Coming Home for Christmas Countdown

So, as usual I'm freaking out with joy about Christmas and this year I'm freaking out with even more joy because I get to go to London and do the whole Christmas with the Vargas' thing which is like Christmas nowhere else on Earth. So much was I freaking out with joy that I nearly forgot that I would have Advent Calendar troubles what with leaving on the 7th. What is a girl to do? Bring her advent calendar with her? Then we struck on a marvellous plan. Using the advent calendar to count down the days to my flight instead of to Christmas Day. Yay!!

Such joy and excitement was only increased when Amanda got me this to countdown the days to my flight. I have never had an Advent Calendar so fancy. It pops up with a little house and then behind each door is a new character to add to the scene. I shall have to put it away when we're not home so that the cats don't eat it but I don't care. It's the best advent calendar I have ever, ever had.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin carving fun: a very scary cat & a terrifying cyclops.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Oklahoma City has chosen to honor some of it's most famous residents with an Alley. Not a road, not an avenue or a boulevard but an Alley.

Pick of the Litter

From the phone of Amanda: This is the "Volunteer String Band", an unlikely-looking but incredibly talented bluegrass group. We stumbled upon them on our first night in Nashville and deliberately returned the second night to enjoy their mix of traditional favorites and original genius such as "Ain't Going Back to Gatlinburg". On the second night we won a free CD for being the most enthusiastic audience members, but for a band this good you don't have to fake it. Google them and see for yourself!

Devils in Disguise

Amanda and I sitting at Elvis' piano in RCA Studio B in Nashville. The studio where he, along with many other musical greats including Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton and the Everly Brothers recorded hit after hit. Awesome!

New Shoes!

Straight from the phone of Amanda: We got matching shoes and we don't even care because they're so darned cute!

Welcome to Dollywood

Chasing that rainbow all the way to Eastern Tennessee and Dollywood. The Dolly Parton Museum was worth the trip all by itself. Much fun was had by all.

Labyrinth of Values

Straight from the phone of Amanda: The Unclaimed Baggage Resale Center in Scottsboro, Alabama was a joy and truly worth the drive. So many bargains and exciting treats people have sadly lost for us to gleefully find. I felt sorry for the brides and cheerleaders whose lovely days were spoiled, but man do I love my new shoes! They even had a museum of exciting finds, including Hoggle, the Jim Henson original, along with other artefacts from the film. Much fun, highly recommended.

Go Team Jesus!

From the phone of Amanda: This is the terrifying assortment of stickers available at the gas station along the Alabama highway. I can't decide which I like best!

Stars Fell on Alabama

Just over the border in Alabama. Making good time. There's hope we'll make it to the Unclaimed Baggage Center after all.

The return of the rubbish blogger

I have been pants, but I'll try to be good henceforth. We've just crossed from Louisiana to Mississippi and we're angling up towards Alabama. We've seen the space station, swam off the Gulf Coast, seen alligators, plantations, heard much jazz and eaten our weight in great food. I'll bring the whole shebang up to date with more words and pictures when we get some wi-fi access.

Bow hunting, no guts, no glory

There was neither guts, nor glory. It was probably for the best.

Don't Ask

Don't tell.

Right on Target

Knowing that they would have some British guests the Clays endeavoured to make us feel at home through the choice of target for the potato cannon.

Pennie the Outlaw

Your money or your beer. Either way really.

Fourth of July Battle

The British are coming.

This is a puddle...

...Yes, that is a duck...

It has been raining. A lot. For days actually, so many that some record for the most days of rain in a row set in the 1930s was broken.

Normally I quite like rain. I like to run in it and then come home and change into nice warm, dry clothes. I like donning wellies and sploshing about or being smug under an umbrella while trying not to poke anyone's eye out. I don't, as it turns out, like it all that much when it goes on for 17 days without a day off. Nothing dries properly, the soft furnishings all feel positively soggy, the TV crackles when you first switch it on because of all the moisture trapped in its works and you're constantly damp because all the towels are still wet and your clothes have the kind of dampness which is probably a great breeding ground for mildew.

Not only is there this personal sensation of general discomfort but you can't go out. The most I had been outside until yesterday was running from Amanda's car to the library - a whopping 200m. Drainage here is rubbish, as beautifully demonstrated by the duck setting up camp in a puddle so big that it (a duck whom, I would have thought, would have a great deal of experience of bodies of water) has mistaken it for a pond. Until this morning I hadn't been able to run, cycle or even walk outside as trying to move through Norman under your own steam in the rain involves rather more wading than I think is necessary unless you're on one of those outward bounds courses or fishing and actually I'm not even sure that either of those are necessary to begin with! I hadn't even managed really to get to the gym to run as everytime I thought it might be alright to nip out a dark cloud appeared on the horizon looking ready to release raindrops so large that just one would be enough to wash your hair clean of shampoo with and probably hurt a bit in the process. Consequently I've probably been a bit of a nightmare and was even reduced on day 17 to alternating stamping my feet, waving my fist and screaming in frustration at the rain.

Fortunately we've been given a bit of reprieve, a strange gold disc appeared in the sky yesterday afternoon. Amanda and I were frightened but then grew to love its strange warmth and the odd sensation of being dry that it afforded us. I'm not sure how long this is going to last, or whether the giant cloud is going to swing back around but for now I'm happy and, until the puddle dries out, so is that duck.

Pride

I am proud all the way up from my toes! Happy Pride.

Race Report

So I did it, I finished the marathon. It took me longer than I had hoped but the weather and my hips were conspiring against me so it's not bad considering.

