September 2, 2009 at 1:07 pm (Uncategorized)
This blog kind of died when I no longer had internet and decided to move across the country, but as of last Thursday I now live in Seattle! With all of these hills to walk up and mountains to climb I am really excited about what this means for my levels of fitness! So don’t fret, I will be back in action starting today!
The Pacific Ocean after driving over 3000 miles!
February 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm (Personal Travel)
Tags: family, Pics, snowboarding, travel
My brother (Billy) and his girlfriend (Sara) headed up to Crystal Mountain this past Saturday to enjoy a Michigan winter weekend on the slopes. The day began when I picked them up after they were done teaching lessons at Apple Mountain in Saginaw, MI. I hit up the ski shop there because after turning my apartment upside down that morning I could not find my gloves or goggles anywhere. I wanted to replace them anyway and scored a pair of Burton Womens Approach Gloves that I am extremely happy with and just borrowed some extra goggles from Billy.
Sara’s grandparents live in Manistee, which is only a stonesthrow from the mountain. We stopped there on the way so Billy could wax my board and we could drop our overnight bags off. They’re house is incredible. I felt like I was in a house you see in the movies. Old victorian style, art everywhere, it was so cute! The dogs though, Toby and Molly, were not so cute. Sure I wanted to snuggle Molly the Westy but these dogs were VOCAL. Tres annoying. Sorry Grandma Marge and Bob, I was not sad to leave them!
Getting ready to go down a run.
So we jumped back into the car and headed to the mountain. Luckily I had new tires put on not too long ago as the road to the hill was not plowed at all. I am pretty proud of the Caliber for her performance over the weekend. Lift tickets for night skiing at Crystal are only $30 which is pretty sweet, and the snow was still coming down once we were strapped in and ready to go. Most of the runs were open and I even attempted the half-pipe (if attempted means I went halfway up the right side and bit it hard every time I tried the left). It felt good to be out there on my board again. I felt a bit rusty since I haven’t been out since my Copper Mountain trip out in Colorado a year ago, but it was like riding a bike. I didn’t get my guts back to try any jumps until the last couple runs, even going for a weak 180 after Billy’s coaxing.
Overall no one took any bad spills, the worst probably was when I wiped out on the ice getting on the chair lift. Nothing like cracking your knee on your binding and looking like an idiot in front of the 10 year olds behind me. What can ya do, ya know? Billy discovered he needed some new gloves himself when he couldn’t feel his fingers halfway through the evening. He went inside the lodge to warm them up while Sara and I did a few more runs. When we went in to find him we were surprised he was half-way through a pitcher of beer and enjoying the band…whatever warms you up! Heading back out we were informed by the girl working the lift line that, “The hill is always open but the lifts close at 9,” so we got as many runs in as possible then headed back to Manistee.
I love the northern parts of Michigan, this state seriously has my heart. Passing all of the snowmobilers zooming around the woods and seeing people cross-country skiing and passing cars with the snowboard racks strapped to the roof just makes me happy. I don’t understand how people cannot love winter, there are so many ways to enjoy the outdoors! Now that I have been on my board again I have the itch to get out as much as I can to enjoy the snow before it all melts away!
PS. You can always check out more pics to go with this entry by following the link to my Flickr account in the toolbar!
February 15, 2009 at 2:54 am (Work Travel)
Tags: Pics, travel, work
I just got back from a work trip to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Sunday 2/15/09. This post was originally posted on 2/10/09 in my see_brownie_run livejournal, but it has been revised for my new blog.
My coworker Joe and I hit up trivia night at the Smuggler’s Jug on Friday night, a little pub down the street from our hotel, and it proved to be an excellent decision.
Turns out we made it just in time to play bingo with a riled up group of locals. While hilarious, neither of us walked away with any loonies or toonies jingling in our pockets. After bingo was over, they busted out the trivia. Joe and I called our team “The Americans” and we got second place the first round…which was actually pretty awesome considering we were the only 2 person team competing against teams with 5-10 people on them. The second round we didn’t fair so hot but were amused at the random questions thrown out that cost patrons a quarter a guess. We quickly blew through the few quarters I dug out of my purse and Joe had to run out to the car for some change after he yelled out (wrong) answers he was “sure of”.
