Friday, January 29, 2010

Cold

Single digit temps in the Detroit area this am. Not fun! The weekend is warming up, but not by much. High's in the 20's.

I made it to the 5:15am cycling class today. I really needed to work out some nervous energy. The bank that owns the house that I made an offer on is asking for a "biggest & best" offer today by 4pm. This means that there has been several offers and I'm so worried that someone is going to out bid me. I REALLY like that house. But I've got a few others lined up to look at Saturday so I'm sure that something will work out in due time.

I'm meeting Big Red and some other friends tonight for Sushi. BR is off to Florida for 3 weeks and this will be my last time to hang with her before her vacation. I've got a few movies that are ready for me from the library so I'll probably just be chillin' on the couch with Brady after dinner.

Saturday will probably be another early morning so I can get a cycling class in. I'm hoping to relax/nap before I meet up with my realtor in the afternoon to go look at more houses. I'm planning to get to the pool Saturday evening before another night on the couch with a movie.

On Sunday I'm meeting Jill again for a run at Kensington, then off to the East Side to see FB. We have FB's work holiday party Sunday night so it will be an interesting Monday morning.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Roller Coaster


The whole house hunting process is a major emotional roller coaster! My ex-husband & I bought a house back in 2004...we looked for a house based on our two incomes. We had just gotten married so we were happy in love. We were renting an apartment and weren't really in a hurry to find a house. I honestly can't think of how many houses I looked at...I was in Michigan first so many searches were by myself and later on he joined in. This time around it's a lot different. It's just my income so my choices are really limited. I want to be close to my parents so they can help out with the dog. This time too, I'm renting so I'm not in a huge rush, but I'm so anxious to be living by myself. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't ask for a better roommate but having a whole storage unit full and having to wait outside with the dog on a leash to pee is just not something I don't want to deal with anymore.

I started the hunt a week & a half ago with no luck. It usually takes a few tries to find something half way decent. But the house I've been looking at really need A LOT of work. I'm talking about gutted out kitchens, water in the basement, really outdated bathrooms, etc. Some of them reflect this need in the price and if willing to put forth the effort would be a good deal. Others still reflect a high price. It's so exciting to be on your way to look at a house and dream of all of it's potential, and then you come upon it's pitfall/s and are back to the drawing board. It can be so frustrating!!! It just so happened that a new listing came up last night and it was the last house we looked at for the night. I walked in and stared at the open kitchen and the gorgeous hardwood floors, I feel in love immediately!!! A great neighborhood, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a huge basement that is partially finished, a two car detached garage, and a nice yard, perfect for a small dog. Not to mention close to Hines drive, which is a favorite for runners & bikers. To top it all off, the list price is amazing too! So I put an offer on it. The problem is that since it's such a great deal, there will be a lot of offers. I just have to hope that I can somehow make the best one. But I know deep down that if it's meant to be it will somehow have a way of working out, and if not, something else will come along. Maybe this is a lesson in patience.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Running: Training

Two for Tuesday!

I've been really motivated with my running since finishing the Goofy Challenge. I took a week off after the race and have slowly been easing back into it. My goal is start logging my miles and to be more aware of my weekly mileage. I'm aiming to get 1,000 miles in total in 2010, which averages out to about 83.33 miles a month, or 19.23 a week (I'm a math geek). Last Saturday I met my friend Jill out at Kensington which is one of my favorite places to run. It's one of the Detroit Metro Parks and has a paved 8 mile loop. We ran it at about an 8:50/mile pace. I was working hard for that pace but it was definitely do-able. Jill & I are hoping to get down to 8:30's. I used to be able to run at that pace but started running marathon after marathon and my pace just got slower & slower. Sunday I was out at FB's and ran 4.25 miles in the cold rain. My body was sore from Saturday so it was slow, but it felt so good to do it. Yesterday morning I got up with Miss 3D (my roommate who just got selected as 1 of 10 sponsored athletes for 3 Disciplines racing), and we took on the 5:30am Studio Cycling class at the gym. In the evening I met up with Big Red and got about 4 miles in. Again, my body felt sore & tired. I'm house hunting tonight so it may end up being my day off but I'm hoping to get 3 easy miles in.

