All packed ...

...ready to go!
See you after Freedom's Run Marathon, if I'm still alive!
Still pondering...
- Should I run in capris or shorts?
- A cotton T-shirt or smarter, but un-tried wicking T?
- What should I eat the morning of: oatmeal, rice, or cereal?
- Ipod or sporadic ipod?
- Ball cap or bare head?
- Try to hold a camera or realize that juggling water and a camera is a recipe for really bad pictures at best and a sodden camera at worst?
- Run the day before the race or rest up?
- Walk all over and sight-see or languish in a sitting position to avoid blisters?
- Bring the light cardigan or the heavy sweater?
And most importantly,
- Join the blue or the gray???

So Blessed

This morning I was thinking about how blessed I am, how blessed David and I are as a couple. A heavy rain last night brought a cold front, and the cool weather was an invitation to walk the hubby to work. As we strolled, coffee in hand, we admired the quaint New Orleans shot gun houses, each one adorably different and exquisite, like charms on a bracelet. It's such a blessing to have so much beauty around us and to be able to enjoy it!
It almost made up for the Saints' loss!

URGENT! Cheap Date Saturday!

I'm so sorry I just discovered this and am posting late, but this deal is good for today only.
It's Museum Day today and you can go here to snag free tickets to a museum in your area! We're going to the National World War II Museum.

Did you miss long run Thursday?

No post about my long run this week. That's because I didn't do one. I'm transitioning to a kind-of-long run this weekend because the weekend after this is the Freedom's Run marathon!
Instead yesterday I did a hills program on the treadmill, which turned my knees into jelly. I do not handle treadmills well and I'm achy today.
This race is close. Really close. How close?
- The extended forecast is available! High of 69, low of 49, 60% chance of showers. This tells me not to wear cotton, which will be sticky and uncomfortable wet if it rains. I may go hypothermic in these frigid conditions.
- My close childhood friend Gabrielle emailed me to make final plans for our visit. We were besties when I was 6 and she was 5, and enjoyed each others' company until we moved away when I was 9. We kept in touch for years and recently reconnected on facebook. I probably mentioned that I used to live right near the Freedom's Run course, and Gabrielle still lives in the area, so we're definitely going to see each other. We're having a bonfire at her parents' house, like we did when I was a little kid!
- The race director sent us an email with the chilling final paragraph (and I quote):
"Ohhh…. and the most important message. Mile 16 is a bear leaving the Canal going up Millers Sawmill Rd. So no matter how much you are suffering, remember at the top you will be in Antietam National Battlefield where real suffering occurred. Check out our history page for lessons along the course."
Really? It's so bad you have to remind me that people died there? Yikes.
- It's close enough for me to be watching what I eat and drink. Well...ok, I did go to a dinner hosted by a drug rep at Zea's on St Charles at which I had a tad too much to drink (and about a pound of their creamy grits. SO GOOD). I ran into some pharmacists I know and we regaled each other with tales from our pharmacies. Had a little too much fun, but I'm backing off now. Carbs, low fat, lots of fluids, no alcohol.
- I'm thinking about a packing list. We're not checking a bag so I have to be really creative. I'm so afraid I'll forget something!
Have you ever traveled for a race? If so, so you have any packing tips for me? Suggestions about what to bring? Thank you!

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Taper

When we were kids we had this book called "The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday" which we would read aloud in absolute mockery of the bratty bears. We could not believe how spoiled these little cubs were, crying and throwing fits over an extravagant party when they ought to be immensely grateful! We'd put ultra-obnoxious voices on as we read and pretty much make the bears into candidates for juvy. We were horrid, mean little children.

Right now I have too much taper. My schedule has managed to suddenly be a wreck and I haven't been following my training schedule since we got back from Atlanta. I'm being lazy and I am well aware that this will hurt me later! When I am walking at the finish of the marathon, you can all remind me that I deserve it for being a bad taper-er.

And now for your pleasure feel free to go back and read this post in a whiny, bratty, spoiled child voice. It's more fun than you think.

StarBUCKS

On my recent day off I decided to treat myself to a good book and a good coffee. I walked to the library, selected a few books, then headed to Starbucks. I sat down to read while my coffee brewed, and left my books on my chair as a placeholder.
I came back and some guy with a broken leg and crutches was reading one. It was the one I was reading.
"Hi, can I have my book back?" I asked sweetly. "Oh!" He replied. "I didn't know they were yours, sorry. I have 15 minutes to kill so I picked it up." I said it was ok, blah blah, would he like to read my other book? He said sure, we swapped tomes, and I read in peace. In a few minutes he thanked, me, handed me the book, and hobbled out.
Last night I started the book he'd been reading and five dollars fell out of the first chapter.
Weird.
Interesting.
Mysterious.
Who is the man on crutches with $5 to burn?

If it ain't broke....

This was the summer of broken things.
1. My microwave broke, and I replaced with a microwave that only had a high power setting. Every time I use it for more than 5 minutes it blows a fuse. We're going through several fuses a month. I finally learned to cook in 4-minute increments.
2. Our kitchen window unit had only blown warm air since I've lived here, greatly limiting my summer cooking options. Basically if it involved the oven or boiling water I couldn't cook it unless I was resigned to sweat the rest of the night. When the unit finally died (it was almost 30 years old) I was excited to have a shiny new replacement, our only unit with a thermostat! However, the new unit is so powerful that it blows food, newspaper, dust bunnies, even plastic utensils off our kitchen table. It cools plates of food in seconds. It's hurricane-force. If I'm slicing onions and it kicks on, onion bits scatter all over my floor. I've never seen anything like it. The strength of its gust (on low!) is destroying our morning newspaper and coffee tradition because I haven't got the strength to hold a paper open against its powerful blast.
But we're cooler.
3. We spent far too much time replacing a broken pedal on one of our Craig's List bikes. We had two, both $25 purchases that needed some TLC. After exhausting our supply of TLC and a tad too much money, the fixed bike was promptly stolen out of our very own back yard. Having this stolen from your yard is a New Orleans quality of life tax.
If I keep abreast of Craig's List ads I'm sure I can buy it back for another $25 sometime soon.
4. My car got hit in the parking lot at work (this is the third time it has been hit parked - probably because it is so small that large vehicles can't see it) and has to have the bumper removed and bent back into shape. As it turns out, when it was removed the mechanics saw that the last repair had been done incorrectly, leaving a crack when the entire bumper should have been replaced. Of course this repair was over a year ago and using a different insurer, so I'm pretty much stuck paying for it.
Good thing I paid off those loans, right?

In other news...
Work is insanely busy and I am perpetually exhausted.
My next marathon is in 11 days. !!!
The hubby ran TWELVE MILES Sunday and I am so proud of him! He went from the occasional 2-mile jog to long double digit runs in the course of this summer.
McIntosh apples finally showed up in my grocery store (they are what I miss the most about New England) and I've been eating four or five a day. It's an addiction.
I'm doing a flu shot clinic at a university tomorrow. Can't wait to stick needles in some of my old professors :)
SAINTS GAME TONIGHT!
What's going on for you this week? How's your Monday looking?