I did it!!!!!!!!!

Today was the big day.  15K.  9 Miles.  I was really anxious when I woke up this morning.  Looking back, it all seems ridiculous now, but at the time I was worried about so many different things. I was afraid I wasn't ready, that I wouldn't be able to make it all 9 miles, that I would be dead last, that my knee would be killing me the whole time, that I would end up puking in the middle of the run, and lots of other silly fears.  When I got there in checked in, I was still pretty nervous.  After all, most of the people that were there looked like pretty serious runners.  I'm talking Boston Marathon jackets galore, people running laps PRIOR to the race....you know, all that stuff that I don't do.  

The race started from Briarcliff and looped up around 128.  That means nothing to you if you don't know the area, but I'm putting it in anyways.  (Don't worry, there'll be a map picture at the end.)  Funny thing though.  Once I actually started running, I forgot what I was worried about.  Suddenly, I was just running and it was lovely.  I was even surprised when I passed the 1 mile mark because it seemed like such a short distance.  Everything was going well though I had a small hiccup in the 2nd mile where my Google Music shut down.  I almost lost it then because I was afraid I was going to have to run the rest of the race with no music.  Luckily, if there's one thing I've learned from Hitchhiker's Guide it's DON'T PANIC!  I managed to pull my phone out and force stop the app and then restart it.  Once I did that, the music worked fine the rest of the run.  Let me tell you though, it is NOT easy to try to shut down an app on a touch screen while running.  But, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.  I'm so glad it worked though, because I'm pretty sure the music was the reason I got through miles 8 and 9.  Specifically, Jay-Z with Linkin Park, Johnny Cash, and Queen go me through those last miles.  You know, in case you were wondering.

Somewhere around the 3rd mile there was a water stop, which really helped revive me.  Plus, someone gave us a tip about eating Skittles or jelly beans as a fast metabolizing form of energy halfway through the run.  When I got to the 3rd mile I popped 2 Skittles, and then again at the 5th.  I'm fairly confident these are what kept me going the rest of the race. They definitely powered me up and over the 3 hills that we had to hit before the turnaround point.  

After the turnaround I really started feeling better actually.  I lost Cynthia on a hill; that is, she ended up about a half minute in front of me for the rest of the race, but by that point, I didn't mind.  At the beginning I was afraid of being left behind, but after the 5th mile, I knew I could make it on my own. I suppose that's the power of mind over matter.  I told myself that I had less to run than I had already run so I could obviously finish.  I don't want to say that the last 4 miles were a breeze, but they were a lot easier than I expected them to be, especially the 9th.  The weather wasn't fantastic, it was somewhere around 30 with a lightly falling snow, but I actually enjoyed it.  Well, except when the snow was hitting me in the eyes and I couldn't see. 

You may be wondering how my knee held up for all of this as well.  I decided to go the Aleve and KT route again, since it seemed to work well for me last time.  I was totally fine until the 3rd mile (which is pretty general), and then it started to hurt.  I wish I could convey the hurt that I'm talking about, but I don't really have words.  The best I can do is tell you that it feels like someone is sticking a red-hot very large needle into the area on the side of my knee.  Repeatedly.  Since I was only in the 3rd mile, there wasn't much I could do about it except tell myself to suck it up and keep going.  It hurt for a few miles, but after the 6th mile, I stopped feeling it.  It may be that I just didn't focus on it anymore, but it may be that I just outran it.  Who knows.  Either way, it didn't stop me which is what's important.  

At the finish, Ryan was waiting, which made me 100x happier that I had made it.  I'm not a crier, but if there was ever a time when I was going to be, it would've been that.  Seeing Ryan at the finish made me happier than running the entire 9 miles.  The final result was, if I might say so, awesome.  I came in at 1:34. The total length of the course was 9.3 miles. And, in case you're wondering, no I didn't come in dead last, there were some people behind me.  Looks like my next race might just be a half-marathon.  We'll see.  In the meantime, here are some awesome pictures.  Enjoy!

Race course courtesy of Charity Miles.  ASPCA got my miles, which makes me happy because  Nala and Stella were both rescues.

Pre-race: I don't know what I was looking at.  Obviously not the camera.

