"To complete, not compete..."

A couple weeks ago, I started running. I've never been a runner. Even when I was in phenomenal shape as a competitive swimmer, running was my nemesis. It still is.

With the "invention" of the Couch to 5k program a couple of years ago, I've been inspired to try again. So many friends of mine have done it soooo successfully.

A friend of mine convinced me to do the Greenleaf 5k in New London, CT two weeks ago. I had planned on walking the whole thing, just to have fun, enjoy the experience, and having the ability to say I did a 5k. "To complete, not compete," as she told me.

The start was so exciting and the energy was so infectious that I got swept away and ended up running a lot more than I expected. I was still WAAAAAY behind everyone... :) But it was so much fun passing each mile check-point, hearing what my split was, being given water, and being cheered on! My friend and some of her other friends were all there (having finished way ahead of me! :) ) at the finish line screaming for me. I did it! I "completed"!!!! And I had my very first number!!!!! And there were still 40 people behind me! I wasn't bringing up the rear. =D



Now that I've had a taste of the fun, the camaraderie, the thrill, the encouragement, the food, the raffle prizes, and the t-shirt (!), I cannot wait to do another one. The thing is though, I want to RUN. :) So, I keep plugging along with my intervals every other night after work... my neighborhood is PERFECT for "wogging." (Walk-jogging.) I use the Nike+ chip to tell me how far I went and my pace, and the C25k app on my iPod Touch. They also have C25k podcasts you can listen to. Both methods tell you exactly when to walk and when to run. It's brilliant. I have zero ability to police myself and the last thing I want to do is be trying to keep time AND run. I'd totally fall in a pothole.

Some days are better than others. But I'm getting faster, stronger, and someday I'll get there! :) I totally understand the addiction now. I can't wait for my next one!

"Boston, you know we love you madly...hear the crowd roar to your sound."

Need I say more?


Thanks to my dear friends Corrie & Doug, I got to go to my FIRST Red Sox game evah last week.




It was incredible! We were in the "bleachers" but smack in center field. Awesome for a photo-hog like me.








What I couldn't understand was how little people actually WATCHED the game...




My one and only shot of Wally. :) He's really not out and about as much as other "mascots", huh?




As luck would have it, they were celebrating Nomar that night.


Nomar about to throw out the first pitch.


Kevin Youkilis coming out to join him.


Cue the music.


OK, so I missed myself in this one...


And then I missed Corrie in this one. What can I say. I need one of the new cameras with the screen on the front.


Awesome. Just awesome. =)






Cracker Jacks heah!


Diet Coke heah!


OK, so this was pretty cool to watch him catch - and even though it's a bit out of focus, I'm still glad I caught it!


I'm addicted now... have I mentioned that?


Funny.


It amazed me how different the stadium looked in just a few hours...


Red Sox win!!!!




I need to go back. NEED.


See? Happy Julia!


Our seats were right next to the Green Monstah! We even had a home run ball hit right to us - a guy got it 6 seats away. So cool!


So... how do I get tickets?! :)

"What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!" - Edgar Allan Poe

I keep meaning to share these three silly videos for months. Since it was getting a little dusty in this here blog, I figured now was a great time! :)

I took these one day last September in Frankfurt, Germany. First one was taken walking down a little street, next was a couple hours later on a floating barge/biergarten, and the last an hour or so after that from my hotel room. (Don't mind the zoom-in on the Haribo Gummy Bears on my pillow instead of chocolate. I was a little giddy.)

They're each just a few seconds long and every time I hear them, my heart swells. The sound in person was almost overwhelming - I was totally overstimulated and didn't know where to look. If I could ever get back, I'd love to go during one of the 4 times a year they coordinate every church's bells to play together. (Große Stadtgeläut - "Great Peal of Bells") And in reading up on this, I discovered they are SERIOUS about their bells:

"Today, the sound characteristics of all bells present themselves as follows:
* Dom: nine bells (1877): E°, A°, C#', e', F#', G#', A', B', C#"
* Katharinenkirche (1954): four bells: B°, D', E', F#'
* Paulskirche: six bells (three: 1987): F#°, B°, C#', E', (G'), (B')
* Liebfrauenkirche (1954): five bells: E', G', A', C", D"
* Nikolaikirche: four bells (1956): G#', B', C#", E"
* Leonhardskirche: six bells (1956): F#', A', B', C#", E", F#"
* Dreikönigskirche: five bells (1956): E', F#', G', A', B'
* Peterskirche: four bells (1964): C#', E', F#', G#'
* Heiliggeistkirche: three bells (1958): A', B', C#"
* Karmeliterkloster5 : four bells (1995): (C'''), (D'''), (F'''), (G''')"

My favorite is the second video... could have been the apfelwein, too. :) Make sure your sound is on, because the videos are boring as sin.








Hear the mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And an in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells,bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
-Edgar Allan Poe

Leopards and peacocks and bears... and bulldogs! Oh my!

This past Wednesday, I headed into New York to have Gretl spayed. :) It was not something I was looking forward to, so I happily distracted myself with a day at the zoo, some time spent with a friend for lunch, and even a visit with Gretl's siblings. :) Definitely all wonderful ways to keep my mind OFF of the fact my pup was undergoing "major surgery."

So I headed to the Bronx Zoo! I had never been... and I'll be honest, March 17th is not exactly prime animal viewing time. In fact, I think it may have been the most boring time EVER to go. Most animals were "inside" even though it was 70*. :( But here is what I did manage to see:






This guy cracked me up... he was totally posing for a tourist.

See?



The one "real" animal I really got to see that I can't see locally... a snow leopard.





Oooh! Look! A wild, elusive photographer in its natural habitat. (Yes, I was that bored walking through empty exhibit after empty exhibit.)

Finally! Some signs of life! A ham for the camera!

Who loves "chew" toys.



Until...

He loses them!

Toy overboard!

Oh no!

What's a bear to do?!

Why, go down and get it back, of course!

Victory is mine!

Happy Bear. And yes, I did indeed stand and watch him for way too long. =)

The seals and sea lions put on a good show for the kiddies.





Goodbye!

When I realized I had seen everything there was to see, I went off to visit the OTHER zoo... :) Gretl's siblings. They move too fast to get anything really good and in focus, but this particular one of Gina makes me smile.

My patient was ready to come home... and for the record, this was the torture *I* was subjected to... my baby! Out of surgery...

Behold, the sleeping bulldog in cage #1.

The sleeping bulldog on the Merritt Parkway.

And the drugged up, dopey bulldog in its natural habitat, unable to figure out what the hell happened to her.

:) So glad it's over!!!! Thank god for my camera - it really keeps me sane when I need something else to put my mind on. :) And thank god for my dear friends who kept both Gretl and me company.