Saturday we drove around the island and saw Green Gables of the infamous Anne of Green Gables, Confederation Bridge, a lighthouse, and a bunch of other stuff that is closed. Apparently February is not the touristy time to be on the island.
Standing in front of the infamous Green Gables house from Anne of Green Gables.
After getting back into Charlottetown we went into this music store called Back Alley Music and bought a compilation cd called Well-Oiled consisting of 17 local bands from around Prince Edward Island in 2007. The guy working at the music store gave us a tip to check out Baba’s Lounge that night if we like live music. It was a nifty little pub that was long and narrow, but we grabbed a seat at the bar and personally I enjoyed the band but they didn’t so much suit Joe’s taste. I just have a special place in my heart for hippy jam bands, though for the venue it was a bit loud.
I spent Sunday being lazy and listening to the rain outside of my hotel room window and didn’t do anything of real excitement during the rest of the work week. The highlight once again was Friday evening when we made our return appearance at The Smuggler’s Jug. Joe was a bit luckier as he hit the jackpot and filled his bingo card on the last game to pocket $30 in colorful (or is that colourful?) Canadian money and then correctly answered a quarter question for a free beer. The only thing I won was a nasty hangover that I didn’t collect until Saturday morning.
Luckily we knew just where to go to replenish nutrients on Saturday morning and headed downtown to Cora’s, a restaurant chain in Canada that NEEDS to make the jump to the US. We had dined there the previous weekend after adventuring and I looked forward to coming back all week. Most dishes come with a generous helping of fresh fruit, their crunchy crepes have been haunting my dreams and the waitstaff was so chipper you wanted to order whatever they were on. If you see one while traveling through Canada, I recommend you stop in!
Saturday continued into awesomeness as Joe and I sat at a diner in the Ottawa airport awaiting one of our connecting flights (of many). A couple of blonde twenty-something girls came up to the server at bar and asked if they could pay in American dollars. Without missing a beat the bartender replied, “You can pay in American dollars but you will get Canadian change.” Maybe the week was just too long for me, that put a smile on my face.
Overall, not a bad trip to Prince Edward Island. While the snow-covered, sparkling views were incredible, it still would have been nice to see some of the lush, green rolling hills that are plastered all over google images. Or at least a seal.
September 13, 2008 at 2:22 pm (Work Travel)
I had such an amazing night last night with the two girls from the paper, Meghan and Wendy. We went out to Brookside, a trendy little area in Tulsa. We ate dinner and had some beers at Brook’s Restaurant and Bar, an old cinema they had converted into a diner, it was pretty spiffy…the wait staff was awesome.
Meghan even made muffins and brought them into work because it was my last day at the TBJ…they kept calling me their foreign exchange student from “The North” lol….they’re incredibly fabulous. It’s nice to be able to file “Wendy Stories” and “Johnny Figment” into the memory banks.
After we finished our drinks, we walked around downtown and found an awesome shop with old school candy: candy dots on the paper (where you end up eating more paper than candy), candy cigarettes and ZOTS! I love Zots! They’re hard candy with fizzy stuff in the middle. I remember getting a string of four of them for a dime when my family first moved to Lapeer and they sold them at the movie rental store. Now you get a string of four for 50 cents. The girls had never had them, so I bought a string of each flavor. Meghan and I basically devoured them while Wendy only tried one or two.
We ended the evening sitting on a curb outside a dive bar, across from an artsy coffee shop (people were inside painting so we couldn’t get a table). We sat there for a good two hours just talking and people watching, it was a great way to wrap up the two weeks (er…seven) here.
Okay enough jabbering…onto the assortment of pics from my last 2 weeks in Tulsa!
September 9, 2008 at 2:16 pm (Work Travel)
I put together a little sampling of places I have been in the last year to share what my life is like while I am traveling. I am a weekend warrior and try to get as much site seeing in as possible. It is what makes me weeks more bearable.
