Thursday, March 31, 2011

Marathon...Check!

Saturday was the National Marathon. The weather was forcasted to be in the low 30's with rain or snow! Not fun. I left work early on Friday to drive to my sisters, no traffic and only one pit stop. Got to DC just in time to see Izzy and Davis before they went to bed.

Saturday morning was an early rise at 5am for a plate of tasty french toast. Travis was nice enough to get up early on his day off to drop me off by the stadium. The temps were better than expected and I was able to wear my favorite race day shorts. I also pimped out my Boston Marathon running shirt...bragging rights!

The race start was setup in corals, based on your entry time. I was in the 2nd Coral. The first only had about 50 runners, so that meant I was right at the front.

As the race got underway, I looked for the first mile marker, did not see it. I did not see it until 5, then i think I saw it at mile 11. I was not able to know what my pace was, not good. At the halfway point I saw Michele, Alycia, Izzy and Davis, that was the best halfway point cheering section ever. Just a few miles down, Cara, Crista and Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. were out cheering as well.

For a wrap up without going into boring details, the race did not go as well as I hoped. I was shooting for a 3:23 but ended up with a 3:32. It would be easy to blame the course for not having mile markers each mile, or the rolling hills and bad wind, but I just didn't race smart. I went out to fast to early and I wouldn't say I hit a wall, I just couldn't go any faster. I felt fine for the most part, ate plenty, it just wasn't my day. This race taught me that it's ok to have a bad day, except it and move on. It is hard to do that but I have to.

With the Marathon behind me, it was now time to focus on the house! John and I closed on the house on Monday. With a few minor setbacks..like the people not being moved out, closing went well. We started Reno on the house Tuesday after work. So far we have spackled most of the holes in the walls, ripped out the 100year old security system, removed all the blue carpet, switch faceplates, vents, closets and more. With the house sitting for over a year empty, I was surprised to not find to many bugs. Hopefully this is a good sign that we won't have problems with bugs when we live here.
I am taking this week off from "scheduled" training, but will workout when I want to. Next week will be back to Chesapeakman training in full force. Oh and did I mention we are supposed to get snow this weekend!!! Oh geez.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

We Got the Keys

We closed on the house late yesterday afternoon. With some early stress, watching the previous owner's daughter still moving furniture and such out of the house, we were finally able to open the door to our new home! It feels great to be a homeowner, but very scary all at the same time. John will start removing any nails in the walls, taking down broken shelves and all the hideous vinyl closet doors. A ton of prep work will be going into making this house exactly what we want it to be. Stay tuned for our journey to make Hanover street just HOWE we want it! I might even through in some tutorials!