Seneca7 Relay!!!

This weekend was the long-anticipated Seneca7 Relay! 77.7 miles of running split 7 ways = 7 happy (and stinky) people. :-) Since I took a ton of pictures I'll try not to type sooo much and tell the story more through pics.

Preparations:

There was a lot to get ready... hotel reservations, renting a van, deciding what to wear running at different times of the day, figuring out what to eat while running all day long... and of course the fun parts like ribbons for the girls' hair and signs for our van.

Starting the pile for packing...

Shopping for supplies

Saturday: Katie, Andy, and I all had to work Saturday morning/afternoon. Once Katie got off work, she and Scott went to pick up the van we had on hold. Who knew that rental car places closed at noon?! That was quite a stressful time, but with a lot of calling around we managed to find the best price possible at Hertz. A little later than anticipated we loaded up the van and headed off for Geneva!

At the hotel we met up with Sarah, Tim, Emily, Jon, and Dylan (the newest member of the Field family)! Then it was time for a pasta dinner at "Deluxe." It was not fine dining, but it did the job. :-)

Katie and Scott

Emily, Dylan, Jon, Tim, and Sarah

Babs and Andy

Ok, so I handed my phone to Scott so he could take a picture of Andy and I at dinner, and then told Andy, "pretend like we don't know he's taking a picture." I decided to make a funny face, and had NO idea Andy was doing the same. I have looked at this picture probably 10 times now and every time I look at Andy I can't help but laugh out loud. Yep - just did it again. This might be my favorite picture of us, hehe.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for hanging out, fingernail painting, and eating puppy chow! Then it was time to go to bed... in a double bed. Andy and I shared a room with Katie and Scott... it took awhile to get comfortable haha.

The battle for bed territory

Sunday: RELAY DAY!!!! Sarah and I had to leave the earliest so she could get to the start line and so I could board the shuttle bus to take me to the first exchange point. It was SO cold (I think it was in the 20s).

Sarah: Runner 1

Babs: Runner 2

I won't go into all the details, but the basic overall day looked like this... while someone ran, the van would drive to the next exchange point, we would roll down the windows and cheer as we drove past our runner, then once the van got to the exchange point the next runner would hop out, someone would try to find a bathroom, the rest of us would cheer the runner on that was finishing, the runner that was finishing would pass a slap bracelet off to the next runner, and it would all start over again. Then throw some good times while in the van... lots of eating, laughing... you've got a solid relay experience.

Emily: Runner 3

Andy: Runner 4

Tim: Runner 5

James: Runner 6

Katie: Runner 7

Scott: Our driver

Scott was actually way more than a driver. He ran every single one of Katie's legs with her, so he actually did the whole relay AND drove. Now for a few more highlights in pictures...

One of our van signs (our team name)

Van fun - Tim is navigating with the race map

Fun in the backseat

Not so excited for my last leg...

Ok, I know I said I wouldn't write much, but I just need to say that the last leg is tough. You've already run twice, the rest of the time you've spent sitting in a van, which..while fun, is not the best for your legs. By this point I was sleepy tired, my knee hurt, my legs felt tired, and I still had 4 miles to go. Turns out my first mile was trail running which included getting over a wall of boulders (I actually had to have a race volunteer help me get down). Then I spent the next three miles running on a less than smooth path that had TONS of clouds of gnats all over the place. I'm pretty sure I ate a few. But I can tell you... there is no better feeling that seeing the mass of people at the exchange point and knowing you're almost done. :-) Oh I also want to note that the race required reflective gear for a few of the legs. I'm not wearing my suspenders just for fun, haha.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Emily's 30th birthday is tomorrow, so for her last leg we stretched out a "Happy Birthday" crepe paper for her to break through. After the race we gave her a cookie cake which we then all immediately destroyed haha. 

At the very end, your whole team meets up and runs the last 0.1 mile together to cross the finish line.

The home stretch!

We got medals for participating. I'll be adding it to the collection!

Team "This is a 5k, right?"

Katie and Scott

Sarah and Tim

Sarah and Babs

Sarah and Babs "in the hood" har har har

Andy and Babs!

It took our team 11 hours and 15 minutes to run 77.7 miles around Seneca Lake. That's an average pace of 8:41/mile. I of course was not running that fast, which just goes to show how fast the rest of my team was. They were really amazing - not only because they were all so fast, but because everyone was just so nice and friendly and positive. I could easily see how a full day of running, being stuck in a van, smelling, etc would wear on people's nerves, but I think it's safe to say everyone had a genuinely great time from beginning to end. It was an awesome experience. I'm so glad I got to share it with people I love and new friends too.

I smell a rat...

... ok I dont' really smell a rat, but I had a dream last night about rats - more on that in a bit.