(I am missing pics from New York City and Key West. I’ve spent time in Key West, Tennessee, North Carolina, New York, California, Mississippi, New Orleans, Texas, Alaska, Canada, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, etc etc)
I’ve seen…
September 8, 2008 at 2:38 pm (Uncategorized)
I went to see the Oklahoma City Memorial yesterday for the bombing on April 19, 1995. It was such an intense afternoon. I was in fifth grade when the bombing happened. My class had been learning about current events and as part of the segment we watched 10-30 minutes of CNN every morning. We were watching as the first coverage was aired. My teacher (along with th
Memorial statue across the street.
entire class) was so stunned he didn’t change the station. I remember how scary it was, we tuned in throughout the day to watch the story unfold. That year was intense overall as we saw the OJ Simpson trial play out as well as the Jonbenet Ramsey story. Crazy.
Last summer I went to see Ground Zero in NYC and that was equally emotional. In that case I remember seeing the World Trade Center when I was maybe in third grade, so seeing the gaping hole that now exists where they used to stand was shocking. In the case of the OKC, I had never seen the Federal Building before, so trying to imagine what the area looked like before April 19, 1995 was difficult.
In any case, I believe that it is important to see these memorials if you are ever near them. They are heartbreaking and make you remember these times and these people who lost their lives. Sometimes I think we forget that “It can happen here”.
Anyway…onto the pics.
September 6, 2008 at 2:36 pm (Uncategorized)
I am actually really enjoying my time in Tulsa this time! The paper I am working at is small, only a staff of 5.
I have also realized even more how much I love being in a city. The tall buildings, parking in the ghetto parking garage and walking 5-6 blocks is amazingly enjoyable.
View from the street.
It’s not a “big” city, but it’s cute enough to keep my attention. I snapped some pics after work yesterday of the surrounding area.
What is really interesting to me is the BOK building. It was designed by the same architect who did the World Trade Center and is literally just a mini replica of the towers. I have memories of seeing the World Trade Center when I was young, so seeing this was pretty cool (and almost kind of creepy). I saw Ground Zero last summer.
August 28, 2008 at 6:52 am (Uncategorized)
I went to my new dentist. The office was all decked out in Finding Nemo. I made her laugh because when she asked if I flossed regularly, I responded “Um…Frequently”. Which apparently is hilarious.
I didn’t get a pic of the wall sadly but I did get this…
Possibly one of the scariest pigs ever.
August 18, 2008 at 6:13 pm (Uncategorized)
…no repeat performances brought back by popular demand.”
I woke up in Paris, Texas (small, SMALL town) and drove about 20 minutes north to Hugo, Oklahoma (SMALLER town). What’s so special about Hugo? Well this is from their website:
“Hugo is also the termination point for a goodly number of circus folk. The town, once known as Circus City, USA, is winter headquarters for two different shows: Kelly-Miller and Carson and Barnes. Those who do not rise to make the next spring’s journey are laid under in Mt. Olivet Cemetery’s designated Showmen’s Rest.”
Where funny dead people live.
After I had my fill of deceased circus performers, I cruised back to Texas to see the Paris, TX Eiffel Tower and Pyro the Dragon….
“There’s nothing left but empty popcorn sacks and wagon tracks. The circus is GONE.
June 24, 2008 at 6:01 pm (Uncategorized)
“Never resting time, leads summer on, leads summer on…..”
What is it like to run a marathon…well…it’s unlike anything I have ever tried before. I have tried a few new things in 2008 that have been challenging both mentally and physically (Bikram Yoga for one). I hope these endeavors will help me reach my goals of better health and back to the body I had for years before hard partying became a habit. Beer’s wonderful, but I also miss being able to see my collarbones!
The plane for Alaska departed from Detroit at 7:35 p.m. on Thursday (the 19th). There were only two of us from Ann Arbor on the Michigan Team in Training team and the other guy had flown out with his family earlier to make a vacation out of the trip. So I showed up at the airport (with the help of my awesome and amazing cousin Sean) and went to the gate to meet my team. I would say about 10 of us flew out together, all participating in different events. The Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon offered a run/walk Marathon and Half Marathon.
