Oiselle meetup

I met up with a group of Oiselle Team Michigan members Sunday. We met for brunch at Sava's in Ann Arbor. A few of us already knew one another, so introductions were made. The conversation that dominated the brunch was running and when we were all going to meet up again. It sounds like a bunch of us are going to run some races together soon.

It was nice to meet a few of ladies from the team and we had a good time. Looking forward to the next meetup.

In the first photo, I have my hands on Andrea's shoulders for balance. I was standing on my toes to see over her head. I'm really not that tall. :)

KG

One of my favorite high school teachers, KG, passed away suddenly last week. When I heard the news, I was shocked. KG was always active and fit. I would have considered him still young, he was 72 when he died.

Until I saw the year he was born, I forgot that my Dad and KG were born the same year. My Dad died in 1998 when he was 56 and KG passed away last Wednesday at 72. Life isn't always fair and you never know when your time is up.

The family decided to hold private services for KG. I was saddened that I couldn't say goodbye one final time. I will always have fond memories of KG. He was a great history teacher, track coach and person. He is someone I will never forget.

Rest In Peace.

A2

Borrowed from @ajbgillespie

I met Alicia and Andrea over the weekend in Ann Arbor for dinner.

I met both Alicia and Andrea on Twitter. Alicia is also an Oiselle teammate. We all wore Oiselle clothing to dinner.

I was supposed to meet both of them after the DX-A2 Half Marathon on June 1. I left after the race because it took longer then I thought and I wanted to see my husband before he went out of town for a week.

I felt bad for missing our meeting, so I asked if they wanted to meet for a meal. It didn't take long to set up a date and time for dinner. We met for dinner and left the restaurant 2.5 hours later. I had fun talking with Alicia and Andrea. Too bad it was late, I could have stayed for another hour. I would love to get together with these two super ladies again soon.

Random things

This past weekend was my 15th high school class reunion. Some of us met up on Friday. We went to a local restaurant. Turnout was not so good. Only five of us. Along with our spouses we used a large table and two small tables.

My husband and I arrived around 9 p.m. We decided to wait until 9:30 p.m. to see if anyone else would be coming. At 9:30 p.m. I was going to tell the waitress that we were ready to order. Then like a miracle, I looked out the window and a few on my classmates were walking in.

I was a little disappointed that more people didn't show up. I do understand that people are busy and live out of state. For the group that did show up, we did have a good time. We stayed until the restaurant closed at 11 p.m. Most of us thought that the restaurant stayed open to midnight. Not anymore. The workers turned on the houselights and started cleaning. That was our cue to leave.

The reunion continued on Saturday afternoon. We gathered at house and ate lunch together. This time a few more classmates showed up. This was a family lunch, so everyone brought their children. My husband and I and another classmate with her boyfriend were the only one's without kids. I talked to everyone that showed up for lunch. I had a good time. I always look forward to our class reunions. It is always nice to see everyone again and catch up.

The WNBA finals started on Sunday with Game 1 between the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx. Since Detroit doesn't have a team anymore, I have to root for someone. I actually like both teams. So whatever the outcome is, I'll be happy.

Indiana went to Minneapolis and defeated the reigning WNBA champions Minnesota 76-70. Indiana played without their leading scorer Katie Douglas. Douglas went down with an ankle injury in Game 3 against Connecticut. Tamika Catchings was the leading scorer for Indiana with 20 points. Seimone Augustus scored 23 points for Minnesota. Game 2 will be in Minneapolis Wednesday in the best of five series.

I noticed recently that my hair is now parted on the right side of my head. Hanging on a wall in my living room is an engagement photo with my husband. In the photo, my part is on the left side of my head. Somehow between 1999 and today, I switched my part. I don't remember doing that at all.

When I was drying my hair Sunday morning, I decided to switch my part back to the left. I wore it over there for the day. As I was washing up for bed that night, I was looking in the mirror at my hair. I really didn't like my part over on the left. It didn't look right to me. That is when I switched back to the right side. I guess whenever I switched in the first place, it was the correct decision.

Photo Credit:  Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings (24) goes up to the basketball after charging through Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore (23) in the second half of Game 1 of the WNBA basketball finals Sunday in Minneapolis. Catchings lead her team with 20 points as the Fever won 76-70. (Associated Press/Stacy Bengs)

Class reunion

I will be meeting with my high school classmates for dinner tonight after work. This weekend marks the Sand Creek High School Class of 1997 15th year class reunion. We are having dinner tonight at a restaurant. A family lunch will be Saturday afternoon and a bonfire for adults later.

