Yay!
In the yay column, we definitely have outdoor yoga, Pure Barre, and the Lululemon Showroom.

First up, outdoor yoga: It was definitely the coldest outdoor yoga session I’ve ever attended. The temperature was not even 50 degrees… and it was breezy! Brr, for sure! But, as you can see from the picture below, the cooler temperature didn’t prevent the event from having a great turnout. The class was led by a number of local yoga instructors and featured two DJs as well. It felt kind of strange practicing yoga in so many layers (one of the instructors said she’d never before led a class with so many yogis in socks and sunglasses!), but you do what you’ve gotta do! 90+ degrees at the Hothouse this was not! However, it was still an awesome session!

Instead of Where’s Waldo?, we’ll play Where’s Jennie?
Photo courtesy of Abra Haley.

Next up, Pure Barre at the Lulu Showroom: I was really excited for this class. I’ve heard many good things about Barre Method, and I couldn’t wait to give it a try myself. Woah, buddy! It did not disappoint. The class was incredible. What a workout! As the instructor reminded us that shaking muscles are changing muscles, she said that a particular exercise was good for avoiding/eliminating muffin-tops. To which a fellow class-goer responded, “I’m burning off a whole bakery over here!” Bahaha! I was definitely feeling it in my arms, abs, and legs after the class as I was perusing the showroom (and finding/buying one of the cutest jackets ever). Definite win!

Woohoo, Lulu! Welcome to my backyard!

Ehhh…notsomuch: Nay!
Given the occupants of the yay column, I guess that you’ve probably figured out what’s left for the nay column. Yep, that’s right. EcoTrek didn’t exactly float my boat. To be fair, it is my understanding that sessions are generally held in more beautiful settings. For our session, though, we “chickadees” (as we were branded by the instructor) “scampered” (her term for speed walking) around parking lots, residential streets, and an apartment complex’s tennis court while randomly stopping for wall sits, bicep curls, planks, butt kicks, lunges, and inchworms. So, while I think that a beach or nature trail might have helped with appearances, beyond that, I just didn’t feel like the workout really challenged me. Womp, womp, womp. In conclusion, I really did appreciate the opportunity to try something new (and the wine afterwards!)…but in the future, I’ll just go for a run.

Photo courtesy of EcoTrek.

 
Bailey says: It’s all cool!

For any of you who are wondering what the heck I’m talking about: as Kevin shared on his blog, this was our Bailey last week. I was too freaked out to write anything about it, and I can’t keep straight which parts of the story we told to which people, so here’s the whole story in retrospect for posterity.

When we first noticed the bump on his hind leg, we figured that it was an insect bite that he’d acquired while playing outside. When it didn’t go away, we took him in to see the vet. We were given three options of what it could be: irritation/swelling, a histiocytoma (a non-cancerous mass), or a mast cell tumor (which, though rare in dogs his age, was still scarily on the table).

The vet gave us a topical spray that would take care of option one. After a week, the lump was still there. We were told that we could wait and see what happened or we could schedule surgery to have the lump removed and analyzed. Actually, at this point, it was plural bumps. We’d noticed a second tiny bump next to the first—as if one wasn’t enough to freak us out! 

So, we scheduled the surgery, and Bailey went in last Thursday to have those mysterious lumps removed. Picking him up after the surgery was heart-breaking. He looked totally exhausted, his legs were trembling, and he was wearing his sad eyes that said “don’t ever leave me there again.” I felt so bad.

Then came the really hard part: keeping him (sort of) still. He wasn’t supposed to run for two days following the surgery. The first day wasn’t so bad since he was pretty wiped out from the anesthesia… but after that, he wanted to go! Hey, he didn’t earn the nickname Rocket Dog for nothing!

Per the vet’s instructions, we were supposed to cone him whenever we couldn’t watch him closely to keep him from disturbing the sutures that need to stay in for two weeks.

Trying the cone of shame on for size a few hours after surgery

However, our Bailey is much too smart for that. Yes, he figured out how to get the cone off! Not sure how, but he sure did! After his Houdini-escape from the cone while we were out, we realized that he didn’t even need it. He listened when we told him to leave the sutures alone; and after a couple days, he didn’t even seem to notice them at all anymore.

