Marathon Training: Almost Done

I'm less than a week away at this point!  It is hard for me to believe that all my hard work for the past three and a half months is about to be put to the test!  Feel free to check out my training at the halfway point before reading further if you want to catch up on the first 8 weeks.

By far, the biggest difference maker in my second half of training was a boot camp class that began at my work during my eighth week of marathon training.  I had a built-in cross training day on Mondays that I had been using as an extra rest day up until week eight so I decided to give the boot camp class a try.  Daury Dross of The Fhitting Room has been instructing our hour long high intensity classes.  He's been a great motivator and teacher for the class.  He also passed along a few stretching and breathing tips that have proved beyond helpful for me.  I am SO glad I added this weekly class into the rotation for the last half of my training.  It has truly made all the difference!

Along with the high intensity training, I also incorporated all of my long runs into the mix.  My first really long run was 16 miles through central park and an over and back on the Queensboro Bridge.  This bridge comes at Mile 16 during the actual marathon so when my friend, Amanda, suggested I incorporate it into some of my runs I heeded the advice.  I am glad that I did because it was a bit daunting and now I feel a tad more prepared for it.  It will come at a pivotal spot for me so knowing what it entails will be helpful on race day.  However, the rest of the course remains a mystery to me! 

Toward the end of September, we went to Mark and Shannon's wedding in Oswego, New York.  We had a lot of fun and a late night, but I still managed to get in a brief though very windy run before we ventured back downstate.  The scenery was great there!

The last weekend of September and the first weekend in October were BIG weekends for me.  I had two back-to-back weekends of long runs slated.  The first was an 18-miler.  I'm not sure where I got the bright idea that completing two laps around Central Park's outer loop (plus a little more over on the west side highway) would be ideal for this run, but I went with it.  And I found myself nearly dehydrated from what turned out to be an insanely hot September day at the end of it.  I did not feel inspired after this run...at all.  In fact, I became a little nervous about what exactly I had in store for me on November 3. 

Fortunately, the weather broke by the time the following weekend rolled around making the 20-miler a bit more manageable in terms of the elements. The distance, however, was still quite intimidating.  I ran down the west side highway to the base of Manhattan, completed an out and back on the Brooklyn Bridge, got a bit lost before finding my way to the South Street Seaport and up the FDR drive, completed an out and back on the Queensboro Bridge, and then headed home.  I was spent to say the least.  I began to fatigue around Mile 16.  I did some walking and pushed through those last few miles, but did manage to finish the last mile pretty strong.  I felt a real sense of accomplishment after completing this run even though it didn't go as well as I had hoped.  It definitely gave me some mental confidence in knowing that I could complete the distance.  After this run, I just kept reminding myself that I only ever had to do that distance (plus six more miles...eek!!) one more time...EVER!  For some reason, this was helpful to me :)

After two consecutive weekends of long runs, my body (and particularly my left hip to knee...the IT band area, I've been told) was really feeling it.  We headed out of town that weekend for a family wedding in Florida.  I wanted to try to get in a shorter long run (8-10 miles), but it was just too hot even at 8am for me to manage anything more than three miles.  Fortunately, my body appreciated the rest so maybe it was the best thing for me after all.

My last somewhat long run was in Albany on the weekend that I threw Chris a surprise going away party!  He watched soccer with some friends while I completed my last long run of training on what turned out to be a gorgeous day.  I felt good the entire 12 miles and was thrilled to be on pace (12:14/mile) for the whole run.  This gave me a ton of confidence headed into two weeks of the dreaded taper.  For the first time in all of my training, I knew that I could really do it.  It was great to have such a good run so close to the end!