The race started out well. I stuck with the 4:45 group until the first water table where I lost them. Retrospectively I probably should have actually signed up to run with this group or at least tried harder to stick with them rather than thinking I could pick up the pace, but we live and learn and the marathon is nothing but a learning experience.

So the next few miles went well. Up to the 10k marker I was on pace for the 4:45, I had hoped for (and maybe even a little quicker), seeing Amanda, Susan and Sandra (Amanda's mother) really spurred me on to dig deep at mile 7 but then it all started to go wrong. The hip trouble I thought I had beaten with diligent yoga and stretching all week started to nag and being not even a third of the way through this was not a good sign. As the half-marathoners turned away from the marathon course half a mile later, I found myself wondering what on earth I'd done and questioning whether choosing to do the full over the half was such a wise decision after all. Still, there was no going back and I decided pull back a little and aim for an 11 minute pace which would still get me to the finish around 4:45.

Every mile marker I passed had a sign next to it telling me what I was on pace for and until Lake Hefner it always read "You are on pace for a 4h34m - 4h47m finish". At Lake Hefner the 4:45 group came up behind me and I knew I was in trouble. If they were coming up behind me, I must have slowed down significantly and I couldn't even contemplate moving any faster than I already was. I resolved to try and keep with them and though I managed to stick with them for several miles, beyond Lake Hefner and through Nichols Hills, it was futile.

Up to this point I'd eaten gummy bears for the first 10 miles, alternated water with Powerade at the aid stations and started taking energy gels every 4 or so miles from mile 10. I'd had 2 at this stage and really should have been taking another but the idea of squirting a whole packet of warm honey into my mouth made me queasy. I gave myself one more mile to steel myself for the gloop, thinking of a story Amanda's dad had told me about thinking he could get away without anymore energy gel in a marathon and winding up staggering into the crowd with 200y to go. That was not going to be me so I toughened up and took it. These things are disgusting, but they work. Although I felt like crap I don't think it was The Wall, from what I've heard the wall feels like literally running into a wall, what I had was more of a gradual deterioration and steadily increasing hip pain.

By mile 21 I was actually dying, or at least I thought I was. The sun was high in the sky by this point and the mercury must have been pushing 25C and rising. I thought if I could just keep the 4:45 group in my sights it would be OK and tried to play mind games with myself by mentally breaking up the last 6 miles into 2 5K races which at this stage should be a walk in the park.

It wasn't. The 4:45 group pulled away and I didn't even care. There was nothing I could have done to keep up. The finish time indicator ticked up into the next bracket 4h47m-5h00m and I didn't even care. Now I just wanted to finish.

Although one of my main goals was just to get to the end without walking outside of aid stations this was just not going to happen today so I instilled a new strategy for the last 5 miles. I had on my Garmin and worked out that if I could keep to a 14 minute pace for the last 5 miles I'd still get in under 5 hours. So I instigated a new strategy allowing myself to power walk until the lap pace read 14 and then run until it was back down to around 12.

At mile 23, Amanda, Susan and Sandra were there again cheering for me and I found the energy to run to them and stop long enough to stretch my hip and tell them I wanted to die. I ran enough until I was out of sight and went back to my walk run routine. Somewhere in this last 6 miles the hip pain was so overwhelming that I actually had to lie down on the grass verge and stretch my hips out which allowed me to run a little further. I don't remember where it's all a bit of a blur.

By mile 25 I was ready to call it quits and just stroll the rest of the way but I passed the final 25 mile marker and saw the time. It read somewhere around 4:48 and I knew that if I could just run the rest of the way I'd squeak in under 5 hours. So I did. I'm not sure how I managed it, but hearing the crowds at the finish line and finally turning the corner and seeing the finish line made me find that spurt of running left in me.

As I drew nearer to the finish I saw it tick over the 5 hour mark and was briefly despondent until I remembered that it had taken me 2 minutes to cross the start line and that my chip time would reflect this. Just then, I saw Amanda, Susan and Sandra again unexpectedly, yelling and cheering for me and telling me I could do it and then I really knew I could.

I must have run an 8m30s pace in that last .22 miles and it felt much faster!! I did it though, I got my sub 5 with a grand chip-time of 4:58:20.

I'll speed up next time!

Placings, Split Times and Chip Times, Oh My!

Summary

number of finishers:	1255
number of females:	545
number of males:	710
average time:	04:39:25

overall place:	901 out of 1281
division place:	62 out of 101
time:	5:00:40
pace:	11:29
chiptime:	4:58:20
10k:	1:07:21
15k:	1:41:33
half:	2:23:10
25k:	3:02:13
30k:	3:40:56

Race for the Prize

Sprint finish! I realized I'd really have to pull my finger out to make sub-5 hours and just made it. I'd hoped for a little faster but my hips weren't playing ball from miles 10ish onwards. The 27°C temp didn't help much either.

23 Miles

I actually wanted to die at this point. Even the mind games that there's only a little 5k left did me no good.

Mile seven and going strong!

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

I'm at the Expo and have my number. I suppose there really is no going back now.

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UPDATE

OK. So I'm back from the Expo, trying to drink water, eat things with salt in, rest my legs and generally take things easy.

It was an exciting day, I had to pick up my number and the chip for my shoe so that I can know the exact time it took me between crossing the start and finish line. Then we looked around at the numerous running booths that you can see set up in the background of the photo of me looking everso excited/nervous above. I wanted new socks but none of these stores had the very specific pair I was looking for (Wrights, double-layer, quarter-length black) so we wondered around and looked at the fun marathon related stuff that can be bought. I wasn't really feeling 1) rich enough and 2) confident enough to buy anything that proclaimed any marathon runner status just yet.