6 hours later…we’re flying over Alaska. I don’t care how many times I have seen mountains, they just never get old. Alaska is an absolutely beautiful piece of country…mountains, lakes, rivers, forests…I risked the nauseousness of staring down below because it was too beautiful to look away. Did I mention I have issues with motion sickness? haha
We landed around 10:30 p.m. Alaska time and were greeted with sunshine. I’ve read about the midnight sun, seen pictures of it, seen movies with it….but it is something else to experience. 3 a.m. in the morning and you would swear it was 3 in the afternoon if you didn’t know any better. The first night was uneventful. The lady who drove us to our hotel said to be careful as we gazed out the grimy bus windows at the mist hovering over the tops of the mountain – she came to Alaska 5 years ago and has never left. She was originally from Michigan.
At the hotel, we received our room assignments. I roomed with Lisa, a 26 year old architect from Commerce, MI and the cousin of some guys I went to high school with. We took up occupancy in room 312, pulled the shades tightly closed and promptly passed out.
Friday morning, we had breakfast and wandered down to the race expo to pick up our racing packets. Alaska is apparently known for its wildflowers, we passed a few rows on our way to the expo and on the grey morning they sure did pop. After receiving our race packets (I got bib #136), we quickly parted with a bunch of our cash at the various booths, petted a 3 week old husky puppy that stole my heart, got my picture taken with a moose and then made friends with Adam and Stephanie from the Grand Rapids team. This proved to be a very beneficial move for the entertainment purposes of the rest of my weekend.
After we exhausted the expo, we meandered downtown Anchorage. We went to an Ulu store…I am still not entirely sure what an Ulu was/is traditionally used for, I just know it is some kind of knife. We saw an amazing splash of flowers at the visitors center, touched some glacier ice and I went to exhibit on dog mushing with Stephanie. At 5 p.m. we went to the Team in Training pasta dinner.
It was something else to see all of the teams from all over the US and Canada there in one huge room. We heard a speech from a cancer survivor and also the guy who writes the column at the end of Runner’s World Magazine. It was incredibly moving to see and meet all of these people who had decided to do something to help others. If I had the words to describe the excitement and emotion in that room, I still don’t think I could do it justice.
My nerves built throughout the night. I was counting down the hours in my head. “In 12 hours you are going to be running a marathon.” “In 10 hours you have to get up and run a marathon.” As we painted our shirts back in the hotel…”Oh crap….you have to get up in 8 hours and run a marathon!” As I got in the elevator to go up to our room “Michelle you are an idiot…you have to run a marathon in 7.5 hours” and as I put on all of my race stuff, made sure my camera battery was charged, my inhalers were packed, my bib pinned on, my luna gummies and sports beans pinned to my shorts…”This is the dumbest thing you have ever done, you are going to die!”
Sleep was interesting the night before the race. I tossed. I turned. I tossed some more. They warned us this would happen, but I thought I would be fine. I am an idiot. All I could think about were the millions of miles I would be running the next morning. It wasn’t incredibly awful, I believe I pulled together a good 6 hours of sleep total…about average for me anyway. When my alarm went off, I hopped out of bed and assembled myself and went downstairs to meet everyone.
On the bus ride over, I laughed and joked around with Adam, Pam and Stephanie from the Grand Rapids team. This was Adam’s third marathon I think, Pam’s fifth and Stephanie’s first. Adam and Pam had time goals for themselves, Stephanie and I decided just to not die and finish. Steph assured me she was a pretty slow runner too…so we talked some strategy and decided to at least start together at the starting line and run the first couple miles together. We arrived at the starting line….a high school with mountains looming in the landscape behind it. A slight drizzle, which I welcomed, fell pretty steadily all morning.
We spent the next 45 minutes stretching, rubbing vaseline all over our bodies (chaffing is a bitch!), using the porta-potties multiple times and begging pain killers from other runners. By the time it came to get in line at the start, I was a pile of nerves and excitement. I was going to run a marathon! (I was of course trying to forget the end of the legend of the marathon’s birth where the man who ran it died at the end…minor details really).
The gun went bang and we were off….walking! For those that have not raced before, you wear a timing chip on your shoe lace. This chip is activated when you cross the pad under the starting line and records your time up til when your foot hits the pad at the finish line. This is how they keep accurate times of all the runners and also why some new racers freak out because they think the 2 minutes crawl to the starting line is effecting their time.