I graduated in a class of 67 people. Going to a small school and you know everyone. I didn't talk to everyone in my class, but that is not because I was ignoring them. Those classmates weren't in the same group of friends. We were all like that. Not ignoring people on purpose. As a class, we all got along.

I attended my 10 year class reunion five years ago. A mix of classmates showed up with their spouses. I talked to everyone. Even the people I didn't say much to in high school. It was great to catch up with everyone. We are all spread out. Some people live in Northern Michigan or out of state. A few of us are still in the area.

Another five years has gone by. We all of living our lives. My sister graduated one year ahead in 1996. I don't think her class has had a reunion in a while. I'm really glad that our class still has reunions and I can't wait to see everyone. Tonight should be fun and pleasant evening.

Trails

I joined my friends Eric, Pam, Josephine, Julie and Kendra early Monday morning to run trails. We started running at 6:30 a.m. We ran early so that everyone could celebrate Memorial Day with their families. With everyone covered from head-to-toe with mosquito repellent, we were off.

I bought a CamelBak Octane 18X hydration pack while in Boston. I bought it to use when I run my ultras later this year. I wore it Monday while running the trails because I want to train with it. I will be carrying it with me for 5-7 hours, I need to prepare for that. Everyone was asking me about it. They asked if it was heavy: not really. They asked if it was hurting my back: it didn't. I really like the pack. It is easy to reach items in the pockets and I really love the water tube. I love how I can grab it, suck on the end of the PureFlow tube and get a drink. No bottles to open or lose trying to put it back on a belt.

The trails were really fun. Even though my legs were a little tired from Sunday's half marathon, I did as best as I could. During the run, I incorporated the run/walk method for the first time. Usually I try to run the entire time, but I decided to save my legs and walk up the bigger hills. Walking is something I know I will be doing during my ultras, might as well start practicing now. Walking up the hills really did help my legs. If I ran up all of those hills, I doubt that I would have ran 11 miles.

At the end of the run, Eric told me I did a great job on the trails. Especially with just running a half marathon the day before. He said it was good to run on tired legs to train for the ultras. I hope to hit the trails with the group again soon. It was fun to run with other people that are also training for upcoming ultras.

I guess that decision wasn't final

I made my decision on Friday to run the Run Woodstock! Trail Marathon. Over the weekend, I talked to my friend that will be running Dances with Dirt 50K with me. I asked him which race would be better to run as a training run for DWD, the half marathon or the marathon? He told me that I should go with the half marathon. The reason for running the half marathon is that parts of the race are run on the DWD course and he said my legs would be fresh after the half. Since he is running DWD with me, I am going to follow his advice.

I will be registering for the Run Woodstock Hippie Half Trail Marathon on September 10. I guess The Glass City Marathon in 2012 will be my first marathon after all.

50K in Hell

If you been following my training on dailymile or read my tweets, you know I run a lot. Over the last few months I've been thinking about my next challenge. Most people would assume since my longest distance raced was the half marathon, that naturally my next step would be the marathon. I didn't think that way. I was hoping my next challenge would be a 50K race.

I plan on running the Chicago Lakefront 50K in 2012. I wanted this race to be my first ultra because it is the flattest 50K course. Last weekend I was talking to a running friend of mine. I told him that I wanted to run an ultra. I mentioned to him before that I put my name into my track club to be included on a Dances With Dirt relay team. But I don't know if I will be apart of a relay team. It all depends on how many people sign up. He suggested to run the DWD 50K. When he said that I wasn't sure. Then he said if I signed up for it, he would run it with me.

Now that is something different. I would have someone with me on the entire course. I would someone to push me when it gets difficult. That is very tempting. Right now I'm really leaning toward telling him yes. Before I give my friend my answer, I should probably run it by my husband first. I like to have my husband's input on things. Many of my dailymile and twitter friends told me to go for it.

I know I have the training base down cold for this race, I run 80-100 miles a week. If I do decide to run this race, I will have to hit the trails every week to train for it. I was told there was no time limit, which is good. I'm just a little nervous about it. This a huge race on a difficult course. Is this something I'm ready for? Or should I just wait and run my first 50K on the flattest course in the U.S. in Chicago? So many decisions to make.

Random things

My sister is getting married in June and I'm one of her bridesmaids. Her colors are black and gold. I think it will look pretty. She decided instead of picking out bridesmaid dresses for us to wear on her wedding day, she is letting us pick our own. We were told that they have to be black and knee length. I figured it would be easy to find a little black dress. I will be heading to the mall in Toledo, Ohio to find my dress. My first stop will be Dillard's and then Macy's. If for some reason they don't have any black dresses, I will stop by a bridal store.

