solar squirrel

On Monday 4/20/2009 I did something I never thought I would do - I ran in (and finished) the Boston Marathon.  I remember telling Elizabeth there would be NO WAY I would EVER run a marathon.  And then, slowly, sneakily, she managed to get me to consider at least doing a trail marathon.  In my mind that really didn’t count, since it was on single track trails in the lush woods of Michigan.  So in my mind trail running doesn’t ‘count’ since you typically go slower and the wear and tear on your body isn’t as traumatic as running on the pavement.  Plus - you’re out in the wilderness with nature.  It’s natural.  To me running with thousands of people on streets that are meant for automobiles isn’t my idea of fun.  I’m not excited by crowds and pollution.  There *might* be one exception.  Just one.  I would consider doing the Boston Marathon if I ever qualified, but I knew that would never happen, so I didn’t have to worry.

Well, you see, I have this really insane group of friends who just happen to all be a part of this crazy running club - SERC that I’m a member of.  The girls in SERC are some of the best runners in N.E. Ohio, and they got it in my head that I would be able to qualify for Boston, despite the fact that I thought there would be no way.  Elizabeth and Janet informed me that the TowPath marathon was a Boston Qualifier - and it wasn’t a road race.  So I started training for it and incredibly I was able to train at a pace that would just get me qualified - 8:18.  Janet and I ran at TowPath together and both qualified for Boston, so that was it - I was in.

So began a rough training plan, which was interrupted by massive amts. of school work, getting laid off and going on interview after interview in search of a job that I wanted (and finally got!!!), getting stuck for an extra week snowed in in Oregon, starting a new job and immediately traveling, etc, etc.  Needless to say, I was not properly trained going into Boston.  But that was fine, my goal was only to finish.  Enjoy the experience and have memories of doing something that a lot of runners never get to do.

I was lucky that I was going with 2 seasoned veterans - Barb and Elizabeth - who coordinated everything from the hotel and flight to when we would go to the expo and what time we would wake up on race day.  All I had to do was follow their lead.  It was a perfect way to do Boston as a first-timer.  I didn’t have to worry about anything.  Basically the only thing I had to take care of on my own was the actual running and even that was low stress because my intent was just to finish.  I honestly didn’t care what my time was as long as I finished. 

The weekend was so fun.  We went to the expo first thing Sat. am and we didn’t have any crowds to deal with.  Unfortunately I had a terrible headache so I made Elizabeth leave the expo before she was ready so that I could find some excedrin.  We headed back to the hotel so I could rest a bit and then I was feeling MUCH better.  Let me just interject to say how altruistic Elizabeth is - seriously.  I’m sure everyone that is reading this who knows Elizabeth already realizes this, but she is such a great person.  I am so fortunate to have her as a good friend.  Ok - so after the expo and my shopping spree buying $300 worth of Boston Marathon stuff we went to lunch at Legal Seafood.  I guess it’s a tradition to go there Boston weekend and I know why!  The food was so good and the service was excellent.  We ended up having a big group because some of the guys joined us so it was a fun time listening to them talk about their expectations for the race.

Lunch at Legal Seafood

Fast forward to race morning.  We were up early and I stumbled out of the hotel room to the Starbuck’s which opened at 5 am.  Got my coffee and got dressed and the 3 of us (Barb, Elizabeth, and me) headed down to the lobby to meet the rest of the group.  We walked to the area where there were tons of busses lined up waiting to  take the racers to the start line.  For those who don’t know, Boston is a point to point race, not out and back, so you get bussed to the start.  Our hotel was at the finish, so we had to take a bus to get to where the race starts.

Once we got to the race start location we went to the *secret* church location.  Not sure how SERC found out about the church initially, but it was very convenient because it was warm and there were bathrooms without a line (and no one was there except SERC people!).  So we hung out there before it was time for everyone who was in the first wave to leave.  I left with them even though I was in the second wave - I wanted to see the elite men start!  After I left my friends I found a good spot to watch the start and I was able to see the elite men start - Ryan Hall was right out front.

