Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Top of the day to ya



Twas a fine St. Patty's Day, lads and lassies, at the O'Jill's house today. Mr. Lucky Leprechaun came again last night and despite making our annual leprechaun trap, we were not able to catch him. He is sneaky - and fast! In true annual tradition, he didn't let us down by turning our milk green, our toilet water green, and even left a trail of green powdered sugar for french toast toppings this morning. Unfortunately, he did NOT leave us that heavy pot of gold; apparently my house is NOT at the end of the rainbow. Dangit. I sported my florescent green Park City Marathon shirt today and couldn't wait to get home from work and watch my favorite of all green traditions: watching Lord of the Dance on dvd. Ah, don't you be laughing, this is pure athleticism at it finest. We as runners would surely twist an ankle and be outta marathon commission but I seriously doubt any of us could get our heart rates up as high either. My kiddos used to watch this with me, but this year they all scurried when I put that puppy in. Hum....they're grounded! Well, since I was left alone with my own viewing pleasure, I at least did my 50 crunches Katie guilted me into followed by 50 (each leg, mind you!) glute pullbacks with my resistance band while watching. Yeah, I knocked off TWO (count them....one...TWO) of my goals for the week! I rock!!! I didn't get to watch then entire video for lack of time but I did fast forward to all the "good" parts. Anyhoo, attaching a great piece above; maybe you, too, will get the the Michael Flatley bug and make this awesome dvd part of your annual St. Patty's Day tradition! I will add that the males of the blog world may actually enjoy this ... especially about half way through. If you want to view the entire dvd after viewing this small snippet, just email me and I'll get you a copy....I'm certain my comments will be flooded by mid-morning with inquiries :). Btw, I saw them live not once, but twice. Once in Denver about ...oh...8 years ago?? And then about 6 months later when they were part of the Vegas show circuit. I don't believe they are in Vegas any longer but they still do tour. If they ever make it to Denver again, I'm going. Twice.

So now you know another one of my quirks. No Orange shorts in a race. No hotel room on the 13th floor. And I love Lord of the Dance. I also get a moment about once a year where I have to listen to my John Denver CD. I bawled at his televised funeral. I believe my friend, Meg M-T in Iowa, still have my John Denver book.....

Well, it was a given this week my legs would not work. Last week they were flying, this week they've back to leadville. My weight is up and my running sucks and I have a 1/2 marathon in 4 days and a big marathon in 4 1/2 weeks. YEAH! I think I'm going to take up knitting. I ran twice today just because run #1 totally was worthless. My Garmin was "frozen" when I set off to do a few miles at 1/2 MP. It's a little hard to run exactly 1/2 MP without my watch telling me what my pace was, I'm not the best at effort-based pacing. When I hit the 2.65 mile turn around point, I was at 19:43, which I think is a course PR ... um, 7:26 would be my dream 1/2 MP - that ain't ever going to happen. Sooooo, that freaked me out and my mind decided I was dead, when really I wasn't, but decided to slow the pace down to a crawl on the way back. Which frustrated me. Which frustrated me that I was frustrated. Round two today, I'm back at the same park, on the same trail, but my friend, Matt, met me after his coaching job at the school near my house. This run went a lot better because Matt just talked and I just listened to something other than the voices in my head telling me I was a complete running failure and could not run. Matt just finished a 50K trail run in Alabama a couple weeks ago so he filled me in on all the details. The run felt effortless, and I know we were cruising along at a great clip! Yea, I have some mental issues going on right now. Atlanta will be interesting, to say the least. BTW, I googled and found out if your Garmin is "Frozen" hold the two buttons on the side together for 8 seconds and it resets. Hum. So it's happy. For now.

Speaking of which, I have not packed a single thing and I'm already 25 minutes behind my "goal" bedtime (and have not done 2nd round of my glute pullbacks nor my 50 ab crunches...how's that for failure?? I do, however, have my boys panned out for the weekend. Though that didn't all fall into place until today...so I guess that was a failure, too. Eat perfectly this week? Fail. Ironed the night before? Fail. I did do a great weight training session yesterday at the gym so yeah, that weighs out all the other failures! I love it when I get to make my own rules.); so I must close and get moving on the packing. I'm heading out tomorrow to Alabama, where I served my time for a few years. One positive out of that is that I still have some great friends there and can't wait to see them and spend some girly time together. I head to Atlanta on Saturday, race on Sunday, return to Alabama on Sunday after race and then back to Denver on Monday. So what I'm really saying here is that I will be absent from computer world for a few days ... please don't think I'm ignoring ya, but I won't have Internet (eeks!).

I picked Univ Northern Iowa to win the whole shibang NCAA National Championships in my basketball pool...complete underdog upset coming, beware! GO PANTHERS!

So I will close today's Irish blog with: May the Road Rise to Meet You--From the Gaelic, which means may success be with you!

27 comments:

AM! said...

Am i actually graced as being your first comment? wow! we'll see by the time I'm done typin'
first, yes you're right, i never normally watch the utube's offered on the blogs, but yours i did, and i really thought "wow, can't wait to show my kids this' and you being a fellow mom of twinsies thought would appreciate it.
AND, totally agree with the athleticism of it all. are ya kiddin' me? dang.
happy st patty's day girl!'=)

Generation X (Slomohusky) said...

Our corn beef, cabbage, carrots, potato's and soda bread were perfect tonight. Along with my son who was green from his cleats to his hair at soccer practice tonight.

elaine said...