I told my husband of my plans to run a 50K and marathon in 2012. He wasn't surprised. He knew eventually that I would want to move up in distance. I don't know if he knew that there was an actually 50K race (31.07 miles). I'm really getting excited for it. The 50K race that I'm looking at takes place in March in Chicago. I could probably do it this year since I have the mileage in. But I will wait until next year. I will have plenty of time to train for this race and also the marathon.

Racing season is just around the corner. My first 5K, Hot Chocolate Hustle, is only 15 days away. The next weekend is my very first trail run, Frosty Five, and my first half marathon of the year, Glass City Half Marathon is 86 days away. Looking forward to a great 2011 racing season!

Chicago

My husband and I visited Chicago last week for the third time. We had a nice vacation. We didn't do too much and I really liked that. Usually while on vacation, we try to see everything we can. This time, we went to visit a couple of places. It was my task to pick the places we visited this trip.

Our first stop was the Art Institute of Chicago. The AIC has many beautiful collection of works to see. My favorite piece in the AIC was the Henri Cartier-Bresson photo exhibition. The exhibition spanned most of his life. Wonderful exhibition.

Our second visit was to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I wanted to see some other kinds of art while in town. Definitely different then most museums. I have a hard time understanding contemporary works. The visit still didn't help. I don't think I will ever understand it.

Our trip ended with a boat cruise. We boarded a boat at Navy Pier and took an evening architecture and fireworks cruise. The boat tour took us down all three branches of the Chicago River. All of the building lit up at night were pretty. Our tour guide had so much information on most of the buildings near the river. He was a book of information. After the architectural tour, the boat stopped on the Chicago River to watch the fireworks.

Everyday of our trip started with me waking up at 4 a.m. to work on the hotel treadmill. Most people would have slept in on their vacation. Not me. I needed to workout. Besides running, we went over to Michigan Avenue everyday. My husband and I spent most of our time at Nike Town and Adidas inside the Water Tower Place near the Hancock Tower. We bought new workout clothes from both stores. I did buy an non-workout item, a dress from Banana Republic.

We did eat at some great restaurants on our vacation: Pizzeria Uno, Weber Grill Restaurant, Rosebud on Rush, House of Blues and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. My favorite lunch of the week was P.F Chang's. I had spring rolls and crispy green beans. So delicious. I must have them again. My favorite dinner in Chicago was at the Weber Grill Restraint. My husband and I both had filet mignon for dinner with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and fire roasted corn. The beginning of the meal started with pretzel bread rolls. Those were the best rolls ever. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. We finished our meal with a double chocolate bundt cake. So good and chocolately.

Random things

I crushed my 10K PR Sunday. It was a humid day and I dropped my PR by ten minutes. That number could have been higher. After crossing five miles, I developed wicked side cramps. I tried to keep my pace up, but the side cramps hurt so much. It was in this last mile that a man and woman passed me. I did all I could to try to keep up with them, but I couldn't. I did run down a younger girl. The last stretch of the race to go and we are side by side. I started my sprint towards the finish line. The girl didn't come with me. If she did, I wonder if I could have held her off? I finished in 59:59. My first 10K ever under one hour. I hope to do it again Saturday when I run another 10K. It is not supposed to be as humid this weekend.

The photo of me waving was about 15 minutes before my race started. The second photo is me after I crossed the finish line saying "Yay" and wearing my dailymile shirt.

My husband and I finally decided on days were are going on vacation. He told me what days he got approved for. I was surprised. He asked me a couple of days ago, which week would be better for me. He misunderstood me and requested time off for an earlier week. He now has to request off the correct week. I'm hoping that his other co-workers haven't requested that time off. There is a new policy at his work. If someone else has already requested certain days off, no one else can ask for them off. It has been a struggle to plan this year's vacation. I'm hoping tomorrow he will tell me he got the time off. I really need some time away from work. My last real vacation was last October. Eight months is too long.

Photos by Lad Strayer

Random things

Our kitchen remodel is still going on. Things are still scattered all over the house. But there is good news. My husband started hanging drywall yesterday. I helped him hang a piece today and he is so close to having all of the walls done. Hopefully later, the ceiling can be screwed into place. When that is done, the cabinets can be moved into place. I missed being able to walk into the kitchen and look in the cabinets. It is so hard to find anything in totes.

It was official yesterday, I have lost 35 pounds so far this year. Recently, people have been coming up to me to ask if I have lost weight. It feels really good that other people are noticing. I have to admit it is probably hard for people to see my progress. I'm still wearing my baggy clothes. When I lose all the weight that I want to, then I will reward myself with new clothes.