While we waited for the test results, we were also worried that he actually laid down in the grass mid-walk like he was too tired to continue. That has never happened before, and it didn’t just happen once. No, it happened 8 times over the mile stretch from when Kevin handed him off until Bailey and I reached home. Looking back, I think we’re safe in attributing the tiredness to the fact that it was immediately following his first run back, that said 3-mile run was at Kevin-speed (much faster than the Jennie-speed he is accustomed to!), and that the temp was over 80*.  But, at the time, it was super scary!

Actually, the whole experience was super scary. It’s one that I am extremely happy is done! Which brings us to this morning, when the vet called and told us the good news: that the test results showed the tumor to be benign. No cancer in our little buddy! What a relief, and what an answer to prayer!

That is where you all come in: Thank you so much for all of the thoughts and prayers, e-mails, calls, and comments! We really appreciate it!

We’ve been treated to a string of extremely beautiful, albeit unseasonably warm, days recently. (Today, we’re in for a record-setting 86*. Absolute craziness for mid-March in Michigan. Absolutely not complaining!) It was extremely comical to bike up to packet pickup in summery garb and receive a long-sleeved tech shirt with said packet when it was 80 degrees outside!

Race morning promised to be a warm one as well. (For comparison’s sake, the temperature at race time last year was 30*.) We biked on down to Reeds Lake and scored primo parking directly adjacent to the finish line. Because this is such a large race—4,950 participants this year—there are separate men’s and women’s races. As per the norm, the men’s race was first… so Kevin jumped in the fray near the front of the pack.

With shoes like that, there’s no missing Kevin!

Following the requisite playing of Will Smith’s perennial classic Gettin’ Jiggy with It, I popped up a street to station myself at about the 1/2 mile mark. A couple minutes after the start, Kevin zipped past.

There goes Speedy McSpeedermann now!

After this point, I headed straight to the finish line. With crowds of spectators to wade through, some still cheering people headed out, I didn’t have to wait long at all for my runner headed back. I staked out a spot near the 3 mile marker and in very short order saw this:

Kevin hauling it in to the finish line!

Kevin finished with a great time of 19:02! After congratulating him and handing off the camera, I had to hightail it to the starting line, which is several blocks from the finish line.They’d started the men’s race a few minutes late; so, when all was said and done, I had less than 10 minutes before the start of the women’s race.

Do you like the guy in neon who is Tebowing behind me?
I didn’t notice it at the time, but I think it adds a nice touch.

I arrived at the starting line with a couple minutes to spare and lined up at a point that I thought would be about right, perhaps even slightly aggressive. Boy, was I mistaken! Turns out, hidden in front of the women in front of me were scads of tutu-wearing, hand-holding, let’s-walk-in-rows-four-abreast-so-no-one-can-get-around-us ladies who must have been planning a smoking finishing time of about an hour and a half. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against people who want to walk a 5k. I love that they’re out there, being active and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I appreciate hand-holding and camaraderie. And I certainly have nothing against tutus.

I enter into evidence: Exhibit A.

HOWEVER, please, please, please for the love of your fellow (wo)men, don’t toe the line when you have no intention of running and then get mad when the individuals who do plan to run pass you, quickly, in mass, over curbs and on the grass. Ok, done rhyming. Stepping off soap box now.

So, after the first bit of weaving around and through, everyone got settled in the order they should have *cough, cough* started in, and things settled down a bit. Just when I was starting to wonder what happened to Kevin, there he was at about the 1.25-1.5 mile point. He told me afterward that he was really happy to see me smiling and still running at this point. Truth be told, I was, too!

Smiling, smiling, smiling—next to the bow-tied gentleman who must have missed the men’s race.

This was only my third run since The Woodlands Half Marathon. Why? Major protesting from the knee, and the knee is the boss. I took a solid week off after the 13.1 per my coach’s (read: Kevin’s) instructions. The first run back at it, I felt a strange twinge in my knee after about a mile and a half. I cut the run short and finished it out  at about 3.25 miles… and then the knee felt swollen and cranky afterward. I took a few days off, and then I ran four glorious and pain-free miles with Kevin and Bailey… Only to be “rewarded” several hours later with the swollen, cranky knee again. This 5k seemed to be the same deal. No pain during the run, discomfort later.

