My First Half Marathon!

I did it! I ran my first 13.1 miles ever! 

The Inaugural Philly Love Run. 13.1 miles in pouring rain, with 8,000 of my new best friends.

I'm a little excited, if you couldn't guess.

I signed up for this race last October, and convinced Kevin and 4 other friends to join me. 

This picture was taken prior to the race, when we were all still dry and warm! 

This is a really great group of runners. Each of them inspires me, and I felt fortunate to share my first Half Marathon with them.

Andrea is one of the most positive people I know! We went to High school together, and although we live more than an hour from each other, we've done a couple of Tri's together, and now a half!

Adrienne and I ran several long training runs together all winter. Having a friend to talk to, makes 10 miles seem fairly short. It was her first half, also. 

Lisa is another friend from High school. We ran track and cross country together back then!  She lives quite far away, but thanks to the world of Facebook, we've been able to reconnect over the past few years. She's the speed demon of the group.

Darlene and I met on my first 10k.  We encouraged each other up a long, never ending hill during that race. It was great to share this experience with her too.

And Kevin. We didn't do a single training run together all year long. I like conversation on runs, and he does not. Despite that,  one of the best thngs of the race, turned out to be him! We did not anticipate running together, but due to a few unforeseen circumstances, we ended up at each others side for the full race! He didn't talk a lot, but he did keep me laughing with his jokes. 

The race itself was cold and rainy! Philly had a record breaking 3 inches of rain on that day! Just to put that in context, if it had been snow, the race would've been cancelled. Because that equals about 30" of snow! 

When all was said and done, I finished at the tail end of my goal time range. The rain, and a knee injury held me back. 

But, the course was beautiful..even in the rain. The volunteers were fabulous, and there were many wonderful spectators on the course. I don't know yet if I'll ever do another half marathon. But if I do, The Philly Love Run would definitely be on my list of possibilities.

A Virtual 5k/10k

Recently, I created a team to participate in the Albany area Walk to Cure Arthritis.
In the spirit of  full disclosure, I am employee of the Arthritis Foundation. 
However, My decision to form a walk team was personal. Most of you know that I'm an avid runner. Few of you know that I have Osteoarthritis in several of my joints. At this point in my life, it's often uncomfortable to start walking in the morning. Within the past 2 years, I've developed OA in my wrist. I also have several family members with various forms of arthritis, including juvenile, Rheumatoid and Fibromyalsia. Many of the people I love deal with Arthritis pain on a daily basis. Most of them have much more pain than me.
So, it's become very important to me that we fight to find a cure for this lousy disease.

But, I'm not really a fan of just saying, "Hey! Support my Cause, and throw some money at my team!"

So, I came up with a plan. An alternative way for people to support our team, and get something in return.

A virtual 5k/10k run!

So, what is that and how's it work?

 You make a donation of at least $20 to Team Dragonfly on the Arthritis Walk Website. Once I receive notice from the Arthritis Website of your donation, you will be enrolled in the virtual race. I'll send you a race bib, and you'll be ready to roll!

If you'd like a finishers medal, simply add $10 to your donation.

**By making the donation directly to the site above, you will receive notice from AF of your tax deductible donation.**

Once you're enrolled in our virtual race, the ball's in your court! Choose which distance to run, choose your course, and complete the run any time between April 12 and May 10, 2014.

After you complete your run, leave me a message with your time and distance on our Facebook event page

Virtual races are great for lots of people and lots of reasons:
    Want to run your first 5k, but are a little self conscious about joining a huge crowd?
    Is fear that you'll be the slowest runner, preventing you from running your first race?
    Do you work crazy hours, and you just can't find a race that's scheduled when your free?

No worries. We've got you covered!

Please join us! 1 in 5 people in this country has Arthritis. Let's work together to make a difference.

New Background

Hey! Guess What! The new background design for the blog is titled, "Shayna". I had to choose it.

Whew! That was A LOT of sewing!

The Saratoga Dance Flurry happens every year around Valentine's Day, and my girls Love to attend the festivities.
This year, Shayna asked me to make a skirt for her. No problem. She wanted a pattern that I've already made for myself, and skirts are fairly simple.
She chose her fabric several months ago, and I finally got it completed, right be fore the flurry weekend.

