A Snow Day for Johann

Here is what Boston has looked like for the last couple of weeks. I had 4 snow days in January! I took these pictures on Thursday, 1/27/11, wanted to share them with all of you but especially Johann. Today Ryan and I got his Explorer stuck in my parents' driveway, took about 45 minutes to get it out. 5 people (including my South-African brother-in-law who got a mouthful of snow from the back tire, oops, sorry Peter), 4 shovels and salt and sand and we finally got it out of the driveway, BUT we missed our morning run with friends :-(

 Our Street, luckily, the management company does a good job clearing the sidewalks.

 This car isn't going anywhere for awhile...

 Snow covered cars.

 Street still hasn't been plowed. Don't think one could fit down, too much snow already built up on side of road. It's a one way street.

Snow mounds are up to my shoulders (and much higher in places like parking lots)

I cannot wait to see GREEN!!! That is what I most look forward to, seeing green grass and green leaves!

Goodnight

Three Things Thursday

1. SNOW DAY! No work for me (Bethany) today. This is my 4th snow day this month, it's really helping my swimming though! I'll be heading to the gym soon (I walk there) to swim, do a short tempo run on the treadmill and then lift.

2. Hard to explain but I've been feeling like such a slacker lately!! By "lately" I mean since October 18th! On October 17th I ran the Baystate Marathon (3:34:??) and I feel like that was my last hard-effort workout. The last time I ran fast was a 5 miler on Thanksgiving! I just feel like I haven't been working out as much or as hard lately. It's hard to explain, yes, I ran a 50 miler in November, and yes, I just did Goofy's Challenge but I just feel like I'm in dire need of a really hard workout, I'm feeling a bit out of shape. I'm pacing a group of friends in February for a 3:50 at the Hyannis Marathon so that should feel good. Once this snow melts I'll start doing hills and I'd love to get to the track, but it's covered in snow.

3. Do you know what 4 months from today is??????? OUR WEDDING! Still no bridesmaid dresses lol, I really need to get on this planning stuff...

Happy Thursday to everyone!!! Stay safe my New England friends!

Date Night

Just a quick post today. We went on a nice run this morning through a snow-covered bike path. Just a short, quick 45 minute run. Tonight we're going on a date (with some friends too). We're going to dinner and a concert: Sister Hazel. I (Ryan) am ridiculously excited for this. I have always loved Sister Hazel.

Tomorrow we'll probably have a lazy morning and then run 7-8 miles or so, hopefully on some roads that don't have much ice. Hope you guys all have a great weekend!

2011 Goals

Since we've been busy with holidays and then our Disney vaca, we haven't gotten a chance to put together our 2011 goals post, so here it is! 

Ryan's Goals:

1. Run injury-free all year: This means that I really need to continue to focus on my core, stretching, and yoga. Being prone to IT-band issues, I need to make rolling, stretching, and occasional massage a part of my running routine. 

2. Complete a 50 miler: This is a pretty simple one. I really would like to do the StoneCat 50 miler in November, or maybe the Vermont 50. Who knows, we shall see.

3. Complete at least two 50kms: Another pretty simple one. Pineland Farms 50km is one for sure. I'm sure I'll be able to find a second one. There's quite a few around here. 

4. Go for more long bike rides this summer: Miss Bethany bought me an awesome bike helmet for Christmas, and I want to put it to good use this spring/summer.

5. Complete another 2 of my graduate courses, so that I will be 1/2 of the way to my Master's degree in Structural Engineering: :-)

6. Be a good husband: :-) (but I still have 4 months before I have to worry about this one)

Other Bonus Goals/Thoughts: I don't really have any major goals of setting PRs this year. If it happens, it happens, but I just haven't set up my 2011 race schedule in such a way that PRs are a major goal. I'd love to hit a 3:50 marathon at some point, but if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Running healthy all year, and focusing on my long-distance trail races are my priorities. 

Miss Bethany's Goals:

1. Continue my injury-free streak.

2. Complete my second 50 miler: (this time with Ryan)

3. Go for more long bike rides this summer: (60+ miles)

4. More lifting: (especially lower body)

5. Drop a couple pounds: (so I can run faster)

6. Read a total of 15 books this year: Expanding on my 2010 goal of one book per month.

7. Continue to try to floss more often.

8. Be a good wife: :-) (but I still have 4 months before I have to worry about this one)

9. Take and pass my National Interpreter Certification Test.

That's all for us, what are your goals for the year?! Have a great week, everyone!