I’ve self-diagnosed it as runner’s knee. Though I’ve never had a problem before, I have the symptoms… and the slanted road of The Woodlands course has the cause. Ergo, logical conclusion: runner’s knee. The treatment is underway with a lot of rest, non-consecutive running days, ice and elevation post-run, and I’m considering getting one of those sexy black knee support thingies. It’ll be just like tennis all over again, except knee instead of wrist! Perish the thought: I’m even considering throwing my lot in with the Hoka Revolution.

But back to the race! I chugged along, blissfully minus pain. The sun was getting hot, and we all just wanted to be done. I ended up finishing in 28:20– two seconds ahead of last year’s time. Woohoo!

Something that you never get to see while racing, but that is always fun to see afterward:
all the people behind you!

Post-race, I finally had a chance to meet a lot of people from Kevin’s tri club. They seem like a really nice group, and there’s even another IMMTer in the bunch! We are seriously going to know about half the people there! I must admit, though, the real joy for me happened after the traditional bagel, granola bar, fruit, etc. line. Behold:

Now this, dear Woodlands Marathon, is how you do post-race food! CAKE!!

Because it’s what we do, we snapped a post-race couple shot before heading home.

Me and the hubs! <3

And that is the 2012 Spectrum Health Irish Jig, Neumann-style.

Wednesday
Wednesday was our travel day. We flew out of GRR on a Chicago-bound flight (with 3 of the Duggars, of “19 Kids and Counting” fame, I might add) just before 3 p.m. EST. It turned out to be the most bumpy flight either of us had ever experienced. A few nervous fellow passengers were asking the flight attendant if everything was alright. He replied, while belted into his jump seat, “As long as I’m still talking, everything’s ok”… and then he didn’t say anything for the rest of the flight until giving us the landing/taxiing to the terminal spiel. So, how were we supposed to take that?!

Thankfully, the flight to Houston was a lot less eventful and we landed around 7 p.m. CT. We were greeted at the airport by our hosts-extraordinaire, Annie and Jeff. We drove back to their place to drop off our luggage, and then we went to dinner at Chachi’s for some yummy Tex-Mex. No pictures exist of our first meal in Texas as it was past 9 p.m. EST by the time we were eating… and I was much too hungry to stop to take any pictures. So, imagine us laughing hysterically about a man who just wouldn’t stop sneezing in the loudest possible fashion (he’d left the restaurant and was walking home and we could seriously hear him for about 10 minutes—ACHOO!) with some tacos/fajitas/enchiladas/chips/salsa/Shiners (TX beer)/and a strawberry margarita in front of us, and we’re good to go.

Thursday
Thursday went: breakfast, run for the boys, lunch at the Good Food Café (where we were seated near a man who must have had f-word Tourette’s! Everything was f-this, f-that, f-him/her, f-it. Also, hilarious!), and A RODEO: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to be precise. You’d have to see it to believe it. So, without further ado, pictures of a very small fraction of what we saw of the biggest rodeo there is.

 
On the way to the rodeo: the Houston skyline

A fraction of a percent of the carnival at the rodeo

Leave it to the two Ironmen to find the treadmill display in a sea of fried foods and cowboy hats/boots

Naturally, I had to find the bunnies. Forget the cattle; show me the bunnies!

Before heading in to the rodeo, we had dinner: a nacho-lupa, a curly fry loaf, pecan pie,
the worst-poured Guinness we’ve ever seen, and some freshly-squeezed lemonade.

Texans take their rodeos very seriously! The place was packed, and it goes on every night for weeks!