My week so far:
Su: 4.25
M: 1 hour cycling, 4 miles

My plan for the rest of the week:
Tu: 3 miles
W: 5 miles
Th: 5 miles at pace
Fr: off
Sa: 14 miles

A Year of Change

One year ago today, I woke up incredibly nervous. My Mom & I headed to downtown Detroit to the court house. I waited anxiously to find out what the whole process was going to be for the judge to grant me the divorce I was asking for. To make matters worse, my lawyer showed up late & unprepared. A few hours later, I walked out of there a "free" woman! What a difference a year can make! January is month with lots of new beginnings.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Busy Birthday week!

My birthday celebrations started last Friday. My friends took me out to dinner at Bar Louie then we went to One Under to see the Killer Flamingos play. It was a fun night! Then on my actual birthday, which was last Tuesday, my coworkers took me out to lunch at Arbor Brewing. In the evening my parents took me to my favorite Indian Restaurant, Haandi, for dinner. FB came over as soon as he was done working and gave me the sweetest card & flowers. I couldn't have been happier! Wednesday is date night so FB came back over and we went to the movies and saw Avatar - I loved it!!! The birthday festivities ended last night with a 5.5 mile run & drinks with my roommate and our running buddy, Dan. I'm a very lucky girl to have such a great family and the coolest friends! It's been a great start to 2010 and a great start on 33!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Detroit Marathon Gear

Last week I decided to order a running jacket from the Detroit Marathon. I really like their gear at the expo but didn't want to buy anything until after the race, ya know, just in case I didn't want to remember it. I very rarely buy race gear since you almost always get a shirt to remember the race. Gear is on sale now so I decided to go for. It got delivered to my parents house last night and I picked it up this morning. I love it! They also were nice enough to throw in a camelbak water bottle too!
I haven't been able to get out running the past two days and I'm getting anxious. I'm hoping to get a few miles in tonight with some friends. And I've got plans for 8 miles on Saturday.



Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Maniac

My three marathons in 85 days has gotten me something....I qualified for bronze membership with the Marathon Maniacs. I am now member #2184. One of my running buddies is already plotting on how I can up my bronze status. I think I'm just going to enjoy it right now. The next race on my schedule isn't until April when I run the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. Although, I can't stop thinking that I should run the full & not the half. My original goal was to get faster this year and focus on half marathons. After running the Goofy Challenge, I'm so tempted to run further rather than faster. Any thoughts on speed vs. distance?

Thursday, January 14, 2010

39.3 - Done!



I gotta say, I loved the Disney Marathon weekend! Well, other than the record lows in Florida part. I took both races relatively easy and felt great post race. I'm ready for another one!


Disney Half Marathon - 2:08:51

Disney Marathon - 4:42:48

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Florida

My bag is packed and I'm ready to go! Goofy Challenge, here I come!!!

I'm really bummed that it's a bit chilly in Florida. I'm going to be laying out on the beach in my snowsuit. Which is taking up almost my whole suitcase!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Little O

This cute little guy stayed with my parents for a week after x-mas. It was so nice to be able to spend time with my favorite little guy who lives 8 hours away. I was amazed at how well behaved he was, and by as much energy a year & a half old has. I wish I could just bottle up a teeny tiny bit and use it for my big races this weekend. Oh, and of course Brady made his way into the picture. He had to stay close to O to keep an eye on him but far enough away from getting his fur or tail tugged on.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Back to the Grind

It was so nice to have two long weekends off for the holidays. I feel refreshed heading into the work week but it was a rough drive in. Snowy roads meant for a slow drive. I caved and parked in a structure so I could save time getting into work and so I wouldn't have to worry about scraping my car off for the ride home. The snow really is so pretty to look at.