Goofy's Challenge Race Report

Over the weekend, as you guys know, we went down to Walt Disney World to run Goofy's Challenge (half-marathon on Saturday, full-marathon on Sunday, for those of you not familiar). This was Miss Bethany's 6th time doing Goofy's Challenge (and therefore considered "Perfectly Goofy," because this is only the 6th time of Disney offering the 'Goofy's Challenge'), and it was my first Goofy's Challenge. I've done the half-marathon 3 times: 2007, 2008, 2009, and last year I just did the full-marathon. This year I decided to step it up and do Goofy's Challenge.

Half-Marathon:

We ran the half separately, and Miss Bethany just cruised along to a 1:50:40, easy beans for her. I went into the weekend very concerned about my IT band. It had been bothering me off and on since Stonecat, and I did a lot of my long runs on trails to kind of baby it, so I was a little nervous about how it would respond to 40 miles of road this weekend. I have a wonderful friend/massage therapist who has been helping me to fix my IT band issues, and I've been rolling/stretching/doing all the right things for it, but I was still nervous. I started the half very conservatively, at a slow and easy pace. As the miles went by, I felt better and better, no pain at all in the IT, so I picked up the pace a little. (Come to find out it was a little too much, as I was sore the next day for the full.) But long story short, I felt great after the half, and finished in 2:00:15, with no pain at all. What a great feeling, I was confident going into Sunday's full.

Full-Marathon:

We ran the full marathon together and, of course, had a blast. We started out nice and easy, around 9:40 pace, and I felt good . . . until I hit the dreaded wall, AT MILE 2. My legs just felt tired and sore, and it felt like they were asking me, 'You idiot, why did you run 13.1 miles yesterday, and why are you running 26.2 today?' So we took the pace down a bit, and Miss Bethany led me through the rest of the way. We ended up finishing in 4:32:29. I'm pretty happy with that, considering it was my first Goofy, and how sore I was already at mile 2. Also, it was great ultra training to run 20+ miles on sore legs :). We had an absolute blast. There was tons of crowd support, lots of characters along the way. Lots of music, bands, cheerleaders, etc. Just 26.2 miles of fun. We loved it. This is our favorite marathon, and we'll definitely be back next year. We're even thinking of trying to squeeze in a fall trip here for the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon. 

Here are some pics from the trip:

With Daisy after the 1/2 Marathon

Clarabelle Cow after the 1/2 Marathon

With our friends Lindsey and Cindy after the 1/2 Marathon

After the Full Marathon. Also, after Miss Bethany hand-fed me four muffins. Can you tell I felt like I got hit by a truck?

I felt much better after I got my Goofy hat and a beer.

Happily displaying our Goofy medals. Miss Bethany's lanyard was orange because she is Perfectly Goofy.

Celebrating at Epcot

Celebrating with a Radeberger Pilsner in Epcot Germany.

With Mickey at Epcot (notice our matching shirts, we wore matching shirts four days in a row, we're cool like that)

With Pluto at Epcot

Finally, with Goofy at Epcot, celebrating our successful completion of Goofy's Challenge

Disney - Goofy's Challenge! (PICS)

On the way to our hotel! EXCITED for Disney!!!!

Miss Bethany and her two friends after the half-marathon yesterday! Lindsey's FIRST half, and a huuuuge PR for Cindy. What a great job they did! So proud for them! Miss Bethany did an easy 1:50, and I STUPIDLY ran 2:00. MUCH too fast, considering I had to run a marathon today.

After suffering through the marathon today in 4:32:29, I am proudly wearing my Goofy hat :) It was brutal. The effects of yesterday's half marathon caught up to me. I've never hit the wall at MILE 2 before, until today. Boy, was I sore the whole day today. Good 50 miler training :) Luckily, I had Miss Bethany to pull me through. She amazingly kept me running strong enough to have a respectable finish! So proud, and so lucky to have her. I just wish I had HALF of her endurance. She is amazing!

Day 1 of Goofy Challenge

Day 1 of Goofy Challenge complete. Both feel good. Miss Bethany did 1:50:40 and Ryan did 2:00:15. . . Marathon in the morning :)

We're in Disney! Yippeeeee!

First Run of 2011!

Ok, this email thing is addicting! It's just SOOO easy to update the blog now!!!!
Heading out for our first run of 2011. It is sunny out and temps are in the upper 40s! The weather is looking great for Disney next weekend! Can't wait! Heading out for 13 miles now, happy new year to all!!!!!!!
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Happy New Year!!

Happy new year everyone!! We just added an email address to our blog so we can post pictures instantly from our phones. Here is our first try. Let's see if this works!!!
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