Big Brother Little Brother

August 10, 2013

My husband and I don’t have any children (by choice) so he is a volunteer with the Big Brother Big Sister organization.  His current “little brother” was chosen to be the Finish Line Honorary Ball Kid at the (WNBA) Indiana Fever game on Saturday night (08-10-2013).  So my husband and I along with his “little” and his Mom went to the game.  We needed to be there when doors opened but we were a few minutes late. 

In the Entry Pavilion

His little was a tad bit nervous about doing this but he did a great job…although he really didn’t have to do anything at all.  At halftime, the camera people shoot him bouncing the ball and put the shot up on the big screen.  Sadly they misspelled his last name.  Basically he was done at that point so we were just going to head for home.

    

        

Mascot foolishness

On the Big Screen

But since I use to work there, one of my friends and former department mate took us on the backstage tour of the building.  Some of this was even new to my husband since he hadn’t been there since the building was upgraded to HD.  I must admit that while I don’t miss all the long hours and being there for days in a row – including weekends – I do miss most of the people.  And really miss being able to be the one that could take people on those tours.  Its part of the whole process (and part of the building) that almost everyone never gets to see or experience.  I was thankful to be able to tag along tonight; it also allowed me to see some of my friends that I rarely get to see now.

   

Pacers Player Parking area

My husband’s little brother is a great kid.  He’s smart, likes sports and is very polite.  His Mom has done and is doing a great job with him. 

With his Mom

She says that we are part of their family. 

Catching up on the week

I’ve decided that I need to start “scheduling” my runs/miles on the calendar.  I’m hoping that if I put them down in writing on there it will help me stick with what I am supposed to do.  The last time I was religious about this was probably back in 2009 when I was training for my first full marathon.  Sadly, I didn’t really get to stick to THAT schedule because where I worked at the time had me really busy…but any way.

So the plan for the week is:

• Monday – 3 miles
• Tuesday – 4 miles
• Wednesday – 5 miles
• Thursday – 4 miles
• Friday – 3 mile walk (or just rest)
• Saturday – rest day
• Sunday – Double Road Race (10K then a 5K)

I really need to incorporate cross training in there (how many times have I said that? #brokenrecord!)  But sometimes I get so caught up in wanting to increase the miles for the week/month, that I lose sight on the other stuff.  I doubt that I’ll get to 1000 miles for the year and I just need to be okay with it.  I mean after all, I didn’t think about making that a goal until LAST MONTH! 

How have I done so far?  Well, the weather has gotten hot and humid again but these miles should be doable even for someone of my running caliber/ability.  So here it is:

• Monday – 3 miles COMPLETE
• Tuesday – 4 miles COMPLETE
• Wednesday – 5 miles COMPLETE 4 MILES
• Thursday – 4 miles COMPLETE
• Friday – 3 mile walk (or just rest)
• Saturday – rest day
• Sunday – Double Road Race (10K then a 5K)

I wimped out on Wednesday and only did 4 on the treadmill.  It was SO GROSS outside, I just couldn’t be out there and the treadmill…well we don’t refer to it as the DREADMILL for nothing!   Then I had some weird tightness in my left hamstring on Thursday during the first half mile of my run.  I stopped to stretch it out, ran a little, walked to stretch it out and did some front kicks and side swings.  The remainder of that first mile caused me concern but I slowed down (is that possible?) and the remaining 3 miles weren’t bad.  But mentally, I kept trying to feel it – does that even make sense?  Glad I stuck with it cause I almost just went home.  I think my form if off when I’m on the treadmill and this was some after effect of that.  However, it reinforced that I am not running on Firday and I might not even walk.  I will for sure keep stretching, using The Stick and icing.

