Next year, things are locking up...

     Have you ever thought to Google "beautiful women"? You should try it. Chances are the women that appear don't really look like you or your daughters. I only looked through the first 10 pages. There were very few women of color. The women of color that were pictured all had straight hair. There were no heavy, thick, curvy (whatever word you like) women. A woman of color with natural hair did not appear until page six. The first few pages display scantily clad women in underwear or swimwear. Google doesn't define beauty but it is a reflection of what society values in women.

     For the past few years, I have been on a  mission to redefine beauty for my daughter. I want her to see that she is beautiful even if she can't see herself in Google images definition of beauty. I also want my son to appreciate the natural beauty in all women.  I embraced my natural hair, I work out and embrace my curves and I started eating more clean  foods to maintain my health. There was something lacking for me. For years (probably about 10) I have been talking about locking my hair. I never did for 1 million and 1 reasons. I was never ready for the commitment. I love my hair. I love the versatility of my  hair. I loved my afro. I loved it twisted. I loved it straight. I loved it crazy.There were also so many negative opinions about locs from people in my life. I wouldn't look professional. My locs would smell. I would not be attractive with them.

               Afro                                            Straight                                                Twist-Out

  

     I finally decided that I was ready for the commitment. I also decided that I did not care about any one else's opinion. I made an appointment and prepared myself for a few months of awkward hair. I got my hair interlocked instead of twisted because I wanted to make sure that my hair didn't unravel when I exercise. I went to Donella at the Salon Lofts in Shaker Ohio. I am very happy with my hair. In fact, I can honestly say I love my hair. It was already cut in a bob so the locs looked semi-cute after they were done. The hair in the back that was shaved was not long enough to interlock. When it grows out, we will interlock those.  When I left the shop, I teared up a little. I felt free. And happy with my choice.Who knew that such a small change would impact me in such a major way?

          Day One                                            Day Two                                     Day Three

Embracing the treadmill

Many people question my resolve as a runner because I frequently run on the treadmill. One of my family members often tells me that I am not a" real runner" because I run on a treadmill. I know that there are many who think less of those who run on the treadmill. I am not one of those people. I run outside during comfy temps and weather. It's not ideal for me to run in extreme heat or extreme cold and snow. I will run in freezing temps while it is in the process of snowing or if there is no snow build-up and I will run in the rain. I don't run outside if there is any chance at all that I could pass out from heat exhaustion or slip on ice and break a hip. I  can't imagine that a broken hip would be fun for me.

      I also run on the treadmill because I am a lazy runner. When I run outside, I find a comfortable pace and keep it. It is hard for me to push myself to run faster while outside (unless I'm running with the Joes). On the treadmill, I set a speed and run it. No matter what. I cover the console on the treadmill and let my NikePlus alert me to mile markers. Watching the numbers slowly change drives me crazy. I also feel more compelled to not change the speed unless I am increasing the speed. I am usually on a treadmill next to someone. As soon as I get on the treadmill, whoever is next to me is my competition. I need to workout longer and harder than them and I can't slow down. (This backfired once when, after an hour and 15 minutes, the young lady next to me admitted she does the same thing and was waiting for me to quit. We quit together...).

     Another plus to treadmill running is that I can do it whenever I want. I am sometimes busy with the Joes and cannot make it to the gym until late. Instead of running in the dark, I run in a safe, well lit environment. 

     I'll be the first to admit that treadmill running is extremely boring. I have developed games that I play with myself to keep on track. Sometimes I determine that I will run for a certain number of songs. Ten songs is usually 3 miles for me (a slower gal). Sometimes I increase the speed after a certain number of songs. For example, I start on 5.5 and after every 2 songs increase the speed .2. This game always has me finishing faster than I started and helps me practice conserving energy until the end of my run.

     While I am a big fan of the treadmill, I will never buy one for my home. I fear it will end up in the basement, looking pretty, not being used, like our beloved elliptical. I will stick to hitting the gym during inclement weather for my treadmill runs and loving it!!

Thankful...

I have seen a barrage of "what I'm thankful for" posts on social media for the holiday. For the most part, I read them and thought "Ehhh, isn't that a given?" I wanted to read some creative posts!!! I'm super "investigative" (some might call it nosey). I wanna read some lists that reveal a little more about people!! How can I expect it if I don't give it myself? So.......

20 things I am thankful for: (in no particular order...)

