The Drudge Report

It's a long road to the French Bakery.

Looking good Seth.

Ready to sign up for the Rock N Roll Marathon.

Walk of Fame.

Press Coverage

Paparazzi have been going wild since the finish of Sundays event. The members of "team Noish" continue to dispute who deserves top honors. Mudslinging continues as new information leaks via Brightroom Photography's photographs and the Carlsbad website review page. We caught up with newest member of "Team Noish" and founder of Idropboys.com to see what she had to say for herself.

Spokesperson for idropboys is under attack.

The team in question.

The Times: Jennifer... Tim, Bruce, and Seth all outran you. How do you feel about this?
JN: I am very happy for their performances as well as Cindy and Val's.

The Times: But I thought you liked to drop boys. Aren't you the leader of this organization?
JN: I love to drop boys. I am happy encourage other women to drop boys as well.

The Times: Jennifer, you saw Bruce with less than a mile to go. Did you try to close the gap?
JN: I tried. I was not successfull.

The Times: Bruce reported he and Seth were fading. You were only 7 seconds back from Bruce. For all women couldn't you have dug a little deeper?
JN: I gave it what I had and I was out of gas. I did unlike the guys...manage to negative split

The Times: But they were fading.
JN: Yes, they were fading.

The Times: All that talk. Idrop boys. The stickers. The pink bikes. Are you a charlatan?
JN: No. I have and will always maintain that I draft MEN and I drop BOYS. They can consider themselves lucky or men. Whichever they prefer.

The Times: We heard you ate a lot of gingerbread men over the holidays. Did they factor into your performance?
JN:They are the (now no so) secret rocket fuel of idropboys. I eat (gingerbread) men and I dropboys.

The Times: That's not very scientific. How do you figure?
JN: I PR'd didn't I? I also managed to negative split. THA -ANKS.

The Times: If you could drop those "MEN" how would you execute it
JN: I would pass them with ease just before crossing the line. I have never worn a run skirt running but I would love to make it swish as I passed them. There is alway next year.

The Times: How do you feel about your husbands PR? Were you surprised? We heard he ate even more gingerbread cookies than you.
JN: I was not surprised by his time. He has been running very well. High quality, low volume. As for the cookies. Yes, he easily ate 3-6 times as many cookies as me. They were laced with antioxidants.

The Times: What is next for team Noish?

JN: Next up is Oceanside for Seth, Tim, Bruce and myself. Cindy and Val will bring the team to full strength at Wildflower.

The Times:Will you continue in your attempts to drop boys

JN: Always

The Times: Bruce is the age graded champ. How will you help get the recognition he deserves?

JN: JUST YOU WAIT.

Miss Manners Report on Carlsbad 2009

Miss Manners weighs in

As an athlete it is important to write a race report after the event. One should compose the report as quickly as possible post event. This reduces the opportunity for the brain to rearrange and misconstrue the data. Since Tim and I are married I should view us as a unit. I should evaluate Tim's performance. To be a supportive wife and I must take ownership of his performances. His race is my race. Although Tim ran 13 minutes faster than me I should take credit for his PR performance as well as my own PR.
Evidence indicates I have improved my performance in every race over the past year (except for the disk in the wind episode) and I should focus my race analysis towords the role of race hostess. Miss Manners advises that meals served should be hot, healthy, and homemade. Check, Check, Check. Guests should always be offered a proper dessert....homemade chocolate chip cookies. Check. The proper hostess should anticipate her guests needs and facilitate their comfort.

Did I miss anything?

2009 Carlsbad

2009 Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon

Now for the race report.....

I know you are all dying to know my average pace per mile, average heart rate, the average temp, and average wind speed. What?.... You don't? Darn....well OK. I'll have to deal with that. Alrighty then. On to the family challenge.

I'm sure you want to know the results of the family challenge. It's a tough call on many levels. There needs to be an all encompassing ranking system for individuals, couples, and of course the "Noish" Family vs. the rest of the world. We have a lot of adjusting to do based on age, injury, surgical history, distance driven, number of races entered, having a personal coach, chef, or masseuse. Seth had to go and get sick so we have to adjust for that. What some people will do for a bonus point. Cheez.

"So do you want to go for a bike ride after everybody else goes home?" -Tim to me

After the race it dawned on me it wasn't over. ......now it is a race to recovery. Points for driving back to Nor Cal. Points subtracted for allowing your face to fall on your plate at the French Bakery. Points deducted for making audible incomprehensible and involuntary sounds.

You know who you are.

Family Challenge

As mentioned before this Sunday is the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon. To most of the active San Diegans it is an early season fitness barometer of sorts. To the members of Team N....it is the family challenge. Cindy, Bruce, Seth, Val, Tim and I are all doing the race. Despite being very supportive of each other the stakes are high.....bragging rights. Hence the importance of learning that 2 pounds could shave 52 seconds. Although Tim and I fell off the wagon today. I got so excited about crushing my assigned interval on the test sets at swim I made cookies. Ghirradelli chips with pecans. I upheld my plan not to put nuts on the salad or graze on nuts before dinner. Instead I crushed them and baked them in the cookies. (Now that's restraint isn't it).

I think my mother in law Cindy holds the family course record...a 1:29. Unless Bruce has gone faster I am not really sure. The thing is it really doesn't matter what your chip time is in the family challenge. In the family challenge all times will be adjusted. Penalties will be administered for numbers of races participated in, miles logged in training, available time to train, massages, physical therapy sessions, and supplements consumed. In the family challenge it is all considering "doping." New shoes are even "doping" So I propose one more adjustment since it's my only chance to win..... instead of an age graded time there should be a cookie adjusted time....subtracting 1 second/cookie consumed since Thanksgiving. Now that would make things fair.

