It's not that I don't like kids ....

As I'm writing this, I'm reminded of why I'm not sure if parenting is for me. My alarm clock is set to go off at 4:45 p.m. (crazy night shift worker who sleeps all day remember?) but for the last hour all I've been able to hear is the noise created by school aged children outside my building. Apparently there's a debate of sorts going on, some whining - perhaps a disagreement on how best to disturb the neighbors? Then there's the loud, unrelenting banging - I'm guessing it's feet kicking a piece of metal or perhaps jumping up and down on something?? Now there's the distinctive "indian style" noise made by yelling and patting your mouth with your hand just so.

In this moment, where I wish I were still sleeping, I REALLY don't like children. I understand that they're having a good time - playing after school, doing what kids will do; and I suppose I should be glad that they're not on a computer or watching TV while eating Ding Dongs. I just wish they weren't so loud and that they were FAR FAR away from my window.

Is this the evils of children or just the evils of apartment living??

Next Stop - Denver

I'm halfway through my assignment in Norfolk, VA and my next stop is going to be Denver. I just received a job offer from the University of Colorado Hospital which is down the street from my old office at the CO Dept of Public Health. For some reason, Colorado doesn't pay well in terms of travel contracts but this assignment wasn't too much of a pay cut and I think it's a pretty decent unit.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to Denver and catching up with my friends and maybe making some new ones as well!! The last time I lived in Colorado, I wasn't quite as active so I'm hoping to take advantage of the recreational opportunities this time around. Hopefully there will be some skiing after the first of the year, some snowshoeing, and I've always wanted to try cross country skiing. It's more my style because it doesn't have that "if I hit a tree going this fast I might die" stigma attached to it :)

Now that my time in Virginia is limited, I really need to get out and do some things. I haven't done a lot of touristy stuff because I've been trying to live very cheaply so that I can pay down my bills. I do want to hit some of the local attractions like the Virginia aquarium, the Nauticus maritime center, Chrysler Museum of Art, Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown settlement, as well as spend a few days up in Washington D.C. I think I'll plan my trip to DC late in October, and try to hit some of the local options on my days off over the next few weeks. Look for reports from those sites soon!!

How to prepare for the big race? A look back at training.

Now that my half-marathon is over and I didn't injure and/or completely embarrass myself ... at least I don't think I did??... I thought it would be a good time to evaluate my training plan - what worked and what didn't work.

First of all, though you wouldn't have known it from reading my training logs on beginner triathlete, I did actually have a plan. I was using an amalgamation of Hal Higdon's novice half marathon plan and the Fleet Feet beginner's half mary. Both were 12 weeks in length, with Hal's culminating in a 10 mile long run and the Fleet Feet culminating in a 12 mile run. I knew that with my sketchy running background (I've only been running regularly since mid-February and my most comfortable runs were in the 3 - 4 mile range) I would need some structure. All of this was well and good in theory, but let's face it, I'm not known for following the plan. Anyone who's known me in school knows that no matter how much I plan on writing that paper early, or studying in advance, it just never happens. I'm the quintessential last minute crammer and since it's always worked for me (though caused a fair deal of stress) I've never learned my lesson. I guess a Jenn motto would be, "Why do today what you can put off til tomorrow?" So I suppose my "plan" was doomed from the beginning. Especially when I decided to make a major career change and move to the other side of the country right smack dab in the middle of this plan. I really believe though, that had I followed the plan I would have been looking at a 2:36 half-marathon ... but whatever, I've got my whole life to be faster!!

I did manage to get in some long runs with my longest being 10 miles, actually the long runs were just about all I did. I'd do maybe a 3 or 4 miler and then a long run on the weekend. Definitely not following the plan.

And how about pre-race?? There's the whole idea of tapering because in theory you should be training really super hard and then resting the week before so your body is pumped up to get out there. Of course my whole training period was a taper, and the week before my race???? DIDN'T. RUN. ONCE.

I did however attend a golf outing two days before the race. Golf outing you say? I didn't know Jenn could golf! Well, Jenn can't golf. Despite spending money on lessons with golf pros in the 90's, purchasing a set of clubs in college and torturing my brother and friends by making them take me golfing ... it clearly was never meant to be. I accepted it and moved on. Instead I sat in a golf cart and drank beer. Yes, that's right - two days before my big race and Jenn is loaded on Bud Light on the 13th hole of the golf course in Mt Vernon, IL. And following the golf outing?? Margaritas with a Jimmy Buffet tribute band, followed by a late night session of catch up with an old friend over cabernet and cigars ..... yes, cigars I'm that cool kindof chic.

