tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61492448118509349012024-02-20T08:54:10.561-06:00Mylls to go...I swim, I bike and I run. Not always in that order and sometimes not very well.myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.comBlogger283125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-71605512675696044022018-04-06T09:06:00.000-05:002018-04-06T09:08:50.575-05:00What's Kristine Reading? April 2018 Edition It's been a bit since I've posted about a book, or about anything, if I'm honest. My reading has definitely been in decline over the past two years. Since I picked up knitting, and now sewing, I've been creating more than consuming. It's been great, and a fun learning experience, however, I do miss my books. I started listening to audio books - mainly things in the public domain such as Jane Austen. It's not the same thing as reading a book with pages, but it does allow me to combine my passions, so I'm going with it. However, I did just finish a biography that I think everyone needs to know about because the subject was so impressive. And that subject was Catherine the Great.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOguGhoKrY070rCXz4hRnReSHnrTqPugmFMNNwFPqTHShlzUpdb5yOwXxIReE9BJVX6kaXnYC-362urXZxC-wWV8GOCOzkyWjTX8Wc0cjwPN-3kpwLn-Sb45-_e_i9xU-A3KkyTcY-TA4/s1600/CtG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOguGhoKrY070rCXz4hRnReSHnrTqPugmFMNNwFPqTHShlzUpdb5yOwXxIReE9BJVX6kaXnYC-362urXZxC-wWV8GOCOzkyWjTX8Wc0cjwPN-3kpwLn-Sb45-_e_i9xU-A3KkyTcY-TA4/s400/CtG.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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While there are numerous biographies about Catherine the Great (I've had one sitting unread on my Kindle for about two years), I read this one by Robert K. Massie because it was for book group. He based the book on many of her letters, so the book is from her viewpoint. This skewed the book a little in her favor, but it was really interesting to read her actual words.</div>
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The first thing I need to say about Catherine the Great was that she was a freakin' badass. I went into this book completely blind to her history, and Russian history previous to the Revolution in 1917, for that matter. (For some reason, that time period fascinated me when I was around 11. I randomly picked <i>Nicholas and Alexandra</i> out of my parent's bookshelf and read it in a weekend. I was in the 5ht grade, and told my teacher about it when I went back to school. She didn't believe I read the book. Teachers - if a student tells you they read an interesting, non-assigned book - believe them.) </div>
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Anyway - back to Catherine being a badass. Here is her story in a nutshell: </div>
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<li>Born a minor German princess. </li>
<li>Gets shipped off to Russia at 14 to marry the heir to the Russian throne (who is her second cousin) and produce an heir. She never sees her father again.</li>
<li>Marries Peter III, who is the grandson of Peter the Great. It is not a happy marriage for many reasons, but two primary are that he loves someone else, and she thinks he's an idiot. While the history books claim they had two children, there is evidence that their marriage was never consummated. </li>
<li>Peter III becomes Emperor after 16 years of marriage. Catherine believes he is going to divorce her and marry his mistress. And, as previously mentioned, she thinks he's an idiot and will be a weak leader.</li>
<li>Six months into Peter III's reign, Catherine stages a coup d'état while her husband is out of town. Remember - she's German and has no claim to the throne. But since she is the mother of the heir, Paul, (though Paul might not be Peter's child), and she knows she'll be a better leader, she gets the nobility, clergy, and military on her side and takes the throne. See - Badass. Peter was imprisoned and was assassinated soon after. Whether Catherine was to blame for the assassination hasn't been determined. (Some reports claim suicide.) </li>
<li>She then led Russia into what is known as the "Golden Age." She was heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment, and was a proponent of science, literature and art. </li>
<li>She also expanded Russia by 200,000 square miles. Part of this land came from partitioning Poland, whose King was put on the throne by Catherine and was her ex-lover.</li>
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And those are just the highlights. She led a fascinating life, and I'm annoyed I didn't know more about her when I was a child. She was a "take no shit" kind of woman, and while I don't agree with some of her tactics, she did what she thought was best for Russia, and I appreciate her tenacity and dedication to her country. Though, as being from Polish descent, I'm a little annoyed about the partitioning of Poland thing.</div>
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While reading this book took several months, and I think it could have been edited by about 100 pages, I highly recommend reading it. Yes, it got a little dry here and there, but Catherine's story is so fascinating that the dry parts don't last very long. If you like history - or badass women - read this book.</div>
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End Note: I just spoke to my Mom and had her find the <i>Nicholas and Alexandra </i>book from home. It's written by Robert K. Massie! What a coincidence! </div>
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-11327241005111668812018-01-10T14:12:00.002-06:002018-01-11T20:06:49.242-06:002018! Here we go! Yes, I've been slack on my writing recently. I would love to say that I've just been too busy (which is partially true) but I also just haven't had the desire. Post IMLOU, my spare time has been spent curled up with a dog (or two...or five) and knitting. It's not only relaxing, but I also feel like I've accomplished something! But as a result, my reading has SEVERELY suffered. I know I finished a few books in 2017 (A Gentleman in Moscow being the most recent), I'm no where near the 52 books in 52 weeks of past years. And I'm OK with that. I can only do so much, you know?<br />
Anyway, I want to update a few things for 2017, and then move on to what's going on in 2018. Let's start with races, since this is primarily a forum for swimming, biking and running. I did all of two races in 2017. Well, two that I remember anyway. I might have snuck in a 5k in there at some point. Those kind of blur together after a while. Anyway, I primarily ran the Fargo Half Marathon and Ironman Louisville. Both were wonderful experiences overall, though <a href="http://myllstogo.blogspot.com/2017/10/ironman-louisville-race-recap.html" target="_blank">IMLOU itself was really tough</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2rMVvPNbv7_3aHv00olznDLA4QZuDW7IC6RWsfCvnaQ7sO1cqDxdvPe1Unj6_gfwViKfKZmqdYG0xLUj4CKlwcdaD5XqZ6ZmnzKUABY1yAz-88bzhtEYPVTEG3wcEizUo3SyIL4YlOI/s1600/Fargo+Medal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2rMVvPNbv7_3aHv00olznDLA4QZuDW7IC6RWsfCvnaQ7sO1cqDxdvPe1Unj6_gfwViKfKZmqdYG0xLUj4CKlwcdaD5XqZ6ZmnzKUABY1yAz-88bzhtEYPVTEG3wcEizUo3SyIL4YlOI/s400/Fargo+Medal.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>FARGO! Loved this race!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5P33CmyBkTEkdTlEUgsO4cXIQFueKrfLK4GFR3IcHHB4aBGKumCVXhDCzLHABxTF3cO46lmyl8PhA9NDl16wRNVTV_SB1qPXyXgmKntAgG58aM7LhsXN6o7NnbPHVmxkek6zzaGv94U/s1600/+MEdal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1552" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5P33CmyBkTEkdTlEUgsO4cXIQFueKrfLK4GFR3IcHHB4aBGKumCVXhDCzLHABxTF3cO46lmyl8PhA9NDl16wRNVTV_SB1qPXyXgmKntAgG58aM7LhsXN6o7NnbPHVmxkek6zzaGv94U/s400/+MEdal.jpg" width="387" /></a></div>
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<i>IMLOU - The race that wanted to kill me...</i></div>
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And here is my race map. At some point, I'm going to focus on knocking out states again. But I was able to cross two more off my 50 state list! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpCCY7CbPj30ssisG-cZRr6fMdInUuIHDPkyyn66-h1Ou2FzshkycVGlXuPxIlRL8yO0gMdW02fgCTU0NSH7u6bBIb2bXSSRO1gwlSB3Tb54M2tiESl0Us72uKR25H4bFMcNHAp0rZco/s1600/Kristine+Race+Map+2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1415" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpCCY7CbPj30ssisG-cZRr6fMdInUuIHDPkyyn66-h1Ou2FzshkycVGlXuPxIlRL8yO0gMdW02fgCTU0NSH7u6bBIb2bXSSRO1gwlSB3Tb54M2tiESl0Us72uKR25H4bFMcNHAp0rZco/s400/Kristine+Race+Map+2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Only 32 more states to go! </i></div>
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Turning to my newest obsession, I knitted my butt off in 2017. Here are a few of my creations from the past year:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbSuUfNzSfUyxOEGWsCII2Vb3cCR7nt-R99ccxto3kgaS_yOD8UFkt9yR5Nm9WbHLefJKqjh8B6sxCEJgAfDV-1N2FmFcPXtxTh4iogLX1ozJChYcfQJd0gSpAFF_vveWBIiDJAncHHU/s1600/Dad%2527s+Hat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbSuUfNzSfUyxOEGWsCII2Vb3cCR7nt-R99ccxto3kgaS_yOD8UFkt9yR5Nm9WbHLefJKqjh8B6sxCEJgAfDV-1N2FmFcPXtxTh4iogLX1ozJChYcfQJd0gSpAFF_vveWBIiDJAncHHU/s400/Dad%2527s+Hat.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Dad's Christmas present. The grey is lighter than it looks here. It's really pretty.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAseCh4BijgF-EOVkrcd4SZAV7k2Rj0dyBN4Rv_7cEKqocLXAfjIQ3-bo9VcNVhzblLoBjGqAflMUPWBqx8CIXbzws8uXL4FdMRGiMSIEcUa_gi7IVUOQb1bHekGGoIEOVMrUr3oGxy4/s1600/Pillow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAseCh4BijgF-EOVkrcd4SZAV7k2Rj0dyBN4Rv_7cEKqocLXAfjIQ3-bo9VcNVhzblLoBjGqAflMUPWBqx8CIXbzws8uXL4FdMRGiMSIEcUa_gi7IVUOQb1bHekGGoIEOVMrUr3oGxy4/s400/Pillow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Mom's Christmas present. My first pillow! (And yes, I know the photo is to the side, but I can't rotate it. Plus, it doesn't really matter anyway. The pillow is square!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQeVX3vcMxwmdq08GTdAQ2E0Ptj5GDWEsRdzFOIn23u6SJSlrdghUrztrp4ehc0zT0_vqNx4XGwinFreci836OwsTbaJ8vaVqFm_6Aww9mAfyGXL2wSR5iW_trm-_sKngJTVBRPJCMko/s1600/Nancy%2527s+Blanket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQeVX3vcMxwmdq08GTdAQ2E0Ptj5GDWEsRdzFOIn23u6SJSlrdghUrztrp4ehc0zT0_vqNx4XGwinFreci836OwsTbaJ8vaVqFm_6Aww9mAfyGXL2wSR5iW_trm-_sKngJTVBRPJCMko/s400/Nancy%2527s+Blanket.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Nancy's Blanket. This was a Christmas gift for my Mother-In-Law. </i></div>
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<i>I was VERY busy over for the Holidays.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtN2AaJe61hmeU0ykaoQLNBIjfanua1yXWbw3QIgLLcXQ3yiAGkPCl4x42gEcG92yUO0uHYrCCbp8tSgmvc1h2PguxV7j9hPRUXuq8OB9srPsg7ygaGknDAjqZRV2UCJhrga0ul99rdIs/s1600/Hat+Tri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtN2AaJe61hmeU0ykaoQLNBIjfanua1yXWbw3QIgLLcXQ3yiAGkPCl4x42gEcG92yUO0uHYrCCbp8tSgmvc1h2PguxV7j9hPRUXuq8OB9srPsg7ygaGknDAjqZRV2UCJhrga0ul99rdIs/s400/Hat+Tri.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>IMLOU hat. I made FIVE of these for my training group. I'm so stinking proud of these!</i></div>
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I could go on, as I finished several more projects, including two baby blankets, a baby hat, a cowl, and a scarf for Dudley. I really need to learn how to take better photos of these things. New goal for 2018! Learn how to take better iPhone photos!</div>
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That about wraps up my 2017. I did some traveling (and saw HAMILTON!!), but Ironman training pretty much takes up your life, so my activities were primarily limited to training and knitting. Geez- I'm boring! However, since my 2017 was kind of sheltered, I'm stepping out in 2018 and am challenging myself to do something out of the box every month. (I was going to do this once a week, but come on, who am I kidding? Once a month will be plenty.) I'm not sure what all of the activities are yet, but they have to be 1) something that requires me to leave my house, and 2) something unique or make me step out of my comfort zone. This could be something like going to a CLIMB class (which is definitely on the list), or going a new ethnic restaurant and try something I usually wouldn't eat. Just be more adventurous, in general. I'd love suggestions, if anyone has any!! </div>
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Other 2018 Goals: Knit a sweater, learn to sew, complete Chattanooga 70.3 smiling, cross off at least 3 more states from my 50 state list, visit another country and (maybe) qualify for triathlon Olympic Nationals. That last one depends on how bad my work schedule is. Oh - and to complete the FLYING MONKEY MARATHON! Boom- I'm putting that one in writing, so I don't wuss out on it later on.</div>
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Have you made any goals for 2018? What are they?</div>
<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-59636694810571762042017-10-18T16:05:00.001-05:002017-10-19T08:59:39.302-05:00Ironman Louisville - Race Recap Well, that happened. Ironman Louisville 2017 is in the books. While it wasn't my finest hour, it was a great weekend surrounded by wonderful friends and inspirational people. Here's how it went down.<br />
Dudley and I arrived Thursday afternoon, and I was so relieved to make it, because I wasn't 100% sure we were going to. My car died twice the day before we left AND we got a flat. Nothing like a little car stress before an already stressful weekend! Fortunately, it wasn't anything a new battery and new tire couldn't fix. <br />
The first thing we did was head down to race check in. This was the whole point of arriving on Thursday - so I wouldn't have to deal with long lines on Friday, when the majority of athletes arrived. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduPA9EzBM0FJobgOYeIpb9qXdLdCFXKbIEm98FJuVhnu6Hzot8yMWL-okP5jIgeX8h6x6VyvXD13Sxh6DqrLnoGvhLx9vcHPtmrllQIoNHaHyEOsb423_rFK4EscD1B12MhHAtViJ8Xo/s1600/IMG_8729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduPA9EzBM0FJobgOYeIpb9qXdLdCFXKbIEm98FJuVhnu6Hzot8yMWL-okP5jIgeX8h6x6VyvXD13Sxh6DqrLnoGvhLx9vcHPtmrllQIoNHaHyEOsb423_rFK4EscD1B12MhHAtViJ8Xo/s400/IMG_8729.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>I'm here!</i></div>
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<i> </i>The rest of Thursday through Saturday was spent with friends and absorbing the Ironman experience. And, of course, buying all the things. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffcO787SuN8hwm9X7ClsWioxgurA5O7l1BuB48otsSVDttcJassVKatM02JTSOT3BEhlXzev3Bzaoj_QwInF6Br6YHE_uIVpcoPKDbNqdVZtCMXtPIySvB7BCSDGjIh5bwHsPQd-d7cg/s1600/IMG_8744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffcO787SuN8hwm9X7ClsWioxgurA5O7l1BuB48otsSVDttcJassVKatM02JTSOT3BEhlXzev3Bzaoj_QwInF6Br6YHE_uIVpcoPKDbNqdVZtCMXtPIySvB7BCSDGjIh5bwHsPQd-d7cg/s400/IMG_8744.JPG" width="225" /></a></div>
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<i>My friend Mark from GMU. Go Patriots!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvtoYNef_d40PQwrUDffI9ZLqaIzgiXkr75truXfA-V-mnVvmN6C38-ABRwJ7auwFZVKxelD-dii5qD4eaAbJgXy4jAqX_AJxiOcpSX8t_hYyuNtwz8pU2qz8RXRTUAkdS5YmktbbS3w/s1600/IMG_8732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvtoYNef_d40PQwrUDffI9ZLqaIzgiXkr75truXfA-V-mnVvmN6C38-ABRwJ7auwFZVKxelD-dii5qD4eaAbJgXy4jAqX_AJxiOcpSX8t_hYyuNtwz8pU2qz8RXRTUAkdS5YmktbbS3w/s400/IMG_8732.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Obligatory IM swag purchases</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vGfW55v4bAN0iUt_8ad4JaKbTZAU3QWIjs_0aT3k6luBeWJyRh8IAjtcu0ivJBJAoN1xGXV8oEOSWMvhIgpyUyQfRo7B8PinkGh-aJTNex7xEUrWYin9w0_DdOR0wGHJxtPWnIboSkk/s1600/IMG_8731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vGfW55v4bAN0iUt_8ad4JaKbTZAU3QWIjs_0aT3k6luBeWJyRh8IAjtcu0ivJBJAoN1xGXV8oEOSWMvhIgpyUyQfRo7B8PinkGh-aJTNex7xEUrWYin9w0_DdOR0wGHJxtPWnIboSkk/s400/IMG_8731.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>I didn't buy this, but I thought it was funny. Ironman caftan!!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshzJCgdoJD9yBuW6kPL2hYnpSP_-eHYuPC_g7-ykpypXtE40sK48gPzSrJ9OU-sRTr5ZF3xpwpc4UBbYWjYWpPUvaNzqrouKs2CZhhgu8Tcm1UNcaiCd5bNB9RQyoMws2mp1yk9Y8Akk/s1600/IMG_8762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshzJCgdoJD9yBuW6kPL2hYnpSP_-eHYuPC_g7-ykpypXtE40sK48gPzSrJ9OU-sRTr5ZF3xpwpc4UBbYWjYWpPUvaNzqrouKs2CZhhgu8Tcm1UNcaiCd5bNB9RQyoMws2mp1yk9Y8Akk/s400/IMG_8762.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Kathy and I dropping off our bikes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1r69qb-4KPOAjdKKw4Us_0WshNTHDn7IbD7bFRu59javoijrbgYzqLSczVwEerWrpmuaZGRSAkU61qJoXiUkKsUPkThGsmvjJXkf72_GwGHNnNj5tKXps7XErYbsEEst99FyR1NAY9NA/s1600/IMG_8764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1r69qb-4KPOAjdKKw4Us_0WshNTHDn7IbD7bFRu59javoijrbgYzqLSczVwEerWrpmuaZGRSAkU61qJoXiUkKsUPkThGsmvjJXkf72_GwGHNnNj5tKXps7XErYbsEEst99FyR1NAY9NA/s400/IMG_8764.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>That's a lot of bikes!! </i></div>
