Krispy Kreme Free Donut Day: June 5th!

It's time to celebrate that it's once again: Krispy Kreme Donut Day. Yummy!!!

I am not having the best day, week, month or even year ever.

But I am trying to remain positive. And one of those glimmers of hope comes in the form of Krispy Kreme Free Donut Day. And that is tomorrow. I am so excited....

The only improvement to Krispy Kreme Free Donut Day would be having it in conjunction with freebie ice cream scoop day, free taco day and free cup of coffee day, but a historic election day that incorporates all of these freebie treats comes only once in a lifetime... I can still remember it like it was yesterday! (and so can my beer/donut/ice cream gut:-)

For those of you not fortunate enough to have a local Krispy Kreme, you have my sympathy. For those of you who do (which you can find a list of participating Krispy Kremes here), I challenge you to a donut eating contest.

I have come up with my strategy and it involves at least two trips to the donut shop (hey, I'm a frequent buyer so I don't feel bad about over-indulging in Krispy Kreme's generosity). One donut will be on my way to work and one donut will be after work with Tristan, Gilligan and one of our doggie/person friends. I may try to coerce a few co-workers to go there for lunch buy I am not as optimistic about this third potential trip. But I can dream.

In fact in the spirit of eating donuts, I do strongly consider doing the Donut Run in NC, however, so far it just has not worked with my running calendar (I know I have really messed up priorities--Homer Simpson I am not-well at least not yet!)

Enjoy dreaming about donuts and then living out the dream tomorrow!

A few more pictures from Vermont City Marathon

Near the beginning of the race running through downtown Burlington

Here you can see racing kitty. Looking towards the upper right part of this picture you can see the other runners on the course.

After the finish line

Enjoying my post race dunkin donut holes. Notice the big box of donuts right in front of me....it was awesome. The only thing that would have been better was a kiddie pool filled with donut holes.

And of course runners were given finishers VT Cheddar cheese. You will notice my finishers cheese was the size of a butter stick. In fact by the end of my post race treats I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack from all the less than healthy food! But it was so good.

In fact in addition to the cheese, donut holes and other treats I also had (but did not get a picture) a small container of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I can't wait for next year!

A delayed post...Vermont City Marathon from Memorial Day weekend

At the start of the race during a brief lull in the rain. I am about 400 meters away from the actual starting line fairly close to the mid/back of the starters.

With racing kittie along the course. I will try to post a picture of the cat with runners later this week, but kitty seemed to up and decide she/he wanted to be a part of the race. It was really sweet and cute (and waylaid me for about 3 or 4 minutes for a heavy petting session:-).

At the start line about 15 miles into the race. This was just after we got to the top of Battery Hill where drummers pounded out a very inspirational beat to get the runners to the top. It is a beautiful view from this cliff top park.

Along the cute recreation path. This surface is only about 400 meters long but gives a refreshing break to runners legs.

At the finish line just before 4:30 gun time. You can see the crowds all around the finish line, it is a really well supported race in which the townspeople heartily support the marathon and relay runners.

You will notice that in this picture other runners are blowing by me to finish. Of course I have to get a finishers picture just prior to the finish line.

Memorial Day weekend started on Thursday night when I arrived home from visiting my mom in the hospital in Texas. It was so sad to see her and to know her time was limited. Sadly Doctors do not seem to have any concept as to how long any person can/will live so the guestimate was days to weeks. My sister and I were able to say our last goodbyes but unfortunately upon leaving we realized there were going to be more struggles with Hospice/Rehabilitation Care. The sad reality is that if my mom was in MD, we would have simply housed her in our spare bedroom and let her peacefully pass on with her cat, our cats, and our dog as company.

A few hours after flying back via Southwest from Texas to Dulles, I heading to board a different Southwest flight from BWI heading to Manchester NH with my friend Ann (who did the IronGirl Tri with me last August) for a trip to VT. We arrived in NH a few minutes late thus had to deal with about 5 cars for the rush hour traffic at NH. Pretty soon we were at Queechee Gorge in VT. We hiked both up and down the gorge which was very pretty and smelled of lilacs and pine. At the base of the gorge we both took off our shoes and immersed our feet in the rather chilly water. The last time I had been to Queechee Gorge was the day before VT100 last year and recall it reminded me a great deal of the VT100 (which was one of my goals of this trip...I need to remember how hillly VT100 is so I keep up my training and break through 29 hours this year).

Continuing up to Burlington VT (site of the Vermont City Marathon), Ann and I took a side tri to Stowe VT for 1) Pie in the Sky Pizza (which had an amazing buffet lunch), 2) Von Trapp Family Lodge (which as usual was very lovely), 3) Cold Hollow Farm for some Cider Donuts (yum!) and Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour. This was lots of fun and a very tasty diversion. We then drove up to Burlington to the Marathon host hotel to pick up my packet and some goodies. Finally we headed to our hotel and went to bed.

Saturday we woke up late (my excuse is that I had not been sleeping well and essentially for 4 days straight had woken up at 4 a.m. for various reasons) We headed to a Food Co-op for breakfast food then ate our tasty breakfast by the lake. After our breakfast, Ann and I walked along the recreation trail a bit to look at the lake. On our way back we were fortunate enough to see running legend Bill Rodgers. I have met him several times at a variety of races including last year at the Gasparilla Marathon in Tampa when my mom and I were at the Marathon packet pick up/EXPO. Just seeing him was a real treat.

