Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite

In honor of The Beatles songs being available to stream, I decided to draw a little picture.
Ok, fine that's a lie.  To be honest, I've had The Beatles in my music library for years, so really the ability to stream has no affect on me.  But it seemed like a good lead in.  The truth is, I heard the song on the radio today on our way home.... Hahahaha ok, that's probably the last reference I'll make, here's the point.  I heard the song on the radio and as I was listening it made me think of the Starry Night painting.  Now, I'm no Van Gogh and I have zero ability to paint in that style, but I thought of the little houses in the village, and the idea for the picture just kind of came to me.  It didn't come out exactly as I hoped, but that's mostly because I used watercolor colored pencils, which I rarely use, so the lines are sort of half blended in some places and kind of harsh in others.  But the idea is the same, so for that reason, I do like the final product.  Without further ado, here's the picture, before and after. And yes, I listened to The Beatles while I worked on it.

End of the line

So I did that 20 mile run on Wednesday and haven't done any running since then.  Way to go me! Alright, I know that's a terrible way to do things, but it's a super busy time of the year, so I haven't really had the time to go out and add in any extra runs.  But walking the dogs has been enough in terms of getting some type of activity in.  The only real problem is that I keep eating candy and desserts when we go out, which is not something I usually do.  In fact, Ryan and I rarely get dessert because we're almost always super full from our regular meals.  Must just be because it's Christmas.  

This year for Christmas we decided to try something new and went to Newport, instead of New York City, like we usually do.  It was a nice little trip, but it was very foggy out and we couldn't really enjoy the town.  Which is too bad because it was also a nice 68 degrees, so it would have been a good day to walk around and check out some lights.  Oh well.  We got a room in one of the old mansions on the Cliff Walk and left the balcony door open overnight, so that was nice.  I mean, the bed was super uncomfortable, but having the ocean right there was nice.  The sunrise the next morning was pretty too.  Maybe not as nice as the sunrise from the day of the marathon, because it was still a bit foggy, but I had a much better time being in Newport this time around.  Just like every other city in America though, there's nothing to do on Christmas Day because everything is closed, so we just ate breakfast and went back home.  I am glad we skipped New York City this year though because I'm sure it would have been packed with people.  Last year was bad and it wasn't nearly as warm, so I can only imagine how many people were out this year.  I'm not a fan of not being able to move on the sidewalks because they're so crowded, so going to empty Newport was much better.  If you're going to NYC for Christmas, I definitely suggest going during the week, and not the week of Christmas.  I know a lot of people can't take time to just go and do that, but it is so much less crowded and you still get to see all of the same decorations.  Plus, Bryant Park always has some great little items in their pop-up shops and when it's super crowded like that, you can't get close enough to check anything out. 

As far as gifts go, we don't do a lot of buying in this house.  It seems silly to buy gifts when we both see where the money is being spent.  It's not like you can keep it a surprise anyways.  But I did get a nice leather notebook holder, which I really like.  It's Harry Potter themed, because Ryan is smart like that.  I got him a Qalo ring, because his ring is not workout friendly, and it's too big for him anyways.  If you haven't heard of the Qalo rings, they're just silicone bands, very inexpensive as far as rings go, and are good for people who work with their hands a lot, or for someone who is working out.  You can check them out at qalo.com if you're super interested. 

Finally, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the Google Support Store.  The fingerprint sensor on the back of my Nexus 5X stopped working on Wednesday night.  Now, I know that's not a huge deal, as the phone works fine without it, but it's kind of like buying a new car and having the radio controls on the steering wheel stop working one month in. Sure, you don't NEED those controls to work the car or the radio, but you paid for it, so you obviously want it to work.  Basically that's how I feel about the fingerprint sensor.  I don't NEED it, but the phone is only a month old, so there' no reason why it shouldn't work.  Anyways, it was being weird, working and then not working with no particular pattern.  So on Christmas Eve morning I contacted Google/Nexus Support to get some help.  The person helping me gave me a few different options as to how to solve the problem, all of which worked short term, but not in the long run.  I was sending back emails with the results of each test, just to keep the support store aware of the situation, as it doesn't seem to be a common problem.  If you're wondering, first they had me clear the cache in regular settings.  After that didn't work, I tried rebooting in safe mode. When that didn't work, they had me reboot in recovery mode and wipe the cache that way, which worked until I opened an app or connected to a charger.  Finally, they had me do a full factory reset, which again, worked until I opened an app or connected to a charger.  In a weird turn of events, for a while, the sensor worked when the messenger app was open, but that stopped working too.  So, finally, we've decided to replace the phone.  The point of all of this though is that this was a two day project through email.  I sent an update on Christmas Day, not expecting any type of response, because after all, it is Christmas.  Instead, the woman who was helping me answered almost immediately, in the middle of the day, and continued to exchange emails until we landed on the replacement option.  Now, I live with a person who does his work every day of the year, holidays be damned, but he's an exception, not the norm.  He responds to his customer emails throughout the day, and probably even did it on our wedding day, but I didn't expect other people to be like that.  Maybe Google makes them work, but I doubt it.  So, if you still aren't convinced that Google is way better than Apple, there's another point in the Google column.  I mean, I've never tried contacting Apple on Christmas Day, so maybe they're just as helpful, but I'm going to assume they're not, because that's how I roll.  

Alright, I'm going to wrap up this unnecessarily long post now.  Enjoy some pictures of the Newport sunrise and my lovely Christmas present.