Then we sat and listened to Joan Benoit Samuelson give a talk about her running. She was the first woman to win gold in the marathon at the Olympics back in 1984 (yes, it really did take them that long to accept that women were tough enough for the distance). It was great to hear an Olympian talk about her running and voice lots of the same things that we all feel (jealousy when we see other people out running when we're not and grumpiness when we've missed a run) and amazing to hear someone speak that had done so much for women in this sport.

We met theatremom from the Runner's World discussion board and had a lovely lunch, eating seafood and talking about running and our anticipation of tomorrow's race.

Now we're back at home and I'm trying to relax. I'll lay out my clothes for the morning soon and line up my energy gels and Vaseline; I'll set up the coffee pot to make me coffee at 4am and put out my bowl and porridge. Everything tomorrow needs to run as smoothly as possible so that the only thing I'm nervous about is the run itself and not being late or being able to find my socks. Right now I'm feeling nervous and excited but quietly confident that I'll make it to the end. The question is, just what kind of shape will I be in?


You may be able to track me during the race. As you can see, my bib number is 1970 and you should know my name. Try going here and putting in my details to see how I'm doing. The race starts at 6:30am CST (-6 BST).

Weather Watch

8 days to go?! Dagnammit that ticker at the top of this page is making me nervous!

Right now I have two concerns:
1) My hip has a dull ache
2) The weather

Fortunately I think that issue #1 might go away with a strict regime of yoga and the reduced mileage that my taper has me doing anyway. Tomorrow is nice easy 10 miler (whoever thought that those words would come out of my fingers?!) and my schedule only has me doing a couple of shortish runs next week. I'll probably sit in some ice and hope for the best and hopefully that will be enough.

The weather I have little control over and all I can do it watch and wait. Yesterday the forecast was for 26ºC and partial cloud. Today it's saying about the same temperature but with 68% humidity and showers - ouch!

Long-range forecasts are notoriously inaccurate but the thought of running in that humidity fills me with dread. For someone who's (half) English I'm dealing remarkably well with the heat (must be the Portuguese half - thanks dad!) For my first 20 miler I was one of few in my marathon class to have made it to the end with an even pace, no walking and feeling strong and that was with a later start on a day not much cooler than the 26ºC predicted for the day - but humidity?! I haven't really had to practice that yet. My biggest concern is chafing. Will my beloved Vaseline be able to hold out for 26.22 miles in 68% humidity?!

I think the overall plan is going to have to be a slower pace, while until recently I'd hoped for a sub-4:30 I think I'm now shooting for a getting my rear end over the finish line in one piece. Preferably with as little walking as possible (though that excludes drinking - I just haven't got down that drinking from a cup while running thing yet).

Only time will tell. For now I will just have to watch the weather with anticipation while performing Warrior 1...

20 Miles

Will add more to this post later but I have to go and sit down with my legs on a bag of ice. This is the satellite image from my GPS of my run today with the OKC Landrunners along the marathon course in Oklahoma City just to prove I did it. This is my last really long run before the big day and was tough but doable. I just hope my legs can carry me that last 6 miles on the day!!

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UPDATE

OK, so here is the rest as promised. I woke up at 5am on Sunday in my usual style of having breakfast of porridge, a bagel with peanut butter and a cup of coffee a couple of hours before my run to make sure I have enough fuel in me. Then I got back into bed for an hour before getting up again to pull myself together.

So far I've been running my long runs around Norman and have gotten to know the back streets pretty well. Running is a great excuse to be nosey and look at houses around town but this week I had an opportunity to be nosey around the neighbourhoods of Oklahoma City. The OKC Landrunners have a long training run once a week and although I've been meaning to go almost every weekend throughout my training I never quite managed to rouse myself to get me there. This week the run was along the course so I roused myself to find a lift with someone in my marathon class who was also running and off we went.

When we got there there were maybe 200 other runners all preparing to run either 20 or 10 miles depending on whether they were training for a half or full marathon. We gathered around as they introduced various people of importance at the club and said a prayer (to which I sort of bowed my head a bit and made a vague "amen" grunt), took our photo at the "start line" and off we went.

My friend zipped off ahead, being much faster than I am, so I was left to my own plodding devices. The first couple of miles were tough (they usually are) and with the excitement of the crowd I took off far faster than I should have but it turned out alright in the end. Actually the whole run went pretty much without a hitch, I found some people running my pace and followed them around the course to avoid getting lost. The miles and time seemed to fly by, nothing really hurt, I never wanted to give up and my gummi bear and honey fuelling combination, along with the wonderful water stops provided by a local running shop, made sure I was well hydrated and fuelled. I think this means that I might actually be ready to do this thing!

The run was along the actual marathon course (although it cut off the extra 6 miles from the turnaround, which if you look at the satellite image goes kind of around that lake at the top) so it gave me a good idea of the course. It also gave me the opportunity to nosey around the posh parts of town with the giant houses.

The course is actually really nice, a little bit of winding around some fancy neighbourhoods with good houses to gawp at and enough hills to make it interesting but not enough to make it too hard. I imagine the lake will be very pleasant too although I'm hoping that there wont be too much wind whipping up around it. The water stations provided by the running club were also very nice as were the pretzels. I must learn to drive so that I can join the club and enjoy more of their events.

I came to the end, a block away from where we started to be greeted by a cheer from the running club people and a vast selection of snacks and sports drinks. What an awesome bunch of people although Amanda did have once fun little exchange with one of the runners...