If there is such a thing as a St. Patty's day Scrooge-ette, I'm afraid I won the prize...however, I am properly remorseful/repentant after reading and viewing this...too funny. And good luck in...Atlanta?!?!
Can't wait to hear. And you can always text. :D
E

Marathonman101108 said...

I'm WAY behind on blog commenting, but will say this. First, DON'T be so hard on yourself. Second, run and have fun. Third, you'll do fine in your upcoming races. Last, I'm still on for going to see you and my blogging buddies run "Bawston" in a month! Have a great racing weekend. :-)

Abby said...

Love the St. Patty's Day traditions :)

Marlene said...

Sounds like fom St. Patty's fun... too bad about the pot of gold though!

Have safe travels and a great time visiting your friends. Good luck this weekend!!

Mark said...

Wow, fail city! Well, except when it comes to dying things green - success! But hey, you're doing wayyyyyyy better than me this week. I've been eating like a pig and unable to move since Saturday. So there ya go...could be worse :)

ShutUpandRun said...

I love how honest you are about the challenges! I am really feeling them too. Tight legs, low motivation, fatigued. I guess we all go through it b/c marathon training is exhausting both mentally and physically. From what I can tell, you are going to bring your top A game in Boston. Just knowing you, this will happen. So keep your head up and your mind clear and strong...

Running Through Life said...

Get those negative thoughts out of your head and have a great race this weekend! Have a safe trip and run fast.

Katie A. said...

You are such a fun mom! Green toilet bowl water! What a blast! Us? We went for a sad, sad hot run, then came back and bbq'ed tofu dogs and drank corona's - not a very good representation of my 100% Irish-ness!
You are going to do great this weekend. Have no expectations, just enjoy the run and I promise you will surprise yourself. This is a bad week for everyone it seems - training is a bitch for all of us. Enjoy the getaway, enjoy the Sunday run and have a safe trip!
Huggss!!!

misszippy said...

Hmmm, John Denver. Might have to write you off now. ; )

Glad you had a great St P's day. You certainly do it up in style!

Anonymous said...

haha love your traditions for st pattys day! i wish i was as festive as you. the only green i wore were mardi gras beads when i was at the movies and got them there haha!

Danielle said...

Love the traditions...the kids wanted green milk but I couldn't stomach it:( Good luck with your runing!

Running and living said...

I feel slow and heavy this week too, with a half in 3 days! I don't get it, the closer I get to the marathon, the slower I get. WTF? Well, you always make me laugh, so thanks for that. Glad you had a great St P's day. And good luck on Sunday. Hope you'll feel light and speedy!

Julie said...

Hi Jill,
I want to flipping dance like that!! You may think that I am kidding...I am not!! Jill there is no way in hell that you are taking up knitting! I will not let you:) You are going to do just fine at your upcoming races:) Like you said..just stay away from the orange shorts and we will find you something that will pass muster:) If it makes you feel better, I ate like crap all week, I feel fat, I am super cranky and I am totally pms-ing:) Your post cheered me up!! Did I mention that I want to dance like that? Keep smiling Jill:)

Jameson said...

Lord of the Dance=win

ajh said...

I only like John Denver when he is singing with the Muppets! How bad is that!

Anonymous said...

Of course I have your John Denver book. It is with my John Denver Scrap book - :) Happy Running in Alanta! Meg M-T

Anonymous said...

Of course I have your John Denver book, it is right with my John Denver Scrap Book. Happy running in Alanta Meg M-T

Happy Feet 26.2 said...

yippie and YIKES at the same time when I saw 31 days until Boston. I can't wait. It's so exciting. I'm not 100% either, but it will be FUN - it's BOSTON. Enjoy it fast or slow.

Lindsay said...

that is a fun idea for the leprechaun's mischief! maybe next year you'll get that pot o' gold... ;) one can dream right?

you can't let yourself be discouraged by what garmin says! once it told me i was running close to a 10:00/mile on a steep downhill. i mean c'mon, gravity should be pulling me faster than that?

ahh 30 days til boston. not sure i needed to be psyched out this early in the morning :) thanks for the tip on where to find my bib number! i am just barely in wave 1 (13500-something i think). can you believe i am not 100% sure where i am staying yet? i know yikes! well i am staying with a friend at least part of the weekend but thought about getting a hotel for the night before the race to chill/zone- out. keep me posted on the bday party! if i can still walk / am alive i will def try to come by, m&m's or not :)

Adam Culp (Crazy Floridian) said...

Lord of the dance rocked!!! I never got to see it live, but did see it on public television and later did see another dance group do that style of dance.

St. Pattys day sounds like fun at your house. = win

I know I am getting to this late, but good luck!!! I know you will do well...even if it kills you.

Tara said...

John Denver AND Lord of the Dance? I am de-friending you. I kid! I kid! :)

At least you got your 50 crunches in (and glute work!) while watching it. I'm in on the challenge and I think I have done a total of 25 crunches.

Good luck this weekend! I guess you are already there since you were leaving yesterday. Let me know how it goes!

Badgergirl said...

Loved the Lord of the Dance clip! I don't think my feet can move like that.

Good luck this weekend!

Anne said...

I love Lord of the Dance! Funny post, you are indeed a cool Irish loving mom :)
You're going to rock this race's butt...and I can't wait to read all about it!

Unknown said...

Ok... That is just WAY too cool of a family tradition! My hat off to you...

I so can not hear about the race also... and I soooo know about not having internet. :0(

Irene said...

My house wasn't at the end of the rainbow, either...

*sigh*