My next 5K is Saturday. My goal is to lower my time again. It would be super sweet to finish in 28 minutes. If I don't, I can always try at my next race.

Help Krista

My blogger pal Krista needs your help. She signed up for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. Once again she is raising funds to help blood cancer patients by running the Rock 'N' Roll San Diego Marathon on June 6, 2010. Krista's fundraising goal is $4000. She currently has 15% of her goal. Please help her out by making a donation to this worthy cause. Click here to read Krista's Team in Training web page.

Random things

I met with my friends from college Wednesday night. We talked, laughed and enjoyed a nice dinner together. The last time all of us were together was probably five years ago. We promised not to let another five years go by before getting together again.

At physical therapy this morning I had many different assistants helping me. Seems like every time I would do any exercise, they would have to go help someone else. I was doing many of my stretches alone this morning. One of my therapists, C, came over to demonstrate a new exercise for me. Then she passed me off to another therapist. As C was walking away I said that she was the fourth person to ditch me today. We both laughed.

After therapy I had a foot doctor appointment. Usually there is a longer wait. So I took a book with me. I waited about 10-15 minutes then an assistant called my name, Deloris, so I closed my book and started walking back. An older lady stood up as well and started walking back too. The assistant turned around and saw two people following her. She then said Deloris? And the older lady in front of me thought it was her. Finally the assistant pointed to me and the older lady sat down. When the assistant took me to a room, I asked her if her name was Deloris as well. Later she told me it was. I'm sure the spelling wasn't the same but I have never been in a room with another Deloris. Funky.

The foot doctor came in and asked how my foot was doing. I said it was doing much better. I mentioned that after Wednesday's run my heel really hurt. He asked if I was doing my stretches. I said I was. He asked if I still iced. I said no. He told me to ice after running. He then asked if I was done with physical therapy. I said I was just there this morning. He told me that I was done. I told him that I haven't be reassessed yet. He said to continue therapy until they reassess. After I had my ultrasound on my foot I went to the receptionist to make my co-pay. She said that I was basically done seeing the doctor unless there is a problem. I was happy to hear that. Its only been 7 months seeing the foot doctor regularly.

I'm a little sad about leaving physical therapy. I probably only have another week or two left. My physical therapists C and K have been very helpful. It is through them and the other assistants that I'm able to walk and run without pain. They have been working me hard for the last two months to get me back running the way I was before plantar fasciitis. When my time at therapy is over I will miss talking and laughing with them.

I've been on vacation this past week. I have enjoyed it. I didn't go anywhere but I did get to sleep in, read, run and nap when I wanted to. I dropped off a library book Thursday and picked up more. I finished reading The Secret Man by Bob Woodward in a day. I finished the book just before midnight Thursday night. I have five days this week. Which is unusual. I usually only run five days a week total. Today's run makes it seven days straight. I will take Saturday off from running. I will be running as usual Sunday. My plan is to run four miles. If I do, that will put me at 30 miles for the week. Awesome.

I'm so not looking forward to Monday. The first day back from vacation is the worst. Besides my regular work I have to check files and fix anything that went wrong. Just fixing and checking files takes a couple of hours. I know some of my co-workers will be glad that I'm back.

Just like college times

I will be having a girls night with two friends from college later tonight. We became friends during our freshman year. All of us were art majors. They both attended my wedding. I was the photographer at one wedding and a bridesmaid at another. We've kept in contact with each other by email over time. It has probably been a couple of years since I saw them face to face. It will be nice getting together with them tonight.

So much already done

On my day off, I woke up at 4:30 am. Usually I get up at 4 am, so that is sleeping in to me. I got up and started my day. The area had freezing rain overnight so I salted the sidewalks and the back deck. Gathered my husband's and families gifts and wrapped them. And to top it off, did a nice 3 slow miles on the treadmill. All of this before 9 am.

Later this afternoon I will be taking a nap, making queso dip, going to Christmas mass, being the altar server that carries incense and eating dinner with my family later tonight. It will be a busy, but fun day.

Random things

I've been at my current full time job for over six years. In those six years, I've been friends with many of my co-workers. Eventually all of them left for a better job. Today I said goodbye to another one. In the newspaper industry, it is a revolving door. People who are good at their job, rarely stay where I work. They move on to bigger and better jobs, sooner or later. The co-worker that left today is moving back to Pennsylvania. Her new job is at a newspaper close to her home. I'm happy for her, but I'm a bit sad. She was usually the first person I talked to in the morning, we would talk about reality TV together, she was fun and organized. Now who will I talk to about Top Model? She will be missed in the newsroom.

