Thankful Today

Me and my guy





Michael was diagnosed with leukemia 18 years ago today. It is also my mother-in-law's birthday. I choose to celebrate and remind myself to be grateful for every moment with my husband, my best friend, my life.

Haven't Update in a While

I had high hopes of posting a report after the Philly Distance Run on September 20, but I was surprised by a visit from our Illinois/most recently lived in Hawaii/now live in NJ cousins at the finish line, which was AMAZING! Then we went to see Dave Matthews Band that night, so it was a zany day. I decided to run the whole first 4 miles without stopping. Bad move. My knee started hurting. But I finished in 2 hours, 14 minutes. Not bad! That's only 8 minutes slower than my PR for a half.

Since then, I've turned 30, been to Disney on a GREAT vacation and back, and the Phillies have won their second pennant in a row! I'm signed up for a 5-mile run in Long Branch with my sister-in-law on November 7, which should be really fun. And Disney just announced a half marathon at night followed by a private celebration in Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival on October 1 - 2, 2010. Um, I think I was born to do this race.

Michael and I are toying with the idea of doing another TNT event....together! We're running in the morning about twice a week. It's so nice to have him by my side. We're looking at a few events in the early summer, so stay tuned!

The photo above is one of my birthday presents from Michael. 30 photos of us through the years. We also celebrated our second wedding anniversary on October 6. I'm a lucky gal.

One Year Later

Wow, it's almost been a full month since I posted. Life hasn't been that interesting. I've just been lazy.

I'm only weeks away from the Philly Distance Run. I've been doing well with training. My longest distance has been 10 miles, which went well, and which I will repeat on Saturday morning. I got me some new kicks, Saucony Triumph, and I'm still not loving running in this humidity. I can't wait for the fall and the cool mornings. Remember I said this when it's 20 degrees at 6am.

It's been quite a year. I fully settled into a new job. I attended three weddings and saw two more couples get engaged. I have two many friends with babies to count. Oh yeah, I ran a marathon. I recovered from an injury. I mentored some amazing women with their TNT races. I lost my lovely cat, Peter. Michael was in the hospital. But we got through it all...the good, the bad, the blisters. Thanks for reading this blog for the past year.

Another milestone!

I ran 7 miles this Saturday, which is the new longest distance I've done since the marathon. I felt great. I think I was never really paying attention to my body, and now I really do when I run. I suspect that I always felt achy, probably moreso than I do now, but now I'm more careful. I still want to run well into my life, so why kill myself now.

I ran on Kelly Drive early in the morning on Saturday. My headphones went kaput halfway through, but that was actually kind of nice. I focused on the pretty scenery and not much else and was able to completely zone out.

I needed that zen-ness for the rest of my day--Tara's Bachelorette Party! We visited a spa. The pedicure I got included a massage of my calves, which was sooooo needed. Then we went out dancing and stayed up way too late eating awful things, but it was a blast.

This week's long run will be 8 miles, and I'll get to do it at home in NY before we head up to a big family party at Michael's aunt and uncle's in upstate NY. I like the route I run by my parents' house, and it'll be a new milestone.

Also in the plans...new shoes. YAY! Happy Monday :)

Quite a week...

Wow, it's been a week, I tell ya. Poor Michael had a horrible flu and landed in the hospital.

Let me start from the beginning. First he went to HUP for late effects testing two weeks ago. He got a pretty clean bill of health. They just prescribed a beta-blocker at a low dosage to help protect his heart. However, probably when he was at the hospital, he picked up a nasty flu. We wound up in the ER when his fever got out of control, and they discovered that his white blood cells and platelets were very low.

So as this blog almost reaches its one year anniversary, we thought for a second that we'd have to start a new battle against leukemia on a much more personal level. It was less probable that his cancer had returned, especially since he had good tests the week before. However, living on the cancer floor with Michael in isolation for three days was enough to full unnerve both of us.

He's been home for almost a week, and he's back at work and feeling well. In the meantime, I'm continuing my running, which has totally helped my spirits and energy this week. I did my longest distance since the marathon, 6 miles, last Saturday. This weekend, I'll try to tackle 7. I'm feeling well.

If I learned or was reminded of anything this week, it's that we have some amazing family and friends, and I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Michael.

Welcome America!

What a fun weekend! We had our friends, Alison and Derrick, over on Friday night, waltzed around the city on the 4th, and did a lot of relaxing. Oh and our wine-blending party (good times, guys!) was a success, but it resulted in the need for the lots of relaxing. My first week of training went well. My midweek runs are about 9:15-9:30/mile, which I'm happy with. Michael and I did the loop at Cooper River yesterday. We went slow, but I felt great. Then we played at the driving range for a while. Note to self: wear sunscreen when on the top deck of the driving range!

My spinning instructor was finally back this morning. I don't know if it was the 7-8 miles of walking we did on Saturday or running yesterday, but my legs are exhausted! It's fun to be back in training. It's also interesting to train alone. I've never done that. I can always find people to run with, but I'm actually doing a program by myself. It's kind of cool.

And my thanks to Derrick for showing me his crizazy textbook about everything running (http://books.google.com/books?id=wAa9qq9kbncC&dq=lore+of+running&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=7zlSSubqNYPLlAfC-6GUDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4). What a good reference guide, and I'm impressed with Derrick for getting it. If you ever needed to know absolutely EVERYthing about running, here it is.

Apparently my black Hurricane 11's are at the new shoe shop in Northern Liberties for under $90. I might have to get them...again...

Training Begins!

Today's the day! I officially start my training today. I didn't run today, because it's a "rest" day, but I went to my usual spinning class. I really like spinning, so I decided to keep that in my routine on Mondays and Fridays until it feels too hard. I'm also not doing every, single run on the training schedule. They recommend running 4 times a week, and I'm going to do 3. Deal with it :) That's how I've always trained. Also, my sports doc said to not run two days in a row, which would be impossible not to do with the program.

Anyway, I feel good, and I'm excited. I did 5 miles on Saturday with no complications. It felt great. I'm taking care of me and just enjoying each run as it is. I'm not thinking about time at all. I am thinking about the celebratory Dave Matthews concert after the half marathon!!

We threw Tara her bridal shower on Saturday. It was so wonderful. All of these big celebrations get me thinking about where I'm going and what I'm doing, which is always scary but fun. I can't not think about those nights in college when me and my girls would sit around and wonder why we couldn't find a nice guy to take us on a date to the Union Building or maybe The Olive Garden. It's funny how life turns out. If I learned anything, it's that you can't plan a darn thing.

Life without Peter is still hard, but the pain isn't as sharp anymore. Boots is so comforting, and we love spending all of our time at home with him. Ok, just got a sad pang. Maybe it's still a little sharp.

Short week this week! Happy day that we decided to be tough Americans!!