Action Shot!

Finished! We all came in seconds apart, all at 1:34.  Notice the bulge in the pockets. That's why I wear that jacket.

Ryan met me at the finish.  Thanks love!

Sunday Funday

We're in playoff time now, so that means there's a lot of time spent at home, on the couch, watching the greater teams weed out the lesser teams.  Hopefully the 4:30 game today weeds out the Texans and we can carry on with Baltimore next weekend.   Since there are so many games this weekend, we've done a lot of couch sitting. Luckily the games are in the afternoon/at night, so I haven't been totally lazy.
Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day in Providence.  Ryan got his hair cut at the Gallery Salon, courtesy of Sara Marsh.  If you live in RI and you need a haircut, check her out.  After the cut we went to the farmers market in Pawtucket and got delicious street food. Namely, meat pockets.  I'm not sure what they're actually called, but the name we gave them is pretty self-explanatory.  It's a pastry filled with meat.  Think pasties if you've ever been to England, except that they only contain meat, no extra vegetables or potatoes.  So, all the delicious, none of the health.  Perfect street food!  We also got a giant Whoopie Pie from some dude in a booth who was selling chowder. Personally I wasn't a fan of the Whoopie Pie.  The filling tasted too much like cream cheese and I would prefer it to be a bit sweeter.  Once we left the farmers market we went to the dog park.  There isn't really a dog park so much as a bit of woods that a lot of dogs run around in.  I say it's not a dog park because it's not fenced in and is right next to the street.  I would be concerned taking my dog there considering we almost got run over crossing the street as someone came flying up in their little Prius.  Rude!  It was a nice little loop but it was horribly muddy and wet.  I, for one, was not a happy camper at the end because my socks and feet were soaked.  I was wearing my Climacools, which are not ideal for walking in mud or slush, and had I known that was a part of the outing, I definitely would have worn better footwear.  What can you do though?
When we got home from Providence we still had to walk Nala, so we headed back out to the marsh nearby.  This time I wore the appropriate shoe, so that walk was fine.  I think it was about 2.6 miles total and the weather was nice so that always helps.  This morning, I went for a run with a small group.  We went a  bit further than last Sunday and made it 4.2 miles.  Hopefully next week we'll make it 5, and the week after 6.  I still haven't signed up for the Great Stew Chase, mainly because the site isn't working.  I also want to get a jump on finding out how to train for a marathon, so I can be prepared for Disney next year.  It is still my plan to run that next January. I don't have much else to say about my running, it's basically been going the same except that the weather has been warmer, so it's been nice to be outside. I know that won't last so I'm enjoying it while I can.
The Google Music app is still giving me some trouble, but I did a force stop the other day and I'm hoping maybe that kicked it into gear.  I figure at the very least, it's easier to force stop the app when it stops working than it is to uninstall/install every 2 days.  Below is a picture of the problem I've been having with my Google Music. I'm adding it in case you're having the same problems. If so, I recommend a force stop, probably completely against anything Google would say.

This is what my home screen looks like when my phone is locked and Google music isn't working anymore.  Note that it shows that a song is playing, but it is actually not.  *Disregard H.M. please

When I go into Google music however, this is what I see.  This is the song that SHOULD be playing, but is not.  In fact, the app is not doing anything. Notice how it also shows that this song is playing.  In reality, no songs are playing, making my day just a little bit sadder. 

I'm still waiting on my zip-ups from JOPWorld and I'm getting a bit antsy now.  I know it's an international order and there have been a lot of holidays, but every time I log in and check the order it still says processing.  My card has been charged so I hope the processing just means that they're waiting on a new order to come in.
And now for something completely different....I found some spare time the other night to do something by myself and decided to paint a new picture.  The last time I painted was when we went to the Urban Art Bar and I really wanted to try the techniques I learned there.  I enjoy painting and drawing, but I've never taken an art class, so I basically just wing it and hope for the best. Usually I paint scenery but I wanted to try something new this time.  Previously I had seen a Chinese Proverb about a red thread and I really loved it.  So for my new painting, I decided to use that as the basis for the picture.  I'm fairly happy with the final outcome. Here it is, touched up a bit for brightness, because it was dark in the house and the flash kept leaving a bright spot in the middle of the picture.

