keep on keepin' on

so, at 2140 this past monday i got the infamous parris island recruit phone call home. it was amazing. #1 son was yelling, "this is recruit XXXX. i am calling to tell you i have arrived at parris island. do not try to contact me. i will contact you in 7 to 10 days with a phone call or a post card. i am fine. that is all." or something to that effect! i was trying to soak it all in. my boy was reading from a script, yelling into the phone. his voice sounded strong, but little bit stressed. #1 daughter and i shared the receiver and listened intently together. at the end of his speech there was a brief pause before he hung up, and we yelled "LOVE YOU!!" as loud as we could. wow. in the background i could hear men yelling, "GET OFF THE PHONE! GET OFF THE PHONE! NOW! NOW! NOW!" i could hear other recruits giving their families the same information. whew. amazing.

i ran today. i managed to do 4.7 miles with just under a 10 minute mile pace. i actually had to walk a couple of times, so i wonder what i might've done if i could go straight through? it's still so humid, and not that cool yet. i had to walk a little bit to cool off. when i get that slightly "nauseated" feeling i know it's time to cool down a little bit. can't wait for cold weather. seriously. i don't know why i still have such trouble with the warm weather and humidity. guess i should get a check up, but in the meantime, respect my limitations. after all, i haven't lived here in 7 years.

now that both Mr. Wonderful and #1 Son have departed, it's time for me to get me one of those job thingies. hmmmm. i don't know what i want to do. i do know how i want to do it: i want a decent commute - anything under 1 hour. i want to make ok money. i want something that i would enjoy but that i can leave behind at the end of the day. something boring would be perfect. boring is good. boring means no one's life hangs by a thread. wish me luck!

#1 daughter and i are going to The Burg tomorrow for William & Mary's Homecoming festivities. yay! fun times. Go Tribe!

hope you're having a great day too!!

the last day with my baby boy

after today, #1 son won't be my baby boy anymore. :-(

i'm so proud of him and his choice to join the marine corps.

tomorrow i'm dropping him off. he's starting his 13 weeks at parris island.

we're all excited for him!

i'll be back to running next week. we all know this kid will be! ha ha

internal turmoil

the endorphins from finishing the army 10 miler lasted a little over one week! whoa. good stuff.

now i'm crashing. i'm going through something. i can't find my hair clips. they're the flat "goodie" ones that ctclady gave me and i can't run without them. they're the source of all my power.

mr. wonderful leaves tonight for a two year stint in "dog's breath." i'm not going. i'm staying in our cute little house in virginia. #1 son leaves next monday for marine bootcamp. #1 daughter is home and doing well at her new job. everything is hucky-duck.

i know i need to run. only 2 more miles until i complete 400 miles this year. but i can't find my hair clips. ugh. grumble grumble where are those clips???!!!

october musings

i took an easy 2 mile recovery run yesterday morning, about 7:30 a.m. why 2 miles? it's just a logical loop through the neighborhood that i chose that happens to be 2 miles. i felt fine, although it's still just so dang muggy and i just get so dang hot that i can't go as fast as i would like to. i was surprised that i really wasn't that sore or tired after the ATM on sunday. my legs did ache a bit sunday afternoon, but i rested, took an advil, and it went away rather quickly. my only other complaints are a sore toenail and mildly sore hip flexors. that's all.

later in the day we set record temperatures as we reached 94 in DC, and Dulles International Airport. 94? this is october. weird weather. the leaves are changing color, and we have the AC on! the weatherman promises changes are coming over night and we'll be enjoying typical october weather in the morning.


my daughter and i signed up for the veteran's day 10K in washington dc on november 11th. we're both really looking forward to that.

i'm also considering doing the 5K at William and Mary's Homecoming on october 28th. i love going down to "the Burg" as my daughter calls it. i love "CW" (colonial williamsburg), all the outlets, the little local dives...and yeah...i've been to The "Leafe" (Greenleafe Tavern).... this time i'm finally going to Sno To Go, which is undoubtedly a right of passage.

#1 son leaves for Parris Island on 10/22. the weekend trip to the Burg is something i planned to keep my mind off my "baby" leaving home.

not to be outdone by his old maw, the "baby" went out on monday and ran an equivalent 10 miles on the trails around the neighborhood in the heat & humidity. he finished in about an hour. ahhh. that's so cute.

my ATM stats

i got my time from the army ten miler. i did exactly like i thought i did. what's even better? since this was my first ever ten mile event, i PR'd!!!

overall place: 16645
division: female: 45-49
division place total: 629/
sex place/total: 6809/
chip time: 2:15:16
gun time: 2:38:56

i've been reading the message boards at the http://www.armytenmiler.com/ web site. omg. lot's of discussion regarding the poor young man who died, as well as the lack of water on the course. i'm so sorry for him and for his family and friends. how very sad and tragic.

the one with the army 10 miler

i did the entire army 10 miler.
i beat the bus!
i had an awesome time!

washington d.c. is a beautiful city, and this was a wonderfully scenic course. i wholeheartedly recommend it to everybody!!

my strategy today was to run 12 minutes and to walk 2 minutes as long as i could. it was quite warm and extremely humid, so i had to really take it easy if i wanted to get through the whole 10 miles. i carried a little water bottle with me the entire time, which was the smartest thing i have ever done. if i wasn't drinking water, i was pouring it over my head to keep myself cool!!