The tricky part came when Mack asked me to make a dress for her. That's right: A dress. Now, if you know Mack, then you know that this is a big deal, because she rarely wears a dress. It's also a big deal because my sewing skills are just not that strong any more. There's a huge leap between straight lines and neck/armhole seams.

But, how could I say no? So, we took a trip to the fabric shop and she chose this pattern and fabric. "Wouldn't you like a skirt, Mack?"

"No. I really want a twirly dress."

"Of course you do." And so, she got a twirly dress.

At least the fabric was easy to work with. 

So, knowing that she needed the dress for Friday afternoon, I stayed up until 1:30 on Thursday night. I messed up several times. And, I think I actually ripped out almost every seam at least once.  Then, I had issues with thread tension, and seams had to be redone as a result of that! But, the final product was worth it, because she was so thrilled!

And so, with  a lovely skirt, and beautiful dress, my two incredible princesses went to the ball!

Now, I'm sure that many of you are wondering what the prince's in my life were doing during all this sewing and dancing. Well, my true prince was getting ready for a performance of some original music. And, our little prince was busy being his roadie.

The concert was one that Kevin has been preparing for, since August. The music was incredible, and Jack and I were so happy that we were able to attend the show. 

Maybe sometime soon we'll have a quiet, peaceful weekend.

Probably not.

Weekend Fun

It was a weekend of quilting,running, and kids. It doesn't get much better than that. Well, maybe if it was all happening on a tropical island. That would definitely be a way to improve it. But, I digress.
So, here we go.
It started with an amazing run on the treadmill. Now, I know that running on the mill is much easier than running outside, but seriously, this is a fast time for me!

That breaks down to a 9:08 mile. My goal is to complete a 5k in under 9 minute miles. I think I can get to it by sometime in June.

Keeping with the running theme, on Sunday I ran my first 15k ever. This is all part of the plan as I train for the Philly Love Run! The run was put on by the HMRRC as part of their winter race series. I love this club, because members don't pay for any of the winter races. Here's a photo of me, as I near the finish line. 

There was some serious headwinds on a few of the roads, the temp never went over 14', and you can see there was some slush on the roads. But, I finished at a pace that was under 10 minute miles! And, I'm really starting to develop some great friendships with other women runners.  

I'm struggling with how to keep my energy up on these longer runs, so I have to figure out how to fuel up around mile 6.  I love GU's on long bike rides, but I learned this weekend that they don't really work well for me on a run. If you've got any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Also on Sunday, I took Mack to her first indoor track session. She was invited to participate in a 5 week skills and drills program at RPI. It's being led by the RPI track coach and some of the team. She really had a great time, and is looking forward to the next 4 weeks. Sorry, no pictures of her because she was too far away from where I was sitting.

The weekend wasn't all running. I also finally took a quilting class on Saturday. I've wanted to learn to quilt for several years now. Unfortunately, every time I sign up for a class, it gets cancelled, due to low enrollment. Finally, I was able to go to a class with my "cousin in law" at a shop that her friend owns. So, we worked all day at the shop, and I came home with this awesome quilt top.

Quilt top on my bed, so that you get a sense of the size.

Above is the finished product, hanging on the design wall in the shop. Unfortunately, I've learned that my machine is not capable of having a walking foot attachment. So, to complete the quilt, I'll need to purchase a new machine at some point. It's okay with me, since I've been wanting to upgrade for a while now, but haven't had a good reason to. 

The icing on the cake, was that Shayna came home and spent all of Sunday with us.