Keep in mind that I am, in no way, a professional painter and I definitely can't paint words in a straight line.  Apparently it's harder than it seems!

Running songs

I've been tossing around two ideas to post about today, but I can only pick one.  That way, I have something  to post about later as well. So after much very little debate, I've settled on my running playlist.  As you might have seen earlier my love for Google music basically hinges on the fact that I can store my music there and access it anywhere, including my iPhone, which will be retired later today.  I've been using the same playlists I've had since I got my first iPod in 2004....
That doesn't mean I haven't added more music, I just haven't really changed the playlists.  I keep transferring all my music from one computer to another.  A real pain actually, if your settings are wrong, and the last time I did this, my iPod/tunes went all wonky and now a good portion of my songs have no title, but instead, a jumble of random letters.  But that's not the point, I'm not here to discuss the lesser points of Apple, though I'm sure I could.  Sorry Apple, as you can probably tell, I'm a Google person through and through.
Back to my playlists though.  For the longest time I used my Rockin Songs playlist. Not a bad playlist, but it was made back in 04/05, and it covers a wide variety of music, some not as rockin as others, as it were.  This year I decided to make a new playlist (thanks to Google Music....) that I could use solely for working out/running.  I really like my rockin songs playlist, but it doesn't do to have The Hollies come on in the middle of your run. It's not exactly upbeat.  So I created my workout songs playlist.  Here's a run down of what's on this list, in no particular order.
Accidentally In love - Counting Crows
Holding out for  Hero - Jennifer Saunders
7 Things - Miley Cyrus
99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger
All Star - Smashmouth
All the Small Things - Blink 182
Sk8r Boi - Avril Lavigne
Back in the USSR - The Beatles
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Beer for my Horses - Toby Keith
Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might be Giants
Black Betty - Tom Jones
Blame it - T. Pain/Jamie Foxx
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas
Can't stop this thing we started - Bryan Adams
Can't Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera
Crazy in Love - Beyonce/Jay-Z
December 1963 - Four Seasons
Defying Gravity - Wicked Soundtrack
He Loves You Not  - Dream
Just Lose it - Eminem
Without Me - Eminem
Encore/Curtains Down - Eminem
Everybody - Backstreet Boys
Everything I Do (Punk Cover)
Sugar We're going Down - Fallout Boy
Get Low - Lil Jon etc.
Get Rhythm - Johnny Cash
Gettin Jiggy Wit It - Will Smith
Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) -  C.C. & the Music Factory
Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani
Hit 'em Up Style - Blu Cantrell
I Go to Extremes - Billy Joel
Shipping up To Boston - Dropkick Murphy's
It Ain't me Babe - Johnny Cash/June Carter
It's Five O'clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffet
Encore - Jay-Z/Linkin Park
Livin La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin
Mambo No. 5 - Lou Vega
Men in Black - Will Smith
My Friends Over You - (?)
Ob - la -di, Ob - la- da - The Beatles
Old Blue Jeans - Hannah Montanna
Paradise City - Guns N' Roses
Party in the U.S.A - Miley Cyrus
Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift
Pon De Replay - Rhianna
See You Again - Miley Cyrus
Sexyback - Justin Timberlake
Shake That - Eminem/Nate Dogg
Smack That - Akon/Eminem
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Umbrella - Rhianna/Jay-Z
Under Pressure - David Bowie/Queen
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
Wake Up Call - Maroon 5
Wannabe - Spice Girls
We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
We Got the Party With Us - Hannah Montana
Puke - Eminem
My 1st Single - Eminem

If you read that whole list, I applaud you and beg you not to judge me based on this one playlist.  I chose these songs because they have peppy beats and keep me moving.  I definitely don't make it through this entire playlist, I usually just hit shuffle and go.  However, I am getting quite bored with these songs and I would love to get some new ones on there.  Of course I have my own opinions, but I thought I would take this time to find out what OTHER people have on their playlists.  What gets you up and moving? What song pushes you through just when you think you can't go another step?  Feel free to share, and don't be embarrassed.  After all, it can't be much worse than Hannah Montana can it?