Running - Marathon Training #43

Wet clothes. I hate running in the rain. I. Hate. It. But, deep down I believe that running through adversity will get me through the virgin six miles that come at the end of the marathon. My training only takes me through mile 20. Rain. Ice. Sun. Blisters. Friction burns. Bugs. Hills. Speedwork. Early mornings. All of the suffering that I endured during training will come together in the end to help me find the guts to finish.

Five miles today. I wore my trail shoes hoping they would help keep my feet dry. They did for awhile but then rain poured in from the top and then the water didn't have a good way to escape. Sometimes I say I have heavy feet. Today I really did.

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Running - Marathon Training #42

I found this nice circuit course in the woods. You can walk/run on the trail between stations. Today would not have been a good day for anyone to use it. Too many bugs. It was unpleasant just stopping to take a picture.  I knew my picture was blurry but I didn't hang out to take another one.

I finally felt like I had satiated my hunger after Sunday's 18 miles and Tuesday's five miles in the sun. But then I did 10 miles again today and I'm back to being starving. I went to lunch yesterday with some health conscious ladies and embarrassed myself by ordering a side of fried potatoes after I devoured my salad and roll. There was not even a sunflower seed left on my plate. Unfortunately, I had a miscommunication with the waitress and I ended up with some deep fried cornmeal sticks. I put those away and was still tempted to break into my groceries on the way home. For dinner we had spaghetti with double "meat" sauce. It had burger crumbles and meat balls. After helping Sophia clean her plate I finally felt okay.

My 10 miles today felt okay too. It is hot again today so I hit the trails.


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Running - Marathon Training #41

It is a beautiful day in Bavaria. Sixty-five degrees by 8 am feels blazing. I guess it's all a matter of what you're used to.

I'm starting to get emotionally and physically fatigued. I just had a five mile run today but I wasn't particularly excited to go out and do it. I have to be careful how I descend stairs or sit on the floor. I don't trust my knees.

Looking forward to the tapering down weeks. Almost there.

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Sewing Room - Nana's Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Drumroll please...after almost six years of hand quilting little by little, I finally finished this quilt.

When my grandmother died she left behind several hand-pieced quilt tops.  I took a couple and I believe my aunt, also a quilter, took some.  It was really special for me to finish something that Nana started.  These were all fabric scraps from other sewing projects and my mom recognizes some of them.

I basted this double wedding ring quilt just before we moved to our last house at Fort Irwin (we lived in an apartment and two houses there) in October 2005.  Sophia was a year old.  It took an eternity to press.  I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get it to lay flat but finally I did.  Piecing by hand is probably not as accurate as piecing by machine.

Kenny deployed to Iraq when Sophia was 2 1/2 and I made a big push to get a lot done, but my hand started aching so it became a project that I took with me when I needed something to do.  I took it to quilt guild meetings and craft nights.  I took it with me to Sophia's swimming lessons where I was fighting back tears of frustration because I thought she was never going to pass level 1 because she wouldn't put her head in the water.  It went to the outdoor pool at Grafenwoehr where I was bursting with pride when she swam the entire length of the pool at four years old and was allowed to practice with the swim team. It went with me to the doctor's office in Charlottesville where we worked on getting Sophia to talk to people in addition to me, Kenny, and Grammy.  It went to ballet class in Weiden where she would chatter with her friends nonstop in English and German.  A lot has happened in six years!

And finally it is all done.  I'll have to muster the courage to get out another top.

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Army Life - Bamberg Move - Sophia's Jungle Room

I don't claim to have any skill at interior design, but I would like to try to do better.  This is my first draft of my first design board.  Sophia wants to have a jungle room when we move.  I think it will be nice to do something special to help get her excited about the move.  She's already picked out the quilt fabrics, which as you can see are very bright.  Most of the other things I've added are very natural and neutral.  How do I tie in the bright quilt with the rest of the room?  Walls will be white.  All suggestions are welcome.

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Army Life - Bamberg Move - Garden of Eden

Does this look like getting ready to move?  It is the calm before the storm.

One of the best things that Army Life affords us is the opportunity to travel.  Kenny gets plenty of vacation time and Germany is a great home base for traveling all over Europe.  We get to do vacations that would be cost prohibitive from the States.  Sophia had a two week school vacation so we went to Sardinia for a week and spent a week having play dates at home.