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I also hit the practice swim on Saturday morning. The main reason I was concerned about this race was the swim. I'm a decent swimmer - not crazy fast, but consistent. And I don't generally have issues with open water. However, I did have concerns about the Ohio River, which was where the swim took place. It's just so BIG. And dirty! I've heard countless horror stories about how gross the water is and how sick people got after swimming in it. Years ago, I was supposed to do an Olympic race in the Ohio, and I received text the night before stating that there were abnormally high levels of E. Coli in the river and we had the option of switching to the duathlon, which I did. So, with that history, I really had a hard time getting in THIS river. (This is called foreshadowing people, so pay attention.) But I suited up an went down to the practice swim, and all was well. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxz3i-5aczcDMc9oLAsh-B25acd9iA5pnLJ3U3LAdgr1B2QFkGq9bbzRzu-aoepu6IDmFZpxGZ3s9BDgbH0QECm-JSiJgMzDX_EA8UH1QqBZcgqI715mwF7CJIlJdmCKVEO3IE10CLcwg/s1600/IMG_8754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxz3i-5aczcDMc9oLAsh-B25acd9iA5pnLJ3U3LAdgr1B2QFkGq9bbzRzu-aoepu6IDmFZpxGZ3s9BDgbH0QECm-JSiJgMzDX_EA8UH1QqBZcgqI715mwF7CJIlJdmCKVEO3IE10CLcwg/s400/IMG_8754.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Look how BIG that river is!! </i></div>
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We had lunch and dinner on Saturday with my IMLOU training group, Kathy, Johanna, Marne and Becky, affectionally known as Team Rom-Com (TRC). We adopted the name because we set up our bike trainers together and watch rom-coms while suffering - generally something with Hugh Grant. This is the crazy group that inspired me to sigh up for IMLOU four months ago, and they were with me every step of my journey. I'm very fortunate to have them as training partners and as friends.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L2hGuqIoMIX2I8hzq7PrhP2JxsQ5mCjR48RTWAQ2WkGI4PXhYeZovCOzBRxIMjt7W2YOAbVjpqV4KuElphi_RM7Gd8sTR3hAFcdkcJdlN_bXu5Vp9WNXQ-HYFxOZC0mohGIykknXe-o/s1600/IMG_8768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L2hGuqIoMIX2I8hzq7PrhP2JxsQ5mCjR48RTWAQ2WkGI4PXhYeZovCOzBRxIMjt7W2YOAbVjpqV4KuElphi_RM7Gd8sTR3hAFcdkcJdlN_bXu5Vp9WNXQ-HYFxOZC0mohGIykknXe-o/s400/IMG_8768.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Team Rom-Com! (L-R: Kathy, Marne, me, Johanna and Becky)</i></div>
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<i> </i>Race day began at 5:00 am, but I was up much earlier than that. I never sleep the night before an event like this. I was pretty calm, actually. I just couldn't sleep. This was a weird race in that I have been in DEEP denial that it was going to happen. Even the morning of, I wasn't crazy nervous. It was more of an attitude of "Well, I guess I'll go do an Ironman now." Which is completely different from my IMCHOO experience. But this was also my second IM, so I should have expected it to be different. </div>
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All of TRC met up at 6:00 to walk down to the race together. With the race starting around 7:30, we had plenty of time to set up our race gear, get in our wetsuits and relax a bit before the race.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDacGfXFrGufHYSaNUG-jliOX98TX_yddIvxRyiN43nbuSlp6xy940b8r_rABayLFa2CZ1xkz2sH7hsd-8K04ygXGI9t7L_PE-SaQ9Si543yVEycxGypBEgPMUDEmMeNKHFWfViAqVN5Y/s1600/TRC+Swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDacGfXFrGufHYSaNUG-jliOX98TX_yddIvxRyiN43nbuSlp6xy940b8r_rABayLFa2CZ1xkz2sH7hsd-8K04ygXGI9t7L_PE-SaQ9Si543yVEycxGypBEgPMUDEmMeNKHFWfViAqVN5Y/s400/TRC+Swim.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Notice the flag. It was a bit breezy.</i></div>
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SWIM:</div>
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My swim started pretty uneventfully. We had to swim about 800 meters up river in this "protected" area next to Towhead Island. Though the winds were around 12 mph at this point, the current wasn't that bad, and I was able to get into a decent rhythm while keeping my heart rate down. Knowing the Ohio freaked me out, I just wanted to stay calm and steady and maybe kick it up a notch the last 500 meters. And it was going well until I got hit by a competitor, swallowed some of the lovely Ohio River and started coughing. That in itself wasn't that bad. Stuff like that happens in open water all of the time. I recovered and kept going. But then I hit the turn around where we left the protection of Towhead Island and were in the main current. The river was choppier than it had been previously, and I had to work harder, which caused me to breathe deeper and I started coughing again. I apparently had swallowed more water than I had thought, as I could NOT clear my lungs. Mentally, I tried to keep it together. I have a swimming mantra of "Reach, Rotate, Relax" that I repeat over and over. Generally, this settles me, but not this time. Every time I tried to take in a good breath, I'd cough. And then... I couldn't breathe, and my wetsuit felt extremely tight. Suddenly NOTHING else mattered other than getting OUT of that wetsuit. That became my entire focus - not finishing the race, but getting out of that damn wetsuit.</div>
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The closest support kayaker was about 100 feet away. So, I breast-stroked over to her (my head was NOT going back in that water at that point) and held on to her boat while I wiggled my way out of the suit. I can't tell you how good it felt to be free of that thing. I asked the kayaker if I could leave my suit with her, and she said she'd get it back to me at the end of the race. Honestly, I didn't care if I ever saw it again. </div>
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I still had about 1.5 miles to swim. Fortunately, I like swimming in colder water so the temperature didn't bother me. Considering my options now were to swim until the end or drop out, I started to swim. And swim. And swim. I was told to not use the bridges as landmarks because they are deceptive as to how close they are, and it's true. Those stupid bridges never seemed to get any closer. I tried to use the buoys as measurements, but they were extremely sparse. Finally, I saw the green roof of Joe's Crab Shack, which I knew was the swim exit, and that became my light at the end of the tunnel. My mantra became "Green Roof, Green Roof, Green Roof." After an eternity, I reached the stairs and a volunteer pulled me out of the water where I almost collapsed. Though I didn't think it at the time, it had taken every ounce of energy I had to make it out of the water. All I wanted to do when I hit land was lay down in a ball and go to sleep. I had nothing left....and my day had only just started.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcgCAwSgKQ9bea60dr4FAuoEskMy0aTezc0I8XACqjeJzbZCwhSEBpdQAaGSGhfJL_3BE6QUY5N5ykN5-j1EtnFl9LhQvBz3jQ_h59ttL33rX-t9rlAGZsAfm3Eqb4Wp7bv20_YAkEO0/s1600/Swim+Out+Deflated.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1388" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcgCAwSgKQ9bea60dr4FAuoEskMy0aTezc0I8XACqjeJzbZCwhSEBpdQAaGSGhfJL_3BE6QUY5N5ykN5-j1EtnFl9LhQvBz3jQ_h59ttL33rX-t9rlAGZsAfm3Eqb4Wp7bv20_YAkEO0/s400/Swim+Out+Deflated.JPG" width="346" /></a></div>
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<i>Sheer exhaustion.</i></div>
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BIKE:</div>
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Normally after a swim, I make some sort of an attempt to jog to transition. We are being timed, after all. Not Sunday. I walked the entire time, trying to regain some sort of composure. Don't get me wrong- I never thought I was going to drown, but literally, my survival instinct kicked in while I was in the river and I think I kind of went into a mild shock once I stopped swimming. I couldn't get my heart rate down, and I would still cough up river when I would try to take a deep breath. To add to the fun, I get these things called optical migraines. If you have never experienced one of these, picture a zig-zag formation that starts out very small in one of your eyes that proceeds to get larger and larger until your entire field of vision is blurred. They basically blind you in one eye for about 20-30 minutes, and then they go away. I rarely get them, and when I do, they are triggered from being tired and looking at a computer screen too long. Apparently, stress causes them too, because I got one while taking my bike out of transition. So, not only did I not have any energy, I was also blind in one eye. Awesome.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkWaypTzb7VWXQUsFFm9RKXc84kYlg5SljEADMAIkE48vXmXurDkdRAX22ex_Y_odKdBzsQJ_HHXsE9yjBt_w_TaJgyy3A0ZnMTSd3VCLerbrnbFf06wq3gCmohghLD7ko3hpx8rTcfA/s1600/Bike+OUt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkWaypTzb7VWXQUsFFm9RKXc84kYlg5SljEADMAIkE48vXmXurDkdRAX22ex_Y_odKdBzsQJ_HHXsE9yjBt_w_TaJgyy3A0ZnMTSd3VCLerbrnbFf06wq3gCmohghLD7ko3hpx8rTcfA/s400/Bike+OUt.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>I have no idea how I'm functioning here.</i></div>
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The first 10 miles of the IMLOU bike course is flat, and is basically the only true flat part of the course. I felt like crap, but my plan was to try to recover as much as I could on this section before I hit the hills and while the wind (which had picked up) was at my back. I felt like I was crawling. EVERYONE was passing me. It was frustrating because the bike is my thing! To have everyone pass was pretty deflating, but I knew if I wanted to get through the rest of my very long day, I had to be smart. I was riding on fumes and any energy I had needed to be saved for when I hit the hills, especially on the second lap. </div>
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Unfortunately, I never really recovered. This seems dramatic to say, but every pedal stroke was a struggle. I had scouted this course several times over the past few months, so I knew it. It was hilly, but I had worked on my hill strength and knew I could stay in aero except for a few hills. That all went out the window. I had to sit up on every hill. Truthfully, I wanted to walk some of them. Everything was SUCH an effort. It was exhausting. And that was before the weather really turned bad.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9sbXFPfrEMRs8snwcIs0_5X6t-4M6_kDO7w-FfCM6AhSMXVCfKjjV6kqiprDDDU6ZnlRiWoBdAATR4mIzqbwdmLun2AzZAiNCFWKJlHvf-LJbE-jAyR1dOn5VsXB9kR2WDqNXXeHaPs/s1600/15_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_019070-12409203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9sbXFPfrEMRs8snwcIs0_5X6t-4M6_kDO7w-FfCM6AhSMXVCfKjjV6kqiprDDDU6ZnlRiWoBdAATR4mIzqbwdmLun2AzZAiNCFWKJlHvf-LJbE-jAyR1dOn5VsXB9kR2WDqNXXeHaPs/s400/15_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_019070-12409203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I guess I should touch on the weather. As I mentioned, the wind had picked up by the time we got on the bike (not that 12 mph during the swim is calm). Throughout the day, we had sustained winds of 20 mph with wind gusts of 30-45 mph. It was ridiculous. The temperature also couldn't make up its mind in that we had a high of 80 and then it dropped 30 degrees. I think it was about 54 when I got off of the bike. All of this, with still no energy, a cough that didn't go away until mile 60 and yet another optical migraine. </div>
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I did have two moments of feeling OK. Miles 60 - 80 were pretty good. I had finally worked the river gunk out of my lungs and could take a deep breath without coughing, I could see with both eyes and had a bit of strength. Though, it might have just been a caffeine buzz because I downed a baby Coke at Special Needs. I was also out of the wind for a bit, which was nice. But mile 80 meant getting back on 42, which was the last 30 miles home and it was all in a headwind. This was also when the worst of the storms hit. I got rained on, but missed the hail (fortunately). There was debris everywhere. Wet leaves, pine needles and acorns littered the roads. I actually got hit by a falling tree branch! It just brushed my leg, but it really could have ruined my day. The last 10 miles were pretty decent, too. Granted, I knew I was almost done, so that helped.</div>
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I pulled into transition and gladly gave my bike to a volunteer, again not caring if I ever saw it again. Unlike the swim exit when I was the only one walking to transition - mostly everyone was walking off the bike. The wind and storms had deflated everyone. I know I wasn't the only one who was wondering how they were going to get through a marathon.</div>
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RUN:</div>
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I was able to talk to Dudley for a few seconds while coming out of transition, and I told him about my day. He asked if I was going to be able to finish, and I said "Yes, but slowly." That urge to just lay down and go to sleep that I felt after the swim was still with me. It's funny because while I had no idea how I was going to run 26.2 miles, quitting never entered my mind. I wasn't trying to be a bad-ass - I just knew that dropping out wasn't an option. So, like the swim and bike, my only choice was to move forward. So I did. Slowly. I picked a pace that felt like something I could sustain for the marathon, with a plan to walk through every aid station. This is what I did for IMCHOO, and it worked great. Of course, right before I left transition, my training buddy Marne came bopping out of T2 like the damn Energizer Bunny. I would have loved to have run with her, but I couldn't follow. I just shuffled along as I watched her run off. Sigh.</div>
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The good news is that the IMLOU run is as flat as an Ironman can be. If it had been hilly, I would have been screwed. I plodded along with my slow pace and ticked off the miles. I don't recall a whole lot of the first lap other than it was cold and windy, and that I just wanted to stop. I saw many of my friends out on the course, which gave me a small boost. While they looked miserable too, they were crushing the race. I could tell that some of them were going to have really good finishing times. </div>
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I had messed up my Garmin when I was in transition, so I was a little off on my milage and times. Ironman didn't have consistent mile markers (what is up with that, BTW?), but I knew I had to hit the half-way mark at a certain time to make the race time cutoff. I didn't pay any attention to the time cutoffs before the race because I didn't think I needed to worry about them, but with the day I was having, I kind of started to worry.</div>