Last night was Katie's last night working at Job #2. Our boss got her a cookie cake that said "Good Luck Katie." We nibbled on it all night long, and it wasn't until we were punching out that Katie noticed the only part of her cookie cake that was left said "Go." How fitting. To my dearest Katie - it has been MORE than a pleasure to work with you every Tuesday. Although I know it is a very depressing town, I'm so glad you moved here and worked at Job #2 so that we could become friends. :-) You are one of my most favorite people and you will not get rid of me. Don't even try.

Go Katie. Go.

Well she didn't get rid of me easily after all. For my "lunch break" today I met Katie at Michael's to pick out ribbon for our ponytails! We will be the cutest relay runners ever.

You will have to wait for future pictures to see what we chose!

While at Michael's I got the best text from my dad. My Mema's surgery was cancelled!! For now. She is doing so well, they decided to hold off on surgery for the time being... if she continues to improve, she will get to go home next week. Your positive thoughts all worked big time! Thank you friends. :-)

Now onto the rats. Right now my bedroom is COVERED in clothes. It's the result of many things... our grocery store closed, which is where we used to get quarters (now quarters are super hard to find), it hurts my knee to bend down and pick clothes up/haul them to the laundry room and back, I barely fit into any of my clothes so every morning is a clothing explosion as I try to find something to stuff myself into. It's a bad situation. I HAVE to clean them up before my surgery because I need to be able to get around on crutches, and I'm pretty sure a cleared floor is essential for that.

Ok ok so the rats. Last night I had a dream that there were rats climbing in and out of piles of clothes in our bedroom. At first it's like, ok obviously the mess is bothering me so much that it's creeped into my dreams. But then I decided to do a google search to see what it means when you dream about rats (this was inspired because somehow in some crazy coincidental world, Rebecca also had a dream about a rat last night). Here's what google says...

A rat is a sign that negative influences are undermining your vitality. Dreams about rats and mice usually reflect the worries which are "gnawing" you. To see a rat in your dream, signifies feelings of doubts, greed, guilt, unworthiness and envy.

That really "struck" something in me... it was so spot on. Now let me break down my despair for you...

Negative influences undermining your vitality: My knee. It's stopped me from exercising. It hurts to do stuff, so I barely clean/do laundry and the apartment is just so miserable to be in because it's so messy. I never have clean clothes, clean dishes, etc.

Worries gnawing you: Mema in the hospital, my knee surgery, my relay this weekend, TONS of stuff at work, taking care of the apartment, losing weight/worrying that I'll spend another summer hating myself.

Feelings of doubt: Will I be able to make it through the relay? Will I be able to lose weight for my wedding? for Sheena's wedding?

Greed: Don't think I have any of this?? 

Guilt: I feel guilty for "letting myself go" ever since my knee started hurting. I was doing so good with Weight Watchers and exercising. And as much as I try to restart each week, I always give up so easily and keep eating and laying on the couch.

Unworthiness: I don't feel worthy to be on my relay team. My team is so fit and health. And even though I "should" be able to run and keep up, I won't be able to this time, and I can't help but feel like I'll be the big slow one in the group. I would have been the slow one anyway and that's if I were running at top speed! But now I'll probably have to walk parts and my workout clothes will be too tight, I'll look bad in pictures, yet I'll still stuff my face with PBJ's in the van.

Envy: I know everyone has their own struggles, but I'm so envious of my friends who can run just fine, have healthy relationships with food (or at least are better at controlling themselves), don't live in the ghetto, get to be closer to their parents...

I think I need a maid and maybe a therapist. I wonder if there are any therapists that will clean my house while fixing my head.

I'm really hoping that once my knee feels better my life will change. So far I hate 2013.

BUSY

SO BUSY. Will make this super short, sorry.

First I must quickly say I am so terribly sad for the Boston Marathoners and the spectators of the race. These kinds of tragedies are always terrible, but to happen in a situation where I can so easily picture myself and my family (ok I know I would never get to run Boston, but I'm talking about any race in general) makes it that much more "personal." I will definitely be thinking of all of the people affected while out running the relay this weekend.

Ok now a super duper quick recap of what's been going on...

Friday: Girls night at Alyssa's. SO fun (even though Kristin's face contradicts that statement).

Katie intensely studying a wedding magazine!

Kristin and Alyssa (plus taco dip!)

Saturday - Worked Job #2. Came home took nap on couch. Stomach turned to knots. Spent rest of evening on couch curled in fetal position.

Sunday - Seriously abused the bathroom repeatedly. Continued to remain curled in fetal position and slept A LOT. Managed to sit in a chair for an hour at a kids concert. It was rough.

