I just wanted to be able to tell you I did it.

Today I ran 2 miles with a little help from friends and Wawa.

It's cold out today. 41 when I started with wind chills in the 30's. Either I really want to do this or I just wanted to be able to tell you all that I did it and that requires actually doing it.

I put my running clothes on straight out of bed to encourage an early outing. I waited for the sun to come up but I did not wait too much past that as the forecast is for the wind to get stronger and the chill to get chillier as the day wears on.

Last night I plotted my course. Since I'm not wearing any timing devices I also have to know my distances in advance if I'm not on a marked trail. I'm not a fan of out and back. The route I picked ended up being a partial out and back but finished at Wawa where I could pick up a coffee and walk back to the house. And 3/4 of the run was in one direction. Or so I thought. As I began to run, I started to review the distance in my head. It's 1 mile from my front steps to Wawa. All I needed was a half mile past the Wawa .... and then I realized I must have gotten half a mile stuck in my head and goofed. I had only planned a quarter mile past Wawa. If I turned around then I would only have 1.5 miles not 2. Now what?

• I could just do the 1.5. it IS more than 1 after all. But it was not the plan and failing on the plan is devastating to folks like me. (You know who you are, you recognize the symptoms). 
• I could guess how far another quarter mile is if I pay close attention to the feel of the first quarter mile. But if I don't guess right, I'm either still going to be short or unnecessarily disappointed the 2 miles felt awful if I go too far. (If you are still reading stop rolling your eyes at that. You are still reading after all and unless this if your first visit to my blog you should be expecting this). 
• I could do the quarter mile section out and back TWICE. "I am not a fan of out and back" (she said earlier). 

But out and back twice was the best solution. Oh and by the way I'm practically to the Wawa (and 1 mile in) by the time I have this figured out. (Over-thinking for the win!) Now to think myself through 2 times out and back. (Really, you can stop reading now. Continue at your own risk)

The first 1/4 mile is a slow very gradual downhill. Most people, especially those in a car, would not notice it. I can do this. And when I come around the second time it will be the final time. At the street sign poll for the turn around street I tried to touch the poll (because it's the rule at turn-arounds) but there is a waist high hedge in the way and I couldn't reach it. I air high-fived it instead.

The second 1/4 mile is a slow and not so gradual uphill. Yeah I know it's the same path I just ran but trust me it's bigger on the upside. Especially when you think about the fact that your brain cramp the night before is causing you to have to do it twice. And you haven't done any serious running in 5  years. I started wishing the traffic light where I would have to cross over to the other side of the street would be RED. At this point my brain jumped to something happening at work. My brain does that a lot. Left turn without signalling. I won't bore you with the details of the problem. Suffice it to say I solved it. 👍 But the traffic light was green WITH a walk sign. 😏

Ok. "Down" again on the other side. Relax and let gravity to it's thing. Hmmm before I knew it I was at the street sign pole that I could not reach. I air high-fived it again because consistency is critical. And now it's off to the final quarter mile. I'm feeling better than I thought I would at this point but still physically aware that this is the end of the longest run I've done in a very long time. Time to remind myself that the final quarter mile of the OCNJ Half will be flat as a pancake. You can do this. Then I saw the Rita's Water Ice sign which means I'm done "climbing" and could coast into the finish.

If you are still with me, thank you. I kinda wonder WHY...but thank you because "I just wanted to be able to tell you all that I did it."

Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
-Paula

For Pete - Between Opportunities

One day - years ago -  at a family gathering my sister's husband, Pete, who had just retired, told the youngsters that he was "between opportunities". There was something in the way he said it that made them giggle (which was his intention) and to this day it is what they think of when his name is mentioned.

On Tuesday, Pete died. Today was his funeral. I'm fairly certain that for Pete, this week was a time between opportunities. Today friends and family gathered to help my sister see him off to whatever comes next. After the mass, we gathered at the Flemington Diner. Pete loved diner food and this was one of his go-to places. Having been informed that a burger and fries was his favorite meal when he ate there, most of us ordered that.

I just returned from a run. Today's mile was dedicated to Pete. You see my plan is to run my full distance on the weekend and half of that distance twice during the week. Friday is usually a day off. But I missed my run yesterday because I worked late. Tomorrow it is going to rain buckets and then some. So today I ran "between (regular) opportunities".

Keep smiling keep moving
- Paula

Just a mile

Today I ran just a mile. It wasn't pretty. It was not fast. It was just a mile.

IF I'm going to make it to the Ocean City Half Marathon (9/29/2019) I have to start now. One mile at a time. And IF I make it to the OCNJ Half, I do not expect it to be pretty and I do not expect it to be fast. I will only expect to finish.

I've promised myself that there will be no timing devices until race day. I will train for this one by feel. 

My current goal is to get to a comfortable 3 miles by February 1st when registration typically opens for this race.

Good news for today. I did it. :) It was not UN-comfortable but I have some work to do to make it comfortable. And then I need to add at least two more miles to the total by February 1st.

