Goodbye Fast Dog

This afternoon we had to put Game Plan down. He was diagnosed with bone cancer the beginning of March and the vet told us then that we probably wouldn't have two weeks. Luckily, we were able to spend almost two very special months with him longer then what we expected.

Game Plan was my Fast Dog. We would play a game where he would zoom around the backyard and I would holler out "Fast Dog" as he bolted to and fro. He loved it. Even today, as I was able to work from home and be with him all day, he tried his hardest to be Fast Dog as he 'raced' to catch two squirrels on his three lanky legs. He had a good day. We started off with some cheese and then brown gravy with his food, he was able to lay outside all day in the nice, warm, sunny weather and was loved on.

One of my favorite stories about Game Plan is of when we had some friends over for Doug's birthday. After the party, Michelle called cracking up. She went on to tell us that her daughter was soooo exited when she left and exclaimed, "they have the cooooolest house mom. They live in a castle* and have a deer that eats dog food!"

He certainly was dear. As Doug said, he was a gentle soul. He will be missed. As I look at his pillow where he should be and isn't, I cry. Goodbye Fast Dog...I love you and miss you.

*We do not live in a castle or anything near it. We do however have a house that has a very steep roof, that maybe in a little girl's eyes she did see a castle and deer that eats dog food.

AND...on a weird side note, as the tears flowed today, I looked down and could see them 'bouncing' off my shirt. I had a dri-fit shirt on and the tears were not soaking into the shirt, these tears were hitting and flying off. Interesting, I thought...good wicking material.

Ft. Collins Forecast

Colorado-here we come! Doug, Steff and I are headed to Ft. Collins for the Colorado Marathon later this week. I'm very excited about our long weekend adventure. Colorado is one of my favorite places. I love everything it has to offer. However, we may be enjoying the city from under an umbrella.

The forecast for Ft. Collins this weekend:

May 2
Rain / Snow Showers / Wind
45°32°
May 3
Partly Cloudy
57°32°
May 4
Few Showers
57°37°
May 5
Showers
61°40°

Looks like I'll be shopping for a new umbrella, packing rain gear and snow boots. Maybe not snow boots but warm, fuzzy socks! It is only Tuesday so things can and probably will change. Whatever the weather, we'll make the most out of our trip and have a great time-like always!

What a Weekend What a Weekend

Ahhh...love weekends like these...
Rising and shining early not once but twice-Saturday morning to see my team off on their first 20 mile run-Sunday morning to run the Trolley Run
Coffee with mom
Starbuck's coffee on a chilly morning pre-race
Successful shopping to find not one but two pairs of pants that fit PERFECT and found two bras too
Not one but two girlie movies-one that made me laugh-one that made me cry
Not one but two glorious naps
A fun 4 mile run with not one but two Kim's (Kym's)
Breakfast with two great friends (and Doug) at the Classic Cup on the Plaza-Eggs Benedict, potatoes and Roasterie coffee and I ate EVERYTHING on my plate-I couldn't resist
Royals win twice this weekend

The Trolley Run
Another fun run (4 miler)
Early morning meet up with friends for some Starbuck's
A bus ride to the start (no waiting...they have a great system going)
Huddle in Walgreens to stay warm before the start
Having multiple people stop and tell you how cool your shirt is (I know! I designed it!)
Crowded all the way-but very fun
Chatted with several people I knew on the course I hadn't seen in a while
We were nice and didn't count the people we passed-outloud!
Kym realized she was a marathon snob when we laughed at people who were talking about how farrrr we were going-4 MILES-Whew!
Downhill-although Kym wasn't so certain
Garmin battery wasn't charged so we didn't know times or splits so we just ran
Finished in 41:37-10:24 pace
Four Kenyan's place in the top four spots for the men. The winner finished in 18:09!! That is averaging a 4:33 per minute pace! We weren't even at mile two yet!
Doug came in under an 8:00 minute per mile pace!
Jenny finished in under 30 minutes! Super fast-you two are awesome!

Is it Winter Again?

Holy Hell...I know that's where I'm headed if I keep saying that-but good God, what is with this weather? When I left home for work this morning it was 70 degrees-went out for lunch and it was 52, windy and cold. Hmmph...

Running: Last night was our TNR...I had run earlier in the day so I just went for the burger, fries and friends. And then after stuffing ourselves silly we headed to Cold Stone Creamery for a fundraiser a fellow Team In Training participant was having. You can't pass up a fundraiser like that. I was even so kind as to get the next size up in my ice cream so she could get more money from it. Now...how kind am I??

As for this weekend, I had planned on running 8 tomorrow with my team who is doing their 20 miler for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon and then running 4 on Sunday for the Trolley Run but my Coach just informed me that I didn't need to since we're tapering for the Colorado Marathon next week so it looks like an easy downhill 4 mile run for me this weekend. I can handle that. Love you Coach! Wink. Wink.

Life: I'm rich. I'm rich. Not really so don't come knocking on my door for a handout...but...I got my estimate on my car for the hell (I mean hail) damage and took the money and ran! Now JB is just showing some character.

To a great weekend, warmer weather??? and fun run Sunday.

Lemonade...Lemonade...Whoooo...

What is better then sitting on the back porch on a nice summer evening sipping lemonade? How about doing that while helping a great cause. I stole this blog entry from Michael, Kaylee's dad. As most of you know, Kaylee is my honored patient for Team In Training.