On Wednesday morning we had a breakfast work function.  It was our Conexión event.   Conexión is the premier Hispanic professional connecting event in the Indianapolis region, hosted by the Indy Chamber’s Hispanic Business Council.  It was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  The first speaker was Mark Miles, the new CEO of Hulman & Company which is the parent of IMS and he reminded me/us of this little factoid.  Did you know that the IMS oval covers 253 acres.  It is so big that: Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Colosseum and Vatican City all can fit inside it.

Source

That’s just crazy to think about.  And this is literally less than 20 miles from my home.

Breakfast was nice but I played it safe with just a few scrambled eggs,some diced potatoes and bread pudding (YUM!).  The event was held inside one of the chalets and was racing themed – go figure

The famous Pagoda

NASCAR – race is held in August

IRL car – race is help in May

Flags used in the race

• Green is the start flag
• White is for the final lap
• Blue is used in NASCAR but not IRL
• Checked flag is out as the winner crosses the finish line
• Red is “session stopped”
• Black is the penalty flag
• Yellow is the caution flag

Has anyone ever been to the “Famous Oval” for either the IRL race or the NASCAR race?

Volunteering & Cheerleading

One of my New Year’s Goals was to volunteer more at races that I was not doing.  I haven’t been stellar at getting this done but I’ve done it a few times.  And hey, I’ve still got 4+ months to still get some volunteering in right?

My husband signed up to do the Tri Indy Olympic Distance Triathlon and since I seem to be “one & done” when it comes to triathlons, this seemed like a good thing to help out with.  The one problem, its difficult for me to volunteer ON race day because I want to be there to cheer on my husband. So I signed up to work packet pickup the night before.

On Saturday, (08-03-2013) I headed downtown to the NCAA Hall of Champions to work my 3 hour shift.

The girls that worked the table prior were from a local high school cross country team and sadly, their “instructions” weren’t the best.  And then of course seated next to me was a very annoying older man.  UGH. I was working the Duathlon and Team Triathlon bib section.  Team bib distribution was a little confusing a first but it was all good.  Those 3 hours certainly had ebbs & flows; I preferred it when it was busy so that the time passed a little faster.  But I did get to see this:

Umm…okay.  I mean I am a big time dog lover but I thought this was a little extreme.  The only other “eventful” thing that happened was in the parking garage trying to get out.  They gave us passes but mine wasn’t working.  So I called the number on the stand and was told they’d send someone out.  Well after 10 minutes (luckily there were two exit gates and it wasn’t busy) I called back to ask 1) was there more than one entrance/exit because maybe I needed to tell them specifically that I was on the south side and 2) was it going to take awhile?  Of course this was just a answering service – but with a LIVE person thankfully – and she said that they just take the message and radio campus security.  And that they had been really busy this evening.  Wouldn’t you think to tell me that when I called the first time?  CUSTOMER SERVICE!  Give me the heads up that its busy, maybe I should pull away from the gate just in case; whatever.  Luckily, I had my flashers on and some other “form” of security pulled up and swiped his card and I got out.  A little frustrating but more from the poor communication standpoint than anything else.

 

Sunday morning (08-04-2013) the alarm went off at 4:30AM.  My husband wanted to leave the house at 5:30 and I wanted to take a shower and the dogs would need a little food before we left so better get up earlier than maybe really needed.

I wore the shirt I had made when he did his Ironman Triathlon down in Louisville in 2008.

Parking was a breeze at the IMAX/State Museum and that took us right out on to the canal.  And it was only $5 for the day!

Walked with him to set everything up in his bike rack area and the walked to the JW Marriott to use the bathroom.  By the time we got back, the pre-race announcements had already started but he’s done enough of these that it didn’t matter.  He just wasn’t really into this event yet but felt like once it started, he get more motivated.

The great thing about swimming in the canal (which is probably the only good thing actually) is that if you aren’t a strong swimmer, you can totally just stand up and take a break.  Heck, you could technically WALK the swim if you wanted to!  We joked about him waving to me as he swam since I was going to be able to walk the entire route alongside the canal.  So obviously we had to take a swimming / waving picture!

