I know...

I keep checking too. So weird how these things don't just write themselves. Apparently, you actually have to sit, put thought into it, somehow organize all those ideas and thoughts, then type them out, format, edit and well, I guess, click "publish." So hard.

There could be excuses. ..

Like what?

Well, I could say I've been busy...

With what?

Well, okay. That. That's a fair question.

Like, there has been a good bit of this:
(woohoo vacation!)
Hilton Head Island, SC (Sea Pines, of course!) 4th of July

Luxamping at the Lake Alatoona (Sweetwater Campground!) June and other times. Note: This is not our camper but Ryan's brother and wife's camper. They really like our kids so we get invited frequently since we are pretty much a package deal.

 Cape San Blas, FL! End of July! Awesome vacation.

The Family (said with Godfather intonation)

Destin--adult trip.August. Ryan's 40th birthday It rained. We still, of course, had fun. 

My sister Pookie and her husband came with us to celebrate. We had t-shirts made:

And of course, I have been hanging with these clowns:

They keep me busy, distracted and well, bamboozled might be the best word. Who can blog under those conditions? Really. 

And well, let's be honest. There has definitely been some of this:

Oh, and in July....

 I turned 40. 

My mom? 

She made that hat for me. 

Ryan even threw me a surprise party. In June.  

And yes,  I was very surprised! Really. About time . . .

Mom, Pookie and Me. 

 And yes, I do think it is wrong that my mom looks the same age as me. But, and here I go tossing her under the bus, she is 61 though. Pookie is the baby.

George Rhodes made my cake. He makes all my important cakes. That is my shout out to Rhodes Bakery. 

Okay.In seriousness. My summer blog hiatus and lack of Boston race report (as if anyone really cares) is not all birthday cake, beach, tequila and bathing suits. There has been a good bit of this stuff too:

About a week after the Boston marathon Ryan, my sister, Celina and I did the 100K Gambler Ride.It is part of the Terrapin Twlight Criterion Festivities. Next year I hope to do the Twiathlon and the Miracle mile. That is the 5k run, the 100k bike and the Terrapin brewery tour. The miracle mile isn't a sure thing since you have to qualify for it in the 5k so we'll see if that happens. If  I qualified it would require some pacing at the brewery I might not be totally comfortable with so I may have to re-evaluate my ambitions come next spring.

 

 Anyway the Gambler ride is called such because it winds around the outskirts of Athens, Ga (go Dawgs!!) and goes past Kenny Rogers place. And this will come up in my Boston race report (you know, if I ever write it) but because of the ride's route I had been working on memorizing the song The Gambler.

 You know, so I could sing it for my fellow riders. To be certain, they did not appreciate my vocal talents. 

Then May came along and I found myself alone on the weekend of the 14th. Kids were off at playdates and sleepovers, Ryan was hunting and all my friends were off doing triathlons, bike races, the Warrior Dash or some fun trail marathon. So I tried to get in that fun marathon. But Becky said, sorry we're full. (thank goodness. What was I thinking?) So I found myself an Olympic triathlon and did that instead. My friend Shannon was doing it too. Here us at the finish. 

I think it is totally wrong that I had had time to change and clean myself up a bit and Shannon still looks way cuter. 

Admittedly, I was pretty under trained for a triathlon. Certainly the run fitness was there and I had been cycling. But swimming? uhm no, not really since my last triathlon in July of 2010. I did swim a mile the few days before the race just to make sure 1.) I could still swim and 2.) what that distance would feel like. As no surprise my swim was sub par and so was the bike ( I had a tiny mechanical issue) but the run was spectacular. And really that was all I cared about. Not a single person passed me on the run and I ran down at least 3 girls in my age group too. It ended up being a 2 minute pr for the Olympic distance with 2:43. I walked away with 4th in my age group ( I even got hardware!) and also a qualification for age group nationals.( But everyone can rest easy. I won't be going.) Most of all I had really fun race. 

In May also did a fun (okay fun is relative term here) charity ride concocted by Steph. 100 Miles to Nowhere. I will admit that the route was my idea and when you have ideas like that you deserve what you get. . .  I bailed at 74 miles.  The ride ended up being 100 miles with over 8,000 feet of climbing. I just didn't have the bike fitness to do that or the stamina for the heat.I completely lost my marbles that day. You can read Steph's report of the ride here.

This year I also ran the Peachtree Road Race 10k.

 This is never a good race for me. Hot, humid, hilly, 4th of July in Atlanta . . . but it is the biggest runner's parade ever and it is fun even if I always suck it. 

This year I ran it with Steph so that made it better. 

Even if she ditched me in the first mile. . .

But that's okay. I am happy to see my friend pr. She certainly has earned it! (Go IronSteph!)

 

I finished in 44:59. I was gunning for 44 flat. Oh well. Still racing (and training) without a watch, by the way, so running blind like that you get what you get. I certainly felt like I was running 7's but obviously I wasn't. I really thought at any moment I was going to burst into flames. That sort feeling just kind of slows me down. Weird.

Steph and Doug kindly waited for me at the finish so we could run back to the start. It was so fun and best of all we got to witness the Peachtree's pageantry at its best. The costumes, the clowns and huge wave of humanity that rolls from Buckhead to Midtown. Okay, even better . . We even got FREE beer!!!!! 420!!!! My favorite! Sure we had to run straight across the wave of humanity to get to the beer but it was worth it. So hey, why did the runner cross the road? To get to the FREE beer!!! duh.

Somewhere after the beer Doug and I lost Steph. When we got up the hill into Buckhead Doug stopped to wait for her and I ran on. By the time I got to the last mile--which was the first mile--back to the start I found myself all alone on Peachtree Road running back to the start. It was pretty awesome. (This is me on my way back to the Intercontinental Hotel after running to back to the start. So it was a total of 13+ miles for the day. Not bad with a hard 10k for the first half).

Ryan and the kids were waiting for me at the hotel and got some pictures. So on my way back? I did a cartwheel. In the middle of Buckhead on an empty Peachtree Rd. It was awesome.

And then, yeah, I turned 40 a few days later. So that was my last race ever in the "open" division. I am, er uhm, "The Master of my Domain". (wink wink, nudge nudge.) . . .

No, not by a long shot.

But so far the two races I have done have earned me first female master so I guess that makes me on the fast track over the hill, huh? No pictures from the races (just little local races) but a 21:59 in a hot hilly 5k and 1:09:24 in 15k last weekend.

Now that we are all up to date on my excuses and what I did on my summer vacation maybe I can finally sit down and pen that darn Boston race recap. . . . 

Next up is the Savannah Marathon.