I had to work this morning so I chose to run on the Chester Valley Trail immediately after. I did not want to give myself the chance to ponder things on the ride home. The CVT is less than a 5 minute from where I work.

It was chilly today. I will need ear warmers if this keeps up. But it was just a mile so I was ok. My right hip flexor barked at me a little bit. A gentle reminder that I will need to stretch daily and get up close and personal with my foam roller again.

So there it is. My goal in print. And it should be understood that this idea is still a big IF. But I have decided that I have to try.

Keep Smiling Keep Moving,
-Paula

Boston

After a day at sea, our first port on the cruise is Boston.

Now named after Boston, England where many of the original settling families came from, an early name of the area was Trimountaine, or 3 mountains. The area at the time resembled a large hill with three peaks. Two of the peaks were destroyed in the project to fill the back bay. The remaining hill is today's Beacon Hill neighborhood.

If you are a Big Bang Theory fan (or maybe just because you are smart) you know that Fig Newtons were named after a Boston suburb.

Happy Hours have been illegal in Boston since 1984. Two years after Cheers went on the air. Don't show your displeasure at that by spitting on the sidewalk, because that is illegal too. It is also against the law to keep a mule on the second story UNLESS there is more than one exit available.

Many have heard about the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Actually, I'm not one of the many but I have since learned that this "Great" Fire occurred one year after the Great Fire of Chicago in ...wait for it... 1871. But what intrigues me more than the fire is the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. How often do you think of the word Molasses and Flood in the same sentence let along the same title. An aging storage tank, newly filled with molasses, burst sending a 15 foot wall of molasses down the street at 35 miles per hour. 35!! The owners of the tank, when sued for allowing the tank to decay to that point, claimed that 'the tank had been intentionally blown up by “evilly disposed persons.”'

I am left wondering about the possible (?) overuse of the word great to describe natural and man-made disasters.

Keep smiling and keep moving
-Paula

Baltimore

When I was younger (which leaves lots of room for interpretation) I put my love of looking things up to drive my family crazy with tidbits about our vacation. I only remember doing it once but it must have left an impression (or perhaps irreversible damage) because it has been brought up more than once over the years.

Well, later this summer, my husband, sister and brother in law are going on a cruise. Baltimore to New England and Canada and back. So here I go again. "When I was younger" I didn't have the Internet to use for research or to write a blog. This could be fun. (evil laugh).

Keep in mind that the point of this game is to find truly useless trivia. Trivia that won't even win you a final Jeopardy question but might make you laugh if you let it. Also remember that whether or not a statement rises (or sinks) to the level of trivia depends on who is observing it. My game, my trivia. :)

Our start and end point is Baltimore. Did you know ...

• That Baltimore has more public public statues and monuments than any other city in the U.S
• That it is home to some of the earliest places on the National Register of Historic Distircts
• Baltimore is an Anglicization of an Irish Name "Baile an ti Mohr" which means Town of Big Houses. 
• Baltimore is home to the first umbrella factory. It was opened by a German immigrant named Francis L. Beehler in 1828. Although Beehler was first, it is the Gans brother who came later that developed the slogan "Born in Baltimore, Raised Everywhere". By 1922, Baltimore was producing 2 million umbrellas per year. 
• On a related note, according to Maryland Weather, "Average annual precipitation: 40.76 inches. Peaks in July and August when thunderstorms average once every five days. Since 1871, Baltimore's recorded precipitation has averaged 41.94 inches a year, with the highest amount falling in 2003, when 62.66 inches fell."
• Baltimore was the site of the first successful manned balloon launch. I'm guessing it was not raining that day. 
• BWI Marhsall Airport is the first and only US Airport to have a dedicated trail for hiking and biking. (and yes I am wondering how or if that can be worked into our vacation) 
• Baltimore is named after Lord Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore.

And there you have it. 7 things about Baltimore. I probably should have made it 9 since it's a 9 day cruise but I got sidetracked by Cecil Calvert. I couldn't help wondering who the 1st Lord Baltimore was and why he didn't get a city named after him.

Well it turns out that the 1st Lord Baltimore was, George, Cecil's dad. George was apparently a nice guy and both King James I and Charles I liked him. BUT in 1625 George announced he had become Catholic and that disqualified him from holding office or working in Parliament. But being well liked helps obviously because King James I made him the First Baron of Baltimore - a town on the Southern coast of Ireland - anyway. Now that he had money and land, George wanted to explore the New World. He asked for and received a grant to the "Colony of Avalon" in Newfoundland. But it was too cold for the English Settlers so George asked for a grant for land further south near the Chesapeake bay. Unfortunately, George died before the paperwork could be finished so his son Cecil took the plan and ran with it. (Most of this came from "Exploring Maryland's Roots")

Ok. You've been warned. Next stop Boston. You can skip my blog for a few weeks or read at the risk of learning something you'll never need again!

Keep smiling and keep moving
-Paula