Amanda arrived to pick me up, as arranged four hours after the start time, in the car park where our run ended, having spotted the crowd of runners and was trying to work out where I'd be when a runner man asked her if she was looking for someone and she said that yes "She should be here any minute now." When runnerman asked her if it was "Your husband?" and Amanda in some flight of fancy/momentary madness said "No my wife!" he apparently looked shocked and mumbled something about us all having our own maps and left her to her own devices. Amanda never actually calls me her wife but it elicited such an amusing response that perhaps she should more often!

That's it really. I have my 20 miler under my belt and didn't want to die and unless I have an attack of low-confidence this week and feel the urge to run another on Sunday that will be it until race day. There's not much else I can do now but fret.

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UPDATE #2

I just pilfered this photo of me from the OKC Landrunners website. Look at me looking all runnery. And yes, I am wearing the same outfit I wore for the half - I think I need more running clothes - the smell is becoming ingrained!

Tornado Season Fun

The sirens are going and I'm wearing a winter coat and crouching in a closet. Oh the fun.

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UPDATE:
10 minutes later - all is well and I have left the closet. The rotationy part of the storm has moved up to Moore, presumably attracted by all the trailer homes.

Note: Yay! The mobile blogging is working again. Hopefully this will continue for Marathon Day and other excitement!

Democracy Sucks

Amanda and I have finally found a way of watching British TV. We had for too long been subjected to the complete tosh that BBC America tries to force upon the American public and British ex-pats alike. But enough is enough and UKNova has come to the rescue. I actually can't say thank you enough to the team of people in the UK who must just feel sorry for folks like me stuck without British TV and who use their own time to capture and make available British TV shows so that I can watch them. Last week I was able to watch Eastenders for the first time since July as well as Dead Ringers and Bonkers (that was mum's recommendation) and of course as soon as the torrent for Making Your Mind Up became available I was all over it...

I was shocked at the results. After all the anticipation, all the hype: Will Morrissey be singing? Will all these "real bands" get into the Eurovision vibe? Will we actually have anything good? We get one decent song and five piles of poo. And what do the public select from this clear choice of 5 really bad songs and one that might actually stand a chance? This great big pile of poo.

Flippin' Scooch. I hate them. Not only can they not sing (my good friend texted me during the competition to tell me they are "shoddy live" which seems an accurate description), but their song is awful, they're "Flying the Flag" but for what I don't know and besides Europe kind of hates us so waving the Union Jack around seems like a daft idea. And on top of that they keep saying lewd things in a salacious manner and I'm not sure this is to be encouraged. I mean, come on "Some salted nuts sir?"

One of the singers (the "captain" of this rag tag outfit) was on this show, which I think explains the caliber of what we are dealing with here.

AND. As if all of that weren't enough, I'm having a case of deja vu....

Slovenia 2002 and they did it far better. Sequins and erm...all.

So, I'm voting that we remove the vote from the British public and give it to me. They clearly can't handle the responsibility.

Dog Days

The OU women are out of the basketball tournament. We made it to the Sweet 16 but the Elite 8 was apparently not to be. And I was all ready to cheer and be proud in a pub, with beer and possibly nachos. Oh well, there's always next year...

On Sunday morning, while the Sooner women were preparing to lose, I managed a second 18 miler. I was so panicked after last week's 6 mile-long sensation of being about to die that I thought I'd better give it another shot. It was much better. A much slower starting pace easing up to a final 6 miles at race pace. Maybe I really can do this thing.

The first couple of miles were tough, they always are. There's something about the first 2 or 3 miles that always seem like they're just there to test me. If I can get past those I feel like I can do anything but those first couple of miles are a slog. Mile 4 and 5 I was getting into my stride until my favourite running occurrence occurred. Dogs.

I'd already avoided one dog at mile three. I spotted it a couple of blocks away and quickly changed direction to run around, rather than towards it (with a block of houses safely between us). But at mile 5 I turned a corner and there they were, at first they looked like a heap of clothes on the porch of what looked like an abandoned house. I was just thinking to myself what a lovely house it would be if someone took the time to clean it up when the heaps began to move... and bark. It was too late to run in the opposite direction, a big black dog had me in its sights and wasn't going to let me go without making a lot of noise about it and maybe even eat me (it had big teeth and it looked cross).

I stopped dead. I had read that you shouldn't turn your back on a dog so I looked for a way to make an exit while facing my angry friend, I looked down the street I had turned onto only to see another dog (probably attracted by the barking) walking towards me. The only way for dog avoidance was for me to back around the corner but any movement just provoked more barking. Fortunately the other heap on the porch wasn't all that bothered, although black dog thought it should be, and each time black dog turned around and barked in an effort to rouse its friend, gave me the opportunity to back another step around the corner. I must have been there for more than 5 minutes in the terrifying face-off with black dog until I'd got far enough around the corner for it not to see me running away.

This isn't the first time I've come across stray dogs although none have been quite so close and angry at me. I think it's because people here usually have their dogs sleep in their gardens and it's just much more straightforward to escape from a rickety fence as opposed to a sturdy front door. I think I'll have to come up with a better plan, possibly involving pepper spray.

Of course, the worst thing is that it messed up with my pace. How will I ever know what I can do on a continuous run if I keep having to stop for angry dogs and traffic lights?!

Sweet Sixteen

Our girls have made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Basketball tournament. I think this means they're one of the 16 best in the country but frankly I'm new to this whole sports watching thing and championships and league tables confuse me. They're winning a lot though so that has to be good, I may even have to go and watch their next game somewhere with beer. It seems that this is the most widely accepted method of offering support.


