Women's basketball conference tournaments

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

Most of the women's basketball conference tournaments finished on Sunday and Monday. Some of the tournaments I watched were the ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12. The Big East crowned its champion Tuesday.

The Duke Blue Devil women's basketball team captured its eighth Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title Sunday afternoon in Greensboro, North Carolina. Duke defeated their rivials North Carolina 92-73 in the title game.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Pres

Duke freshman point guard Alexis Jones had a career-high 24 points and was named the MVP of the ACC tournament. Elizabeth Williams also scored 24 points and Haley Peters added 17 points.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

The Purdue Boilermakers defeated Michigan State Spartans 62-47 Sunday at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois to win the Big Ten conference tournament.  This was Purdue's ninth tournament title win. Purdue led by as many as 23 points in the first half.  In the second half, Michigan State cut the lead to 9 points, but could never get any closer.

Purdue's Drey Mingo led the team in scoring with 24 points. Courtney Moses added 16 points and KK Houser chipped in 10 points. Mingo was named the MVP of the tournament and Moses and Houser were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Jessica Hill/Associated Press

The Baylor Bears defeated Iowa State Cyclones 75-47 Monday to win their their third straight Big 12 conference tournament title at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Brittney Griner lead the Bears with 31 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. Griner scored 23 points in the first half. Odyssey Sims added 20 points for the Bears, making three 3-pointers in the first four minutes in the second half.

Griner was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and Destiny Williams and Sims were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament team.

Notre Dame Irish defeated Connecticut Huskies 61-59 Tuesday in the Big East Tournament Championship at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

The game was tied at 59 with 18 seconds to go. Notre Dame's Natalie Achonwa scored the winning basket with a layup with 2 seconds left. Notre Dame won their first Big East tournament title. The Irish are leaving the Big East conference and heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference starting in the 2013-14 season.

Notre Dame's Kayla McBride scored 23 points and was named the Big East Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Jewell Loyd had 16 points and Skylar Diggins added 12.

Selection Monday will take place March 18 on ESPN at 7 p.m. EST. The first round of the women's tournament will begin on Saturday, March 23.

Mt. Hope Cemetery - Rochester, New York

Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships

The Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships took place Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Oregon Ducks women's team won the title with 56 points over Kansas (44) and LSU with 43 points.

 Arkansas Razorbacks won the men's title with 74 points, Florida was second with 59 and Wisconsin third with 33.

Associated Press

Day 1 started with the women's mile semifinal. One of my favorite runners, Cory McGee of Florida, finished 11th (4:39.05) and failed to qualify for the finals. Michigan's Shannon Osika finished 14th (4:43.43) and also failed to qualify for the mile final. Amanda Winslow of Florida State had the fastest qualifying time in 4:36.48.

April L. Brown/Associated Press

Only a few running finals took place on Day 1. The women's 5000m was won by Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino in 15:28.11. Besty Saina of Iowa State finished second in 15:33.66, Aliphine Tulamik-Bolton of Witchita State was third (15:38.0) and Oregon's Jordan Hasay was fourth (15:40.30).

In the men's 5000m, Texas Tech's Kenndy Kithuka won in 13:25.38. Diego Estrada of Northern Arizona was second (13:30.38), Girma Mecheso of Oklahoma State was third in 13:40.28 and Maverick Darling (13:41.25) and Mohammed Ahmed (13:41.84), teammates from Wisconsin were fourth and fifth.

The Michigan Wolverines women's Distance Medley Relay won the national championship in 10:56.46. They also set a facility record. On the winning relay was Rebecca Addison, Maya Long, Jillian Smith and Amanda Eccleston. On the men's side, Princeton won the DMR in 9:33.01 with Michael Williams, Austin Hollimon, Russell Dinkins and Peter Callahan.

The Day 2 running event finals started with the women's mile run. Emma Coburn of Colorado won in 4:29.91, Amanda Winslow of Florida State finished second (4:31.08) and Agata Strausa of Florida was third (4:36.91). In the men's mile run, Arizona's Lawi Lalang won in 3:54.74. Lalang set a new NCAA meet record with his finishing time. Ryan Hill of North Carolina was second (3:55.25) and Wisconsin's Austin Mudd was third in 3:57.93.

