Day before Grandma's

I am feeling quite nervous and am trying to remind myself that I've done all the hard work already, and that all I need to do out there tomorrow is enjoy myself.  It doesn't matter what my pace will be.  It doesn't matter if it's raining.  All that matters is that I remember is to put one foot in front of the other, to enjoy the view of Lake Superior, to appreciate all the people lined up to support us runners. 

I feel ready physically (minus my mildly sore throat) and I'm hoping I will feel mostly ready mentally tomorrow morning.  I have a feeling that as soon as I start running, all of my nervousness and doubt will fade away and I'll get lost in my enjoyment of the lake.

Monarch caterpillars

We have two monarch caterpillars in the native plant bed!  They are crapping all over the butterfly weed and I'm super excited, hoping I get to see them transform!  Crazy they can do it without star bits :)

The countdown begins...

I will be running in Grandma's Marathon next Saturday!  Woohoo!  That is if I can stop hacking long enough to do so! 

A week ago, my left eye was irritated, my sinuses filled up and I started getting a sore throat.  By Thursday, Chris was enjoying my sultry voice.  By Friday, that sexy voice was replaced with hoarse squeaking.  Not cool.  After a relaxing weekend at my parents', I expected to be healed, but it turned out only to be a hope.  My throat hurt a lot Friday and Saturday, and slightly better on Sunday.  At least one of my eyes was crusted shut each night.  Eww!

I finally resolved myself to go to the doctor today.  They told me what I suspected they'd tell me: it's a virus and you have allergies.  Thanks a lot Doc!  I have viral pinkeye and my sinuses and throat are the result of allergies, meaning I can do little but wait for it to pass.  When I asked the doctor if my pinkeye was contagious, he said "Yeah."  I pressed him a bit because I was hoping he'd elaborate (should I be worried, do I have to quarantine myself, etc).  He said I should wash my hands a lot and try not to touch my eye.  Thanks again Doc!

I was quite frustrated that I wasted time at the doctor's office, but like Chris and my mom both said, I needed to know whether it was anything more serious so I could take action before Saturday. 

This wouldn't be so bad except I was sick for about a week around Memorial Day with the crappy flu bug I get where I have no energy and am achy.  That was frustrating too. 

Now, I'm trying to focus on getting better for this weekend (and pausing every ten seconds in writing this post to dry cough my way closer to Hell).  If any of you are interested in following my progress and want to see if I make it out alive, you can sign up to follow me via text or email here or look at the website for results afterwards.  The race starts at 7:45 and I'm thinking I might be done in about 4 1/2 hours.  I have no true goal time - all I want to do is enjoy the experience and finish all 26.2 miles!  Thanks for your support!

Tomatoes and herbs

A couple of weekends ago, I bought a couple of different varieties of tomatoes with the hopes of successfully growing them in pots on the deck.  Given the forecast, I figured it would be safe to put them out.  Plus I can always lug the big, heavy pots inside if there's a threat of frost (says the girl in short and a tank top.)  The tomato experiment begins!

 

My herbs are all growing quite well:

The oregano is definitely one I'll need to put outside as soon as it starts warming up outside.  As an experiment last year, I plant a chunk of my oregano plant in the ground to see how it would do over winter.  The thing exploded when spring hit and I luckily read in one my gardening books that oregano is super aggressive (similar to mint or worse.)  I quickly dug it up and put it in a pot on the deck.  

Aventures in Gardening

Last week, I did a lot of yard work.  I finally mulched the pathway I "created" last fall (by created I mean, threw down round pavers...ta da!).  I also finally mulched around the ash tree in the back, got the strawberry patch completely planted both at our house and at Chris's parents' house, and started weeding and mulching the front.

Here are some pictures:

 

This is the raised bed Chris built excitedly, including a cover to keep the damn squirrels and chipmunks away from our berries!  The cover is hinged on top, so it can be opened from either side (brilliant!)

 

While I was weeding around the bird feeder post, I saw a few sunflowers starting to grow from the thousands of sunflower seeds the birds kick from the feeder. 