On our drive to Shelburne Farms we stopped briefly at the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory for hot chocolate and free chocolate samples. We then went to Shelburne Farms which we walked around and explored for several hours. The farm is a working farm with lots of animals, so I got to pet and feed lots of small and large critters which made me happy. We also got to sample lots of cheese, jams, and other VT made products. After finishing hiking and seeing many of the exhibits at Shelburne Farms (including about 5 miles of hiking) we continued our journey and went to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. Of course we took a factory tour and I purchased a Teddy bear bib/shirt combination. I already have several bears, so all I needed was the 2009 bib to dress my bear.

On the drive back to Burlington, we stopped by the Magic Hat Brewery where Ann sampled several beers while I had to make a big decision as to which growler I should bring back to Tristan. Ultimately I asked the bartender which brews were unavailable in bottles and then had to pick between Hocus Pocus (*), Chair Lift and some Red Irish (?) IPA. I chose Hocus Pocus because I know Tristan likes wheat beer with essence of fruit (well except when provided by my sister who had totally scammed us and given us Sam Adams vintage 1990's beer that is completely skunky!). We ended the day by returning to the Co-op for a nice dinner of a variety of organic and healthy foods which we ate at the Lake.

Sunday morning I woke up pretty early to ensure I was ready to take the ~6 a.m. shuttle to the race start. Getting ready was pretty easy and the only challenge was my contacts as usual. I also struggled with what outfit I should wear, the weather was predicted to improve over the course of the day but was grey and a bit chilly. Ultimately I stuck with my usual tank and marathon girl skirt as well as a long sleeve shirt all covered by a Southwest plastic bag (aquired by having a large backpack with lots of straps--which I asked for a large bag to ensure the straps did not get ripped of). On the bus I ran into my friend Larry H. a former co-race director of the Frederick Marathon. We chatted during the 20 minute ride to the course start. An observation that he made and many others continued to point out was my lack of boa/lei. Unfortunately in my terrible and rushed packing job, I forgot a few essentials and yet had about 80% of items I never used.

Larry and I slowly strolled up the hill to the start and continued chatting. Along the way we ran into Paula and Steve B, Cowboy Jeff, Larry M. (from 50 states club) and a bunch of others. Ultimately I decided to take one final bathroom break and lost everyone. The start of the race was relatively uneventful although I believe it might have been a bit late. Since my watch is off and I just move foward when everyone else does, I was not as concerned as some runners who were near me. At some point I approached the start line and it was time to run the marathon. Unfortunately it had been drizzling for about 30 minutes prior to the race and continued to do so. The rain really did not let up until I was about 15 miles into the race. I really do not like running in the rain and this was my 3rd marathon in a row with yucky weather. Ugh! In fact during the first 15 miles it would go from drizzle to rain to downpour. It really was no fun.

As I jogged along the course I reminsced how in 2008 the weather was delightful and the course was beautiful. The course was just as scenic and spectators just as enthusiastic but the course is definitely is alot more fun to run in bright sunshine!

As I weaved through the city of Burlington I caught up to the 4:30 pacer. I had a vague recollection that Laura from the blog "Absolut(ly) Fit" was the pace leader. I asked her if she was Laura and upon hearing this mentioned I was a follower of her blog. For the remainder of most of the race (until about mile 20), I was relatively close to her. Because of my propensity to get distracted with photographs, giving kids high fives and my love of bathroom breaks with running water, I did not spend the entire 20 miles with her and her pacee's but ended up leap frogging a bit. She and the other runners were all very nice and realistically I spent enough time with the runners in this group to feel like I bonded a bit:-)

The course was identical to last year (well except for the rain), and I started recognizing many landmarks. It is a bit of a hilly course (although let me just tell you VT100 makes this marathon look like a walk in the park for both difficulty, distance and hills). But as compared to some marathons this one does have some hills. The killer is about mile 14 of 15 and is known as Battery Hill. The race organizers nicely have a drumming organization that pounds out a nice cadence to get you up the hill. And the spectators are second to none with their energy and enthusiasm.

While the course starts in downtown Burlington, heads south towards Lake Champlain Chocolate, comes back to Burlington then head to an out and back on a divided highway up a long and gradual hill. You then head back through the city of burlington and then loop back by way of the recreation trail along the lake. Then it's time to head north of the city through some nice residential neighborhoods then its back to Burlington by way of the recreation path. I guess I would describe the course as a shamrock/figure 8 type loop.

Throughout the run, I ran with Laura and the other 4:30 runners (Hannah, John and some others whose names I never caught). Some runners were new to marathoning and others had done 5, 10 or 15 marathons. In the 4:30 marathon pack, my 52 marathons may have made me an outlier. But I did learn of some marathons to consider (Catalina, Prince Georges and Hatfield McCoy) and some to not do (Seafair apparently ran out of water and had busing irregularities last year). Like Las Vegas, Seattle/Seafair is now under CGI, and it is now a Rock and Roll Marathon and should be well organized and run.