Natoya Goule of LSU ran away with the women's 800m title in 2:02.00 over Laura Roesler of Oregon who finished in 2:02.32. Coming in third was Goule's LSU teammate, Charlene Lipsey in 2:02.47. In the men's 800m, Oregon's Elihah Greer won the title in 1:47.13 over Penn State's Casimir Loxsom (1:47.23). Loyola's Declan Murray finished third in 1:47.60.

Abbey D'Agostino was a double winner over the weekend. D'Agostino won the 5000m Friday and won the 3000m on Saturday. Her winning time was 9:01.08. Jordan Hasay of Oregon was the runner-up in 9:06.61 and Kentucky's Cally Macumber was third in 9:07.33. Arizona's Lawi Lalang was also a double winner over the weekend. Lalang won the mile Friday and won the men's 3000m Saturday. Lalang's winning time was 7:45.94, which was also a NCAA meet record. Kemoy Campbell finished second in 7:46.95 and Kirubel Erassa of Oklahoma State was third in 7:49.17.

Books read in 2012

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black
Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly

Currently Reading: Argo, Antonio Mendez & Matt Baglio

Division I Indoor Track & Field Championship

The Division 1 Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place March 8-9, 2013 at Randal Tyson Track in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The meet will be streaming live on ESPN3.com. On Friday, the coverage starts at 6:25 p.m. and Saturday, 6:50 p.m. On Sunday, March 17, 2013, ESPNU will have tape-delayed coverage on TV starting at 7 p.m. The championship schedule can be found here.

The list of men's and women's qualifiers for the Indoor Championship was released on Monday. I love watching track and field, but I really love watching the distance races.

The races I can't wait to see are the women's 1 mile run with Emma Coburn (Colorado), Cory McGee (Florida) and Shannon Osika (Michigan). The women's 3000m run; Abbey D'Agostino (Dartmouth) and Jordan Hasay (Oregon). The women's 5000m run including Betsy Saina (Iowa State), Emily Sisson (Providence), Hasay (Oregon) and D'Agostino (Dartmouth). The Michigan Wolverines Distance Medley Relay team are seeded first. The DMR team includes Rebecca Addison, Maya Long, Jillian Smith and Amada Eccelston.They set a school record last weekend and ran the fastest time in the nation.

The men's races I can't wait to watch is men's 800m with Casimir Loxsom (Penn State). The men's 3000m with Lawi Lalang (Arizona), Maverick Darling (Wisconsin), Zachary Mayhew and Andrew Bayer (both Indiana). The men's 3000m with Darling, Mohammed Ahmed and Elliot Krause (all of Wisconsin), Dan Lowry and Bobby Aprill (both Michigan).

Ryan Kelly

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team fans have been waiting for this day since January 8.

Duke hosted Miami Saturday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game. The first time the two teams met this season back on January 23, Ryan Kelly was out and Miami crushed then No. 1 Duke 90-63.

This meeting was different. Ryan Kelly was back from injury and in the lineup. Kelly missed 13 games with a right foot injury. On his return Saturday, Kelly lead the team with a career high 36 points. He made 7 of 9 three pointers. No. 3 Duke defeated No. 5 Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium 79-76.

Before Kelly's injury, Duke was undefeated and the number 1 team in the country. When Kelly injured his foot in early January, Duke went 9-4. The Blue Devils lost to North Carolina Sate, Miami, Maryland and Virginia.

With Kelly back in the lineup, Duke is a better team. Duke has two more regular season games against Virginia Tech and North Carolina before the ACC tournament starts on March 15 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships

Kirby Lee

Day 2 of the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships took place on Saturday. And it was a big day for athletes.