Hello!  I’m swimming and waving!

See…need a break.  Just stand up.

And here was another unusual item…a “construction zone” in the swim route!.  That’s definitely a first for me to see.

Also remember, there is NO SWIMMING in the canal! 

He got a random cramp just after 1000 meters but was able to work it out. I watched him in the transition and then hustled over to the BIKE OUT area to snap a few pictures.  Then I went over to BIKE IN, cheered on the other athletes and waited for him to come in.

When I saw him come back in on the bike (I was just past the DISMOUNT area, he came over and told me that he had almost gotten hit by the tractor portion of a semi trailer.  I guess the driver got tired of waiting and pulled out.  He said he was literally inches from the truck.  A biker passed him and said “Man, I thought you were going down.”  We are lucky this had a happy ending and I guess there was a police officer there that saw the whole thing an had a “discussion” with that driver.

As he was in transition, I hustled to the RUN OUT area and got to see him leave for the final leg.  I was then going to walk to the car and drop off my jacket & lunch bag.  As I was walking out, I happened upon were the course splits and the Olympic Distance participates come back in to make a second loop.  Very good to know.  I dropped my stuff off and then waited for him to come in before the last loop.  After I saw him make the turn, I then went to the finish line area.  I was in the perfect spot to see him run east crossing the bridge north of the finish line and then was able to move to a position beyond the finish line to get THAT photo.

Yeah!  He heard me yell his name.

DONE!

This is such a super fan friendly course and our downtown area and the canal are really nice.  Here are some shots of the murals that have been painted along the canal.

It was a good day for this event, although my freak husband prefers it when the weather is HOT.   We saw a couple of friends there too.  SO proud of him and I love being his cheerleader.

Indiana State Fair–Trip #1

August 2, 2013

Trip #1? 

What? 

The Indiana State Fair opened this evening and my husband and I went.  Normally I only go to the State Fair one time each year.  I love to go look at the animals, check out the crafts (I personally won 3rd place one year with a cross stitch entry!), see if there are any “interesting” people cruising the Midway and its my one time a year to have an Elephant Ear.  Oh how I love elephant ears.  Its always our first stop and it is always at the Red Barn.  I won’t buy one anywhere else. 

But this year could have me back at the fair several times; there are 3 concerts on the Free Stage that I want to see and one day I might try to take my Mother.  Its been awhile since she’s been.

Karmin was on the Free Stage this night and I really like them.  My husband, who wasn’t very familiar with them even came away impressed with the group especially with Amy and how well she sings.  You know a band or performer is good when they sound just as good live as they do recorded (…unlike Taylor Swift!)

After the concert we made a lap around checking out the people and what other food to eat!  Kettle Corn was next on the list and then we decided on a Strawberry Lemonade.  Both of these plus the Elephant Ear, we shared and we always go back to the same stand that we purchased from the year prior…once you find a good thing you stick with it!

The last trip was through the Midway.  I especially love all the bright colors and twinkly lights once it starts to get dark.

Surprisingly the Fair overall wasn’t crowed and the weather was great; cool with just a some slight sprinkles when we first got there.  Not sure if the fact that there WAS a forecast for rain kept some people away or the fact that there was also some kids concert (Big Time Rush) at the outdoor venue on the east side of town.  Thus some of the families might have been up there for that.  Fine with me.  It made for a wonderful Opening Day Fair experience.

This year it is the year of Popcorn…which I also love but sadly they weren’t unveiling the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball until Saturday, the 3rd.  Oh well, just one more reason to go back.

What happened to Blogging in July?

So I feel like I started off strong at the beginning of July with blogging but then….nothing.  There were a few things that I “did” but I guess I just wasn’t too inspired to take the time to tell anyone about them.  So I guess on this first day of August, I’ll briefly recap what took place.