I finally managed to run my 18-miler last weekend. Unfortunately I had to present a 5 minute piece at a conference earlier the same morning so by the time I got around to running my long run it was 5 hours since I'd had breakfast, I probably hadn't had enough water and my run took me across midday through the hottest weather this year, on the longest run I've done ever. Probably not the best conditions. Still, I started out well and on pace and continued that way until I ran out of water. It's tough to find water on campus during Spring Break and I think that I'm going to have to either start planting water, doing loops past the house or making Amanda be my support crew (I don't think that's really going to work but she'd look cute with a whistle and a loud hailer), thank goodness they have aid stations at the marathon... I found water and continued on my merry way. It was hot and getting hotter, the cloud cover that was making it semi-bearable was burning off and the gummy bears I had taken as fuel were starting to be sickly.

After several water stops and 16 miles I was ready to be done, it was hot and I'd had enough. But I'm too stubborn to give up so I plowed on for the last 2 miles, convinced that my pace was so slow at the end that I'd ruined my run and that I'd never make it to the end of my marathon. In comes the magic of the Garmin which tells me that actually overall the pace was the fastest long run I've done for a while and that every mile was on pace according to the McMillan Running Calculator except for mile 17 which was slightly below target pace due to having walk a little in an effort not to make the big dog cross enough to jump over the rather low fence.

Yay! Maybe I will make it after all. 6 weeks to go...

...And the home of the SOONERS!

This morning I have been thwarted in my attempt at an 18 miler. Stupid Oklahoma weather, it has been a constant battle for me while I've been training; the ice, the wind and now a giant all-day (possibly two-day) thunderstorm. Part of me wants to wait until it dies down and then step out, but on a 3h+ run I could wind up more than an hour and a half away from the house if it comes back and with the possibility of not only being hit by lightening but also pummelled by "dime-sized hailstones" and even the possible tornado to "Dorothy" me away this doesn't seem like a wise plan. Perhaps I'll try it on the treadmill later this afternoon but just the idea of that long on a treadmill sends me into a stupor.

So, now that I'm all awake and filled with my pre-run coffee and breakfast I thought I may as well make use of the time and tell you all about the OU women's basketball game. I could tell you about the men's basketball too but frankly they were rather pants and the women have just won the Big 12 Championship thingamies which just proves I am right in my assessment of their greatness.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to The White Game where we played Texas A&M and were given free t-shirts. We unfortunately went on to lose but it was a nail-biting finish and one exciting game!

Anything Texas represents a bitter rivalry in Oklahoma and although this wasn't our arch-enemy the Texas Longhorns (which results in a football game so fierce that neither home ground can host the game and Sooner fans have been known to actually have the Texas Longhorn logo tattoed upside-down on themselves) the team had the word "Texas" on their shirts so 'nuff said.

Somehow Amanda and I wound up in the student seating and these students mean business and never sit down. So for the next couple of hours we were forced to join them in standing and yelling and joining in the cheers...

When we first arrived the band was already playing and most of the spectators had on their t-shirts (the t-shirts are white and the audience is supposed to wear them so that the whole auditorium is a "white out"). In fact people that weren't wearing their t-shirts yet were picked out by the White Out Cam and shown on giant TV screens with a message telling them to "put on your shirt" . The band was playing my now favourite OU chant as we arrived (and continued to do so throughout the game), it's the tune of that (Possibly KLF) Dr Who song with the "Hey!" in it and goes something like this...

(Dr Who) O!.....
(Dr Who) U!.....
(Dr Who).....We're gonna beat the hell out of you!

It was pretty awesome, especially with the accompanying gestures demonstrated with much vigour by the cheerleaders (one of whom I have myself convinced is actually Larry the gay football player from early seasons of Buffy). Then the crowd settled down for the pre-game National Anthem which was possibly my favourite thig of all, apparently I've been mistaken all this time; it's not "The land of the free and the home of the brave" it's the home of the Sooners of course, I don't know how I could have been so stupid!

I just have to say that I think that basketball might be my new favourite American sport, and this was possibly even the most exciting sporting event that I have ever been to in my whole life (sorry dad, yes, even more than that Braga match you took me to when I was about four and the people behind us told me to stop waving my flag) though perhaps I was just caught up in all the headiness of the cheers. This definately beats football though, with all its silly stopping and starting and swapping of teams depending on whether they're being defensive or offensive. Here it was just 5 (they did substitute though) tough girls battling it out, only stopping for the briefest of time outs while the cheerleaders took the court and entertained.

I wish I could give you a play-by-play account of the game but it was a little while ago now so I don't really remember. Mostly what I remember is the tension of those women running up and down the court shooting and getting baskets (and then missing a little too often too), the excitement of yelling a lot and lifting my arms up into O and U shapes as I yelled and occasionally being very cross at the referee, the worry that one of these times those male cheerleaders was going to drop one of the girls and there'd be a terrible mess but most of all it was feeling like I had a team and I was going to cheer for them dagnammit!

Run Like The Wind... Or Against It..

I am apparently rubbish at maintaining a consistent blogging presence. I've been busy; term started and I had to do silly things like homework and reading and I'm now 64 days away from my marathon and running silly amounts.

The weather has not been cooperating with my marathon efforts, there was ice and snow and wind. Oh the wind! I like to think of it as resistance training but I wish that it would stop for just one run. No matter what direction I run in I seem to end up running against the wind on the way back when I've already run 7 miles and would like the wind to help not hinder. Oh well, who knows what might happen on race day so it's probably for the best.