The most time-consuming part of the weekend was mulching, and it was worth it.

  

We finally tried the Egyptian Walking Onions I got last year from our next-door neighbor.  They were quite tasty (similar to large green onions).  I am quite impressed with how easily they grow - I got a handful of them last year and now I have many plants, with more on the way!

This is not how I would recommend eating them however...

Training for Grandma's

After my half marathon, I decided to push myself even farther.  I decided to sign up for Grandma's Marathon on June 16th.  This marathon has a particularly special place in my heart since I went to school in Duluth and volunteered at it, where I saw my high school English teacher run past.  I remember in high school the week after a marathon, that same English teacher walking around in sandals and telling us all about how much pain his feet were in, and I remember thinking "Why would anyone do that to themselves?" Hee hee

As I've probably mentioned to you many times, I never would have believed I could do this.  Now with each run, I feel stronger and stronger.  I believe I can, and the strange thing is I'm actually enjoying it.  I hit another personal record yesterday with an 18ish mile run, the farthest distance I've run yet.  The farthest I'll be running in training is 20 miles, because it turns out that training for long distances is stressful for your body.  Who knew?!

My only goal for Grandma's is to finish and to have fun doing it.  Thanks for your support!

Philly

Last weekend, we flew out to Pennsylvania to visit family and friends...well, let's be honest: it was also a food tour.  We arrived late into Allentown (thanks to daddYman and Cheryl for picking us up!) and slept like rocks.  The next morning, Chris did some work (LAME!)  We took the boat - I mean the Buick :) - to make a surprise visit to Cheryl's work. 

Then off to Philadelphia to visit Autumn and James.  They took Friday off (the opposite of LAME) and we ate at a diner near their house (which is right next to a graveyard, so that when you're done eating, they can roll you right out and drop you in!)  We went into downtown Philly to see some of the sights.  First stop, the Franklin Institute.  We made a trip through the heart (staple of the Institute for decades), we learned about crazy weather on the other planets of our solar system, we played with trains and we pretended to fly. 

Next stop, ice cream!  James took us to an old-time ice cream shop (old-time meaning it was late 1800s themed with homemade sarsaparilla and amazing ice cream).  We collectively didn't believe James was actually taking us to an ice cream shop, but in James-style, he delivered right at the moment you've just about lost hope :)  I miss hanging out with James and Autumn so much!  We went back to their house, watched Community and laughed a lot.  We ordered in sicilian-styled pizza and I had my first cannoli.  Then much sangria-drinking ensued. 

Next morning, I went for a run on the crazy hills near their house (those hills truly kicked my ass - I was huffing and puffing, but had no strength to knock anything down).  James made delicious french toast for second breakfast (well, second breakfast for me anyway) and there was much rejoicing.  We toured more of historic Philadelphia, including having my first true Philly cheese steak sandwich at Jim's.  I had it whiz wit (translation Cheese Whiz with fried onions).  The combination was magical and there was much rejoicing.  We walk a tiny fraction of it off while checking out various sites, including the stump that was the Moon Tree (a seedling they took to the Moon and later planted in Philly and later still cut down - there's now a plaque).  We tossed pennies on Ben Franklin's grave.  We didn't know why we do this, but I will proudly say both of my pennies landed heads up.  I think that means Ben Franklin will grant me a two wishes.

Later that night, we headed to PPL Park to watch the Philadelphia Union vs the San Jose Earthquakes (professional football...aka soccer).  We had so much fun!  I feared I would lose my voice the next day from all the screaming and yelling - it was a very exciting game and I got sucked right in. 

The next morning, we headed out soon after we woke up to spend some time in Allentown with daddYman, Cheryl and Jabbour.  We celebrated Cheryl's upcoming birthday (happy belated birthday again!) and played some Wii (her birthday present).  Lunch was amazing - Salvatore pizza, sicilian-style and baked to perfection.  There was much rejoicing :)  Not long after, I had to head to the airport to start the journey back home. 

It was a very fun time - thank you to James, Autumn, daddYman, Cheryl and Jabbour for a wonderful trip!