My OBX Marathon Story

I ran my first marathon on Sunday, November 13. It was at the Outer Banks and went from Kitty Hawk to Kill Devil Hills to Nags Head to Manteo. The weather was on the warm side, but absolutely gorgeous. I've enjoyed great weather during each of my races there. I tried to distance myself mentally to keep from being nervous. It worked. My plan, which I stuck to, involved using a beeping timer. I alternated one minute walking to one minute running. This method did a great job of conserving my energy level. I saw Jockey's Ridge, Kitty Hawk and Nags Head Woods and the Wright Brothers memorial. My knee started hurting pretty early, but I kept pushing on. I am now dealing with a slighly swollen knee, but it was worth it. Go ahead, think that I'm crazy. All runners are. I did stop at several medic tents. I dealt with it for a little while before getting it taken care of. I got it wrapped and used Biofreeze gel several times. Although the one/one pattern of running and walking wasn't fast, it worked wonderfully. In the future, I can increase the number of minutes spent running. I was surprised at how fast the race seemed to go. All of the supporters, friends and strangers, were a welcome sight. There was a person in a shark suit. Last year, I hugged whomever that was. One of the most welcome sights was a fellow runner from Oakmont Runners for Bo. I saw Craig not long before mile 26. He hung with me until the last mile marker. When I saw the finishing arch, I booked it. My knee just didn't matter anymore. Right before I saw Craig, I chatted a bit with a lady from Raleigh. I mentioned that I just wanted to say some really bad things...long races and knee pain, well, I had some choice language in mind. I definitely plan on running another one. Right now, I want to run the OBX marathon next year. If you think that you could never do it, think again. Before I considered running, I would've never imagined conquering the things that I have. Here's a touch of irony...maybe that's the right word. Yesterday, I saw a number of people running on the way home. I thought, darn it, I would love to be one of them right now. Then I saw a movie; two of the characters ran in a 5k. I've never said that I love running, but knowing that I can't just makes me want to. Ready or not, I'm competing in an 8k on Thanksgiving...try and stop me. ;) On December 4, I am running in a local 10-miler. Other than that, I'm going to take it easy on the running and exercise. I plan to do some swimming and pool running to keep my endurance up.

A Week in the Life of Valerie

Valerie had a big week and I thought that she deserved her own post. Without getting into the yucky details, my little kitty has a bladder infection. She is currently on an antibiotic. Two trips (three if you count picking up the meds), she is on the way to recovery. Here are some pictures from her week.


Valerie's half-bald tummy, courtesy of her ultrasound

Valerie didn't seem to notice it, but I was trying to steer cleer of
the puppy.


Why am I back here? This is NOT my house.


Posing with a sick little one.

ECU vs. USM

I don't need to share the result of the game or talk about the halftime incident. I think that everyone is very aware of those things. To start out, I tailgated with Marc and Shelley again, along with a few of their friends. We feasted on some delicious barbeque chicken, which you can see in the video. We also dug into the chips and dip. Thanks to Roy for sharing his Crock-Pot of hamburger dip. Everyone loved it. I brought cream cheese and salsa dip. The recipe for cc/salsa is 1 block of cream cheese and add in some salsa. There is a specific amount, but I just pour some in. There were also some chicken sausages and potato salad. The potato salad didn't have relish...yay! That made me very happy. The chicken was in honor of our match against Southern Miss. Needless to say, no one went hungry. The tailgate was cool and windy, so the lot didn't fill up as quickly as usual. Also, given the game, a lot of people left early. We had a much easier time leaving. No matter the result, it's always great to go to a game at Dowdy-Ficklen.

Monster Dash 8k

On Sunday the 30th, I ran in the first annual Greenville Monster Dash 8k. As you can see, I went as Bat Girl. There were a lot of great costumes: Luigi, Waldo (where's Waldo), a turkey, ice cream sundaes. I was amazed at the creativity. I even had someone to come out there and watch me. Thanks to Tim Garris for taking one of the above pictures. He sat just past the start and got shots of several of us GoRunners. It was great to see some others from the group out there. The post-race food was pretty good. I tried some BBQ and a roll from Texas Roadhouse. Coldstone had ice cream, but I had already gotten my sweet fix by that point. It was a great race and I was pleased with my time: 51:18. That's an average pace of 10:20. All of that torture called speedwork is paying off.