The men's heptathlon wrapped up on Day 2. Gunner Nixon set a meet and facility record win with his first indoor heptathlon title with a score of 6,232 points. Nixon recorded four personal bests in the 60m (6.86), shot put (46-10/14.27m), 60mH (7.93) and pole vault (15-9/4.80m) Curtis Beach finished in second with 5,895 points. Beach improved from fifth to second after his win in the final event, the1000m, in 2:33.40.

Mary Schwalm

Janay DeLoach Soukup won her third USA Indoor long jump title with a leap of 22-1.75/6.75m. The runner-up was Whitney Gipson with a leap of 22-8.25/6.61m, which was a personal best for her.

In the men's long jump finals, Jeremy Hicks won his third title with a jump of 26-2.75/7.99. Michael Hartfield finished second (25-9.26/7.85m) and Mikeses Morse finished third with a jump of 25-1.75/7.66m.

In the women's weight throw, Gwen Berry won the title with a throw of 81-0.50/24.70m. Amber Campbell was second with a toss of 77-8.25/23.68m. On the men's side, Jake Freeman won with a toss of 77-1/23.51m. A.G. Kruger finished second with a 76-8/23.37m throw.

www.jamesnava.com

Will Leer won his first indoor title in the men's 3000m in 8:07.84. Benjamin Bruce was second in 8:16.69 and finishing third was Tommy Schmitz in 8:30.92. Chelsea Reilly won an exciting women's 3000m race. Reilly was pushed from behind by Lisa Uhl and won the race in 9:23.12. Emily Infeld was second in 9:23.24 and Lisa Uhl was third in 9:23.37. Reilly and Uhl both fell to the track at the field line.

Jenn Suhr, set an indoor American and World Record in the pole vault. Suhr won the pole vault by clearing 15-9/4.80m on her first attempt. Suhr then broke the American record with a vault of 16-0.75/4.90m. Once she cleared that, the bar was raised to world record height, 16-5.25/5.01m. Suhr cleared the bar on her first attempt. Finishing behind Suhr was Kylie Hutson. Hutson cleared 15-7/4.75m and that was a personal best for her. With that vault, Hutson became the third best indoor American vaulter.

Day 3 was filled with field event finals. Amanda Smock won her second indoor triple jump title with a leap of 44-2.75/13.48m. Blessing Ufodiama was runner up with a jump of 44-1.25/13.44m. In the men's shot put finals, Ryan Whiting won a national title with his throw of 71-6.25/21.80m. Cory Martin was second with a put of 68-8/20.93m. With that throw Whiting improved his world leading mark. Jordan Scott was the winner of the men's pole vault (18-4.5/5.60m). Inika McPherson claimed a national title in the high jump with a leap of 6-2.25/1.89m. Josh Honeycutt was the men's triple jump with a leap of 54-5.25/16.59m. Rounding out the field events, Michelle Carter won her first national title in the shot put with a distance of 63-8.25/19.41m.

Barbara Pierre won the 60 m dash in a time of 7.08 over Lekeisha Lawson who finished in 7.10. Shayla Mahan was the third place finisher in 7.19. On the men's side, Dangelo Cherry won the 60m dash in 6.49 over Reggie Dixon in 6.54. Jeremy Dodson placed third in 6.58.

Kristi Castlin won a national title in the women's 60m Hurdles with a time of 7.99. Finishing in second behind Castlin was Nia Ali (8.00) and Queen Harrison in 8.01. Omoghan Osaghae won the men's 60mH title with a time of 7.62 over Brendan Ames in 7.72 and Trey Hardee in 7.74.

American Indoor 600m record holder Erik Sowinski defeated Robby Andrews and Tyler Mulder to win the men's 800m in 1:47.09. Andrews finished second in 1:47.13 and Mulder in 1:47.43. Eighteen year-old, Ajee Wilson won the women's 800m in 2:02.64. Chanelle Price was second in 2:02.93 and former Iowa Hawkeye Bethany Praska in 2:03.57.

In the women's 400m dash, Ebonie Floyd won in 52.02 over Joanna Atkins (53.33) and LaSasha Aldredge in 54.43. Three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time World Championships gold medalist Jeremy Wariner took the men's 400m dash title in 45.82. Marcus Boyd finished behind Wariner in 46.54 and Michael Courtney was third (48.00).