Mack is not feeling well, so she stayed home from school today. Which meant that I had time to do one more project. I finally finished the bag that I promised my niece, Emma. Here it is:

Week-end wrap up

It's been a busy week.
I  got 3 runs in this past week. The mileage total was 17. We had some unsafe road conditions on 2 mornings. Because of all the nasty snowy, cold, icy weather we've had this year, I bit the bullet and joined Planet Fitness on Friday. The plan is to hit the gym 2 mornings a week, on my way to work. So, tomorrow, I'm going for the first time to have a session with the trainer to learn proper technique on some of the machines.
Schedule for this week:
    Monday- the gym (just for learning the machines)
    Tues- 4 miles
     Weds- strength training at the gym
    Thurs- 5 miles
    Friday-rest
    Sat- 4 miles
    Sun- 9.3 miles. HMRRC Winter series 15K race.
   Total miles goal: 22.3

In the rest of my life this week, we've been busy with regular work and school things. Yesterday was a marathon sewing day. The problem is that, Mack and Jack both wanted to sew, so my time on the machine was limited.
Jack made his first ever pillow! Mack taught him all of the skills she recently learned at a Joanne's sewing class. It was wonderful to watch them work on this together. Here's his final project.

Mack spent her time working on the quilted pillow that she began doing at the Joann's class last weekend. Here's the quilted front of the pillow.

I'll post pictures of my 2 projects, when they're complete.

After all the sewing, we sat down and had a family dinner, which evolved into a game of "telephone" remember that game? Where we pass a secret sentence around the room, whispering it into each others ears? Well, it got a little silly. Here's a photo of one of my favorite moments in the game.

Today, Shayna came to spend the day with us. she was finally able to celebrate Christmas with Moma and Pops. She and Jack had lots of snuggle time, since Mack was busy at Odyssey practice.

Overall, it was a busy and productive weekend. Hopefully, I'll get to do some of my own sewing tomorrow, since it's MLK day, and I don't have to work this year!

Peace.

Prepping for the Half

Did I mention that I'm training for my first half marathon?
This is exciting for me, so you'll have to deal with my obsession for the next couple of months.
In the past, I've never managed to run more than 5 miles for my long runs, without injury.
I am now up to 8 miles. That extra 3 doesn't sound like a lot, but my feet and knees tell me otherwise.
This past fall, I ran my first official 10K. Completing the race gave me the confidence to sign up for the Half.

This is after my first official 10k! I ran my second official one this past weekend, and shaved about 5 miles off my time. That's almost 1 minute per mile faster, which makes me pretty happy.

I have some great running buddies for my long runs, and they make the miles fly by. It's my first time that I've tried running with other women. I'm surprised how much I enjoy the company.

I'm completely psyched for The Philly Love Run!

2014...Here We Go!

It's a new year, and some exciting changes and challenges are lined up for 2014.

First, I've largely abandoned blogging, for the world of Facebook. Although I love facebook for may aspects, there isn't much depth to be found there.  So, in an effort to go a little deeper, I'm going to return some of my attention to keeping a blog.

Second, in 2013, I had 3 different jobs.
Yes, you read that right.
3.different.jobs.
I left the first one in April, because I was ready for a change. After 8 years of working with people with Traumatic Brain Injury, I was pretty fried. Unfortunately, my second job didn't turn out to be what I was hoping it to be, or what I was promised it would be.  So, that job ended on a fairly sour note in October.
Since then, I've been working for a Non-profit organization, as the fund raiser and event coordinator for the local chapter. This is my dream job! And, it seems that the organization is truly an excellent place to work. So, 2014 is going to bring some amazing career opportunities for me!

Third, It's time to dig a little deeper, and get a little intense with my exercise goals. So, Kevin and I are signed up for a half marathon at the end of March! This will be my first Half! It's in Philly, so we're making it a weekend away for us! Really, does it get any better than that?

And finally, I've taken the last 2 summers off from Triathlons. I'm feeling the tri bug biting hard, so I anticipate at least one race this summer.

Happy New Year. It's time to Roll!

A Project Worth Blogging About

Mack joined a cross country team this past fall, and has run a few local 5k's. I've been searching online for creative ways to display her bibs and medals. I really didn't find any thing that I liked.
So, I combined a few ideas, and came up with this wall display!
This was so easy, and it really looks fantastic. We used the pins to attach the bibs, to keep it looking fun. This way, she'll be able to change out the bibs, and add more hoops as time goes on.

a bib

A view of the wall

No Race bib for this run. Just a photo and ribbon

To Showcase the fabric

She took first place in her age division!