This past weekend, we traveled back to Kentucky to visit my family and go to the Bengals/Jets game (WHO DEY - but more on that trip later!).  I had a couple of short runs to complete while there.  I managed 4-mile and 5-mile solid runs in an 11:45/12 minute pace.  It was pretty chilly there so this gave me a taste of "cold" running which may or may not be a reality when I line up for the real deal this weekend!  I'm hoping for low 60's.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Overall, I feel ready.  I have trained hard and made oh so much progress over the past three months.  I know without a doubt that I can finish the race.  And I will.  I have set three goals.  My most basic goal is to simply finish the race.  And that will make me very happy.  My good goal is to cross the finish line in under six hours.  I am extremely hopeful about this one, but it will all depend on how things go on race day.  I won't lose sight of my basic goal, but I will be pushing to ensure my good goal is met for sure.  My great goal is to finish in 5:4X.  This is not out of the realm of possibilities, but I will need to be very consistent and focused in order to met this one.  I'm not counting myself out for any of these goals.  All are very manageable.  I do know one thing for sure...this week is going to move at a snail's pace.  I'm so excited (and nervous) to have this amazing experience on Sunday!

Andrea :)

Surprise: Our LDR is Over!!

Chris and I are SO very excited to become a regular live (and hopefully work) in the same city couple next week!!  We've been in a long distance relationship since the beginning...over three and a half years ago...and it was well past time to make the change!

This past weekend, I threw him a SURPRISE going away party in Albany!  It was about three weeks in the making, and I had help from several lovely friends in Albany.  I knew I wanted to make sure he had a really special experience because he has been in Albany for over nine years now.  He had his official going away party last night with friends and co-workers, but with it set for a weekday night I knew I wouldn't be able to attend...and I wanted to be there with him for a fun send off since Albany has played such a big part in our relationship as well.  So, I made a way.

It all started with an email to his friends and former roommates, Matt and Cara.  I pitched the idea to them asking them to help with the set up by making dinner plans with us for that Saturday night.  They were immediately on board.  After that, I touched base with Carolyn at Olde English Pub in an attempt to secure some space at their venue.  She was more than accommodating and so very helpful in reserving several tables in the upstairs area of the pub.  I've always liked this place and their fantastic cooperation and service for this event just solidified my previous feeling.

Once the venue was set, I began inviting friends to the party.  I reached out to everyone I knew asking them to spread the word as well.  I messaged facebook friends of Chris randomly about the event and fortunately everyone was super receptive.  I touched base with his co-worker, Alissa, to get the word out around there and much to my excitement she offered to help coordinate getting some cupcakes made.  You guys know how I feel about cupcakes :)

Thanks to Katie at The Albany Cupcakery for these yummy treats!!

With everyone invited and the awesome idea for cupcakes set, I headed up to Albany for the weekend.  I felt pretty good about him not suspecting anything all the way up until about an hour before dinner on that Saturday night.  Then, it almost all unraveled.  Someone texted him about what time people were meeting at the pub.  In the most bizarre of ways, I was able to play it off and convince him that I had mistakenly texted that person's girlfriend instead of another friend with the same name who Chris thought we were meeting up with later.  Seriously, I have no clue how I was able to convince him, but I was SO glad that I did.  The party would have still been fun without the surprise, but it just wouldn't have been the same.  Luckily, I didn't have to worry about that after all.

When he walked up those stairs, all his friends started clapping and he began to realize that everyone was there for HIM.  He was literally speechless.  And so very happy.  I was glad that I was able to organize something for him that allowed him to visit with so many friends one more time before he moves down to the city.  It was a special night for him most definitely.

 

We had a lot of fun and later that night Chris told me that it was one of the best moments of his life.  That made me really happy because I wanted him to have a wonderful night before he moves on to the next chapter of his life with me.  We are both beyond excited to be in the same city...finally!!  It's been a very long journey to get here, but worth every step along the way.

My favorite Alligator :)

Andrea :)

Burton Albion v Fulham

After visiting Lichfield Cathedral, we had a few hours to rest before we ventured over to Pirelli Stadium (capacity of 6,912) for a soccer match.  Not just any soccer match though!  This was a League Cup match.  Chris had been excited about going to the game since before we left New York.  That man sure does love soccer!