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When I got to around mile 16, I walked out of an aid station with a woman and asked her if she knew what the time cut-offs were. She assured me I was fine. And with that, any remaining motivation I had for the day was gone. We started to talk a little bit, and I thought "I'll just walk a mile with her (she was injured and couldn't run) and then start running again." But then one mile became two, two became three and then I pretty much walked the last half of the race. It wasn't that I couldn't run - I just was having a much more enjoyable time talking to my new friend Kara. And since my times were already shot to hell, I just kept right on walking. I know, it's not very Ironmany of me, but at the time, I didn't care. I was exhausted, cold and bitter. This was the most fun I had had all day, so I kept walking. And yes, I'm kind of regretting it now, but I'm not going to dwell on it. After the day I had, I was pretty happy that I had made it as far as I had without quitting. </div>
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At mile 25, I told Kara good-bye and started my slow shuffle towards the finish. I have a thing about running in the last mile, and I wanted to continue that tradition here. I could hear the roar of the finish as I grew closer and closer, until finally, I turned the corner of 4th Street and saw the finish line. Thank God. I was done.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQ1KpxryNi9IvSo2RWrhuZzCrR56c1Q8Gy40ztyh3kaj2pVoqVfBM9YTh1VP2a5V28HuBvYmfNWfH5rNWIYx_mczqA-1vB733rgBczuHwx4xEzxZfnGJLQXNbu9uqZ6kgx-l9pG0mJAc/s1600/31_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_079463-12409219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQ1KpxryNi9IvSo2RWrhuZzCrR56c1Q8Gy40ztyh3kaj2pVoqVfBM9YTh1VP2a5V28HuBvYmfNWfH5rNWIYx_mczqA-1vB733rgBczuHwx4xEzxZfnGJLQXNbu9uqZ6kgx-l9pG0mJAc/s400/31_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_079463-12409219.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36t51PyZRt1VyWNCaao-3jkW5wQ_-CcSBRRPsGsJfEhUYVjVzFVeXGvAWRQrEtSaisGrTwJreuizxa1siRXQyx_FjRUU_MhBbjajMpZ6w2fbXduCr9vrwD5vy_aCm51kl13q8TptXaz0/s1600/39_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_090577-12409227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36t51PyZRt1VyWNCaao-3jkW5wQ_-CcSBRRPsGsJfEhUYVjVzFVeXGvAWRQrEtSaisGrTwJreuizxa1siRXQyx_FjRUU_MhBbjajMpZ6w2fbXduCr9vrwD5vy_aCm51kl13q8TptXaz0/s400/39_m-100789879-DIGITAL_HIGHRES-1960_090577-12409227.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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<i>Officially a 2-time Ironman.</i></div>
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I don't really have anything more to add about my day. It was long, and hard, and not a whole lot of fun. While there is a part of me that is annoyed I chose to walk that back half, another part of me is pretty proud that I didn't drop out after the swim. Because I really wanted to. As my dear friend Kathy said, "Ironman is not all smiles." And it's not. I was very spoiled by my perfect IMCHOO experience, and I knew that. I almost didn't want to sign up for another Ironman because I knew I would never have a race as perfect as IMCHOO. Boy, was I right. IMLOU was the complete opposite. But I survived and for some reason haven't ruled out doing another Ironman, so that must say something. Not anytime soon, mind you, but I absolutely can see me doing another Ironman in 2019 or 2020. </div>
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Happy RomCom finishers!! (We missed you, Marne!)</div>
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Thank you to Dudley, for being the best sherpa a girl could ask for. He even managed to get my wetsuit back before my race was over! Love you, D. Thanks also to Andrew at FTP for getting me fit enough to finish with only 4 months notice after a 9 month lay-off. Shockingly, until the run, I wasn't "that" far off my pace. If I hadn't been in decent shape, things could have ended much worse than it did, especially in the swim. TRC - you ladies got me into this mess, and I love you all anyway. I hope we have many more stupid adventures together. Mark - Congrats on your first IM. You crushed it. And to my friends from all over who supported me both at the race and virtually - Thank You. You might not think that seeing a familiar face on the course or knowing that someone is tracking you online makes that big of a difference, but it does. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.</div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-61297859385674925842017-10-11T09:34:00.002-05:002017-10-11T09:37:25.921-05:00Ironman Louisville Countdown Today is October 11th. I'm racing Ironman Louisville on the 15th. Four days. Four freaking days. I've been doing ok mentally in regards to this race, at least until yesterday. I took about nine months off prior to registering for IMLOU, so I'm not as fit as I was for IMCHOO, but I feel good about my ability to complete the course in the allotted 16.5 hour timeframe. My training has been consistent (Thanks, Andrew!) and I can tell I'm stronger than I was 100 days ago. I also have some AMAZING friends (TEAM ROM-COM 4EVER!) who are also doing the race and have kept me accountable over the past few months. <br />
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But even with all of the training, and knowing the race is in a few days, I've been in DEEP denial about what is going to happen this weekend. Even as of two nights ago, I was thinking "I guess I should start packing," and then went back to knitting and binge-watching <i>Gilmore Girls</i> for the fourth time. This is a complete turn-around from IMCHOO. I had everything all packed a ready to go days before I left. I read the Athlete Guide several times. This time? I printed it and started to read it, but then moved on to something else by the second page. I still haven't read it completely. And I wasn't freaked out by it at all. I've been pretty stress-free about the entire thing.<br />
That is, until yesterday afternoon. That's when everything hit the fan and now I'm completely freaking out. Here are a few things that are stressing me out right now: 1) My car (that we're taking to Louisville) died yesterday afternoon. We thought it was just a battery, but it's still not running properly so Dudley is running around trying to take care of that this morning. We might have to rent a car, which is fine, but this weekend is going to be crazy expensive already and I really don't want to add to that total. 2) The weather in IMLOU is going suck. So much for a nice, crisp Autumn day. Nope! It's going to be in the 80's with high humidity, 10-20 mph wind and, my favorite, a 60% chance of RAIN! I know that everyone will experience the same race conditions, but I have some great carbon race wheels that work wonderfully when it's dry. But get them wet? Good luck stopping because the brakes won't work. And IMLOU is a hilly course (much worse than IMCHOO, in my opinion), and I'll definitely need my brakes! So, now I'm debating on whether to rent some other race wheels that have aluminum rims so I have the ability to stop or slow down if needed. And I know, I shouldn't use my brakes when racing, but I've ridden this course three times, there are times when I'll need my brakes! 3) I haven't swam in my wetsuit yet this year. I know, this is COMPLETELY my fault, but I was in denial. I always thought - I'll go to the lake next week. And now it's race week and I haven't put the thing on yet. Hope it still fits!! 4) We have an elderly dog who has dementia and I don't want to leave him. We have an awesome pet-sitter who moves into our house when we're gone, so he'll be in good hands, but I still don't like leaving him. 5) I'm racing an Ironman in FOUR DAYS! GAHHH!!<br />
I need to figure all of this stuff out, and quick, because we're leaving for Louisville tomorrow morning. I'm bib #1166 if anyone wants to track me. Ironman has an amazing tracker app that is free if you want to see where I am on the course at any time. Wish me luck!<br />
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-84948196824712142352017-09-01T10:55:00.000-05:002017-09-01T10:55:17.933-05:00What's Kristine Reading? August Edition<span style="font-family: inherit;"> I'm still knitting like crazy trying to finish up gifts for the Holidays, so my reading has been limited, but I'm still keeping up with my book group reads. This month, we read "The Shadow of the Wind" by </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Carlos Ruiz Zafón. "Shadow" is the first book in the "</span>Cemetery<span style="font-family: inherit;"> of Forgotten Books" series, of which there are four. Well, technically, </span>there<span style="font-family: inherit;"> are three books and a short story right now. From what I understand, the fourth book is due to be </span>published<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in 2018.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> ANYWAY, "Shadow" is about a </span>young<span style="font-family: inherit;"> boy named Daniel Sempere who is being raised by his father (his mother recently died), a bookstore owner. When Daniel is around 10 (? I think), his father takes him to a secret library of rare and, for all intents and purposes, forgotten books (</span></span>hence, the name of the series). This library is huge with thousands of books. Daniel is told to wander around and select a book - a rite of passage in the Sempere family. The book he selects? "The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax.<br />
Daniel loves the book, and basically becomes obsessed with finding out more about Carax and his other works (I can totally relate with this feeling). And this is where the story gets interesting - someone has mysteriously destroyed every copy of Carax's books, except for what was stored in the "Cemetery." Daniel's fixation on discovering what happened to Carax and who has been burning his books, and why, takes Daniel on a multi-year quest filled with unusual characters, intrigue and murder.<br />
All of this SHOULD be a set-up for a great book. And a lot of people think it's fantastic (I recently saw "Shadow" on a list titled something like "Books You Need to Read Before You Die."). For me? It was a little slow in many parts which could have been fixed with editing. At almost 500 pages, it was WAY too long. And I'm not afraid of a long book. I read "Gone with the Wind" in a weekend, and I can burn my way though a Harry Potter book in no time. But reading "Shadow" was like pulling teeth for me. Which was annoying because I love the premise of the book and it was very well written. It just needed to be about 100 pages shorter.<br />
myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-87272970845318937462017-08-04T17:17:00.001-05:002017-08-04T17:18:54.249-05:00Knitting for a Cause I've been knitting a lot recently. A lot. As in - I didn't finish a book in July because I've been knitting so much. CRAZY, I know. But I'm working on some things for gifts and knitting takes time. I need to get into audiobooks so I can keep up with my "reading." Oh - and I'm also training for an Ironman. Have I mentioned that? Yeah - Ironman Louisville. It's a long story as to how I ended up doing this race, but I'm in and kind of doing a Couch-to-Ironman program. It's not THAT extreme, as I had been running some, but until recently, I hadn't been to the pool or really on my bike in about nine months. So, I wasn't exactly starting in tip-top shape, but I'm getting there.<br />
But that's all for a different post. What I want to talk about today is knitting. Specifically, knitting for a cause, or causes. One thing I didn't realize when I first started knitting is that many, many non-profit groups would love some donated knitted items. I frequently see posts out on social media about hospitals needing baby hats or blankets. Since I have a lot of friends who knit or crochet, I wanted to collect information on charities in need, in case anyone wanted to donate something.<br />
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<li>Oasis Center (<a href="http://www.oasiscenter.org/">www.oasiscenter.org</a>) - My group of knitting friends donated items to them last year. It's an organization that helps at-risk teens, including homeless teens and runaways. They could use hats, scarves and blankets. </li>
<li>Knitted Knockers (<a href="http://www.knittedknockers.org/">www.knittedknockers.org</a>) - This group provides soft, comfortable knit prosthetics for breast cancer survivors.</li>
<li>Tennessee Kidney Foundation (<a href="http://www.tennesseekidneyfoundation.org/">www.tennesseekidneyfoundation.org</a>) - Needs hats and fistula sleeves for patients receiving kidney transplants. If anyone has a pattern for a fistula sleeve, please let me know! </li>
<li>Comfort Cases (www.comfortcases.org) - Needs small throw blankets (40" x 60" max) for duffels given to children entering foster care.</li>
<li>Local hospitals - In need of hats, socks, booties or blankets for preemies in the NICUs, and also hats for chemotherapy patients.</li>
<li>Halos of Hope - (<a href="http://halosforhope.org/">halosforhope.org</a>) Collects and donates hats for chemotherapy patients nationwide. This site has patterns too!!</li>
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And that's just a few. If you google "where can I donate knitted items in Nashville" all sorts of charities pop up. In fact, the organization Knit & Crochet TN (<a href="https://knitandcrochettn.org/">https://knitandcrochettn.org</a>) focuses on creating knitted items for Nashville charities. If you're involved with an organization that needs items, please let me know! We'll donate to you, too! Now get knitting! </div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-74442763692910343902017-07-17T14:10:00.001-05:002017-07-17T14:10:26.774-05:00What's Kristine Reading? Belated June 2017 Edition Well, June just kind of snuck by me and I didn't write a review. That's not to say that I haven't been reading - I just haven't been <u>writing</u> about reading. But I have a really good book for this month. It will rip your heart out, but it's good. It's "The Girls Who Went Away" by Ann Fessler.<br />
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This non-fiction book tells the stories of the unmarried girls and women who gave up their children for adoption in the period between the 1945's and 1973. You know - those girls who went to go visit their "out of town aunt" for a few months, and then mysteriously returned. These are the true stories about what really happened after they left town. </div>
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Let me give you the set up for the book. Ann Fessler, the author and adoptee herself, interviewed more than 100 women who had given up their newborn babies during the above time period. The time period is important for several reasons. For one, it's post World War II. Unlike the previous Depression Era when people were just trying to get by financially, class and social standing became very important in the post WWII Era. People worked very hard to maintain appearances as being upright, moral Americans. Having a teenage daughter get pregnant just wouldn't do. So, they would ship their daughters off to a home for unwed mothers for a few months, lie to their neighbors about what was going on, and then act as if nothing happened after the girls returned. The end date, 1973, was the year that Roe v. Wade was decided and legalized abortion in the United States. </div>
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There is no other way to describe this book other than heartbreaking. While the details of the women's story change, the basic facts remain the same: 1) girl gets pregnant, 2) parents ship her off to home for unwed mothers to avoid social scandal, 3) girl is treated horribly at "home" by social workers, employees or members of the church (including withheld medical attention during delivery), 4) girl has baby taken away even if the girl wants to keep the child, and 5) girl told to never speak of it again.</div>
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The aftereffect of this trauma for these women was also consistent, even decades later. Though manifested in different ways, the baby they gave up (or were forced to give up) for adoption haunted them through the rest of their lives. Some could never get over the sense of betrayal from their parents, and would never trust anyone again. Others became overly-protective of their later children because they were always afraid someone would come take them away. But none of them ever forgot about their first child. The one who was taken away from them. It's just tragic.</div>