At about mile 16, the weather improved as did my spirits and about mile 20 I realized was on pace to run a 4:30 marathon. Unfortunately I had no idea of what my chip time was, so I decided to get a little speed work in. I picked up the pace a little and ran it in with a sub hour 10 km, which I was very pleased with. Since I want to test and improve my lactic acid threshold I have been recently trying to work on my speed at the end of races. While I do not sprint, I simply pick up the pace to a 9 or 10 minute mile. This worked out well and my time was just under 4:30 gun and 4:27+ chip.

After finishing the race I ran the course backwards to cheer on my friends. I ran about a mile with Larry M and Paula B which was nice. They are such great friends and so nice. Larry asked about my mom and I was saddened to tell him that she was not doing well but I had gotten to see her. After running with Larry and Paula, I headed back out on the course and ran about another mile and cheered on more runners. I really enjoy seeing the runners and am always so impressed by how hard some runners are really working to finish the marathon. I saw my friend Erik from last year (we had run many miles together) as well as many others who I know from a variety of races.

Finally the 7 hour time limit passed and I slowly headed up to the city of Burlington to meet up with Ann. We of course met at the Lake Champlain Chocolate store, yum! Then we drove to the Crepe place near the lake for dinner. A salad followed by a Banana/Nutella Crepe for me and Strawberry Shortcake for Ann seemed an acceptable and tasty meal. A short walk by the lake and then we headed back to the hotel room.

Overall the Vermont City Marathon was a great race which I will look forward to in 2010.

Bob Potts Marathon Weekend with pictures

Sagwa (cat) and Gilligan (dog) on our car trip to York, PA for the Bob Potts Marathon. You will notice that the two critters are completely encroaching on each others space. They are so cute. In our little family, this is part of a love triangle in which Powder Puff loves Gilligan and Gilligan loves Sagwa. Sagwa is very skittish but seemed to settle down and was comforted by her brother, Gilligan.

With my friends Amanda and Dan from a variety of races. Amanda and I have run numerous bits of races together including recently the Lower Potomac Marathon back in March. She is so sweet and encouraging. I was fortunate to run about 10 miles with her then after I finished the race, I ran backwards on the course and jogged with her to the finish.

A typical scene along the course, the railroad, tree's and river the heritage rail/trail parallels. It was such a beautiful course, an exceptionally well run marathon and everyone (runners, volunteers, race organizers, spectators and townspeople) was so friendly.

With the Turkey Hill Cow after the race...I was bummed that there was no ice cream at the finish, but this was okay because Gilligan and Sagwa could not partake in race food....so we took a slight detour to:

At Brusters getting a post race ice cream/frozen yogurt. Gilligan is enjoying his ice cream in this picture and Sagwa got her ice cream in the car. She only ate a little then shared the remainder with Gilligan which he liked. A girlfriend cat and one that shares ice cream is the BEST! I really enjoyed Brusters as well and was a nice way to celebrate my 4:30:03 marathon time.

After a 15 mile long run for me and a hike to the top of Old Rag in VA, mid-day Saturday my husband and I traveled to York PA in preparation for the Bob Potts Marathon. I initially was going to get up about 4 in the morning and head to the race but because of lack of quality sleep during the week, I decided it would just be safer to get a hotel room.

Motel 6 is pet friendly, so Tristan, Gilligan (our dog), Sagwa (our middle cat) and I piled into the car to drive to York. Initially I was supposed to drive to the Marathon but after bursting into tears as we passed Catoctin National Park/Cunningham Falls and the Catoctin Wildlife Refuge. Several years ago my mom volunteered at this park and traveling by it made me remember that I will never be able to hang with my mom. This outburst got me out of driving my portion of the trip.

Arriving at the Yorktowne Hotel I was able to pick up my packet. Then Tristan and I drove to our hotel and settled Sagwa and Gilligan into the room. As we drove to York we had seen a few signs for a Greek Festival and ultimately were able to figure out that it was not too far from our hotel so we headed to the Festival. We arrived while they were still having dancing so we were entertained while we waited on line for our food. Tristan got pastischio (one of his favorite meals) and I got a half chicken. Tristan kept asking me if the meal choice was okay before a marathon, but realistically I no longer really worry about pre-race meals for anything less than a 100 miler. The meal was really good (particularly since I ate my honey covered puffs first then ate my chicken, orzo with tomato sauce and salad next). By the time I finished my meal I was stuffed!

Calling it an early night, I headed to bed while Tristan watched Harold and Kumar do Guantonamo Bay (a classic comedy). During the evening Gilligan decided he needed to be in bed so he discretely climbed up into the other bed. And Sagwa slowly became more comfortable in the room (although she cried a bit). Over the night Sagwa continued to cry now and again and was very restless jumping in and out of bed. Perhaps we should have brought her a cat sibling.

At 5 a.m. I got a wake up call and my alarm went off. It was time to get ready for the marathon. The weather was predicted to be beautiful and thus getting ready was pretty easy. Also I decided to bail on my contacts so had not packed them. This means all I really needed to do was glide wherever seams were as well as likely chaffing spots like under my arms, below my sports bra and at the edges of my undergarmets. Unfortunately I missed a bit under my armpits which meant my last few miles were a bit discomfortable but not too bad. With my drymax socks all I need is just a light coat of glide over my toes and my heel (which is more for dry skin). Then I was ready. After a 15 minute drive from the hotel, Tristan dropped me off at York College Grumbacher Athletic Center. A quick last moment bathroom break (in a real bathroom, wahoo) and it was time to walk to the start line. The start line was about a 15 minute liesurely walk in which I just followed the crowds because I did not have any idea where I was going. Luckily everyone else seemed to know what they were doing!