On June 6th & 7th there will be an event that I invite everyone to attend. It is Alex's Lemonade Stand which will be at all Hy-Vee stores in Kansas City. The money raised will help with cancer research and will help fund a cure. The organization is led in Kansas City by Mark and Cheryl Mozier. Their son was diagnosed with a tumor years ago and has since recovered. The time and effort they have spent putting Alex's stands in KC has been great. They are the sort of people I strive to be like. They make a difference in life and I think there is a part of all of us who want to do the same. They are doctors and professionals but make time to give back in a huge way.
My hat is off to the Moziers and I raise a glass to their hard work. I encourage everyone to do the same. Please stop by one of the stands and make a donation to a great cause. The funds raised will help find a cure to a disease that can hit families of any race, religion, or social status. Lets help put an end to this suffering, and help the Moziers with their fight against cancer! Cheers.

Thanks Michael for letting me steal your blog entry. And Great News...Kaylee is in maintenance phase and seems to be doing very very well. She's going to the gym and working on strengthening her body. Keep up the good work girl! We're cheering you on!

Hell Hell Hell...I mean Hail Hail Hail

The night before last our area had a bad storm and my baby ended up with hail damage on her noggin (her hood). She has almost 116,000 miles on her and I still love her as much today as when I first laid eyes on her. She has been the best car ever. I'm going to have it inspected to see how much dough they will fork over to me instead of getting it fixed at the body shop (since it's paid off (whoo hoo!) and I can do that!) and I may take the money and run. Hopefully the dents will work themselves out this summer in the sun.

And this is for you Lily. Mmm...This is a chocolate long john. They can come cream filled with different filling if you like-but I don't get cream filling in mine. I'm sure you have these...just call them something different.

A Great Day for a Run-The Lawrence Half Marathon

In short-the Lawrence Half Marathon was a great race all around. Challenging yet fun.

In long-we headed to Lawrence with Stephanie around 6:30ish. It was such a nice, easy drive down K10 to get to Haskell Indian Nations University where the race started and finished. The weather was slightly cool as we headed to the start. I wore shorts, a short sleeved shirt with a long sleeved shirt over it (a throw away) and some gloves. I think the temp was around 52 degrees at the start with the sun starting to rise.

As we headed to the porta potties there wasn't much of a line yet. We noticed they were decorated. Decorated porta potties? Yep-from the sponsors. Something I haven't seen before. Since I had my choice, I went into the one decorated in pink-from some runner girl company. Inside it had balloons (pink and white), they had pink stickers galore, kleenex, an extra 4 pack of t.p., hand sanitizer and air deodorizer. If you can make a porta potty fun...this was it.

As we lined up, I kissed Doug and left him and Stephanie about midpack as I trapsed to the back of the pack. I think the race got started on time as the horn sounded. On a side note-they did not have chip timing and I think it took me almost exactly a minute before I crossed the start line and was off running.

The course was beautiful. Lawrence has some amazing older houses that we ran by along with the cute excentric houses such as the purple house with the purple fence with a flower garden painted on it. We ran through town, down Mass St (the main drag in Lawrence), through parks and up through the Kansas University Campus. Now that is one amazing place. The buildings and halls are stunning along with the tulips that were in full bloom today in the warmth of the sun.

The course was challenging with a lot of hills including Mount Oread at mile 4. I call it the Holy Hell Hill. A smart thing they did was to have a water stop placed at the bottom of the hill so I grabbed my water and took a short walk break up part of the hill. Once I topped the hill I could see the whole world. This was the most spectacular part of the course.

It warmed up more then it has on any run I've been on in a long time (actually since January at the Disney World Marathon). It didn't seem to be much of a factor for me and I faired pretty well. At about mile 7 I realized I had been running pretty well and steady. At this point, I determined I was going to try to finish up the rest of my miles under a 12 minute per mile pace. I kept a very close watch on my Garmin and did just that! Whoo Hoo!

Mile 01 11:10
Mile 02 10:44
Mile 03 10:52
Mile 04 11:22
Mile 05 11:50
Mile 06 11:07
Mile 07 11:01
Mile 08 11:04
Mile 09 11:31
Mile 10 11:47
Mile 11 11:46
Mile 12 11:44
Mile 13 11:57 -Thanks for running me in Steff-otherwise I may have seen a 12 minute mile!

I averaged an 11:24 and my Garmin recorded 2:29:42. I'm sure my official race time will be around 2:30 or 2:31. I'm happy with my time-considering mom being in the hospital and I had not been eating right (or really-eating at all). After the race there were all kinds of post race goodies: chocolate milk, orange juice, yogurt and tons and tons of homemade brownies, cookies, muffins and so much more-it was a great spread. While I had some oj and choco milk, we waited to see if Jenny placed and she did-2nd place in her age group! Way to go girlie! Doug finished in great time but I think he was a little disappointed as he didn't meet the goal he set for himself. I'm certainly proud of him. He's really bumped up his intensity of running lately and is doing great. Steff also had a great run. After Jenny received her bling we stopped by Chipotle to get our free grub-another great goodie from the race.

All in all...a great challenging race, great weather, great volunteer support (tons and tons of volunteers), beautiful course and great grub afterwards. I'll be looking forward to completing this race again next year.