Carousels, Lullabies and everything in between

It has been another long time since my last post. Lots going on, unfortunately, not so much in the world of running for me. I am still running when I can - lunchtime runs have at least kept me going. I have run the last two weekends now: last weekend was a 6.5 mile run and this weekend was a 4 mile run. Not great lengths by any means, nor were they fast - at best a 9:00/mile, but I did get out there. My lack of sleep is once again catching up to my running and I cannot find any speed. My legs have felt heavy. Not where I want to be at this time, but I am trudging forward.

In one of my last posts I had mentioned going to the Children's Museum. It was great. I know Lilli was a little young yet to enjoy most of it (though she loves to people-watch) she did enjoy the "babyscape" area where she played with big cushioned blocks and looked at herself in the mirrors, and she enjoyed her first carousel ride! My nieces loved all of it. It was a tiring day, but so much fun.

After that, we went back to my parents house where my mom made a huge dinner and we ate and relaxed the rest of the evening. We got home late that night and ended up relaxing on Friday. Saturday night we were back down at my parents where we left Lilli with her cousins and my mom and dad and my sister, her husband Matt and Stephanie and I we out for dinner and a movie. We went to Red Robin, which has great burgers and then went to see Ironman - I highly suggest seeing this movie - it was great!

Then that Sunday was Father's Day... my first. I had hoped for a picnic out at Fort Harrison State Park, but schedules didn't work out and we ran out of time. Instead Stephanie's family came over for dinner as a farewell party of sorts (Stephanie's parents have since moved to Arizona).

And finally, I have discovered probably one of the greatest ideas I have ever come across... lullaby music...

No, not Twinkle, Twinkle little star and Brahms Lullaby, but cool music - my kind of music. I have found a series of CD's that take rock songs and turn them into lullabies. It was a bit of an accident that I found them, but during a search on the libraries web site I came across "Rockabye Baby!" The first one I found was lullaby renditions of Coldplay, but then I expanded my search and came across AC/DC, Nine Inch Nails and the Ramones to name a few.

I was able to get the Nine Inch Nails CD right away, the others have been requested... I wasn't sure how it would sound, but I have been growing tired of the Baby Einstein Lullabies for some time.... I loved it. And more importantly Lilli loved it. Admittedly, it is a little weird listening to "Closer" or "Head Like a Hole" while she is going to sleep, but she doesn't know the words (luckily) and I can enjoy some music while she fades off into blissful sleep (and sometimes I fade off too).

Oh, and I picked this up too:

Lillian is a bit young to appreciate it, but I grew up on this stuff and it brought back great memories... hopefully she'll enjoy them as much as I did/do.

And I would be remiss if I didn't post a few more photos of Lilli from this past weekend...

Ralich Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Marathoner in Training

This was a shirt we picked up at the Dances With Dirt Race. They had a bunch of different shirts and onsies, but I saw this one and had to get it... who knows, maybe she'll be joining me on a run someday - even training for her own marathon...

Lost and Found

So, it's been a bit crazy the last few weeks. The week after the half marathon I did no running whatsoever. This was not planned, nor was I sore or injured, I was just buried in work... ugh. Then came Memorial Day Weekend.

That Saturday had us going to the 500 Festival Parade - the precursor to the Indy 500 (Mine and Lilli's first one). It was cool - we had great seats - right near the beginning and right up front and Lilli did so good. From there we went home for a quick nap - for most of us (not me) and then off to a birthday party for Steph's friend Jennifer whose son Drew was 1 year old. Another first for Lilli - her first birthday party invite...

And finally from there, we went to our good friends Tom and Carol for a cookout. By the end of this we were all pretty exhausted, but Lilli did so good. I, unfortunately, came down with more head congestion and ended up not being able to hear in my right ear... the creeping crud apparently still around (I ended up finding out it was an ear infection).