The marathon is in honor of Bob Potts, an accomplished marathoner who passed away several years ago during a triathlon. His family created this marathon to honor his memory and I think did an exceptional job at this. The marathon was extremely well run and the event seemed like a fitting tribute to such a well respected person. For me it was especially poignant because it was my first marathon since my mom passed away.

At the starting line, I met up with my friends from the marathon maniacs and 50 staters club: Amanda, Lauri, Faye, Mama Jean, Larry H., Keith and a bunch of others. It was like a huge reunion. Pretty soon one of Bob Potts grandchildren were singing the anthem and then the race director gave a few last minute tidbits of information. Then we were off!

The marathon was beautiful. The very flat course was a rail-trail that paralleled a operation train track. For the most part it was treelined with just a few sections in the sun. There was one section through a tunnel which was a bit ominous but interesting. The trail would sporadically go along side or cross a cute river/stream and occasionally passed several small towns during the 13+ miles out and back. The crowd support was amazing particularly considering how small the marathon was (it was capped at 400 runners). And the runners were so friendly and encouraging. I really liked facing runners during the out and back which for me started at mile 7 and seemed to end about mile 15 or 16.

For the first 13 miles I ran with Faye (the co-race director of a race I have coming up in Sept: the Trails for tails 40 miler) and Amanda. They were really good company and the conversation flowed for the entire 2:30 it took to get to the halfway point. At mile 13.1, I decided to put the pedal to the metal and ran a 2 hour 13.1 mile (okay a 2 hour and 3 second half marathon) to get a speedwork out.

I was pleased with how my body responded to my "burst of speed" but am a little bummed I could not do a sub 2 hour second half. In my defense I think I did do a sub 2 hour second half but my 2nd potty break, slowing down for several cups of heed and hanging with the hawaiin themed aid station slowed me down a bit. I am curious if I could run a sub 4 hour marathon; however, I think wa sub 2 hour second half illustrated to me that I am able to push through the "wall" that typically sets in during the second half of a marathon. In fact my last 10 km was run in 56 minutes and 30 seconds because I had to make up for my bathroom breaks and picture taking sessions (the only reason I know this is because there was a clock that read 3 hours 33 minutes and ~30 seconds at mile 20). At this time I was unsure if I could make it to the finish in 4 hours 30 minutes but decided to put it all out there and try. Sadly a final hill, the brutal heat on the track and a headwind in the final 800 meters all slowed me down just enough to lead to my 4:30:03.

I now have 3 weeks off until the Niagara Ultra 5o km (which I will turn into a 60, 70 or even 80 km depending on what time I wake up and how fast I can run). During this running hiatus, we will have a memorial service for my mom at Pocohontas State Park in VA and I will ride a Metric Century at the Tour De Cure in Reston VA. I am not sure how much of this event will be on the bike and how much I will just jog alongside my bike (because for sure I can jog ~63 miles!)

My Mom passed away on Memorial Day, therefore no "Road Trip"

My mom passed away at 6:15 a.m. on Memorial Day. It is very sad to know that 4 months ago she was essentially the picture of health, 4 weeks ago she was just a bit confused (she had a car accident in mid-Feb that was a confusing time for everyone because we could never figure out the timing or what happened) and now she is no longer here.

Having visited her last week was good because my sister and I were able to reminesce to her about all the fun times we had. When I went to school at University of Central Florida and worked at Disney World my mom would come down frequently and after I graduated she would occasionally go to Florida for the winter including several seasons at Disney. I could also talk about all the hikes and travels we took.

I also told a few stories about my grandfather whom she and I lived with at the house she grew up for about 1 year (my Junior year of high school). My sister and my aunt had no idea how inappropriately my uncles, mom and I acted at my grandfathers funeral (there was a solemn rembrance part at the beginning but then it degenerated). In fact my uncles, mom and I ended up nearly dying of hysterics because of the ministers bizzare speech pattern. I had pointed this out several months previously after my grandfather had his original stroke. Then during the service the minister would enunciate about every 4th word. Apparently my Aunt had heard of our antics but never knew what had set us all off.

I think while we all loved my grandfather dearly, it was the kind of funeral party that he would have hoped for. I know my mom will want to be remembered as the vibrant, active, energetic, compassionate, caring, free spirited person she was. She was a great mom and I loved her. I will miss her dearly.

As a teacher (I know it's not chapter 11, but it is some chapter for at risk students) she definitely was a positive influence. She always believed in people and always saw the glass as half full. I have never met a more optimistic or positive person. She really firmly saw the good and opportunity in everyone. And she really appreciated the small things. A beautiful sunrise, a chat over a cup of coffee sharing information with campers, a hike or many other small treats others might take for granted were appreciated and shared with others.

I am finding it hard to believe within 4 weeks she degenerated so quickly. I try to emulate her spirit and take comfort that she suffered minimally and did not spend an extensive period of time in an environment she would not have been happy within, but it is still hard.