The women's 1 mile run was won by 16 year-old Mary Cain in 5:05.68. Treniere Moser finished behind Cain in 5:06.55 and Brie Felnagle was third (5:06.90). Will Leer won his second title on Sunday in the men's 1 mile run in 3:58.79. Craig Miller was runner-up to Leer in 3:58.90 and Cory Leslie placed third in 3:59.88.

2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships

The 2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships take place this weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The meet will be broadcasted live on TV. On March 2 from 6-8 p.m. EST on Universal Sports and March 3, from 4-6 p.m. EST on NBC Sports Network.

The championships start on Friday with the men's heptathlon and the women's pentathlon. On Saturday are the final two events in the men's heptathlon, first round running events, finals of the men's and women's 3000m and finals of most field events. Sunday are the semifinals and finals of all running and remaining field events.

The schedule for the championships:

Subject to change; all times are Mountain Standard Time

Day 1 - Friday, March 1
11:30 a.m.     W     60mH                pentathlon
11:50 a.m.     M     60m                   heptathlon
12:45 p.m.     M     long jump         heptathlon
1:00 p.m.       W     high jump         pentathlon
2:00 p.m.       M     shot put             heptathlon
3:00 p.m.       W     shot put             pentathlon
4:00 p.m.       M     high jump         heptathlon
4:15 p.m.       W     long jump         pentathlon
5:30 p.m.       W     800m                pentathlon
5:45 p.m.      Day 1 Session Ends
                  
Day 2 - Saturday, March 2
12:00 p.m.    M    60mH                 heptathlon
1:10 p.m.      M     pole vault          heptathlon
1:15 p.m.      M    3 5# wt. throw    final
1:45 p.m.     W     60mH                 1st round
2:05 p.m.     M     60mH                 1st round
2:15 p.m.     M     long jump            final
2:25 p.m.     W     60m                    1st round
2:45 p.m.     M     60m                    1st round
3:05 p.m.     Ceremony
3:20 p.m.    M    1000m                   hep final
4:05 p.m.    W    20# wt. throw        final
4:05 p.m.    W    800m                     1st round
4:10 p.m.    M    high jump               final
4:15 p.m.    W    pole vault               final
4:25 p.m.    W    long jump               final
4:25 p.m.     M     800m                    1st round
4:45 p.m.     W     400m                    1st round
5:05 p.m.     M     400m                    1st round
5:27 p.m.    W    3000m                   final
5:43 p.m.    M    3000m                   final
6:00 p.m.    W    400m IH                exhibition
6:06 p.m.    M    400m IH                exhibition
6:10 p.m.     Day 2 Session Ends
                  
Day 3 - Sunday, March 3
11:45 a.m.    W    triple jump            final
11:45 a.m.    M     3000m RW          final
12:05 p.m.     W     60m                    semi finals
12:20 p.m.     M     60m                    semi finals
12:20 p.m.    M    shot put                 final
12:40 p.m.     W     60mH                 semi finals
1:00 p.m.     M     60mH                   semi finals
1:00 p.m.    M    pole vault               final
1:20 p.m.    W    3000m RW            final
1:45 p.m.     Opening Ceremony
2:00 p.m.    W    high jump              final
2:02 p.m.    mstW    3000m             exhibition
2:10 p.m.    M    triple jump             final
2:16 p.m.    mstM    400m                exhibition
2:20 p.m.    W    shot put                  final
2:25 p.m.    M    800m                      final
2:35 p.m.    W    400m                     final
2:44 p.m.    W    Mile                       final
2:55 p.m.    M    400m                     final
3:04 p.m.    W    800m                     final
3:13 p.m.    M    Mile                      final
3:25 p.m.    W    60m                       final
3:34 p.m.    M    60m                       final
3:43 p.m.    M    60mH                    final
3:52 p.m.    W    60mH                    final
3:55 p.m.     Session & Championship Ends
4:00 p.m.     USATF Championship Awards

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie Nicholl 
Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black

Currently Reading: Killing Kennedy, Bill O'Reilly

Winter sports

The long winter sports season will be coming to an end soon.