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It's hard to recommend a book that is so emotionally difficult to read, especially when it's non-fiction, but I highly recommend "The Girls Who Went Away." Just have a box of tissue nearby when you do.</div>
<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-82296700976021203762017-06-16T15:53:00.004-05:002017-06-16T15:56:33.383-05:00Fargo Half Marathon Race Report I did the Fargo Half Marathon about a month ago. Nothing really to report other than it was AMAZING! Seriously. If you're running 50 states - THIS needs to be your North Dakota race. No detail for this race was overlooked. The communication was great. The swag was awesome. The race course had amazing volunteers and was FLAT FLAT FLAT! Sure, it was a little tough to get to Fargo, but I had an awesome travel companion (Hi Janet!), and we had a blast! Plus- the race freakin' had MIKE REILLY as a guest speaker! From Ironman!! They also had Dave McGillivray, who is the RD for the Boston Marathon and is comparably awesome, but being the tri geek I am, I freaked out a bit more about Mike. Oh - and because they know that most people don't know what to do in Fargo after the race, they scheduled a Pub Crawl afterwards where you received a matching medal! I tell you - these Fargo people know how to throw a race! Here are some pics. GO DO IT!<br />
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<i>Obligatory pre-race bib pic.</i></div>
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<i>Pre-race. We started in the Fargodome</i></div>
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<i>MIKE REILLY! </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqFjeRIAOpOxxv9UelSRZz5lt_JIyRvIMbHn8EEBOZR7Ze1WkRKRhGThJtIqlVieoDpEya_ev7dloodpwbvL9O_hxOU2xhkrKBaKSK1crDDtENtTyt6APkg72he1Gx3ThBJW0qaueyUg/s1600/IMG_7331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqFjeRIAOpOxxv9UelSRZz5lt_JIyRvIMbHn8EEBOZR7Ze1WkRKRhGThJtIqlVieoDpEya_ev7dloodpwbvL9O_hxOU2xhkrKBaKSK1crDDtENtTyt6APkg72he1Gx3ThBJW0qaueyUg/s400/IMG_7331.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Banners like this were everywhere.</i></div>
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<i>A bison, natch.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdnMTxt6ZNgzQoNK1fW30_9Kv0IQDC6CfQcYUHlgM5m_ToUpHrfZYXlwpnFHLb8woeZppUHFievNRXl5UdJg1jtedewefHtHEu2ycaY4gtPOEJhjgrWLSwC13m1_DFyEPfnjc6ILyn5k/s1600/IMG_7355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdnMTxt6ZNgzQoNK1fW30_9Kv0IQDC6CfQcYUHlgM5m_ToUpHrfZYXlwpnFHLb8woeZppUHFievNRXl5UdJg1jtedewefHtHEu2ycaY4gtPOEJhjgrWLSwC13m1_DFyEPfnjc6ILyn5k/s400/IMG_7355.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>The HUGE finisher's medal.</i></div>
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<i>The matching pub crawl medal and stein.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqFjeRIAOpOxxv9UelSRZz5lt_JIyRvIMbHn8EEBOZR7Ze1WkRKRhGThJtIqlVieoDpEya_ev7dloodpwbvL9O_hxOU2xhkrKBaKSK1crDDtENtTyt6APkg72he1Gx3ThBJW0qaueyUg/s1600/IMG_7331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i></i></a></div>
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<i>SWAG! </i></div>
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I repeat- if you can, DO THIS RACE! Preferably with friends. It's awesome. Thanks, Fargo! </div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-27361589418829955912017-06-07T14:34:00.005-05:002017-06-07T14:34:42.606-05:00TDOC 5k Race Report I am WAY behind on posts, but I've done two really cool races within the past month that you should know about. The first one was the TDOC 5k. Why was this 5k so special? Because TDOC stands for Tennessee Department of Corrections. And we ran at a prison. Just not just ANY prison, but the historic Tennessee State Prison that has been featured in many movies, including The Green Mile. This place has been closed for years because it wasn't fit for human habitation. So, it's not only a prison, but an abandoned prison. Kinda creepy, but cool.<br />
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There isn't a whole lot to report about the race, as it was only a 5k, but the experience as a whole was really neat. I picked up my packet the night before when it was rainy, which really gave the prison an ominous vibe. We couldn't go in - it is condemned after all. But I was able to take some photos. You can immediately see why so many movies and shows have used this site for their projects. The building is beautiful. Built in 1898, it was in use until 1992. It had cells for 800 prisoners, but had over 1,400 admitted the first day, so it was overcrowded from the start.<br />
Anyway, getting back to the race, the next day we met up with some friends and ran the 5k. It was pretty flat. NBD. But afterwards, TDOC gave a walking tour of the grounds and told us a bit of the history of the prison. Our guide was a former guard who worked at the prison when it was functioning. Really interesting. He was a guard during the Pork Chop Riots of 1975 when prisoners got mad because they were served bologna instead of pork chops. Seriously - <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/13/archives/a-prisoner-is-slain-and-10-wounded-in-tennessee-riot.html?_r=0" target="_blank">you can read about it here</a>. He also told us about Death Row and some of the infamous prisoners who were incarcerated there, including James Earl Ray.<br />
If you live in Nashville, you need to do this race. You get to run in a crazy cool place, learn a bit about Tennessee history AND help raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. I'm absolutely doing it next year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpiJI3CRWIzNHXQ-bPsDRe4OiKQXBHNwCQOCOrlXxcQm5F4ERio0AEZiRYO5PIUOPA-yh_0kbeoxIOrfTD228twgHOXI5DI2Q54RAeQsrld1-mhEEKDfLI1fAngdzJOoLSJwoBsEt43c/s1600/Exit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpiJI3CRWIzNHXQ-bPsDRe4OiKQXBHNwCQOCOrlXxcQm5F4ERio0AEZiRYO5PIUOPA-yh_0kbeoxIOrfTD228twgHOXI5DI2Q54RAeQsrld1-mhEEKDfLI1fAngdzJOoLSJwoBsEt43c/s400/Exit.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbRIDXAf6ro3vTbjtdaj_u02bpEaeOoYpTp6JJWM4hiEo-xTYb946DKK1OqZzVug0bMxkrm3QpbNVFJwIJ7gFD9Gv3VSXxMerwOSmJJinXXVp7iEIEP_3uwZUH484wVm5r6FkAmEOtk4/s1600/Me+and+Dud+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbRIDXAf6ro3vTbjtdaj_u02bpEaeOoYpTp6JJWM4hiEo-xTYb946DKK1OqZzVug0bMxkrm3QpbNVFJwIJ7gFD9Gv3VSXxMerwOSmJJinXXVp7iEIEP_3uwZUH484wVm5r6FkAmEOtk4/s400/Me+and+Dud+1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Next up: My recap of the Fargo Half Marathon! myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-14043993725169479572017-05-31T18:50:00.002-05:002017-05-31T18:54:55.874-05:00What's Kristine Reading? May 2017 Edition This is going to be a quick recap because it's the last day of the month and the Preds are about to play Game 2 in the Stanley Cup Final in about 45 minutes. If these books were great, this review would take longer, but they were only so-so. Therefore, they are only going to receive a so-so review.<br />
Sticking with last month's theme of getting my books from the 100 Best Books of the Decade (So Far), I picked up #1 "Open City" by Teju Cole and #6 "Skippy Dies" Paul Murray by from my local library. After loving "Just Kids" (#2) last month, I had high expectations for these books. Maybe too high, though I don't think so. Let's start with "Open City."<br />
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Mostly based in New York City, this novel is about Julius, a Nigerian immigrant who is studying psychiatry. While beautifully written, there isn't much of a "story" to this book. It's about Julius wandering around NYC and thinking about all of the mindless things one thinks about when wandering a city. Things like bedbugs and Alexander Hamilton. And that's pretty much the entire book. He'll go visit a friend every once in a while, and we learn a bit about his background, but for the most part, it's just him wandering and running into people. However, because the writing was so lovely, the book wasn't as bad as I'm probably making it out to be. I can understand how it was selected to be on this list. I wouldn't have placed it as #1, but I can see how it made it to the list.</div>
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Now, the second book, I just don't get. "Skippy Dies" is reviewed as being really funny. But as you can tell from the title - Skippy dies! And Skippy isn't a goldfish or anything. He's a boy at a boarding school who overdoses. (Not a spoiler - it's in the title and is told in the first chapter.) I get dark humor, but I just didn't find this book funny. Additionally, I didn't like any of the characters. If you have read any of my past reviews, I need to like at least one person in a book to be able to tolerate it. I didn't like "Gone Girl" or "The Goldfinch" for similar reasons. Plus, for heaven's sake, where was the editor for this book? It was 600 pages and could have been edited down by at least 200. It would have been a much better read (again like "The Goldfinch." Editing would have helped tremendously).<br />
However, I do have to say that I'm obviously in the minority here regarding every book I've mentioned in this post. If you look up any of them on Goodreads, they all have four-five star reviews. So, read them for yourself and let me know what you think!<br />
Oh - and GO PREDS!! <br />
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-47971335094695962672017-04-30T09:37:00.004-05:002017-04-30T09:37:56.463-05:00What's Kristine Reading? April 2017 Edition<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got this month’s book from the “100 Best
Books of the Decade – So Far” list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Y’all
know me. I’m a sucker for book lists and feel the need to read every book on
them, especially if the list is “Best of” or “Greatest Ever.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, being me, I typed up the list in
Excel and then highlighted the books I have already read. I’m a little ashamed
to admit that I have only read 14 of them. So, I immediately reserved a few
books on the list at my library, and this was the first book that came in. And
that book is “Just Kids” by Patti Smith (the punk rock Patti Smith, not the
80’s band Scandal lead singer Patty Smyth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Huge difference).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As usual, I didn’t do any kind of research on this book before I
started it. Literally, all I knew was that Patti Smith wrote it. I
assumed it has something to do with her roots in rock and roll, but I wasn’t
sure. The book starts out with her childhood. You notice right away that Smith
is a beautiful writer. Not in the superfluous, “I’m sticking lots of long words
in this paragraph to describe this scene” style of writing that many authors
have, but in a very tasteful, poetic way. Which makes sense because she started
out a poet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>Since I assumed this book was solely about Smith, I got a little
confused when she kept mentioning “Robert.” Who was Robert? A brother? Am I
supposed to know who Robert is? Ummm – yes. A quick google search of “Patti
Smith” brought up controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who was
Smith’s, for lack of a better term, soul mate. Their relationship is pretty
legendary in artistic circles and I had no clue. Again, with the shame... <o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>The story really starts to take hold when Smith moves to New York, meets
Robert, and starts living in the Chelsea Hotel. The hotel, and those who lived
there, fascinated me, and I’m now obsessed with reading the everything ever
written about the Chelsea Hotel. If you are unaware, the owner of the Chelsea
Hotel would use an artist’s portfolio as a down payment for a room if he
thought you had talent. As a result, the hotel became a haven for struggling
artists, which attracted other artists. Smith mentioned walking into an
accompanying restaurant and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were there. This is
going to sound a little weird, but it just seemed like such a legitimate time
to be an artist or musician. I guess I’m a little burnt out of the music
industry right now with so much manufactured crap out there these days. Reading
about musicians who turn down record deals because they care about their art was refreshing. Granted, they were poor as dirt, so I suppose you have to take
that into consideration.<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>While the struggle for Patti and Robert to make it as artists is what moves the book forward, the
heart of the story is their relationship. You need to
read the book to truly appreciate the depth of their connection. And I highly
recommend you do, especially if you have an interest rock, photography and the arts in the late 1960's, but also because Smith’s writing is
so damn beautiful you’ll want to cry. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><!--EndFragment-->myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-83348770956132484312017-04-25T10:44:00.001-05:002017-04-25T10:44:03.700-05:00Columbia Half Marathon Race Recap What? What's this? A race recap? Yes, I know. It's been a while. While I've raced one or two smaller races since the NYC marathon, this is the first one that has been anything longer than six miles (and that six-miler about killed me). I have no excuse. Life has been busy, and I haven't been training. But lo and behold, I found out that I had conference in DC and I don't have Maryland crossed off my 50-state half-marathon list yet, so I signed up for the Columbia Half Marathon. I wasn't exactly sure how stupid this was because it's been a long time since I have done a race unprepared, but I figured I'd give it a go. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAraOAMWY7USq9b61PctRCZnO5kGVokmQHVtCH2zB_K34cgdKuSNwZODulNNrzXEcItYcynOFOA3Xmd45LLG3VstHvaxzpg5iI-2CLBGSe3kW6FMz2B1hfkgHdbBOUT5wR0cvdCgHu-90/s1600/IMG_7204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAraOAMWY7USq9b61PctRCZnO5kGVokmQHVtCH2zB_K34cgdKuSNwZODulNNrzXEcItYcynOFOA3Xmd45LLG3VstHvaxzpg5iI-2CLBGSe3kW6FMz2B1hfkgHdbBOUT5wR0cvdCgHu-90/s320/IMG_7204.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The race started at 8:15, and Columbia is about an hour from my parent's house in Northern Virginia, where I was staying over the weekend. I left the house at 6:00, in case I got lost or hit traffic. You never know what can happen when you're in the DC area. Fortunately, I got there at 7:00, and was able to park and check in without any issues. The race started right next to the Columbia Mall, and google didn't have any issues finding the start line. <br />
However, checking in was when I received my first bit of bad news. I spoke to a man who had run the race before and stated about the course: "It's not bad the first half - only rolling hills. It's the second half that has the steep hills. But you can walk those. Everyone does." Umm - what? And yes, I know this course elevation is widely available on the race site, but who has time to look at that? <br />
I spent the next hour killing time in my car, and debating on how many layers to wear. We had a break from the rain, thankfully, but it was 45 degrees and cloudy with a little wind. But it was supposed to clear up and be 50 and sunny during the race. Not a huge difference if you're a spectator, but five degrees and sun makes a world a difference when you're running. I went with the two-layer, long sleeve over the short sleeve combo and was feeling good about my decision until 8:14 when we had a break in the clouds and the sun can shining through. Oh well, too late to run back to the car to drop of the extra shirt now. The gun went off and we started to run.<br />
As I expected, we hit a hill immediately. Nothing too steep, but it went on a while. After a short recovery, we hit another hill. And then another. Again, most of them weren't terrible, but they grinded on for what seemed like forever. I was really wishing I hadn't spend the little training I HAD done on the treadmill. The course went on like this for most of the first six miles when we finally had a nice long downhill. Problem for me is that it was TOO steep (I'm a horrible descender), so I didn't really make up any time there. Others were flying by me, so I should probably work on this skill! <br />