The day before my race? Dehydrated and slightly hung over, I chose shopping at the Galleria with my Mom and friend Kristin.

So in the end, I pretty much ignored the training plan, abused my body the two days before the race, and really didn't do anything right. But like everything else in my life, the "cramming" seems to work and the universe has yet to bitch slap me for it. Will I ever learn my lesson?? I'm guessing that if at the age of 33 I haven't learned, it's just going to be what it's gonna be.

The Pain and the Agony – Jenn’s First Half Marathon

I survived my first half-marathon. I say my “first” because I have no doubt that there will be others.

Yes, I’ve whined for weeks about not training properly, but I think I had a pretty good race despite that. I ended up with a time of 2 hours 48 minutes which translates to an average pace of 12:52 per mile. I used a walk/run strategy and had my watch set to alarm every 5 minutes to signal my walk break. Originally I was going to do a 1 minute walk break because I used this ratio in my training runs and it seemed to be the best I could do. The morning of the race though, I felt really good (the picture is a "before" shot in the hotel room) right from the beginning so I ran the whole first mile then decided to do 30 second walk breaks til mile 4, then 45 every 5 minutes from then on. Even when the going got tough, I stuck with this ratio and didn’t walk any longer than 45 seconds at any time.

So as far as the actual race report:
I arrived nice and early which is pretty unusual for me (you all know me well!) and then I hooked up with my cousin Travis who was running the full, his wife Micaela who was the designated cheerleader and her Dad Ron who was running his first full. I didn’t warm up – I mean it’s a 13 mile race, I’ll be lucky to have enough energy for that let alone a warm up! I visited the port-a-potty then found the appropriate place to line up which for me was between the 12 and 13 minute mile pace markers. Before the race started, they announced the presence of Dean Karnazes and the North Face Endurance 50 folks. Dean came to the mike and made a little statement about his cause, and let me tell you that guy is pretty hot and his body is amazing!! Shortly thereafter the race started. It took me about 5 minutes to make it to the starting line, and though I had just peed, I already was dying to go again. So I literally ran for two minutes before I came to the port-a-potties on the corner of the parking lot, the same ones I’d used when I got out of my car. I was happy to see that I wasn’t the only person with the same thought – quite a few people stopped. It wasn’t ridiculously large, 3800 people with about 3000 doing the half and 800 doing the full. I paced with a lot of the same people for most of the race and talked to quite a few. My race outfit – a special edition Skirt Sports running skirt and hot pink tank – garnered some attention. I had several compliments on it & women asking where I’d gotten it. My stock response was, “if I’m gonna be slow, I’m gonna be stylin’!” The course started on the road at the Family Arena – an event venue in St Charles then stayed on the road through downtown St Charles. The turn around was at a park and the way back was on the Katy Trail which I had spent a lot of time running on when I lived in Columbia. There were a few supporters on the course, mainly locals sitting in their lawn chairs clapping or holding up a sign on the first half. For most of the way back it was pretty quiet and solitary except for the fellow runners.

I felt totally awesome for the first 8 miles of the run. My heart rate was hanging out in the 150s or low 160s, and my breathing was even. I was in that comfort zone where it felt like I could go on forever. I developed blisters on the bottom of the toes of my right foot by mile 6, but they weren’t hurting – just a bit uncomfortable. From miles 8 – 10, I started to feel it a bit in my legs and I noticed my heart rate was staying up between 167 - 172, but I still felt really strong. At the 10 ½ mile point we were circling by the Arena, a nice man yelled “cold beer here” and I was handed a Pooh bear Dixie sized cup of Bud Light. One of the runners next to me asked if it was really beer, when I told her yes, she was bummed because she thought he was just kidding! Right after the beer, we passed near the finish line which first of all was a HUGE tease, but the crowd was quite large and cheering loudly. Folks were lining the finish chute as well as the trail we were on. My cousin Micaela was holding up a sign for me – she’s the best athletic supporter anywhere! Former sorority life prepares one well for making cute signs on the fly ☺ After seeing her and passing the crowd, it all started to fall apart. From mile 11 onward, each step was getting painful and all I could think about was hitting the finish line. During my walk breaks, I had developed an odd, limping gait, and I had to keep saying to myself, “start running, you can do it.” I was determined to not deviate from my 45 second walk break and I’m proud to say that I didn’t!! At about mile 11 ½, there was a pretty sizeable hill as we climbed the river bank back to the road. My timer did not alarm for a walk break during that point so I slowly and painfully ran up that whole freaking hill! After the hill, I could see the Arena in the distance but there was absolutely no way I could pick up the pace. I was still moving forward, but it was more of a shuffle than a run at that point.. I was almost in tears as I rounded into the parking lot but folks were cheering, one gal motioned to me to “raise the roof,” another yelled to chase down the two runners in front or me, all encouraging and awesome! When I finally hit the finish line and heard the announcer call my name I was so relieved. I really didn’t know what to do because if I stopped, my legs hurt so I kept walking around for about 10 minutes. I said Hi to Micaela then went to redeem the free beer coupon they handed me at the finish line. Odd don’t you think that they give you a free beer and hot dog after completing a road race?? I stretched a little bit and man my hamstrings were tight! Then I went back over to Micaela’s cheering area to wait for Travis. He had completed the first half around 2:10, so we were looking for him after 4 hours. While we were waiting, Dean Karnazes came by for the 21 mile point and it was hilarious to see all of the people running with him. It was just like that scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest has all the runners hanging on his every word. I got a picture as he ran by and Micaela got a shot when he finished about 20 minutes later.

