Singing at Church

Do You See Me?

I'm in there somewhere!

13.1 of Beauty!

And no, I'm not talking about myself!  I did the Run For the Dream, and I ran the dream, and kicked it right in the butt.

We were early risers Saturday morning. I got a Jillian Michaels DVD in (with some interruptions from the four-year old), showered, finished packing, and we left our home and headed to the Jamestown Settlement. It never fails that we hit some kind of traffic back-up on I-64 no matter where we go.  We got caught in a back-up for about 30 minutes on the other side of New Kent.  There was a two car accident, and traffic had to merge.  Do you know what it's like to have a four-year old in the back seat constantly asking, "Are we there yet?"  I do believe I remember doing the same thing to my parents as a little girl.

We finally got to Williamsburg where we made our first stop at the Woodlands Conference Center .  I picked up the race packet, and back on the road to find Jamestown Settlement.  We ate lunch at the Cafe there.  I have to say, the food was fantastic.  I had a chef's salad, John got a BBQ sandwich, and Matthew had some chicken tenders (his usual).  We then toured the Jamestown Settlement.  The cost was $31 for John and I, Matthew was free. I thought that was a little steep for only being there a couple of hours, but I know the money goes towards a great cause.

After this visit, we left to go to the Yankee Candle Shop.  I have never seen a child more enthusiastic to visit somewhere in my life.  If you could describe it in one word...enchanting.  He really did have this look of awe as he explored the store.  The Christmas Shop was the biggest hit...of course, the most breakable of merchandise was in there.  We experienced the ceiling snowfall as well :)  I loved watching his face while shopping.  They had a section where you could have your child "cast" his or her hand in wax.  However, Matthew's height and age limit did not allow for this. So, we decided to buy him two candles, a dinosaur and a cannon, that he could color.  He loved it.  I now have them hanging in his room. We'll see if they survive the year.

Our next stop on this journey was our check-in at the Embassy Suites Hotel Williamsburg.  This was a free trip for us based upon my Hilton Honor points.  I tried to upgrade our room, but due to the half marathon and other events in the area, our hotel was booked. The staff was absolutely fantastic.  I forgot toothbrushes for Matthew and myself, they gave me two freebies. I forgot a razor....freebie.  We also needed extra blankets and pillows....delivered to our room later that day.  We used the pool, and Matthew had a blast. While the free manager's reception was in full swing, they had a balloon maker for the kids. He was a riot and reminded me so much of Jim Carey. Matthew thought he was hysterically funny.  While I loved our visit, the hotel was not up to the usual Embassy Suites' standards.  The room was mediocre, not as clean as most I have slept at, and the sofa bed...yuck.  Of course, leaving my pillow there has left a bad taste in my mouth as well.  John slept on the sofa bed, while Matthew and I slept in the bedroom. I needed my rest for the half the next morning.

Unfortunately, Matthew thought it would be easier to wake me up at 3:37 a.m. instead of the 5 a.m. I had set on my alarm clock.  He said he was hungry....default being, "I'm scared mommy."  You'd think after all that we had done on Saturday he would be exhausted....nope.  I told him it was not time to eat, Mommy needs her sleep, and it's time to go back to bed.  He fell right back to sleep,  unfortunately, I did not.  I went ahead and got out of bed at 4:45 and sat quietly watching TV and eating my chocolate Pop Tart.

I called the taxi company to meet me for pick up. He promptly picked me up at 6:15, and headed down to William and Mary for the run. There were a lot of runners; 1,441 to be exact.  I made some new friends, partook of the portable potties (gross) and headed for the start line.  We were escorted to our start by Fifes and Drums...very Williamsburg.  We heard some blurbs, then observed our country through the National Anthem, sung by a five-year old.  Too cute.  First to head out were the wounded warriors.  They were on hand-cranked bikes and were given a four minute head-start.  Most of them had served in Iraq and I thanked two of them for their service to our country.  I was in corral #1 and met a nice gal there who eased my worries about the race.  She said all would be fine, and she was right.

The first two to three miles went through Colonial Williamsburg....Duke of Gloucester Street, past the Capitol, and onto Lafeyette Street.  I give the crew credit, there were water stations at almost every mile, and I used every one of them.  Mile 4 took us onto Quarterpath Road, while pretty, it was not too exciting...until we came upon some "off-road" coursing, which included some gravel and dirt running. I wasn't expecting that one. Mile 5 took us into the parking lot of a shopping center.  I think our volunteers in that area were the most fun. Another water stop (really, I never stopped moving...gulped and moved on).  We then hit the Colonial Parkway.  Mind you, we had driven that sucker on Saturday so I knew what was coming...what goes down must come up.  FOUR miles on this...beautiful, absolutely stunning views, including one of the river, where we made a turnaround and had to go back up the hills we had just come down .  