Anyway, speaking of running, that's what I must off and do now. I must remeber to write a game report of the OU Basketball game Amanda and I saw (it was actually the most exciting sporting event that I've ever spectated except maybe the rodeo...) and I probably should have written something fun about Halloween but I never quite got around to it. Here's a photo though, we were Tinkerbell and Peter Pan and incredibly cute.


Unfortunately all the photos I have don't capture the outfit and make me look naked but rest assured I was dressed and cute all at once...

The Ice Storm

So Ice Storm number two of my stay in Oklahoma is coming. Actually it's here and it's not going anywhere. The last Ice Storm lasted a day and took more than a week to melt. This one is predicted to last possibly until Monday. Goodness only knows how long this will take to melt. It is hailing fairly hard and has been hailing since about 9 this morning. Although the roads are only just now cold enough for it to settle, the grass in front gardens, the tops of cars and roofs of houses are white. We have enough food to last us and thankfully we have gas heating in case there's a power-cut we shouldn't be affected. I even bought a couple of loaves of bread just in case for some reason we can't cook. We have candles, we'll be fine. Actually being trapped in the house all weekend is really rather romantic particularly as we have nothing pressing to do. If only we had a fire to curl up by.

This is of course totally messing with my marathon training schedule of which I am in week 2 but I'd rather skip a run than risk breaking a hip. It's only a seven miler anyway!

I'll try to keep you posted as the storm develops, I've even charged up my phone so I can keep you updated by text.

Mission Eurovision

I am a woman on a mission. May is nearing and May is Eurovision time, unfortunately for me Eurovision isn't shown on TV in America, not even on BBC America (which, by the way, shows nothing but Cash in the Attic, Benny Hill and Whose Line is it Anyway?). I could watch it online through my laptop but what's the liklihood of that working as it should and not crashing half-way through Bosnia's piece de resistance? Also the internet broadcast Eurovision shows a distinct lack of Terry who is Mr Eurovision. Without his commentary, frankly I am not interested (well maybe a little bit but not nearly as much). So, with my heart full of longing for Terry and Eurovision in beautiful union as they should be, I have started a petition which I intend to send to BBC America making my demands. Please sign it and save me from a Eurovision & Terry-free year. America needs to see this! I also recommend if you could take the time that you go here and fill in the form direct to BBC America requesting Eurovision to be added to the schedule.

Spread the word.

Steady and Slow

Since all the snow excitement there hasn't been much else to say, Christmas came and went and the New Year was ushered in with a tiny pop. On the 31st of December I finally took the plunge before the price went up and entered myself into the OKC Memorial Marathon. Time will tell whether or not this was a wise decision or not but on the 1st I duly began training in earnest. Fortunately this took the shape of a 2 mile slow run which given the late night and the vast number of puddings was probably for the best. I've had another run since then as dictated by the Runner's World Plan and have another today. This is knuckle-down and get serious time thankfully I have a new toy to assist with with this. With the magic of magical things I can put on my training plan at a click of a mouse and with a press of a button and some satellites doing something clever I can make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to be. I love new stuff and running. And stuff.

Just chillin'

Sights on the way to work.

The sun has got its hat on

The sun has come out but it's not going to be enough to melt the snow. I have to go to work at 1pm and I don't have any wellies. This is going to be interesting...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

We don't have a fire, but if we did, it would be delightful. It is cold and the furnaces are up full-blast. Tomorrow is looking to be a snow day too. I wonder how long our pantry will hold up to us being holed-up?

Baby it's cold outside!

Norman is shut down. There is no school. There is no university. Ice is falling from the sky and the meteorologists are very excited. Apparently the library never closes though so I could be called in. This seems daft though, it's cold outside.

Route 66 Half Marathon - 19/11/06 - PR 2:19:13

I rocked Route 66. I got my kicks and I smashed my target of 2:20:40. Not by much, admittedly, but by enough to make me a very proud young lady. And look, here I am after the race still standing and still smiling!

It went really well, it was a very cold but sunny start but as you can see from the picture it was sunny by the end. I positioned myself in with the 4:45 marathon pacers and I figured that they would get me started on about the right pace though of course as soon as the big gun went off.



Of course that plan didn't work and I got over excited and perhaps took off a little too quick off the mark.

I was feeling strong though and sticking with it. I was actually on target for around a 2:15 despite the hills and motorway on-ramps that they had neglected to tell me about when I signed up (Oklahoma is supposed to be flat and I've had no hills to practice on.) Unfortunately though about 4 miles out from the finish my hip started giving me jip and I had to stop and stretch which took me 2 minutes off pace. Magically though the stretching worked and the last two miles I must have done in a 8-9 minute pace which is insane as I usually run at 12 minutes per mile! I guess the signs along the course about "Digging deep and aiming high" and "Pain is fleeting, a PR is for life" must have struck a chord!

I'm very content, the stretching seems to have worked and my hip is no longer giving me any jip (though I think that might be in store for me tomorrow) I'm going to take ibuprofen for any possible swelling and maybe ice a few joints. Anyway now we are home and I'm about to check my bank account to see if I have the available funds to sign up for the Oklahoma City Marathon in April. If there's a bug, I believe I've caught it!

Faulty Blogging

Ok, so something went wrong with the clever blog plan. As you can see it was working until I actually tried to blog about something interesting but let me assure you that the photos were fabulous and very, very interesting. Maybe one day the blogosphere will be kind enough to let you see them. Maybe not. Who can tell? Anyway, fortunately we were not entirely reliant on the mobile blogging devices (which has in it the photos but without the magic of mobile blogging I don't know how to get the photos into the computer - must buy bluetooth USB thingamy) we also took photos with the digital camera...