The whole wall

And The Race is On!

Mark your Calendars!
The Second Annual "Make it a Great Day" Half Marathon and 5K are scheduled for Saturday May 19, 2012!

The race will benefit the Capital District Cancer Resource Foundation again this year.

With the help of many people, we raised over $9,000 for the foundation last year! That's $9,000 that goes to provide financial support to cancer patients in the Capital District, so that they can buy expensive medications, or receive gas or food vouchers, to help alleviate the financial stress of undergoing treatments!

You can register for this years race on line at active.com.

Or, visit the Dragonfly Adventure to download a registration for mail-in entrees!

We're looking forward to a great race this year!

Looking for some Running Partners

Hello!
Long time, no write. Sorry about that.
I injured my right wrist back in November, and typing has not been so much fun since then.
But, there are a few things I want to put out there, so I'll try to do a few short entry's within the next week.

First, I'm looking for some running partners!
I've decided that I really want to run with some other women a few times a week. I've tried to join a few local groups, but either they don't respond, or the group goes belly-up pretty quickly.
So, if you live in the Albany, NY area and are interested in starting a woman's running group, leave me a message.

Peace,
Heidi

A Day at the Zoo

I love the Zoo!
I'm sure that is politically incorrect, but I can't help it. I love seeing the animals. Where else will I ever get an opportunity to see elephants and orangutans and polar bears all in one day? Where else can I stand safely with my kids and hear the roar of a tiger, or the laughter of a hyena?
Kevin and I decided last weekend to take the kids to the Bronx Zoo for the day. We knew that it was the last day of the year that many of the special attractions would be running, and we wanted to take advantage of some all inclusive passes that we had.
I'm so glad we went! At the Bronx Zoo, there are a few animals that you can only see if you go on the monorail, which we missed when we went down earlier in the summer. Jack was so happy to see the elephants, and Mack was thrilled by the Rhinos. But, the big surprise was how enamored Shayna was by the Red Panda.

Here are a few pictures from the day.
Mack and Jack being measured near a Tiger.


Family shot in front of the Polar Bear.


Riding the Camel-Jack wouldn't go.

On the monorail.


Here's a picture of Jack and Bentley, who is now 5 months old. Although, it's not a shot from the zoo, some people (and by that, I mean Kevin), would say our house feels like a zoo with 2 kids and 2 large dogs.


I can never chose a favorite animal. I love the monkeys for their antics. The polar bear, because despite his size, he is so stinkin cute. The Giraffes are beautiful to watch. The Tiger manages to be regal, no matter what he's doing. And the seals, swim with such grace and ease, that I love to watch them.
What's your favorite animal at the Zoo?

2011 Tour De Habitat

Just as I resigned myself to the idea that there would be no Tri for me this year, my husband came along with a crazy new idea. "Let's complete the Tour De Habitat ride on Sept 18th!" Sounds like a great idea. Right? All proceeds for the event were to go to the Albany chapter of Habitat for humanity, and the entry fee was $100, but we could fund raise to cover the entry fees, if we wished.
Did I mention that he came up with this brilliant idea around September 4th? And, did I mention that he wanted to complete the 50 mile ride? Oh, and, he asked his dad and Uncle to join us. AL and Marty have completed the MS 150 on more than one occasion, so 50 miles is a walk in the park for them.
Kevin's enthusiasm was contagious. How could I say no? I've never completed a 50 mile ride before, so it sounded like a great adventure. With only 2 weeks to go before the event, Kevin started fund raising with incredible focus. Just as I was beginning to contemplate backing out of the event, I learned that we had raised close to $1,000. Combined with the fact that his Dad was sneaking out of his house at 5:30AM for training rides (I know, because I was outside with the puppy on several of those mornings), I decided to follow through with my commitment.
And, time marched on. A week before the ride, Kevin bought himself a new bike! It's a beautiful and fast specialized road bike. Here is the only picture we have, because every time he gets on it, he's too impatient to let me take any others.