I haven't made much progress on getting ready to move.  I'm still going through my stack of magazines.  I was able to finish a quilt (which I'll write about after I get some good photos) so I'm ready to start Sophia's quilt that I'd like to have ready for her new room.  She wants to have a jungle theme and she has some very specific ideas.  We'll see how well I'm able to execute.  My mom was enthusiastic about the idea and pitched in some good ideas over the phone.  I wish she could come help with the project.  Being far from family is one of the biggest bummers of Army Life.

The biggest news is that everything seems to be coming together with our house.  We don't have a signed contract yet because Kenny hasn't signed in but they seem to agree to our terms.  I have a friend that is communicating with our landlord in German which is so nice.  The landlord had us out last weekend to take a look at the renovations they've made in the last few weeks.  They have painted and put in wood floors.  They completely gutted the downstairs bathroom.  They have done a lot of work on the yard.  Oh the yard!  I call it the Garden of Eden.  It is full of fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, and flowers.  We got to try a berry that we've never seen before.  It tasted like a plum but it had no pit.  It was really delicious.  I'm going to have to learn how to can.  There is also a greenhouse so maybe with the help of my friend Mary I can grow a few vegetables.   Gardening will have to be my new hobby because I'm going to have to spend every weekend trying to maintain that yard.  I am not sure how I will manage with the tiny cracker box kitchen, but I'll make it work.  Every house has it's own unique benefits and challenges.

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Running - Marathon Training #40

Everything was dripping as I set out to do my 18-mile run this morning. I was really glad to make it home before the rain came back, but I still had to endure wet feet because I ran on trails and everything was wet.

My trail runs are typically pretty slow. Today I tried to speed up a little bit but I felt a sharp, quick pain in two different places in my right knee on a steep downhill so I pulled back and took it slow.

I ran into trouble because I messed with my diet and my body didn't like it on a long run. I thought as a lifelong vegetarian I could make Kathy Freston's Quantum Wellness cleanse work even during marathon training. It is a vegan, sugar free, gluten free, caffeine free, etc. three-week cleanse. Instead of my Shot Bloks, I took along whole pitted dates. That didn't cut it. I felt incoherent at mile four and I still had a whole lot of trail to cover. I'm sure there's some way to make that kind of diet work while marathon training but I guess maybe I don't want to figure it out when I can just do the cleanse some other time.  The recipes that I tried from her book were really delicious so I look forward to trying more someday.

At about mile 14 I tripped and scared a man in front of me when I yelped. But, I didn't fall.  The sudden movement after so many miles didn't feel good to my groin and my right arm that extended out, but I don't believe I injured anything.  My watch chirped to tell me it had lost satellite reception and I missed a root in the trail when I looked at my wrist.  I was flustered after I tripped and I ended up taking the wrong trail up the mountain and I had to go back and find the right trail.  So, this run actually ended up being a little bit longer than it needed to be.

I managed to find trails for nearly this whole run which is great for preserving my joints. It was a slow go though. It took about four hours to complete the run. Hopefully it won't take me much longer than that to complete the whole marathon on flat trails and roads.

I just have to do two more weeks of mileage increases and then the training schedule tapers of for the big event.


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Organization - iPhone Apps

My friend Erin recently launched a pretty amazing website called Her Inspired Life which aims to support, motivate, and inspire moms. She wrote a blog post called "Awesome Apps For a Better Life" and asked readers for their favorite iPhone apps. I have so many that it warrants my own blog post.

Things - I don't normally operate off of a to do list. I have my normal routine and I am usually pretty clear on the non-routine tasks that I need to accomplish. I like to use this app when my routine falls to pieces (vacations, moves, special events) and there are too many things to keep track of.

Shopper - Back in the olden days I had a Palm Pilot. My favorite app was a shopping list that had an internal list of standard items and allowed me to add items. I clicked on what I wanted to buy and then checked things off at the store. Shopper is the iPhone equivalent. If you want to be super organized you can even add aisles to each item. I don't mess with that. I move too much.

mSecure - I have too many logins and passwords and customer numbers to keep track of. I store them all safely here.

Translate - Google Translate has an app! It is a must for people like me who live overseas.

Ultralingua - I forked out big money for this German dictionary before Translate was out. Now that Sophia is reading in German it is still nice to have a dictionary to look things up when we're out of the country and I have my data services turned off.

iMapMyRun - I like to use this app to see where I've run. It is a little bit unstable sometimes so I still wear my Garmin watch so I can be faithful to my marathon training. If used in conjunction with music it can be a big battery suck on long runs.

PaceCalc - I use this to quickly calculate my running pace.

Livestrong - If I need to turn in a food journal to a trainer I use Spark People. Otherwise, if I want to track calories, nutrition percentages, and workouts I use Livestrong.

