<p>I really, really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to do another one or possibly even a marathon. I think a 10k or half is really going to be the best distance for me. It felt so great to run across that finish line and realize that it had been a little over one year since I started running. It was really well organized and just a lot of fun. Not a “serious” race by any stretch of the imagination - I just treated it as a normal run and had a blast. What was hard for me was pacing. I ended up running about 13.7 miles -clusters of walkers, people who just stopped running and started walking right in front of me - which probably happens in every race, but I was getting feedback on my pacing that didn’t correlate to the actual course distance. In any event, I was happy to finish in the top 30% for my age group. There were 15000+ runners. </p>
<p>Shalane Flanagan and Joan Benoit Samuelson were there. Seeing the latter was especially cool for me - I like to imagine I’m her when I’m mentally winning Boston! I told my husband before the race that I was either going to hate it or love it - happily, I loved it. </p>
<p>Anyone doing the Flying Pig in Cincinnati this coming weekend? We “watchers” are getting excited too! It’s a really great event for the city.</p>
<p>I dropped the car off for some work about a mile from here and walked home. I’ll get the other mile in when I pick it up. It’s perfect weather for walking today; the rain has stopped (I think) and it’s slightly cool.</p>
<p>interesteddad–I get what you’re saying, but in my husband’s case, he really DOES need to eat less and exercise more. Last night at the ball game he had 4 beers. FOUR. (We were guests in a suite and they were free.) I didn’t say anything but inside my head I’m loudly wondering a few things.</p>
<p>I think Dad II was planning on the Pig for his first marathon. If so, I hope it goes well and I wish he would come back and check in.
It was my daughter’s first marathon, and it is a terrific event. I was VERY impressed. I liked the size of the race, and everything about the organization was perfect. It really showcased the city, too. It is harder than you might think to set up a course that really hits the highlights of the city and avoids nasty, industrial areas or barren stretches with no spectators. Nashville has NOT mastered this. Some of it is simply logistics and the way the cities happen to be laid out. The Pig has one horrific hill, but the rest of the course is flat or gently rolling. </p>
<p>2 runs now with the Mio HR band. I like it a lot. I want to wear it on the treadmill where I also have the Polar band and see how the readouts compare. It seems accurate and sure beats the chest strap. </p>
<p>Thanks for the Mio update. I am looking forward to the comparison report. I hate chest straps with a passion, so even if this thing is slightly less accurate, it will still be a huge help for me. My strap finally “sprouted” behind the planter on the front porch, but I was too busy and too wiped out to even open the box! Will set it up tonight - if I don’t get another last minute project that will keep me glued to the computer all night long.</p>
<p>The Pig sounds like a great event - I will mention that to my buddy who resumed her quest for 50 states. </p>
<p>Yeah, it would be pretty hard to maintain weight drinking four beers at a time! Beer is actually the most fattening of all the alcoholic beverages. Hard liquor, with no sugary mixers, is the least fattening. Wine somewhere in the middle.</p>
<p>I’m fortunate that I’ve never been much of a drinker, so it hasn’t been hard to scale it back. I get more pleasure out of fitting in my jeans.</p>
<p>2.8 miles today. I was going to do 5-6 but the wind was just too much. I stopped to help a cyclist drag a small tree off the path, put up with dirt tornadoes pelting me with debris, and finally decided to give it up after a small branch landed on my head @-) </p>
<p>Yoga class (basic flow) for me today. I also signed up for another yoga workshop that the studio offered. I was never crazy about yoga as exercise, and I’ve changed my opinion. I am starting to think that the instructors make a huge difference. I’m going to a new studio and I get so much more out of each class than I did when I took yoga at my health club.</p>
<p>I am very tempted to get the Mio. I’ve wanted a strapless heart-rate monitor for several years, but the reviews of the older Mio products have not been positive. The only thing that’s keeping me from making the purchase is wanting to see what Apple’s rumored iWatch has to offer. </p>
<p>I got the Mio, but I think I got a dud. It won’t turn on, I tried to charge it, but I plugged the usb into 3 different computers, and nothing. No led lighting up. Did I miss a step?</p>
<p>Dreaded Airdyne intervals for me. Didn’t have it today, but I pressed on and punched the clock. It’s 42 degrees, gray, cold, and rainy here. Yuk…</p>
<p>It looks like it’s one of those magnetic chargers like the newer Garmins. Those things are always finicky. You might have to wiggle and jiggle to get the four contacts on the charger to make a good connection with the four contacts on the Mio.</p>
<p>ok, got it to work, but now I have to go buy a new mouse, because I lost the little usb plug-in thingy for my laptop that I took out so I could try the mio usb there. grrr…</p>
<p>I get excited over the smallest stuff. LIke the fact my new Garmin has a spring loaded clamp for the charger thingie. Once it’s on, it’s not coming off, even if you twirl it overhead by the cord like a lasso. The old magnetic clip was driving me bonkers trying to charge it in the car or in a tent. Get it charging, put it in the console or in a pocket of the tent, and it would stop charging.</p>
<p>I am freaking out. I’m having the stress echo tomorrow afternoon and it turns out it involves an IV to put in some contrast die. I am REALLY afraid of IVs and needles. To make things worse, I have my physical in the morning with bloodwork. I know I’m being a baby, but I hate this stuff,</p>
<p>Hang in there, MOfWC! You are not alone. I hate, hate, hate being poked! Good luck.</p>
<p>Got to unpacking the Mio. It took me several tries to get it charging via the Garmin’s plug that I have permanently plugged into one of the kitchen outlets. This is as far as the setup will go tonight, I’m afraid.</p>
<p>Oh, and today we discovered that our grill probably needed to be replaced. The almost ten years of heavy use took its toll, so the poor thing rusted and corroded from the inside… Bummer. I was so counting on the planned steak dinner tonight.</p>
It’s perfect weather for walking today; the rain has stopped (I think) and it’s slightly cool.</p>