This week is the girls basketball district tournament. The district finals take place on Friday. If any county teams win the district championship, they advance to the regional tournament next week. Besides the girls basketball regional tournament next week, it is the start of the boys basketball district tournament. The process repeats itself. If any of the boys teams win a district championship, they will play again the following week in the regional tournament.

I was in Battle Creek last weekend photographing the wrestling teams state championships. This weekend is the individual wrestling state championships. I am very happy that another photographer is covering that event. The wrestling season is over for me until next winter.

The college sports winter season is almost complete too. Only one team should advance to post season play. They have two home playoff games this weekend, then if they win the rest of their games will be away.

The college spring season has already begun and I am looking forward to the new season. The weather will be warming up and I will be able to be outside more.

Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships

uwbadgers.com

The Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships took place at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio on February 22 and 23.

Wisconsin Badgers won the men's indoor track and field title win 90 points over Illinois (87.5), Penn State (87), Nebraska (86.6666) and Minnesota (86). On the women's side Illinois won the team title with 115 points over Nebraska (112), Michigan (89), Penn State (73) and Ohio State (66).

A few of the highlights of the meet for me was Wisconsin's Maverick Darling winning the 3000m Friday in a Big Ten meet record in 7:50.97. Michigan runners Bobby Aprill (7:53.02) and Dan Lowry (7:54.05) placed fourth and fifth behind Darling. Darling ran the 5000m on Saturday and finished third behind his Wisconsin teammate Mohammed Ahmed who finished second in the 5000m in 13:46.56. Indiana's Zachery Mayhew won in 13:46.04. Michigan's Aprill also ran the 5000m, he placed fourth in 13:49.18.

Amanda Eccelston from Michigan won the women's 1 mile run in 4:40.66. Eccelston lead the charge for Michigan as they finished 1-4-5-6 in the mile run. Brook Handler was fourth in 4:43.24, Shannon Osika fifth in 4:43.67 and Megan Weschler sixth in 4:47.28. Eccelston also finished second in the 3000m with a time of 9:21.23. Nebraska's Jessica Furlan won in 9:19.66.

mgoblue.com

Michigan's women's Distance Medley Relay won in 11:11.41. Michigan has won 10 straight DMR titles. Shannon Osika, Meg Bellino, Jillian Smith and Rebecca Addison were the members of the winning DMR team.

Big Ten Network will air the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, March 2 at noon EST.

Galen Rupp

Lars Baron/Getty Images

Galen Rupp set an American indoor record in the 3000 meters in 7:30.16. Thursday at the IAAF XL Galan Indoor Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.

The previous record was set by Bernard Lagat in 2007 with a time of 7:32.43. Lagat broke Rupp's American indoor record for the 2 mile Saturday at the Millrose Games.

Coming in behind Rupp was Caleb Ndiku of Kenya in 7:31.66, 2012 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist Abdelaati Iguider of Morocco  finished third in 7:34.92 and Kenya's Paul Koech was fourth in 7:38.35.

Rupp's time of 7:30.16 in the 3000m is the fastest in the world this year.

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie NichollPrince 
Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly
The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan

Currently Reading: The Drowning House, Elizabeth Black

Toledo Museum of Art VII - Toledo, Ohio

Millrose Games

Kirby Lee

The Millrose Games took place Saturday at the Armory in New York City.

A few records were broken on Saturday. Bernard Lagat broke the American indoor track record for the 2-mile in 8:09.49. Both 600m women's and men's records were broken. Aylsia Montano broke the American indoor record of the 600m. Montano finished the race in 1:23.59.Erik Sowinski won the men's race in 1:15.61.Sowinski defeated a strong field that included two Olympians Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds.