Once my foot hit the mat, we started jogging. I could tell instantly that Stephanie was a fibber and actually had a pretty good cruising pace. She hung back for a bit, but after a half mile I told her to go ahead, I was completely fine. She finished in 4 hours and 16 minutes I believe. Everyone has a different version of “slow” haha!
The first few miles suck. Everything is just a bit painful, I have to monitor my body, make sure I am not letting my calves get too tight. If my calves get tight and my feet go numb early, I would be screwed the rest of the 24 miles, so stretching and taking it easy the first few miles is a MUST for me. I learned a lot while “training” and the most beneficial item was how to listen to my body. I can’t be concerned about runners passing me, or think about the time I lose when I stretch. Stretching saves me in the end so I can run for an extended period of time.
The first stretch of our trip runs along the highway. I was less than thrilled. They had promised wilderness! moose! eagles! Instead we started on a bike path, but the rain and the mountains made me happy and I sucked it up. Around mile 3 I make my first friend, Megan from New Jersey. This is also her first marathon, her dad was diagnosed with Leukemia in December.
At mile 4 I stop and use the restroom to get the rest of the nervousness from my bladder and tell Megan good luck with the race and I hope her dad pulls through. Continuing on, around mile marker 5…I pair up with a mom of 2/teacher from Iowa. She is running at a great comfortable pace and we have fun chitchatting about what we fuel with while running, the weather and scenery and how I am at the age where all of my friends are either getting married or are having babies (she had to stop training with Team in Training 2 years ago when she became pregnant with her daughter, so now she was back finishing what she started. This was also her first marathon). We split up when she stopped to use the porta-potties around mile 6.
Mile 7 was awesome! My feet finally hit the dirt path and they had a water station with a live band and people dressed in 60′s costumes passing out Ultima (sports drink), water and pretzels. It was awesome getting pumped up just before we ran onto the tank trail.
The trail was great…it reminded me of running in Marquette. The rain had kept the dust down but had been light enough not to create mud (that would have SUCKED). Trees on both sides, over bridges that crossed rivers and mountains all around. BEAUTIFUL.
Just before mile 9 I joined up with an older woman from Florida, this was her third marathon. One of the Michigan coaches, Bruce, ran up to me around the water station and ran a couple hundred yards with me to see how I was holding up. I told him great, he gave me a high five and back peddled to help out other teammates. Our other Michigan staff member, Mary, was a little past mile 9 with her big moose hat on and cheered and encouraged me on as I ran into the crappiest part of the trail.
Huge. Gravel. Rocks. yuck! Constant balancing, running up and down hills…this part of the course was no picnic and what made this a challenging run. At mile 10 I stopped and stretched out for a couple minutes and walked part of the difficult trail. I met a guy from Alaska who was also walking, this was his first marathon. He had not trained at all, but had made a drunken bet with some buddies for $100 that he could finish. The entry fee for the race was $60 I believe….he was not a very smart dude, so I bid him farewell with a smile and a wave and slowly ran off.
Seeing mile 13, my heart skipped and I was elated! Half-way done! I joined up with Zoey from California for awhile, this was her first marathon, and we talked about how great it felt to have put that many miles behind us already. She was running at a bit of a slower pace than me, so I bid her good luck and continued on.
By the time my feet hit pavement around mile 14 I was stoked and my knees were throbbing. I don’t move incredibly fast when I run…I found it amusing when old people ran/walked past me. I found my niche around mile 15 when we entered into what must have been hiking paths. The dirt, the downhills…I was cruising. My philosophy was “If it feels good, go for it. When it doesn’t, walk.” I believe this is the time when my garmin forerunner (gps watch) clocked me on a 6:42 mile (sometimes I go fast **wink**)
My other philosophy (handed down from Katie Buck) was “Just Keep Breathing.”
