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!