I do wish I could have said some final goodbyes when she was still alert and responsive but hopefully as an angel she knows how much I cared about her and how wonderful a parent she was to me. If I was to guess, I would say my mom lived a life without regrets. She saw so much, met so many people and just really made this world a better place.

My Mom's status and heading to Vermont

My sister and I spent the last several days with my mom at Parkland Hospital in Dallas TX.  It was really tough.  Last time I saw her was a Rocky Raccoon 50 miler when we gave each other a final goodbye hug.  This time I could give her a hug but it was not reciprocated.  In some ways she looks just the same as Feb, but in other ways, she looks dramatically different.  She is now just skin and bones.  Before she was slender but now she is very gaunt.  

Her pain is supposed to be managed but it did seem sometimes she was distressed.  Dr. Batiste, her Doctor is now going to keep her on maintenance morphine as well as Adavin.  Her Doctor/neurologist, Dr. Batiste was such a kind and caring doctor.  He interacted with her during a brief period when she was a bit loopy but had not had her catastrophic stroke.  Evidently she really impressed him with her stories of trips and escapades.  I think she also must have impressed upon him her desire to live a full and active life because he mentioned her zest for life and quest for adventure.  

I am now heading to VT to run the Vermont City marathon.  When I get back, I will have a 6 hour turnaround to fly back down to Dallas if my mom is still around.  I am conflicted about this because I want her to be in peace (and at times when Cindy I were there it did not seem she was) but I also want to see her one last time and take her on our little adventure (or at least somehow make it so she can visit with her cat one last time).  

Perhaps in a future post when it is not quite as painful, I will write about the fiasco that getting her into hospice has been.  What I perceived as a simple action apparently is a complex bureaucratic nightmare.  And sadly my mom does not have the time to wait for the many forms, authorizations and certifications that are needed.  

My mom would say this is a learning experience and I certainly would be happy to provide my observation and opinion via an e-mail (which can be linked via my profile within this blog).  

Please continue to keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers....

On my way to Texas for Mom visit #1 and a brief update about Delaware Marathon

Today I am on my way to Texas to see my mom. I ultimately decided to fly down with my sister to see my mom and ensure our planned trip next week will be as comfortable as possible for my mom.

Sadly this means I have not exactly prepared for my mom's journey back to Pocohontas State Park and subsequently our house, however, this is more aligned with my mom's philosophy. She did not typically plan ahead (while I am a super planner with lists, agenda's and life plans for a long time in the future).

This past weekend I ran the Delaware Marathon. Three years ago my mom and I traveled to the Delaware Marathon within a few weeks of her first stroke so I could run with Dean Karnazes. My mom volunteered and had a GREAT time with his family while I ran the race.

On Sunday I was able to call and talk to her. She mumbled a little when I talked about being in the marathon. Many times during marathons she would call me. I would always answer my phone during marathons...but my mom would be funny and update me on all sorts of stuff. At some point I would have to remind her that I was running a marathon and probably should focus on running.

This week is going to be pretty challenging for me. Cindy (my sister) and I fly back to MD/VA on Thursday, I pack up for VT and fly to VT super early Friday morning. I also have to pack for our road trip from Texas since I will have about 7 hours at BWI during the end of my VT trip and the flight to start my mom's road trip.

Please keep her in your thoughts...Tammy

My Friday: Bike to Work Day and my mom's Status (no Hospice yet, but some plans that would make her happy)...Please keep her in your thoughts

My sister and Mom at the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon. They moved around the course to see me at lots of places. I think my mom really enjoyed this day because she got to hang out with Cindy for several hours as they waited for me to move slowly along the course.

At "Take your Bike to Work Day", where I won a Tour de Cure biking shirt. This is a really cool event that I am looking forward to participating in. It is mid-June and starts at Reston Town Center, where my sister lives.

With my new friend Bill(?) and my friend Sandy from work enjoying the treats, comraderie and pitstop of "Take your bike to work Day".

Getting ready to continue my journey to work

Friday I partook in "Take your Bike to Work Day" (or as others call it Bike to work day). This is one of the highlights of my year (Umstead 100, VT100, Rocky 50, MCM, JFK50 and of course free scoop day are on this list:-) I have done this for the past 5 years. Some years I meet up with friends, others I end up seeing friends and other years I make friends.

This year I did not meet up with anyone but was pleased to see my friend Sandy from work (who has done several centuries as well as several national and international bike tours...she is hard core!) as well as meet several of her biking friends. I know Sandy from FDA-CBER's mentoring program (she is someone elses mentor) and because occasionally she will bike up alongside me as I am running home from work and she is biking home from work.

On my way to one of the pit stops a nice gentleman (I think his name was Bill) ended up being at the same red traffic light. He was really nice and we started chatting at the light and ended up biking about 2 miles to one of the pit stops I was stopping at (Fallsgrove then I moved onto Rockville). Our 2 miles just flew because we were just chatting about biking, running, hiking and life in general. We biked together because he had only a vague impression about where the pit stop was. I knew where it was and at one point thought he would move faster than me, so alerted him that the pit stop is a bit obscure. But then we ended up just hanging together chatting.