Then it was time for me to line up.  They have corrals based on your qualifying time.  Because I qualified with a 3:38 I was in the 2nd wave.  (Fast people get to go in the first wave).  It was insane how many of us there were…there was some talk over the loud speaker and then we were off!  The first 10k was tough because I was trying SO HARD not to run fast.  I was getting passed left and right.  I knew not to run fast, though, because then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it as much.  The entire time I just was in awe at the vast no. of people there were!  It was insane - as far as I could see in front of me - hundreds and hundreds of runners!  But the runners weren’t the only people - the crowds lined the course.  The cheering got so loud at one point that my ears were ringing.  When we passed Boston College (I think that’s where we were) there were students holding signs that said ‘kiss me…’ - it was so crazy!  I passed a blind runner who was tethered to a guide.  I passed a man pulling an oxygen  tank, I passed the inspirational Hoyts…  It was just one incredible event after another.  At one point there was a group of old people in wheel chairs waiting to get their hands slapped by the runners.  They were all lined up along the road watching the runners go by.  I hit all of their hands. It was so motivating.  I think I drank too much water because I had to stop 3 different times to use the bathroom, but it didn’t matter.  I was just trying to enjoy every minute of the race.  I took my gels at mile 12 and mile 17.  When I got to heartbreak hill I didn’t realize I was even there.  I think that hill is a bit over-rated.  (Though - I was running / walking super slow, I’m sure if I was racing it would have seemed challenging).  Towards the end I was getting cold.  I took my gloves off and left them and I should have kept them because the weather got colder as the day went on.  I was freezing as I neared the finish and would have been more comfortable if I would have kept them.  The last turn before the finish was great - I knew I was almost done and the crowds were out of control.  I can’t believe how many people there still were all around me running - you would think with such a slow time I would have been alone, but I was surrounded by other runners.  I finished smiling and was pushed through the crowd of other runners waiting to turn in their chips and get their medals.  We all got space blankets and it was a sea of silver crinkled masses.  I was so so so so cold by this point that I was starting to loose it.  I needed to find my bus so I could get my drop bag and then head to the warm hotel.  I had to ask 3 different times which way the Marriot was because I was so lost in the massive crowd of people.  On the way to the hotel I stopped and sat down because my feet were killing me and I was incredibly cold.  This girl came up to me with a wheel chair and asked me if I needed help.  It was so pathetic.  I told her I was fine, I was just really cold and I got up and headed back in the direction of the hotel.

Back at the hotel I was welcomed by Barb and Elizabeth - who had both gotten PR’s.  And wouldn’t you know it, Barb got FIRST PLACE in her age group!  We were going to get to go to the award ceremony with the likes of Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher!  That in itself was worth the trip - seeing so many elite athletes was amazing.  And my friend Barb was one of them!  After the awards we went and ate some wonderful Italian food and then off to the post race party!  The post race party was a lot of fun - including free massages and a free oxygen bar.  I had never tried an oxygen bar and it was SWEET!  They had different ‘flavors’ - including peppermint and floral scents.  It was awesome!  It kind of made you feel a little light headed, but good.  We all tried it out and Elizabeth got some really silly pictures (check them out on her facebook).

It was a great weekend with a great group of people.  I just wish I wouldn’t have had school commitments - but next year I’ll be done with school so look out!!!!!!

Here’s a link to the photo’s that I took:

Boston 2009

I’ve been traveling this week for work - visiting WPS (Wisconsin Power Systems) in Green Bay, Wi.  I thought that Green Bay would be a big city with lots of traffic and people and buildings - but it’s actually quite deserted.  I really liked it, though. 

