Karen are in about 30 or 31 and I hope to run up there to say 'good morning' before getting back to 22 for the start. G and I plan to run and walk as we feel up to it. She is fitter than me and I'm wondering whether to take my ipod shuffle incase we end up splitting when she may wanna run and I wanna walk . . . we'll see. I have a little red 'pouch-thingy' in which I always carry a couple of extra gels and an anti-inflammatory, and a packet of salt (when you sweat like I do, those replacement drinks just don't replace enough sodium - at every race end I have crystals of the stuff on my ears, in my eyebrows, along my hairline. Pretty gross really)

I'm looking forward to it. This is my seventh half marathon. Everytime I say "that's enough of those. I'm gonna stick to 5 and 10K's" and everytime I end up suckered into another one! They're just plain FUN!
Our usual after-race routine will ensue once we get back to the hotel. Shower. Downstairs to consume yummy, guilt-free calories, followed by a good 2 hour nap!   At 5.45 we are off to Taco Mamacitas for some tacos or burritos - me, Viv, Kim, Karen B., Gloria (and possibly James), Natalie and maybe Nicole too. If Charles gets out of work early he may make an appearance too!

I'm SO SO SO looking forward to the weekend. I'm at the Hutton on Saturday but will get up and leave by 5am to get home. We hope to get on the road by 6.30. I hate to leave Kim and Vivian as they have most of Sunday in Nashville but at the time of booking the beach house I only saw the fact that we started our rental on May 1st, the month following the race. It didn't even occur to me that the race was on THE LAST DAY of April!
Packed my i-pad for the beach . . . maybe I'll manage to write a couple of entries in the blog while I'm away!

Two weeks and counting . . . .

 . . . . to our beach trip! SO excited.
And so are the birds apparently. I know it's Spring and they start singing before sunrise. I LOVE laying in bed listening to them. But both yesterday and today one lone bird figured he'd practice his singing at 2am. 2am!  We sleep the majority of the year with a window open and this time of the year all windows are WIDE open.  This little guy was going for it. I lay awake and then realized Charles was awake and, to judge from the tossing and turning in his bed, Nigel's slumber was also being disturbed!
I got up to pull the windows closed a little and actually spoke out into the darkened woods "Hey little guy, go back to bed. No-one's listening to you right now."  He replied with an identical rendition of whatever he'd been saying before but then, I swear, he was quiet! (Then I lay back in bed and felt bad for shushing one of God's creatures, only doing what he is born to do!)

Anyway, two weeks today we'll be in the middle of the Nashville Half Marathon and then we leave for Folly Beach! To say 'I'm ready" for a trip to the beach might be the understatment of the year. Today I plan on getting some stuff together, t-shirts, shorts, paperwork for the house rental as on the Sunday when we leave I will be sleeping with my out of town girlfriends at The Hutton Hotel, who are joining us for the race and, instead of waking at some unearthly hour to get home only to leave again, we have decided that Charles will pack up the car and then pick me up on the way out of town.  I'm hoping this is a wise choice. (a) I'm a control freak and am seriously worried he'll forget something we need to pack and (b) I'll have my no-doubt stinky gear from the race in the hotel room with me and it will have to ride with us in the car for nine hours to South Carolina! Guess I need to add "two or three garbage bags" to the packing list to place said gear in and seal tight til we get to the house and a washer!

OK, I'm rambling as usual. . . . time to get on with the day . . .Happy Saturday y'all!

Saturday Sweatin' Session

This morning I ran a 5K with my wonderful friend, Gloria, from bootcamp. Jim, her hubby was there too and then, at the last second Karen showed up! Rain threatened but it held off and the sun even shone! It was about 68 degrees at 7am when I was getting there. As always I got there early.  I love to get my bearings and people watch for a bit.

I haven't run three miles non-stop in quite some time and I wasn't sure I could do it, especially when I saw the first half mile was an uphill! But running with Gloria really helped me.  I did walk for a few minutes after Mile Marker 2 but I caught up with Gloria when she slowed to drink some water. Nashville is hillier than you think and I found it pretty challenging, especially when the sun was shining and the temp began to rise. Phew! I was glad to see that finish line!

Gloria and Jim had a busy day and had to leave and I sat to wait for Karen to finish. No sooner had I sat than I saw her cross the line! We got water and sat and chatted for twenty minutes. We could talk all day, the two of us, and eventually I walked with her back to her car under Courthouse Square so we could keep yakking, and she drove me back to the race area to my car!!

I feel so so so amazingly lucky to have such great friends in my life. Between running with friends and chatting with them, it was a really uplifting start to my weekend!

Friends, Foot Pampering & Frosty Cones!