The opening sequence

What an experience! If y’all get down to Texas, I reckon ya need to check yourself out this here rodeo!   There was ridin’. There was ropin’. There was chuck-wagon racin’. There was a calf scramble. Be sure to head over to Kevin’s blog to check out a video of that fun event! But my favorite event was the mutton bustin’. Basically, it’s a very small child (wearing a helmet and other padding) holding on (for dear life) to a sheep as the sheep runs from one end of the ring to join the rest of the sheep at the other end of the ring. Said the winner of the night, a girl of about seven, “It’s all about the practice.” When asked how she practiced, she replied, “By riding my dad around the house.” Hahaha! Directly following the rodeo was a concert by Lady Antebellum. They just wheeled the rotating stage right out onto the dirt and started the show!

Fireworks before Lady Antebellum took the stage

Annie and Jeff

I’ll give you one guess…

Lady Antebellum—If you haven’t already, check out the “extra” entertainment our section was treated to under the “group of 3 drunk college students in our section who danced throughout the entire performance” paragraph on Kevin’s blog. They MADE the concert!

The boys bucked the cowboy-boot-wearing trend and donned their Hokas for the evening.

Friday
Friday was expo day! We started the day with breakfast. Then, those not hampered by a no-running-allowed taper (read: everyone but me), headed off on a quick 4-miler while I went grocery shopping. (Weird but true fact: grocery shopping is something I always like to do on vacation because a. I like to eat and b. I think it gives you a real feel for the place as there’s nothing more blasé/local than a grocery store.)

In short order, we headed off to The Woodlands for a quick lunch at Panera, which was directly followed by a trip to the expo. It was a very well organized expo with 40 vendors. We grabbed our swag bags and race numbers, browsed the booths, made a couple purchases, and stopped by the Clif booth to sample the gels they’d be providing out on the course. I’d already made up my mind to carry my nutrition in the tried-and-true form of Mint Chocolate Gu packets, but I still gave the Clif gel a try. My thoughts? Way sweet with a funky aftertaste. Blah!

Me in front of the half marathon banner, which ironically wasn’t available post-race for finisher photos… hmm.

The boys in front of the marathon banner

After the expo and a trip to Jamba Juice, we headed back to Annie and Jeff’s so the boys could put their feet up. It’s probably a good thing that this had been decided beforehand because I could have spent some serious time (and money) browsing the shops in The Woodlands! Jason, who’d made the drive down from Dallas to hang out/spectate/sherpa/cheer/ride part of the IMTX course on Sunday, was there waiting for us. We had early-ish 6 p.m. reservations with a group of Jeff and Annie’s friends (who were also running The Woodlands) at Zio’s, which Jeff and Annie billed as THE place to eat before a race. Apparently, you can’t beat a restaurant located in the Home Depot parking lot! Haha. We were joking that eating so early meant we’d be eating with all the blue-hairs. Well, just imagine the reaction from our table when, while we were eating our salads, an older group (some with actual blue! hair) walked in. We were there BEFORE them! Ha! It turned out to be as advertised: a delicious pre-race dinner.

Saturday
If you haven’t already, or in case you need a refresher, check out what we did Saturday morning here. The rest of Saturday was spent in recovery mode. We sat around, ate some Texas’ sized pizzas, watched “The Help”, took the pugs for a walk, got some fabulous cupcakes at Gigi’s, and had dinner at a seriously delicious burger joint called Bill’s Cafe.

Dinner at Bill’s—Note: even the Miller Lite sign when it blinked “off” read “Texas”.

Sunday
Fortified by huge waffles for breakfast, we headed out to do some stretching of the legs, also known as shopping. The boys headed off to find a pub and some recovery beer, while Annie and I scored some (50% off!) matching workout gear (in different colors, so we won’t be twins at IMMT) at Fleet Feet, the local running store.

But, excitement of excitement, we found Kona Brewing Company Beer in Texas! We’d been poo-poo-ing a bunch of different restaurants for a variety of reasons—too long of a wait, didn’t like the menu, didn’t like the view from the patio, etc. (Hey, we’re choosy!)—and we finally ended up at Sharky’s. The first thing I saw when we walked in the door was a light-up Kona Brewing Company sign.

Haven’t seen you in awhile…

I was really hoping that it wasn’t just a decoration when I pointed it out to Kevin. As evidenced by the picture below, it wasn’t just decoration. They had Longboard Lager on tap. Oh happy day for the beer-drinkers. Oh happy day for me when my Tsunami arrived. After food and drinks, we headed across the street for some frozen yogurt. As we walked, the consensus among the runners was that our legs didn’t hurt at all anymore. What legs? Ha!