Not too long after Dean finished, Travis came by the arena – he told Micaela that “this sucks” but he still looked strong. I knew we had about 20 minutes or so til Travis finished so I headed over to the North Face expo area where Dean was signing autographs and taking pictures. Luckily there wasn’t much of a line (small race, probably not a ton of people knew about him or had read his book unlike when he’s going to run New York or DC Marine Corps). I shook his hand, told him he was very inspiring and asked him to sign my race number. I told him it was my first half and that I had started running this year and lost 25 pounds, he said “That’s awesome! Congratulations and keep it up!” He personalized the autograph as shown. I did have my camera, but no one with me to snap a picture, besides I loved the idea of my first half mary having his autograph.

After meeting Dean, I went to cheer for the runners as they entered the Arena parking lot heading for the finish line, then cheered for Travis as he came in. It had started to rain lightly by this point, so I said goodbye to Micaela then went to find Trav and say bye to him. He was at the North Face expo area but they had already packed up and were on the bus. Dean came off the bus briefly, and Travis got the chance to meet him and shake his hand and thankfully I was there to snap a picture. Aren’t they both ripped?? Hard to tell the difference, except our family isn’t Greek.

I went back to the hotel just as the clouds opened up and the downpour began. I took a much needed shower then went to lunch with my Mom. I had intended on flying back to Norfolk that evening, but the plane was overweight so they asked for volunteers to stay over the night. I volunteered and was given a $250 flight voucher, a free night at the Airport Hilton and breakfast. Not a bad deal, and honestly the plush hotel bed was much more comfortable than the rented furnishings in my Virginia apartment. Now as I type this, I’m finally boarding a plane back to Virginia and the pain …. Well let’s just say that everything from the waist down hurts!!

Tomorrow's Quest ... 13.1

Despite being ridiculously unprepared, I’m doing the Lewis and Clark half-marathon in St Charles, MO tomorrow. For those unfamiliar with road races, a half-marathon is 13.1 miles and the full mary is 26.2. I have no delusions of being able to “run” it, my plan is to do a run 4 minute/walk 1 minute approach with the hope of pacing somewhere between 12 – 13 minutes per mile. Now had I trained properly and followed my 3 month training plan, I probably would have had a real chance at running the majority of this distance, but all plans fell by the wayside in my move to Virginia. This isn’t an event I’m going to “race,” this is an event I simply want to complete … hopefully upright and without the need for medical attention.

My longest training run was 10 miles and it was an absolutely miserable experience because I had horrible stomach cramps from mile 5 on. I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed that I don’t have any cramps, blisters or other issues that slow me to a crawl.

My cousin Travis is going to be doing the full marathon and a gal who worked with me when she was a nursing student, Michelle, is also doing the half. The race is sold out so hopefully it will be a fun day. I’m also hoping to get a chance to see Dean Karnazes who’s starting the Endurance 50 challenge that day. They’re going to have a booth set up and he’s going to make himself available for autographs and such. If you like biographies, his book Ultramarathon Man is a good read.

So hopefully I’ll make it and there will be a victory posting soon.

What's your 9/11 story?