1.The Joes-They add so much to my life 

2. My kids athleticism-When I cheer, I have a sound reason and they won't be AS embarrassed by me

3. Sisters who are more like friends

4. Cousins who are more like siblings

5. Peanut Butter and Jelly (actually Jam)

6. Fall and Winter weather so I can wear my boots that I love so much

7. Turtleneck wearing season

8. Laughter

9. My health

10. Quitting my old job. I hated it so much it was eating away at my insides.

11. World Market-They always have good wines to try and great furniture

12. Kitchen gadgets-I LOVE them

13. Shellac- Theresa at Raun keeps my nails TOGETHER

14. TMHF for going with me to check out Honey 2 years ago. We love her!(Honey and TMHF)

15. Babies-All the new ones who joined our family this year

16. Friendships-Old and New

17. Family

18. Second chances

19. Forgiveness 

20. Screenshots- Some things just have to be saved for later and shared

How to not fail at feeding your kids

One of my co-workers told a story about a child who knew what she would be having for dinner days in advance. I quickly expressed my disdain for said child's parent.Not because the parent is evil, but because I am jealous of the skills it would take to master such a feat. I allowed this idea to consume me for a couple of days. I have done meal prep for the week in the past, but this does not usually include cooked foods. I usually prep veggies, season meats or make the baked egg cups for breakfast. Generally, I do not like to prepare food in advance. I am not a huge fan of the microwave and I prefer fresh cooked foods for dinner.I will eat leftovers and warm them in the microwave if they are available. I just don't want to if I don't have to. It's just my preference.

On Sunday, I happened upon an inspirational recipe site called Budget Bytes. There were so many recipes that were quick and easy and CHEAP!!! I decided that I would plan meals for the week. I printed out four recipes from the website. The fifth recipe was one of my own and the other days I left open to leftovers or tomfoolery.

On Sunday, we decided on a Spinach and Artichoke Wonderpot from the website. The littlest Joe was able to follow this recipe while I made homemade buttermilk biscuits. She used a little too much pepper but  the pasta was awesome. We used fresh spinach and frozen artichokes. We also sprinkled the pasta with Mozzarella cheese when it was done. The biscuits were ugly as sin but quite tasty. I was impressed. The Joes were impressed. So impressed that they asked for biscuits the next night as well!

On Monday, we had a crustless Spinach and Feta Quiche. Again, from Budget Bytes...The recipe calls for mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. We had a mushroom-less quiche. With biscuits. Again.

On Tuesday, I was a super lazy momma. I used one of my free days and ordered carryout for the kiddos.

Wednesday is usually the busiest day of our week. Big Joe had football practice and then band practice until 9PM. The littlest Joe has private Saxophone lessons in the evening. I have running around to do  in the midst of all this. I got up early this morning to prepare White bean soup from the Budget Bytes website. I had to alter this recipe quite a bit. I cooked the navy beans in chicken stock, with 2 smoked turkey tails, carrots, parsley root (I thought they were parsnips), onion, garlic and seasonings. I used soul seasoning, salt and pepper. This soup was sooo tasty. And there was so much of it. Definitely enough for leftovers!!!

Thursday was Halloween and despite the fact my children are big, huge humans, they were going trick or treating. The Littlest Joe was an 80's valley girl and the Biggest Joe was just creepy... Since they were given Chipotle gift cards for Sweetest Day by their adoring mom, they wanted to use them to get the 3 dollar Boo-rito and I obliged. I mean, helping to sort the candy and taking the yearly candy tax (they each give me candy for my sugar addiction) is hard work. Who could cook after that? Probably the aforementioned perfect mom...

Friday was the last football game of the season. When I got home, The Littlest Joe had left to hang out with a friend before the game and the Biggest Joe was still at school getting ready for the big game. I mixed some leftover white bean soup with rice and had leftovers for dinner. (I will have to try a less offensive bean next time).

Saturday was pork stir fry. This is my own little recipe. Cut up a pork tenderloin. Sauteed pea pods, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, onion and garlic. Added soy sauce and seasoning, of course. Yum-tastic!! This was served over rice. Which magically cooks itself in the rice cooker as the meat and veggies are being cooked.

I chose recipes that were manageable. I shopped in advance. I did not commit to cooking a specific meal on a specific day. The Joes helped in the decision making process. I was open to failure. Every one will not like everything. There is always an alternative choice. Its usually PBJ...I think this week in meal planning was a huge success. Now to plan for next week...

