I don’t often post weekend recaps, but I’ve been out of the blogging loop for longer than I should have been, and want to play catch up.
First off, as I’m sure you know, yesterday was the 118th running of the Boston Marathon.
After last year’s horrific and devastating attacks, to see the athletes and spectators racing and cheering their hearts out was nothing short of momentous. I was moved to tears several times, and I couldn’t rip myself away from the coverage. After the elite women started and were a few miles in, I went out for a little run of my own, in solidarity (never mind, that in the time it took me to complete just under 3.5 miles, these women’s had effortlessly knocked out eight or nine – craziness), and was home and showered in time to watch the men’s wheelchair winners –Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa took number one (I didn’t get to see the women’s winner Tatyanna McFadden), the elite women led by Kenyan Rita Jeptoo (taking her third Boston title), and finally, the tense finale where Meb Keflezighi became the first American man since 1983 to take top honors.
There was so much pride, so much love, so much inspiration. I can think of no better word to describe it than “powerful.” This running community is strong and tight-knit, and pretty much unbeatable. Congratulations to everyone who was there. What a journey.
On Friday, little man had a day off from school. The weather was miserable, and we were trying to figure out what to do, when he informed us he wanted to go see the Easter Bunny. I kind of figured he would want to skip it, so I was thrilled that he asked.
As usual, he was a complete ham.
Afterwards, we went to lunch at a restaurant in the mall with Nana and Papa Bear and then headed home so we could get rested up for a nice dinner with friends.
Unfortunately, as we were getting ready to leave, I started not feeling very well. I sat down for a few minutes to collect myself and ended up getting violently ill. It was awful, and lasted from about 6:00pm through to 2:00 Saturday morning. At that point, I figured it was food poisoning rather than a virus (which was preferable, since it meant that no one else in the house would be catching it). Obviously, there wasn’t a lot of sleep for me, and Mr PugRunner was awesome in that he got little man up and out of the house for his early morning baseball game.
I attempted to rally so we could go over to Nana and Papa Bear’s house and do all the fun pre-Easter things like dyeing eggs and starting Sunday dinner prep, but Mr PugRunner advised me to stay in bed and rest. I was incredibly bummed, but he ended up being right. I was still dehydrated and exhausted, and got in several quality cat naps.
Little man spent the night there, and we had to be up super early on Sunday to get over there as well so we didn’t miss him finding and opening his Easter basket. It was rough getting up, but we were walking in their front door by 7:00am, and got to enjoy him collecting plastic Easter eggs full of goodies and his two baskets.
We had the most lovely day. My cousin was visiting on break from college and it was great hanging out with her. We chatted and laughed and little man played with his new Lego set and Spiderman action figure. We were hoping to spend some time in the pool, but it was cold and gray so that was a no go. Mom made a yummy ham dinner and I put together a coconut cream pie for dessert. We were stuffed and tired by the time we drove away, but it was a wonderful holiday.
The next few weeks are going to continue to be busy. Little man is turning six next Tuesday and we have some fun surprises planned for that. As a result, my training sessions will continue to be pretty basic until after Mother’s Day. I’m focusing on three and four mile distances and speed work, rather than pushing for long runs. April will probably be my last low mileage month for the year, because I will need to do some serious marathon training.
I can’t believe it. I will be running the Walt Disney World Marathon in January of next year. I’m still not sure I’ve finished processing yet. It seems so far away and so unattainable, and yet, why not? I plan on training and listening to my body and doing ally he right things to stay healthy and injury free. I’m being selective with my race calendar so I don’t overdo it, even if it means missing out on fun events. I’m not setting any goals other than to finish on my feet and with a smile (tearful, if need be) on my face. I’m terrified but excited to be doing a great race in the company of some wonderful friends. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how I’m doing over the next few months. I’m going to need all the support and advice I can get!
If you celebrated, did you have a nice Easter weekend? Any special traditions that make the holidays more memorable?
