Our "Stay"cation

Tony, Remy, and I had the most wonderful weekend at home.  This was our Memorial Weekend "Stay"cation!  That's what they're calling it on TV this weekend so that's what I'm calling it; and that's what it was!  On Friday night we watched a movie and went to bed early.  I woke up early Saturday to run 8 miles with my TEAM - the last Group Training Session of this season!  After that I went to breakfast with Kelly, Ashley, Leigh and Mauri.  We went to the Broken Egg Cafe - I'd never been.  It was delicious!  I went home to Tony and Remy and we had a very lazy day.  Then Saturday night Tony took me on a date downtown.  We went to the Wine Loft and had drinks and appetizers that turned out to be all we ate that night.  Then we went to Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's and watched a really cool rock/zydeco/cajun band from Lafayette.  The guy sang primarily in Cajun French and it was really cool.  Sunday, we woke up pretty early and I made beignets from Cafe du Monde Beignet Mix and they were actually really good!!  I took pictures, because at the same time I gave Remy his crab cookie from Paws & Claws and he is so funny when he eats those!  Then we actually went back to sleep for awhile before continuing to be lazy in the afternoon.  Today, Monday, Memorial Day, we remembered the reason for the day while thinking of those we know - Tommy and others - and those we don't know who are working every minute to protect us.

I feel like we did so many little things while just being together.  We really, really needed this.  I feel reenergized and ready for my [haha] 3 day work week.  Then it's off to San Diego... wow.  Prayers welcome for my nerves, for my body, for my mind, and for my TEAM :)

Until next time... nervously and excitedly,

Melissa

This week!!!

The Rock 'n Roll Marathon is this Sunday!!!  We are leaving on Friday morning for San Diego.  I got out my suitcase and made my packing list today.  Also, Kelly, Ashley, and I went to the store and got a bunch of ribbons and safety pins and fabric paint to decorate our singlets on Saturday.  I am so excited about this event weekend!  I am excited to travel together [somewhat together anyway], to room together, to eat together, and to represent the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by running together.  

Meanwhile, the new season of Team in Training has had two good group runs and has our first fundraising clinic this Wednesday night.  That night Leigh and I will get to share our fundraising ideas with our new group and to help them figure out how best to approach the amount of money that they need to raise.

Getting excited,

I will write more soon,

Melissa

So proud...

I am proud to announce that our dear friends Hank and Joanna just had their first baby on May 7th!!! Jackson Kingsmore Burns. Yesterday I received the sweetest birth announcement - and it's perfect for them! It's a baseball card :) With his picture on the front and all of his statistics on the back :) I am so proud to say that I have loved Hank and now Joanna and Jackson for 8 years. Hank is my first very close friend to have a baby; he's so important to Tony and to me and we are so proud. I just wish that we lived closer to Raleigh so we could share with them during this exciting time!



Congratulations, Burns family. We love you!

Ninfa's Night!

Last night the TEAM went to Ninfa's for drinks and dinner and we had a wonderful time. Here are a few pictures:

Mauri looking cute :)
Kelly and me!
What's so funny, Leigh? :)
Rose and sweet Victoria.
We got our singlets/tshirts! We've earned them :) :)

Summer has arrived.

Summer has arrived, in full swing. This was made apparent in no subtle way to Tony and me last night as we were running the 6.3 mile loop around the lakes. It was probably 85 degrees and about 1000% humidity. No joking. I thought I was all cool taking my brand new Fuel Belt hand-held water bottle with us for the run. Haha, yea right. I put ice cubes and cold water in it when I left work. I went by the vet real quick to buy dog food, then straight to the lakes to meet Tony. As we ran, I would take a sip here and there, basically just trying to decide if I even like the thing or not. I decided I do - but not really on 85 degree days. After 1.5 miles or so the water was H-O-T because it was right against my hand! Ha. At one point around 4 miles I decided it might be nice to squirt a bit on the back of my neck. I almost puked it was so uncomfortably hot! Anyway, we finished very strong and it was fine. But wow, do I ever hate running after work! I am such a morning person now it's amazing. Never again all summer do I hope to do that. Seriously.

On another note - that was the first time Tony and I had run together since January, and it was really nice. No ipods, just us. Not much talking either, but mutual encouragement and togetherness that has been a long time coming.

Until next time,
Looking forward to Ninfaritas tonight with the TEAM,
Melissa

Hahaha.

I just realized there are a lot of things we say in the Baton Rouge TNT family that other people wouldn't understand. Marathon training adds a lot of jargon or different meanings to things to one's vocabulary: GU, Shot Bloks, bonk, the stretching place, the hotel, the natatorium, the finger, the bump... haha. For example, Tony and I are planning to run the 6 mile loop tonight after work, and I just said to him "so we'll do the bump but not the finger." And he just laughed and was like "um okay?!"