Recap of the summer (Part Deux)

I planned a little trip to Toronto this summer. My brother, Jason, lives there and this trip has been a long time coming. I planned to take the Joes, my cousin DuAne,  my nephew Bradley and two of his buddies from college (my extra nieces). When the time came for us to take our trip, Big Joe informed me that he could not miss that many days of football practice. He was gonna have to hang back. DuAne told us that he wouldn't be able to get time away and one of the extra nieces, Laina was out of the country. I was most disappointed that Big Joe was not going. He is 15 and able to stay home alone but I was looking forward to a family vacation. And who knew what he would be up to whilst I was away!!!

We drove to Canada on a Thursday morning. By we, I mean, Bradley. I was super excited to be a passenger on a road trip. I am usually the driver. It was a pretty uneventful trip. We listened to music and ate snacks and laughed and talked. When we crossed the border to Canada, we were all excited. We took pictures and began our countdown to our arrival at our destination. Soon, our happiness turned to frustration when we realized that our cell service was no longer working and our GPS no longer worked. We missed a turn and the GPS would not reroute us. LOST. IN. ANOTHER. COUNTRY. We finally figured it out and eventually made it to our hotel. The hotel was a Doubletree hotel outside of Toronto and was very nice and it prided itself on being a very "green" establishment. WIN!!!We drove around for 4 days in Toronto with archaic printed directions until my cousin J asked why wasn't I using my Tom Tom. AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!!! I haven't used it in so long that I forgot I had it. It was helpful for the rest of our trip and the ride home.Duh!!

Jason, his GF Stefy and J2

J2, me, Taryn, Bradley and Jason

CN Tower

While in Toronto, we ate good food every single night. We attended an Afro-Caribbean festival. We took a boat tour of Toronto's waterfront. We shopped. We visited tourist spots. We had a great time.

Fancy!!!

Bradley and me at Spring Sushi

J2, Taryn and Jason at Spring Sushi

There was one tiny problem at the hotel the night before we left. Bradley and extra niece Taryn were heading out for an exciting night on the town in Toronto when they got stuck in the elevator. For about an hour and a half. The fire department had to come and rescue them. I believe there were tears. I was not crying...

Bradley FaceTimed me while stuck in the elevator

On our way home, we stopped in Niagara Falls. We parked in New York and walked across the border to Canada. We ate dinner at Planet Hollywood and had chocolate at the Hershey store.

We had an awesome time. Big Joe called me several times asking when we were coming home. He missed us. I had given my friends his number and gave him theirs in the event that he needed something. One friend, Tiara, called and checked on him AND went by to  visit him. What an awesome Kid-Spy!!!

I definitely enjoyed Toronto and will have to go back soon.

Getting back on the proverbial horse or literal bicycle...

Longest bike ride this summer...Hit a 4 minute mile in there!!

I had to buy new bicycles for The Joes last year. I went to Target one night and excitedly bought them both new bikes. I explained that they should take care of them, lock them up and not leave them in the driveway. One week after I purchased them, The biggest Joe left the littlest Joe's bike in the driveway and it met an untimely death. The biggest Joe's pedal fell off of his bike. We returned it and got another. Both pedals fell off. In the meantime , I lost my receipt. We're currently stuck with a pedal-less bike.  Needless to say, bicycle shopping in 2012 was pretty much a bust. 

This year, I invested in good bikes that will last for The Joes. The biggest Joe has a Giant brand bike and the littlest Joe has a Fuji brand bike. When I brought that Fuji bike home for the littlest Joe, I just had to try it. I needed to see if there was a difference between my cheap bike and this pricey bike. I can tell you with all certainty, that there is a difference. Over the summer, I have alternated between riding both of the Joes bikes. If I ride with the littlest Joe, I ride Big Joe's bike. If I ride alone, I ride the littlest Joe's bike. Starting to ride was a little difficult. I was only able to ride 5 miles in an half hour on my first ride. I set a goal for myself to be able to ride a double digit ride (10 miles or more) in an hour by the end of summer. I also wanted to spin for the entire ride (no coasting, constant peddling). A friend of mine who bikes encouraged me to try this. I rode about twice a week and used RunKeeper to track my rides.  My longest ride so far has been 11 miles. I participated in a virtual 50 mile race and used this race as inspiration to get in some miles on the bike.