8 days remaining in the yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

You have to read that in the Bruins' announcer voice, otherwise it's just nonsense.  If you've ever heard the 1-minute warning at a Bruins game, though you know what I'm talking about. Mostly I just didn't have a better title though.  I hate those cutesy little sayings like Christmas Eve Eve, or Festivus for the Rest of Us, since technically neither of those are real things.  I mean, sure, it's the night before the night before Christmas, but let's not get into making that a thing, like we did with Black Friday.  Let's all agree to just leave the holidays where they are and not add on any more superfluous days.
Ok, so I know that probably reads like I'm not into the holidays, which is not true, I'm a fan of Thanksgiving and Christmas, as much as the next person, even if this year is so un-Christmasy we might as well be on the West Coast.  No joke, tomorrow it's going to be almost 70.  I don't know how people on the West Coast live like this, to be honest.  I hate to say it after the winter we had last year, but I miss the snow.  At least a little flurry. Heck, I'd even take just a cold day.  But you know what? Today I ran outside in a tank top.  Yes, in Massachusetts in December, I'm out burning up the miles in a flimsy lightening dry tank.  Sure, this is great running weather, but it's not great Christmas weather.  In an ideal world, it gets cold and snows for Christmas and then in January everything goes back to being 50 degrees.  Although not having weather like this until well after winter, my mind keeps thinking about all the awesome spring activities and I have to remind myself that we're still far away from that end.  School's not even close to being over and there's a lot more winter left before we make it to spring again.
Enough about all this though, back to the running.  I finally managed to stop putting off my 20 miles and get it done today.  Much like the Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supreme, I am good to go now.  I figured that with the 15 on Saturday and the 20 today, I'm all set for Louisiana.  Today's run was a good one, finished in 3:02, not bad considering I joined up with Cynthia and Madilyn for some middle miles, which meant slowing down for the stroller. (Secretly I'm ok with that and might actually look forward to the slow down!) Even then, it wasn't much a slow down, maybe a minute on per mile, if that.  Include the hills in that and Cynthia gets way more credit than I do, because I doubt I could make it 3 with a stroller, let alone 6, at any pace! Unfortunately my headphones died at mile 19, which is always a bummer, but usually the last mile is the easiest one to power through anyways, because you know at the end of that mile, you're actually done.  It does raise the point again of finding good wireless headphones that can actually hold a charge.  I didn't even use the headphones for the entire run, I'd say maybe for 2 hours total.  Sure, I used them on Saturday and didn't recharge, but I think on Saturday I used them for just over an hour, so if that's an indicator of battery life, they still wouldn't make it through the rest of the marathon with me.  Hopefully I'll be so speedy on this nice flat course that I'll outrun my headphones charge.  Ok, that's highly unlikely, but I think this is definitely the course to hit the 4 hour mark.  I know you're not supposed to run your first half super fast, but if I can get the first half done in 1:50, that leaves just about 2 hours for the second, which I know is do-able.  If I don't get the first half done in 1:50, I can still break the 4 hour mark, but I'd really have to hold a steady pace the entire run, which may be do-able, but I don't know, because I have yet to run at a solidly consistent pace.
While we're on the subject, I know that the experts say to run your training runs around a minute slower than your expected pace, but I just can't figure out how to do that.  When I go out running, I just go. For example, my first 9 miles today were around the 8:30 mark.  Which is definitely not a minute slower than my expected pace.  I'd say that's pretty spot on to my expected pace.  But they weren't consistent 8:30s, they went all over the place from 8:03s all the way to 8:53s. Sure, I had to stop to cross some roads and chug up some hills, but still, there's no consistency there.  Then my last five were back in the 9:00s, 9:03, 9:07, etc.  How does one go out and run slower than their marathon pace and still expect to be faster on the day of the race anyways? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.  I know that races are different, there's crowds and cheering, etc, but I don't think I could do all of my training runs at a 9:30 - 10:30 pace and still expect to come out blazing in January.  Maybe it's just me though.
Sadly, I have no pictures for you today.  I do have this little life lesson that you can live by.  Sure, it says board games, but replace that with basically anything you're doing in life, and the results will be the same.  Pretend for the sake of this post that it says running instead of board games, and you'll really understand me.  And with that, Merry Christmas!
I'll try to get in one more before the end of the year, but in case I don't, Happy New Year!

It's tricky to get the laundry, to get the laundry done on time, it's trickyyyyyyyyy

You feel me? I bet you do.  At first I planned on cleaning the house/doing the laundry yesterday.  Instead, I took a 2 hour nap. Then I watched football with Fries until bedtime.  Not a single cloth was laundered yesterday.  Since I'm on winter break though, it's totally ok, because I managed to clean the house AND do the laundry today. Except that it's still not done and now it's almost bedtime.  It's a true life struggle, I can never time my laundry right to be done before bed.  I always end up either having a load leftover to do the next day (which never gets done), or a load left in the dryer, which doesn't get folded until the following week.  Am I alone in this phenomenon?  Whatever, I have more important things to do, like re-read books I've read a hundred times before.
Enough about my domestic inabilities though, back to the running.  On Saturday I was GOING to run 20, but I'm really bad at mapping out routes.  Instead of running 5.5 to meet Cynthia, I only ran 3.5, but it was good enough.  We were going to do 10 together, but only got out 6.  Then I did the 3.5 back, plus 2 more, for a grand total of 15.  Which is lovely and all, but not the 20 I planned, so guess what I have to do tomorrow instead.  Right now I'm not interested in doing any number.  I'd be happy to go to bed and not have to wake up and go running or workout or do anything active, and just eat everything in sight instead.  Unfortunately that's not a reasonable lifestyle, so off I'll go tomorrow, even if it is going to rain.   Side note, what's with the Nespresso commercial?  Am I supposed to believe that George Clooney and Danny DeVito are hanging out drinking high-end pod coffee? Yea, right.  Nothing about that commercial makes me want to even consider drinking Nespresso.
Not much else happening on this end.  I'm losing my Fantasy Football match-up, which makes me real angry, because I've been in 1st place the entire season, and the guy I'm playing just HAPPENED to have a real lucky game yesterday.  I feel like 2008 Tom Brady right now. I'm also thinking about different things I can do for Boston fundraisers and have come with 3 solid options.  1) Host a paint night or similar and charge people $30 for a spot. 2) Take donations of old baby clothes and toys and re-sell them as an online yard sale type thing. 3) Beg out front of Stop and Shop.  Ok, fine, so number 3 isn't REALLY a solid option, but it's there if I get real hard up.  So if you have any other ideas, you just let me know what those options are. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me leaving Cynthia at the end of our 6 miles.

