Running on Empty - Sick

Well in typical Michael fashion - I'm SICK!!  Head cold.  My nose will not stop running, sore throat, headache, sneezing and lymph nodes the size of walnuts. 

I worked from home for about 4 hours, but spent most of the day in bed today.  It seems like everytime I have something major coming up - like a half marathon on Sunday - I get sick.


I guess I should have expected it - between training, a crazy work schedule, and travel - I've been stretching myself pretty thin and now my body is screaming for rest.  I ran on Monday morning and could barely make it 2 miles - I thought I was still tired from my 11 miler on Saturday - but now I know I was getting sick.  I skipped my run this morning, and at this point I know I won't feel like running tomorrow.   I am in my taper week, but I don't want to go into a half marathon having only ran 2 miles the previous 7 days.  I don't know what to do....push myself and run tomorrow or take another rest day and run a few miles on Friday?

What would you guys do?  I need advice.

My Almost Football Career

During my Junior and Senior years of High School I was part of the Powder Puff football team.  If you aren’t sure what this is, it was an annual flag football game played between the Junior and Senior High School girls and it was always held during Homecoming week.  It was a big deal every year and pretty much everyone in the school came out to watch.  My senior year we were losing miserably to the Junior girls (a little embarrassing for us upper classman).  We only had a few seconds left in the game.  At the last moment our High School’s real quarterback Travis (who was also our coach) decides to throw the ball down the field to see if we can make a last second score.  It went something like this:

I see the ball coming my way.  It’s floating up in the air, the football lights in the stadium are on, and it’s headed straight my way.  I know I can catch it – even though it won’t count as real points (since the real quarterback is throwing the ball).  It will still be exciting to catch it! 

In those few seconds I envisioned myself catching the ball, running down the field to score, the crowd going wild, and me being carried off the field on the shoulders of my teammates.  What actually happened?  I held out my arms to catch the ball, and it hit me square in the forehead, bounced off my head, landed on the ground in front of me and the game was over.  Needless to say I was absolutely humiliated.  Instead of cheers, there were laughs, and people pointing and saying – “ouch”, or “did you see that?”  I seriously considered quitting school at that moment.  I just knew I would never live it down.  The next day would be the worst day of my life.  I literally couldn’t sleep that night.  I still remember that moment so vividly….but if you were to ask one of my classmates would they actually remember – maybe a few, but most would not.  But this is just one example of my stellar athletic career.

In elementary and middle school I played softball, but I was always one of the worst players on the team – always in the outfield and always batting last.  In high school and college I played tennis, but again, I was always one of the last seeded players.  In road races and triathlons I am always in the bottom 25% of my age group.  And when I race in Oklahoma City on Sunday it will be no different, but I am ok with that, because I’m out there.  In high school, I might have been embarrassed by missing the football, but I was out there.  I’m sure there were a lot of my female classmates that were watching the game from the bleachers because they were too afraid to get out there and try, or because they just didn’t have enough confidence to think they could do it, or they didn’t want to put a little time into practicing. 

And when it comes to racing, even though I'm a "slow" runner and triathlete, I still know that I'm also in the minority.  I am the only person in my department at work who has ever completed a half marathon or a triathlon.  I am one of only a few people in my neighborhood, my County, my State, that have done these things.  It’s really cool to know that although I’ll never win my age group, or take home an age group award, that I’m still out there “Slowly Tri-ing” no matter what!

Doin' the Jelly Bean....a long run.....and WORKING

First, Happy Easter everyone!

Unfortunately, today I spent a good portion of my day at work.  Not fun.  Here is how I looked at work (my best super annoyed poses).  I am VERY Busy at work right now, and having 4 days off to go to Boston didn't exactly help things.  We had way too much going on Saturday, so I headed in to work this afternoon.  As you can imagine, it was super quiet, so I got alot done (including taking pics of myself).


I look gooooood in these pics huh?  Nice hair and make-up or lack thereof.

My "In" box.......UGH!
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Saturday was my last long run before the Oklahoma City half marathon next Sunday.  I got up bright and early (5am) and headed out for an 11 miler.  Jim joined me for my first 7 miles.  It was nice to have someone to run with.  He humors me on occasion and runs with me, even though I know it's like moving in slow motion for him.  I felt really strong for the first 7 miles, miles 7-9 were still pretty good, and by miles 9-11 I was really getting tired.  I know I can complete 13.1 next weekend, but I think there will definitely be some walking those last few miles.  I really wish I was going into this race feeling a little more prepared, but with an injury early in the training schedule and only 7 weeks of training this is the best I can do.  I'm still hoping to finish around 2 hours and 45 minutes, which would shave 5 minutes of my PR, but I'm not sure if it's possible or not.  We shall see.  YES, I know that is a really SLOW time - have you noticed my blog title....I'm SLOW!!