Coming out of the woods, I was STARVING. I had been consuming my Luna Gummies and my sports beans, but I wanted pretzels. My body craved and yearned and would not stop demanding pretzels. It’s funny how your body knows what it needs. It’s also funny that right after mile 17 two race volunteers came walking down the course with a big bag of pretzels (thanks to the Big Guy there I think!). Pretzel sticks have never tasted so damn good in my entire life. Between mile 17 and 19 there were a lot of spectators as we ran along the road again. I wanted anything and everything people had to offer…Gatorade, pretzels, oranges, granola bars, twizzlers…it’s amazing all of the nutrients you lose as you run for that long, and putting it all back in is a MUST! If someone would have handed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at that point, I probably would have kissed them (I am packing one in my race pack next time for sure).
Mile 20 was when things got really hard. I was at 4 hours and 30 minutes at mile 20…6.2 more to go. Cardio wise, i felt fantastic. I never felt overly winded, I was a well running machine. Physically…My calves and quads were threatening to cramp up. I stopped to stretch and drink fluids and wasn’t sure my legs were going to start again. 6 more miles….through some wooded parks and thank God for the spectators. Team in Training is an amazing AMAZING organization. People were yelling out “Go Michigan!” “Go Michelle!” “Keep it up Michelle!” “You’re doing awesome Michigan!” and that really pushed me on. When my legs hurt and I wanted to stop, that kept me moving forward.
Another awesome motivator was Martin from Maryland…a great old dude who kept a nice steady pace. I am a decent runner but a slow walker…starting around mile 15 and going all the way to the end, I would pass him while running and then he would catch me while I was walking. I’d come up behind him and say something like “Keep it up Martin from Maryland!” and when I would pass him he would say “I knew you’d be coming soon Michelle!”. It was great and didn’t let me get too far behind. (For the record, he finished ahead of me).
Mile 20 also was when I started noticing extreme chaffing. Now I know why lots of runners don’t wear underwear. YOWZA! Hopefully that will clear up here any day now lol…
I saw Mary around mile 21 and she snapped a picture of me doing a goofy little dance…I probably looked like a sweaty mess, but it was so worth every step. Bruce found me again around mile 22 or 23…I was so close to the end I could taste it…literally….I sweat a lot!
At mile 23, another walker I had been playing leap frog with since the beginning (Amy) told me her secret. This was her third time doing the Alaska marathon. The first year, she ran it. The second year, she walked it…and finished 20 minutes faster. Absolutely amazing.
At mile 24 I ran for a bit with an Anchorage local. This was not her first marathon, but her goal was to finish in under 6. I don’t think she made as she never passed me up, but I know she was close!
Mile 25….Insult Hill. The place where the marathon and half marathon course meet up. It’s vertical. It sucked. I walked up it. (I struggled about 10 steps up and said screw it).
At the top…only a mile to the finish line…you could hear the cheering. That last mile was excruciating. My knees throbbed, my thighs ached and my eyes were starting to get teary. I never cried because of the pain, I had a few tears fall because of the spectators on the side of the course. One woman had a sandwich billboard on, it said “Thank you runners for saving my life!” and as I ran by she said, “Thank you so much!”. That nearly broke my heart and I got choked up because I was thinking about all the physical pain I was in and it did not even remotely compare to the treatments the patients have to go through. When things are put into perspective like that, it is pretty easy to suck it up and carry on!
When I saw mile marker 26, right around the edge of the track, I almost started crying. I was finishing! I had just ran a marathon! Something I had never even considered before January…and there I was running towards the finish line.
When my feet hit the track, I felt like I had new legs. 150 yards to go and everyone is cheering, “Go Michigan!” “Keep it up Michelle!” and I’m pumping my fists in the air and when my feet hit that pad under the finish line my heart swelled up like when the Grinch lifts the sleigh over his head and saves Christmas!
Absolutely awesome.
When they handed me my finishers medal, I was shaking. I had done it. I did it. I ran 26.2 miles through Alaska. I could feel every step aching in my lower body, I was exhausted and sweaty and grinning like an idiot from ear to ear. The army guys passing out the medals asked me what my secret was. They laughed as I said “JUST KEEP BREATHING!” and held up my forearm to show them the smeared sharpie that bore that motto.
My official clocked time was 6 hours and 3 minutes. My next one….I’m shooting for 5!
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