Marathon Training: The Gibbs Method

I've decided, inadvertently, to try a brand-new method of marathon training. It may come as no surprise that I'm calling it The Gibbs Method.  Here's how it works. Sign up for a fall marathon and a winter marathon. Train for a fall marathon starting in the spring, following a regular training schedule with increasing mileage until you hit 20, and then taper. Run (or run/walk) said marathon in the fall.  Three weeks later, run a half.  Two weeks after that, run a 15 mile long run.  Finally, 4 weeks before the winter marathon, run another 20 miler.  No taper for your second marathon.
 In between these, run a random mix of mileage at varying paces, ranging from 1 - 13 miles. (I say varying paces because at this point in the year, it's very hard to find a consistent group of people who want to run long runs for no reason, and can hold the pace I want to hold.)  Add in short 3 mile runs on the treadmill.  These are for one mile warm-ups, one mile sprint intervals and one mile hill inclines. Your one-mile warm-up should be at your best pace, which should be faster than your marathon pace.  Example, my one mile warm-up is around a 7:40, my goal marathon pace is around an 8:50. Sprints should be done in 1 minute on/1 minute off intervals.  And by off, I mean, walking.  And by on, I mean a full out sprint, at least 2 minutes faster than your fastest pace.  Hills should be done on at least a 7 incline.  If you're only going to 7, you need to be running up that hill at your regular race pace, or a bit faster, for .10 of a mile.  Then you get to pause for 1 minute.  This is your pretend walk back down the hill, since you're not going to bother lowering and raising the treadmill incline every .10 of a mile.  Repeat for the full mile.  Now, if you want to get REAL crazy, you can go above a 7, all the way up to the highest incline setting on your treadmill.  For the one I use, that's a 15.  Be prepared to die if you do this. I can run up the 7 at a regular race pace of 8:30ish, give or take a few minutes, if I'm not feeling or really rocking it.  At the 15, I barely made it up the .10 of a mile in a 10:00 run.  It's a real challenge, but I like it, so I keep doing it.  Plus, I'm sure it will help when I get to Louisiana and there is nary a hill to be seen.  My legs and lungs will be all, "whhhhhhhattttt?So flat. NBD, we got this." Or, at least, I assume that's how it's going to go.  Just realize that after the first time, your calf muscles are going to feel like the fires of hell are burning deep within, and you might actually want to consider crawling up the stairs the next day.  That feeling goes away a little bit if you stretch and definitely gets better the more you do this activity.
To really complete this cycle of training, you have to throw in at least 4 days of cross-training activity that fully engage the rest of your muscles, continue to help you build endurance, and work your core.  That means something like Cross-Fit, bike riding, or, obviously, boxing classes.  Trust me when I say this method will never work if you don't do any sort of extra workouts with those runs sprinkled in.  Since I've yet to actually put this method to the final test, I can't say it will work for you either, so, unless you're looking for the lazy man's plan, I wouldn't take this to heart until I can prove it's worth in January.  After January though, if I do manage to hit that sub-4 marathon, I'm taking this plan to the bank. *patent pending*  Pretty sure this how the internet works, so now that it's official, no stealing.  Bonus points if you know that that is referencing.
Now that you have the inclusive Gibbs marathon training plan, I hope you're excited to check back in a month and see how well it worked out.  I know you are.  The good news here is that I did re-order some Tailwind, and if my Christmas list was taken seriously, I should have another bag on the way, which means I'll be solid for Louisiana and Boston.  I've always been convinced Tailwind worked, but I've never been more convinced than I was today, after not using it for a few months, and then using it again at boxing today. There was a serious upswing in my participation and endurance for the entire class, which is good, because I've been lacking in the push department lately.  Also, my poor little toe still hurts, and though I never saw a doctor about it, I'm pretty sure there's a break or a fracture in there somewhere.  However, it doesn't hurt enough to stop running or working out, and I was getting super bored not being able to do anything anyways, so I figure if it really starts to hurt again, I'll throw some tape back on it.  Because that's how I roll, and it's easier than actually doing anything about it.
Aside from all that, even though this week has been totally crazy, it's one of those weeks where I've simultaneously felt like an awesome teacher and an awful one.  Awesome because I just corrected the tests from the multiplication unit we just did in 4th grade and all the kids really rocked it.  They showed their work for every problem, they were using the BUS method, and the open responses were set up accurately.  It was a moment of YASSS for me.  But, then, it was also awful, because we had to cut half of the basketball team.  There's a couple of us coaching the 4th and 5th grade boys basketball team this year, and I guess we're real popular, because we had 38 boys sign up.  Yup. Apparently that's way too many, which I should have known, but knowing next to nothing about basketball, didn't really occur to me.  So in the end, the three of us got together and decided that the best thing to do was to cut some of the 4th grade boys.  The 5th grade boys get their spots automatically because it's their last year at the school, but the 4th graders had to go, unfortunately.  And if you think being a teacher is hard, try being a teacher who also has to tell 18 ten-year-olds that they can't play on the basketball team this year.  Because no matter where you teach, no matter how tough your students act, when it comes to something like this, suddenly they're all just 10 years old and crying in the hallway.  Oh, and how to handle that type of a situation is definitely not taught in any class you're going to take, so if you plan on being a teacher, you better be prepared to face that eventually.
 From experience, I've taught in all levels, whether as a sub, teacher, or coach, and there is ALWAYS tears.  And yes, this is an inner-city school, these aren't coddled little boys who are used to having everything they want in life.  They're tough kids, who understand and are somewhat used to disappointment, which made it even harder. I suppose I had another awesome moment yesterday though, when a third grader was super upset that he failed his eye test for the second year in a row.  So I showed him my contacts and talked to him about how I had glasses and had to wear them or the contacts every day.  He came back today and told me that I made him feel better about glasses after I showed him my contacts, so he went home and told him mom he needed them, and now he's going to get them next week.  Actually, these two paragraphs are a great example of real world teaching experience.  If you want to be a teacher and really understand what it's like on a daily basis, look no further.  This is it.  A series of events in which you feel awesome, awful, terrible, loved, and hated, sometimes all at once, and all in a 6 hour time block.  Throw in a 20 second bathroom break and you've got teaching. Of course, then you continue to worry about the kids long after they've left the school, and the feelings keep rolling in when you're correcting homework, classwork, or tests, and the scores are either amazing or terrible.
We did also have a nice visit from the Greyhound Friends Organization, which is out in Hopkinton, MA.  The third grade just wrapped up a unit on helper animals, and the Greyhound Friends came out with their dogs so the children could see and learn about them.  This is the second year they've done it, and it is awesome.  There's nothing cooler than dogs in school and the kids loved learning about the dogs and being able to meet and pet them.  If you ever need an assembly, I definitely recommend getting in touch with these people.
So that's everything from the past two weeks, I suppose.  Global warming, which obviously doesn't exist, has kept the temperatures around here in the 50s for a while, so that's real great.  Definitely doesn't feel like Christmas with this weather hanging around.  But it's great for running, so while I'm not a fan of the reason for the weather, or the lack of Christmas-y feelings, I do enjoy the extra time to run outside.
And now please enjoy some pictures of the Greyhounds and anything else I may find interesting at the moment.