Kindle - Reading books on my iPhone isn't my favorite thing to do, but it will do in a pinch. I'm able to access books that I've purchased on my Kindle and it will find my place for me. I can't buy new books though.

Momento - This is a great journaling tool that incorporates blog posts and social media posts.

BlogPress - It takes an eternity for photos to load into Blogger on my computer. It's super fast using this app and pictures from my phone. And, I like the portability of being able to compose a blog post anywhere.

Camera+ - Instagram was one of the first apps I got because I liked being able to give my photos an old-fashioned look. I had to pay a little bit for this app, but it offers more choices. It's great for making lower quality phone photos look better.

What are your favorite apps?


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Running - Marathon Training #39

I missed my nine mile run yesterday. Sophia is still on vacation for the rest of this week and Kenny is busy getting new TDS attorneys settled in. The story isn't any different today and I didn't want to get any more behind so my friend Deanna let Sophia come over to play, eat lunch, and watch a movie. Thank goodness for good neighbors!

I felt pretty good for the first part if the run but at the end I got hot and really wished I had taken water along. I checked the temperature when I got home and it was only 68 degrees. Doesn't seem terribly warm but I guess I'm used to running in the mornings when it is even cooler.

My pace was pretty slow again. It took 1:41 to run nine miles. I'll blame it on the warm temperatures today.  My dreams of completing the marathon with a faster time than Oprah are fading away.

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Running - Marathon Training #38

I don't remember the last time I did an evening run. Sophia still has a school vacation this week so I couldn't run until Kenny got home from work. I liked seeing how the evening light transformed a familiar running trail.

I did not like how my body felt. I hadn't run for five days since I missed my long run last week. I had spent lots of time sitting in cars and airplanes. The first mile was the worst. My knees were tender and my legs burned. Everything started to feel better after I stopped to take a picture at mile 1.

Nevertheless, it took me an hour to run the five miles which is not a good time at all.

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Running - Marathon Training #35-37 - The Sardinia Runs

The Sardinia runs were good and bad. I did four, nine, and five miles but skipped the 18.

Running on vacation gives me a chance to have some time to myself so I can be more engaged when I am with my family. It also gives me a chance to experience my vacation spot in a unique way. On this trip I got to be out in the early morning with the sheep. There was a road nearby that wound through hills and orchards for as long as I wanted to run. There was no danger of getting lost.

On the first day we hadn't had a chance to scope out that road so I ran on the dirt road outside of our agriturismo. It only went for a mile so I ran out and back twice. There were lots of bugs and it was difficult to run on the rocky road.

Running on the road in Italy is life-threatening. The roads are narrow with no shoulder and the drivers are crazy. We drove for a ways on a lonely road and determined that it would be okay for me to run on as long as I didn't wear headphones. So, I got up at six and headed out for a nine-mile run with no headphones. I ran to the sound if sheep bells, shepherd's calls, and Sophia's rhymes that she learned at school. "Ein schiff fahrt nach Amerika...". It all sounds very quaint, but nine miles with no music, on pavement, with sun beating down is tough. At one point I had to walk in the bushes on the side of the road to avoid a herd of sheep. I noticed that a couple of sheep had funny black noses. They were dogs the same color and size of the sheep. Pretty tricky. I didn't want those dogs to think I presented a threat to their sheep so I let them have the road.

The next day I went out in the same direction for my five-mile run but I took a jaunt that I knew was a dead end just for some variety.

I'm dedicated to my marathon training program, but I just couldn't do the 18 miles all on pavement, working different muscles running against traffic on the left side of the road, in the hot sun, with no music, and with the threat of stray or working dogs. It was just too much.

I had hoped to find a nice trail that ran along the coastline but I didn't. The Sardinian coast is wild and undeveloped and that's the way they like it.

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Running - Marathon Training #34

Ouch. My 16-mile run today hurt. Well, 14 miles of it was okay and then I hit my very own heartbreak hill. After that my knees really hurt and I could barely limp home. I didn't know if it was so bad because my knees have been tender or if they would just hurt anyway because they were pounded on for over three hours. I felt pretty good after my 15-mile run. I even had some juice left to sprint home when it started raining. But, that run was done mostly in the forest. This run had a little bit of forest but it was mostly pavement.

I was hoping the bike trail would go a good, long distance but it ended and I found myself in town running through bakeries, flower shops, and hair salons. I thought it would be nice to stop for tea and cake at the halfway point. I even had 5 Euro along with me. But I did not stop. There's a passage in Half Broke Horses that reads, "Sometimes it didn't matter how much gumption you had. What mattered were the cards you'd been dealt.". I have plenty of gumption. I was dealt sensitive knees and feet prone to blistering.  What I need is sense to know when to quit.  But today is not the day.

