Where have you been all my life?

So, I started training for a marathon at the end of June ... and then I disappeared.

I guess that means I owe everyone an apology for vanishing from the blogging world. It's been a wild ride since I decided I wanted to become a runner, of sorts.

Here's a short recap of the past few months.

Love the run/walk interval. It's amazing how you get the cardio boost but your recovery is amazingly fast. I've never felt so good after a marathon as I have after doing the interval training -- remember, I'd walked 7 marathons as part of my breast cancer awareness fundraising.

But the training wasn't without its difficulties. Getting up early is no picnic. I took some grief for the early hours from the bf. And fell asleep on the couch more than once as a result. I ate the asphalt one morning, as a pesky bolt in the road reached up and grabbed me and sent me doing the perfect slide into home plate (only there was no home plate.) Fortunately, the injuries were pretty minor and I could wave off the ambulance that came for me.

And the training (mostly the downhills) took a toll on my knee -- sending me to a chiropractor who takes a lot of joy in inflicting a pain on my muscles that I hope none of you have to experience. I call it getting scraped and taped. Not fun ... if you really want to know what I'm talking about look up Graston technique.

But when the morning of the marathon came in San Francisco, I was ready to make the best of it. I had a blast. The first half was a little rough as I had to force myself to walk the downhills -- and almost an entire mile was downhill. I watched the six hour pace setter pass me up ... really discouraging me mentally. But I kept on going and eventually caught up to her again. And somehow, despite a few pains between miles 10 and 14, I got pain free for most of the second half. And then it was just a matter of finishing. The iPod went caput at mile 19 -- so I was glad that I had run all those times without music but I really wished Maggie and Denise were there to talk to.

There is no feeling like seeing the ocean to the side of you and then heading for the finish line. Tons of people cheering and then hearing your friends yell out your name ... Kat on one side, Cayce and Jonathan on the other. It was fantastic. And then a firefighter in a tux (a hot one) gave me that beautiful blue Tiffany's box with my precious necklace inside it. Ahhh! Success!!!

And honestly, despite being tired, hungry and a little stiff --- I was already thinking about the next one. I'm thinking Chicago -- 10/10/10 --- Anyone want to join me?

Other than that, work has been a whirlwind too. I've had a lot of great stories -- managing to keep myself on the front page with regularity. I'm trying to keep it that way, but also manage the constant, never lessening demands.

And I'm trying to be grateful for everything I have. That became even more important last week when I learned that my dad has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He's on Day 7 of his chemo treatments and says he's feeling ok so far ... He'll get a week of rest and then we'll figure out what's next. It's been very sudden and a lot to absorb. It's hard to be so far away from everyone in Detroit, but I'm headed home this week to see him for a couple days. We can all use a few good wishes, karmic vibes or prayers -- which ever you prefer -- just keep them coming. I'm not sure I can blog much about it because it's hard to get down in words, even for me, but I wanted to let folks know. Thanks already for your support with this.

That's a lot for a first blog in months but a lot has happened and I tried to keep it to the basics.

Love y'all and I'll try to keep the posts more frequent.

Jess

Wanted for neglect

A friend gently reminded me last week that I have been neglecting my blog ... It's true I hate to admit. But someone the extra writing has gotten away from me in the past few weeks as I've been super busy at work -- I wrote four stories here on Friday and just didn't get enough so came in on Saturday for an assignment too. Geesh.

Anyway, I hope to renew my regularly approach to blogging again.

Part of my recent lack of time can be attributed to my marathon training. I think most of you know that I'm planning on doing the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on Oct. 18. The airplane tickets are bought. The hotel room is already paid for. So, all I have to do now is stay healthy.

You guys know that I've done about 7 other marathons -- in fact six of those have been followed by a half marathon during my breast cancer walks for Avon. I also once did the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach ... finishing in 7 hours. Of course, all those were walking.

For some reason, I thought age 36 would be a good time to start testing the running waters. And I've found a method that really works for me. I'm following the Jeff Galloway theory of run/walking. I do a running interval followed by a walking interval and I love that approach. And it allows for us to work in an extra walk if we need one. Right now we're up to 2 minute intervals but looks like we might try doing our longer runs at a 1 minute interval. (though I'm not sold on that completely)

Anyway, it's a lot of work to be a marthoner. I got up to do three miles this morning ... tomorrow calls for 6. Of course, life doesn't stop for this either so I have to come in to work after I finish that 6 miles. On Saturday, I'm scheduled to do 12 miles and then I'll spend the day trying to keep up with my family. I might try to work in a trip to a Harry Potter movie with my neice and teenage sister just so I can have some built in sitting time. : )

But even though it is a lot of work and I'm not sleeping nearly enough to maintain my sanity and keep up the runs, I love it. I feel a sense of accomplishment everytime I get out there. Four days a week I'm running with my partners Denise and Maggie (who are doing the Louisville marathon) and then I try to get in two days of cross training on the other days. One day of rest -- though last week I went ahead and took two.

And what I realize is that most of this game is mental. I gotta keep my mind on the task at hand instead of thinking about the next big run. Today, I'm freaking out about having to do 6 miles tomorrow morning. It's not that I can't do six, I've done that before, but before work. Really? And then 12 on Saturday? Yikes!!!

I'm also trying to keep the girls I'm going to San Fran with on track as well. We've basically all split up for training here because we all move at different paces. But I'm trying to keep tabs on them ... especially my Polipino friend Kat. She had a rough week last week when it comes to exercise ... and I might have to bring out the big guns this week to whip her back into shape.

So, send out some shouts of encouragement if you have a second. And if you see a Polipino trying to quit along the way ... pull her up and force her back on the path.

I'm a slacker baby ...

It's been awhile since I posted ... I know. Just add it to the list of things that are on my plate lately that are only getting half attention.

Today, I'm feeling a little cranky about things. It seems like no matter what I do, my list keeps growing. It's my own fault though. I keep adding things to the list ... like outings with friends, trips to pick blueberries, movies, etc. Probably what I should do is put myself on lock down and just get some things accomplished. And when I do that it would free up my time to do the fun things I want to ... or would it?

Is there ever a time that you don't have things to do?

Lately, I'm struggling a bit. People at work are super cranky as we wait to hear what the latest third-quarter cut backs will be. We all feel them coming. It's palpable. And we launched a new computer system this week, which really isn't that bad but has a lot more steps than the other one so does take a little more mental energy to deal with. Often it feels like the only conversations I have with people involve some level of complaint. It's exhausting.

I've got a huge list at work and very little of it is stuff that I really want to work on. By the time I get home from whatever I've done in the evening, I'm too tired to work on the things I actually want to be writing for myself.

The BF was a little cranky last night and I had to spend a little while after getting off the phone with him convincing myself that I didn't do anything wrong to put him in whatever mood he was experiencing. It's still a lot easier for me to blame myself for other people's problems.

Basically, I'm overwhelmed. Haven't gotten in the workouts I need. I really wish I could be back at boot camp, but I can't afford it. I need to get myself in check on the spending so that I'm not in deep crap if the job falls through. I want to get off my life for awhile.

But how life really works is that I've vented this out a little bit and now I have to get back to work. That list hasn't gotten any smaller in the five minutes I've taken to write this.

Better get that graphic assigned if I can figure out how to use the system.