The office just bought all of us daiquiris... and I got a raise today. Hahaha. What a funny day.

Just wanted to share.
Until next time,
Love,
Mel

18 miles!!!

I finally did it. I accomplished my long run of the season. And it wasn't even that bad. Well... not REALLY that bad. The first 12 miles were fine, minus a little tummy discomfort. The last 6 miles were pretty hard - but my Team was beside me. Literally! They literally took turns running a mile-ish with me, and Kelly and Ashley ran beside me for the last two miles and we finished holding hands. It was incredible. It was a beautiful morning; Tony had graduated the day before... I was on cloud 9. 10 if that's possible.

I won't fall as long as you're around me... how perfect has the title of this blog become?

T - 12 days!!!! Ahh. Crazy.

Until next time,
Love,
Mel

I won't fall...

... as long as my Team is around me. I experienced the true meaning of this statement and these needtobreathe lyrics on Sunday. If it hadn't been for the encouragement of my coach, mentor, and teammates, I would have stopped running after 7.5 miles. The morning started off at 6:00 with an incredibly steamy atmosphere and a nervous energy that I usually only experience before a bona fide long distance race. Nonetheless, we decided to run the first 6 miles of the Baton Rouge Beach Half Marathon course, then double back to the beach, making a water stop there and then doing the BRB Half Marathon course completely. That would have equaled 20 miles. In the end, that is what Kelly accomplished :) :) I, however, had a very hard first 7.5 miles and was really questioning my ability to finish. I had, however, been out for 5-6 weeks before this! The longest I had run before this was 15 miles 6 weeks ago and then 8 miles last Sunday... Well, when we refueled at the Beach, I was feeling very doubtful that I would be able to do the full marathon in San Diego. I have already said that if I end up unable to do the whole thing because of my injury, I will not be at all disappointed - I have raised almost $3300 for the LLS! What's not to be excited about?!? That's great. However, I did say yesterday when I was frustrated that I wish there was a 30k (20 mile) option in the Marathon... because I could totally do that :)

So to make an extremely long story short, Mauri and Sherri encouraged me to just keep pushing and to let those people who I will never meet but who I have helped so much already through my fundraising be my inspiration. To let what they are fighting every day be my inspiration to fight the fatigue that I was feeling in my quads. When all was said and done, I ended up completing 15 miles yesterday. I was psyched! Yes, I did walk some, but I had planned to do that. Tony says he walked a lot at the end when he ran the Nashville Marathon, so I figured I'm allowed to do that some too, hahaha.

So, when all was said and done, I just know that I couldn't do this without Mauri and Sherri and my Team. That was certainly proven yesterday... <3 y'all.

Until then,
Melissa

Forgive Me...

Please forgive me for not posting in a long time. Tony's crazy 24/7 studio schedule seems to be messing me up as well! In the weeks since I last posted, I have done many things:

- Instead of running the 16 miles that my teammates ran the first Saturday I was injured, I went to the gym and swam continuously for 2 hours. Literally starting and stopping my watch when I wasn't physically swimming. I logged 6,000 yards that day. Ask anyone who swims/used to swim, and you'll know that's more than likely along the lines of the longest hardest practice they ever endured! I was exhausted afterwards, but happy because I certainly got an endurance workout in!
- I have raised over $3,000 now! I'm close to my goal. Tony and I plan to put in about $300 of our own money at the end, so I really only need about $500 more. Hopefully that will come in soon.
- We have decided to move into a house - Loren and Jeremy's house on Perkins!! - when they move out at the end of June! It's a 2 bedroom/1 bath with a small yard for Remy to play in :)
- I "finished" my first project - not really finished it but got the drawings out for public bid which will happen on June 19th.
- I have worked out on the elliptical trainer for 2 hours, again to simulate the long run that my teammates were doing. This time it made my butt and thighs hurt way more than running does :)
- I have helped my husband, Tony, get through his final semester of architecture [almost!] and can't wait to see him graduate in 10 days!!!
- This Thursday, May 8th :), I am traveling home to SC for my sister Elizabeth's graduation from Clemson. I am so proud of her! She is going to law school in the fall - how cool!? :)

The biggest news is that I think that my injured foot is almost better; YES!! I ran 8 miles with Marcelle this past Sunday on the Mississippi River Levee and it was amazing. Amazingly hard at first, and then amazingly exhilarating for the second 4 miles and I even sprinted at the end. (Mauri knows my reasoning for not normally doing that... haha.)

So here I sit at work, itching to go out and run again. Was planning to run on the treadmill tonight but I'd really rather be outside so I think I am going to go to Walden/Kenilworth to do it. I've missed running in there, and it's really "good," flat asphalt so I should be alright!

Okay enough rambling for now... I have to get back to my code research. I'd love to hear from anyone who's reading this!

Much love...
Until next time,
Mel