Views from the ride

Swag bag from virtual 50 mile race for Alzheimer's Awareness

Recap of the summer (Part Uno)

I had an eventful summer this year. I had planned a mini vacation without the Joes and a family vacation with the Joes and my nephew, Bradley. I was super excited about both vacations. I was spending my mini-vacation with an old friend that I semi-dated in college in Puerto Rico and we were spending our family vacation in Toronto, visiting my younger brother, Jason. I had never been to either place. On the Tuesday before my Puerto Rico trip, I got a call while at my standing nail appointment (this is how I remember it was a Tuesday) from my friend from college (for convenience's sake, we can call him Steven). Of course, I couldn't answer because I was mid-Shellac and who wants to mess up their Shellac?? I listened to the message and found that he was cancelling due to work. I responded and told him that I was okay with going alone and that I would just do all the activities I scheduled alone. He selfishly requested that I not go without him. I stupidly obliged. The ticket that I bought was non-refundable but I had a layover in Atlanta so I decided to make some lemonade out of the lemons I had been handed. I bought a return flight to Cleveland, booked a hotel in Atlanta, reserved a car and called my buddies that lived there to make plans. I met up with a girlfriend from college, LuShaun, who is pregnant, for breakfast (my favorite meal of the day). She was absolutely adorable!! I shopped and ate with my girlfriend Nicole and her husband and then celebrated her birthday at a DJ Jazzy Jeff party. We also walked for exercise...around an outdoor shopping mall... I hung out with Shelly, my buddy from 6th grade (yes, 27 years) for drinks and then spent a leisurely day at the pool with her mom, her sister and her very adorable nephews. I also had lots of fun at dinner with my cousin Gary. Overall, I had a terrific time with my friends and family. I am a little bummed that I missed out on Puerto Rico. I wish that I had just gone alone but I am totally grateful for the much needed time away. I took one picture while in Atlanta. It's a selfie. The other two are stolen from other social media sites...

My outfit looks funny in the other pic. I think it's cuter here;-)

Me and Shelly

Nicole and Me at her birthday party

Save your dough...



The hair-pre cut

The hair-post cut



I made a decision at the end of spring to cut my hair. It wasn't a tough decision. Hair grows and if I wanted long hair again, I could just grow it. I cut it into a little bob and I love the cut!! I did not consider that I may not like to wear my hair curly. After a couple of times of wearing my mini afro, I decided that I preferred my hair straightened. I have been natural (no chemicals in my hair at all) for about 6 years so keeping my hair straight is a feat. Especially in the summer and with working out. I saw an advertisement for the "Save Your Do" wrap by Nicole Ari Parker and was curious. They claimed that the wrap would "wick away moisture from your hair, allow heat to escape, and when properly applied keep hair pressed down during a workout". I figured I could at least give it a try. The reviews that I read were all glowing. I was excited and dropped 29.95 plus tax to get my hands on this wrap for my hair.  My first use was on a bike ride. I choose a bike ride because I sweat less riding the bike than I do running. I went on a 6 mile/30 minute bike ride. When I returned home, my hair was drenched.  Hair style could not be salvaged. Had to do a wash-n-go. Check it out down below. I am definetly NOT a fan. Obviously, you can try this for yourself. In my opinion, it is not worth the money. You can save your dough and not buy the "Save Your Do"!!

After the "Save Your Do" bike ride
YIKES!

 

Fear of running

I took a break from writing this summer to enjoy The Joes and the season. I also took a break from running. I took this break because I have been afraid. I ran a couple of times this summer but no long runs at all. I ran a total of about 12 miles!!! My longest run this summer was about 3 miles and I struggled. I got fully dressed a couple of times and even thought that I would run more but when it came time to actually run, I chose to ride the bike or to hit the gym. I only figured out just recently that I was afraid. So…what am I afraid of?

I am afraid that I am old and will hurt myself. 38 feels a lot different than 26. When I was 26, I hurt my left foot at work. I was sent to an MD at the hospital where I was employed. After testing, I was diagnosed with arthritis in my foot. I didn’t care one bit. I didn’t take it seriously. I never got the prescription filled for the medication that was prescribed. I left the office and ignored everything that was said to me that day. I was 26!!! Who has arthritis at 26? Last year, after an injury to my right foot and repeated complaints of numbness and pain, testing revealed that I had arthritis in my right foot as well. This time I took it seriously. The MD said that staying active was a great way to fight it. So I kept running. I was still experiencing numbness and pain at times. This scared me and left me wondering whether or not I was going to permanently injure myself. My running times began to suffer. Where I was once able to run a half marathon without stopping once to walk, I was walking during 3 mile runs. I felt horrible about that.

