boston!

Sorry I have been M.I.A. for the past week. I thought things would slow down a little getting past the holidays, but they obviously have not! In fact, I'm sitting in the airport right now waiting to board my plane to New Orleans (hopefully I'll be able to post a few pics--I've never been before!!).




Well, starting on Jan 1st, my friends Tara, Meg & I started a VERY BIG UNDERTAKING...training for the Boston Marathon! (that's another reason why I've been busy). Yes, if you remember back to New Year's Day, it was bitterly cold here in Indianapolis! I braved the cold and did my first training run at Eagle Creek Park. Despite the ice crystals that were forming to my eyebrows and eyelashes, it was actually quite peaceful. I felt like I was the only one there besides the deer that passed in front of me, clueless of their surroundings. Tara, Meg & I ran the 2006 Chicago Marathon together, which is where we all qualified for the Boston Marathon. This is only my second marathon EVER, and I think Tara & Meg have both done somewhere between 5-7 a piece. We have our trip all planned out, because everything books so early in Boston for race weekend (not to mention everything costs 3 times more this weekend--hotel rooms = OUTRAGEOUS!). The race is April 21st, and I am so excited that you all will be able to track me on my run to see how I am doing along our 26.2 mile adventure:) I believe that it shows my progress every 5k (or 3.1 miles). For now, here are some photos that Simon caught of us running the Chicago Marathon. We all wore really bright colors to help our families pick us out of the 40,000+ runners!!

No...this is NOT us! ha. These guys are so freakin' fast!

As you can tell by the smiles and waves, this is still "early" in the race. If I remember correctly, I think this is about mile 13 (the half way point). That's me in the orange shirt, Tara in the red, and the Meg is behind Tara also in a red shirt.


Quite possibly one of the world's worst photos of me, but this shows all three of us. You might be thinking to yourself, "man, Tara and Meg look a lot alike." Yes, they are twins! The funny thing is that even though there's not an ounce of family blood between us, I sort of look like them when we're running...same build, blonde hair:)


Oh dear. I STILL feel the pain when I look at these next few photos. You can barely see me there in the orange. I am maybe 100 meters from the finish line, and I remember thinking that it seemed so long. By this time, my body was completely spent. I had to pound my right quad with my fist the last mile and a half because it was tightening up into a big ball! In any case, we finished and we qualified for Boston!!

...another of me finishing

...and another

probably 20 feet from the finish line:)!! Hooray!

This is a shot I stole from my friend, Jon, who has participated in the Boston Marathon before. The Boston Marathon is known for MANY traditions, one of which is "heartbreak hill." Basically, you hit heartbreak hill with about 5.5 miles left to go, and the hill goes UP for over a half mile. In that half mile, you climb 80 vertical feet.


Alright, that's all for now! I'll be posting more photos soon. Up next are newborn pics of a cutie named Avery!!!