Remodel Guys

The new siding on the new wall. Kind of looks nice natural, but it'll get painted white.

Brad, aka, The Cookie Monster. Good thing he wasn't here in Jan. for ALL of Marilyn's xmas cookies. Gina did share some today. Yes, there are still some left.


Brian, Randy and Joe (with back to us) Joe will be doing the tile, too. Randy has to do all the freezing outdoor work. He's thinking of moving back to sunny California after this job.


The paint scheme ! a chair rail will divide the colors.
Yes, kind of Seahawk-y or Mariner-y ish colors.


The frozen ground that will get a new sidewalk. The grapevines, well...I'm sure they'll be fine. I haven't killed them yet. and I've tried. no, not really.

26.2 miles with no bathroom breaks

OK, so the goal for this marathon was to run it in 4 hours 5 minutes or less, so that I could qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. At about mile 22 I was wondering if I really wanted to run another marathon.

I chose the Phoenix race because it had best chance for good weather, and it's a very flat course. The weather was fine. COLD but not wet. The tv stations kept warning about the SEVERE FREEZE ALERT.... wrap your pipes and plants. It was under 30 F at the start, and I passed two time & temp signs that said 32. I think by the end it might have been 40. I started with 3 shirts and finished in my tank top. Wore my gloves the whole way. The better to high five spectator kids along the way and not get their germs. Really, it was fine, but a few extra degrees would have been nice. Oh, well, at least the weather can't do anything to the topography of the course. Still flat.

One problem occurred at about mile 7 or so. My knee started up with the same ache I experienced in the half ironman last summer. Something I never had before and never again, til race day. It was annoying, not as bad as then. And of course a toe nail came loose about mile 19. That was pleasant.

I was running under a 9:00 minute/mile pace for the 1st 9 miles. Then my pace slowed a bit, anywhere from 9:00-9:48. At about mile 16 or so, the 4 hour Pace Group caught up to me. These are folks I should have been with all along but who knew where they were ?? anyway, hung out with this group for a while. Now I know why the Kenyans run in packs, it does make life easier, physically and mentally. The leader (who promises if you stick with her you WILL get a 4 hour finish time) was mentioning that they had a two and a half minute cushion at mile 20 so everyone could 'relax'. She walked thru the water stations. I was slowing down, not on purpose, and when I saw Gina at 21, she told me to keep the group in sight. So I did, and would catch up at each water station. I kept up this yo-yo effect until mile 25 water station when they slowed again. I mean, please, the end is in sight. So I 'sprinted' and ditched them for a 3:59:20 finish time !!

Bet you were wondering when I would get around to spilling that most important fact. That averages out to a 9:08 pace. Those higher ones were when I did stop to walk thru aid stations, and one time I stopped to actually stretch to see if it would help the knee issue. It didn't. Just a time loser.

Gatorade Gina ( G G ) did a fabulous job of meeting me at the 5,10,15 and 21 mile marks with drinks and good cheer. At the second spot she mentioned she might not be at the next ones due to more road closures than we anticipated. I said "no worries"... After the race she tells me this story... "So, when the cop pulled me over he said he could give me 2 tickets... one for driving on the sidewalk and one for driving around a barricade." But he didn't. And she bit her lip to keep from telling him her opinion about why that road didn't need to be blocked off. He told her to turn around and go back. He left. She waited. Then drove thru the next barricade. Ann MUST have her gatorade.

So, as the title of this posting suggests... the real accomplishment of note is the fact that I did not stop for ANY porta potty breaks. Of course, I pee-ed about 18 times in the half hour before the race but... bathroom breaks are also why I run a bit faster in the first several miles, to bank some time for nature's call. I'm calling it My Marathon Miracle.

And for my pet peeve of the race, people who wear their iPod... and insist on chatting with their running partner... at full volume.. Dude, the rest of us don't have earplugs in, so quit YELLING your strategy for a 3:50 finish. I guess I should be happy he wasn't singing along with his iTune. I must have been getting a bit cranky.

Post race activities included reclaiming my gear bag, along with the other 39,000 runners. Then trying to find the agility to change into warm clothes. The stiffness set in immediately. But it went away with a few recovery drinks. One was even a sports drink. The other 3 were adult beverages while watching the end of the Seahawk game at the closest sports bar. Back at the hotel I jumped into an almost ice bath. Well, that was after some food and more drink in the lobby bar with our new friends, the Pistachio nut salesman and his lovely wife, Bunny.