I got my kicks

2h20m right on target

This is just the beginning!

It's cool but not too cold, a gorgeous morning. I'm so excited I can't stop going to the bathroom...

All dressed up with somewhere to go

Nearly time to leave and stand in the street in cold, dark Tulsa.

Vaseline, my friend

It's 6am and I've been up for about an hour and a half forcing down coffee and porridge. I'm showered and dressed and have administered vaseline to the possible chafe spots. Just an hour left to pace before I get in the corral...

Penelope, prepared.

All chipped up and ready to go

We've arrived in Tulsa and I have my bib and chip - a magical thing that will automatically log my time. The chip is on the shoe and I'm ready to go. 14 hours to go though. How will I contain myself?

Power lunch for a power run

It's fuel. Honest.

Less than 24 hours from Tulsa

And we're off. 22h35m to the race, about 2h to Tulsa. Am I ready? I hope so!

The excitement begins...

I have made a list and I'll be checking it twice. Mustn't forget the special dual-layer socks or electrolyte containing jellybeans! I've nearly packed ready for the off in the morning and could just burst with excitement!

What I found in the library today...

I have been doing dramatic readings in an old cow poke voice all evenin'. I also learnt a southern word for skewiff: 'cattywampus'. How awesome is that?! Cowboy up dudes and gals!

The Roving Reporter

I just wanted to quickly note that I am now a blogger on the go. Through the power of joining the 21st century and having my very own mobile phone with a camera I can now send pictures and messages from anywhere I have reception. I can't wait until next Sunday. Mobile, instant race reports will be mine...

Go Sooners!

This is the level to which Sooner madness has gone on the OU campus. Every soap dispenser on campus comes with this tiny, but heartfelt exclamation.

Running against the wind

This must be a record but it's Saturday morning and I had to get up at 6 am (which I'm thinking there should be a law against) and even though it's 9 am now I don't seem to have found my brain enough to do anything very productive. So I thought I would blog some more...

As I might have mentioned (once or twice) I've been running like a fiend. I have two weeks left to go until my half-marathon in Tulsa and I've been running like a running thing on running tablets. A half-marathon is 13.1 miles and 8 months ago I couldn't even run 1. I've had a lot of work to do. I've been following a plan and building up to it slowly and on Tuesday I reached my training peak at 11.27 miles (distance courtesy of Gmaps). I've been trying to prepare for the race-day starting line-up at 6 am by running at that time and fortunately for me with the "Fall back" it is now light enough to do so. So up I got at 4 am, stuffed myself with porridge and then went back to bed (what else was I going to do for two hours?) At 6am up I got again and slid into my running gear. Unfortunately my running gear consists of shorts and a t-shirt and 6 am on the last day of October wasn't all that warm. I convinced myself though that it would be fine once I got going, so I pulled on a cap and some gloves and off I went. I knew it was cold. I knew the wind was strong. I knew it was fairly chilly but I did not realise that the first mile of this run would be heading straight into the wind. I steeled myself. I'm tough, right? I've run in London in January, how hard could this be? Pretty tough. I had to pull my cap down several times. The goose-pimples on my arms did not disappear as I "warmed up", in fact they started to go numb. Bah humbug! I'm far too stubborn to let this get to me. Fortunately my course then took me in the opposite direction. I was flying! Heck, I even took my gloves off. But alas, my course is circular and eventually after mile 6 (when I really could have done with the wind behind me) there I was, running against the wind again. Running against Oklahoma wind isn't all that fun. Oklahoma is flat which means there are no hills to break the wind up and running against it is a bit of a mission. The gloves went back on and my face fixed into a determined glare such has never before been seen. I began to notice that I couldn't really feel my arms and that they were perhaps a little redder than their usual complexion and that perhaps my thighs were a little chilly to the point of numbness. Only 3 more miles to go. I'd be fine. I was fine. Cold and tired but fine. Later in the shower, after the itch of cold-skin getting suddenly warm had subsided, I noticed a darker complexion on my legs and arms, wind-burn I suppose. I don't think I've ever had wind-burn before, it's quite the novelty. I think I might buy some winter running gear today though, I'm not sure how much novelty I can take...

From now on it's taper time. Tomorrow I'll cut back to just 9-10 miles and next weekend I'll only do 5. I love being able to talk about the distances for my runs as "only" or "just" something I never dreamt I'd be able to run. I remember back in April whooping as I made it around Walpole Park for the first time (0.8 miles) and later almost bursting into tears with joy at my first mile, now a mile is too easy even for an easy day. I feel great, strong and powerful. I imagine myself on race day crossing the finishing line without even once having had to break into a walk. I could go nuts over the next couple of weeks having to cut back on my mileage though. I'm not sure Amanda's looking forward to it...

Rah Oklahoma!

OK. So as you may (or may not) have guessed from my "Boomer Sooner" post, on the 23rd of September I went to my very first OU football game. Unfortunately due to general incompetence and busyness on my part I never actually got to post the full write-up of the event and now it's all a little foggy but I will try my very best.