I am also afraid of failing. I began to fear that my pace times would never improve. I want to be faster. Over time, I expected that my times should improve. I dreaded running and seeing those times taunting me. I wanted to see improvement. Over the 6 months prior to my running hiatus, I had only seen my pace per mile increase. People had invited me to run with them. I politely avoided these invitations. I disappeared. Last week I felt a renewed drive to run. I got dressed and ready for a run a few times last week but ended up biking or hitting the gym. On Sunday, the last day of my workout week, I was determined that this should be the week to re-start. I decided to run my street. One time up and down is a little over half a mile. I set a goal to run 3 miles. I ran that first mile in 9:38. The next mile was 10:15. The third mile was 11:29. I walked a portion of the 3rd mile. Positives: 1. I can still run a mile in under 10 minutes. 2. I am still in good shape. 3. I had no pain during this run. Negatives: I walked during a 3 mile run. I now have to set new running goals taking into account my lack of running over the summer. At this point, I need to work back up to my continuous 3 miles. So…If anyone is interested in running with a turtle. Let me know. I think I’m ready to get back on the road…

Happy Bloggerversary!!!

My actual handwriting...

Today is my bloggerversary and I had planned to write about my half marathon experience in Chicago. Instead, I will say that I am honored to have you as readers. Thanks so much for your kind words on Facebook, your re-tweets on Twitter, your comments on the blog and your sincere thoughts when face to face.  

 I signed up to run the Women’s Half Marathon in Chicago on June 23rd. I was actually very excited about it. My friend was going to run it with me. We have both been running for years, but have not run together in quite some time.  She told me that she was going to register but I have not heard from her since she said this. Despite being stood up, I was still determined to run it alone. I even took time off of work for a recovery day after the race. At the last minute an opportunity to go to Puerto Rico arose and I had to choose between going to Chicago to run 13.1 miles or going to Puerto Rico to soak up sun, sand and warmth. (I don’t want to take too many trips without The Joes.) I chose the later. I have never been to Puerto Rico and I am very excited. We are staying on Vieques. I am also very excited to hang with a long time friend. I have been religiously perusing all sites related to our trip and I have narrowed my choices for activities down to horseback riding on the beach, bike tours of the island, and a kayaking tour of the Bioluminescent Bay. If you have other suggestions feel free to share!  I also plan to eat lots of good food. I am not a modest eater either. I plan to demolish some seafood while I am there. 

I will see the Ocean again soon...

My pettiest blog post to date...

I was in the gym, with headphones on, minding my own business, when I noticed a fellow watching me on the leg press. I was doing my usual 400 pounds. (I have yet to use the machine with free weights and the highest weight on the machine with pins is 400 pounds.) Anyway, I was pressing away and he was watching away. I felt inclined to toss in a few extra sets for his viewing pleasure so I completed about 10 sets of 10. I had recently cut back to 5 sets of 10 and added a new workout to my leg day routine. I felt he deserved 10 sets of 10. When I got off the machine, I headed to the calf raise machine, not because that comes next in my routine, but because I knew I’d have a good view of the leg press. Sure enough, he hopped on and without one single thought of adjusting the weight, went at it. Of course, he didn’t go too far because he couldn’t lift the weight. At All. I saw him decrease the weight. I was tickled but he WAS working out. Good for him. I did 4 setsof 25 on the calf raise machine and in that time the gentleman gave up and walked over to me. He asked my name and told me his and proceeded to ask how was it possible that I lifted 300 pounds. I politely corrected him and explained that it was 400 pounds. He blew that off and kept asking questions about my strength and insinuating that there was some trick I had used to press this amount. He then said he was amazed that a lady could press 300 pounds. By this time, I felt he was being condescending. I explained again that I had pressed 400 pounds and asked did he need a demonstration. Amazingly, he said he needed to see this. I walked over to the machine, noticed he was pressing 190 and dropped the pin to 400 pounds. I happily pumped away and then explained to him that 190 is a good number and that I sometimes press 190 per leg for a good single leg workout. As petty as this is, I thoroughly enjoy when I can lift more than a young man in the gym. I am not as defined as I would like to be. I am working on that. It is always interesting when someone assumes based on my juiciness that I am not strong and especially fun to prove them wrong. I am developing a love for the weights. It’s a great way to burn calories and strengthen your muscles. Try it!!! You’ll like it! Happy Lifting!!!

