Great Eight

14 years together and a happy 8 years of marriage as of today.  Whoo hoo! To celebrate,  Dave and I took one last big trip to New York.  We love to travel, and we know it will be limited in the near future, so we were go-go-go the whole week just soaking it all in and spending 24/7 together. And honestly, I have never walked so much in my whole life.  We didn't rest at all the whole time, and I would crash at 1pm in pure exhaustion every night.  

Day 1:  Touch down late into the city, but just in time to get some last minute discount tickets to Rock of Ages.  I am becoming a little bit of a Broadway snob, so I am really picky and nothing compares to Broadway in London.  Snotty!!!! This was not typical for a show, but I liked it anyways. 

 

I have never been to New York, so here I am...first night in the Big Apple checking out Times Square and Rock of Ages.  I don't know why we can't ever choose warm weather vacations.  I swear next time it will be on a warm island with drinks in hand. 

Day 2: 911/Ground Zero Memorial, tramp through the snow to John's Pizza on Bleecker street, dessert at Rocco's (yum!), walking with wet socks/shoes to Chelsea Market, dinner at Benito 1 in Little Italy, and art/music late night at the Armory with college friend Duffy. 

911 Memorial

Snow!!!!

Yummy dinner in Little Italy.  Home-made pasta, and when you are pregnant, everyone wants to feed you, so I got a few extra shells.  Hee hee! :)

Art Show at the Armory

 

Live music with Spank Rock.  It was Ah-mazing.  We never have anything like this in Memphis.  And a woman DJ? I have never seen that before, and she was really awesome.  Want to hear his awesome music...and I mean, this guy was AWESOME...check out this link. 

Day 3:  Penelope's for breakfast, Top of the Rock, FAO Schwartz, Central Park, Grand Central Station, Dinner with friends, and late night local party with more college friends.  :)

Dave and I bought our very first toy for our little girl.  Of course, it was a horse, and it was actually Dave's idea :)  He knew how much I LOVE horses and was obsessed with them as a kid.  We had so much fun looking at toys for her....who knew?  But, just one toy....we are trying to stay grounded, so wish us luck!

 

Central Park

Dinner with Cody, Renee, and kids.  :)

Late night party in swanky club with band.  We were complete crashers, and the birthday boy came up to us and said..."I have no clue who you are."  Ha ha!!!

Day 4:  Breakfast at Doughnut Plant, lunch at Commerce, ferry ride to Staten Island/Statue of Liberty, cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery, and last minute run to see one last Broadway Show-Mamma Mia. 

 Brunch with some of my very best friends on earth from college, Megan and Holly (and her sweet baby Christopher).  Seeing my friends came at a perfect time for me, and I am so lucky to have them.   And, the first thing that both of them said to me when they saw me was, "Nice BOOBS!!! OMG!!!"  

 The belly is definitely there....and, I had my first spontaneous "Congratulations" from a stranger.  :)

 

Staten Island/Statue of Liberty

Mamma Mia...eh....I give it a C.  Not my favorite Broadway, but hey....how fortunate that I get to see so many shows that I actually start to get picky?  Lucky girl I am. 

And, just a couple more pictures to wrap it up.....

First, here is one to just "keep it real" for everyone.   I always wondered why my pregnant friends didn't want their pictures taken.  After all, I thought they looked adorable!  But, what I discovered is that although sometimes I look normal with a belly, in pictures, I often also look like a huge blueberry as evidenced below.  Horrifying!  Who is that?  Why do I look so swollen?  So, I won't just post the cute pics, I will try to throw in some "WTF" pictures too.  Oh, the reality of my pregnancy.  ;)

 "Sailor" birthday party with Michaela and Duffy....more awesome college friends who actually had an invitation, as opposed to Dave and I crashing the joint.  :)  Dave and I sometimes feel very alone without a good network of friends in Memphis, but then we go to New York and meet up with some of our lifelong friends and remember that life is good.  No, not good.  Awesome. 