As part of my long run, I also incorporated the Jelly Bean 10K hosted by Jess at Run with Jess.  I completed my 6.2 miles in 1:18:18.  Jack and I snapped a couple of race photos.  Jack really gets into blogging with me.  Thanks to Jess for hosting such a fun race!!  I just loved the Jelly Bean theme.  To get in the spirit, and to aid in recovery I purchased some Sport Beans.  That's me holding some sport beans in my hand in the first photo (below).

Tip of the Day:  Do not put Sport Beans in the little pouch on the back of your running pants!!  I went to take them out at about mile 7 and they were melted.....from my sweat......that's right....I had a handful of Sport Beans full of BUTT SWEAT......YUM!!  Wow, I just used the term butt sweat on my blog :)  Who wants some sweaty jelly butt beans?

Pre-race with Sport Beans still intact...Jack - "Mom I'll take some of those"

Seriously Mom.....a Bunny Mask......Seriously

Is he sticking his tongue out at me?

Ok Mom, one good one for all my fans!

The Boston Marathon – A Great Spectator Sport



My favorite runner!

Jim and I had a really great time in Boston.  It was seriously cool to see him run by me on Bolyston Street – at the same spot that many other famous runners have run by – just before finishing the Boston Marathon.  On this day, I also got to see Ryan Hall, and Geoffry Mutai (the winner of the Boston Marathon this year).  I saw runners in costume, runners in pain barely able to make it to the finish, and runners so elated with joy they could hardly contain it.  It was amazing!  

Jim heading out bright and early race morning

Ryan Hall

Tutu Guy

The crowds of people were insane.  The race started at 9:30 am (with the women’s runners) and then 10:00 am for the elite men and wave one.  I knew no one would cross the finish line before around 11:45 am, so I left my hotel room at 10 am and thought I would get to the finish line in plenty of time.  I was clearly an amateur.  When I arrived to the finish line area around 10:30 am there were literally thousands of people lining the streets.  I couldn’t get anywhere near the finish line.  I saw the grandstands across the street and they were only about half full so I thought – hey I just need to make my way over to the other side of the street and I’ll sit there.  This no easy task – you can't just “cross the street” of a major marathon.  I had to back track several blocks, when I finally got to the point where I could make my way up that side of the street – they had stopped all traffic.  I had to go yet another way – way up around the marathon and make my way back.  I was literally sprinting trying to find a spot, knowing that the longer it took to get to there the less chance I would have of getting a seat.  Then I finally found out that I was an IDIOT – the grandstands were for VIPs only and you had to have a pass – that would make sense for why they weren’t filled yet – I thought it was just because people couldn’t figure out how to get over to them.  I finally found a spot in line just a few minutes after 11 am – just in time to see the men’s winner running down to the finish.  The crowds were crazy – there were 3 rows of people in front of me, and probably another 3 rows behind, but everyone was cheering, screaming, and cow belling.  It was seriously awesome.

As mentioned, Jim had a PR for this race.  It was also his 10th marathon.  I was so proud of him.  He worked so hard just to make it to Boston, and to PR at Boston….well what a day!  I’ll let him tell you all the details of his race in his post.

Me & Jim on the subway

Other things about the trip to note:

·     We arrived on Friday afternoon.  The weather was FREEZING!!!  We knew it would be chilly, but somehow it seemed to be a lot colder than we were expecting.  We got checked into the hotel, and headed out to find the subway.  After a little frustration we found our way to the Subway and headed to Fenway Park Baby!!  It was alive with activity.  We waited over an hour to eat at Boston Beer Works, and then headed to the game.  It was pretty cool, but did I mention it was FREEZING?  It was hard to enjoy the experience because we were so cold – in spite of 4 layers of clothing, 2 pair of socks, and a stocking cap.

·     If you are ever in Boston go to the North End (Italian District) – it’s lined with 100s of little Italian restaurants.  Giacomo’s and Mike’s Pastry are a MUST!

Mike's Pastry - Cannoli

·     Harvard was really cool.  It’s a very beautiful campus.  However, DO NOT assume that a 400 year old church is just open for visitors.  Jim and I saw a bunch of people going in this old church, so we thought hey you must be able to tour it.  We walked in and were offered palm leaves, a Bible and a program……oops Palm Sunday service.  We forgot it was Sunday.  One of our top 10 most embarrassing moments!

Harvard Gates

·    Boston is a beautiful City!!  You walk A LOT!!  I know I walked at least 6 or 7 miles a day while I was there.

