Boy, it’s been a while since our last post. And for those of you who check here occasionally and find some small delight in seeing something new, I apologize. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything to blog about in the last two months since we’ve have had some great visits from our Georgia family and friends. And despite the fact that each of these could and should be in their own post, I’m going to give you the digest version.
First, while Ashley and I were traipsing about the North Country, Jerry flew up for a week of dog-sitting and sight-seeing. He also managed to have brief starring rolls in both the Today Show and 30 Rock. Although I don’t have any screen shots of his small screen debut, I do have a picture of his dog-sitting. (note – this is not a natural position for Murphy unless she’s REALLY tired)
P.S., we also went to the U.S Open and there is a screenshot of the back of Jerry’s head floating around on email somewhere. If you’re interested, email us or post a comment.
Next up: Matt Norton. This was a monumental trip for my brother who generally doesn’t venture this far from Newnan. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s unheard of because he has gone on trips to San Francisco and Alaska, but this was his first solo trip and pretty much his idea. We had a great time while he was here… in fact, Ashley, Matt, and I went to see a Yankees/Toronto game which was a first for all three of us. Although I’m not a Yankees fan, I definitely appreciated going to see a game at historic Yankees Stadium before it is demolished. Matt and I also spent Saturday afternoon walking midtown New York and did the NBC studio tour… who knew Conan’s sound stage was so small. After dinner, we went to see some improv comedy at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater some of which Matt and I still quote – “you got Looned!”
At the end of September, Ashley’s mom and our good family friend Becky Harris came for a visit when I flew to Atlanta to go to the Georgia/Old Miss game. This was Becky’s first time in New York and was her first time flying – ever. Jeannie and Becky stayed at the Ritz for two nights, and the three of them spent the weekend traveling all over Manhattan, shopping and sight-seeing. They even went to see “A Chorus Line” on Sunday, and we have proof.
That’s all for the recent visits.
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After Quebec and my marathon recovery, Ashley and I drove through the woods, a.k.a. New Brunswick, to Prince Edward Island for a few days of relaxation on the beach. We stayed at the wonderful Dalvay by the Sea which had the BEST food, cute rooms, no TVs, and one computer for about 50 guests. We spent the first day doing nothing – a small walk to the beach and a few minutes of tennis. The next day we went to the Canadian Golf Academy for a half day lesson, and now Ashley is a killer from the tee – just keep those wrists straight. The next day we went to Cavendish where L.M. Montgomery wrote “Anne of Green Gables.” Canada turned the real Green Gables house into a national park and modeled the rooms after the description of the house in the book.
Oh, and did I mention the food? Breakfast and dinner was included at the resort and the restaurant was run by a chef who teaches at the PEI culinary school, one of the top culinary schools in the country. Oh, so good!
And I’m not going to get into the 38 hours of driving we did for this vacation… simply not going to mention the 2300 miles we put on our rental car and the endless, endless, endless trees of Canada, or how much we craved Starbucks as soon as we crossed back into the States. I will say that I LOVED the GPS unit that we rented from Avis although she constantly said “Recalculating” every time we didn’t turn where she said we should.
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Hello everyone!
Now that I’m a little bit mobile, I thought I would write a post to let everyone know that I successfully finished the Quebec City Marathon yesterday. My time was just under 4 hours which was within my goal.
The run went very well for the first 20 miles. I stayed with the 3:45 pace group who were doing a run/walk mix where you run for 2 kilometers and walk for 30 seconds. I didn’t join in the walks until we had passed the 1/2 marathon point which I crossed in 1 hour, 50 minutes. After that, the walk breaks were just a good idea. I tried my best over the entire run to stay hydrated and cool. I usually drank a gatorade and a water at every station.
At mile 20, someone put a grand piano on my back, my legs got shorter, and the air got significantly thinner. This was the mythological “wall” that you hear about. Nothing in my training prepared me for
the next six miles. At first, I didn’t think there was any way for me to finish. My hamstring, quads, and calves were cramping; my pace had slowed to a shuffle. But I pushed on one kilometer at a time. I would usually run for a 1/2 kilometer, then walk for a minute, then run again. These last six miles took me 1 hour, 10 minutes with a
pace of 10:30. Although I had absolutely no energy and wanted so badly to walk, I ran the last 2 kilometers so that I would cross the finish line running… which I did.