We had to run up the "off" ramp at Mile 11 off of the Colonial Parkway and began making our way back towards William and Mary's campus. We even ran past where the race had started.  I was jamming to my i-Pod the entire race with a playlist entitled "Running Music".  At mile 12, I removed the headphones.  I wanted to hear the crowds.  I came buzzing around the corner heading towards Zable stadium.  There at the corner of the entrance were John and Matthew.  I loved seeing their faces.  Runners then entered the stadium and ran one lap with crowds cheering us on.  As I crossed over the finish line, I saw myself up on the huge screen in the stadium and heard my name announced.  It was an awesome feeling.  If you ever run, do a race, even the smallest, the runner's high is amazing.

Finishing Stats:
669 out of 1,441
37 out of 92 in my age division
Finishing time in 2 hours 10 minutes (7 minutes better than last year)
Pace:  9:56 per mile

I survived and hopefully will be doing the Crawling Crab half in September....job pending :)  Love to all of you for the well wishes.  Enjoy the video!!!

And Will I Achieve the Dream?

Last year I was brave and tackled the Flying Pirate Half Marathon.  I was scared, more like petrified, the morning of the race. My stomach was in knots, literally.  I finally got my act together, and conquered the sucker.  I have to say, it was one those "bucket" list moments, and I was so proud of myself for the accomplishment.  I always hit a wall around mile 8, whether it's running on the treadmill at the Y or running in the hills of Goochland, I want to crash.

I did a practice run of 13.1 on Sunday. My motivator?  A four-year old giving me high fives as I ran by our home.   My Achilles tendon on my left ankle is killing me.  Last Saturday while shopping at Kroger, the little rugrat had his own grocery shopping cart and decided to ram it right into my ankle.  It was doing better, but that run Sunday kicked it back into some pain.  I did a four mile light run last night, and it didn't seem too bothersome, and added in 30 minutes of circuit training (more like torture) with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  I burned 20 Weight Watcher Points on Sunday with that run.  Hello to Edy's Frozen Yogurt...lol :)  Amazing what all this running does for your core muscles.  Bring on the two-piece!

Anyway, all this leads up to my race this weekend (Run for the Dream)!  Matthew is "beside himself" with glee about visiting Colonial Williamsburg.  He is ready to go NOW.  I am keeping him home from school on Friday, just to enjoy a little fun time with him, get packed, etc.  We head down Saturday morning for the fitness expo and my race packet pick-up. We will then go to Jamestown to see the boats and take in some of the history there.  Check in at the Embassy Suites Williamsburg is not until 4.  I got our stay for FREE!  I have traveled so much for work, that my Hilton Honor points added up to a free stay.  We enjoy this chain....free buffet breakfast and the manager's reception is always nice, and the rooms are huge.  With a four-year old,  you need all the space you can to put all his crap.  In addition, I want to be able to sleep in a separate area due to my very early start Sunday morning.  Here's hoping the Ambien kicks in when it is supposed to.  

I have my box of pop-tarts packed, and ready.  One of my quirky running habits is to eat a packet of pop-tarts 30 minutes before a run.  If I don't, I'll crash badly mid-way through the race.  All that sugar, woohoo.  Any suggestions for some kid-friendly restaurants in the Burg?  Matthew is pushing for Red Lobster (blick)...not something I want to tackle before a big race.  They have sandwiches, so that will be the route I guess I'll have to take.  I can't keep the four-year old away from his cheesy biscuits.

Onto other more depressing news....many of you close to me know that my job with PBS is being eliminated as of June 22nd.  You can read the article here.... Public Station To Cut 11 Positions.  I am pretty much under "gag" order, so I have to keep my mouth shut, but at least you can read about it.  I've come to love what I do for the past 11 years, and have really put my heart and soul into working with the FBI on an Internet Safety Project.  We actually won the president's award for all of that hard work.  I just suppose this is another "bump" in our road, and we'll get past it.  I think it's my calling to go back into teaching. Applications are in... I LOVED teaching and I was good, no GREAT, at it, and hope that door opens before September 1.  Ahh, to whip out the red pen again and to do some proofreading!

Blessings to all of you....especially my mom buddies.  I hope you had a glorious Mother's Day.  I spent the afternoon playing Putt Putt with Matthew.  He sucks at it, but with his mom's guidance he will get better.  :)  I at least won a free game, so when I am totally broke within the next few months, we can get a free game of Putt Putt in on the greens.  

We love you and I'll post more after the run on Sunday (provided I'm not hospitalized!). 

Cindy ...and the rest of the gang

And  P.S. Thank you to my husband who has been understanding and supportive throughout the whole half marathon training experience!

A Little Singing

Oatmeal Banana Bread

4 Points Plus Value per serving
1 serving = 1 slice

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp allspice
3 tsp canola oil
1 large egg, beaten
2 medium egg whites (Egg Beaters)
3 large ripe bananas
1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.  Add oil and eggs; mix thoroughly. In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork.  Add bananas and oatmeal to batter.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.  Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 55 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Flip out and cool on wire rack for another 10 minutes.  Slice loaf into 10 equally sized slices.

Banana Banana Bread

 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten (used Egg Beaters)
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 2 to 3)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick spray in loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well-blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire wrack.