·     Do not go to the bathroom in an airplane when there is turbulence or you will get to spend way too much time in the bathroom.  I was in the potty when some serious turbulence hit.  I started to come out and the flight attendant yelled – “Get back in the bathroom and sit down and hold on!”  I was stuck in the bathroom for about 10 minutes.  YUCK!

Lots more fun stuff to share, but I don’t want to make this post toooooo long.  All in all we had a great time.  Definitely worth the trip if you ever qualify for Boston or love someone who does!

Happy Birthday Jack and Boston (Non-runner) recap coming soon!

We had such an amazing time in Boston.  I'm sure Jim will share all of the race details with everyone soon, but I will also try to have a post up soon as well.  Jim did AMAZING and set a PR in BOSTON!!  How cool is that?  It was so cool to see all the runners and all the spectators.  There were just thousands of people everywhere you looked.  Boston is such a cool city! 

Congrats to everyone who ran Boston on Monday.  I know there were several bloggers out there.

Also, today is Jack's Birthday!  He is 5 years old.  My sweet baby dog has went from a tiny puppy to an adult dog.  Happy Birthday Jack!!  And thanks for Guest Blogging!  Jack just got home from vacation too and he is one tired puppy!

Jack as World's Cutest Puppy - look at those green eyes!

He was so tiny he could sit underneath the coffee table

Jack in his "toddler" stage

Jack all grown up and King of the House!

Short post for now - more later.  I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs.

Jack Dog’s Guest Blog - The Boston Edition

Hello Bloggers, my name is Jackson B. (Brown) Weatherly, but I’m better known as just “Jack”.  I’m a super chocolatey and incredibly handsome 5 year old Chocolate Lab.  My Mom is super busy in Boston right now, so when she asked me if I could do a guest blog to help her out – well how could I say no.  Then she told me I had to write about fitness and training and stuff……hmmm……I will do my best.

If you follow my Mom’s blog you know she posts a lot of pictures of me being pretty lazy. 

I have to admit, I do like to nap, but on occasion I do like to get my exercise in.  Like my Mom, I consider myself a multi-sport athlete.  I enjoy long walks, occasional jogging, playing Frisbee and my favorite activity – swimming!  My Mom does not share my love of swimming.  Of course if I had to put on those silly goggles and swim cap – I wouldn’t enjoy swimming either.  Swimming just comes natural to us Labs.  Mom should stop trying so hard to work on her freestyle stroke and just focus on the doggy paddle.  It’s much easier.

Great form

Swimming with my Buddy Kai

Just chillin' by the pool

I haven't taken up cycling yet, but I'm thinking about it someday.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I just think it would be really hard.  I mean I am a dog afterall.  What do you think - do you think I could cycle?




Trying out his look in a helmet


Well, I've got lots of more interesting stuff to do.  So I better go guys.

Good Luck to my Dad on Monday!  Did you know he's running the Boston Marathon.  He's a pretty good runner, he's no Jack Weatherly, but he's not so bad.  Oh yeah, and Good Luck to everyone else running Boston too.  You guys are awesome!  Ruff!!

I'm Going to Miss You Guys....and Birthday Loot!

Today was a vacation day for me!  Wahoo I love vacation days.  I started out by going on a three mile run with Jim.  It was really just a recovery run, and it didn't go so great.  I was pretty tired from my week and it was my fourth day in a row of running.  Anyway, I got it done!  Friday is always my "off" day and I am so glad - looking forward to the break.  After my run I ran some errands and got my hair cut and colored.  I love having my hair styled because my hair dresser always styles it straight.  I really love it straight, but I don't straighten it very often because it takes so long.

My haircut

I'm going to be out of the blogging world for a few days.....I'm going to miss you guys!!  Seriously!  I have become quite addicted to the blogging community.  I hope everyone has a terrific weekend.

Yesterday of course was my Birthday!  I had to work, but my friend MaryBeth took me out to the cheesecake factory.  It was great.  After I got home I went to dinner with Jim, my sister, and our best friends Ken & Cindy.  I got some serious loot for my Birthday!  I sooooo love Birthdays.  Jim got me a cute chocolate brown Lab stuffed animal.  He's so sweet.  I saw it at the grocery store about a month ago and fell in love with him because he looks just like my Jack.  Jim went back and bought him the next day :)  Jack is not a fan!  Jim also bought me a new Ipod....so excited!  I got several gift cards too, so lots of shopping in my future!  OK, lots of Birthday pics to folllow.  Sorry if it's alot of pics of me today...more fun pics to post next week.


My cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory - It says "Happy Birthday to you"




My Giant Birthday Bag!



My New Puppy...Jack checking him out




Jack still checking him out....he doesn't like him too much




New Ipod!



Me & Jim at dinner