Today was a fun day. In the early morning sunshine two bootcamp buds and I met at The Nature Center at Edwin Warner Park and walked a 6 mile trail. It was a glorious morning and, with the great weather, pounding hearts and great conversation the hike went fast. To me anyway. . .Kelsey might beg to differ on that.  There are a few hills on the hike and Kelsey started noticing them after about three or four. I told her it's only uphill throughout the beginning and then downhill during the second half. In reality it's up and down all the way but she didn't seem to notice many of the downhills!  Toward the end we got off the trail and walked a little on a roadway because she squeaked "Karen, do we have to go UP THERE?" pointing to a small upcoming incline.  Truly I almost asked if she was 83, not 23. But she'd had about all she could take of hill climbing so we took an alternate route the last mile to minimize the elevation! Youngsters these days!

They both came back to my house after, met Charles (although Gloria had met him before) & Nigel, & had a drink before going their respective merry ways. An hour later I met another friend, Dawn, at the nail place down the road for a pedicure. It was good to catch up with her while having my toes filed, massaged and painted. Right across the parking lot from the nail shop is a McDonalds &, believe it or not, my car just took me to the drive-through when I started it up! I ordered & enjoyed a soft-serve ice cream cone on my drive home, while giving the car a good talking-to about not doing that again.

A neighborhood friend, Katie, had asked if she could borrow my bike for a week or so (she's thinking of getting one & wants to try it out) and I said I'd ride it down to her. I haven't been on my bike in 2 years. It's new (well 3 years old but only ridden maybe half dozen times) and is an old-fashioned beach cruiser with white walled tires and a wicker basket on the front. It is totally adorable! I began to ride it thru the 'hood. The sun was beaming, the breeze was blowing & it felt so wonderful to be pedaling around! I'm a little nervous of it because you brake by pedaling backwards & I have never had a bike that does that. My first time on it I almost went over the handlebars, so I took it slowly and did a few laps before delivering it to Katie. She hasn't been on a bike in twenty years and proceeded to ride it around the place with squeals of child-like joy! Even after I was home, I kept catching glances of her going in different directions all over the neighborhood. Fun.

Late afternoon I napped for almost two hours (I don't know, can a two hour sleep be called a nap?) and then walked Nigel, paying attention incase Katie was still cruising around in the dark! On my walk I began thinking about something Kelsey had asked me on our hike. She'd asked how long I'd known Karen because it seems like we've been friends for years. I told her I met her at bootcamp but that we feel like we've been friends for a long time.   Karen has more time to hang out and we have a little regular date of a glass or two of wine after work every now and again, so I've gotten to know her better. I love her, I really do.  She has an amazing, open heart; an acceptance of everyone for who they are and where they are on this life journey. I am one hundred percent myself with her and she just 'gets' me. My gypsy heart, my restlessness, this constant pull of the world on me, wanting to get up and leave, and wander the planet. She has this ability to make me see things differently, to not take life so seriously.  For the most part I'm not a serious person but now and again I'll get off on a tangent, whining about some part of getting older, the thinning skin, the new lines on my face, the sagging extra chin. Karen will identify and commiserate with me but then make me see the futility of giving such things my energy and even shows me the hilarity of us caring about it! None of us is safe from the perils of aging. All we can do - like everyone else - is the best we know how.  And then laugh and move on.  I love that woman - every woman should have a friend like her. She is one of the biggest gifts the universe has ever given me and I only hope I can be even half the blessing she is to me, to her. 

Joys of Home Ownership!

One of our water tanks has been making freaky and loud noises for a month, so loud that they often wake us at night. We had a few companies come out and check it out and the consensus is that they are eight years old and need replacing! Personally I truly believe none of them know what the noises are and that's their answer when they're not sure what's wrong!  We have two 50-gallon tanks and it's an Appollo system which means hot water also is used (somehow, don't ask me how) to heat our home. Another worry is, for some crazy reason, the tanks are on the top floor of our three storey townhouse. Last year a neighbor's tank broke and water flooded down through his whole home, ruining floors, ceilings and everything in between!

We picked a company and they were here when I got home from bootcamp already! I made 'em wait while I took the quickest shower in the history of the world, as we will be without water most of the day! They are currently draining them. By the end of the day we will have new, shiny and non-noisy water tanks - yay! The only downside is that we have to fork over $4,600 for the peace of mind we crave! At least we can have eight to ten years of heat and hot water, worry free! I'm extremely grateful that we are good savers and that, as painful as it is to spend five grand, we have it and can get this issue addressed. And tonight, we will have a good night's sleep with no banging and pinging noises coming from the tank closet!

Ha Ha!!

A man goes into a bar with his dog. He goes up to the bar and asks for a drink.

The bartender says "You can't bring that dog in here!" The guy, without missing a beat, says "This is my seeing-eye dog."

"Oh man,” the bartender says, "I'm sorry, here, the first one's on me." The man takes his drink and goes to a table near the door.

Another guy walks into the bar with a Chihuahua. The first guys sees him, stops him and says "You can't bring that dog in here unless you tell him it's a seeing-eye dog."

The second man graciously thanks the first man and continues to the bar. He asks for a drink. The bartender says "Hey, you can't bring that dog in here!"

The second man replies "This is my seeing-eye dog." The bartender says, "No, I don't think so. They do not have Chihuahuas as seeing-eye dogs."

The man pauses for a half-second and replies "What??! They gave me a Chihuahua??!"