Monday - Stomach still in distress but getting better. Went to work where things fell apart massively. Managed to sort of put some of it back together. Went tanning, Will came over for dinner, watched more Boston coverage. Picked Sarah and Jon up from the airport. WELCOME BACK BUDDY!!

Tuesday (today) - Job #1 (stomach still not great), had an office lunch and ate too many desserts. Managed to fix a few more things from the day before. Now going to Job #2. It's Katie's last shift so I'm sad. :-(

One last quick line (which deserves to not be quick, but I really have to go), please pray for my Mema (my mom's mom). She's been in the hospital since April 3rd and is having surgery tomorrow. Thankfully my parents were able to fly down to Texas last night. You all must send very good vibes to Mema and her doctors tomorrow. Thanks. :)

Liar liar, our building's on fire

Last night, Andy and I were woken up by the sound of an alarm. Now, the alarm in the building across the street from ours has gone off before... so in my sleepy haze I thought it was from the other building. Thankfully Andy got up to check. He opened our front door, then came racing back into the bedroom. "Get dressed! We've gotta go!!"

I sort of just assumed other people were leaving so that's why he said we should leave. I was just going to put some shoes on and go outside in my PJ's because I thought it would be a quick thing, but he was like, "No! Put on real clothes!" Ok!! So I threw on what I had worn to work that day, grabbed my coat, then grabbed my phone, wallet, and laptop. He was scrambling to grab his clarinet case. And then I opened the door...

Andy wasn't rushing me because people were leaving. He was rushing me because the second you opened the door you could smell smoke, and the entire hallway was hazy/smokey. Crap!! We FLEW down the stairs and out into the parking lot. No one else had gone outside... since it didn't seem like anyone else cared that our apartment building was burning down, I called 911.

3:50 AM - not a fun time to be outside

Thankfully the fire department is right around the corner, so a truck was there in no time. And then we waited. Only one other person came outside. We could see everyone else peeking out the windows (I have no idea how they were able to stand being inside... that alarm is sooo loud). Andy and I waited in his car because it was really cold and kind of rainy outside. We drove around so we could watch the truck.

After awhile the alarm finally stopped going off. We parked back in the lot, talked to the other guy who was still waiting outside, and then decided to go back inside. Sitting in the lobby were three firemen. Hey... is it ok for us to come back in??? We asked them what happened and they told us it was probably a faulty alarm. So I asked - uh, what about the smoke... oh yeah they saw that too but couldn't figure it out - probably someone's iron. An iron? Filling a large apartment hallway with smoke? Kind of doubtful. Of course my mind has since become very creative and I now think someone is making meth in our building. And honestly I don't think that is even as crazy as it sounds. We do not have stand-up neighbors to say the least.

I finally crawled back in bed a little after 5 am

STOP EVERYTHING. I was going to tell you how I had a hard time falling asleep because I was all pumped up with adrenaline, but I have to stop that story because I just got a call from the office of my apartment building.

"Did you call 911 last night?"
"Yes"
"Did you pull the alarm?"

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!? I'm livid. I want to move NOW. Yes gumshoe... what a genius plan... I'll pull the alarm and then call 911, by acting concerned no one will suspect that I'm really at fault. REALLY?!?!? Do they REALLY think that??????

Fury.

Ok wait stop again - Just talked to Andy on the phone. He suggested they were asking if I pulled the alarm because I saw/smelled smoke, rather than accusing me of pulling the alarm. In the last 24 hours, Andy has saved my life from a burning building, and put out the fire of rage I had. What a guy. ;)

I think I need some sleep. And probably a cookie.

April Showers

It's pouring rain today and that makes me.... HAPPY!! I know you all think I'm weird, but I love the rain. It reminds me of home, it means it's not too terribly cold out, AND it makes me feel extra productive.

It's a good thing rain makes me feel productive because I have a ton of stuff to do at Job #1, and after the mess that happened yesterday (my venue and guest artist backed out), I have even more stuff to do. Not cool. Thankfully I got my guest artist back on board, and am currently working out a plan B for the venue. Blah blah, very boring, but for me it's very stressful.

Thankfully between two meetings I had today, a package came that I've been waiting for....

Me dressed as Schnoodle the friendly alien!

We are doing a series of Tiny Tots concerts next month and this is the alien costume we are borrowing from the Jacksonville Symphony. When it came I couldn't resist trying it on... thankfully the person playing Schnoodle is much smaller than I am because the costume is tiny (I didn't even attempt to put on the pants). But I had fun walking around the office as an alien and managed to make two grown men jump, haha. Awesome.

It feels good to be productive. And on top of that I am on day three of being a healthy eater and I'm feeling "strong" - not like physically strong, but like.... no temptations are really bugging me. Part of what helped me stay excited about my attempt to get back on track was the package I got at home last night...