i lost ground at a potty stop at watering hole number 1. sheesh. but didn't have to "go" anymore after that.

around mile 6 there was some weird CONCENTRATED GATORADE. omg. blech blech blech but it's supposed to be good for you? blech blech i thought it tasted alot like sweat. blech

around mile 7 we ran past the capitol building. it was so beautiful. i invaded a fountain there that was within our course range and re-filled my water bottle ...not to drink, but to keep pouring water on my head. phew. it was stinking hot! with the humidity so high, people were cooking. ambulances were running all morning. eek.

around mile 8 there wasn't any water. finally it seemed some was brought to that station before i passed it completely, and at the very last table i got a big drink of water. i was super thirsty, and still had the yucky leftover sweat taste of the gatorade piss. big rookie mistake, man. i drank a whole cup...and immediately regreted it because i got a cramp. oh well...so i walked really fast most of mile 8. in hind sight, getting that water was really important! there were no more water stands after that.

at mile 9 i was getting happy to see i still had energy to burn, but was only comfortable now running 4-5 minutes and walking 3-4 minutes. ugh. hot hot hot! folks around me were pretty much doing the same. no shame in walking. better than heat stroke, any day!

the last mile was surreal. we were on the exit to the pentagon. the sun was blasting us. people were literally staggering along. it was hot as blazes there. i think i got through it because i had managed to down water at mile 8, and i was still carrying my trusty water bottle, with just enough water to keep pouring on my head. it was the most challenging and longest mile of the entire race i think. i kept up my walk/jog combo as best as i could but when we got to the last 1/4 mile i knew i could run the rest of the way. i asked the woman on my right if she'd like to run the last 1/4 mile together, and she agreed. we kept gathering women as we went. with our encouragement we picked up about 15-20 women who ran the last 1/4 mile all together. that was awesome. i even had enough energy left to kick it in the last 30 meters or so. yay! that felt so amazing!

i think my time was about 2 hours 15 minutes. i beat the bus, guys!! i beat the bus!!
army 10 miler, babyyyyyyyyyyy!

http://www.armytenmiler.com/


................
ps i read later in the washingtonpost.com that a runner died at the race today. my heart goes out to who ever that was and to their family.

Fairfax Runner Dies in Army Ten-Miler Race
Associated PressSunday,
October 7, 2007; 4:14 PM
ARLINGTON, Va. -- An unidentified runner from
Virginia died Sunday during the Army Ten-Miler race, collapsing near the finish
line at the Pentagon.
The runner collapsed about 200 yards from the finish
line, said Col. Jim Yonts. Arlington County medics took the runner to George
Washington University Hospital.
The cause of death was not known. The runner
was a civilian, not a member of the military, Yonts said.
The race started in
70-degree heat and high humidity. Race officials said there was plenty of water
and first aid stations along the course.
More than 25,000 people registered
for the 23rd annual race -- the largest 10-mile race in the United States. The
course runs from the Pentagon, across the Potomac River through the streets of
Washington, past the Capitol and back to the Pentagon.
Runners included
amputees who were injured in Iraq and a group of 36 women from Georgia whose
husbands are deployed in the war zone.
One other race death occurred in 1990,
Yonts said.
© 2007 The Associated Press
'

just another race weekend?

america's largest 10 mile race is being held this sunday in washington, d.c.
yes, folks, it's the ARMY TEN MILER!!

you know the old saying, "this seemed like a good idea 3 months ago?" when i signed up to do this race six months ago, when i was back in switzerland, i was using it as a motivator to keep me moving through the hot summer months because i was SURE that by october 7 it would be COOL.

well, get ready my fellow ten milers, it's " going to be a bumpy ride!" our starting temperatures will be in the 70s with humidity in the 84% range, according to the army 10 miler web site. whenever the humidity is higher than the air temperature, you're just not going to feel very comfortable. anyone who has followed my complaints in my blog entries, knows that i am not a huge fan of this kind of weather.

so whatever. i'm dwelling on it, and whining a little bit, aren't i?

it's just going to be what it's going to be. i am re-adjusting my goals for this race since i do know my limitations with this kind of weather. i plan to run as long as i can, then walk to cool off some, then run some more. we'll just see! right? my best friend says to just "relax and enjoy the day." i will take her advice.

this entire week i've been fretting over the yucko weather, and complaining about yucko runs. i've stomped into the house several times with sweat pouring off of me, whining, "why is this so haaaard?" " why can't i be faaaaster?" "why isn't this getting any eeeeeasier?" i had to give myself a kick in the rear and a reality check...i went over my running log (it's posted on the right side of my blog)...... look at it, ok? go look at my first workouts last winter...and then look at my latest ones. i have accomplished a lot for myself. ok ok ok..maybe i'm not a RUNNER...but i'm at least a jogger, and i'm out there, on my two little feet, complaints and all.

this race -- the army 10 miler -- is a celebration of my accomplishments.
if you're in this race with me, i'll be the sweating, red faced, middle aged woman with a pony tail at the very back of the pack!! if i'm lucky, i won't be the very last one across the finish line...but hey, someone has to be last, right?

yall have a good weekend.
HOOAH!