Rockin’ My Goal

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Coco

I was wary of setting a goal for the Rock’N’Roll USA Half Marathon, but when I registered I chose 2:00 a my estimated finish time, and that’s the goal that my friend really wanted to meet. (That was my same goal for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon last June, and I only missed it by a few minutes, despite several set backs during the race.) 


I set my alarm for 4:45, had a quick shower, and squeezed into my compression shorts and calf sleeves. I took my dog for a very short walk to the end of our street and back while the coffee brewed, and I limited myself to one cup while I nibbled on my pre-race breakfast–a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread. Continue reading →

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Old Man

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Coco

Old man, you are not my Old Man,
But when I see you working in your garden,
I think of him.

Old man, you are not my Old Man,
But when I see you out walking (long shorts, white tube socks),
I think of him.

Old man, you are not my Old Man,
But when I see you at my son’s games,
I think of him.

Old man, you are not my Old Man,
But I thank you for triggering these memories of him.

(I miss you Dad.)

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Ready To Rock And Roll

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Coco

I spent most of Thursday getting read for the Rock’n’Roll USA Half Marathon, which is this Saturday!

First, I got a permanent crown installed on one of my top left molars and a root canal on a nearby canine tooth. (Two-for-one dentist visits are the best–not!)

Then, I got a pedicure to make sure my feet would at least look happy after 13.1 miles.

Then, I picked up my friend to go to the expo. (It’s great having a friend willing to “work at home” for the day so we could beat the crowds.) It was a good dry run of the route we will take–and the detour we will not take–on race day.

We breezed through packet pick-up and got our t-shirts.


(front)

(back)

Then we couldn’t resist the new Brooks gear.

That top has a built-in bra. I really hope it works because it would be so nice to wear a single layer this summer without baring my tummy! The skirt has built-in shorts with rubbery gripper hems–yay, no creeping! I’m not sure how often I will wear the pieces together, but I’ve got plenty of plain tops and bottoms I can mix-and-match.

We browsed the other expo booths, picking up samples of Gu and Larabars, tasting different flavors of Nuun, checking out the latest Garmin and Timex GPS watches, debating arm sleeves (neither of us gave in), and avoiding the brochures for triathlon and Ironman events. It was nice to  be there when it wasn’t too crowded–and nice to get home without fighting rush hour traffic.

Now, all I have to do it make a 2+ hour playlist!

Are you racing this weekend?

What songs should I put on my playlist?

 

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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday (The Slimwear Edition)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Coco

I might be offended that marketers thinks that I am “of a certain age” where I need to shop from a catolog of “slimming” items, but it was addressed to my husband, so I just have to wonder what he’s done to get on this mailing list! 😉

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Let’s Go For A Walk!

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Coco

Tiger Lilly was 4 plus years old when she joined our family in January, and knew some tricks and habits that we had nothing to do with. She doesn’t chew on things (thank goodness!) but when she is excited she picks up whatever is nearby and brings it to us to play. It might be one of her toys, but it could be a dish towel grabbed off its hook or a stray sock left on the floor.

The thing that she is most excited about is going for a walk.  When our alarm goes off in the morning, she picks up one of my husband’s slippers and paces from one side of our bed to the other, wagging her tail until one of us gives in to its thump-thump-thump against the bed frame and gets up.

I never realized how long 5 minutes can seem until I’ve had to brush my teeth, splash water on my face, run a brush through my hair, and pull on some sweats with a 60-pound beast pacing around me. She does her part to help me get ready more quickly.

Between her brisk pace (generally somewhere between 16-20 min miles, depending on sniff breaks) and the steep hills in my neighborhood, our walks do get my heart rate up. After a few weeks of walking her once or twice a day, I noticed that my legs were tired and I was hungrier. I decided to start logging our walks in Daily Mile to see if they really were having an impact.

I was impressed to see that I logged 40 miles of dog walks in February!

Do you “count” your dog walks?

Do you know how many miles you log at the other end of the leash?

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