Serious yum-factor with these drinks!

A great group picture to mark a fabulous long weekend!

Afterward, we picked up the movie “30 Minutes or Less” to watch. This actually turned out to be quite comical in that, over the course of the weekend, Jason had been talking about visiting to take part in MiTi 2013 and Annie had been talking about the possibility of visiting to take part in the 2013 Grand Rapids Marathon. Now, this movie was filmed mostly in Grand Rapids. In fact, the pizza shop they use was on my commuting route, so I used to pass it twice a day. However, a bunch of the rest of the movie takes place in not so glamorous areas—scrap yard, anyone? Ha! So, perhaps not the greatest promo video for people considering a visit!

Monday
On Monday, we were up early to make our 7:05 flight. It was a short travel day with just over 5 hours until we were reunited with Bailey! We were on a huge plane from the super long (note sarcasm—It was 45 minutes) flight from Houston to Dallas. Then we switched to a tiny plane for the flight back to GR. The flights were much less bumpy than the flight from GR to Chicago on Wednesday, and that was appreciated beaucoup!

Words with Friends and the Game of Life on the iPad and some snacks made the flight fly by (pun intended).

And you better believe my medal was in my carry-on!

So long, Texas!

Thanks again to our fabulous hosts/tour guides, Annie and Jeff! We had an absolutely fantastic time in the Country of Texas!

Pre-Race 
Race morning started early for me. The alarm was set for 4:15. I managed to sleep until 2:58… which, if you think about it, is almost 3:00 Texas-time… which is almost 4:00 Michigan-time, right? RIGHT?? A quick emotion-check revealed that I wasn’t freaked out at all (guess I’ve come a long way since that first 5k!). I was more excited than anything, and the only real nerves I felt had to deal with Kevin—who’d be running twice as far at a pace almost twice as fast as mine.

We got ready and then shipped out for The Woodlands—which is apparently Texas’ “most celebrated master-planned community”. The weather turned out to be just what the marathoners ordered. Despite heat and humidity in the days leading up to the race, race day turned out to be on the cool side. Temps were in the mid-40s when we started, and it stayed overcast, breezy, and even a little drizzly (natural misting fan!) until after the race when the sun came out. 

We arrived at the race site, got a great parking spot just a short walk from the starting line, and had a quick pre-race powwow. There were 5 different starting corrals, and the group was pretty much scattered across all of them. The marathoners headed off for their start, which was 13 minutes earlier than the start of the half, and us half marathoners were right behind them.

 
Elizabeth, Jeff, Bobby, Dave, Jen, Me, and Kevin in front of the H.E.B.
before we all scattered to our assigned starting corrals

The Running Business
Suffice it to say that: I ran. I ran for 13.1 miles, stopping only to refill my water bottle, walking only long enough to take 2 Gu packets. The course was flat, and we got a nice tour of The Woodlands—running through residential areas, taking up the whole right lane of some seemingly well-used roads lined with trees and ponds, looping around part of the retail area, and finishing down by the river.

Spectator support was pretty awesome. Having names printed on bibs is something every race director should consider. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, there were a couple of super sweet kids who almost made me cry with their enthusiastic cheering for me. Thankfully, there was plenty of funny signage as well. Some of my favorites included: “Run now. Tequila later.” “You’re kicking asphalt!” “I appreciate your stamina. Call me.” “It’ll still hurt if you walk.” “You keep going. I’ll wait here.” But hand’s down, the BEST was the group of people standing near a table heaped with packages of Oreos. It was a self-made aid station complete with signage identifying it as O.R.E.O. Speedwagon! Hahaha! Loved that!

But back to the running… Some miles, I felt like I was really cruising along. Other miles, it felt like I was barely moving. Mile 10 seemed to be the longest mile of my life. The last two miles were the most difficult because it felt like my brain was doing battle with my body. So many people were walking, and it looked so tempting.