A manual collator.  The best invention you didn't know you needed. 

Oh right, Google sent these awesome kits as a holiday gift for using ProjectFi.  It's a basic pack of Legos with instructions for how to make a phone stand or a cable organizer.  I went with the phone stand and I really do love it.  Plus they sent an extra power cable, since the Nexus uses the USB Type-C, which isn't commonly found yet.  Yet another reason to love Google. They're always thinking ahead.  What other company would send a second charger to every customer just to make their life a little easier? Thanks Google. 

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here

  I mean, sure, it's like, 60 degrees out, there's barely any lights around the neighborhood, and our tree is a little bit of a reject, but still, it's Christmastime.  That means it's almost Christmas vacation, which means it's almost time for the 20 miler.  Because what better use of vacation time than to run 20 miles.  There's not much else happening in the running world right now, but I do need to order more Tailwind stat.  Unrelated to anything happening here, I'm watching last weeks Saturday Night Live and I really have to say, Ryan Gosling is not a great live actor.  He's funny enough, but he can't keep it together very well.  But, more than I could do, so way to go you.  Plus, I suppose if you look like Ryan Gosling, you don't necessarily need to be good at what you're doing, you just have to look it.
Back to running now, I took a week off because I thought I had a broken toe.  Upon further review, it may have just been super bruised, but I don't really know.  It hurt for a while and was all purple but now it's just kind of red and doesn't hurt anymore.  So, back to running like nothing happened on that front.  I ran 5 today at an 8:04 pace and no water.  I clearly made a judgement error on that one, but it worked out fine.  I'd also like to take a moment to note how hard it is to keep a sentence flowing with Weekend Update on in the background.
Let's see, so aside from running, I've been sort of feeling a little bored of my workouts.  Here's the thing.  I'm Facebook friends with a lot of people that go to the boxing club and I constantly see updates about how hard the workout was.  Yet, I don't really feel like the workouts are that hard whenever I'm there.  Maybe it's because the workouts have to be beginner ready and I'm really past that stage.  Or maybe it's because I've spent so much time running that the short, hour long classes, just aren't enough.  Whatever the reason is, I figured that I needed to get some answers/results.  Doing what any good athlete would do, I went to the trainers and asked what I should be doing differently to get better results.  Smart move, really.  This was my answer: Climb the rope 3 times, run a fast mile before class, and add push-ups to the mountain climbers.  So, like any good athlete, I did that.  The rope climb was definitely the hardest, but I made it up.  Turns out that wasn't enough though.  Instead of doing a first round, I got bombarded by trainers and was told to do push-ups for 3 minutes instead of doing the actual round.  That was a lot of fun.  Until I couldn't do push-ups anymore and then still had to do them during the mountain climber active rest later in the class.  Today, after I ran 5 miles I was going to do uphill/sprint repeats on the treadmill.  Unfortunately, both treadmills were being utilized during the time I had, so I was instructed to do the row machine for 5 minutes instead.  Way harder than I thought it was.  Seriously, have you ever used a rowing machine and tried to keep it in the 2:00/500m range for 5 minutes? I have no idea what that means, but it was super hard.  I actually never got it down to 2:00, but I managed to hold it steady at 2:30, so I figured that was close enough.  Then I did a mile of uphills and was basically dead, so I wrapped it up and left.  But, I have to say, after all that, it was definitely worth it.  I actually feel like I did something again.  My legs are little tight, my arms are sore, and I have a giant blister on my left palm. A perfect ending.
In case you're wondering, I haven't run any new races lately, and probably won't run any before Louisiana, so you'll just have to put up with my mess of poorly flowing paragraphs and not very informative running information until then.  I'm sure I'll have a great update after Louisiana but sadly, probably not 26 selfies this time.  Don't be too disappointed, I just really want to get in under that 4:00 mark, and I don't think the selfies helped.  While you're waiting patiently for new running information though, enjoy some pictures from Winter Wonderland, the school's winter open house that held last night. It was a big hit.  And of course, I'm still taking donations for Morty.  As always, click here to donate

I was recruited to draw a Christmas theme at the Saugus Title.  For those of you reading this from out of state, or even out of the North Shore, there used to be a mini-golf course right down the street on Rt 1 that had a giant orange dinosaur visible to people driving by.  The orange dinosaur is well known around these parts, so if you're from here, it's kind of funny. If you're not, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense.  Don't worry, my January board will be better, if I'm still allowed to do it!

Got myself the Harry Potter coloring book and I love it.  Plus I made that little canvas, just because

Last weekend while I was babysitting I had to come up with a creative way to move the Elf on the Shelf.  Since the little girl I was watching wrote a letter to Santa, I made the elf a mail-box out of an empty Kleenex box. Of course I had to decorate the box to make it more Christmas friendly.