We meandered through the neighborhoods of Columbia. It was a nice course with many of the neighbors coming out of their homes to cheer. That was fun. We did have one stretch that was kind of on a highway, but the police and volunteers were out in full-force, so we didn't have any issues with traffic. Seriously, this was one of the best-supported races I have been to. They did a great job.<br />
I was OK physically until about mile eight. I figured this was when the wheels would start to fall of, and they did. The second half of the course was harder not because of the steepness of the hills ( I actually think they were about the same as the first half), but you were just so tired and beat down that the hills felt harder. And yes, I had a to walk more than I would have liked. Stupid hills.<br />
The course was mostly a circle, with us returning on the main road back to the starting line. This was great because, other than one small hill a half-mile out (which was mean), we mainly had a descent back to the finish. HAZZAH! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmS94v0jnx0aUvsJGSVg3yMBnnCqLlWjdv4QdOk2krLZCnQI6oqq6m1Gt0aItK3QTV-5GpKYdlbYI-2zEUrEzIaqoCw2lmgHbmFwaSAmcStV1r2xQJZhbdil78Etow_DvQgB7g7jEtjM/s1600/IMG_7205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmS94v0jnx0aUvsJGSVg3yMBnnCqLlWjdv4QdOk2krLZCnQI6oqq6m1Gt0aItK3QTV-5GpKYdlbYI-2zEUrEzIaqoCw2lmgHbmFwaSAmcStV1r2xQJZhbdil78Etow_DvQgB7g7jEtjM/s320/IMG_7205.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Not sure why this is hazy, but this is the race village.</i></div>
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<i>And the finish! </i></div>
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This is where I would normally post a photo of my finisher's medal, however, they didn't arrive in time for the race, so they are being mailed to us. Yes, that's kind of a major faux pax, however, this race was so well-run in every other aspect, that I can overlook that. If you're in Maryland next year in mid-April, you should check out this race. There is a 5k too!!<br />
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Columbia Half Marathon: 2:13:18<br />
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-44825846119248072702017-03-31T20:00:00.001-05:002017-03-31T20:00:09.562-05:00What's Kristine Reading? March Edition Wow - this year is flying by. I'm glad I'm not doing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge because I would be WAY WAY WAY behind. But I did get a couple books read during March including "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. <br />
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I found out about this book because it's about to be a series on Netflix and it looked interesting. Plus, I'm a unashamed fan of YA lit, so I thought I'd check it out. </div>
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The story is a bit dark. It's the story of a high school student, Clay Jensen, who comes home from school one day to find a package with 13 cassette tapes in it. That's right - cassette tapes. The tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate who committed suicide a few weeks prior. What was on the tapes? I'm not going to tell you! But the book contains some mystery and intrigue, and it really made me appreciate the fact that I'm not in high school anymore because it sounds horrible. It was a good read though. It didn't end the way I thought it was going to, which was kind of disappointing, but still worth the read. </div>
<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-90930319030847645442017-02-22T14:37:00.000-06:002017-02-22T14:37:00.580-06:00What's Kristine Reading? February 2017 Edition I'm a long-time member and fan of BookBub.com. For those who are unfamiliar with BookBub, they are an online service that scans sites like Amazon, Apple and other booksellers for e-book sales and discount offers, and then they e-mail them to you. I love this service. I know I have downloaded a ton of books that I never would have otherwise been exposed to, just because they were free or offered at a deep discount. Some of them are best-sellers, but most of them are books and authors of which I am unfamiliar. <br />
As a result of my impulse downloading, I have a lot of books on my iPad. A lot. So, every few weeks I step aside from my "assigned" reading from book groups or the Read Harder Challenge and check out one of the free downloads the caught my eye. Some of the books are duds (and since they are free, I don't really mind), but some of them have been wonderful surprises. That is the case with this month's book "<i>This is Where I Leave You</i>" by Jonathan Tropper.<br />
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I know I'm probably behind on discovering this book and author, because this book was a NY Times bestseller. I first became aware of it when it was adapted into a movie a few years ago, which starred Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda. The movie looked interesting and witty, but I'm not really into movies so I never saw it. But I remembered the movie trailer when BookBub sent me this book title, so I bought it. And I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this book. It's about a VERY dysfunctional family (four adult children in varying stages of relationships) who all return "home" after their father dies. Upon returning, they learn that it was their father's dying wish for them to sit shiva for seven days. And so they do, and they are forced to deal with all of the family drama that has been avoided for years. While this could be a emotionally draining book, it's actually really funny, which is why I enjoyed the book so much. I liked it so much that I've marked other Johnathan Tropper books in my "want to read" list. Check it out and let me know how you like it! </div>
myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-86807583923609812822017-01-27T14:45:00.000-06:002017-01-27T14:45:39.171-06:00What's Kristine Reading? January 2017 Edition My book this month? <i>Hidden Figures</i> by Margot Lee Sheerly.<br />
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Unless you've been in hiding, you know that this book has been made into a very popular movie that is currently in theaters. I haven't seen it yet, but I really want to. I have a feeling that this movie is going to be one of the rare occasions where I enjoy the movie more than the original book. Both are about a mostly unknown (until recently) group of African-American female mathematicians who worked at NASA and were the human computers behind the space program. The story is interesting and needed to be told, however, I found the book to be a little dry. I wanted to hear more about the personal lives of these women, but it was more on the technical side. I also felt the author jumped around from character to character and I often confused the storylines. Even so, I'm glad I read the book because it exposed me to a side of history of which I was previously unaware, and that's always a good thing. </div>
myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-41922467015833910142016-12-31T17:20:00.001-06:002016-12-31T17:31:57.605-06:00Looking Back / Moving Forward 2016 - 2017 Edition This post is usually where I grade my goals for the year. However, this year will be REALLY easy because I forgot to make any goals, so I guess I did pretty well. 😊<br />
Well, I guess that's not entirely true. I did make my "Read 52 books in 52 weeks" goal for Goodreads. And I finished my last book this morning. It was "Montana 1948." It was very good and fast read. I recommend it. If anyone wants to check out my list, please visit my <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/2620979" target="_blank">"Year in Books" on my Goodreads page: </a><br />
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But other than that - I didn't make any goals, so I guess I'll just reflect on what I did this year:<br />
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<li>The big thing that I did this year is I learned how to knit and I LOVE it. Seriously addicted. I took an Intro class at Haus of Yarn back in March and haven't stopped knitting since. I even started a monthly crafting group and have started recruiting others to knit with me. I'm such a geek about knitting that I have favorite yarns and needles (yes, there are major differences between needles - who knew?). I even make it a point to visit yarn stores when I travel! It's insane! But it's so much fun and it's very cool to have someone comment on something you're wearing and you say "Oh - I made this." </li>
<li>Visited Vegas. I know this might not seem like that much of an accomplishment for most, but I hadn't been to Vegas since I was 9 years old. It's changed a bit since then. We went for my Mother-in-Law's birthday, and part of the celebration included going to see Zumanity. If you haven't heard of this show, look it up. It's crazy and an interesting choice of show to see with your Mother-in-Law (she had a friend who worked there and gave us tickets). Lots of laughs though.</li>
<li>I started racing trails, which is something I said I would never do. Lesson learned, huh? I have nearly killed myself several times because trail running is hard, y'all. But running through mud is fun, so I keep doing it. </li>
<li>Completed two Half-Ironmans - Raleigh and Muncie. Sure - they weren't my best races time-wise, but both races were a lot of fun and I got to spend time with good friends. </li>
<li>Raced the New York Freakin' Marathon!! This was huge and something I will remember for the rest of my life. If you're a runner, you NEED to do this race.</li>
<li>Went to Seattle. Dudley and I took a great trip to Washington State. We hit Seattle, Bainbridge Island and Tacoma. It's a lovely area and we can't wait to go back. And I ran a half-marathon while I was there, which brings to my race map...</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;">I got to fill in Washington, North Carolina and New York this year! Not a huge advancement, but I'm getting there.</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">We still have a home full of dogs. I don't talk about that very much, but we are involved with Big Fluffy Dog Rescue and have fostered for two years. Dudley and I currently have two fosters right now, along with our three residents. If anyone is ever looking for a dog - talk to me. I can find you a dog! </li>
<li style="text-align: left;">And finally, on a very sad note, I lost my grandmother in 2016. She was 101 years old and active until the very end. We miss her, but were fortunate she was with us for as long as she was. </li>
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As far as next year? I don't know. I'll still read a lot, but I probably won't do the 52 in 52 again. Knitting has eaten into my reading time, so maybe I'll cut the book number in half. We'll see. I'm kind of looking forward to just seeing what comes along!! </div>
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I hope everyone has a wonderful 2017!!</div>
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-7257550649703832512016-12-22T12:40:00.001-06:002016-12-22T12:40:08.109-06:00What's Kristine Reading - December Edition Wow- this month has really flown by! Christmas is only four days away, which also means that I have about a week and a half left in my 2016 reading challenge. Thanks to my new knitting addiction, it's been tougher to get those 52 books in this year, but I'm currently on track to finish them all. I'll write more about that in a post next week, because THIS post is about something I read this month. And that is "Wonderful Tonight" by Pattie Boyd.<br />
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For those who don't know, I'm a huge Beatles fan and have been for as long as I have been listening to music. I was <u>obsessed</u> with them as a kid, which is pretty funny considering they weren't a current band. My friends all had posters of whatever teen sensation was hot at the moment on their walls, and I had pinned up good old John, Paul, George and Ringo. To this day, I still have statues of the Fab Four on display in our house. They were given to me for Christmas when I as in 7th or 8th grade and they creep my husband out to no end, but I love them. </div>
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Even as a child, I was a voracious reader and I read whatever books I could find on the boys from Liverpool, so I have known of Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's first wife, for decades. Considering she is known as THE musical muse of the 1960's, I was looking forward to this book and hearing about her life from her perspective.</div>
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A little backstory for those who aren't familiar with Pattie and her place in rock history - she is the inspiration behind The Beatles "I Need You" and "Something" (which is one of my favorite songs of all time). She also famously inspired Clapton's anthem of unrequited love "Layla." As I mentioned, she was George Harrison's first wife. Then 19 and a local model, she met George in 1964 while on the set of "A Hard Day's Night," where she was cast as a schoolgirl. Harrison was immediately smitten with Boyd, and (according to Boyd) proposed before even asking her out, which she declined because she was seriously dating someone else. She promptly went home, dumped her boyfriend and started dating Harrison soon after. They married in January 1966. George became good friends with Eric Clapton in the late 1960's. Clapton soon fell in love with Pattie and so created one of the infamous love triangles in rock & roll history. Clapton pursued Pattie even though she was married to Harrison, writing such tormented songs as the aforementioned "Layla" during his pursuit. At one point, Clapton blatantly admitted to Harrison "I have to tell you, man, I'm in love with your wife."</div>
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Eventually, Harrison and Boyd broke up, and Boyd married Clapton. They stayed together through a few drug and alcohol-fueled years before divorcing when Clapton revealed he was having a baby with an Italian model. (This child, Conor, tragically died after falling from a high-rise window in New York City and was the inspiration behind Clapton's "Tears in Heaven").</div>
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Now, from that backstory, you would think this book would be AMAZING. What a life this woman had! She married not one but two of rock's greatest legends and inspired some of their best work! (Clapton's "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight" were also written about her.) But unfortunately, the book kind of fell flat. From what I can tell, Boyd spent a good portion of the 60's and 70's in an alcohol and drug-induced stupor. She probably doesn't remember a whole lot of it, especially 30 years after the fact (this book was published in 2007). And that's how the book reads. It jumps around in time and is kind of scattered. And honestly, Boyd doesn't come off as all that interesting. I'm sure she has some depth to her personality, but the book made her come off like some pretty fangirl who got lucky and married a rock star - twice. Yes, she was very pretty, but a surely there had to be more to her than her face to inspire two musical geniuses. Unfortunately, this book doesn't show it.</div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-65721848428811965272016-11-30T12:35:00.002-06:002016-11-30T12:35:30.589-06:00What's Kristine Reading? November Edition This month's book was one that got a lot of buzz two decades ago (WOW - I'm old), but one that I never got around to reading. I purchased the book and everything (I used to purchase ALL of my books. Moving a few times helped rid me of that habit.), but just could never summon the energy to start reading it. Which is weird, because the topic is one that actually interested me. The book? "<i>I Was Amelia Earhart</i>" by Jane Mendelsohn. <div>