So my husband was glued to the TV watching the Tour de France.  and when I say glued, I mean that he would watch it in the morning, and then catch a little bit of it again if he came home for lunch AND THEN he would watch the enhanced broadcast each night.  This obviously meant that I caught quite a bit of it as well but some fun/funny things happened during the Tour.  There was a segment called Ask Bobke and my husband suggested that I ask a question.  The very next day, there is was:

Initially we missed it but someone posted on Facebook that they saw it so we sent the DVR to record it later that night.  Not sure why they listed my “hometown” and then spelled it incorrectly but hey, I’ve now had international exposure

And speaking of exposure…it seemed that this was also the year of the Full Moon at the Tour, we saw these on two separate occasions.  It then became a quest to find more on the other days but sadly we did not.

Check out the right side of the picture (from 07-06-13, I think)

This time they are on the left! (from 07-12-13, again I think)

 

On Saturday, July 13th my husband and I got up at the crazy hour of 3:30AM to drive up to Muncie, IN to see our friend SJ(C)P complete her first half Ironman.  We didn’t tell her we were coming and she was completely floored!  YAY!!   This was to be a “trial run” before deciding if she wanted to do the full Ironman in Louisville, KY in August.  Although she proclaimed – when she got out of the water and was running up to the transition area –  that she already knew that a full was off the table, she finished this half with a smile on her face.  And as we knew she probably would, after a few days, she was contemplating doing another half Ironman next year for redemption.

 

Super cute sign that I made for her (if I do say so myself!)

YAY!  She finished and is smiling

Her husband did the race too but it was not his first.

On July 18th we went to a Cocktails and Cupcakes event near downtown Indianapolis.  I was going more for the cupcakes but surprisingly, I did like one of the cocktails they had prepared.  One of the local news reporters has her own cupcake company (www.sugarindy.com  / Sugar.) and she makes the most fabulous miniature cupcakes.  SO GOOD.  She is also a runner and a really nice person.  And these tasty treats were FREE.  Plus, the cupcakes were so fabulous we bought 6 to take home.

On Saturday July 20th, my husband’s bank sponsored a team for the Sprint Distance Triathlon at Eagle Creek Park.  This is the second one in the series of three; we volunteered at the first one back in June.  I was to be the team photographer.  WOW!  That was a tough job.  Most of the pictures didn’t turn out especially when they were on the bikes.  The fact that they all had on team jerseys helped but by the time I could see them coming toward me, it was too late.  Lots of blurry biking pictures.  But the team shot turned out good.

So after this, we come home, showered, took a nap and then got ready to head up north to attend my husband’s class reunion.  It was his 30th as well.  (I had mine back in June.)  Sadly some of the classmates didn’t think the venue was nice enough for the reunion and went to a different location & created their own mini-reunion.  Not cool in my opinion.  Are you still IN high school?  You may never see some of these people again so just “suck it up” for 3-4 hours, don’t worry about WHERE you are but be thankful for the people that you are with.  It was fun hearing some of those stories.  Not that this is a new revelation but…my husband was a pistol in grade school, in middle school and in high school!

That’s me and my husband in the middle.  The guy in the red shirt – that was his shirt when they were Freshmen.  It still fits and is actually loose!

 

The only other “of note” thing was that we went to a runner’s group meet & greet on July 23rd.  At first there were only 6 of us there but more people started trickling in between 6:00pm & 7:00pm.  It was fun to meet some new people, hear about what got them started running and what their next event was going to be.  Doubt that I’ll ever run with any of these people (they are faster than me) but I’ll certainly go to another social hour!  They took a group photo but we had already left.

So I guess that about sums up the end of July.  Not much too report.  My running was pretty consistent.  According to DailyMile, I finished the month at 77 miles. Just one more day and a little ol’ 3 miler could have given me 80.  Its funny because last year in July when it was the hottest ever, multiple days in the 100s+ and the Midwest was in the grips of a drought I had 104 miles in July. 

Looking forward to flipping the calendar to August so that I will actually have two half marathons on the calendar.  Its been too long!