In the Wanamaker Mile, Canadian Shelia Reid won in 4:27.02 and set a national record. Coming in second was Mary Cain in 4:28.25. Cain set a new national high school record. In third place was my Oiselle teammate Kate Grace, aka K8, in 4:28.79. For the men's Wanamaker Mile, Lopez Lomong won the race in 3:51.21 over Matthew Centrowitz who finished in 3:51.34.

English Gardner of the University of Oregon won the NYH & RC Women's 60m in 7.19. Finishing in second was Jeneba Tarmoh in 7.22 and Lauryn Williams in third, 7.24. Doc Patton was the winner in the men's 60m in 6.50. Gerald Phiro was second in 6.64.

Peter Carr/The Journal News

Olympian Jeff Porter defeated Andrew Riley in the Fred Schmertz Men's 60m Hurdles in 7.59 to Riley's 7.60. Yvette Lewis crossed the line first in the women's 60m Hurdles in 7.84 winning over Ginnie Crawford in 7.97.

In the AT&T Women's 400m, Mary Wineberg won in 52.19 defeating Francena McCorory in 52.20.

Janay DeLoach won the women's long jump over Brittney Reese with a jump of 22-7.75. Reese's mark was 22-5.75. The United Airlines women's pole vault winner was Jenn Suhr with a height of 15-3. Inika McPherson was the winner of the John Thomas high jump with a leap of 6-1.5 over Brigetta Barrett who almost cleared the same height, but with more attempts.

 Top: Bernard Lagat leading the field during the NYRR Men's Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games at the Armory, Saturday, February 16, 2013.


Bottom : Mary Cain finished second in the NYRR Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games at the Armory Saturday, February 16, 2013. Oiselle runner Kate Grace is behind Cain on the left. Grace finished third in 4:28.79.

Valentine's Day

My husband and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday. My husband had to work and I am still dealing with a cold. It is probably best because I can't smell or taste food.

We decided Saturday would be better instead of going out for dinner tonight. I abstain from eating meat on Friday's during Lent and Lent just started on Wednesday. That means our restaurant choices are severely limited on Fridays. I am not a fish or seafood fan. The only fish I will eat is tuna from a can. I have never seen tuna from a can on a sit-down restaurant menu. Subway on the other hand, has an excellent tuna sub. The plans for our Valentine's Day dinner have been set and we settled on a steakhouse. Dinner tonight will be casual and maybe a trip to the mall.

Even though we didn't celebrate Valentine's with dinner on Thursday, we did exchange cards and gifts. I was given gift cards to two clothing stores at the mall. I gave my husband a money gift card.I wasn't so sure he would like his gift. He asked me what I wanted for Valentine's Day and I said gift cards. He responded with 'that's not original'. I did have a other ideas for gifts, but I couldn't make it work.

I hope you and your loved one had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Toledo Museum of Art VI - Toledo, Ohio

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. It is also the start of Lent.

I always seem to have busy days on Lent. This year is no different. Besides working in the office in the morning, I photograph Pets of the Week at the Humane Society right after my office shift. I hope to run a few miles after work. Don't know how far I will go since I'm still recovering from the stomach issues on Sunday.

I missed Ash Wednesday services last year and I thought I would miss them again this year. I actually won't. My church plans to be open all day. I was asked to volunteer to sit in the church for a half hour. At this time, I can bless myself with ashes, read scripture or sit quietly in a pew. I will probably do a combination of all three.

After leaving the church, I will go home to relax for a while. Then it is off to photograph a regional team wrestling match.

Being very busy, I hope that will distract me from thinking about food.We are supposed to fast on Ash Wednesday and only eat one meal for the day. That one meal of the day will be lunch. My husband and I will be having tomato soup and grilled cheese. I hope that will keep me filled up for the rest of the day.

Stomach issues

I woke up at 3 am Sunday morning from an upset stomach. I took some medicine and went back to bed. I was hoping when I woke up, my upset stomach would be gone and I would go running.

When I woke up after 5 am, my stomach was still upset. It also seemed to be getting worse. I was so weak and walking around the house made me nauseous. The best spot for me was on the couch. I took more medicine and hoped that the stomach ache would go away.