Last week, I mentioned that I was covering a football game that was going to be televised. Last night I was flipping through the channels and came across that football game. I watched some of the game. I wanted to how good the coverage was and to see if I could see myself on TV. Before the game started, the end zone camera did a pan of the home team's sideline and stopped the camera on the head coach. Standing behind the head coach was me. During the first half, I saw myself on TV three times. It has been a day since the football game aired. At least no one has said to me, "I saw you on TV last night," like they did back in November.

In nine days, my husband and I will return to New York City. I'm so excited. Our last trip to New York was in 2002.

I would have used a photo that I took of the city, but they are all on negatives. And I don't have a film scanner at my house. On this trip, I plan on taking a bunch of photos. More then the couple of rolls that I took back in 2002.

Photo Credit: Freefoto.com

A bump in the road

I was really happy yesterday afternoon. I was done with work and looking forward to a nice evening of running, reading, and Olympic Track and Field trials. All of that went south fairly quickly.

My afternoon collected dark clouds quickly and upset me the rest of the day. Sorry, no details on the first account. The second upsetting thing of the day was the lack of the treadmill repair man at my house. My husband and I waited all afternoon for the guy to show up. When I rescheduled the appointment last Wednesday, the operator on the line told me that my next appointment would be July 3 between the hours of 1-5 pm. Six o' clock came and went and no repairman.

My husband called the company to inquire about the missed appointment. The operator who helped me last week did not enter my reschedule appointment in the computer properly. My husband was told the earliest a repairman could get to our house is two weeks from now, July 17. That didn't make my husband or myself very happy.

To try to regain a normal day, I ran six miles on the unfixed treadmill while watching the movie Road House on TV. That movie can always cheer me up. It is so bad its funny. I think the best part of the movie is where Patrick Swayze's character Dalton rips out Jimmy's throat with his bare hand. (If you know the movie that I'm refering to, go here and read this. It had me laughing so hard.) After my run, I called my friend and talked to him about my day. It cheered me up. After my phone conversation I tried to get passed the bad part and enjoy the rest of my weekend.

I tried to stay awake until 11 pm EST to watch the Track and Field trials on TV. I only made it to 10:30 pm. I fell asleep watching the Detroit Tigers playing the Seattle Mariners. I woke up around 1 am on the couch. I missed the trials, but I did record it and watched it this morning.

Yesterday was a bad day. It wasn't the worst day of my life. I'm going to take that experience, learn from it and work harder at it next time.

I got nothing. Look at these pictures.

Nothing exciting happened to me yesterday or today. Wait I take that back. I went to the dentist for a cleaning. I'm sure you all want to read about that. Instead I posted photos that I love from my shoot at Kathy's house Sunday.

Weekend update

Saturday morning my assignment was moved back an hour. The time was changed late Friday. Since I didn't know, I went by what I had on my schedule. I arrived at the site and no one was there. That should have tipped me off, it didn't. I found out about 20 minutes later and it didn't make me happy. To pass the time I walked some of the trails and took pictures. That made the time go by faster. I didn't finish working until after 2 pm and that made my husband and I rearrange our plans for the afternoon and evening.

After I got home from work Saturday, I saw my sweetest day gift on the dinner room table. It was a bouquet of sunflowers and a card. A couple of years ago I told my husband that S.D. wasn't really a holiday, so we really don't buy each other gifts. The flowers were really pretty and now they are in a vase of water brightening up my dining room.

We then got in the car and drove to Toledo, Ohio. Our first stop was to the new Fallen Timbers mall outside of Maumee. It was really nice. Some of the stores/eateries weren't open yet, but there was still a great turnout at the mall. We walked around that mall for a half hour and drove back to Toledo. We stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond to find a toaster. We didn't like the ones that were in stock so we left without one. The next stop was to Franklin Park Mall. I bought some books at Borders with a gift certificate from my birthday. My husband bought shorts for both of us at Dick's Sporting Goods. We looked for toasters at the mall but didn't find any. After a couple more stops at Best Buy and a furniture store, we had dinner at Outback Steakhouse.

Sunday morning I drove up near Lansing to visit my friend Kathy. I took photos of her and her family. It was great seeing them again. It is so hard to visit when they live so far away. I stayed at their house for two hours. When I got home I didn't do much. I downloaded my memory cards, took a nap, ran and watched Dexter on DVD. It was a busy but great weekend.

One of my favorite photos of Kathy