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It's a short book, only about 160 pages. It tells a fantastical story of Amelia, and her navigator Fred Noonan, the days immediately prior and after their disappearance. The twist is that it is told from the perspective of Amelia and Fred. But I have to tell you - I didn't love it. It wasn't "bad." Not at all. Mendelsohn's writing is quite lovely, in fact. Almost like a poem. However, I think I was more in the mood for lighter reading at the time and I just couldn't get into lines like "The sky is flesh." The narration also jumps from first to third person really quickly and I didn't like that. It wasn't confusing, but more annoying (for me).<br />
Since I own the book, I'm tempted to keep it for a while and read it again in a year or two. Maybe I'll be able to appreciate it more when I have time to fully absorb the writing and themes of the book. But for now, it was just Ok.myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-52289353359115004052016-11-29T17:59:00.000-06:002016-11-29T18:01:45.149-06:00New York City Marathon Race Recap I purposefully delayed my race recap of the New York City Marathon a bit because I wanted the experience to fully soak in before writing about it. But then I got sucked into binge-watching old seasons of Gilmore Girls before the revival came out last Friday, so it's a BIT more delayed than I had planned. Oops.<br />
However, even after waiting almost a month to write this recap, I'm still kind of at a loss for words about the marathon. It was just SO huge. SO overwhelming. Words just can't do it justice. It is truly something that has to be experienced to fully understand the enormity of this race. If you are a runner and have any desire to do a marathon - this is the one to do.<br />
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We started our adventure on Friday with the Expo. (I learned my lesson from Chicago and made sure we had a few days in New York before the race to hit the expo and relax a bit. MUCH less stressful!) We had plenty of time for packet pick up and to do a little shopping, which was good because it was PACKED!! Picking up our bibs and shirts wasn't so bad, but the swag line for official gear was kind of a nightmare. It serpentined around and through the entire shopping area.<br />
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<i>The line for the expo. Still about 20 minutes from checkout.</i></div>
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<i> </i>As you would imagine, the NYC marathon brings in all of the heavy hitters from the running world, whether they are running the race or not. We randomly saw both Kara Goucher AND Shalane Flannigan while wandering the expo. It was very cool. I missed Meb though. I would have loved to have seen him.</div>
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The next morning, we headed out to meet up with Team in Training for a little shake out run (THANK YOU again to everyone who donated to my TNT campaign). I was the only TNT'er based in Nashville for this race, but a group had been communicating online, so it was nice to finally meet everyone. Professional triathlete Linsey Corbin joined us for the run. I totally fangirled her and got a photo with her. </div>
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The rest of Saturday was pretty much spend resting and making sure we were set up logistically for the race on Sunday. The NYC marathon is the largest marathon in the world with over 50,000 runners. It has a lot going on just because of how huge it is. Additionally, it's a point-to-point race, stretching from Staten Island to Central Park, and you have to get transportation to the start. Fortunately, TNT had morning shuttle busses for us, and I was able to secure Dudley a spot on the same bus. Even though we had to meet about five hours before the race start, it was a relief to not have to worry about subways and ferries, which is what a lot of runners took to get to the start. I heard later that some of the ferries were severely delayed and runners missed their start times. </div>
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Sunday's alarm rang at 4:30 AM, but it didn't really matter as I was up anyway. Even though I wasn't really racing, I still had pre-race jitters. Funny how that happens. After getting dressed and eating, Dudley and I made our way to the shuttle stop. I based our hotel location on this stop, so I knew we weren't far. And we weren't. It took all of five minutes to walk there - which meant we had to hang out in the cold for a half hour before we could board the busses. Me and my Type-A personality! Oh well, at least we were in the right spot.</div>
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<i>Just hanging out in the cold.</i></div>
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<i>Hazzah for warm busses! </i></div>
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I don't recall how long the trip was over to Staten Island, but it wasn't too bad. We did get stuck in traffic for a bit with all of the other shuttle busses, but again, it was better than being out in the cold. Plus, we were off our feet for a bit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8LC6N9AYK7lXozbZvO8w5NqYlw6dsYa9P1c_qTlUQSYwh_OtgKSaMRMLXBK4dOAdg_haLLrrG9rgeE507yPURfGJZOKwktBnv3r3x0WlZ0LZk446nYnSGdZmxqUyYKHCiav-xaK2j9o/s1600/Bridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8LC6N9AYK7lXozbZvO8w5NqYlw6dsYa9P1c_qTlUQSYwh_OtgKSaMRMLXBK4dOAdg_haLLrrG9rgeE507yPURfGJZOKwktBnv3r3x0WlZ0LZk446nYnSGdZmxqUyYKHCiav-xaK2j9o/s400/Bridge.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>The Verrazano Bridge! My next trip over will be on foot!</i></div>
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After disembarking from the shuttles, we had to wait in line to get through security. We did a lot of waiting over the weekend.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxq7uK609qGNPh9ZF63FOKhJbG8ueuy1_2e2YZ-hpgXADAbKDpWIjxOQx8u0axi2CNC5NeJXNdH7CgnFeX48nO0ygL1PBtQ3jlGUCXfJtsmrDyGuAhY8O0euMvkCdRfzOtbFHdRNhZiA/s1600/Security+Line.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxq7uK609qGNPh9ZF63FOKhJbG8ueuy1_2e2YZ-hpgXADAbKDpWIjxOQx8u0axi2CNC5NeJXNdH7CgnFeX48nO0ygL1PBtQ3jlGUCXfJtsmrDyGuAhY8O0euMvkCdRfzOtbFHdRNhZiA/s400/Security+Line.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1jNbxNb_zmCtEPsBaGLT1NM8x2VSqXkckMSTmvmT5KJF2qYcSQw3PwwCVx4kEuHPi8U-LOr8chS6u8x5LMHHrV-ESSVv5KE_0cmMVv_8aR8vyuWd4QlCCxSpRjfBHg8jMIQIs2ewL0/s1600/Security+Selfie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1jNbxNb_zmCtEPsBaGLT1NM8x2VSqXkckMSTmvmT5KJF2qYcSQw3PwwCVx4kEuHPi8U-LOr8chS6u8x5LMHHrV-ESSVv5KE_0cmMVv_8aR8vyuWd4QlCCxSpRjfBHg8jMIQIs2ewL0/s400/Security+Selfie.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Security line selfie!</div>
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Once we were inside the Racing Village (the starting area) we had about three hours to kill, so we sat and people-watched for a bit. Dudley did bag-check for the race, so we were able to wear several layers of clothing and stay pretty warm while we waited. Some people took waiting very seriously and came prepared with blankets and pillows. Being first-timers, we didn't think about things that much. A blanket would have been nice though.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCHYEsAJmhOhKfEDasxSA24Tu4fM3C3ozUvROJFF6hhdwuQTpWrb_3sDC9lAmj4qvwPPQ-Hk387zy7hS0JBuLkbx63_aIo1QDsuQ47Bk6LtFxpSwqA4HPnpCRArNuV4q7Hp8YVtfhptRw/s1600/Waiting+PreRace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCHYEsAJmhOhKfEDasxSA24Tu4fM3C3ozUvROJFF6hhdwuQTpWrb_3sDC9lAmj4qvwPPQ-Hk387zy7hS0JBuLkbx63_aIo1QDsuQ47Bk6LtFxpSwqA4HPnpCRArNuV4q7Hp8YVtfhptRw/s400/Waiting+PreRace.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>I was tying to not be obvious when taking this photo, </i></div>
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<i>but the people directly in front of us came prepared! </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqihsFc5YHjK8K-HlFcB5S3NH9GB9zw54GAaXJY_KDk6wOJNERfFUuTxz5Et3Zj2pwLtfgSuoHq0VvuxmMQfufKmegLbRt3BUwgrm-oRhUHIWDBk63qgiYIuvTSpY2NAhOj7UkuRqZPQ/s1600/Waiting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqihsFc5YHjK8K-HlFcB5S3NH9GB9zw54GAaXJY_KDk6wOJNERfFUuTxz5Et3Zj2pwLtfgSuoHq0VvuxmMQfufKmegLbRt3BUwgrm-oRhUHIWDBk63qgiYIuvTSpY2NAhOj7UkuRqZPQ/s400/Waiting.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Bummed because I left my spacesuit at home.</i></div>
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We got a little bored after a while, so we also did some wandering around the "Villages." Yes, this race is so big that there are villages. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSiCI1gZFbIq3hNZ1dmHzJQ67N7AGLteMSNzhaVXy9gUnXWRJjohU4Mp9DqAwDzWKF7kH6pKeO4h9V9ehyphenhyphenHjGpRtr2F65EGOAsMm90APH8fz_PN-AnkNpH_Dsomb7StxGqE0iGisAqNk/s1600/IMG_6502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSiCI1gZFbIq3hNZ1dmHzJQ67N7AGLteMSNzhaVXy9gUnXWRJjohU4Mp9DqAwDzWKF7kH6pKeO4h9V9ehyphenhyphenHjGpRtr2F65EGOAsMm90APH8fz_PN-AnkNpH_Dsomb7StxGqE0iGisAqNk/s400/IMG_6502.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>THERAPY DOGS! They had therapy dogs for the runners pre-race!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoaTLAWTnLoYmALzp0SG6vUs1JfHfsRf1NjEQwsSPm2FRlC-0WiJZl8KKce4PDpdvAtCagFjXt64BvGiZaZsPBZNtSTEYCZK3OZthNmsoGuaz1lrCXqyZ0x3pcZDYhCGM7i7ymPXaBN8/s1600/NYC+Sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDoaTLAWTnLoYmALzp0SG6vUs1JfHfsRf1NjEQwsSPm2FRlC-0WiJZl8KKce4PDpdvAtCagFjXt64BvGiZaZsPBZNtSTEYCZK3OZthNmsoGuaz1lrCXqyZ0x3pcZDYhCGM7i7ymPXaBN8/s400/NYC+Sign.JPG" width="248" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivoI7O2wdzzK0Ob8B-XPjyBxTCyQsmwI2E9w1itaQNlZ0IW8uDb2sMRXfzSh7AEHmSfLyW-otGpSPCw8UgfU46pDz2eZ58hygK5mFKTRUqb2NqvEHDgD2IrbzPx9tmwfzUuG-RZMykPrA/s1600/Start+Timeline.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivoI7O2wdzzK0Ob8B-XPjyBxTCyQsmwI2E9w1itaQNlZ0IW8uDb2sMRXfzSh7AEHmSfLyW-otGpSPCw8UgfU46pDz2eZ58hygK5mFKTRUqb2NqvEHDgD2IrbzPx9tmwfzUuG-RZMykPrA/s400/Start+Timeline.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Timeline of the various start times for the villages, corrals and waves.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNqykyTy9j0LvUqdVOIaduQliH3FX_A4-ja0o-sqr451A_EP26b0ZrBh_cTVqz0COAxdrAfKYoDLU3N66zrg2t0O0UynG62NOT32jYdSSNobG_JQFtGrYDTNh2X-5HSWjplcRt_XfZQ8/s1600/Start+Map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNqykyTy9j0LvUqdVOIaduQliH3FX_A4-ja0o-sqr451A_EP26b0ZrBh_cTVqz0COAxdrAfKYoDLU3N66zrg2t0O0UynG62NOT32jYdSSNobG_JQFtGrYDTNh2X-5HSWjplcRt_XfZQ8/s400/Start+Map.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Map of the Villages. We were green.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjHpRWWaIPYYS2y7ad402pa-ZUOH4fomjW9zulORwZtZZauxA1KBAN9AQQ6o2CqwKJa_FsM0xqEONNBze29cSWrgv5AJc6jG2FM_5N5Kp-FlANx3UCBs9db2ovPXyzYYXXrmMJDIBst8/s1600/Jumbotron2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjHpRWWaIPYYS2y7ad402pa-ZUOH4fomjW9zulORwZtZZauxA1KBAN9AQQ6o2CqwKJa_FsM0xqEONNBze29cSWrgv5AJc6jG2FM_5N5Kp-FlANx3UCBs9db2ovPXyzYYXXrmMJDIBst8/s400/Jumbotron2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Giant Jumbotrons! </i></div>
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<i> </i> At about 10:20 AM, our village, wave and corrals (Green, Wave 3 and Corral D) were called to the start line. FINALLY - after five hours of waiting- we only had about 20 minutes before we were going to be able to run! This was also when Dudley and I split up. He was assigned a different Corral, and we decided that since I had trained and he hadn't (AT ALL), that we were going to run separately. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT50Nn3F2N7TJVrRpnTLAqeOGclfSXsYZcgtjKmTfLE9F-yUFq5g7ksy-HMLDWPrROAHqZcrKBLxZM11Jsp_1tKmxlfBg8YmAjKsZQli7wt165gNGN667fgl7eRt-SzG0g6qpy2jSsRE/s1600/Corral+D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIT50Nn3F2N7TJVrRpnTLAqeOGclfSXsYZcgtjKmTfLE9F-yUFq5g7ksy-HMLDWPrROAHqZcrKBLxZM11Jsp_1tKmxlfBg8YmAjKsZQli7wt165gNGN667fgl7eRt-SzG0g6qpy2jSsRE/s400/Corral+D.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Hello, Corral D!</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7o_jEzjotTM8yqvjuUsB0M8L65tLHOiM7UVrALDtY5QD1b8x6lxhmFrmMhnqRarq5rLHaCGBPLt2aW2C-NzaKwOKzgbX22Ue9BbNcLZ1UNTbWowiZetR1314WU4TdzCUF0ZWyqGIWiI/s1600/Selfie+Start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7o_jEzjotTM8yqvjuUsB0M8L65tLHOiM7UVrALDtY5QD1b8x6lxhmFrmMhnqRarq5rLHaCGBPLt2aW2C-NzaKwOKzgbX22Ue9BbNcLZ1UNTbWowiZetR1314WU4TdzCUF0ZWyqGIWiI/s400/Selfie+Start.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>About to start!! </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheEJpEwHhH_ZH9JH3oquIVR56UOm6zsmmEMY_ngaLtNXdxrtnTJOPZh-9HY76BRcgzWX5giIMZ8ROiJavACCM0jETi8hBbGMter4AZdmu69OsiIKassY9vEVC2Qsh3a62sJyoKfvxaCfI/s1600/We%2527re+Off.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheEJpEwHhH_ZH9JH3oquIVR56UOm6zsmmEMY_ngaLtNXdxrtnTJOPZh-9HY76BRcgzWX5giIMZ8ROiJavACCM0jETi8hBbGMter4AZdmu69OsiIKassY9vEVC2Qsh3a62sJyoKfvxaCfI/s320/We%2527re+Off.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>And we're off!! </i></div>
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While I was very excited to finally start running, I was little bummed when I realized that my Village was assigned the lower level of the Verrazano bridge. I wanted to run on the top level. It just seemed cooler, plus you didn't have to worry about anyone peeing on you. Apparently - that's a thing. But Green ran the lower level so I stuck to the inner section of the bridge to avoid any pee splatter. Being on the lower level also meant that I lost my satellite reception immediately, so I had no clue as to my pace or distance. Then, even when I regained satellites, my distance was off for the remaining 24 miles. It was a bummer, but since I wasn't really going for time, it didn't matter too much.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrHlfUXtbZq-31TSO4Y61C_U7LY_F1mZwKc80GnkWX5BeJ7md_smXVElAiZkHlj06LldcI_qgZlBW2LYbnZSeLnyrKiz2ZyUO301Gh-6Nto4ec9b_anqf8qe2JdSdMZpBJtdtqmEykAM/s1600/Brooklyn+Sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrHlfUXtbZq-31TSO4Y61C_U7LY_F1mZwKc80GnkWX5BeJ7md_smXVElAiZkHlj06LldcI_qgZlBW2LYbnZSeLnyrKiz2ZyUO301Gh-6Nto4ec9b_anqf8qe2JdSdMZpBJtdtqmEykAM/s320/Brooklyn+Sign.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Post-Verrazano bridge, we headed into Brooklyn. The spectators were great. We had a perfect day for them to come out and cheer - around 55-60 degrees and sunny. One of those day where it got a little warm running in the sun, but nothing too bad. Pretty ideal conditions, actually.</div>
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Step by step we made our way through the boroughs. I wish I had some witty stories to fill up the page, but I don't. I pretty much just ran non-stop for the next 4:45 hours. It was extremely crowded, and I found that I ran with the same group most of the race. It was just too crowded to move around people unless you REALLY wanted to. I didn't want to expend the energy so I just went with the pace of the crowd. Every once in a while I would slow down and take a good look around just to absorb the experience. I was running the freakin' New York City Marathon!! How cool was that? </div>
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The course was relatively flat, though there are several bridges that hurt. I had an issue on the one bridge around mile 15 that led us into Manhattan. My left calf, the same one that tore earlier in the season, was giving me fits and it felt like it was going to seize at any time. I think it was because, while I had run hills in training, they weren't like running over mile-plus long bridges that just went on forever. Exiting that bridge was SO LOUD though. You heard the crowd way before you saw them. This might have been my favorite moment of the race (other than the finish, naturally). Props to the spectators (again).</div>