I stayed at a Holiday Inn, which was right across the parking lot from WPS, where I went during the day.  Also right next to the hotel was the Fox River, which I ran along this morning.  It was really beautiful - they have about 25 miles of multi-purpose trail that goes along the river along fancy houses.  http://www.foxrivertrail.com/ 

I am already loving my new job - it’s very fast-paced and there is a TON of work that needs to be done, but it’s work that I am totally capable of doing - and I’m EXCITED to do it.  I really want to do well here, since the company is doing work that I believe in.  It doesn’t seem that the culture embraces the environmental aspects of the work, though.  It’s more focused around minimizing the costs of the utility company, which is great - but there is a whole other side to AMI.  Hopefully I can have an influence on the Marketing Communications people and get them to emphasize ALL of the benefits of their product.  The people I traveled with (project manager, software engineer, and marketing VP) are all down to earth and fun.  My personality meshes well with everyone I’ve met so far and I love the energy, optimism, and enthusiasm the company culture seems to foster.

Tomorrow (Friday) I leave for Boston to do my first ever Boston Marathon.  I’m really excited and I can’t wait to soak it all in.  I have to make sure I take tons of photos and document as much as possible since I don’t know if I’ll ever go again. 

This post is dedicated to Brian Royle - who is a loyal follower of solarsquirrel.  Thanks, Brian!!!!

Yesterday was a cold, rainy, yucky day.  I told myself if I went running in it I would reward myself with a new pair of running shoes (which I needed anyway - I’ve been running on the roads in my trail shoes because I didn’t want to spend any extra $).  I bought some cute pink Asics which have tons of support.  I’ll wear these at Boston.

So I forced myself to go out in the rain and run.  You know - it wasn’t so bad!  I wore shorts, technical Tshirt, and a light fleece and gloves.  I was cold for about 20 seconds when I first walked outside and then I was perfect.  The rain wasn’t too bad at all, and I was out on the towpath by myself.  I like running on the towpath when no one else is around because you can hear the river.  It sounds really neat splashing along.  Plus you can hear the birds now that the weather has warmed up a little.  I didn’t wear my watch, but I felt like I was running pretty fast.  I only ran like 5 miles because I didn’t have much time so I was running a bit faster than I normally would.

Thank you everyone for the wonderful words of encouragement and congratulations on my new job.  I’ll be posting info about it once I officially start on April 6th.  I’m so excited!

Tonight I’m going to Ray’s indoor mountain bike park.  I’m a little nervous as I haven’t been on my mountain bike for MONTHS!  Oh, well - it will still be fun!

Three Sisters: Me, Gretchen, Ashley (friend), and Katy

Friday was my sister Gretchen’s 20th birthday.  Thinking back I can’t even remember my 20th birthday…I must have been right in the middle of some crazy semester at school, trying to work and handle a full-time CS undergrad load.  I do remember my 21st birthday, though.  I had a huge test the next day - I think in either Calc II or DSAII (Data Structures and Algorithms — good lord, it could have been both I took them the same semester…)  Anyway - I remember being incredibly frustrated because I had to spend so much time studying and working on programming assignments when it seemed like a lot of the other majors were going out and having fun.  I remeber thinking - that’s ok - after I have my degree it will all be worth it.

Since then I have realized that sometimes it’s just best to live in the moment.  Who knows what would have happened if I would have partied through college (I would have probably failed a lot of classes and had to graduate later.)  Certain things require dedication and responsibility, but there isn’t this binary black and white border.  There are some greys that I really missed out on because I was so dedicated to school back in the day.  (I was valedictorian of my high school class, too).  Who knows what my life would be like now if I would have spent more time doing ‘fun’ stuff…  Things are different now - even though my GPA is pretty good at Case (3.7), I know I could have a solid 4.0 if I really tried.  I don’t care that much about it anymore, though.  What good is it to spend that extra time?  If it’s between hanging out with my family and friends or having a 3.7 vs. a 4.0 I’m taking the B every now and then!  Getting laid off has really taught me that success means more than job title, grade point average, and your salary.  It’s your overall LIFE that matters; your health; your happiness; your satisfaction with your accomplishments both career and personal.  It’s too bad that it took me a while to realize these things, but I feel like I know a secret now…one that’s so obvious but so hard to realize.