A quick bit of background for those of you (like myself) that aren't exactly familiar with how these soccer tournaments work. The League Cup is a single elimination tournament between 92 soccer teams across England.  Twenty teams make up The Premier League and The Football League consisting of three divisions of 24 clubs each - The Championship (Level Two), League One (Level Three), and League Two (Level 4) - provides the rest of the participating teams. Burton Albion participates in Football League Two - the fourth tier. Fulham is an English Premier League football team - the top tier.  This mostly means Fulham has lots more money and resources and should be easily able to knock off Burton on their way to the next round of the tournament.  However, the League Cup is one of the three major domestic trophies for English league teams, but is perceived by larger clubs (ie Fulham) as a lower priority than the other championships.  Winners do receive 100,000 pounds, but the larger clubs don't seem concerned with that prize either. 

Now that you have better understanding of the tournament, I'll speak to the atmosphere.  It is much different from our sporting events in the States.  Before the game, at halftime, and after the game ends are the times to be social, grab food/drinks, and go to the restroom.  During the game...for those two 45-minute halves...you need to pay attention, cheer and chant, and stay in your seating section.  I would say stay in your seat, but a lot of people stand the whole time!  Basically, soccer is serious business.  The chants, however, aren't quite so serious, but are still very important to the teams.  Overall, it is a lot of fun to be at a live game.  Especially a tournament game.  Even if you aren't a huge fan of the sport.

Unless, of course, you aren't feeling well.  Then, well, then it isn't as much fun, but you hang in there as best you can and make the most of it.  After all, you don't get a chance to go to a League Cup game very often!  Needless to say, I wasn't able to stay in my seat the whole game.  I did a fair amount of running back and forth to the facilities...which was ever so conveniently located right beside our section.  I'll spare you the icky details, but it is interesting to note that I seemed to be good luck for both teams.  Both times I snuck out to visit the ladies' room during the game, there was a loud cheer of "GOOOOOAAAALLLL!!" for one team or the other. 

And yep, you guessed it - the game ended in a 1-1 tie.  Normally, that would be acceptable and all the lovely people would return home, but not when it's a tournament game.  Nope.  Then, there is a period of extra time.  Two halves of 15 minutes of extra time that is played completely regardless of the score after the first half.  In a remarkable turn of events, I was finally able to see both teams score a goal though! 

But what do you think the score was at the end of extra time?  You got it. Another tie - it was now 2-2.  Next, we moved on to a penalty shoot out between the teams.  Fortunately, I was starting to rally at this point.  I mean, I was likely dehydrated with not one single drop of fluid left in my body.  But, hey, that just meant I could finally relax and enjoy the competition.  Just in the nick of time!

The game came down to the very last kick, but Fulham proved victorious in the end.  I was sort of rooting for the underdog and home team, but at least Chris and his cousin, Tony, were able to see a great match.  I enjoyed it, too....at least as much as possible given my untimely roughly 12 hour sickness.  The good news is that I made a full recovery the next day as we headed off to visit the Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

Andrea :)

Sunday Stadium Review - Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Name of Stadium: Raymond James Stadium

Capacity: 65,890

Game Attended: versus Eagles in October 2013 with Chris

Worked a game at this stadium? No.

We arrived in Tampa pretty close to kickoff so it was very helpful that we already had a parking pass.  Traffic wasn't too terrible on our way into the stadium either.  We parking literally across the street from the stadium.

Since August I had been reading articles about how awful and intrusive the new security measures were upon entering stadiums this year...especially for women.  However, I didn't seem to notice anything different at all.  I've always taken a small purse that meets the clutch size standards so maybe that is why I didn't have any issues.  They just checked inside my bag briefly before wanding me and I was set to enter.  Same as always.

Our seats were in the upper deck so we immediately headed up the escalators.  There was a bit of a jam there because several "staff" members with Buccaneer flags had not yet made their way up to the top of the stadium.  That seemed a little strange since the game had already started at that point, but we found out later that the flags are only raised when the Bucs score.  They also set off a cannon when the home team scores.  A tad alarming particularly when you aren't expecting it after a converted field goal, but definitely goes with the pirate theme.  The most unique feature of the stadium is the pirate ship and buccaneer cove on the north end of the stadium.  We were seated in the other endzone so we didn't have a chance to check out that area.

