Third = The Countdown

Tomorrow begins the third trimester!! Really excited that we’re getting so close to meeting baby B.

Paul’s law firm is hosting a baby shower tonight at a local establishment and I’m excited for more fun and celebrating! Lots on the agenda this weekend … brunch with my former boss at the delicious Acre … a 1st birthday party for Eli and after-party SEC watching with Zach and Liz … Paul’s holiday party (law firm) … and Christmas shopping for our single mom family with our small group.

Best of luck to our friends running the half and marathon tomorrow for St. Jude! Running it in 2009 and 2010 were two of the absolute highlights of my twenties. Sweet memories.

13.1 Baby

Running down Beale Street with Steph, two thumbs up :)

St. Jude Half Marathon, December 2010

3rd half marathon within 365 days ...

"you must do the thing you think you cannot do..."

continually!!!!

The Annual December Loooong Run

The St. Jude Half Marathon is less than 48 hours away…the temps will be warmer this year (although I think we’ll still be starting out somewhere in the 30s), and with two half marathons already under my belt, I feel a little more prepared this go around (i.e. last year’s chanting motto at mile 11 was, “Don’t die yet! Cross the finish line first!”), as they say … onward and upward!

I'm Running A Marathon ... Not

Spit fire. I did it again. Missed the half-marathon deadline for St. Jude. Had to sign up for the marathon. Have to be another one of those “losers” who wear the marathon race bib, but stop at the half-way point.

On another note, drugs “seem” to be working on this head of mine. But at this point, I’m not really sure what's working and what's not working if you catch my drift … drugs have made me a junkie of the worst kind. I mean, who wants to be high on a muscle relaxant?

For the love of pete.

Country Music Half Weekend

the birthday fairies came to the condo ...
...with many a treat!

dinner at Margot's the night before the big event!

the parents

me, KC, Mark

bright eyed & bushy tailed at 6:30 a.m. - race day!

Kristen about to cross the finish line!

birthday dinner at Tin Angel

Happy Birthday, Mom!

the day after the race, we all survived!

mom & the cousins ... Elizabeth Tate, Knox, Will Barrett,

and Richmond ... please note the candles, Elizabeth Tate

thought mom should be "31" ... again :)

Yowza!

Nashville will always be near and dear to my heart. So many wonderful memories here ... two of my college roommates were from Nashville, and this city was my "home away from home" during the college years. I thought of both of you - Ash and Jill - as I was running today :)

So ... about the running.

The philosophy is much like labor ... or so I've heard. They tell you it's intense but until you actually feel those contractions ... you don't really know. Same with the hills on this race course. It's all you hear about when you hear about the Nashville Half Marathon / Marathon ... for the love of the HILLS!

And now after having run up and down those suckers all morning ... I will say this: intense. Super crazy intense.

My race time was off as a I had to take a little hiatus around mile 5 ... I stood in line for the bathroom behind 17 other runners (that's what it felt like anyway) ... until I could take not a moment more ... and then I turned into crazy woman and demanded to be let in next. An emergency is an emergency.

Mile 12 is always my favorite :) Best moment of the race happened about 9 seconds before I crossed the finish line. I looked to my right to see my husband, parents, Aunt P and Uncle B, Mark and Kristen (who had finished earlier) cheering me right to the end ... and toward the most non-overrated phrase in running history ... I crossed the finish line.

About ten minutes later Hurricane Nashville hit. So far ... no tornadoes :)

...now, going to celebrate my sweet mom's birthday! So excited to be with those I love!!

Naturally ...

Nashville Forecast - Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could be severe and produce heavy rainfall. High near 77. South southeast wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

~

Stay tuned. I have a feeling this is going to be a (13.1 mile) run to remember!

Woo To The Hoo

Work has been insane. And I see it being this way forever more. Sometimes there’s really no light at the end of the tunnel, but since there is a paycheck at the end of each two week tunnel, we’ll call it a trade off.

Tonight after a fun-run-in-the-sun ... the former is what happens when I'm low on sleep … I decided I needed therapy. The best kind of therapy.

Retail.

So ... I took my non-showered, smelly post-run self down each and every single aisle of the Target. Bought some “supplies” for the upcoming weekend in Nashville and some gummies.

And emerged a new woman.

Countdown is officially on:

2 days until I say a big CIAO to Corporateland ...
3 days until my mom & dad + Mark & Kristen fly in ...
4 days until Kristen & I run the Nashville half ...

Cannot wait!!!

Any suggestions for the Ipod razzle dazzle this go around?

Just Like This

This is Patriot Lake at sunrise ... the complete upside

of running 9 miles beginning at 5 this morning. It was

amazingly beautiful ... love moments just like this.

~

photo found online

Little This, Little That

The project I have been working on 24/7 for the last week is now over. I gave my presentation this morning and about heel clicked my way out of the conference room :)

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. It was gorgeous outside and HOT … let’s just say my skin is a little on the blush & bashful pink side these days due to running 8 miles in the middle of the warmest day (yet) of 2010, sans SPF. Never a good idea for anyone. Back to Easter, I made deviled eggs and banana pudding … because that’s what my grandmother always makes. She also makes the bomb.com of all potato salads, but I didn’t have the time to dice taters … see above 24/7 project. Ugh.