I was tired. I was hurting a bit. I knew for sure that I wouldn’t walk. Quite the contrary. I wanted to speed up, to just be done already, but maintaining my current speed seemed to be all that I could make myself do until the last 1/2 mile or so. I hit the gas a little then, more when I heard Annie, Jason, and Jen yelling my name, and right after I saw them, the road curved and I saw THE FINISH LINE. The finish line, which looked like the gates of heaven itself. That’s when I just started sprinting.

Now, boys and girls, this probably means that having that much left in the tank equals me not pushing myself hard enough on the rest of the course. HOWEVER, as someone who just started running distances greater than 4 miles in the last year or so, I’m still working out what’s possible. The goal here was finishing my first half marathon and feeling good while doing it. Mission accomplished.

Bringing it in, right before the 13 mile mark. Thanks to Annie and Jason for photographing and sherpa-ing!

Kevin and Jeff’s Big Finishes
As soon as I crossed the finish line and received my medal, I headed back to where Annie, Jason, and Jen were stationed to watch for the marathoners. We saw Kevin first, and I took off after him to watch him cross the finish line. My first words to him were not the most well thought out. I blame the I-just-ran-13.1miles-mush-brain. I said, “You did it!”—meaning that he’d overcome serious hamstring cramp-age (which had been bothering him on Friday and even as he warmed up Saturday morning) to score a major PR.

That’s when he told me that he’d missed his BQ-time by 12 measly seconds. I felt so bad. I knew how much it meant to him and how hard he’d worked, not just that morning, but in all the training leading up to it. To miss by that teeny, insignificant time just didn’t (and still doesn’t) seem fair. But he handled his disappointment like a champ and started screaming his head off as Jeff made his way down the finishing chute. If you haven’t already, read Kevin’s race report here and Jeff’s race report here. To be the 29th and 32nd marathoners to cross the finish line is such an amazing and incredible accomplishment!

Kevin and Jeff hugging it out after their spectacular races.

Post-Race
Right after the above picture, Jeff got into a golf cart and headed over to the medical tent as he wasn’t feeling well. One good thing about finishing so early is that the rules hadn’t yet been established at the medical tent. Annie arrived, told the people working the info table that she was Jeff’s wife, and went right on in to see him. Right after that, we watched them start telling spouses and friends that they weren’t allowed to go bedside. After Annie arrived on the scene and we were assured that Jeff was alright, we headed on down to pick up our finisher shirts and to see what they had in the way of post-race refreshments.

Having picked up our finisher shirts, it’s picture time!

To the left is the line for the refreshment tent. To the right is said refreshments. Otherwise known as: I just ran over 13 miles, he just ran over 26 miles… Where the heck is the freaking FOOD?!
Can someone throw me a frickin’ bone bagel/yogurt/cookie/pizza here?

After Jeff and Annie rejoined the group, we snapped a few more pictures. Of course we did! See below. Then, since it was getting pretty windy and we were all getting chilled, we packed it up and moved it out.

 
The day’s runners

<3

Jason, Kevin, and Jeff

Annie and Jeff, a.k.a. hosts-extraordinaire

Quick trip to the results tent

The Goods and Final Thoughts

The back of the shirt says most of it: Finisher 13.1. Yes, and check!
The pink sticker I bought at the expo says the rest: 13.1 ‘cause I’m only half crazy!

This was an incredible experience. And I’m soooo glad… because what did I do even before I signed up for this half marathon? That would be: registered for a 25k! Now that I’ve gone 13, what’s another couple miles, huh?

Stay tuned for a peek at the rest of our time in Texas!

]]> http://www.jekmn.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=3359 11 http://www.jekmn.com/wordpress/?p=3321 http://www.jekmn.com/wordpress/?p=3321#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:53:24 +0000 jennifer http://www.jekmn.com/wordpress/?p=3321 Continue reading →]]> Yes, that would be 9 things! What can I say? It’s been awhile. I’ve got a lot to share. Without further ado, some of what’s been going on around here:

1. Super Bowl Weekend
This year, we spent Super Bowl Weekend in Cincinnati. Matt and Allison invited us down to see their new place and meet their new dog. We had a blast! Tons of good times, delicious food/drinks, a brisk morning run, shopping for the ladies while the guys hit the driving range… oh, yeah… and we watched the Super Bowl!

