What the hell?

I am sure you know the phrase, and you probably use it a lot to, "What the hell?". Or maybe you like the version, "What in the hell?". This statement....er question, is usually followed by some other words like, "...is that?" or even "...are you doing?" These questions, or any version of them, should definitely not come out of a 5 year old's mouth.

So, I am getting my 5-year old daughter a sippie cup with milk before we go to bed. I look for a cup that has a special thing inside that keeps the cup from leaking. There are no special things to be found, and all of the other cups are in the dishwasher that is washing all the sippie cups we own. I think to myself, "Jordan will be pissed that the cup leaks, if she tilts it and milk comes out, even by accident." There's nothing I can do, because there are NO MORE clean sippie cups. I fill the cup with milk, without the leak prevention piece, and give it to Jordan. I go back to doing the laundry.

The *instant* I get back to the dryer I hear the following coming from my daughter's mouth, and I quote, "Mommy! What the hell? You didn't put the thingy in my cup and milk is leaking all over me!!" Yes, she said, "what the hell?". Ugh.....where did she learn this??!! I ask her where she had heard that before, and she says that she just made it up. haha, yeah right.

How did she know to use it in the correct context though? That's pretty clever of her.

I told her that it wasn't nice to say that and she assured me she wouldn't say it again.

It's so funny (laughing on the inside, of course) because if she would have heard something like this: "What in the hell? I hate you!" she would be the first in the room to say, "We don't say that word, it's a bad word" and she would be referring to the word "hate". So that's what they teach her at school, that "hate" is bad, but not "What in the hell?". But how many 5-year olds do you know use a phrase like that? haha....parenthood!

Got it right, for once

Saturday was my longest run to date. I was scheduled to run 3 hours and 10 minutes. I believe the longest I have gone without stopping was right around 2 hours and 15-ish minutes. All of my previous runs that were greater than 2 hours of running have not been successful. It's very frustrating. It's not like a short run where you can pretty much remain in control of how you feel mentally as well as physically.

When you get to anything greater than 2 hours there are so many things you have to think about. The weather for one. Let's face it, Blacksburg is known for freaky weather and within a 3 hour span it's bound to change. The digestive system - I am sure it's safe to say that most people urinate at least once during a 3 hour time period....but you won't find porta-potties on the trail for your urinating needs. And forget about it if you feel a #2 coming on. The mind. What does one think about for 3 hours of running? My first choice is music, but I did finish an audiobook..... and it was an 18 hour audio book. haha. Food. You have to eat a lot before hand, and consume calories during the run. We're not talking about Jimmy John's either. My food of choice is PowerBar Gel in the tangerine flavor. I think I am pretty lucky that I can take one of these packets while still running. A few of my friends (you know who you are!!) have bad gag reflexes and have to take it little by little while stopped.

With all these different factors, sometimes it's just hard to know if a run is going to be successful. One factor that I think I have nailed down (because it worked) is my pre-run meal. Apparently I was not eating enough. This time around, I made sure I ate more than what I thought was enough. By the time I finished eating, I could barely breathe. But the result - my longest continuous run ever. My 3 hours and 10 minutes amounted to 18.75 miles. That's crazy! I literally could not move another inch after I finished. But I felt a sense of accomplishment because I did not stop during the run. I also had the help of Kev, who rode his bike for about 2 hours of my run. You should ask him how he felt after the run. ;-)

Marathon Training - it's hard

Yup, that's right, it's hard. Imagine that, right? Ugh. I suppose enduring 3 hour long training runs wouldn't be as bad if the weather was nice. A couple of weeks ago (maybe longer ago now that I think about it) I did a run and couldn't believe that I had to take off my running jacket to run in my Nike dri-fit t-shirt. That was a good day of marathon training, at least from what I can remember.

But then winter weather decided to grace us with her presence. How nice! So now I get to wear 2 layers of cold gear (insulated, sweat wicking material) along with the windbreaker. Oh, and normally I don't like to wear gloves while running. I even have two cool running shirts with thumb holes in the sleeves, and one with extra long sleeves that I can wrap around my hands if it's cold out. This time running though, I had to break out the cold-gear gloves. And I wore them the entire time while running.

So anyhow, cold weather and long runs make for quite the experience. I have only 2 more months left of training. And probably only 1 more month of long runs before I taper for my race. Not too much longer and I will be finished with this training. I am welcoming that day more and more. :-)

Also, if you would like to enjoy the nice winter weather we are experiencing, feel free to stop by our house. Sometimes I wonder if it is warmer outside than inside our house. It took an act of Congress to get the house thermostat up to at least 70 degrees (from 68!!). Apparently giving Kevin the Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook for Christmas had it's repercussions. He insists that Martha's house temperatures are adequate for us too. Yeah, but I am sure the book failed to mention that every fireplace in the house is lit too, thus justifying a low temperature. Us, on the other hand, we have no fireplaces and I can feel the cold air enveloping me as I type. :-) I will have to admit though, I never thought we would have a picture-perfect garage! ;-)