September 18th arrived; sunny and beautiful. Unfortunately, I woke up sick. Again, I considered canceling. But, I really don't like to give up before I even try. So, I threw my bike on the rack with Kevin's and we met up with Al and Marty at the Albany Pump Station, to register and hand in our donations. As a team, we raised over $1,000! Our team was the highest fund raising team this year.
My plan at the beginning of the ride, was to modify the event and only complete the 25 mile route. Unfortunately, the routes weren't the same for the first 13 miles, and I was so busy talking to Uncle Marty, that I missed my turn for the shorter route. Prepared or not, I was going to do a 50 mile ride!
The ride was beautiful. We took some back country roads through Albany county, that I have never been on before. At mile 13, we stopped for a snack and some water. At that point, I was feeling pretty good, and was glad that I decided to do the 50 miles. From mile 12 to mile 28, the ride was scenic....and hilly! I am not a great hill climber. To make matters worse, Kevin and his Dad are fantastic hill climbers. They were truly good sports about it, and never complained once that I was holding them back.
By mile 32, my butt was pretty sore, and I was starting to get blisters on my palms (now I know why gloves are a good investment). And yet, the conversation was great, and the scenery continued to be beautiful. Around mile 40, my toes went numb. Unfortunately, that's also about the time that we cruised onto some major roads, where the scenery was not as great, and traffic was fairly busy. It was a definite test of my commitment level, and determination, to finish those last 10 miles. We rolled back into the parking lot of the Pump Station, 4.5 hours after we started. Certainly not any speed record, but we were all fairly proud of our accomplishments! We climbed a total of 2,000 feet in elevation during the ride. And, I completed my first 1/2 century!
Sorry, no photos. We didn't think to bring our camera.
I believe we are shooting for the 100 mile ride next year!

The Year Without a Tri.

So, it turns out that 2011 will be the year without a Tri, for me. I started out with the best intentions: Training hard, focusing on my running, eating healthy. You know, doing all the right things.
Then, in May, I received an email that my favorite Tri was cancelled, due to extensive road work scheduled to be done on the bike course. That sort of took the wind out of my sails, so to speak. But, I pulled myself together and started focusing on the DACC in August. At the same time, I increased my running volume with an eye on completed a half marathon in September.

In late June, I was up to 6.5 miles for my long run! That's a huge deal for me. I have never trained consistently above 4.5 without an injury. So, you guessed it! I got injured. Plantar Fascitis in my left foot. It sidelined me for quite a while, and made me miserable. I fell into old habits and didn't communicate that I was in pain, to my family, so they all just thought I was being a jerk....sorry family.

There we were, in June, training on the back burner due to injury, (and here the story takes a side trip) and I had a night of intense dreams. In at least 6 dreams, I saw the same puppy. I don't remember anything about the dreams, except that the same black puppy, with white on his chest, and wavy fur on his ears was there.I told Kevin that when I meet this puppy, he will be part of our family. He didn't really believe me, so he patronized me and said, ok. Whatever.

Well, in July I met that Puppy! His name is Bentley. and I knew immediately that he is the puppy who was in my dreams. Here he is, on the day we met:


And, here in one of my favorite pictures of him.

Relevance? Well having a puppy is sort of like having a baby. All my personal goals went out the window, to take care of him. He came to us in mid July, when he was 6 weeks old. From that day on, training became almost non-existant.
Between the PF and the new puppy, I ultimately had to decide that Tri training would have to take a back burner this year. But, things are settling down now, and I'm hoping to get back into a training groove. Winter training is a little more forgiving of missed days, and hopefully I'll be ready to go for 2012!
In the meantime, I'll enjoy Bentley and my kids, and focus on being healthy.
-Peace.

Things That Have Kept Me Busy this Summer!

The top 8 reasons why I haven't blogged this summer:
8:Gardening. Although the next 9 things have also detracted from our time in the garden.

7: Running. I managed to get up to 6 mile runs before I got injured! That's a huge deal for me.

6: Cycling!

5: Reading great books. Like The Help.
4:Hanging with this Chica:

3: Chillin with these two dudes!

2: A week in Cape Cod with the family.


