M-Cubed for 5/3/2010

Monday Morning Musings for May Third, Twenty Ten. A smattering of thoughts that alone don't constitute a blog post but together end up here on Monday morning.

- Decompression. Needed. Now. Overload. Imminent. Another weekend away from home and another Monday slapping me square in the face. So not ready to kick off this week. So not ready!

- Marjie ran her first 1/2 marathon yesterday at the Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon in Cincinnati. Never before in about 13 years of road racing have a I seen such conditions at the start of a race. Lightning filling the sky, buckets of rain pouring from the sky, and everyone soaked to the bone without running a step yet. However, the organizers of the Pig were well prepared as the pre-race music continued to play and updates from the National Weather Service were passed to the record crowd. 26,000 runners participated as the combined total from the Saturday/Sunday events.

- I am a bit bummed to know that so many of my friends were at the Pig and I didn't see them but still had great times down there. With so many runners sardined into the starting area and the hotels scattered between Ohio and Kentucky, it's impossible to see everyone. Congrats to you if you went and survived the soaking!

- Friday was a day off and was spent in the upper 70s in the Valley on the Brandywine, Valley Bridle, and Buckeye Trails with the Laurie and Kim. Welcome back heat and humidity! I was cooked at 14 miles. Not a good sign of endurance for sure but you have to have these kind of runs to get used to the head/humidity again. At least I do. Thanks for the company, ladies!

- I'm very proud of Marjie. She had some leg issues creep up after she did her 9 mile run about a month ago and wasn't able to complete her last few long runs. Still, she showed up at the starting line, soaked to the core, and with a smile on her face. One thing she hadn't done before is run in a constant downpour so the COTTON capri running pants she had on became lead weights. She first made them into make-shift shorts but they wouldn't stay up. I then got the idea of using our 2 lower pins from our bibs to hold them up in the front and back. That worked great and they stopped being such a problem. Nothing like soaked cotton flaps slapping against your calves when you're trying to run. Cotton? I had no idea what she packed for the race. Lesson learned but still, it didn't derail her from her goal of that finish line. Way to go, Babe! I'm glad I could be there with you!

- Could Mother's Day really be here already?! Oh geez. Just as we are coming up back-to-back weekends on the road (Chicago then Cincinnati), next weekend includes my daughter's 7th birthday, my only grandma's 85th birthday, and Mother's Day! I am hoping for a beautiful sunny, dry weekend...and some great sunsets with the smell of the grill out back.

- It seems like nearly every day I am thankful I withdrew from the MMT100 which takes place in under 2 weeks. I am so under-trained, it is pathetic. I am equally thankful that someone who IS ready gets the opportunity to tackle those rocks and have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. All the very best to any of you heading to northern Virginia for the Rock Dance.

- Looking for the May edition of the Western Reserve Trail Running newsletter? Patience, my friends. Patience. Let's just say I have it all...but it resembles many of the partially built puzzles that my girls work on at home. You can see the picture on the box and all the pieces are laying there, but it's not quite one complete unit, yet. Can I please have one more day of weekend, please. No? Alrighty, then.

- For Hope: Bam, Bam, Boogety!!!! YOU DID IT!!! Hard training certainly does pay off. In her cheetah print (or was it leopard?) and looking as graceful as ever, Hope qualified for the Boston Marathon in that deluge yesterday. Hope, a fine planner, had the word "Boston" attached to the underside of her running skirt so she could celebrate in a one-of-a-kind way at the finish "swine." After finishing the 1/2 marathon with Marjie and escorting her close to the Kentucky state line where our hotel was, I literally sprinted back to the marathon course (which was not easy due to the road system and all the barricades) to try and catch her at the finish...assuming she ran her plan and was going to qualify. Just as I passed the 26 mile marker, there she was! I leaped out onto the course (probably scaring her to death!) and ran with her about a quarter mile while trying to clean the moisture off the lens of my waterproof Canon. I HAD to get the "Boston Flash!" As she came within a tenth of a mile of the finish, up came the skirt and a gold BOSTON was revealed. I raised my hands up to get the crowd going (while also pointing to her booty) and nearly missed the picture. But I got it!!!! Great job, Hope! Nearly 3 minutes to spare, too!!!! AWESOME!!!

- And just for the record, I wore my piggy nose from the moment I left the hotel room around 5:45am until I stepped back in the room 11am. I had people pointing to me all day long and saying things like "Aren't you being a little bit nosey?" Dad! Look at his nose!" "Can I take your picture?" All I ever did was snort back at them all unless they were a kid along the course. With that, I gave them a high five with my hoof...and a snort. I'm so glad I wore that piggy nose. Snort. (Hope, you own me a dolla!!!)

- My waterproof Canon sure did come in handy, too. Here are 42 pics that made the cut during the race. Enjoy!

Have a great week, everyone, and Happy Trails!