My new scale!

Thank you Groupon Goods! Now I can monitor my weight AND my body fat% and water weight %. Not that those things are entirely accurate on these kinds of scales, but hey... I'm still interested!

K... back to work!

2 weeks until surgery

The countdown is on... I've done a good job of not thinking about surgery too much, but every once in awhile, I really get nervous. Knowing how busy my next two weekends will be, I wanted to make sure I did something fun this last weekend - my last free weekend before I'm not too mobile.

Why wait until Friday to get the party started?? On Thursday I came home from work to a house that smelled amazing... Andy had actually made a meatloaf for dinner! Our friend Will came over and we hung out and had dinner, then left to meet up with Anna and Bips for some froyo!

Menchie's!!

After Menchie's we headed back to Anna and Bipul's apartment to watch "America's Worst Tattoos." It was incredible. Wait wait wait, I just did a google search for "America's worst tattoos" in hopes to post a picture of one I thought was especially bad, but sooo many terrible ones came up... you should really just go search for yourself. People are so weird.

Friday was Job #1 - we all went out to a Japanese Restaurant for a goodbye lunch (it was one of our VP's last days). The food was disgusting. I just can't make myself like Japanese food. I've tried. Nicole can attest to this... she watched me struggle through breakfast in Japan every morning only to race to my suitcase to grab one of the many power bars I had packed! Anyway, after work Andy and I went and saw Silver Lining's Playbook. It was so good! I don't laugh out loud during many movies, but I couldn't stop laughing during their dance. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Saturday was the BIG DAY OF FUN. I worked Job #2 (not part of the fun) but then Andy and I went on an adventure to the outlet mall and then to the Turning Stone Casino!!

Kind of a long drive, but worth it!

At the buffet!

Yes yes, we ate at the casino buffet, but hello, that's just where you have to eat when you go to a casino. It was alright, but I've had better. Then we gambled!!! We played the slots for awhile and once we lost our money on those we went up to the Roulette table and laid down $20...and won! We walked out with exactly as much money as we started with. It was suuuper fun.

Sunday morning started with a trip to take Sarah and Jon to the airport (I miss you already Sarah!!). Then I spent the rest of the day doing normal errands... laundry, grocery store... it was a productive day and the weather was fantastic, so all in all, a good end to the weekend.

And now it's Tuesday... back to work. Yesterday I worked, went tanning, made dinner, then walked on the treadmill for a bit (solid day). Today I'm working both jobs (boo). Things at Job #1 are actually pretty stressful right now. I have a lot to get accomplished before I'm out for a week because of my knee. Oy! Guess I better get back to it... have a good day!

It's supposedly Spring

Yesterday was: The first day of the month, the day after a holiday, and a Monday... It was like the perfect storm - can't think of a better day than that to get back on the health train.

I had quite the productive/healthy day. Got ready for work and had a healthy breakfast... then it was time for Job#1. My life in May is a whirlwind of responsibility at Job #1, which means April is a massive month of "getting ready." I had so much going on in my head, that I needed to get it down on paper. Usually one list would cut it. Well, not this month...

WALL OF ORGANIZATION

Side note - I actually had a meeting with two ladies in my office today and one of them actually took a picture of my wall. It truly is that impressive. ;-)

Anyway, back to Healthy Monday. I had a nice break from work when Andy took me out to lunch. We went to Panera, so lunch was also healthy! Then back to work, blah blah blah... 5:00 rolls around - I went home, did the dishes, put some laundry away and then made (healthy) dinner. After dinner I went tanning and then... the the gym.

Now I know what you're all thinking. The gym?! What about your knee?? Yes it hurts. And now that I've been to the gym it hurts even more. But I promise I only walked on the treadmill slowly (so slowly in fact that I didn't even change into a sports bra) so it's not like I was tearing anything... just probably making it more inflamed. There's no way I'll be able to do that every day, but I need to do a little something here and there so I'm not completely hopeless during the relay.

Ok ok, back to Healthy Monday. After the gym I hit up the grocery store for a few things, and while I shopped I talked to Emily on the phone! It was so nice to catch up with her, and our conversation made me even more excited to do the relay.

But the biggest news of Healthy Monday was that I got my surgery scheduled - April 23rd is the magic date. The lady actually called today to get all of my info, so I'm currently feeling hot and sick to my stomach. I wish this stuff didn't bother me so much. I'm apparently scheduled for: plica excision and cyst fenestration. I didn't know what those were so I started looking them up online, but that made me feel even sicker, so I just called my dad and he explained it all to me. :-) It's going to be a long 3 weeks of freaking out...

Today: Not much besides Job #1 and Job #2. Oh, it's also snowing today... I thought it was supposed to be Spring?? This weather is getting old.