I was in and out of sleep mostly all morning. I decided to eat some crackers around 11 am because I needed food. I ate about 10-15 crackers and decided that was enough. Shortly after eating the crackers, my stomach got worse. I hate throwing up, but that usually makes me feel better. I went to the bathroom to try and nothing happened. I was disappointed.

After sleeping some more during the afternoon, I got up to put away the laundry. By the time I made it upstairs with the basket, I was wiped out. Also, my stomach wasn't happy. Hanging up a couple of shirts, I had a terrible feeling. I headed toward the bathroom to throw up. Nothing happened again. I went back into the bedroom to finish putting the laundry away.

Heading downstairs, I felt awful. I walked to the basement to fold clothes. Bending over and grabbing clothes out of the dryer didn't make me feel too good. I stopped and sat down hoping the feeling would pass. It did. I went back over to the dryer and continued folding. My stomach was hurting so bad, I went back over to sit down. As soon as I sat down, I knew I was going to throw up. I knew I wouldn't make it up two floors in time, so I threw up in the basement trash. I had been drinking Powerade throughout the day and that is what came up.

I felt so much better after that. I was able to finish folding the clothes and put them away without any issues. I also was able to eat some food. That I had no issues keeping down. Even though I felt better, my stomach still hurt. But it wasn't as bad as before.

Being wiped out and having no energy, I went to bed around 7 pm. When I woke up at 3 am Monday morning I felt better. My stomach didn't hurt, but I still didn't have any energy. Since my energy was still sapped, I decided to take Monday off from running.

My stomach feels better today. But now it is my back that is sore. I slept at a funky angle last night to prop my head up. I did that because I have a stuffy nose and I needed to breathe. I plan on trying to run a couple of miles today. I don't know how it will go because of my back and my legs feel rubbery. But I know I just have to try.

Favorite photos from February 4-8, 2013

Books read in 2013

Between Here and April, Deborah Copaken Kogan
Bleed for Me, Michael Robotham
The Making of a Royal Romance, Katie NichollPrince 
Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, Philip Eade
The Black Box, Michael Connelly

Currently Reading: The Painted Girls, Cathy Marie Buchanan

TV shows

farmgroup.tv

Listed below are a few new TV programs that I have been enjoying recently. 

I have been tweeting about this show since December: Made In Chelsea.

www.wb.com

I saw a commercial for it on Style Network last year and I thought it was a scripted show. Well, it kind of is. Made In Chelsea is a reality show, but the people on the show play scripted versions of themselves. The show takes place in Chelsea, which is a district of London. It follows the lives of  a group of Chelsea socialites, who go on holiday a lot and have tons of drama. It has been compared to The Hills. I never watched The Hills, so I don't know if it is or isn't.

micromkv.com

I was watched the show on Style Network, but halfway through December, the network stopped showing episodes. On the first weekend of January, Style Network ran a marathon of half of season two. After the marathon, it hasn't been seen on the network since.

Through twitter, I have been given links to places online where I can watch the series. I'm thankful for those links, I would have been missing out on all of the drama. I'm halfway through Season 4 and the cast has changed quite a bit from Season 1. Season 1 has been my favorite so far. It had the drama between Spencer and Caggie. Every episode was are they (Spencer and Caggie) going to get together or not? Besides Spencer and Caggie, Hugo and Millie are my favorite characters. As of Season 4, Spencer and Millie are still on the show. Hugo and Caggie are not. I'm disappointed that it was never mentioned where they are or why they left the show. Since they are gone, new characters have been added to the show. I'm not to fond of them. They seem out of place.

Once I'm done with Season 4, I will have to wait along with everyone in the UK to watch Season 5. The new season is supposed to broadcast this spring.

I watch Bunheads on ABCFamily. After every show, I read online forums about the episode. In every post of the forum, Gilmore Girls is mentioned. It is mentioned because Amy Sherman-Palladino created Gilmore Girls and Bunheads. I asked on twitter if Gilmore Girls was good. Everyone that responded told me to watch it. So I added Season 1 on my Netflix queue.