The next day we relaxed a little in the morning then we were off to the in-laws for the "final" cookout at their house. Their house has sold and they have both quit their jobs (last day is today) and are preparing to move to Arizona. On Monday we just hung around the house. I was feeling a bit cruddy still and just needed to relax.

The following week I got in two mid-week runs. Not terrible runs either, but not a long distance run that I felt I needed. Other than that, that was it for the week - not much else to report.

Then last weekend was our neighborhood's garage sale, so we spent Friday night getting stuff together - Steph's parents brought over a bunch of stuff to get rid of as well (including a van). Then that night we had awful storms that knocked out our power around 10:30pm and it didn't come back on until 1:30 pm the next day. But all through the day we worked the garage sale, selling most of Steph's parents stuff - including their van. We made 20% off of their stuff, which was good, since we didn't sell much of our junk... anyone want a drafting table?

Sunday was a blur and then it was back to work on Monday. I very stressful week with tons of work piling on top of me and no end in site. I got in two more mid-week runs but that was all. The weather is supposed to be lousy tomorrow, but I am hoping to get in a good long run some time this weekend - we'll see.

My youngest sister, her husband and my three beautiful nieces are coming in this Sunday and will be here all week. Steph and I are taking Thursday and Friday off to spend time with them. Thursday we are going to the Children's Museum. I am looking forward to going (for selfish reasons - being a big kid at heart). So a nice short work week, but unfortunately it is a short work week - i.e. even more stressful.

Race Report: Inaugural Geist Half Marathon

I am FINALLY getting around to my second race report in the last two weekends...

After my Dances With Dirt experience I took it easy for a couple of days - mainly to let my legs heal. Oh they were sore... anyway I got in one run mid-week and it felt just fine so I thought I would be okay for another race on the weekend. Besides, I did not have plans to PR, but just to finish without embarrassing myself too much.

I arrived an hour early to park and use the bathrooms. Then took a leisurely stroll to the finish line since it was a mile away from the parking. They offered shuttle buses, but I thought a walk/jog would be best. Of course, I could have been wrong too... on my way to the start line my ankle started aching and my hip... surely casualties from the previous weekends race. It wasn't painful enough to stop running, so I kept going and then stretched a little when I got to the start line.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, about 55 degrees with a good wind. The line up was not organized to the point where they had pace signs up to line up with, so I just lined up in the front-middle and decided to start out easy and work into a pace that felt comfortable.

The race started on time and out I went, slowly at first (10:00/mile pace), then settled into a very comfortable 9:00/mile pace. The course was very scenic - starting on a bridge over the reservoir and then winding through some neighborhoods, crossing the reservoir a few more times and finishing up right on the reservoir. One could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

My pace remained pretty consistent mile to mile. I checked at each mile marker because they had clocks at each one which was nice. The first 6-7 miles were not bad. I had my ipod going and I was just cruising along feeling good and enjoying the run. Just past the mile 7 mark, I met up with Brooke who said she'd join me for the last 5-6 miles of the race, which was great. We hadn't run at all since November so we had a little catching up to do. So for the next 5-6 miles we talked and ran like old times.

The next thing I knew we were approaching the bridge to the finish line so I picked up the pace because I still had the energy to do it (plus I wanted to make sure I finished in under 2 hours). We get over the bridge and turn the corner to the finish, Brooke drops off to the side and I head on in to finish in 1:59:31... not bad for no specific half marathon training... though not close to a PR, but it was a great day for a run.

The rest and recovery area was well organized and we hung around for about a 1/2 hour or so talking and stretching. Then we boarded the shuttle bus back to my car (about 3 miles away... probably could have run it back, but it was already the farthest run I had done in over 6 months).

I am actually looking forward to running this race next year, but for now need to set my sights on something closer. I am now debating the 42k relay in July, but will probably still do it... I need some more races throughout the summer to keep me motivated. More on these to follow when I find some interesting races to do.

Until then, keep on running...