So - we went to the Melting Pot for dinner.  If you’ve never been there I recommend NOT going there for dinner, but instead dessert.  Dinner is overpriced and not very good (they give you raw meat/seafood and you cook it in this pot of broth on your table).  The dessert is also overpriced, but the experience is fun and it’s very tasty.  We decided to do this thing where you get an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert.  It was $88 per couple.  (I told Gret she could get whatever she wanted).  Here are some pictures:

Spinach and artichoke cheese appetizer

Entree plates (each couple gets one) with seafood and meats

Dessert! 2 pots of different flavored chocolate and plates with strawberries, marshmallows, rice crispy treats, brownies, bananas, and cheesecake!

And yes, we did eat ALL of it!  I may have eaten more of the dessert plate than Gretchen did!  It was nice, though, because going here is more of an event than most dining.  We were there for close to 3 hours.  It was fun to have tons of time to talk and have fun in-between the courses.  We took lots of pictures of each other and at one point were being really silly and taking fake myspace pictures.  (If you have a myspace acct you know what I’m talking about — the over the head self-portrait where you’re trying to look good - yet another reason to make fun of myspace.)  Oh - and no, I won’t be posting those. 

I was out pretty late, but decided I really HAD to get in a long run and there was no way I was doing it by myself so I decided to run w/ SERC .  Daisy and Espeed are too fast for me and Barb was only doing 10, so I joined Dawn and Rich at the 6 mile mark.  They were planning on doing 20 and they weren’t going too fast for me so I ran with them.  They are great to run with because they talk most of the time and made the miles go by pretty fast.  Towards the end I was pretty tired though and barely made it up the big hill in the park.  Luckily Rich gave me one of his gu’s or I would have likely died because I was expending so many calories trying to stay warm!  Man it was frigid!  The wind was crazy and it was snowing pretty steadily so my fleece was soaked from the melting snow.  My eyelashes were covered with snow and ice and I could barely see!  Rich said my ponytail was like a barometer or something because it had so much snow on it that it was an indication of how long we had been running.  I know neither one of them read my blog - but they are such great runners and I’m really appreciative that they ran with me.  (They’ve both done many ultras including hundred milers).  I’m so happy to get that 20-miler over with.  Now I feel like I’m really training.  Let’s see where the rest of the weeks take me!

We're not wearing fake eyelashes people...it's ICE!

As planned, I ran with the South East Runners Club this morning in Solon.  My car said the temp. was 4F so I was preparing for a blustery run.  I wore 2 thick technical shirts (the purple one I’m wearing in the photo has built in mittens and a hood) and a pair of medium thickness running pants.  Of course as always thick smart-wool socks.  Really the only thing that was cold was my face and my butt.  The face makes sense, but the butt doesn’t.  I thought fat was an INSULATOR!  My butt was so cold that I couldn’t feel it!  I ran with Mr. Skin for a while and then Daisy caught us (she was running 2 min late and they leave at 8 am SHARP!) and I started talking and running with her - accidentally leaving Mr. Skin.  (Sorry!!).  Daisy was running too fast for my out of shape self so I slowed it down a bit and was running by myself till the 6 mile mark.  Then I caught them at the ‘water’ stop (no water today) and finished the last half with them.  I did the 12 mile loop minus the parking lot so it was more like 11.5.  I’m fine with that, though.  I need to make sure I don’t over do it since I’m just now ramping up my mileage for Boston.  I was supposed to do 20 today, but I’m just not ready for 20 yet.  I’ll try for closer to 18 next weekend.

It was really weird having all that ice on my eyelashes - it made it hard to see - it was like I was looking through some type of filter.  I wiped it off at the half way point, but it just built up again.  I didn’t realize my eyes and hair could develop so much moisture!  We looked like 3 old ladies running!

When I got home I took a really long hot shower and then headed to Todd’s.  We went to lunch and then went to this pet store called ‘One of a Kind’.  It’s awesome - they have about 20 cats just hanging out and puppies out in the open for you to pet.  They are all rescued animals and they are all so LOVABLE and FRIENDLY!  Here is a pic. of Todd testing out a cat toy he was planning on buying for his cats.

Game plan is to try to run w/ SERC every Sunday until Boston.  We’ll see how it goes!