I told him I had biked to work virtually every year and in fact I think every year I have won a raffle. One year it was because I was waiting for a friend and for each drawing they would give out a new set of raffle tickets. By the end I was hard pressed to carry my new bike pack, gloves, lock... Last year I won a krytonite lock. Since I already had one, I gave it to Tristan. considering my bike was stolen in Oct, I should have kept it for myself and used it!

This year my streak continued. I won a "Tour de Cure" bike shirt. This event which raises awareness and is a fundraiser for research related to Diabetes is coming up on June 14th in Reston and for sure I will be attending and participating. I may try to both volunteer and bike at this event.

The rest of my day was spent trying to tie up a few items at work and then waiting for my sister who just arrived back in town from a class.

Oddly enough my mom has recovered a very tiny bit. My sister came to my office and we were able to talk to her together. Apparently my mom was trying to talk and look at the phone.We are still planning to utilize hospice care for the time being, but in fact now it sounds like she will have days or even possibly weeks left (guess doctor's might not know as much as I thought...I thought 3 days without saline was a death sentence but learned people who are not active can survive for up to 3 weeks!!!).

Well, this has led to a slight change in plans in that we have the Saline drip re-instated and my sister will be using one of my frequent flyer passes to fly to Texas on the first available flight, next Tuesday. I go to VT to run while Tristan goes to visit his family in CA (my mom would want this--particularly Tristan visiting his family because he hasn't seen his mom in nearly a year). Then almost immediately (6 hours later!) we take a one way flight to Texas. With my big strong husband's help, we will drive my mom back to Pocohontas State Park, her favorite park, then to our house all along the way seeing all sorts of sights.

I think my mom will like this road trip in the making.

We might even drop in on Tristan's relatives in NC who my mom met and really liked. She of course would support visiting all sorts of people on what may go down in our family's history as: "Mom's Celebration of Life Tour 2009".

My only fear is that we will get pulled over in some state and the transport of a barely responsive adult will yield questions and perhaps some misadventures. But that would probably only make my mom laugh harder from heaven.

While others may want to die with grace and dignity in their own home/bedroom, my mom's home was travels, the great outdoors and adventures. And I don't think anyone would use the word grace to describe her. Maybe: goofy, happy go lucky, adventureous, kind, sweet, funny, carefree come to mind, loved a great practical joke (or just jokes in general); but not grace.

She wanted to live out her 200 year plan and clearly this is a bit unrealistic but we will show her a good time on the trip back from Texas..biggest ball of twine, here we come!

By re-instituting saline she may be able to have a few more weeks of life based on Friday's talk with her doctors. In this time if a miracle is to occur, she will have to dig deeper than any of us...otherwise, she will be able to peacefully drift off with her cat: Pocohontas and either my sister, Tristan or I with her.

I am going to pray that she is able to pass peacefully during our adventure or else somehow taunts science and recovers in a way that will enable her to live her life fully in a way that she wanted.

The logistics of this trip are still being worked out. I know we will need to purchase a wheelchair, ensure she has adequate palliative medication, and figure out how to ensure she will be comfortable as well as decide do we drive 20 hours straight to get to VA (as per mapquest) or stay overnight at a hotel. This question of course we will answer during the trip based on safety but of course we could just pre-arrange a hotel (or even try to find/arrange a hospice for one night at the mid-way point).

Last night when I talked to my Aunt Carol we were able to joke that my mom would probably think this trip was the best thing ever. My mom loved to live life on the seat of her pants never knowing what adventure was around the bend. And I expect if she does survive the next 2 weeks, this will be quite an adventure!

Finally, if any of you have contacts or suggestions for Hospice Care in about Knoxville Tennesse (halfway point), please contact me via this blog or by e-mail.

My mom is to be moved to Hospice care tommorrow

With my mom at Blue Springs State Park...one of her favorite parks. She really loved the manatee's that would frequent the park. She campground hosted at this park and enjoyed it immensely.

With my mom this past fall at the Baltimore Marathon. We had girl's weekend out at this race and had lots of fun crashing at one of my co-workers house (thanks Cara) in Baltimore so we could explore the inner harbor. Although my mom didn't run, I think really enjoyed the energy of races and the positive feeling that runners and spectators share during marathons.

At Disney World several years ago around the holidays. My mom loved Disney World and like I, her favorite park was EPCOT, but she also enjoyed various aspects of the other parks including the shows, people watching and all the fun activities.

With Mom at Great Falls a few years ago during a drought. My mom was always up for sightseeing at a variety of state and national parks....in fact she frequently mentioned that she was on a 200 year plan to get to see all of them!

Two years ago my cousin got married in New York. The whole Wood family converged, so here is her younger brother, Peter on the left and Paul on the right...yup her parents named them Peter Paul and Margie:-) But this was before Peter, Paul and Mary, so I guess perhaps they should get a little kickback!

My mom had fun at this wedding because she met all sorts of nice people. She loved to meet new people because they all became defined as "friends"...I guess if you read my blog, you notice I have this same definition/naming strategy.


I thought the other day's conversation was hard. But I was way wrong...it is like saying mile 75 is tough in a 100 mile race. That is only a sneak preview. But ultimately the day ended with a bit of peace.