 

Overall, the stadium was nice.  I liked the openings on both endzones.  The pirate ship really adds to the character of the stadium.  However, the atmosphere was different than I have experienced in some time.  There were a number of visiting team fans.  So many visiting team fans that chants could be heard going up the escalators, in the concourse, and throughout the stadium.  When the Eagles scored, the fans were able to sing through the entire fight song as if they were at a home game.  I mean it's not like we were expecting the Bucs fans to be overjoyed given the way their season has started, but I would have thought they would have a little more presence and authority for a home game.  Additionally, perhaps it was just the section we were in, but we had multiple people around us that had NO clue what was going on in regard to the game.  I mean, NO clue.  Like asking "Which way is our team going?" and "Are we on offense or defense right now?" - it was BAD!  It was almost as if going to the game was a social event or done just because there was nothing else to do rather than attended out of genuine interest.  Well, unless you were an Eagles fan of course.  Totally bizarre.  And finally, Chris and I decided that games are much less fun to attend when you really don't care about the two teams playing the game...and your team(s) are playing in close match-ups at the same time...and the blazing hot sun is scorching you to the point of misery.  But at least I was able to mark another stadium off the bucket list!  Sometimes it's a pleasure and sometimes it's painful!

 

Check out former Sunday Stadium Reviews here.  I only have 10 more stadiums to go!

Andrea :)

Lichfield Cathedral

Our first adventure in the Midlands found us at Lichfield Cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.  Tony and Amelie showed us around the area along with another cousin, Nigel, and his daughter, Bailey. 

We toured the cathedral upon arrival to this neat area.  The cathedral was massive so we barely skimmed the surface as we looked around.  The exterior was very impressive with so many intricate details in the design. 

The interior was stunning as well.  There were lots of side rooms with displays and various activities.  I was impressed with a few of the very interactive stations set up in a few rooms.  This was definitely a place you could spend a couple hours just checking everything out.

The Lichfield Cathedral is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires.  It also houses the St. Chad gospels and the Lichfield Angel.

After spending some time in the Cathedral, our group headed over to the nearby shopping area.  We browsed around in stores and checked out the farmer's market before settling on an ice cream snack.

Our treats were the perfect way to end such a fun day of exploring in Lichfield!

Have you visited cathedrals in Europe?  What do you find most interesting?

Andrea :)

Love, Football, and possibly too much Sun

Chris and I have been to multiple weddings since we started dating roughly three and a half years ago.  We've been to at least one every year, but typically we attend 3-4 over the course of a year.  The wedding we attended this past weekend wasn't like all the others though.  It was our first family wedding.  Chris' cousin was the groom.  It was totally different to be attending a wedding AND meeting lots of Chris' family as well!

The wedding was a lot of fun.  It was held at a resort in Howey-in-the-hills, Florida, where the evening ceremony took place just before sunset.  The flower girl was adorable especially when she ran out of flowers halfway down the path.  Too cute! 

During the cocktail hour, family photos were taken.  Chris has a very large family as his parents are both 1 of 8 children.  There were so many family members at the wedding that I couldn't even see everyone's face when I took a picture of the group!  I had met a handful of the family members previously so it was fun to see them again...especially the trio of British folks that I met most recently.  We had a good time chatting and dancing the night away.

Bride and Groom with his parents and three brothers.

I liked so many things about this wedding.  The buffet style meal was delicious.  The cake was very tasty.  The favors were great - the candle smells unbelievable!  And the sparkler send off for the newlyweds was super neat.

The next day, Chris and I were up early to head over to Tampa for some football.  I managed to squeeze in a quick three mile run before breakfast at the hotel.  Then, we were on our way!  I collect NFL stadiums so we planned to make the trip dual purpose and watch a game as well.  I'll do a full recap of our stadium experience on Sunday (check out #1 on my bucket list for previous Sunday stadium reviews), but the most unforgettable part of the afternoon was the SUN.  It was blazing hot...and I got scorched.  Boo for that!

It was a quick two day trip to Florida for us, but we were glad to be there for all the fun!

Andrea :)