Important to note: in 18 days I will run the Nashville half-marathon with 35,000 other crazies. I’m trying to pep myself up, but my long runs lately have been a bit on the not so great side. I am, however, excited about this race because my family will be there … mom & dad + Mark + Kristen (who will be running with me … or 4 miles ahead of me, if that’s how you want to look at it, but the truth is just the truth: I cannot compete with former collegiate athletes … I mean, sometimes the 50 something year old man running around the lake nearly laps me!).

I digress. This post is helter skelter, but my brain is fried, so maybe that’s to be expected.

Must mention this, however: Las Delicias is the BEST Mexican food in Memphis. It’s up there with Deli Mexicana on Germantown Parkway. It’s cheap and the guacamole rocks. I went for the first time yesterday. One of our new VP’s here in Corporate America went to Union U too. And was also a Chi O  … and is an absolute riot, when she laughs you can hear her four departments away), so ... we celebrated Founder’s Day together over cheap delish Mexican. We shared stories of our pledge days and tried to remember all of the secrets. Sign of distress: check. Secret handshake: check. Founders: all check. We laughed so hard we cried, and the restaurant peeps thought we were nuts.

Cardinal & straw, and that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Of Food & More Food

I have been loving the weather the last few days, makes running at Shelby Farms all the more enjoyable. I was introduced to a new blog a few days ago and it has me wanting to try all of the new (and old) restaurants (in Memphis) that we have yet to try. Like Grace and Au Fond Farmtable, and brunch, Beauty Shop style. I am also in the mood for ... Vietnamese. Random ... I know ... but shrimp spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce (as seen at right) sound so good right. about. now.

Still trying to figure out what I'm contributing at Easter dinner with the Bruce extended family ... got my SL magazine in the mail this week, so maybe I'll get motivated to bake. Maybe. It could happen. Or maybe I'll just swing by La Baguette since they bake so fabulously well. Save myself the sweat equity in the kitchen. Speaking of ... I went to the card shop at lunch today and peeked in the window of La Bag and saw the following: hot cross buns, lemon poppyseed bread, oatmeal crumbly somethings and cross-shaped sugar cookies with sparkly pastel sprinkles. And then I walked away before I gained 10 pounds.

Is anyone hungry yet? For the love ..............

The Verge Of Spring Fever

I am on the verge of a very serious case of spring fever. I am currently sitting here in my warm Mary Tyler Moore-esque coat, with scarf wrapped and portable heater turned on … dreaming of daffodils and sundresses and skin that doesn’t conjure up images of Casper the friendly ghost. So much to look forward to over the coming months, weddings and new babies, family, vacation … and I’m ready to get that party started.

Things I am not looking forward to? My Saturday long runs in prep for the upcoming Nashville half. It’s the been there, done that mentality … and I’m not a fan. Now that I know what my knees will feel like for days on end after a good 7 mile run, I. dread. it. And … PB gets his wisdom teeth out next week. You can pray for me.

Happy Tuesday, hope the sun is shining in your corner of the world … we’re in the Kid Rock version of haven’t seen the sun shine in three … ahem … days here in Memphis, Tennessee.

xo

Wednesday Love

Just about the time I swore off running for the rest of

my life ... {I believe it was mile 11 of St. Jude}, I signed

up for the Nashville Half Marathon ... feel free to insert:

insane. I'm saying this to say that I should be at the

gym right now ... running. my. rear. end. off. But I'm here.

Looking at this picture and wishing I had a dining room

that looked just like it. I know ... it's not white ...

fleeting thought....

I guess this is more my style. Speaking of...

I want some of these prelude-to-spring-beauties

in my home asap. To do, to do..........

A New Level Of Sore

Currently, my legs feel as if they would be much better off removed from the rest of my body. Good thing I don’t own a saw.

I’m serious when I say, at best, today’s “walk” has been a handicapped hobble, nearly a crawl. I stretched, I numbed, I soaked, I popped ibuprofen like it was my job … but to no avail. Sore … plain and simple … s-o-r-e.

So in honor of not being able to move much in the last 24 hours I have eaten more peppermint ice cream than I should ever dare admit. I have watched Christmas movies, admired my Christmas tree, counted blisters on my feet (ugh).

I was laughing earlier that I got the runner’s high post-race. I would have been lucky to have gotten it at mile 10 …. wishful thinking on my part. Paul said I should run a half-marathon every time the Gator’s play … they lost (badly) and I was still smiling.

That’s high all right.

Signing out from one amazing weekend, one I will remember.

Worth A Thousand Words: The Finish

Today, after 2.5 hours of continuous running, I crossed the finish line of my first half marathon. It was 38 degrees and I was pouring sweat. My lips were chapped, toes blistered, fingers numb and tingly with preliminary frost bite, eyes burning with tears … and I thought (for sure) my knees were going to unhinge and fall right off my body. Miles 11 & 12 were all a mirage – for all I knew – I was in the Sahara Desert and all of the waving, clapping crowds of people lining the streets were just a bunch of bellowing camels.