So, happy 8th anniversary to my husband.  Our last few times just the two of us.  One day our kid/kids might look back at this stuff and think, "wow, my parents actually had fun when they were young!"  or something like that, right?

Thank you, Dave, for being my best friend.  (he doesn't read my blog, but you guys please remind him when you see him how thankful I am for him.).

xo

The Weekend Trail

We had a beautiful but chilly day today, which was perfect for hitting the trails. My Sunday trail run has become my very best workout of the week. I feel at peace with my dogs, the world, nature, my body, and my mind when I jog/hike the trails. 

I love that in the trails you are sheltered from many kinds of external pressure.  No one can watch you run on the winding trails.  Your pace is expected to be slower, thus freeing you from the confines of time.  You don't worry about cars or stop lights, so you can just clear you mind and run.  You can listen to everything....from the rustling of animals to your own breath.  

 

Caya and Roo were pretty pooped at the end of our adventure, as evidenced by her passing out on the console of the car.  They have been sleeping all afternoon, with intermittent wake-up calls to give me some kisses before snuggling back to sleep.  I really continue to try to take advantage of this time with them.  When I am full-on training, I can't bring them running with me so I can focus solely on my run.  This is the perfect time for us to just be a running wolf pack of 3. 

 

Some good stuff today with Heather Jackson (above) winning Escape From Alcatraz.  May we all feel this type of joy when finishing a race!  How great is this?!  I think you can only feel this type of joy when you have worked so hard for something, as I know she has the past few years.  With a 1:14 half marathon last month and this big win, I would say her season is off to a great start. 

I also think I am going to start a new page with my favorite podcasts and links for great listening.  I tend to listen to podcasts when I am running easy, cleaning the house, or even getting ready for work in the morning.  I have just discovered Rich Roll's podcasts, which have been really inspiring, especially on a nutrition level.  And, check out this good one with Jim Ryun. 

Another wonderful weekend out.....

Another week

This week Dave turned 35-years-old, meaning my birthday is right around the corner and thus catapulting me into a new AG.  It also means.... nothing.  I can't think of anything else that being 35 means.  But, I do think aging up for racing is cool.  Just how many age groups will I get to see?  That will be fun to discover.  Happy birthday to my husband, who now is starting to catch up to me in gray hair.

My sweet sister with Dave...and the awesome ice cream cake she made him.  And nope, the cake did not get to come home with us.  Dang it!  I was given one piece of cake to bring home and Dave took the rest to work.  He calls it, "protecting me from myself."  He is such a stinker!

I think I have also figured out why many women return from pregnancy to race well.  It has absolutely nothing to do with "legal blood doping" as so many people think happens during pregnancy.  ( James Clapp was not talking about me when he wrote his book.)  I can assure you it really does not for the majority of us that cannot walk/jog more than 5 minutes without having to go pee.  I have yet to find any aerobic benefit to my pedestrian exercise.  (My 40 minutes on the treadmill tonight looked like this:  pee, 10 minute walk for warm up, pee, 5 minute jog/2 min walk, pee, 3 min walk/5 min jog, pee, 5 min walk/5 min jog, pee, 5 min walk....give up on jogging, 5 min walk, pee, get off treadmill from pure pee frustration.)

This morning, I was bombarded with training tweets, facebook triathlon proclamations, selfies from post workout sessions, and shouts of happiness from those who reached their USAT rankings goals.  What was I doing during all of this?  Well, I sneezed and accidentally peed on myself.  It was so ridiculously funny as I read about everyone getting ready for their crushing seasons, and I was peeing on myself.  :)

So, if not this great training you supposedly get as a pregnant lady that makes you super strong, what is it?  Well, it is the motivation that must come from sitting on your butt, peeing on yourself, and watching everyone else train and race!  Of course you start racing like your hair is on fire when you come return to sport from childbirth. You have been sitting on the sidelines and smelling like a public bathroom for what feels like forever!

So, good times and lots of laughs over here.  We are getting ready for our little anniversary trip to New York (my first visit there), so if anyone has any tips or ideas for must-sees, places to eat, things to do...send them my way!