Hello Reality, Did you miss me?

We're back home from Ireland. It was a busy trip with the marathon and the zigzagging across the Emerald Isle, but we managed to see a lot of country. Hopefully, Steve got some good pictures. I always forget to take out my camera and snap a photo.

Now I'm trying to get my head back into my real world. That involves mountains of laundry and getting ready for another half marathon this Sunday. In other news, I start a new job on Monday which is 95% yippee and 5% worry. This was the first vacation of my adult life where I didn't have to go back to my old job. I've spent most vacations worrying a bit about the work that was piling up at home.

Here is a photo I took at one of my favorite spots in Ireland. It's at the Meeting of the Waters in Killarney National Park. We spent a day walking on the trails there. It was a glorious place. Kudos to Steve for insisting that we spend an extra day hiking there.

Greetings from Ireland

Ireland is lovely. Other than getting caught in a bit of a rain - okay, a downpour - it's been dry and warm.

The marathon was fabulous. I'll post photos of my swag when I get back to California.

The Guinness does taste better here.

Love to all - Photos and Stories soon!

Race Notes: Dublin

• My race nutrition wasn't exactly correct. I used 2 energy gel, plus 1 bag of Luna moons and 1 bag of Sport Beans. Also, I had some biscuits and a Mars bar from spectators on the course.
• Always take a gel at mile 24. I need that last burst of fuel to make it to the finish.
• Luna Moons are satisfying to eat, but they aren't the best course nutrition. They are slightly too large to eat and breathe. Sports Beans are fine for this.
• Gels are best, but Beans are good too. Beans are more satisfying to eat.
• Hills are slow because my form falls apart. It's not my cardio capacity, it's my form.
• In cold weather my throat gets frozen/dry. It feels like really uncomfortable. Chewing gum might help here.
• I felt good all day, except for a bit around mile 12-13. I had a negative split, but I was tired for miles 25-26.2.
• No more carrying the camera. I forget to take photos anyway. If I didn't take any in Dublin I won't take them anywhere.
  

Ready

Yesterday was the 20 mile training walk. It was fine. Twenty miles is a long day, but I felt pretty good for the entire session. I'm not sore or stiff today. The top of my left quadriceps is a bit tweaked, but other than that I'm absolutely fine.

From this point onward, there's really nothing I can do to increase my strength or endurance for the events. It's simply too close to the races and the body needs time to rebuild itself. This is a weird time during marathon prep; there's nothing left to do. Stretch everyday. Eat right. Get enough rest. Wash your hands frequently so you don't get sick. Basic good health stuff but that's it. There's nothing marathon specific on my to do list.

Next week is our final training session. The following week with is Nike Half Marathon. The week after is the Dublin Marathon.

I'm as ready as I'm going to be.

The Amazing Suitcase

Last night Steve and I were talking about which suitcases to take with us Ireland. I am a devotee of the carry-on bag. It doesn't matter how long the trip is, I only take my carry-on suitcase. Checked baggage seems to get lost and I hate waiting for bags when my flight lands. More importantly, I don't like to have to ask for help with my suitcases. Too many bags makes shuffling through the airport difficult.

Steve asked if I could really squeeze two weeks worth of clothing into a tiny bag. Everyone who went on the Scotland trip is laughing and laughing. That trip was longer than two weeks and I squeezed everything into my carry-on. My companions joked that the bag had some sort of compression function, because it seemed an endless amount of items could come out of that bag.

With all that stuff meticulously compacted into that bag, it was ridiculously heavy. I'm very strong and I would have had a hard time heaving it into the overhead bin. Luckily, on every leg of the journey some poor, sweet man would generously offer to lift it for me.

The conversation always went like this:

Sweet Man: Let me put that in the overhead bin for you.

Me: Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that. It's so heavy.
Sweet Man: Puffs Chest w/ Machismo Oh, then you should definitely let me do that for you.
Me: Taking a seat and getting comfortable Gee thanks, I appreciate it.

Then the poor, sweet man would practically give himself a hernia trying to heave that thing into the bin. This was always to snickering amusement of my traveling companions. And I was truly thankful. I could have lifted it, but I was grateful that I didn't have to do so.

We're Going to Ireland

After much hand-wringing, calendar flipping, and a few calls to American Airlines our airplane tickets to Ireland are booked. We are one step closer to the Dublin Marathon.

Task Completion: 100%

Choose Your Own Adventure

I finally filled out my recommitment form today. For Team in Training participants recommitment is the real decision to do the event. Before that, you've agreed to train. Now the commitment is financial. At recommit you're accepting responsiblity to raise the full amount of funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you don't meet your goal, you're agreeing to donate the remainder yourself. The official recommit date was Wednesday. I've been out of the office so I haven't had a printer to print the forms. Our Team in Training coordinator kindly agreed to bring me a set of recommit forms to today's training session.

For the past few weeks, I've been kicking around an idea. This session Team in Training participants are training for 1 of 2 events - either Nike Women's Marathon or the Dublin Marathon. I wanted to do both, but signed up for Nike since all my friends were doing it. But Dublin just called to me. For the last few months, it seems as though everyone I know has gone to Ireland for work or vacation.

About two weeks ago I asked Steve what he thought would happen if I did the half marathon at Nike (October 21) then the full marathon in Dublin (October 29). Other than the fact that I might get sore, he couldn't find a reason not to do it. I asked a few other people, and they didn't have a good reason either. I'm fit. I'm strong. I train consistently. In truth, everyone is sore after a marathon. Soreness is no reason to skip Dublin.

When I filled out my recommit forms, I was still massaging the Nike+Dublin idea in my head. That's the decision point - not the money, which I'm going to raise anyway - but the event. Selecting the Nike Half Marathon means I can go to Dublin too. It's hard for me to do half of anything, but two full marathons in 8 days is insanity. I stared at the form for a long while, and finally checked off the half marathon box.

That's the adventure I choose - 2 continents, 8 days, 39.3 miles.

Nike Women's Half Marathon and Dublin Marathon - Get Ready, Because Here I Come!