Sweet potato festival

Last Thursday, I went with a friend to the NC Sweet Potato Festival. It's in Snow Hill. If you're not from around here, that's in big 'ol Greene County, not far from Pitt. I rode tame rides, an upside down ride, sat in a few tractors...a an eventful evening, to say the least. This is a picture of me ''driving'' one of the tractors. I think that's as close to driving one as I need to get. I had a hot dog and some sweet potato ribbon fries for supper. Fun night!

Costume party/bonfire

A few of the 20's/30's community groups got together for a bonfire. It was also a costume party, with Halloween being a few days away. The costume winners were Aladdin and little Abu (the monkey), a Smurf and Batgirl. I feel like I'm leaving someone out...please let me know who that is. I was Batgirl and won the scariest costume category. Some of us also checked out the haunted garage next door. Brad and Christie's neighbors set it up. It wasn't scary enough for me. Oh, well. I never did get a really good scare this Halloween. The s'mores supplies included Reese's cups. Someone suggested those once and I now bring them to every bonfire. p.s.- I finished off the bag myself and it was yummy! In case you're wondering, my ''scariest costume'' prize was a big purple hat. We had two fires going and managed to stay pretty comfortable on a cool fall evening.

ECU homecoming game

Before the game, Marc, Shelley and I browsed/shopped in a few local stores. It was fun checking out the ECU baby gear. Baby Birkenmeyer will be a stylish little pirate. We then met up with Curtis and Patricia at Parker's. It was a great meal, followed by a great game. It was a cold one and many people didn't stay for all of it. I was bundled up and had a great time. GO PIRATES!

ECU vs. Navy

We watched this game from Buffalo Wild Wings- aka BW3's. I really get into the games and yell a lot. I scared the boys a little. Darrin, Roy, Ricky and I watched it together. It turned out to be a great game. Navy almost pulled it off, but we brought home the victory. What a game! Not bad food, either. ;)

Operation Inasmuch

Our group served New Directions, an organization that helps victims of domestic violence. First, we worked at their family center. Some people did yardwork. The rest of us were inside. We organized the playrooms and cleaned toys. Next, we headed to the Safe House. We cleaned out a storage area. The donations had really piled up over time. We did some yard work over there as well. There's so much yard work left that we plan to return. It was a great day and the weather couldn't have been better.

Emerald City Half-Marathon

(Picture taken by Tim Garris)
My next big shebang was running in the Emerald City Half-Marathon. It took place right here in Greenville. Greenville, Emerald City, get it? After a few miles, I felt like I was in a pretty good groove. Part of it was on the greenway. We would've spent more time there, but Hurricane Irene took care of that. I could really tell, when viewing my results, that speedwork (AKA torture) had paid off. I had friends running it, some of them bit crazy (two half-marathons in one weekend). I happened upon our mayor while running (was a college professor of mine). The weather was perfect and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. In case you're wondering, my time was 2:20:58, whch is a 10:45/mile pace.

Camp Don Lee

The weekend after the UNC game, some TRU staff and I took some youth to Camp Don Lee. TRU stands for Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered. It is the statewide teen tobacco prevention movement. At the last minute, shirts came in and one of our speakers pulled through. The kids had trainings to attend, but were also able to participate in camp activities. We also had a bonfire and s'mores on the last night. I fell out of my chair at breakfast one morning, but that's another stoy. I got the chance to canoe, which is always fun. I roomed with Nikki, Lauren and one of my former TRU members (college student). Needless to say, I definitely took some time off after returning. It was worth it, but someone else can be in charge next time! ;)

ECU vs. UNC

For the ECU vs. UNC game, I had the chance to tailgate with Marc and Shelley. Their friends Curtis, Patricia and Nicole joined us. They have gotten tailgating down to an art. We had burgers, hotdogs an some great snacks. Curtis made an amazing salsa...love it! They were also kind enough to come pick me up. It was nice not having to mess with parking or walking. Before I sound totally lazy, I did run that morning. It was a late game, so I knew that I wouldn't want to run in the a.m. Sadly, the game didn't turn out so hot. I love my boys, but they just didn't pull it off that day. At any rate, I love the atmosphere in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. You just can't beat the purple haze, the cannon and the very realistic-looking pirate. Purple...gold!