My mom's neurologist says she initially had a stroke on Tuesday morning with 55 mL of fluid (I think blood) observed within a CT scan. It has expanded over time to 75 mL. She is really not responsive and is basically not functional. I know she would not want a life like this. She would want to be on a hike, at a national park, enjoying a picnic or just goofing around.

My sister, aunt and I were able to have a teleconference to discuss plans. We decided no more testing, interventions or herioc resucitation efforts. This is what is clearly written in my mom's living will and what she always expressed as her desire to live a life fully and completely without regret and having seen and done as much as physically possible.

She was very famous for her "200 year plan". She wanted to visit all the countries national parks, state parks and other highlights. She did not accomplish this, but she did stay at many places as a camp host and/or volunteer. The National parks include: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Acadia, Everglades...and many state parks including Blue Springs (FL), Pocohontas (VA), Douthat (VA), Parker (TX), Toriah (FL). She really enjoyed the outdoors and was definitely a "people person", ready to befriend everybody!

She lived in a motor home and had a HUGE Ford F-150 truck which enabled these travels (I know because after her last stroke we drove down to Florida together--kind of like a college road trip except neither of us were in college).

When she moved from place to place she would explore locations on the way or off the beaten path. She has been to nearly every state in America. I think her only deficiency is Alaska since she did live in Hawaii before my sister or I were born.

In addition to her travels all over America, she also had several stints working at Disney World. She loved the premise of working at the "happiest place" on earth because she was always so happy. It was a place she fit in. She also is a bit goofy (kind of like the rest of our family), so again she fit right in!

While I know the decision to allow her to die peacefully in the way she wanted, is really hard (in fact I haven't really slept the last few nights). I know that she clearly expressed that she would never want to live a life in which she could not explore, meet new friends (because everyone is friend to her) and savor the journey of life.

My mom will be going to hospice care tommorrow. It is a bit unclear if she will be going to an inpatient hospice or if she will be going to my Aunt's house. In either case she will be with her cat, Pocohontas. My sister and I joked that she loved that cat more then us, but I think it might be true. It's okay, that cat pretty much spent every second of every day with my mom for the last 10+ years. I don't mind the cat being her #1 son/daughter (funny story, for the last 10 years my mom was told this cat was a girl, then last fall the cat was diagnosed with diabetes, had some scan and it was found the cat was a male!!! Either her veterinarians were a bit sloppy or my mom has a hemaphredic cat:-)

Finally, I think the following link provides a wonderful video on my friend Jamie Donaldsons blog that would really please my mom. My mom always wanted to see, do and experience life to the fullest and this video by Ultra Runner Matt Hart really captures this essence!

I will miss her so much. I hope she knows how much I love her.

Please Keep My Mom in your thoughts: She's in the ICU

My mom has been in the hospital for over 2.5 weeks. Prior to this she was in the hospital for a bit of time in Febuary. Several years ago she had a stroke and recovered well enough to be functional. But in February she had a moderately significant event and was quite confused and seems to have been struggling to become functional again. Then while I was in Denver she took a turn for the worse (unbeknownst to me thanks to a protective older sister) and was hospitalized. Now her prognosis is not good.

With my mom and Dean K. (one of both of our hero's--he is so nice, encouraging and down to earth!) during his 50 marathons in 50 days. I ran the Delaware Marathon with Dean and my mom volunteered during that race...it was a great race for her to volunteer because she got to see runners over and over...and since it was right after her initial stroke I got to see her every hour or two.

With my mom during the Marine Corps Marathon. She has seen me run this marathon many times (even the year of her stroke when she was out of the hospital less than 1 week). She is tough!

With my mom during JFK 50 miler. Again this was just about 1 month after her stroke, but with another friend of mine, she was able to crew for me. She has always been there for me during my running events.

At the Disney Marathon with my sister and Mom. We are a goofy lot...my sister is drinking a beer, my mom is sporting the goofy hat and I am hanging out with them!!

My mom always enjoys going to races to meet people, watch runners and feel the energy. While she does not run, she always was happy to volunteer and cheer on everyone.

With my mom at Rocky Raccoon this past Feb. It was so nice to see her and hang out briefly before and after the race. I impulsively decided to run this race since she was in Texas, the race got lots of praise and I knew during the race I would have 3 laps (with several places) to see her. I broke my previous 50 mile time by over an hour and she was so excited for me.

This past week she did hear of my ~4 hour marathon at Frederick and I think she was really excited/proud.

About 2.5 weeks ago my mom declined rapidly and went to the hospital because she started having seizures and at one point was obtunded (essentially asleep and unresponsive). During the beginning of this episode I was in Denver and big my sister protected me from a situation in which I could do nothing. Now because this episode has been sort of improving and declining since February it is hard to figure out what if anything I could do in Texas that I can or cannot do in Maryland (and my worst fear would be to be in flight when something catastrophic happened).

Over the course of last week she improved a bit but continued to sporadically incoherant, seemed to be hallucinating a bit and was still quite confused about the reality we are all supposed to be in. Earlier this week she was stablized and we were starting to consider nursing home/rehabilitation options. That was until this morning.

The doctor called me about 7 a.m. at work and indicated she had taken a dramatic turn for the worse and is now essentially unresponsive and was moved to the ICU. A CT scan revealed another hemaerhagic stroke.