Ashley was waiting just before the finish line, and seeing her gave me that final push that I needed (you can see my smile in the pictures.) She then ran down to the finish line to get pictures of me getting my medal and then to help me get home. My legs didn’t want to work anymore, but we still had to walk up a huge hill back to the hotel.
Once we got back to the hotel, I got a shower and then napped for 4 hours. Ashley worked… go figure. Then we managed to walk (err… shuffle) back down the hill to get dinner at a local pub where we could get some local Quebec brew.
Today everything hurts but I think I’ll manage. We are going to go jump in the hotel pool for a bit to let my muscles relax before doing some sight-seeing.
Oh, and don’t expect me to say that I’m training for another marathon any time soon. I’ll stick to 10ks and maybe 1/2 marathons for a while. And it’s definitely time to play some more frisbee.
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We spent Ashley’s birthday relaxing around the apartment because Murphy is recovering from getting fixed – which explains the cute “onesie” she is wearing. I got up early in the morning for a 12 mile run… my last big run until next Sunday!! Apparently, while I was on my run, Murphy wrapped a gift and wrote a birthday card. I have no idea how that happened..
After my run, I made birthday breakfast and gave Ashley my gift, a LeCroset dutch oven. While Ashley watched Anne of Green Gables in preparation for our vacation to PEI next week I headed up to Chelsea Markets to pick up everything that we needed for dinner. When I got back, I spent the afternoon cooking and baking a birthday cake. We had a pork tenderloin roast in an onion and raisin sauce with mashed potatoes and sauted squash. Except for Murphy being really groggy and pathetic, it was a very enjoyable and relaxing day. And Murphy is already improving… she just hates the itching.
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For the last 8 months, I have been training to run my first marathon. I’ve run for countless hours, gone through four pairs of running shoes, and recently hit the 500 mile mark on nikeplus.com… (I’m actually at 555 miles right now and there are a lot of miles that didn’t get recorded on the ipod.) On Saturday before Carl and Uncle Jim come to visit, my training runs peak with a 20 miler (say WHAT!) And then I taper for the next two weeks before the finale on August 26 in Quebec. Wish me luck… well, actually wish me a safe run.
If you’re interested to know more about my training or if you are interested in training for a marathon yourself (John?, Jay?,) drop me an email or leave a comment.
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You are going to have to get used to posts about Murphy because we find her cute and interesting, so we make the assumption that you will too simply because you know us.
Anyway, Murphy went on her first real bike ride last Sunday following an afternoon in Prospect Park on Saturday. Pictures from the park coming right up.
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Carolyn Guy convinced Jeannie to do a girls weekend out in New York. They bought hotel reservations at the midtown Hilton and Broadway tickets to see Wicked. And they were even gracious enough to let us spend some time with them. We went to Mama Mexico’s on 103rd/Broadway which we’ve mentioned is our favorite Mexican restaurant in the city. We did the infamous Staten Island ferry ride that we do whenever someone comes for a visit, and then made some delicious pasta for dinner. Sunday was the Five Boro Bike Tour where 35,000 cyclists bike through all the boroughs. We met them in front of their hotel which was on the route for our goodbyes.
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I will be updating this post soon, so don’t worry. You’ll get more than a single picture.
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I hope that you will excuse us for not writing on our blog in such a long time. You were justified in your criticisms like this one:
WHY HAVE YOU NOT UPDATED YOUR WEBSITE!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
You’re such a snorton norton.
You are right. I am being a total snorton norton. We (as in the royal We meaning Daniel in this case) have been really slack. Ashley has been asking for a post with pictures from Easter, and I will get to that shortly. Of course, Taylor, you, like other readers of this blog, have already seen the pictures because we uploaded them to ofoto. That doesn’t mean that I should make writing a post a lower priority.
So, besides now, I will update this blog soon. (Does this count as an update by the way?)
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