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I felt relatively good until the dreaded mile 20. While things didn't completely fall apart, I was READY for the race to be over. I was so happy when we entered Central Park and headed toward the finish. Again, the spectators were 4-5 people deep and yelling their fool heads off. Even if you wanted to stop to walk, I can't imagine actually doing it because of the crowd. They almost carried you to the finish. The only thing that was kind of annoying here was that the spectators seemed to be more inclined to walk on / through the race course in Central Park (pre-finish line barricades). I almost ran into two of them. Come on people! I know you want to see your runner, but we're TIRED and have been running for a really long time. Don't make us swerve to miss you!!</div>
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And then, there it was. The finish line. After almost 11 hours of waiting and running, I was actually there. I finished the New York City Marathon. </div>
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<i>Finish line selfie!</i></div>
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After the race you are funneled through various lines for photos, food, mylar blankets and ponchos. (Sidebar - when you register for the race you are given the option of bag-check or a poncho for post- race. Choose the poncho. It is amazing! Weather proof and fleece-lined. But they only have 30,000 ponchos for 50,000+ racers so you have to choose quickly!!)</div>
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<i>Mylar blankets</i></div>
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<i> </i>I ended up finishing in something like 4:47, which kind of surprised me because that's what I ran in Chicago and I felt terrible in Chicago. Even with the calf issue, I felt MUCH better in NYC. Dudley finished a just shy of 6:00 which is amazing considering he didn't train. I think the marathon was his fifth run of the entire year. </div>
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If you couldn't tell - I LOVED LOVED LOVED this race. Would it be something I'd want to run every year? Probably not. It's just too much of a "thing" logistically, plus it's a pretty expensive weekend. However, I'd love to run it again in a few years and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to run a marathon. Or even if you don't - head up to NYC for the weekend and be a spectator. They looked like they were having a blast out there cheering and dancing!</div>
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As always, a huge thanks to Dudley for being such a good sport and supporting my crazy race adventures. THANK YOU to everyone who donated to my TNT campaign, which allowed me to participate in this race. And thanks to Andrew from FTP Coaching who got me (again) to another finish line upright and smiling.</div>
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BAM!! Thanks, NYC!! </div>
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-65936051197696509852016-10-31T19:49:00.002-05:002016-10-31T19:51:03.514-05:00What's Kristine Reading? October Edition This month's book is one that I have been very curious about for a while because it's part of a series that is extremely popular and has devoted fans. And now that I've read it I'm even more curious about the book because I just didn't get it. And that book is "<i>My Brilliant Friend</i>" by Elena Ferrante.<br />
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WHY? WHY? WHY is this book so popular? I don't understand! It's the story of two poor Italian girls growing up in a small town just after World War II. Both of them are very smart, but have limited opportunities due to their financial circumstances. One is a horrible little girl (Lila) who is a terrible friend, and the other one (Elena) is her doormat and remains her friend (for decades) for some unknown reason. Yes, the book takes a look at class divisions, politics and feminism, but the main theme of "<i>My Brilliant Friend</i>" is friendship, specifically the friendship of Lila and Elena. And since I couldn't figure WHY Elena remained Lila's friend, the book didn't work for me. </div>
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Plus, the book is SLOW. Really slow. I had heard that it picked up after 150 pages or so, and it did (a bit), but 150 pages is WAY too long to wait to find a book interesting. If it wasn't for my rule of always finishing a book once I start it, I would have dropped it without hesitation. </div>
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Apparently though, I'm a glutton for punishment because I went ahead and started reading the second book in the series because I was told that book two was MUCH better than the first one. But no. I'm half way through and Lina is still a terrible person and Elena is still her doormat. I don't care how good books three and four are supposed to be. I'm done with this series.</div>
<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-52064110218404006502016-10-14T11:42:00.001-05:002016-10-14T11:53:59.927-05:00The Middle Half - Race Report The Middle Half is a race I have been wanting to do for a long time. I'd heard some really great things about it over the years, but I've either been out of town on race day, or if I were in town, it was sold out. For a small race in the middle of Murfreesboro, it's surprisingly popular and has sold out on the first day in previous years. So, when I received the reminder about registration for the Middle Half a few months ago, I planned ahead and had my browser open right when registration started. I was finally going to run the Middle Half! The 10-year anniversary race at that!<br />
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Race day started at 4:00 AM. Yes, that is insanely early to get up to run, but Middle Tennessee State University (where the race was held) is about 45 minutes away and the race started at 7:00 AM. We had heard that parking was a cluster due to construction, so we wanted to get there early. Fortunately, while there was construction, traffic wasn't too bad and we easily parked in a relatively close lot. It was a little chilly that morning, so we (Dudley and our friend Jennifer) decided to utilize the race bag drop and wear warmer clothes on the walk to the starting line. We ended up turning right back around though because even though the tag said "bag drop," it was actually more of a "key drop" and backpacks weren't accepted. Whomp Whomp.<br />
We were able to hook up with several of our friends pre-race. As I mentioned, this is a very popular race and lots of East Nasties (and other friends) were there. It's popular for several reasons, but the main one being that it is FLAT FLAT FLAT. People come from all around to try to PR here. And while I'm not currently in PR condition, I was curious to see how I could do. My running confidence hasn't been all that great recently. I think this is mainly due to how freakin' hot it's been and I wilt like a delicate flower in the heat. Hopefully, my runs will be a bit stronger with the cooler temperatures.<br />
The race started right at 7AM. Well, actually, I take that back. They tried to start right at 7AM. They did the countdown and everything. But the timer wasn't working or something so they didn't actually start the race after the big countdown. They fixed it within a minute or two and we were off.<br />
I started running with Jennifer and another EN Patrick. We were planning on lining up with the 2-hour pacer and see how we did. My schedule called for me to run this in 2:05, so I knew 2-hours would be a bit of a stretch, but not too much. Unfortunately, there were a ton of people who wanted to run 2:00 and we lost the pacer almost immediately. Oh well. <br />
The first 7 miles of this course were great. We ran past some beautiful historic homes and the Oaklands Mansion. There was also some wonderful course support from spectators. I was feeling really good, too. Sure, I was kind of tired of running after an hour or so, but I felt fine. Then we turned Mercury Blvd. and it all changed. This was a bigger, more highway-ish, road and not as scenic as the previous miles. We also lost most of the spectator support (the water stops / bathrooms were still on point, though). Without the distractions of pretty houses and bands, the race wasn't so fun for me anymore. The pain kind of started to creep in. We were on this road for about a mile, and then we turned Rutherford Blvd. and it was like stepping into a wind tunnel. Sure, flat races are great - unless it's windy. From miles 8-12, we were in a crazy headwind. It was brutal. At mile 10, I knew I was supposed to pick up my pace, but I just physically couldn't because of the wind. I was killing myself but not going any faster, which is really quite frustrating, so I backed off a bit and just tried to get through it without stopping to walk. And believe me, I wanted to stop to walk.<br />
At mile 12, we turned off Rutherford and headed back to MTSU. It was such a relief to be out of that headwind. By this time, I knew I wasn't going to break two hours, but I was still under pace to beat my 2:05 assigned time. I held on and crossed the finish at 2:03. I'm satisfied with that.<br />
The post-race festivities were great. They had all sorts of food for the runners, with plenty of tables and chairs for us to use. That's something that is generally lacking at races, and was appreciated here. We also received a great finisher's medal, celebrating the 10 years of racing.<br />
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Now that I have finished The Middle Half, I can see why it is so popular. It is truly a flat race that is very well-organized. And if you're local, you're probably going to know a ton of people racing so it becomes a huge social event. A round of thanks to the race organizers, volunteers and spectators for putting on a great race and also to Jennifer and Patrick for running with me for some or all of the course. And, of course, to Andrew at FTP Coaching for getting me to the finish line uninjured and faster than expected. (FYI - Dudley had a good race too - we just didn't run together on this one.) </div>
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Next up: the NEW YORK MARATHON!!!</div>
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-4072921786593105232016-10-03T21:22:00.003-05:002016-10-03T21:22:33.917-05:00One Last Vacation Post I've delayed in posting about this last event from our vacation because it's pretty upsetting and I wasn't sure how to approach it. I supposed the best way is to deal with it directly, so here it is: Dudley found a dead body in our hotel hallway when we were in Seattle. Literally - a dead body. He had gotten up early (6AM) to get some coffee and left me in the room. Almost immediately after he left the room, he called me saying that he's pretty sure that there was a dead body in the hallway.<br />
Umm- I'm sorry, but WHAT? Obviously, this woke me up pretty quickly and he told me his story. So you can picture this better, our hotel was U-shaped and the elevator was in the center of the U. Our room was down the left hallway. There was an open door that led down the right hallway, but this was propped open the entire time we were there. Dudley left our room and walked towards the elevator and there was a body laying right next to the propped open door that led down the right hallway. He said immediately he knew the person, he was male, was dead. Not asleep, not passed out drunk - dead. And that he had been for probably several hours. There was also a hotel maid standing there. Dudley asked, "Is he OK?" to which she replied, "the police told me not to say anything."Alrightly...<br />
The elevator arrived, and Dudley got on thinking that the situation was under control because the maid mentioned the police. But not only did Dudley get on the elevator - SO DID THE HOTEL MAID! Remember, she was the only other person in the area - there weren't any police or other hotel employees there at this time. She left a dead body alone in a public hotel hallway!<br />
That was when Dudley called me, told me what was going on and then he went to get coffee. At first I was going to stay in the room. I had no desire to be a part of whatever was going to go on down the hallway. But then I thought what if it was murder and the perpetrator was still on the floor? Would it be an active crime scene? Am I going to be banished to my room for the rest of the day with a killer skulking about? With that thought, I got dressed and got the heck out of the hotel. Unfortunately, I had to pass the unfortunate soul who was still laying in the hallway. By this time, there was one police officer who was standing behind the body. There still wasn't any attempt to cover him though. It was pretty surreal and very sad.<br />
When I got to the lobby, there was another police officer talking to the front desk clerk. They were talking pretty openly about the situation and, at the time, no one knew who he was. I guess he didn't have ID on him. The desk clerk stated the the person didn't appear to be a guest in the hotel, or at least not one they knew about. There also weren't any reports of concerned guests looking for someone who never returned to their room. Basically, a stranger showed up and somehow died on our floor and no one knew why, how or who he was. Comforting, huh?<br />
I found Dudley and we hung out at the coffee shop for a bit before heading back to the room. We needed to change clothes to get ready for whatever we had going on that day. We figured that by this time, the police would have removed the body or closed off the area. Turns out - nope. He was still there. Uncovered. Though there was another police officer there by now.<br />
When we left the hotel again, the medical examiner had arrived and he was examining the body. The body was still uncovered, but the ME had at least tried to shut the door a bit to conceal what was going on. The next time we came by, everyone was gone. Later that night, Dudley spoke to the night desk clerk and was told that the gentleman was, in fact, a guest and that he had a heart attack. Honestly, based on what I heard earlier from the front desk clerk, I don't know if I believe that. Especially since, while we were staying in a nice area, both Dudley and I thought we saw a drug deal go down in the park outside of our hotel. I think that a heart attack might just be a story they told us because it was the most tame explanation they could give.<br />
Even a month later, I'm still not sure how to process this event. It's tragic, obviously. Extremely sad. But when you separate from the emotion of the death, I'm also upset at how the hotel handled the situation. You think they would have done something to steer guests away from the area, but they didn't. In fact, they left the area completely unattended. I know they were probably trying to keep guests from finding out about someone dying in their hallway, but we didn't get ANY communication from them at all, even after they knew that Dudley saw him. I'm not sure what I expected the hotel to do, but definitely SOMETHING.<br />
I'm not sure how to wrap this up other than to say that I hope that the family of the gentleman who passed has found some sort of peace. I wish there was something we could have done to help him.<br />
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-65786150490121024612016-09-26T08:52:00.002-05:002016-09-26T08:52:41.272-05:00What's Kristine Reading? September Edition It's no secret that one of my favorite authors is Jane Austen. I have read all of her novels several times. I own all of her books as separate editions, as well as a complete set of her novels in one bound edition that is a fixture on my bedside table. One time, when Dudley was out of town, I finished the book "Pride and Prejudice" and then immediately watched both the BBC mini-series and Keira Knightly film adaptations of the book. A veritable "Pride and Prejudicepalooza," if you will.<br />
So, when I heard about "The Austen Project," I was intrigued. This project, sponsored by HarperCollins, pairs six contemporary authors with the six completed books of Jane Austen. Each author was assigned to rewrite the book, but under a contemporary lens. Unlike "Bridget Jones' Diary" or "Clueless" which were inspired by the novels but had different characters, these books would use the same characters and storyline as the original books - just updated. So far, I have read three of them - "Emma," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Eligible," which is the retelling of "Pride and Prejudice." <br />