Boxing selfie with the other Ali and Brian.  

Santaaaaaa!

I feel like through this picture, you can really tell how well squats work. 

Our little Christmas tree.  The Nexus really does take good pictures for a phone.

November 30 - The Locked Out Edition

I locked myself and the dogs out of the house tonight.  Yup.  I don't really know how, I swear I checked the door before we left for a walk, and yet when we returned, boom, locked out.  Of course we have a spare key, but wouldn't you know it, that was in the house.  Great place for it huh?  Luckily my mom is the best and drove out here with her key to unlock the door.  Otherwise we'd be some frozen pup-sicles.  After that, I went to Target and bought a bunch of stuff for our Boy's Raffle Basket.  Maybe a little bit too much stuff, but I just couldn't help it.  I kept finding things that I thought the boys would like, and probably would never get on their own.  Hopefully whoever wins the basket has a sibling to share with! While at Target I also bought another nutcracker, because I love them, and the white fudge covered Oreos, because they're the best ever.  Yesterday I made a real fancy Christmas decoration, which I really like.  I really need to get more decorations though, because I feel like we're really lacking in that department.  Right now we just have a bunch of mixed up pieces, old and new.  I'd like to get everything more together though, some bigger pieces to decorate the empty rooms.  Let's see....I also ordered the Harry Potter adult coloring book, signed up for the Louisiana Marathon, and bought a few Christmas presents for the family.  Seems like a productive weekend, even though it doesn't really feel like it.  Is anyone watching Charlie Brown Christmas right now?  I'm not a fan of the second version, none of the character voices are the same and Sally is real annoying.  However, Charlie Brown is drawn a lot cuter in this version, so I like that part.  I like adorable Charlie Brown better than old Charlie Brown.  In fact, if you've ever read the original Charlie Brown comic strips, he starts out as a real young kid, and he's super adorable.  I used to have a whole book of them somewhere, I'd love to find that again. It's probably long gone by now, but it might still be at my mom's house.
Alright, so there's nothing in here about running, but don't worry, I'm still on it.  I ran 15.5 on Wednesday and 7 on Sunday.  I definitely need to do more, but I'm not sure I'm going to have the time this week.  Looks like I might have to bring back the Saturday run.  Not my favorite, but sometimes you have to do things you don't want too. After my 15 miles I also climbed the rope at boxing.  Maybe not a big thing, but considering I've never done a rope climb before and managed to master it in just under 5 minutes is pretty good, I think.  Ok, now that I've covered all that, here's a few pictures of the Christmas decorations. Enjoy.

Locked out! :(

Beaching in November....she loves it there

Oooh the top of the hill.  Mid-15 mile run

Boom...climbed that rope all the way to the top.  It's all in the leg swoop

And of course a pie

My medal holder is getting too full!

Told the 2nd grade that boy turkeys were called Toms.  Later, got this picture from a 2nd grader. He really took the Tom thing and ran with it.

Test Turkey

I don't know about you, but around here we have to make a test turkey before we make our actual turkey for other people. After all, new house, new oven, you never know how it's going to turn out.  Overall it wasn't bad, but either the thermometer was broken or the pan made the turkey cook real uneven, but whatever it was, I'd say about half of the turkey was still pink.  Not raw, but not a color I'd want to serve people. So for anyone coming over on Thursday, you're welcome for getting this figured out now. By Thursday the turkey should be good to go.  Of course, we still need to buy another turkey, but that's not the point.  Actually, I still need to go buy all the side dishes too, so I'm definitely prepared for this....

I am excited for a long weekend because there's a chance I can get in a long run without having work get in the way.  You know how it is when all you want to do is run but you have to do real life stuff instead, like go to work and be a functioning adult.  Tough days, real tough.  I've been thinking about ways to improve my running, as I always am, and have come up with a few ideas. First, a weighted vest.  My thought is that I will have to work harder to run with that on, so once it comes off, running faster will be easier.  Any experiences in this I'd love to hear, because "I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey Belcher who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron."  Second, I think it might be time to switch over to a hydration belt or backpack.  I've been running holding a 24 oz water bottle for about two years now and I'm really starting to notice that my arm is getting cramped up in the bicep area on my longer runs. Yea, I know, I'm sure there's another reason besides just the water bottle, but I think switching over would alleviate some of that.  Again, I could be way off, so if you've made the switch, let me know how it went.  Third, and it doesn't really have to do with improving running so much as it is something I want.  There's an awesome jacket out there made by Craft that I'm coveting.  It's beautiful and looks great for winter running. But it's $129.  Between the shoes that I use, the Tailwind that I need to reorder, and the cost of the races, I just can't convince myself to spend that much on another running jacket.  Even if it comes with attached gloves. If you're interested in checking it out though, here's a picture and a link to the women's jacket.

http://shop.craftsports.us/weather-jersey-w.html


Speaking of races, I'm still waiting to hear who the Louisiana Marathon is giving away their free entry too.  Do I think it's going to be me? No.  Do I hope it is? You bet.  If it's not, I'll be signed up by the end of the month anyways, but it sure would be nice to have a free entry.  It would make paying for Boston in a few months seem less harsh.  And while we're on the topic of Boston, my team for my main man Morty is still taking donations.  I know it's close to the holidays, but if you get your donation in before the new year, it's tax deductible for this years taxes! That's bonus that I know everyone wants. Plus, Morty's birthday is this week, and what better gift to give a child than a donation to a center that has helped him out in so many ways?
You can donate here if you're feeling extra giving this week.
 Donate to Allison Gibbs Michael's Miracles Boston Marathon Team

There are so many other things I wanted to talk about here, but I've decided not to go down that road today.  The whole thing with the Syrian refugees is clearly a major topic, but I have no interest in getting readers to this blog just because I dropped a hot ticket key word, or because people want to argue and tell me why I'm wrong about my thoughts and feelings on the situation.  So, if you're wondering why that hasn't come up, there you go. The most I will say is that I've never felt better about voting Seth Moulton into office than I did this past week.
For those of you who may not know it, the Philadelphia Marathon was today.  While I did not run it, my awesome crew of running partners did and they all did a great job. Huge shout out to Jenna, who finished in 3:59, and to Cynthia, Murdock, and Tracy, who ran their best and finished the marathon strong, like I knew they would. Maybe someday we'll all run together again, if we can ever all get on the same page for the same marathon! I'd love it if they all came to Chicago next year, but maybe we should start looking at NYC instead, since it's closer.  I'm pretty sure you're up to date on my entire life now, so it's time to end this with a beautiful selfie I took at the end of my 9 mile run on Friday.  It was 60 degrees, in November, I couldn't pass up a beach run with that kind of weather.

