Ten on Tuesday - posted on Wednesday

Last night I had to watch the UCONN women's basketball game & then off to bed because I am still getting up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 to go to the gym. So the post half mary wrap up - my time was actually 2:50:02 - the last time I remembered looking up at the finish line clock it said 2:49:something. Whatever - I was happy to finish. The race itself was OK - about 4,500 people for the full, half & 10k races. We checked in on Saturday & got a glimpse of Frank Shorter & Bill Rodgers as they are big (well actually short & skinny) New England running gods. We did not want to wait in line for autographs (what would we do with them?) so went back to the hotel. We met our friend Dolan for dinner - thanks for coming to meet with us! It was a great place with nummy Mediterranean food & we enjoyed the company. The race started at 10:00 on Sunday - they did not have enough port o lets so we waited & waited & waited in line & only go to the starting line with about 3 minutes to spare. The route itself was through some neighbors hoods of Hyannis, down around a couple of beaches and back to the convention center where it started. It was windy, about 35 degrees & started to rain about 2 hours into the race. The worst part about the route was they did not close traffic - and since I was slow and did not have a police escort like the front runners, it was a little nerve racking worrying about cars coming behind you. The last mile was up hill - which seemed a little unfair but whatever. i kicked it in pretty good at the end - at least it felt like it to me but I am sure I looked slow as can be but again - whatever. The on-after was lame - I did eat chowder - I felt like I had to being on the Cape and all. let me tell you - it did not site well in my belly and I would not recommend that. But then we switched to beer which worked out just great. We showered and headed downtown to another on-after party at Tommy Doyles and DEVOURED a large order of steak fries with cheese & bacon & two hamburgers, with of course a couple pints of Guinness. By 5:00 we were tired, full & ready to change into the flannel jammies. Yep - that is the party animal side of long distance running. We headed back to the hotel, changed & opened a bottle of champagne & called it a night. A very good part of the weekend is there was a Trader Joe's conveniently located about 2 blocks form our hotel so we went & stocked up before we headed for home. All in all a good girl's weekend - thanks Training Buddy!

Now my Ten Favorite Ethnic Foods - how easy is that?? In no particular order..

1. Cuban food - I didn't have any until I moved to Florida and once I had it I couldn't believe I went my whole life prior without it.

2. Falafel - this stuff is so dang good - I can't go to NYC without getting some.

3. Mediterranean food - hummus, olives, good salads. I really love a good meze - we have fond memories of several we had when traveling in Cyprus.

5. Vietnamese food - the only vacation I went on where I gained weight form eating was Vietnam. I heart pho - I think it as good a chicken noodle soup for comfort food.

6. A good, authentic Mexican mole - the flavors are so nuanced - I really love the combination of over 20 spices.

7. Crepes - fell in love with these when we went to Montreal.

8.Foi Gras - I know it's cruel but I love it. It is true luxury & since I can't afford it much - most of the world's geese are safe from me.

9. Latino cooking - Puerto Rico, South America, you name it.

10. Thai - I like good thai food, not the fast food stuff.

A quick note - more later

The race went pretty good - it did not start to rain until I had about 2 miles left to go. Then it was a slow drizzle, with cold winds blowing. It got cold fast but I finished - 2:49:something. So about what I thought - I had hoped for 2:30 but I didn't train for speed so there you go. Training Buddy did great - 2:25:something. There were runners who had hypothermia so I felt lucky to just be sore - although very sore. Gotta get to work - will write more later tonight when I post Ten On Tuesday.

It's going to snow....again...but I'll be running 13.1 miles in it this time!

I guess I should have thought this running a half marathon in February in New England thing out a little better. If I did that - I would not be running in the snow tomorrow - or at least not running 13.1 miles in the snow. But I am going to go out on a limb and say it will probably be better than running when it's 90 degrees with 100% humidity. That will be my mantra. Training Buddy will be great - she has been training much more seriously than me - but she did that when we ran the Hartford Marathon a few years ago. I am going to run my race - slow but steady and be happy when it's over. We will enjoy the rest of the weekend on the Cape - regardless of the weather. So I better get packing.. send good thoughts our way!

Ten on Tuesday? Probably not....

Normally I like a good challenge and Ten On Tuesday can be sort of fun and it gives me something to blog about. But this week is stumping me Ten Songs That Describe Me or My Life. And the reason this is so hard is I like dark, sad, depressing songs but my life is really happy. There are a few happy songs I like as well - Blue Skies by Donna the Buffalo - go check out this You Tube link - it really is a happy song - so I'm not all that dark! So I don't know why the majority of the songs I like are dark. But speaking of music, our town has this great summer concert series called "Music on the River" and we are getting ready to pick our bands. It is a free concert series put on through the town Parks & Rec Commission but we do ask for donations. Our community is very generous and we have always been able to get good local bands, a name band or two and cover the costs. But this year, not so sure how big we'll be able to go as we can't count on the donations. We called about Donna the Buffalo last year but they were too pricey for our little Monday night, 2 hour free concert. I hope to catch them at a festival this summer. There are some pretty amazing festivals to choose from. I also like Family Picture by Donna the Buffalo - go check this video out - you'll have a smile on your face and your head will be bobbin!

Ok - I better go & check all the blogs I follow because I haven't for a few days and I need to know what these people are up to. Only 5 days until the half marathon - keep thinking positive thoughts for Training Buddy & I!

How Romantic......

Granted - Hubby & I both feel Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday but listening to Chris Issaks while I'm doing the dishes?!!?? Please - there is something wrong with that! And now we are off to buy cat litter - heart be still. But we are going out to dinner tonight at one of our favorite places to eat, Bistro Du Glace. Hope you all have a more romantic day that I'm having!