I was actually on the last day of vacation with my extended family on 9/11/01 as the events unfolded. We had all gathered in Branson, MO to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary and were staying in a large condo on Table Rock Lake. We were checking out of the condo the morning of the 11th and I was flying back to Denver later in the afternoon from Springfield, IL and supposed to be in my office the next morning. As I can best recall, my brother or someone came in and told us to turn on the TV because something had happened in New York. We were watching the Today show as they were trying to figure out what had happened, and how on earth a plane could have crashed into the building, and were continuing to watch as the second plane hit - live - on the air. I remember there was a lot of confusion at first because the cameras had been focusing on the currently burning tower, so there wasn't the angle showing the plane heading in. It was more like - boom - a sudden explosion and it took a few minutes for the different footage clearly showing the plane veering towards the building to come in. At that moment it became clear that this was no accident, and the shock to the newscasters as this was all happening live was palpable. Shortly thereafter, I jumped in the shower and in the middle my Mom came in and told me that there had been an explosion at the Pentagon. I remember at this point in time wondering where the day was going to lead? Was this the beginning of something? We all set off to our respective homes - I was driving with my Mom and brother back to Springfield, IL and we were listening to the news coverage on the radio when the first tower fell. I don't think it had set in that it was gone until we saw the tv footage in the lobby of the resort as we were settling the bill. Then in the car on the way home, the second tower fell - the plane crashed in Pennsylvania all as we were listening intently on the radio.

My brother, who is in the courier business, was on the phone most of the drive home trying to assess the impact on his operations given that all aircraft had been grounded at this time and he had shipments in route. I called my office and not only was I clearly not going to be in Colorado by the next day, my boss was stuck in Chicago and desperately trying to either get a train or rent a car to make it back. At the time, we had no idea as to how long the airlines would be shut down. When we made it back to Illinois, we were at my Mom's glued to the tv watching the non-stop coverage and flipping between all the news channels.

The next day, there was this air of "what just happened?" and commercial air traffic was still grounded. My Mom went to work and I was stuck in Springfield indefinitely and a little stressed out about it because I had no more vacation time at that point and wasn't sure what the ramifications of that would be when I finally made it back. Also, I had left the dogs with a friend in Denver so I didn't have my normal companions with me. I ended up calling a local day spa and going in for a manicure and pedicure to take the edge off and get away from the tv for a while. By that evening, the main stories were now focusing on all the families wandering New York looking for their loved ones and posting flyers. Heartbreaking stories of husbands looking for wives, and children looking for their parents, all still hoping that they were just lost in the chaos and still alive.

I think I finally caught a flight out on September 14th, as I recall when they finally restarted air traffic it was complete madness because folks were still all stuck where they had originally been grounded. When I talked to the local American Airlines folks, I explained that I wasn't in a huge hurry since luckily I was marooned with family. So I waited an extra day until the backlog of people waiting to fly had calmed, I didn't want to take a seat from some poor sap stuck in a hotel in an unfamiliar location. I do remember that I wasn't remotely nervous about flying but a lot of people definitely were.

Overall, I was so thankful that I was with my family as opposed to on my own in Denver when it all happened. Even though it was stressful being marooned at the time without any idea of how long it would be before I could fly again, on that day when there was that feeling of "oh my god, what's going to happen?" there was comfort in being with the people that I love most. Had it happened a day later, it would have been a completely different experience because I would have been in my office .... well I guess because of the time difference I would actually have been watching the morning news and getting ready for work, all alone in my apartment with just my dogs to share it with. Instead, I remember sitting on the couch with my Mom watching the news and being shocked and tearful and just in disbelief of what had happened, but at least having someone to share it with.

I think it took weeks before "normalcy" returned. Even in the office, we all talked of nothing else and I remember that as each day went by, and no survivors were found, it became more heartbreaking to see the "missing" flyers and the people on camera begging for someone to contact them. At the time, I remember having the realization that this would be my generation's defining moment. Just as I recall my Mom talking about where she was when Kennedy was shot, for me it was always going to be "where were you on 9/11?"

Spectacular Spectacles

Yeah, I know I'm kindof pushing it on that title. "Hey I got new glasses" seemed boring so sue me!

Anyway, today I went to Ye Local Lenscrafters to replace the specs that Oakley chewed up about a year ago. To be fair to him, he didn't completely chew them - just ate the plastic off one ear piece rendering them a bit uncomfortable and slightly crooked. Since then, I've gotten by with my older "spare" pair - yes the lenses are four years old and scratched but it's not like I need perfect eye sight when I'm working with critically ill tiny babies.

So whatdya think??

Crikey!! What a sad day!

As a longtime lover of the Animal Planet channel and the Crocodile Hunter, I was so sad to hear of the death Steve Irwin. I've watched his various shows and documentaries for many years and always got such a kick out of his enthusiasm. He was one of those people on tv who was "real" and I appreciated his passion for wildlife and his committment to educating people of all ages. I was checking out the website on Animal Planet and saw this recently posted FAQ:

Q: Rob Hermann of Chicago, Ill., wonders: Do you ever get nervous when confronting a deadly animal such as a snake or a croc?
A: Fear is a natural thing that us humans have. It keeps us alive. So every time I go in on a venomous snake, a crocodile, a bear, a cougar, a tiger shark — any wild animal, I get a little scared, a little nervy. Fear is a good thing.