Have you ever had food poisoning? Did it ruin you for a particular food item or restaurant forever?
I would love to run the Disney Marathon someday!! I’ve kind of pondered it for next year…but doubt I’ll make it happen. If it didn’t take so much planning (flying, hotels, whether or not to take family, etc, etc), I would do it sooner….but it would be a BIG undertaking (and expensive). I also kind of want to do the Dopey Challenge. I think that would be an awesome achievement (though, super expensive to sign up for)…but worth it!! Maybe someday! 🙂
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I think that if we didn’t live so close, I would have a much harder time justifying it. If I really, really, REALLY wanted to, I could drive down before the marathon and drive home afterwards (not going to happen, but it’s an option). I would love to do a Disneyland race, the Avengers half specifically, but it would be the same debate – cross-country flight, going alone vs taking family, time from school, expense, etc.
Ugh food poisoning! That is the worst! I’m glad it passed quickly though, and you were still able to enjoy your holiday! I spent Easter Sunday driving 4.5 hours north to visit my sick horse. It was a lot of driving back and forth, but definitely worth it! I’ve been missing him so much, and I imagine he feels the same way all alone up there.
I can’t wait to follow your marathon training! It’s definitely never been a goal of mine (the half is plenty distance for me!) but I love following along on other people’s journey!
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Oh, no! I hope your horse is ok! That’s a pretty far distance 🙁
I hope I can live up to expectations! I’m going to do my best!
I’m so sorry you had to deal with food poisoning. It’s such a terrible experience and I don’t wish it on my worst enemy.
Happy you had a good Easter weekend despite the illness. How exciting for WDW. I can’t wait to track your training!!!
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It was not a fun time, that’s for sure!
I’m excited, too. It’s going to be an experience, that’s for sure.
I like how you are going to be selective with your races – I need to follow your example so that I’m ready for January too!
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I’m going to TRY to be selective LOL! It’s so hard! I want to run them all!
I’ve had food poisoning- Subway sandwiches. For years I couldn’t eat them. It was bad. But I got over it and enjoy them now. Hang in there!
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So much yuck!
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First off, so sorry about your food poisoning! I had it once and it was no fun! Glad you’re feeling better and were able to enjoy Easter. BTW, I love the picture of Little Man with the Easter Bunny!
On Easter we went to 7:30 mass, then had brunch, and later in the day had dinner so the boys could be there. Our tradition is cannoli for Easter dessert!
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Mr PugRunner would love to be at your house! Cannolis are his favorite!
That race was unlike anything I have ever seen! Watching Meb win was nothing short of beautiful!
Holy cow! I totally missed that you were running the Disney Marathon! That is absolutely phenomenal!
I’m so sorry you got so sick, that is just the worst, but I’m glad you seem to be feeling much better!
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It was beautiful. I was glued to the tv screen.
I am running it. I can’t believe it.
And thanks – it took a few days to get back to “right” but I am much better.
Food poisoning is the worst. The last time I had it it was from something I cooked and fail to reheat correctly.
I literally woke up at 2am feeling awful. Crawled the loo, was sick, went back to bed, realised, I wasn’t done yet, and went back for the other end. Yeah never again.
Needless to say I always reheat correctly now.
You going to wear a costume for your Disney run? or not sure yet. Still how exciting.
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I’ve been hit a few times over the years, and it’s always ended with spending several hours in the bathroom. Such misery.
I don’t know if I’m going to wear a costume or not. Definitely not a tutu! I was thinking about theming my outfit around a character – I would wear a skirt and a tank anyway, so I could dress those up without adding weight or anything that would annoy me. I think if I dress up, it will help me take everything more in stride and settle back to enjoy everything more, but I have plenty of time to think about it.
Sorry you got food poisoning!! That sounds horrible. 🙁 Love the Easter pic of you guys. Good luck w/ your marathon training! It sounds like a super fun race to train for. Well to run. Maybe not to train for. But definitely a good “carrot” to work towards!
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It’s a good thing I like carrots!