I survived 9th grade...TWICE

I have no significant recollections of my ninth grade year. I was not traumatized. It was merely a very long time ago. I remember people and classes. I think my mother bought me a "pity bra" this year. (You know...flat chested, didn't need it, but everyone else had one). Nothing specific. I remember that I survived it. I survived ninth grade again this year. This time I survived as the parent of a ninth grader. Amazingly enough, I did not go to jail. Not one time. Despite the one hundred million times I wanted to physically harm my smart mouthed, hard headed ninth grader, I survived. I did threaten him about 2,900 times that I was going to send him to live with his father and despite his assertion that this was not at all what he wanted, I was able to make this threat 2,899 more times after the initial threat. We started this year with a speech from me, The Tyrant, explaining that ninth grade is important and will set the tone for high school and subsequently what college he gets into and attends. He expressed an understanding of this concept every single time I said it. Maybe I was getting through to him? 

Homecoming

 Big Joe and I had a problem every single morning. He did not want to get up. He did not pack his lunch at night. He did not shower before bed. He stayed up too late. He didn't plug his phone up in my room. (They are supposed to plug their phones up in my room at 10pm). He wanted to wear sweat clothes to school ( I think sweat clothes are for working out and don't allow them to wear them to school). He wanted to wait until the morning to alert me to activities or the need for money. He would not be ready when I was ready to take him to school. Every morning with this child was a test of my patience. I am so grateful to God for summer vacation because if I had to deal with this child in the morning year round, I would pull my eyelashes out. Amazingly, he survived.
 

The school year was not a bust. He played football for the first time in the Fall and also played in the marching band. He seemed to manage both well. This was his first season playing football, so he did not have as much experience as some of the other players and therefore did not see as much playing time as he would have liked. He talked about quitting and just sticking to skateboarding. I hate football. I think it's dangerous. I don't want to raise a quitter though. He stuck it out and plans to play again this Fall. He impressed his mother with his determination. Big Joe has struggled with school in the past. He is a very intelligent kid and his grades rarely reflect that. This school year was a sigh of relief. His grades were finally reflecting what I knew he was capable of all along. Of course, he did not bring home perfection, but I am pleased that he is beginning to see the importance of doing well in school. He even earned Merit Roll a couple of times!!!! He ran track in the Spring and did pretty well. He worked hard and showed that he could follow through with goals that he sets for himself. He attended the Senior's award night at his high school and was amazed at the number of scholarships for music. He came home determined to practice his trumpet more. If only someone had said this to him before (his Mom did)....If only someone had paid for private lessons (his Mom did) and encouraged him to audition for outside opportunities(his Mom did). Sometimes you have to learn things on your own.

My goals for next school year are: 1. Make him more accountable for his time. He will use his own alarm clock to get up in the morning. When I say be ready or I'm not taking you, I will hold myself to that consistently. He can ride his bike if he is not ready. 2. Push getting ready at night. No TV until lunches are made or showers are taken is hard for me because I want to go to bed. If I'm in bed, I cannot monitor this. I will have to change my bedtime and stop being a little old lady. UGH!!!! 3. Show up to more events. I missed some this year. I started a new job and it was difficult to take time off to attend games or meets. I have figured out how to flex my hours so that I can be present at more of the Joes activities.

Big Joe will be 15 on June 17th. Lawd have mercy. 6 months until a learners permit. 3 months until Sophomore year. I think we are ready for Sophomore year. I think....
Big Joe is number 85!!!

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Weekend

Some of the Cleveland Marathon Bloggers

All gussied up...

The Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon was a weekend long event for me. The marathon organizers hosted a VIP cocktail party on the Friday night before the race at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Cleveland. I did not have a date to this event and none of my friends were available to attend with me. I was reluctant to go (I'm socially awkward) but put on my big girl pants and went anyway. As I was signing in at the door, I ran into a friend from social media whom I had never met in real life, Tara. She is the Program Director for the We Run This City program in Cleveland and happens to be a pretty awesome human. She was there with four of the children she works with. We sat and ate and talked together. When they were about to leave, I walked around to speak to the other bloggers and ended up chatting with Joe(and wife) and Stephanie(and boyfriend). We talked about all things running and I felt beyond motivated after chatting with Tara, her students and the other bloggers.