Massage, steam and jacuzzi and I'm ready to go again !
Well, once these 3 toes are no longer open wounds.

26.2 miles of fun

start of the race... me and 10,000 running buddies


the cold early morning drop off

mile 10

the lead pack of Kenyans and Ethiopians... no, those are not my white legs, I'm sure I'm just out of the photo.

Finish line area, cleff-er idea, the musical decorations for the "Rock n Roll" Marathon

mile 21 finally warm enough to strip down to a tank top. but still cold enough for gloves.

Gatorade Gina double checks her calculations and driving map.

The toe nail that came loose at mile 19.

post race beers with Mike, da Bears fan.

24

We are heading to Phoenix for a long weekend. You might think it is so we can be away where no one can bother us during the 2 day 4 hour season premier of "24".

But really it's so I can try and run a marathon. The PF Chang's Rock n Roll Marathon on Sunday. Gina is going to be my Gatorade Sherpa. This race has decided to use an oddball sports drink that is gaggy, so she will be at various spots along the course, Gatorade in hand. She says she'll try and snap a photo or 2, too. The only downside is that the Seahawk game starts at 11:00am. So she'll need to be at a sports bar by then. So I might not see her after mile 20. But that's ok. We've scouted out a joint that's fairly near to the finish line, near Ariz State campus. Then I'll crawl my way over to watch the final half, hopefully. If I could run 8:00 / mile I could see the whole game. But that ain't gonna happen.

So, full report on the flip side.

And please, do not call us during 24.

Renovation Updates

Despite lousy, freezing, raining, snowy weather, Brian and his troops are making huge progress. Basic plumbing is in and passed inspection. The framework has passed inspection. The "sparkies" are in doing their thing now, and presumably will pass electrical inspection. Soon the insulation (a novelty for this house) will be in. Same guys will put in some vapor barrier stuff in crawl space. We hope to bring them back to do same to the real crawl space, something that's been on the "to do" list since we bought this place 13 years ago. Then drywall goes up. Then painting begins. Or is it the tile guy then painting?? whatever.

Brian took Gina and I on a field trip last week. We got to ride in his big truck. We went to a stone slab fabricator place. Looking for seconds/leftover piece for the laundry counter. Found a great one. And it was fun to see how that shop operates, (templates for sinks, bullnosing, etc) Fancy hi tech stone cutting machinery. Then we went off to look at some Marmoleum. Floor stuff that is now Gina's new fun project....designing the pattern for the tile pieces. She's got some great colors and scheme going. Yesterday Brian got to see how Gina operates when designing. I often find myself being measured while sitting, lying down - how far to reach for light switch? where would my arms be while soaking in tub? In order to visualize things she uses 'found objects' to see how a design will work ( like will the bucket fit in this size sink? how far to reach for faucet, etc) He caught on quickly and was soon participating using a sponge to demonstrate how close the tile backsplash would be to sink edge. My job is once we know some estimated dimensions then I get to Google til I find the undermount stainless steel 10" deep sink. Or watertank dimensions or faucets or heaters or light fixtures....



She'll take this one, please.


Disaster zone.


New hot water heater... showers for hours !


Brian reads the plans.


World famous "Measurer"

Did I Forget ?

That our California buddies were in town for the holidays???

And I didn't get any good shots of Annalise, sheesh. dumb. But it's official now. A.B.B. is taller than me. That only took 14 years, 345 days. They'll be back in a day or two, after carousing in Portland for the New Years. Oh, wait, I did get one good one.


Annalise B.-Brown and her cousin Charlie Brown


What fun is having a blog if I can't post photos of Traci's butt ?


Happy New Year.

Happy New Year !

Post race beer garden. UM hats ! this photo taken by a couple of Buckeyes ! how weird is that?

Ahhh, a refreshing dip in Lake Washington. water was warmer than the air.

Ten minutes to game time.... just enough time to blog about this morning's race. The Resolution Run, Trip n Drip version. It's a 5K. You can choose to jump in the lake or not. You know we do. Gina is still on injured list so she graciously took photos for the blog.

Tooting horns here.. unofficially, I took 1st place in 50 yr old Drip division with a 23:45 time.

GO BLUE !