AND, The number one reason why I haven't blogged this sumer is.....
A new addition to our family. His name is Bentley, and hecame to us at 6 week sold, weighing 8 pounds!

Here he is today. He is now 11 weeks old, 18.9 pounds!


Be prepared for more Bentley photos, in the future!

Our 10th Anniversary!

Kevin and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this past week. We are very fortunate to have Shayna and Andrew living with us right now. They agreed to take full responsibility for the care of Mack, Jack and all our animals, so that we were able to celebrate on Cape Cod.
When looking at the photos from our honeymoon, it looks like we were on separate vacations. We have many pictures that we took f each other 10 years ago, but almost none of the two of us together. So, we promised that this time we would make a concerted effort to ask people to take pictures of us together.
Here are a few of the shots we have from our three day trip!
Sunset from Rock Harbor Bay

We rented bikes, and spent the first half of our anniversary, on a 30 mile ride. We went past the end of the rail trail, and followed "Ocean View Road" It was beautiful. One of the hidden gems of Cape Cod.
Here we are at the beginning of the ride:


And here we are at about the half way point.


Finally, for our main celebration, we went on a sunset sail from Provincetown Harbor, on the Bay Lady II.


It was a beautiful 2 days, and we cn't wait to go back with the kids this summer!

"Make it a Great Day" Half Marathon and One Mile Community Walk-Review

Let me start by saying that we have currently raised over $8,000 for the NY Oncology and Hematology Cancer Resource Foundation!

Our goal for this first annual event was to raise $5,000, and I'm so excited that we surpassed that! Donations are still rolling in, so we don't yet know what our final total will be.

As far as the events go, it was so much work, but so worth it!
I took Friday off from work, to run around and get everything ready for Saturday. I went to bed on Thursday night with a clear plan for Friday.
Unfortunately, I woke up on Friday morning to an email from the company I had rented the timing system from, stating there was a "mix-up" at UPS, and I would not be receiving the printout stopwatch system. This could definitely be classified as a "Big Deal". I had visions of me standing at the finish line of the half marathon, with my $10 target stop watch, shouting out to the finishers things like, "You were a little more than 2 hours" and "Okay-#4 was about 2:20, and #6 was about 2:30. So, we'll give #5 a 2:25."
Or, "Hey, you all finished! Isn't that what's really important here?"
After three hours of near panic, several emails and phone calls, I had a solution to the problem. Thanks to the Tamarac High School Cross Country coach, and Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club, I found 2 reliable stop watches to use!
(I'm now a member of HMRRC.)
Then the fun began! It was a day of running around to pick up safety cones, raffle tickets, T-shirts, which look awesome. We still have a few for sale, if any one's interested.

Friday evening, we were joined by Ed and Donna Peck to stuff goodie bags and organize T-shirts for all registered runners/walkers. By 1:20 AM, I was ready for bed!

Saturday morning, I hopped up at 5, loaded up the van, and woke Mack up. We swung over to get my friend Mindy, who had volunteered to spend the day helping out, and made our way to the school. We spent the next 2 hours ( joined by several other volunteers) getting set up, greeting people, registering same day runners, getting the water stations squared away, and before we knew it, it was time to speak to the runners! Ed Peck and I both said a few words.

The runners gathered at the starting line


Remember the time keeping fiasco I mentioned? Well, thanks to these two lovely ladies and Andrew, the timing of the race was smooth as silk!

Here are my two littlest volunteers. They hung in there all day long, and were incredibly helpful!


The first runner came in at 1hour and 25 minutes!
There are a few things I learned from this event, and a few things I'll do differently next year. The first is that I'll choose a weekend that doesn't coincide with a local 5k that draws over 5,000 runners from all around the world. Some of the other changes include, adding mile markers on the course, starting a little earlier, and getting a volunteer to take pictures of the event.
Some of you might be asking, "Where was Kevin during the event?" Well, my awesome husband was competing in the race. And let me brag a little, to say that he finished his first Half Mary in 2:07! That breaks down to 9:45 per mile!
For the most part, I think the day was an incredible success!
Hope to see you at the Second Annual "Make it a Great Day" Half Marathon!
-Heidi