First of all I need to say that I don't really understand American football. The playing time is an hour but a game lasts four hours with all the breaks for adverts and huddles in which the players are given instructions for their next play. I know that what you most want is a touch-down and then you want to convert it by kicking the ball through the posts which apparently is very exciting and calls for a little celebration (more on this later). I know that each team has a certain number of attempts to move the ball 10 yards in their direction (3 I think) before the other teams gets to have a go at doing the same thing. I know that each "team" has two entirely separate teams depending on which direction they're moving in - the offensive team and the defensive team. I also know that the players make very few decisions about their plays (if any) and that the coach does all the strategy stuff and they just act out the directions. I know this because Amanda's brother gets to pass the instructions from the coach to the players on the team that he is currently training with. I think it involves wild gesticulation but I'm not really clear on the logistics.

Right. Now that's all said and done I also want to make clear that all of that stuff is not the exciting part of an OU football game. Remember I mentioned earlier about the "little celebration"? Well that was possibly down-playing it a bit but let's start at the very beginning, it is the very best place to start you know...

Before the game and before you even enter the stadium Norman is descended upon by thousands of people. So many people in fact that the population of Norman automatically doubles in size on a game day. These people set up in car parks all around town and do this thing called tail-gating which seems to involve drinking beer out of actual fridges and eating burgers which they cook on their giant gas-powered barbecues whilst sitting on their chairs under their gazebo. This also often seems to involve watching the pre-game commentary on their satellite TVs (satellite included) and usually some father-son bonding involving a ball being thrown around and narrowly missing innocent passers by. Then a couple of hours before the game along comes The Pride. They march down the streets of Norman and into the stadium playing endless renditions of Boomer Sooner and other marching band classics including (or course) "Oklahoma!" Eventually they reach their destination and so do we, climbing the seemingly hundreds of steps to our seats and we're only half way up the bleachers! The stadium is full of people looking full of cheer, sporting the crimson and cream (red and white as was helpfully translated in my international student orientation) colours of the Sooners. I'm ready too, Amanda and I popped to Walmart and bought me a hooded jumper with OKLAHOMA in the big collegiate letters on the front. The game is on!

Actually the game is not on... yet. There is more spectacle to be had before any playing can occur. The players have to stretch for what seems like hours in some sort of chessboard formation while the many, many coaches check that they're doing them right. Eventually they get up from the floor and throw a ball about for a bit and do some other inexplicable warm-ups that I have never read about in any of my running-related sporting research. I suppose they must be "football specific" or something, I'll give the coaches the benefit of the doubt. They are paid enough. Middle Tennessee are warming up too, they're looking a bit haphazard despite their snazzy kit. I begin to hope that this will not be a car-crash for them. Eventually the players leave the pitch and from here the order of things gets confused.

It could be the band that comes first or it might be the cheerleaders though it could just as easily be the Rough Necks. It's all bit of sensory overload and with so much time passed I'm not sure I'm capable of untangling it. Let's go with the band for argument's sake. They march into the stadium do some fancy marching in formation, play Boomer Sooner yet again and take to their spot on the bleachers. Then the Rough Necks take to the field. I'm not really sure who or what the Rough Necks are apart from being college boys in little red and white uniforms with giant paddles in their back pockets. They are in charge of the Schooner which rides around the field at the opening of the game as well as inexplicably beating the goal-post with the aforementioned paddle. The Schooner is one of those old-style covered wagons which you see in movies involving trails, plains and Native Americans and it is pulled by two horses called Boomer and Sooner (well what did you expect them to be called?) A Rough Neck rides this thing around the field with the Rough Neck Queen sitting up front, all dressed up and twirling a paddle while whooping with pride (or something). Out of the back is another Rough Neck dangling out of the back waving a flag with yet another holding his legs. Whilst this is going on the rest of the Rough Necks who are not involved in the schooner spectacle are inexplicably beating the goal post with their paddles. I can't help but wander what else they beat with their paddles, which are the size of a child's cricket bat, when there isn't a game on...
Then of course there are the cheerleaders. Middle Tennessee hasn't even bothered to bring their cheer-squad or their band so we only have 3 squads tonight who rotate around each quarter and of course Boomer and Sooner II, people in furry horse costumes who manage to do magical things such as backflips from within their suits. There's the pom squad who do fancy dancing and a couple of more acrobatic teams that do all that fancy pyramid stuff with cheermen at the bottom doing the throwing. I wonder who these men are and what is their motivation... Anyway, the cheersquads form a corridor of cheer and through this on come the footballers. They all take their places and now the game really is on.

I don't remember much about the actual game except for the endless pauses for ad breaks and time outs and so on and so forth. I remember that it was indeed the car crash that I'd feared for Middle Tennessee - OU won 59-0. So the game was perhaps not as exciting as it might have otherwise been. Half-time was fabulous though with more marching and bandness. I really wanted the band to spell out "Oklahoma" or draw a schooner but alas that seems to have gone out of favour and now it's all about asymmetrical patterns across the playing field. The baton twirler had her solo moment though which is probably the important thing though I do worry for her once she's all grown up. What do baton twirlers do once the world of college football is over for them? Maybe she can be a baton twirling coach or something, I don't think pro-teams have twirlers... The band did the rounds and stood in various aisles (including ours) to rouse cheer amongst the crowd. We shouted "OU" a lot and held our arms above our heads in O and U shapes. We sang "Boomer Sooner" often and went "ooh" and "ahh" and cheered whole-heartedly. OU scored so often though that the score celebrators began to get a bit tired of back flipping in the end-zone and poor Boomer and Sooner and the Rough Neck Queen were quite exhausted with all that whipping around the pitch every 15 minutes and put in rather half-arsed performances towards the end of the game.

Eventually when it was clear that OU had won we went home full of cheer and university pride (as well as good intentions of posting a blog quicksmart) and wondering if Heythrop could ever get quite such a large crowd out for its intercollegiate football matches against UCL...