Before I set out this morning I tried one of Clif's Energy Shots. It was warm, sickly sweet, and I thought I would vomit if I went beyond the first swallow. So I threw it out and stuck with my Shot Bloks.

Distance: 15.97 miles
Time: 3:13:23
Pace: 12:07

That's a pretty terrible pace but this run wasn't about speed, and there were some forest portions that slowed me down on the uphill and downhill portions.

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Army Life - Bamberg Move - Decorating

I am getting excited about our move.  


One of the biggest things I'm looking forward to is the opportunity to redecorate my living room.  Right now it feels like an elderly couple lives here.  We have a heavy-looking leather sofa, Ikea furniture including a bench that is meant to be outdoors, Army loaner furniture, and some sturdy armchairs that Kenny picked up almost for free at a thrift store. 


And, there's a lot of color and pattern going on in my home.  I'm a quilter and a papercrafter.  I love color!  But, I've been collecting photos of rooms that speak to me and I've noticed a pattern.  They all have a very quiet underlying palette with maybe a burst of color.  There is often one signature color.  I'm particularly impressed when people are able to carry that signature color throughout the home.  How do they have the restraint to do that?  Kevin Sharkey writes, "I was struck by the disciplined editing each homeowner possessed. After all, these collectors have access to some of the finest furniture, accessories. and artwork in the world. Time and time again, they prove it is not what you put in a room but what you leave out."  

Disciplined editing will be key to my new living room.  To achieve that I need a theme so I know what should stay, what should go, and what I need to buy.  

I've managed to achieve this with my wardrobe but until now I haven't had a clear vision for my home.   After Sophia was born and I wasn't feeling particularly comfortable with how my body looked I started reading up on how to dress.  Wardrobe Magic and The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece were particularly useful.  I learned what shapes and colors work for me so I can quickly identify what I want to buy.  I know it when I see it.  I chose black, white, and sometimes khaki as signature neutrals so when buying accessories I can limit myself to a smaller number of higher quality items.  For example, I can just buy black boots.  I don't have to have black and brown.  And for color I will usually go with bright, clear shades of blue or pink.  Shopping for clothes has become so easy that I can even have a lot of success online which is important here in Germany where the Euro is so strong and the fit of clothes is a little different.

Now, to translate what I've learned about my wardrobe to my home.  I found Keri Russell's dining room as shown in Elle Decor to be a great inspiration.

Black Eiffel summed up this Natural Chic style in a way that I think I can apply. "The combo of wood, metal and neutrals are lovely and it feels rather French to me." 

Wood.  Metal.  Neutrals.  Pop of a signature color.  Natual Chic.  Restraint.  This is what I'll be looking for in my new home.  But how will I ever pick just one signature color.  I can't decide between red or turquoise!

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Running - Marathon Training #33

We're headed to the beaches of Sardinia next week so I decided I better go ahead and get a pedicure despite my reluctance to have anyone mess with my feet while I'm training for a marathon. She cut away a little bit of extra skin on the sides of my big toes where I inflict minor damage every time I run. But, my callouses are still in tact so I think I'll be okay. We did not have a common language so we couldn't talk about it.

My feet are healed enough for sandals and pedicures, but I was surprised by how sore my feet and calves were when she massaged them for a short time. It really hurt. I wonder if I should go in for a sports massage before the race or wait until after.

Today's run was an easy five miles. I thought about making it a tempo run but I didn't want to compromise this weekend's 16 mile long run.



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Running - Marathon Training #32

I did a modified eight mile tempo run today. I'm still looking out for my knees so I headed to the forest. I ran until the forest gave way to a nice paved bike trail that seemed to go for a long time. I will explore it more on a longer run. I didn't set any alarms on my watch because I wanted to listen to my body, but on the paved flats I looked at my watch occasionally to check my pace.

Both knees feel a bit tender with the right being a little worse. They felt better after several miles.

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Running - Marathon Training #31

Just an easy four mile trail run today. My knee felt tender but I didn't have any sharp pain. It felt better as the run went on. I'm just glad it didn't rain on me. We've had some big storms. It is really muggy. I have a hard time dressing because I go from chilly to sweltering and back.

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Running - Marathon Training #30

Injured! I pushed a yoga pose the other night and tweaked my knee. My brain had memories of being able to do things that my runner's body doesn't want to do anymore. The next day I did the eight mile rainy run and headed straight for a hot shower and didn't ice. That was a mistake too.