Me and my Littlest Joe

 On Saturday, I headed to the Expo with my littlest Joe. We were pretty excited to have some girl time. We picked up my bib and shirt and visited quite a few booths. I bought compression sleeves and a Spibelt and she picked up a head band for running. She also stopped by the American Greetings table to make a sign for me. Apparently, The Joes were going to come to the race to cheer me on and to go to the VIP brunch that the Cleveland Marathon was hosting!!! I wore my superman shirt to the Expo. I needed the superpowers that come with it to resist the call of Krispy Kreme donuts, which would have been an exit away from the Expo, as opposed to the usual 40 minute ride it would take to get there from my house. I was able to resist those sugary sirens....until the next time I have to drive west.

New Compression sleeves! Love green!!

The sign...

The headband..."Some girls chase boys. I pass 'em"

I got up pretty early on the morning of the race. According to the parking pass, I had to be in the lot by 5:30. I got up at 4:30 and awakened The Joes. Big Joe got up, took our dog (Honey) out and then explained that he was too tired to go. He was bailing. The littlest Joe was my last hope. I woke her up (or tried to wake her up) three times. She never got out of her bed. I was on my own. I hit a bit of traffic coming into downtown but I made it to the lot at about 5:35. No one seemed to care about the time. I was relieved. I pulled in and decided to do my favorite thing in the world. Sleep in the car. My race started at 7:30. I had about an hour and a half of down time. I had brought a pillow and a quilt with me. I headed to my back seat for a snooze. I have no idea why I love car sleeping so much!!!! My alarm awakened me at 7am and I got out and headed to the start line. While I was waiting, I ran into a co-worker from a previous job, Dan. We chatted about the race. He shared his goal time and asked what was mine. I answered "Oh, probably 1:10". I hadn't set a goal time but this sounded about right. The race started out great. I ran for a while and then realized that we were running over a bridge. I have never read a course map before a race. I probably should have checked this one out. I am afraid of bridges!!! Running over it was pretty easy. Running back was a little harder. I was a little nervous. I did a good job of pacing myself. Sometimes, during my practice runs, I had run the first couple of miles too fast and tired myself quickly. I ran this race pretty consistently between 10:50 and 11:10. I wore my new compression sleeves for the race and my legs felt great. I should admit that my toes were a little tingly around mile 4. I added some sport insoles and I think that maybe the running socks and insoles made my shoes a little too tight. Note to self: Don't experiment on race day! When I crossed the finish line, I thought the clock said 1:11 and some seconds. I assumed that my time was about 1:09 and some seconds but I had to wait until the results were in to find out for sure. I met up with one of my running buddies, Rebecca, who was at the race cheering on her husband as he ran the half. I invited her, her husband and their son to enjoy my tickets to the brunch since my dates stood me up. Actually, there was no standing...They were laying...in their beds...snoozing. When I got home and checked the results, I was surprised to see that my time was exactly 1:10. No seconds. 

The recipients of the Brunch tickets.

Me...after the race. Is she giving me the evil eye?

This race was important to me because this is the third year in a row that I have run this particular race. It is the first year that I have run it with my bib and had a time registered. It was also important for anther reason. A co-worker of mine, Sharella Thomas was killed in a car crash on the Friday before the race. She was a beautiful person. We worked together as social workers in a local emergency room. I learned a great deal about her when we worked 12 hour shifts together. One thing I discovered was that she was a runner. She was a group leader for the local chapter of Black Girls Run. She was passionate about her role in the lives of the women she ran with.  I never ran with her but when we talked running she was always encouraging me to run farther and longer. When I first started running, I would tell her my tales of woe and she would tell me that I could run farther than whatever distance I had mentioned. She believed I was capable of doing it before I realized it. She was a Master's level social worker. She was always my sounding board for difficult cases or situations.  She was compassionate and caring both professionally and personally. She was a supportive mother who encouraged her son to follow his dreams. She was an amazing person who touched many lives. I'm praying for peace for her family and friends and I am most grateful for the opportunity to have known her and for her many encouraging words.