Thoughts during an 18 mile training run...

Yesterday I had to do an 18 mile training run...originally the weather was supposed to be decent...high 30's, no snow,etc. Well...the winds changed and the night before I was supposed to run , Door County received 6 inches of snow and temps were in the teens with high winds. So...b/c I am a running in cold/snowy weather wimp off to the Sturgeon Bay YMCA I went. I spent 11 miles on the treadmill and then moved to the track to finish the last 7 miles. Thought I would document not only for blog readers entertainment...but also perhaps my own, as running long distances is for me a lot like having a baby....time dims the memory of the pain you went through and just a day (minutes) later you find yourself saying things like...really it wasn't that hard...

• Mile 1: Wow--I can't believe I am going to be here for three hours!
• Mile 4: Those guys lifting weights really think they are working hard but they seem to be talking tons instead of lifting tons.
• Mile 7: Wow--this run feels great...maybe I will go for 20 today!
• Mile 8-9: Memory is starting to blur in terms of how many miles I need to run before switching to track.
• Mile 10: OMG...my stomach is growling....awesome!
• Mile 11: Thank God I can get off the mill and head for the track--that will be better for sure!
• Mile 12: Oh no....seriously another hour on this track (11 times around to a mile...ughh!)
• Mile 13: I wonder if the guy who is speeding past me at light speed knows I have already run 12 miles...Mister 3 mile guy!
• Mile 14: Make deal with myself to stop and get water after each mile and stretch a little.
• Mile 15: See banner with "Celebrate we will...cuz life is short but sweet for certain"--great DMB reference and gets me through another mile.
• Mile 16: Oh look the flag for Gabon looks like Mardi Gras colors (the track has flags from different countries around it)....So that is what the flag for Iran looks like...
• Mile 17: Hi Dad--I know I said I would be done by now...but guess what b/c of my "stretching deal" I am a bit behind....
• Mile 18: I am almost done...pick up pace and end well...and guess what....really that wasn't so bad...lol!

French Wine and a Snugie Update....

Now if that isn't a great title--full of intrigue....right? I have had a number (okay 2-3) of you express concern over the status of our purchase (or lack of purchase) of a Snugie. Just to keep you all updated...we have not purchased the family pack of Snugie's--many of you have expressed your love for the Snugie and last night at Wine Club, Appy modeled the Snugie and showed us with what ease you can answer the phone, read a book and drink a glass of wine with your Snugie....so I get it...it would be a good purchase and perhaps one day we will be lucky enough to own Snugies...again stay tuned!

On to wine club night--the theme for this month's meeting was broad...the wines of France. I have always said that I was not a big fan of French wines--but I really didn't have a lot of experience in drinking French wines....so with that off we went to wine club. Click here for a little background on the Bordeaux Districts. We tasted 6 bottles of wine in a blind tasting--most of them we thought were simply "okay".....not great...not awful...just "okay". The results were extremely interesting....Most of us preferred the one bottle of wine that was from the Cotes du Rhone region as opposed to the Bordeaux and the vintages that were 2004 and above needed to be cellared much longer as the 2000 and the 2003 bottles we tried were better. The two most expensive bottles ($50/each) were ranked 5th and 6th out of 6 wines....hmmm not so hot and a pure disappointment for the couple that brought those two bottles. For those curious about what we drank, any rating they might have had and the cost see below....our next "meeting" will occur in April...the wines of Italy ( Chianti has been outlawed)--this is another area I am not very familiar.....sampling wine for the purpose of education is a tough job but somebody has to do it!

#1--Domaine Zede-Margaux--$42

#2--2000 Domaine du Haut Calvaire--Marianne and Etienne Chambon (purchased while we were in France for the Tour de France in 2004-can't remember how much we spent...less then $20)

#3--Chateau Vieux Prezat--Medoc--$15 (after it was decanted--it was decent)

#4--2003 Font Villac--St. Emilion--$32

#5--Chateau Monbousquet--St. Emilion--90 points Robert Parker--$50

#6-- Chateau Rauzan Segla--Margaux-90points Wine Spectator--$50

Get Snuggie?