Side bar: I want a pair of wireless headphones so I took to Amazon to read some reviews.  Who are all these people who get products at a discounted rate in exchange for a review and why can't I get in on that? I'll review anything if you're going to send it to me fo' free.  Or at least fo' cheap.  Of course, it might be sentences like that which explain exactly why I'm not one of those people, but I promise to use proper grammar in the review.  I am a teacher after all, and I only say that type of stuff in jest on here. 

Veteran's day means extra hard work

You know, I figured since the veteran's did hard work every day while they were deployed, I could do an extra set of sprints today during my run.  Sure it's 100% not the same, but whatever gets you through the run right?  I won't lie, those sprints were tough too.  Mostly due to the fact that the side rails on the treadmill I was using were broken, so instead of hoping off to slow the tread down, I had to use my arms to pull myself up and hang there until it slowed down enough for me to jump back on without flying off.  The last round of sprints my arms almost didn't support my weight and it could have ended poorly, but I managed to throw myself forward instead of falling backwards, which balanced out the weight enough.  After that though, I did give up, because I didn't want to end up dead or smashed up by the concrete wall behind me.  Also, terrible idea, putting a treadmill in front of a concrete wall, get that worked out!
That's all I did in terms of working out today.  Then after that I took my cousin out to breakfast, since it's been a few months since I've seen him and since he's a veteran and I felt like he deserved it.  My veteran brother was also supposed to join us, but he chose sleep instead.  RUDE.  We were also going to take my veteran grandfather out for dinner tonight, but that fell through.  You like how I worked that into this huh?  I never really thought much about it before, but it's interesting thinking about the fact that we've had family in all the branches of the armed forces.  My grandfather was in the Navy in WWII, fought in some of the biggest battles in Europe, but not D-Day. He was also a lightweight boxer, had 5 matches before hanging up the gloves after a KO in Algiers.  I like to think I picked up my skills from him.  They called him Spider because he moved like a spider.  They might still call him that, I don't actually know. But anyways, my cousin was in the Army and fought in Afghanistan and my brother was a Marine and fought in Afghanistan.  All my grandfather's brothers and sisters were in the armed forces too, during WWII, so I'm pretty sure my family has covered every branch at this point. Not sure about the Air Force, but everything else is covered.  Of course, I have zero pictures from my grandfather's Navy experience, because he still has them at his place, but I do have the pair of wooden shoes that he got in Belgium when he escorted Harry Truman over to the Potsdam Conference.  So, that's cool.  
And now for something completely different...
As you know, I'm all about selling my creative ideas, even though I never actually sell any of them.  My newest one is selling educational anchor charts.  If there was a market for such a thing, I'd have that on lock.  Imagine being able to buy a poster for $5 instead of trying to make one on your own.  Yea, teacher friends, you know what I'm talking about.  Sure, it's nice to make your own, but let's be honest, who has time during the week, and who really wants to do it on the weekends?  Well, except for people like me, who actually have a dedicated drawing area.  So, that's my new plan.  Buy my posters.  Thanks.

Enjoy some pictures now

These are the Belgium shoes, with a locket of my grandparents when they were children.

And a math anchor chart to explain the area model to 4th grade.

Possibly the most important question you'll answer today

We're going to be in Baton Rouge the weekend of the Louisiana marathon.  Do I sign up and run it, aiming to break 4 hours, or do I sideline it and only focus on Boston?  Both options seem good. I'd like to run it because I'm almost 100% positive I could break the 4 hour mark and I really like the medals this year.  On the other hand, it's close enough to Boston that if something happens, it could easily put me out for enough time that I wouldn't be able to run.  Plus, it costs money, something I don't like spending if I don't have to.  As you can see, it's a real dilemma.  So many good reasons and yet, so many reasons not to run.  Clearly I've gone around in circles thinking about this and have come up with no good answer, so I'm throwing it out there to the people of the internet.  To be clear, if an entry was sent my way, free of charge, I'd be on board no problem.  Who turns down a free race entry?  No one in their sane mind, I hope.  But, since I've yet to have any sponsorship or free race bib offers, I guess I'm stuck doing this the old fashioned way, which is asking a bunch of different people their opinion and then deciding which one I like the best.

In other running news, I ran 10 miles on Sunday with the old training crew.  Their all going to Philly next weekend, but I just couldn't bring myself to sign up for that.  I have no good reason to run Philly again, since I didn't love it the first time around. I'm sure they're all going to have a great time though, and I'll be a little jealous that they're running without me, but that's ok.  I have a feeling that even if I did run, it would end up like Newport, and I don't want anymore of those times under my name.  Ya, I know, that's a silly thing to say, but it's been said, so I can't take it back now.

Tomorrow I'll probably get in a few miles since I have the day off.  Veteran's day and all that, you know how it goes. Remember to high five any veterans you see too.  They really like that way better than people saying thank you.  At least, they do on the race courses, so I assume that carries over into every day life.  After all, who doesn't love a good high five?

That's my basic recap of November so far.  I'm not signed up for any Thanksgiving runs, even though there's plenty of them around. We have people coming over for dinner, so it seemed like it wouldn't be a good idea to try and run before getting everything ready to go.  If I'm really feeling it, I'll run the 3 miles around my neighborhood and save myself the drive time of getting to and from the races in Salem and Lynn.