But miracle of all miracles, it happened. I crossed the finish line.

It dawned on me in those last few miles when the hills seemed most steep and my legs felt far beyond exhausted that, I can do this. If this year has taught me anything – it has taught me that I can do this. I may look a little beat up, my knees may be knocking together, I may be tired and frazzled and half-insane, but in the end … I can still finish strong. In January I couldn’t run 1 mile, and now, I’ve finished 13. In April, I didn’t know the depth of my own strength.

And now, I do.

I can’t really even begin to describe the emotion that washed over me in the end. I had tears sliding down my cheeks the entire last half mile, but running into that stadium, and hearing all of those people cheering … I choked back the sobs … put my hands in the air … and breathed in a year’s worth of personal victory.

What I know for sure? The entire journey was worth that one single moment.

The finish.

Half Marathon: 48 Hours & Counting!

Oh, friends. It seems the end is drawing near. What will you do with yourselves when you don’t have to listen to my running ramblings (drama) that have been going on for ten long months (which all started here last winter ... and continued into spring ... and then summer ... and fall)?

In exactly 48 hours … I’ll be somewhere in the middle of running my first half-marathon.

A few important facts here: It is forecasted to be a sunny day here in Memphis, Tennessee. The high (the HIGH) will be 40 degrees, the overnight low (on Friday night) is 24 degrees. If I average this out … it will most likely be anywhere from freezing to the upper 30s when I’m actually running on Saturday morning. Among the ailments I will be suffering from post-race (blisters, etc.), feel free to add on frost bite.

You want to know the playlist, what I’ll be listening to around each mile marker? Here’s what’s up and coming on the ipod: around mile 1 I’ll be listening to It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year … around mile 3 will be Baby, it’s Cold Outside (as the first of my limbs begin to go numb and turn blue) … mile 6 will be the theme from Rocky … around mile 9 will be Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer (which I think needs no further explanation) … somewhere between miles 11 and 12, the song Jesus Saves will be blaring (yet again, no explanation needed) … mile 13.1 won’t need any music, I’m pretty sure all mental energy I have left will have my brain playing the Hallelujah Chorus on repeat.

Running this race on Saturday will be the fruition of ten long months of work for me – physical, yes, but mostly mental. Learning to endure, to keep going, to run through the pain… completing 13.1 miles will be a lot about what I have learned this year, but the race will be about them … the route takes us through the campus of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital … and it will be about the babies and toddlers and children who are in those hospital beds with brain tumors and life threatening illnesses. It will be about them – giving them the chance they so deserve. So when I’m at mile 11 thinking I can’t take another step, I’m going to think about those sweetheart babies…

And keep running.

Eleven

I managed to run 8.35 miles this morning. And I have 10 blisters on the bottom of 10 toes to prove it. It’s one thing to have sore knees, calves, hamstrings, quads … but when you can’t put weight on any one toe … now that’s when you have some issues.

And I cooked this weekend … a lot. A homemade tomato soup {which is flavorful and fresh and really good}, Paula Deen’s homemade macaroni and cheese … and tonight, individual apple crisps {in ramekins} …. I pulled them out of the oven and stuck one finger on top to see if the brown sugar was melted.

Since when does that sound like it would be a good idea?

It had melted. And it continued to melt right onto my pointer finger. So there you have it … in the course of a 12 hour period I acquired 11 blisters – 10 toes, 1 finger.

This takes serious talent.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

on my to-do list:

fill up the candy bowl {sour patch kids – yum}
watch my rock star sister-in-law run in the SEC meet at Ole Miss
make Ina’s roasted tomato soup {and a bit extra to freeze}
check off the 8 mile run
have Bethany & David over for {her birthday} dinner

After 8, Tuesday

Tonight was my first night on the treadmill. I have been running on trails since late June because the tread of death gives me shin splints … but because daylight savings is upon us, so is the dark. And I’m not sure it’s all that safe to run mile after mile in the dark. In Memphis. And if it wasn’t the dark, it would be the rain. Because that’s what it does in Memphis these days. Rain, rain, rain. Night 1 on the treadmill was a success.

And as I’m writing this post ... the advertisement for Jersey Boys came on the t.v. {to debut at the Orpheum here in Memphis in early 2010} … get tickets if you haven’t seen it – one of my favorite shows ever – really fun.

In a perfect world, this photograph would represent my dream job. Or maybe just dream life. Forget the job.

Amendment Of Half Marathon Sob Fest

Don’t kick someone already lying on the ground. That’s what I say. So I did {this morning} what any type-A, goal-driven, self respecting girl would do. I signed up for the other race happening on December 5, 2009.

Since the 8,000 half-marathon slots are already completely taken … and the full marathon still had openings … I did what I had to do:

I registered for the full 26.2 mile marathon.

Now … don’t be surprised if I only finish half of it ;)