Here are some pictures of the weekend. Can you believe that the Shutterbug crossed state lines without her Canon Rebel? Yeah, I was kind of shocked as well! So, here are my iPhone photos. (Group photo courtesy of our fabulous hostess.)

As seen on the run: the Mushroom House!

The picture doesn’t do this hill justice… There are some crazy hills in Hyde Park!

Meeting Lucy!

About to start prepping the snackage

Super Bowl Foodage: the appetizer spread

The main course

Our Roman-Numeraled Dessert

The crew, minus photographer

On the way home: Yup, we’re definitely headed in the right direction!

2. Running Highs and Lows
Lately, as I prepare for my first half marathon, I’ve been running more often and longer mileage-wise than I ever have before. Some days, like the 6-miler pictured below, running is a joy. Other days, it’s bottom-lip-out-I-don’t-wanna-but-I’m-going-to-anyway. Ironically, the end result is always the same: I always feel better after I run.

Gorgeous running backdrop, no?

3. Bailey Suits Up!
Excuse the slight blurriness of the following photo, Bailey was already starting to wriggle out of the sweatshirt Kevin decided to share with him… 

“Hey, guys?? It’s a little bulky, and I can’t SEE!”

4. Anthropologie <3
An Anthropologie recently opened within walking distance of our home. This. could. be. dangerous.

5. The True Breakfasts of Champions
As our weekly mileage totals go up, up, up, Kevin and I have been eating more, more, more. This was Saturday’s breakfast before Kevin’s 20+-miler. Not pictured is Sunday’s breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt, and milk/juice before my 13.1-miler. Eat more to run more. Run more to eat more. I have no problem with that.

Clearly, Wheaties was mistaken…

6. Super Sunday-Runday
The half-marathon training plan I’ve been loosely following had me maxing out at 12 miles. Say what? Now, from what I’ve heard, this not-running-the full-distance-before-race-day business is pretty typical. HOWEVER, for an OCD-inclined individual such as myself, I felt that it was highly important to run the full distance before race day. Ergo, the tweakage.  All of my long runs have been slightly longer than those called for by the plan. They said 5; I did 8. They said 6; I said “How about 9?”, etc. So, I suppose that it is safe to say that I’ve really been following my own plan.

How’s that going? Just wonderfully! This past Sunday, I ran the half-marathon distance on the ‘mill. 13.1 done! And all of a sudden, I’m tapering. How’d that happen??

13.1! Next time I see those numbers, they’ll be on my Garmin as I cross the finish line!

7. Free hot yoga? Yes, please!
Our yoga studio is training a new batch of instructors and is offering free classes a few times a week for about a month to give the trainees teaching experience. So far, I’ve held myself to going once a week… But 90 degrees in February is very hard to resist.

8. Valentine’s Day
We had a super Valentine’s Day and hope that you did also! Again, there was a lot of food involved. Are you sensing a pattern?? We started the day off with a big breakfast after Kevin got back from spin class. Then, mid-morning, Kevin surprised me with a windowsill herb garden and a bouquet of Gulips, which came with an invitation to lunch at a “mysterious” location.

Tulips plus Gu packets equals Gulips!

 
Yummy lunch at Marie Catrib’s

I totally dropped the ball at photographing dinner. I blame the four (exhausting) miles of stomping through slush and pounding the ice-covered pavement (errr: running) with Bailey. That was also the reason our menu changed. I tried to keep the puppy as dry as possible by steering him around the puddles, which meant that I ended up going straight through said puddles and was rewarded with a pair of very wet, very cold feet! So, figuring that Kevin (who was running even longer by himself) would be similarly wet and cold, dinner ended up being a steamingly delicious pot of homemade chili, homemade (and heat-shaped!) cornbread muffins, wine, and a heart-shaped cookie.

The giant cookie that couldn’t have been any larger! It took up the entire baking sheet!