Gilmore Girls is about a single mother, Lorelai, and her daughter, Rory, living in a small town. I have seen about three discs worth of episodes. I like the show. It is different and quirky. And they do talk fast.

The characters that I'm liking are Rory and her frenemy Paris. They both go to a private school and Paris has bitter feelings towards Rory. Their relationship went to icy to frosty. It seems like Paris is starting to warm up to Rory. I want to know why Paris acts the way she does. Why does she act mean all the time?

This season on Bunheads, the girl that played Paris in Gilmore Girls, Liza Weil, has appeared on the show a couple of times. Weil's character on Bunheads is kind of like Paris on Gilmore Girls. She gets what she wants, when she wants it. Her character is kind of a frenemy to the lead's on Bunheads too. Weil plays that character well.

House of Cards is a new show that can only be seen on Netflix. The show stars Kevin Spacey as a ruthless politician in Washington, D.C.

I remember reading something about this show last year, but I saw an article on USA Today about it last Friday. The article was a preview to the show and Netflix was putting it online that day. Netflix added the whole season (13 episodes) online. Since Sunday morning, I have watched all of the episodes already. It is very addicting. I binge-watched the entire season in four days. If I didn't have to work or sleep, I probably would have finished the series earlier. Now that I finished the season, I'm having withdrawals. I need more HOC stat. Maybe I will have to watch the original version of House of Cards to fill that need.

House of Cards is a fantastic show. The acting and the writing are superb. Kevin Spacey's character, Frank Underwood reminds me of his character Lester Burnham in American Beauty. The way he acts and talks. I'm just drawing similarities. Maybe it is because they show Kevin Spacey working out. Underwood's wife, Claire, is played by Robin Wright. Wright is a strong actress and I love her haircut in this show.

I, along with everyone else who watched or still watching House of Cards, will be waiting patiently for Season 2. I know that will probably be sometime next year. But that is ok. I can wait. I waited a long time for my other favorite shows to come back to the air: The Sopranos, The Shield, Dexter, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie and Community. So this will be no different.

Toledo Musuem of Art V - Toledo, Ohio

Hot Chocolate Hustle 5K

At the start of the Hot Chocolate Hustle 5K it was around 14°, but felt like 1°. I wore a hat, gloves, Oiselle singlet, long sleeved shirt, Oiselle knickers, compression socks and trail shoes. I didn't feel warm at all standing outside, but I knew I would warm up once the race started.

Before the horn went off, I positioned myself near the front of the pack. The only people in front of me were guys. I knew they would create a gap as soon as the race started. Once that gap was made, I ran off to the side of the street to stay out of faster runners way.

It was snowing during the race. The snow was falling fast and hitting me in the face and going into my eyes. With the snow falling, the streets were not plowed. They were covered with a inch of two of fresh powder. Most of us ran on tire tracks on the street. Even running in those tire tracks and with trail shoes, I couldn't get a good grip on the snow. It felt like my feet were sliding all over. But with all of the sliding, I stayed on my feet.

Around a half of mile, three guys passed me. Then around the mile marker a lady ended up going around me. Besides the runners already ahead of me and the four that passed me before the mile marker, no one else passed me during the race.

Over the last mile, the course had a bunch of turns. What I like about the turns is that I get to see who is behind me without turning around. About a mile mile from the finish, I saw a guy getting close to me. I wanted to keep my pace even to stay ahead of him. With .2 miles to go, I could hear the guy coughing behind me. The coughing was getting closer to me. My goal from there was to keep him behind me. I kept thinking that he was going to pass me on the final straight to the finish line. I picked up my pace and held him off. According to the final results, I beat that guy by five seconds.

I finished the Hot Chocolate Hustle 5K in 28:25. Which I think is great when running in slippery, fresh snow. I placed first in my age group of 30-34, was the fifth overall woman and finished 20th out of 70 runners.

Favorite photos from January 28 - February 1, 2013

Toledo Museum of Art IV - Toledo, Ohio