An Epic Day

Yesterday was quite an eventful and epic day.

My morning started at 4:15 AM as I woke up to get ready for the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. I was more nervous than usual about it, not only because of the difficulty of the race, but the uncertainties involving the weather. Perhaps I should say that one thing was actually certain. It was going to rain. A lot. What I didn't know was how it could impact the race. If severe storms rolled through, they could call the race off and I might not get to finish. I didn't know quite what to wear because I wasn't sure whether I'd be cold or hot. I wasn't sure how my feet would do being wet the whole time. And what if I panicked again about getting through the porta potty line before the race started?!? So with all of this going through my head, it's no surprise that I think I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before. Even though I knew I was physically ready for the race, I was still nervous.

"lucky" bib number!

So, fast forward a few hours to 7:30 and, after going through the porta potty line THREE times, we were standing in the rain ready to go. The beginning of the race is probably one of the most exciting times because it is a united atmosphere of nervous energy. Everyone stayed pretty close for the first mile until we hit Mill Mountain, then we all started to space out more and more for the rest of the race. I am definitely glad to have been running with someone, because there were some points along the course where it could have gotten really lonely, especially with the rain. We tackled the mountain fairly well and we were relieved once we knew we had gotten that over with. The rest of the course did contain some minor hills, but nothing compared to Mill Mountain.

One of the things that made this race so bearable in the pouring rain was all of the wonderful spectators (to include my amazing family) and volunteers who stood out in the rain supporting us. I tried to say thank you as we passed each volunteer and spectator cheering us on without even knowing us, but I will say it again: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Running in the rain!

We took some walking breaks throughout our run as we had planned, and we finished with an amazing time. Our goal was to finish the race in around 2:20, but our chip time was a little under 2:15! We were definitely very excited about our performance because it was obvious to us that all of our training had paid off!

Coming across the finish line

Me with my training partner, Grace

Me with my brother, Walter (who also ran the race and finished in 1:48!)

Awesome finisher medal!

Normally I would have loved to stick around and cheer on other people finishing and eat my fill of delicious bagels, but it was really wet and I was starting to get cold. So we went home where I finally got warm and dry. I stretched for a little while and refueled, then enjoyed a nice nap in the afternoon. We all met for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, then we headed downtown for the Roanoke Twilight Criterium.

We have never been to a bike race before, so it was really neat to watch, especially downtown in the dark! We watched the professional race, so they were going FAST! So fast that it was hard to get a picture of them!

I also shot a video of the riders as they were going by (if you get our blog through e-mail, you'll have to visit the website to watch it):

Going to the bike race was an exciting way to end a great day, but I'm definitely exhausted today! Right now we're both looking forward to being on our way to the beach in less than a week. Hopefully it will be a good change for us to just relax and have fun.

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Like A Kid On Christmas Morning

Greetings everyone. It's been quite a while since I've done a blog posting. I tell Lauren that I let her handle the blogging because, in my opinion, she does a much better job. Since this post is all about me, though, I figured I'd handle it.

As faithful followers of our blog know, Lauren has become quite a runner! I think it's great that she's found a hobby that lets her get outside and exercise. In fact, her enjoyment of running encouraged me to find something I could do for exercise and for some outside active fun as well. I ran track and cross country in high school and, as I like to say, that got running out of my system. I also have a knee that will hurt sometimes, so I was looking for something a little "lower impact". I've always enjoyed biking and did a lot when I was a kid, so I decided to look into that route, but with a twist. With the exception of an old Schwinn I had in middle school, I've always had mountain bikes. This time, I'm going to try out road biking.

I did research on different brands, different frame materials (aluminum, aluminum and carbon fiber, carbon fiber, titanium and carbon fiber), different components. I did some shopping and test riding at different bike stores. Yesterday I got one! A new bike for a new adventure into the world of cycling on the road!

Many of the online forums I read advised "you're new... buy used;" and so I did. I purchased a very gently used 2009 Specialized Allez Sport. The name is apparently French for "go". It was owned by a friend of the people at the bike store who is very meticulous with his bikes and so it was well cared for and never even ridden in the rain. In fact, they said he came in and bought a slightly lower end bike to use as his "rain bike" and couldn't even bring himself to ride that one in the rain.

The people at Cardinal Bicycle were very helpful in getting me a good bike and helping pick out my necessary accessories (seat bag, spare tube, mini pump, patches, tire tool, computer, and water bottle cages) and even put it all on for me while I waited. I was really pleased with the fact that they were not pushy at all. They knew I was just getting started and helped me pick what I needed for my level of experience. Unlike other bike stores, the salesman I talked to Saturday never even attempted to "close the sale". He gave me his card and told me to mention I talked to him if/when I came back. I really appreciated the fact that they recognized I was shopping around, and getting a feel for what was out there and didn't try to sell me that day.