Martin Luther King Day

Whoa! New's Flash in honor of MLK day Tim had the day off and coincidently so did I. In an effort to make the most of the day we gathered a group of our friends and headed out to Pine Valley for some serious climbing...I mean riding. We were joined by Julie, Matt, Pat, and Elizabeth as we headed up the infamous Kitchen Creek road. Infamous for the long climb, cattle crossing, and the place Tim and I became engaged. We were thankful to have such an awesome day weather wise, live in such an awesome place, and have such awesome friends. At the top of Kitchen Creek road Julie and Matt headed back as they had other things to accomplish that day. Tim and Pat were dazzled by the thoughts of Julian Pie and by the opportunity of exploring the new road (well new for us) out of Julian. The "new road" Engineers road did not disapoint, neither did the pie:) Engineers road is georgous with the amazing views. It is not for the weak of heart though. We covered 7000 ft of vertical in 80 miles. Tim and I decided we really like to ride with our friends. It's good company, safer, gets us out the door in the morning, and most of all I don't fuss. Poor Tim....if we were to ride alone I might be tempted to say "Umm this pace is a bit uncomfortable, can we slow down just 1/2 mile per hour." I would never ever ask a group to slow down for me.....I would rather just harden up.....and maybe jimmy Tim's brakes.



Next up is the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon. It's Sunday. I had a dream race last year. Large in part to my friend Stacey who tied a rope to me and pulled me along until the final 5k when she sped up to her race pace. I'm not sure what will happen this year as Stacy's not running. I guess I will have to hope for the best. While the rest of the entrants are carbo loading. Tim and I are carbo un loading. Based on Tim's claim he gained 3 pounds and has a "roll" which I call skin covering his abdomen and my discovery of the following information:



There was a nice little table in Runner's World last year that illustrates how much faster you could be if you lost weight.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304--11903-0,00.html

So if I wanted to improve upon last years performance I would have needed to do speed work months ago. Instead I opted for easy runs and Christmas cookies. Oh yeah and I blew off a lot of runs because I was "recovering" from IMAZ....better known as hammering the Great Western Loop. Life it's about the choices we make. For the rest of the week I am inflicting a no nut policy on Tim and I. I have substituted my post work/ post work out nut eating habit ( BAD HABIT .... JENNY GIRL) with Trader Joe's organic apple slices. I feel quite guilty about this obsession because my mother taught me to be buy apples in season and cut them myself. These are $2.50 for 18 oz., pre sliced with lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown and taste amazing. Always crispy and never mealy. Unless of course you forget about them in the fridge and they get mushy ( BAD JENNY GIRL). Anyway they are like my crack addiction and I am quite happy about it. Tim and I would skip the Ghiradelli chocolate chips too but the dark chocolate has anti -inflammatory properties. Now just how would we run worth a darn if we didn't properly take care of our inflammation? Lord knows after today's ride we need all the anti-inflammatory properties we can get.

Someday When I am Old and Grey

Someday when I am old and grey

I will want my children

and my childrens'children

to fully understand

what stock they have come from

Sorry Timmy Baby...

but I think the finer things in life

should be well documented

and exploited

in cyberspace

Love,

Jen

We Remember

When You Are Old

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced among the mountains overhead
And hid his face among a crowd of stars.

William Butler Yeats

(memorized for Mrs. Silet's 8th grade class)

Recently we gathered to honor the memory of Tim's Grandma Carol. While I was sad to say good bye I enjoyed hearing the stories of Carol's earlier days. When I met Grandma Grazda she was in the later stages of life. Although she was always pleasant with a twinkle in her eye for Tim, her family had many more stories to share. I'm sorry I didn't know Carol in the days of the swimming pool with the diving board. I'm sorry I wasn't there when she brought root beer to the Carlsbad state beach after hours of surfing. I am happy though to share the memories.

Easter 2008.

Engagement Announced to Grandma and extended family

I learned Carol had a knack for the little things. Gestures that seems like nothing but served to create a lifetime of warm memories. I don't sweat the small stuff (or at least I try not to). I firmly do believe the little things in life create the best memories. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who get the big things right. (Not so nicely said as if you can't get the big stuff right I don't hang out with you). There isn't any made up drama so the little things are fully appreciated. I am really forunate I get to share my life with somebody who appreciates these gestures as I do. It is amazing the memories that are made by giving somebody an iced cold root beer on a hot summers day.

Family also commented on Carol's letter writing. As Carol's children grew up and were no longer living with her she frequently wrote her children letters. 4 page letters, single spaced, double sided. (She probably didn't even have any run on sentances or typos either). Letters her family loved. I was thinking of quitting my blog. I love writing it and remembering the events as I write I seem to always be short on time. My usual thought pattern is such as this

......will do smog test tomorow. Did fold clothes....is there still another load to wash?....forgot maple syrup at the grocery store ...crap another trip to Costco. Out of OJ , renew ACLS next month....will study for CCRN exam...mail thank you cards....from Christmas...got to do better at prioritizing, only 95 miles biked this week, need to swim more, crap it's past my bed time, to bed now....wait coffee for tomorrow, grind beans , brush teeth, bed, lights off....wait double check alarm...sleep.. beep.beep. beep ....time to get up and repeat).

I think of how much those letters meant to Carol's family and how close they made her children feel to her. I think maybe my blog is a bit of a priority. Like most people should run, shorter and more frequently, I should blog, shorter and more frequently. I'll never do that though I am an endurance writer with diarrhea of the fingertips.

Even though my life now seems to fabulous for me to ever forget. I might when I am old and gray. It gives me comfort to think when I am old and gray and full of sleep and nodding by the (fake ) fire , I can take down this book (laptop) and slowly read of the joys I once had.