Hopefully people won't get that whole, "that's what you get" attitude about the dangers of working near wildlife. You know, like that dude in the bear documentary who was killed and eaten and had chosen to have no weapons and to just hang out with the bears. It sounds like in this case, it was a totally bizarre situation where he just happened to get stuck by the stingray in his heart. One article quoted an Australian resarcher discussing how rare deaths like this are. In any case, what a tragedy for his family and fans. No one else, except maybe Jeff Corwin, will ever describe big, snakes as "a beauty."

Have you met my new boyfriend Ernesto??

I'm not your typical girl and I'm not afraid of the weather. I survived a tornado hitting my farm as a kid, the Denver blizzard of 2003 when 41 inches of snow completely shut down the city, and recent tornados coming through Missouri. So when I moved to the mid-Atlantic during hurricane season it just didn't phase me. Not even during my hospital orientation when they talked about how I would be forced to stay and sleep in the hospital in the event of a disaster and that I should keep extra clothes in my locker. I mean the thing with hurricanes is that you can see them coming for days - it's not like those midwestern tornadoes we contend with where you may only have minutes to take cover. Now being a responsible pet owner, I did think about them and had already decided that if a hurricane headed here I would take them inland and kennel them so that I could be stranded at work for days with no concerns.

For the past two days the local news and the talk at work has been nothing but Ernesto - these people here are seriously obsessed with their hurricanes. Once it became a tropical depression I pretty much blew the whole thing off. So we get a bunch of rain and wind - big deal. We can get that in a strong thunderstorm in Illinois. Last night at work, people could talk of nothing else and folks were glued to the tv wanting to know "when it's gonna hit." It started raining pretty early in the night and I have to admit that by morning the rain was beating against the windows and there was an obvious wind. Still, it didn't look much worse outside than some of the thunderstorms with flash floods that I've encountered many times before.

As I was walking down the hall to leave, one of the other nurses said, "you live in Virginia Beach by Shore Drive right?" (the hospital is in Norfolk). I answered yes, then she said "good luck getting home."

So the problem isn't the hurricane or tropical depression or whatever - the problem is that downtown Norfolk ... the very spot where I work .... is surrounded by water and subject to flooding streets anytime there's heavy rain. I quickly did some reconaissance before leaving because the only streets I know in Norfolk are the ones I take to work everyday. Apparently the streets that are the first to flood in any circumstance. Armed with knowledge of new routes that "might not be flooded yet" I got into my car and set off. Then I had to deal with my second problem. I was almost out of gas. I had meant to fill up on the way to work, but I was running late due to traffic so I had planned on filling up near the hospital on my way out. My new route? Not quite sure where a gas station is in that direction.

Once I got out of the parking garage the extent became clear. Water was coursing through the streets and I saw one flooded out intersection two blocks from the hospital. Visibility wasn't the best due to the wind and rain so I missed my turn. While trying to make my way back, I hit more flooded out roads and quickly was driving in circles trying in vain to escape downtown Norfolk. As the minutes wore on, it became a very real possibility that my car was going to die. I finally found a group of gas stations .... but the power was out. (I should mention that power was out all over the place so every major intersection had become a 4 way stop sign making my drive MUCH LONGER and wasting precious fumes. ) I desparately asked the clerk where the nearest station was that had power, and she told me to get on the highway and head east because there was nothing around here. All the while the water is getting higher, and more routes are becoming impassable in my little Escort. I keep turning and getting more lost and finding more flooded intersetions and I won't lie - I was so frustrated and upset there were even a few tears. The underpass to get to the interstate was too flooded for my little car so I had to drive further until I found an exit I could get through. I got onto I-64 and prayed that I made it over the bridge and to an exit with power. This whole fiasco took about 30 minutes all the while I'm on "low fuel" warning which normally buys me about 25-30 more miles.

Thankfully I made it to the other side of the water, and quickly found gas. I filled up my tank and was so stressed from the experience that I stopped at Krispy Kreme and had not one but 3 donuts! Once I hit Virginia Beach, I knew the safe route to take though the roads were still pretty water logged. Now I'm safely home with my dogs who REFUSE to go out in the rain so I'm even more drenched from dragging them on their leashes to the yard to do their business.

I guess it's supposed to rain all day so I'm sure the hospital area will be quite flooded. But I'm off til Tuesday so what do I care??? There's a grocery store across the street, I'm on the second floor, and for the time being I have power. And all this stress?? Just due to a tropical depression, not even something big enough to be called a "storm."