9. Half Marathon Countdown
Just over two weeks to go!

The great news is that I feel ready already. Last weekend, I did my longest run to date: 11.11 miles (Because once you’ve run 11, what’s another .11 to fill the screen with 11s?). This weekend, 12’s on the schedule. Next weekend, I plan to run the full 13.1. Then, it’s just a downhill coast to the big day. Excited much? Yes, I am.

In other exciting news, the organizers just announced that the half marathon portion of the event has sold out!

Thing 2: Hunger Games Addiction
It’s true. It’s happened again. I’ve been completely sucked into a series! This time it’s The Hunger Games series. I started Book One on, ohhhh, Sunday. Books One and Two are read. On Wednesday evening, when I realized I was about 10% done with Book Three, I officially cut myself off for 24 hours. Don’t worry. I haven’t gotten the shakes… yet. If you haven’t already read this series, you might want to check it out. I’m just sayin’.

Thing 3: Part of the Schooner Jennie and Annie Has Washed Ashore on the Leelanau Peninsula 
I had to throw this one in for good measure. If we’re FB friends, you’ve already seen it. But what can I say? I love instances where “Jennie” is spelled the right way.

Ok, here’s the short story: A piece of a schooner that sunk in 1872 washed ashore in one of my favorite vacation spots recently. The name of said ship is thought to be the Jennie and Annie! For the long story, click here. As Kevin so astutely put it: “Do you see the irony in the fact that it is the Jennie and the Annie (eg. Annie Villa Irvin) and in about a month, the shipwreck that will be Kevin Neumann and Jeff Irvin will wash across the finish line in TX? (Ideally in under 3:05).” Yes, yes, I do.

Photo courtesy of MLive

And BONUS!: Isn’t my new coworker the cutest??

Thing 2: Meeting Baby B!
On Monday, we were able to visit our friends Rob and Sheri… who recently brought home a beautiful baby girl!

I’ll give you one guess what her name is!

If you guessed “Elise,” you’d be correct! It was so wonderful to be able to catch up with Rob and Sheri and to meet their one-week-old princess. It was also very nice to have been able to make them dinner and dessert AND be at their house by the time I’d normally be getting home from work. Dinner seemed to be a big hit too as Rob, after a cupcake, finished off what was left of the Chicken, Black Bean, Red Pepper, Colby Jack Cheese, Etc. Enchiladas. Awesomeness all around!

Now, normally, in true shutterbug fashion, this is where a picture of the super cute baby would go. HOWEVER, except for the 20 minutes or so that we spent eating, my arms were full of baby the entire time we were there. Baby hog? Yes, I am.

Thing 3: A Vet Visit and a Clean Bill of Health for Bailey!
Mid-week vet visit, what?? That would have been impossible just a week ago. The visit went really well! We started off with a weigh-in. I led him over to the scale, said “sit,” he sat, and the tech was so impressed! Apparently, other dogs don’t do that?? He ended up weighing in at 55.5 pounds (“of lean muscle,” Kevin says) at this, his 15-month appointment. He then handled the exam, the two shots, and the nail-trim like a champ. Though, he was deemed a “Mama’s Boy” by the doctor as he stuck to me like glue the entire time we were there. Me and my shhhaaadddooowww! It was really cute, though. We walked into the exam room and he sat behind me, a safe distance from the doctor. He was lifted onto the exam table and immediately scooted over and leaned on me the entire time she was looking him over and administering the shots, which he didn’t even notice as he was too busy chowing down on the biscuits she’d given him. Success!

All tuckered out after that trip to the vet! Being a puppy is hard work!

Thing 4: Happy 175th Birthday, Michigan!
I’m proud to be from the mitten-shaped land of the Great Lakes, GR, the Leelanau Peninsula, the Motor-City, and Mackinac Island. A state where you’re never more than 6 miles from some body of water or another. A land where rich traditions and history blend with beach days and beautiful sunsets. A state where a map is never further away than the hand on the end of your arm. A land with four beautiful and very distinct seasons. A state with an abundance of fun things to do. A land of delicious things to eat—from apples, cherries, and garden-fresh produce, to Buddy’s Pizza and Hudsonville Ice Cream. Yup. I’m a pretty happy Michigander!

It’s day one. I’m busy. It’s a blessing. It’s truly a dream come true!