I didn't so my speed work yesterday.  Instead, today I went out for a slow four mile run. I ended up walking part of it because a felt a somewhat sharp pain in my right knee that I wasn't interested in exploring.

I'm kind of bummed. Everything was going so well. I'm supposed to run 16 miles this weekend and 12 miles next weekend. I guess I will rest this weekend and do the 16 next weekend.

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Sewing Room - Amy Butler's Sexy Hexy Quilt

Last fall some of the Legal Ladies decided that they wanted to make Amy Butler's Sexy Hexy "Love" Quilt.  The pattern is offered free online.  They were all fairly new quilters and I was concerned about this pattern for beginners so I told them I would make it too and stay one step ahead of them.   Well, life happened and one moved away, one had her dad move in with her, one was busy with war college studies, and I was busy with work and marathon training.  I finally finished, but the rest of them still have some work to do.  Hopefully things will calm down so they can finish too.

There were a few things I did to make this pattern work for me.

First, I wrote descriptions of my corresponding fabric next to the pictures of Amy's fabrics.  I also labeled my fabrics with the names she used in her pattern.  I assigned each fabric a number.  Then I filled in the numbers on the black and white layout for the quilt top.  This helped keep me from getting confused when I was cutting and laying out my quilt.

In Step 2 I used a rotary cutter and ruler to cut out the pattern pieces, the freezer paper pieces, and the pieces from the template plastic.  It is more accurate than using scissors.

In Step 3b it is important to pay attention and cut 1/4" past the edge of the paper along each edge of the hexagon.

In Step 3c I used a rotary cutter to cut rectangles of fabric for the bands and then I piled them up and cut the shapes all at once.

In Step 4c I didn't bother with pinning or backstitching.

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What's Cooking? - Green Pea Soup

I didn't know until I had haloumi on a salad in Istanbul, that there was a cheese that could be grilled or fried without melting.  I went in search of some for this soup.  I didn't find haloumi but I found something similar.  It came in natural, herbed, and chili flavors.  I am so happy I could cry.  It tastes so good.  It is mild but salty.  
One great thing about not working is that I now occasionally have time to look through my blog feed.  The photo of this soup on 101 Cookbooks was so achingly beautiful that I decided to make it for dinner. I changed up the recipe to suit my family's taste and what I had available in my fridge.  Sophie doesn't like anything too spicy, and Kenny doesn't like anything too watery, so I made a milder, thicker version.
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, well chopped10 small cloves garlic, smashed and peeled1/2 green pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, plus more to serve3 tablespoons canola oil2 bay leaves1 small onion, chopped4 1/2 cups vegetable broth7 cups frozen peas, or more to taste1 teaspoon sea salt, or to tastea squeeze of fresh lemon juicecilantro, finely choppedpan-fried cheese, cut into tiny cubes
Use a food processor to puree the ginger, garlic, green pepper, cumin, and three tablespoons of water into a paste.  Set aside.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, add the bay leaves and saute for 30 seconds.  Stir in the onion and cook for a few minutes, until it begins to take on a bit of color.  Stir in the garlic-ginger paste, and cook for another minute.  Carefully add the broth, stir well, and bring to a boil.  Then add the peas.  Simmer just until the peas are bright and cooked through, only a couple of minutes.
Remove from heat, remove the bay leaves, and add the salt.  Puree in a blender in batches, using a towel to cover the blender to protect your hand from any hot overflow.    If the soup is too thick you can add some broth.  If it is too thin you can add some more peas.  Add more salt if needed.  Serve hot, topped with a bit of lemon juice (don't skip, it's worth the squeeze!), a pinch of cumin, cilantro, and pan fried cheese.
Sophia's comment:  This soup is yum!
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Running - Marathon Training #29

Am I allowed a bad attitude day?
Oh man.
Usually I would avoid taking out the trash on a rainy day like today. Today I ran eight miles.
Wind and rain.
Slugs and snails.
Tricky knee and scratchy throat.
Any one of these things could keep a reasonable person indoors. I don't get to pick the weather on race day so I went anyway. My feet were squishing in my shoes and I found out that my Jack Wolfskin rain jacket is water resistant not waterproof.

Distance - 8 miles
Time - 1:20:13
Pace - 10:02

This was a tempo run and I missed my time by 13 seconds. Conditions were bad so I'll forgive myself.

I was going to run some errands today but now I'm going to stay in, work on my quilt binding, go through my magazine pile, and have some tea.

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