Here it is!

My plan is to start on the Greenway and in the roads around our house. My goal is to be able to ride to the top of Mill Mountain (where the giant star is) by the end of the summer. We'll see how that goes! Right now though, on this cold and rainy day in Roanoke, I am "like a kid on Christmas morning," waiting for the weather to be nice so I can go outside and ride my new bike!

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A Taste of Spring

Yesterday Andrew and I got out and enjoyed the warm and sunny weather, despite my strong desire to take a nap since we lost an hour of sleep the night before (I have a bittersweet relationship with the start of Daylight Saving Time...). We decided to take a walk up the "old road" to the Mill Mountain Star.

The old toll booth on the way up

This is one of the switchbacks on the way up. It's worth mentioning that the Blue Ridge Marathon and Half Marathon courses come down the mountain this way.

The view from the top!

The Star (duh!)

Me at the top!

I think we're both ready for spring and summer to be here and ready to spend more time doing things outdoors. So needless to say, we're hoping that this warmer weather is here to stay.

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It's Official: April 16, 2011 - Blue Ridge Half Marathon

It's official. I signed up for the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. Yep, that's the one that goes up Mill Mountain. If you're not super familiar with Roanoke, that's the one with the neon star on top:

This is Andrew and I standing under the star (this is from our engagement session a few years ago. Don't we look tall?)

It's also the same mountain from which you have this amazing view:

You can also check out live views from the Star from the StarCam!)

So yes, we're running up Mill Mountain. Call me crazy, but I'm really excited about this race. Training for this half marathon has also been much better because I've had a wonderful running buddy to talk to through most of my long runs and during some training throughout the week. It's amazing what a difference it makes! And I honestly have to say that I'm loving the challenge of training for this race because I know I'm pushing myself to limits that I've never pushed myself to before (specifically, running up mountains!), and in the process I know I'm making myself stronger.

Here is a little bit more about the half marathon from the race's website:

Runners will start in the heart of the city in front of the magnificent Taubman Museum of Art. The course begins easily with one mile of rolling hills, before taking its first turn upward as runners begin the two-mile climb up Mill Mountain. While full marathoners will continue on to the brutal but beautiful climb up Roanoke Mountain, half marathoners will ascend Mill Mountain to the famous Mill Mountain Star, overlooking the beautiful Roanoke Valley and — much of the course still to be run!

From the Star, runners will encounter a major 2-mile decent down Prospect Avenue – also known as the “old road” to Mill Mountain. Back on the valley floor the final seven miles is rolling with several challenging hills, but no additional significant climbs.

The terrain flattens out for the next 3 miles as you emerge from the neighborhood and make your way along the Roanoke River on a portion of Roanoke’s greenway system. After a few miles on the greenway the course will head toward the finish line. The final two miles return you to downtown where the course takes you past the Virginia Museum of Transportation and back to the Taubman Museum of Art.

And a video from the race's website:

Another exciting thing about this race is that my brother will be doing it, too! But I'm sure he'll finish much faster than we will. Also, the route for the full marathon goes right by my parents' house. I wish we could be standing there to cheer people on, but I guess some encouraging signs will have to do. The full marathon is also "challenging" the Mount Lemmon Marathon in Tucson, AZ, which has 6,000 feet of straight climbing, for the title of "Toughest Road Marathon in the World." Some say that the Blue Ridge Marathon's 7,234 feet of elevation change is worse than just 6,000 feet of elevation gain. Apparently they are going to let the runners decide.

Personally, I'm just excited about being a part of the HALF marathon portion of what could be the World's Toughest Road Marathon.

I'll let you know how it goes!

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Exciting News!!

No, we're not having a baby. But keep reading, I promise it's good!

Before I let the cat out of the bag, let me just say that our exciting news is not shared out of arrogance or conceitedness, but rather so that you can share in our joy and excitement of accomplishing a goal that we've been working very hard to meet.

As of today, with the exception of our mortgage, Andrew and I are DEBT FREE! Since April of 2009, we've been working to pay off Andrew's car payment and both of our student loans, which at that time combined to a little over $43,000.

We decided to do this after reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. The "Debt Snowball" is Baby Step 2 (of 7), but it's certainly the most difficult of the 7 Baby Steps. So yes, while we do have several more steps to go, we wanted to do what many other Dave Ramsey fans have done upon completing Baby Step 2. This is us shouting:

WE'RE

DEBT

FREE!!

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