And now, a selfie from the end of my 10 miles on Sunday.  Chilly, but nice.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, it's the first of the month

And I swear in 10 seconds I'm going to go make my math posters, which is what I came up here to do.  But first, an update! Nothing to do with running, since I haven't done any of that all week. I have either a) a cold or b) allergies, but whatever it is, it's preventing me from running properly, because my lungs/nose are all clogged up.  Apparently every time I long run now, I'm going to have to take a week off due to clogged airways.  It's really going to make my training so much better.  I guess it could help with lung capacity, so that's something to think about.  Since I have no running info for you, I thought I'd share my Halloween instead.  If you're super pumped to hear about how exciting it was, I hate to let you down, because it wasn't anything fancy.  We handed out candy for two hours on our front porch listening to Halloween tunes.  It was fun, but it wasn't a wild party.  I did upgrade my skeleton costume from last year.  This year I added skeleton feet shoes and a mask.  At first I was just going to go mask-less and face paint free, but then I found a plain white masquerade mask in our Halloween bins.  Since I had it, I figured I might as well add to it and make it a full on skull mask.  All in all, I think it came out fantastic.  It was super easy to make too.  I cut out a top half of a skull, taped that to the top of the eye holes, and then cut out a lower half.  It was a little tricky to get the teeth and the mandible right, but I managed to pull it off.  I taped that part to the bottom of the eye holes, colored in some excess areas black, and added some cracks.  Boom. Instant mask.  The top and bottom probably should have been glued on, but I was in a time crunch since I decided this super last minute, at 4 p.m. yesterday.  Aside from that, today we raked up all the leaves in the yard, filled seven lawn waste bags, and died a little bit because the trees still look like they have the majority of their leaves.  Then I went to Michael's on my way to the grocery store and found out that Fall decor was 80% off.  I bought a few items because I realized that our house is lacking in the Thanksgiving aspect of decorations.  We have tons of Halloween and Christmas, but for the month of November, we're really boring.  So I bought some things to make a wreath.  That's basically it for this weeks exciting adventures.  One more thing, I can't remember if I shared this already or not, on Tuesday Title Boxing Saugus was looking for a new design for their blank chalkboard wall, so I went over and drew a boxing Mickey.  It came out real nice, considering it was the first time I ever really worked with chalk, especially on a large scale.  Alright, that really is all for now, check out the pictures to see the mask, wreath, and boxing Mickey!

Full costume - all hand-painted!

Fall wreath

Hit it Hard

Unfinished Business

Sorry, I don't really have any, but Casper is on in the background and I was at a loss for a title for this post anyways.  Basically I'm just keeping you updated.  This weekend is the Devil's Chase 6.66 in Salem, which I did last year.  It was a lot of fun, but the race is on Saturday morning, yes, Halloween, in Salem, so there's pretty much no way you're getting me there.  Unless you have a free bib to give away, in which case, see you bright and early Saturday! I did like their medals last year though, so if anyone is running, you'll have a good time and the bling is worth it.
I also have a few friends who are running Philly and I actually spent a few minutes debating whether or not I wanted to sign up too.  Then I remembered that I hated the out and back and that I don't want to drive to Philly for a weekend.  So, again, unless someone's giving away a free bib, that's out too.
As of right now, we're going to Louisiana the weekend of the marathon, but I'm not signed up for that either.  Basically this is just a post about all the runs I'm not signed up for.  I'd like to run Baton Rouge again for two reasons.  1. It was flat and fast, so if I have a chance of breaking 4 hours, it's here.  2. The medals this year are fabulous and I really want one.  Of course that's not until January, so who knows, maybe I'll end up running it after all.
Last bit of info for today, I realize that a lot of you may not be aware that I'm posting the link to my fundraiser page within my posts.  I've been labeling the link as a word or a phrase, so in case you're having trouble finding it, I'm posting it right now as a straight up link.  Cccchhhheck, ccccchhheck it out. Fundraising Websites - Crowdrise

The road to redemption

After a nice two week break, I ran the Newburyport GreenStrides Half marathon today. Similar name, definitely not a similar experience to Newport.  In fact, so different that I almost titled this post, SUCK IT NEWPORT.  But, that wouldn't be very adult of me, now would it? So I opted for a more mature title, even if I am still thinking the other in my head.  Actually, I thought that a lot on my last few miles this morning.  Because it turns out, it wasn't the hills or the weather, it was just a bad day last time.  Finishing this half in 1:49 has given me a good sense of redemption and I feel better about the whole running career thing again.  Don't you worry, I'll stick in my official results and my Garmin map so you can see my pace, which matches up in the splits to be a lot more consistent than it looks on the map.  Seriously, if I went by the graph, it looks like my pace and heart-rate were doing their own thing but it didn't seem like that.  I'd also like to take a moment to point out that someone told me recently that 176 BPM is not a sustainable heart rate for a long distance run. To that person, I'd like to point out that you were wrong.  It may not be the BEST choice for a heart rate, but it was sustainable.
There are a couple of things I would like to say about this race.  Number one, the porta-potty situation has got to get under control.  Sure, I used them when the lines were short, but by now you would think that there would be an endless row of potties for the amount of people that are expected to show up.  I'm fairly certain that most of the people in the lines did not make it to the race start on time.  Number two, this course was a lot better than I remember it being.  Last time I ran it, we were a week out from doing MCM and I wasn't aiming for a PR or anything.  I do remember not loving the course though, and thinking that there were more hills than necessary.  This time around it didn't seem nearly as hilly and honestly, the miles flew by.  There were crowds in helpful places too.  The worst part was the finish.  This didn't change from 2013.  You come around a bend and suddenly you're on a wooden walkway, surrounded by cheering people on both sides. Lovely and inspiring, but tight if you're trying to beat it to the finish line.  Nearly impossible to pass, even though I managed it.  Sure, I smashed into someone's elbow, but when you're trying to get across that line before the clock hits 1:50, anything goes.  (Sorry unknown lady, hope your elbow was ok.)  So, I wish they would have a wider finish area.  I was in a pretty good clump of people, so there was a bit of a bottleneck effect going on, which is not ideal when you just want to be done.  I'm definitely going to have to go back to 2013 and read my original thoughts on this race now, but I really did enjoy the run.  Oh and I got my free slice of pizza afterwards, so that's a double win.  We also watched an adorable proposal at the finish.  The girl came around the bend with her friend and the boyfriend was waiting just in front of the line.  He proposed, she said yes, he carried her across the finish line, the friend puked 3 times, it was really romantic.  Ok, maybe not for the friend, but at least it's a story she'll never forget.  I'm probably going to have to get another new pair of Hoka's soon, but I suppose that's the price you have to pay for wanting to run Boston.  Plus, the shoes are totally worth the money as far as impact absorption goes.  As far as running goes, that's about it for now, nothing else new to report.  I'm working on that fundraising, so keep on DONATING if you're feeling generous. To all the Gibbs' and other family members that have already donated, thank you so much!
And now, pictures and my map