Okay...so I'm guessing that most of you have seen the commercial for the Snuggie...you know the blanket with sleeves!  I am not here to debate whether or not the Snuggie is a good buy or not (even though they do kind of make you feel bad about "normal" blankets, "Blankets are OK but they can slip and slide, plus your hands are trapped inside"...trapped?  sounds very dangerous...I know some of you who have your own personal Snuggie and my children beg me for one every time the commercial comes on the T.V.  What I am here to talk about is the commercial....If you haven't seen it...check out the link above to the finely crafted ad before you read on....If you have seen it.....I wonder if you agree with me in the high "cheese" content of this ad? Also I wonder if anyone who "starred" in the ad is thinking hmmmm I wonder if posing in a Snuggie by a bonfire, wearing a Snuggie at a football game or simply relaxing as a family, watching t.v. with all of us in Snuggie's will boost my T.V. career.  Every time this ad comes on I am oddly attracted to how over the top cheesy it is--but they must know what they are doing because like I said my kids are begging to get one....a blanket....really.....you want a blanket?  I will keep you posted if we buy Snuggie's or maybe you will see us at the next sporting outing clad in our Snuggie's--stay tuned :-)

Wine anyone?

Last night we got together with 2 other couples for what we are going to call "wine club", we decided that this was a much more civilized name then "let's get drunk club". This was our first "meeting" and we had decided that the focus of the meeting would be Cabernet Sauvignon. Each person had to bring a Cabernet...we didn't specify year, region, etc....just Cabernet. We held a blind tasting---where the wines were covered and we had to rate them--always interesting when you put wines side by side--interesting to note that the most expensive and the highest rated wine did not come in first but was a close second and that the #3 and #4 choices were definitely best value for the money--because they were just slightly behind the top finishers....and much less money! (I know that was a huge run-on sentence...sorry lots of wine last night!) The most disappointing was the Merryvale--not just because it was one I picked out--but because it had gotten some decent reviews--just goes to prove that cost doesn't always mean it is the best. Here are our very non-scientific results:

#1-Clos Pegase-Napa Valley--2005---retails for $38

#2--Don Melchor--Chile--2005--retails for $69--Wine Spectator rated 96 points!

#3--Peter Lehman--Barossa Valley--Australia--2005--retails for $16

#4--Valdivieso--Chile--2005--retails for $9.99

#5--Merryvale--Starmont--Napa Valley--2004--retails for $28.99

#6--Smoking Loon--2007--retails for $8.99--Wine Spectator rated 85 points!

26.2 or bust!

I know my posts have been few and far between lately....I feel Facebook sucking my blog post ability right out of me! Some of you know already....but I am officially signed up for the Ing Georgia Marathon in Atlanta. As if running a marathon isn't a big enough task....I have agreed to do a marathon that is only 12 weeks away... on March 29th...which in my book is really not that far away! Why a marathon? Why Atlanta?

The woman I ran my first (and only) marathon with waaaay back in '96 e-mailed and asked if I (and her other running friends) would join her in doing this marathon. She was looking to get back into running after a hiatus due to foot surgery and was looking for a way to get motivated and get back on track. So I said "yes"...what is funny is I didn't think long and hard...I just said "yes"....It just felt right saying "yes". She lives in North Carolina--which means...no long training runs together--which is something I will miss...it is amazing how much can be worked through during a long run! We are tracking our progress through e-mails, which I will say has been amazingly motivating. So here I go...long runs...more long runs....and even more long runs....I'll keep you posted--If you will keep me in your prayers....26.2 is a long way to go!

Do you remember...

ever wanting to win one of those over sized, stuffed with toys stockings that stores and organizations would give away....I do! Well--Clare put her name in to win such a stocking and went as far as telling us that we had to go back to Pizza Ranch (where said stocking giveaway was being held) the day before Christmas Eve...because "mom that is when they draw the name for the stocking". I tried to explain to Clare that--number one--even IF you do win they will call you and number two--that stocking will probably go to some girl or boy that really needs some toys at Christmas. Well so much for my speech about not getting everything you want,etc....because on Christmas Eve....she got the call--Clare you have WON the Pizza Ranch Stocking! I was at work when Clare called with the news....she was so excited--I dare say even more excited about this stocking than Santa? She did decide that she would gift some of the toys to her cousins (I know Meg is thanking me for the Shrek punching gloves :-) and then give some of the toys to kids that might not be having as great of a Christmas as she had. What can I say...the kid is lucky...next time any of you go to Vegas....you might want to take her with :-)

Clare and her new Pizza Ranch friend and a gigantic stocking!

Loading up the stocking--totally ridiculous I know!

Friends and Family

 While reading The Shack I came across this quote from Frederick Buechner from Telling the Truth:  The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy Tale--

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.

As I continue to reconnect with so many people from the past on Facebook (don't get me started on this occupier of my time),Christmas cards continue to fill the mailbox, family get togethers and holiday parties are attended, I am reminded of how many people have come in to my life at one point or another--all playing different roles--some short stays some long--different personalities-- all important in one way or another-- shaping who I am and how I relate to things in this crazy world.