While I would love to say that I have really enjoyed these books, I was ready to give up on The Austen Project after reading two - "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility." It's not that the books weren't well-written, because they were. It's just that even though the authors tried to update the books, it wasn't enough, and plot conflicts that were prevalent in the early 1800's aren't really applicable today. This was an era where if a man and a woman were alone in a room together, it was assumed they were getting engaged. Estates being entailed to the eldest male heirs so the wife and daughters end up homeless don't exactly fly in today's society. And don't get me started about secret engagements that can't be broken because the man feels it's his duty to marry her even though she's a horrible person. It's a SECRET ENGAGEMENT! Who is going to know?!<br />
Given my history with the Project, when I received the notice that "Eligible" arrived at the library, I didn't exactly race down to go pick it up. In fact, I even contemplated not reading it at all. But when I went to the library to pick up a different book ("My Brilliant Friend"), it was still there so I picked it up. And I'm glad I did because I, surprisingly, really enjoyed it.<br />
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"Eligible" was written by Curtis Sittenfeld. I've never read any other books by her, but she's now on my radar. What I liked so much about this book is that she not only updated it, but she changed the storyline JUST enough to make it seem realistic. Sure, some of the storylines were a little far fetched, but this isn't supposed to be great literature. It's supposed to be fun, and it was. </div>
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The characters weren't 100% the same as the original novel, so it was neat to see how the storylines were going to develop. You still have the five Bennet sisters, of course. Lizzy is a writer, Jane is a yoga instructor, Mary is a professional student, and Kitty and Lydia are cross-fit enthusiasts. Mr. Bennet, is still very kind but kind of clueless and Mrs. Bennet is an overly-dramatic, somewhat racist, mess. Darcy is a very, very proud neurosurgeon and Bingley is a contestant on a "Bachelor" type dating show called "Eligible." And catch this - they live in Cincinnati! How do they all fit together? Well, you're just going to have to read the book and find out. </div>
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As far as the rest of The Austen Project, I think I'm going to give the remaining books a shot. At least the one for "Persuasion" when it comes out, since that's one of my favorite Austen novels. Hopefully, it will be as fun as "Eligible" was. </div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-53611708007540731762016-09-23T08:58:00.002-05:002016-09-23T08:58:34.440-05:00Bainbridge Island and Olympic National Park After a great three days in Seattle, we caught a ferry to Bainbridge Island. Seattle is surrounded by all sorts of cute islands, and Bainbridge came highly recommended, so we went there. I suggest that if you go to Bainbridge Island, make your lodging plans earlier than a few days prior. I'll go into why a bit later, but trust me.<br />
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<i>Seattle via ferry.</i></div>
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We spent the first few hours in Poulsbo. Technically, this isn't on the Island, but it's where the car rental place was, so we hung out there for a bit. This quaint little town was founded by a Norwegian named Jorgen Eliason, so there are references to Vikings everywhere. Is had definite Stars Hallow vibe, which I found very charming. I kept looking for Kirk. (Gilmore Girls for those who don't know. Watch it.)</div>
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<i>Welcome to Poulsbo!</i></div>
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<i>Main Street Poulsbo.</i></div>
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<i>Killer seagull. I'm not joking. He's a legend in Poulsbo.</i></div>
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After a tasty lunch in Poulsbo, we headed back to downtown Bainbridge. Like Poulsbo, they had a cute downtown area with lots of little shops and restaurants. I looked up at one of the directional signs and saw something for Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. As you might know, I've been obsessed with knitting recently and Churchmouse is famous in knitting circles. They have some great patterns, including a fabulous one for a poncho that I'm currently making. Surely, this wasn't THE Churchmouse, right? Turns out - it was! They're based on Bainbridge Island! Who knew? I was honestly more excited about seeing this store than any normal person should have been. I spend a LONG time in there looking around and talking to the clerks. I didn't buy anything, because heaven knows I have more yarn than I know what to do with, but I wanted to! </div>
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As I mentioned earlier, if you want to spend the night on Bainbridge Island, make your plans earlier than two days prior to going - especially in peak season. There is only one main hotel - the Best Western and, unfortunately, that one was booked, so we went the B&B route. After many phone calls, we finally found one that had a room for two nights (our length of stay on the island). It looked very promising! It had llamas! Who doesn't love llamas?! But once we got there, we found the place was really run down and not exactly clean. I don't want to bash the owner by naming the place, because she was very nice, but I think she was just overwhelmed and couldn't maintain the place properly. Steps were broken, grass was overgrown - we didn't even get keys to the room because she couldn't find them. Unfortunately, by this time, there wasn't anything we could really do about it as there weren't any rooms left on the island. We HAD to stay there at least one night. But on a whim, we called the Best Western, hoping that maybe someone had cancelled for the next night. While no one had, they told us of another hotel that didn't come up on any previous searches. HAZZAH! We were able to secure a room for the following evening and got the heck out of the rundown B&B.</div>
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<i>Hello, Llama!! </i></div>
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Our last day on the island, we got up crazy early and headed out to Olympic National Park. We easily could have spent our entire vacation at this park. It. Is. HUGE! They even have two sets of rainforests! But since we had to get down to Tacoma for the half marathon, we only had one day at the Park. We hiked two sets of trails, though we didn't go THAT for out on either one. We thought about it, but we really didn't have the right shoes or enough food and water to go out in the wilderness all day, so we stayed on the more popular, calmer trails. We didn't want to end up as a news story about stupid tourists who got lost with no food, so the state had to send the National Guard out on a search and rescue mission.</div>
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If you haven't been to this part of the country, you need to put it on your list. I'm warning you though - there is so much to do! We never even made it to Victoria or to Mt. Rainier, which were two of the main things I thought we were going to do originally. Both Dudley and I had a great time and we're really looking forward to going back. Soon. </div>
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myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6149244811850934901.post-6836896911137847242016-09-18T21:15:00.000-05:002016-09-18T21:15:55.284-05:00Three Days in Seattle Dudley and I recently went to Seattle for a little vacation. Neither one of us had ever been to Seattle, or that part of the country previously. In fact, all I really knew about Seattle was what I'd seen in movies, the Seahawks, and that it rained all of the time. Oh - and Starbucks was based there. But considering I don't drink coffee, that last one didn't really appeal to me. But since Seattle is close to several National Parks and a ferry ride away from Victoria, British Columbia, I figured we'd fly in to Seattle and spend a day before moving on elsewhere.<br />
Wow- was I wrong. Seattle is so cool and there is SO much to do! We spent three days non-stop exploring and I'm sure we could have easily spent the entire week there and been throughly entertained. We mainly hit the touristy stuff - the Space Needle, the Farmers Market...those kind of things, although we tried to stay away from the touristy restaurants and ventured to more of the local haunts for food.<br />
We stayed in a hip little neighborhood called Belltown. It's centrally located to everywhere we wanted to go and we could walk everywhere. (FYI- you don't need a car in Seattle. We took a train from the airport to the downtown area and walked to the hotel.)<br />
Probably the first thing we noticed about Seattle is how dog-friendly the city is. I'm not exaggerating in stating that within the first half-hour of getting there, we saw two dachshunds and a corgi out walking. This is my kind of town! There also happened to be a dog-park across from the hotel - BONUS!<br />
The second we noticed about Seattle? It's freakin' HILLY, y'all! Not so much where the hotel was, or by the Space Needle, but if you go down to the Farmers Market and then down to the waterfront, be prepared to walk up and down some serious hills.<br />
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<i>So many tourists.</i></div>
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<i>Even more tourists were here. The line went down the block. For coffee.</i></div>
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<i>View from the waterfront.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxUwETvq86xFk3okyn5UcaJ_9U6yjfHZg8TMKNUmPetpwBcWWl4nvQeduD3uOoZ_dLKlZof6wtGAMPc20FQoM037DQiKNMQlUceR0V7LrrikOytD_38peFX04FAidj1RPoDzfNHdknTg/s1600/IMG_5973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxUwETvq86xFk3okyn5UcaJ_9U6yjfHZg8TMKNUmPetpwBcWWl4nvQeduD3uOoZ_dLKlZof6wtGAMPc20FQoM037DQiKNMQlUceR0V7LrrikOytD_38peFX04FAidj1RPoDzfNHdknTg/s320/IMG_5973.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>The Gum Wall. SO DISGUSTING!</i></div>
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<i> </i>We did a cool tour called Underground Seattle. Did you know that Seattle is actually built on TOP of Old Seattle? Apparently, the original city was in a place where buildings weren't really supposed to be built, so they would flood a lot. And then they caught fire in 1889 and most of Seattle burnt down. Rather than moving the city to someplace a bit more hospitable, they decided to rebuild ON TOP of the old buildings and just pave over everything. It still blows my mind how it all worked out, but the tour was fascinating and also hysterical, so if you go to Seattle, you should go on this tour. Here is a <a href="http://www.undergroundtour.com/about/history.html" target="_blank">link telling more about it.</a></div>
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We also did the trip up the Space Needle and a tour of the Chihuly museum, which is adjacent to the Space Needle. Expensive ticket, but worth it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRba4eL8ISmyjShRbWvNl9XDAMTtNe4sxU89f1lKa1RXhF33xLQLdduSmg5I7j15AG_zGyabDp79iLeS6eotsmNiCYiAwn0GanLyo2_dolcfBV1TtAqIRtXg2EilrCA4ntddVzDtj4xEo/s1600/IMG_6059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRba4eL8ISmyjShRbWvNl9XDAMTtNe4sxU89f1lKa1RXhF33xLQLdduSmg5I7j15AG_zGyabDp79iLeS6eotsmNiCYiAwn0GanLyo2_dolcfBV1TtAqIRtXg2EilrCA4ntddVzDtj4xEo/s400/IMG_6059.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>View from the bottom.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dmxG_WKH_Q2u2THkvVJgr6mUfaWVtjKEOgZL29YCZrNzoO8H3a_tgtlREgEqbEbzy2AfWFMQRFlDGXS9RHAMq_KXW6BvMUb7TalVCq2iPyVP87MJkcvm8m6OaQYTNJHUPNIhOUfQT8U/s1600/IMG_6026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dmxG_WKH_Q2u2THkvVJgr6mUfaWVtjKEOgZL29YCZrNzoO8H3a_tgtlREgEqbEbzy2AfWFMQRFlDGXS9RHAMq_KXW6BvMUb7TalVCq2iPyVP87MJkcvm8m6OaQYTNJHUPNIhOUfQT8U/s400/IMG_6026.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>And the top.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEine853RI6ud2uyC9RCsLH9SZz4KM-I-_LY5B9J8xbXJOHs09C9YnRieh0ArUsej0cNCrGk13V4QDUS-kNiIFCsJP6ogM5K2UPbTcoWXLxY0to2P-BP-JWc-OWA7WV8vWc-GN4moGiv9JI/s1600/IMG_6034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEine853RI6ud2uyC9RCsLH9SZz4KM-I-_LY5B9J8xbXJOHs09C9YnRieh0ArUsej0cNCrGk13V4QDUS-kNiIFCsJP6ogM5K2UPbTcoWXLxY0to2P-BP-JWc-OWA7WV8vWc-GN4moGiv9JI/s400/IMG_6034.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<i>Chihuly is freaking amazing...</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgD9jPInW9djzfLi711Iv4dglKFm8KmxeYuq0iIlNa_nb_rkIJWlXWTToiwbRjJogxMVuUDst-AdE49ZD9whNJJvVCmLKsNwbdE-XMmbK46sMPkYYTsGg3IwGBGEx1Tr6mehKSsfcAan4/s1600/IMG_6041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgD9jPInW9djzfLi711Iv4dglKFm8KmxeYuq0iIlNa_nb_rkIJWlXWTToiwbRjJogxMVuUDst-AdE49ZD9whNJJvVCmLKsNwbdE-XMmbK46sMPkYYTsGg3IwGBGEx1Tr6mehKSsfcAan4/s320/IMG_6041.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Seriously amazing.</i></div>
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One day we took a trip over to Ballard, which was a recommendation from our hotel front desk clerk. They have a canal there with the busiest locks system in the US. Who knew? I had never seen locks in action before. It's a slow-process, but very interesting, especially since they had been doing this here for over 100 years. They also have a Fish Ladder there, which just cracked me up because while I know fish don't climb ladders literally, it's certainly an interesting visual. In actuality, a Fish Ladder is a way for salmon to pass through the locks. For more info, check out the <a href="http://www.ballardlocks.org/about.html" target="_blank">Ballard Locks website</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRAofwxtzmE8zctilVWYMHvTAxmMIbtwWRME2nBmiHHygsdolqDyT0Imgh9G3mLz3dckWWF1__s9gTE8IZAX4prpO5Bf9KPydr0vUJ3pemi9Hh-qRkDE25mrHICVKLyD-vk0e8hl8fY0/s1600/IMG_6082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRAofwxtzmE8zctilVWYMHvTAxmMIbtwWRME2nBmiHHygsdolqDyT0Imgh9G3mLz3dckWWF1__s9gTE8IZAX4prpO5Bf9KPydr0vUJ3pemi9Hh-qRkDE25mrHICVKLyD-vk0e8hl8fY0/s400/IMG_6082.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Hiram M. Chittenden Locks</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDd1FKBSu9dsA-rvAHB2ZA8lRjT3Go4TE8Nvzzc40Cv6PDG3wx41LoQF-53Fh9YS3bKFeRydx90xwes68HUe_qbmUdoOE-HvSph7tnhNKPUbWv8dcD5SAO8fznaGaxeX4bUcIxPBqiF4/s1600/IMG_6091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinDd1FKBSu9dsA-rvAHB2ZA8lRjT3Go4TE8Nvzzc40Cv6PDG3wx41LoQF-53Fh9YS3bKFeRydx90xwes68HUe_qbmUdoOE-HvSph7tnhNKPUbWv8dcD5SAO8fznaGaxeX4bUcIxPBqiF4/s400/IMG_6091.JPG" width="300" /></a>\</div>
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<i>FISH LADDER! </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_h2zk7JOdvZ6lNoUOBUQNNpcEETk1vI13Qu6SuMoBacXXUvLnqLRj_Ho25LEgi4TcMadsiIjKeuXJslY58POBYK92GRYkJgZBZ5_6Zq4R8vBWwczUuZZZ6ZQNlsv-GtBxIqpzWr9H6EU/s1600/IMG_6085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_h2zk7JOdvZ6lNoUOBUQNNpcEETk1vI13Qu6SuMoBacXXUvLnqLRj_Ho25LEgi4TcMadsiIjKeuXJslY58POBYK92GRYkJgZBZ5_6Zq4R8vBWwczUuZZZ6ZQNlsv-GtBxIqpzWr9H6EU/s320/IMG_6085.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>Obligatory Salmon photo.</i></div>
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We really had a great time in Seattle, and know there was a lot more to explore, but we had other places we wanted to visit while were we in the area, so we left after three days. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Seattle, you should go. It's not a cheap visit - it's up there with NYC and, apparently now, Nashville. But it's worth it.</div>
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Up next: Bainbridge Island and Olympic National Park!</div>
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<br />myllstogohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530991816015506700noreply@blogger.com0