Official time. 

Best race swag this year

And my after run lunch.  Sure, I probably should start eating breakfast BEFORE the runs, but this worked too.

An Invisible Red Thread

If you're not already familiar with that phrase, let me enlighten you.  There's an ancient Chinese proverb that states "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance.  The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."  Now, this was originally meant to be a way to explain soulmates, but times change and so do meanings.  I've read this quote before and I've really come to appreciate it as a way of thinking about why the people I've met are in my life.  It's kind of nice thinking that you would have met these people, no matter what, because you were destined to meet.  Of course there are people that, like you, I'd rather not have met, but I still like to apply the red thread concept to them.  I suppose it's my way of making sense out of a seemingly random act of life.
As you know by now, I'll be running Boston next year for Michael's Miracle Team, to support the respite center that Morty attended.  Coincidentally, the team color was red last year.  So, again, looking for logic in random places, I've come up with my Red Thread Campaign, to connect the proverb and my fundraising.  You see, I'm sure there was a reason for meeting Morty and his family years ago, and I highly doubt that reason was just so I could run Boston in 2016.  But, it could be to spread the word about a wonderful center in Hopkinton that does so much for the families who need it, and asks for so little in return.  Here's the bottom line.  From now on, should you make a donation, in return, I will send you a red paracord bracelet.  This bracelet will come with a tag that has the proverb on one side, and Morty's story on the other side.  I may even branch out and ask families if I can share their loved one's stories on the bracelet tags. So, when you're donating, you're not only helping a great place, you're connecting yourself to someone you wouldn't have otherwise been connected with.  A red thread.  Bonus offer: If you donate more than $25, I will put your name or a name of your request, on the back of my marathon shirt for the day of the race.  I'm going to try and get donation jars out this week at a couple of local businesses as well, and supply them with a handful of red bracelets to be distributed to anyone who drops money in the jar.  If you're curious as to what the bracelet looks like, I've provided a picture below.  As always, if you want to donate, CLICK HERE

Some dreams keep on gettin' better, gotta keep believin' if you wanna know for sure

I ran Newport on Sunday and it didn't go the way I wanted it to at all.  My final time was 5:01.  I know, I talked a big game and I think I built myself up to believe that I was unstoppable.  Hubris man, it gets you every time.  But, after a good day of wallowing and a nice round of punching it out, I'm moving on.  As Ryan so kindly put it, did Tom Brady quit when he lost the Superbowl in 2008? No, he went back out there next year and worked harder.  Once again, Ryan comes through with the support and logic that I need.  Really, my life would be a lot worse if there was no Ryan.  (Ya, I know, barf, whatever, he deserves recognition.)

So, Newport's over and now it's on to Boston.  Of course my fundraiser is still waiting for a lovely person like yourself to drop a few dollars in, so you can head on over to that at any point if you're feeling generous.  Just CLICK HERE TO DONATE! Don't worry, all your money goes to that fantastic charity and I promise to work hard on every mile, in recognition of everyone that donates and supports the cause.

Now, since I'm using this blog as a way to bring in donations, I'm going to have to update a bit more often.  I"m sure anyone who donates will definitely want to follow my training plans and track my run when the big day finally comes.  Of course, the training is still a few months away, so in the meantime, I'll try to keep you entertained with ways I'm fundraising and events/activities I'm doing in between.  For example, yesterday I bought a new Garmin, one with a heart rate monitor, and I'm super pumped to try it out.  Sure, it's just a running watch but I think it will help me understand my pacing a bit better.  I've never tracked my heart rate before, so I might actually learn a thing or two about it now.  Another piece of equipment I'm still debating is an elevation mask. If anyone out there is wondering what to get me for my birthday *ahem, family members* I'd be happy to have one of those bad boys.  Pretty sure you can get it on amazon.  Probably a small.
Moving right along though, I don't know if those actually help, but I do feel like my lungs have a harder time keeping up than my legs.   So, if I can increase my lung capacity, I might be able to run further faster.

Now, before I end this post, I would be remiss if I didn't throw out a thank you to the other people who pushed me through my rough patch of being mad at myself for not running a better marathon.  It's surprising how many people have come to recognize me at Title as the girl who runs, even if we don't know each other's names.  Of course the trainers are always willing to give an encouraging word, but it's nice to know that the other members offer that same support.  This is the reason I still go to Title, and it's the main reason you should join one near you.  I doubt you'd find another gym where the trainers and members get to know you and can offer you advice but not placate you and try to tell you what you want to hear, instead of what you need to hear.  Title is the Batman of working out. That's the easiest way to put that statement.  So, that's it, and please enjoy these pictures of Newport.

Pre-race sunrise

A whole glorious row of empty porta-potties

Start

This is the guy I ran with for the first half(ish).  I was doing great until mile 11, then I jumped out to talk to Holly and never got back into my groove

I'm still not sure how I feel about this medal.