Cliff Walk in Newport

Sunday was beautiful - so plans of doing housework vanished and we decided to go do something outside - we came up with going to Newport, RI to go for a walk on Cliff Walk. Now Hubby & I have been to Newport quite a few times since we moved to CT - it is a good time town & we have gone there and had , well a good time. So a couple of years ago when our friend Dolan suggested we meet there for lunch & go for a walk on Cliff Walk we were cool w/ the lunch part but had no idea what Cliff Walk was. Dolan could not believe, for as many times as we had been over there, that we knew nothing of Cliff walk. But see, Cliff Walk is on the edge of the island and we had never ventured past downtown (translation - the bars). Well, we met here at the beach and fell in love with Cliff Walk - it is very cool. I took lots of pics so you'll feel like you were right there with us...

We stopped and got direction on where to park at the Newport Visitor's Center - they had a map for sale for $3 but I left my purse in the car so no map. We parked on Narragansset Ave. and off we went. I told Hubby about the map & he scoffed - "What the hell do we need that for? I'll tell you what things are." So I will caption the photos with his quotes - you'll find he was really helpful.

"Looking back to where we parked"

We were about 5 minutes into the walk.

"Where we're going"

This view is south looking towards the ocean.















"A building - people lived here"


Ok - I checked out the web & this is "The Breakers", the people who lived here were the Vanderbilts.















"Don't take my picture"


Hubby going through the gate at The Breakers.














"You're going to run out of memory on your camera"




Looking back at the gate at The Breakers.












"I guess they keep geese off the lawn - why you asking me?"







Ummm because I don't have the $3 walk guide.












"I don't know what they are - I'm sitting down"




Hubby took a break while I took a photo of these concrete thingys on top of a fancy fence.








"Stop it !"






This part of the walk was very cool - the rocks are all pretty smooth but slick from the melting snow & ice.






















"More buildings"

This is looking back where the rock path was.












"I guess the dogfox thing works"


Canadian geese floating around in the ocean vs. hanging out on the Vanderbilt's lawn.







"A pagoda - people don't live here"









I found out it was the Tea House that Mrs. Vanderbilt has built. You can't go check it out from the path.












"Watch out for spiders"


This is looking back from under the Pagoda.






















"Gawd damnit, HB stop taking my picture!"

Hubby going up the stairs & out of the tunnel.



















"I'm ready to go back"

This was the last shot I took because, well I ran out of memory. It is a nice shot and this was about 40 minutes from where we started. It was a beautiful day and don't you feel like you were there?

got fred?

I can't believe I forgot to post about getting my Fred Eaglesmith tickets because , OMG he is the best singer/songwriter EVER! I became a FredHead listening to my local fav college (University of Hartford) radio station - WWUH. The song that totally got me hooked was this one - "Good Enough" off his CD of Drive In Movie. I love that CD - almost every song, although the least favorite of mine is what hooked Training Buddy - Wild Rose, off the same CD Drive In Movie. Toby Keith did a cover of Wild Rose & the record went gold so Fred got a gold record. Anyhow - the other song on this CD that is so so so so so sad & heart breaking is Drive In Movie & if that does not rip your heart out, you have no heart. I have seen Fred live around 8-9 times & his show is never the same but it is always awesome. The concert I'm going to this month is a fund raiser for a soup kitchen at the First Baptist Church in Willimantic, CT. And why did Fred pick this venue? Well I spoke to the Rev. for the church (also a FredHead) and he said all he did was call the promoter, ask how much Fred would charge for a show & when the good Rev. explained about his soup kitchen & the church & all Fred OFFERED to do a fund raiser. How cool is that? And his latest CD - which is also very good and old timey gospel stuff, Tinderbox has been nominated for a Juno - Canada's version of an Grammy Award. If I could vote - you know Fred would be getting mine. Anyhow - I heart me Fred Eaglesmith - if you can make a show - GO GO GO GO GO. If you can't, you can see a show here. Seriously - it is so worth it to watch his show. He writes smart, sad and sometimes happy songs and God can he entertain. He also paints & someday I will buy me one of his paintings, just to have. Anyhow - I know those of you who know me know I am not a church goer but Tinderbox is amazing - it is that good, hard core gospel stuff that moves you to the core. The only time I plan on going to church is to watch Fred - really - have I told you how much I heart this guy???

I am drinking a martini (lemondrop) as I write this and now that getting the links & pictures to match is getting a little challenging (no I am not running long tomarrow), I think I'll end this post. If anyone local is reading this - e-mail me & I'll give you the scoop on how to get the Fred tickets for the Willimantic show. And Training Buddy- we are all set. 4 tickets for the big show & maybe wings after at Bidwell?

Random Thoughts....

Today - I got nothing. I think Ten on Tuesday was 10 Favorite Children's movies and you know what - generally I hate kids movies. Even the ones that say - no there are funny, subliminal adult things in this one - you'll love it! I usually don't, in fact my most hated kids movie - Finding Nemo. I know - I must be the only person in the world who hates Nemo. Hubby thinks there is something wrong with me because my favorite type of movies are the sad, gut wrenching depressing ones. Like Leaving Las Vegas ( LOVED IT!), just watched Gone Baby Gone and I very much enjoyed it. And I am not a depressed person - I can be quite chipper so who knows what is rattling around in my head. I have been busy watching UCONN basketball - both men & women and both are ranked #1 this week which is pretty cool. It snowed again - big deal except it took me over 1.5 hours to get home - usually a 30 minute commute. It is the kind of snow that sticks to the trees so it is very pretty. But I took Carole's advice and last night bought some tulips to remind me that spring is coming...someday. This photo of tulips is Carole's as well - she does beautiful work- go check out her blog!

So enjoying the snow but looking forward to spring as well. Ok - gotta got to work....I'm getting better at blogging from home - if I can get Hubby of the dang computer...