This was the worst conversation of my adult life.

She is now somewhat stabilized (as the Dr's put it they cannot predict if she has minutes, hours, days, weeks, years or decades left of life). But because I have medical power of attorney I was queried for some potential end of life decisions. I know my mom has always been clear about wanting a DNR (Do Not Resucitate), but this is something that is hard to consider. But I stated her wishes. I also clearly stated that if something happened to my mom that she would want her organs harvested or her body used for science (well, the warranty would be up...so what else could you do with it??). I also suggested I imagine my mom is already thinking of haunting me for this stint in the hospital because I think she would much rather be outside hiking, visiting a park, chatting with people rather then stuck in a hospital room. But this was a very painful conversation.

I hope that she is strong and pulls through this. In the meantime I would be really grateful if you sent some positive wishes (or prayers) her way in case she can feel these.

Some Hillwork and dog-grooming: How I spent my weekend

Gilligan's new summer 'do. Of particular interest should be the random bald patches. I think it makes him look very tough.... particularly considering the beautiful bright pink collar he is now sporting (upon closer inspection you may notice Gilligan supports Breast Cancer Research... or else he is embracing his inner "Gillian").

Gilligan is very fond of lying down. This bodes well for his once yearly extreme makeover: Canine Edition because all he has to do is stay still for his fur cut. It is a little unclear if it is better to shave or let Berners have their long fur for the summer, but having short fur makes it easy to hose him down when it gets really hot. So currently we (really I) shave him once a year. I really need to stop talking in plural because a) it gives my husband way too much credit and b) it suggests I may have a split personality, neither of whom actually contribute greatly in the completion of many tasks:-)

As I may have mentioned in previous posts, Gilligan is lazy. In fact he failed the Canine Good Citizen test because he would not continue to sit upon being given the command "sit"...in fact he would sit then lie down after about 5 seconds. I still don't get why him being immobile lying down is such an offense. Nor does he, but we now console ourselves by eating lots of ice cream...especially on Thursdays:-)

The azalea's were in full bloom at Sugarloaf Mountain this past weekend when Tristan, Gilligan and I went there for some hillwork. The azalea's were just spectacular and made running up the hill go so much faster. The first half mile up has no azalea's but then there are frequent flowers for the remainder of the hill. And the colors were all so vibrant: Red, purple, pink, white, coral....

Another "pack" of azalea's along the road. This time doing hillwork at Sugarloaf is the first time I have actively had to pay attention for cars. The last few times, there were 5-10 cars tops, but this time I would guess 50 cars, 20 bikes and a few runners. I guess spring/summer is now here in full force.

Luckily the road to the top is one way, so I pretty much just have to pay attention for cars passing me when I am going up and then when I come down I worry at some more blind curves that although the posted limit is 25 mph cars seem to go about 45-50 mph.

This past weekend was pretty uneventful. I did not have a marathon, a business trip or pretty much anything on my calendar. And since I donated blood I was a little hesitant to run to long or too far.

So Saturday Tristan, Gilligan and I all packed into blue-ey for a road trip to Sugarloaf Mountain. Gilligan and Tristan hiked all around the mountain while I ran up and down for 3 repetitions. I was pretty proud of this in my blood deficient state. It took me about 1 hour 45 minutes which was a little slower then usual, but I was kind of goofing off during the run. On my first rep, I ran into about 5 runners that looked reallly tough (one had a Montrail shirt on and the others all had trail running shoes and hydration packs). In fact after I finished, Tristan asked about these runners and I said I saw them. But I mentioned I didn't exchange anything more than a "huff, puff, huff, puff,.... Hello, ...huff, puff, huff puff". This is because at the time I was going up the mountian and either the altitude or lack of extra iron sort of had me winded.

Well, Tristan apparently talked to these runners and learned one was running MMT100 next weekend (hmmm, not sure I would be doing Sugarloaf the week before a 100, but that's just sissy Tammy speaking--although a week before Javelina 100 I have Marine Corps Marathon, so perhaps I should stop being so hypocritical).

Tristan apparently discussed ultra-running with these folks and apparently they saw me, and somehow connected Tristan to me. At some point their conversation turned to my name and Tristan mentioned it (Tammy Massie in case you see me as google blogger : 7299086143790529567). To which they responded..."we've heard of her". I am not sure if I should be alarmed or flattered. If I am becoming "famous" in the MD ultra community I will have to start earning my fame and that will put all sorts of pressure on me. I really like my current philosophy regarding ultramarathoning that I have heard so eloquently put by L. Simpson

"Set the bar low, then start digging".

Saturday afternoon was spent bathing the dog (well at least that is how Gilligan and I spent the afternoon). Initially this bath was a stopgap for his yearly shaving to be done in June. But then Sunday turned into a beautiful day so I decided both he and I would be happiest if it was done in pleasant weather.

In fact my calendar is full the next three weekends with a trip to my Aunt's in NJ and the Delaware Marathon next weekend, a trip to Burlington VT for the Vermont City Marathon with a friend/co-worker, Ann and finally hopefully a coaching certification class (professional coaching, not athletic coaching) through Saturday and the Bob Potts Marathon on Sunday the following weekend.

Thus realizing our next window for opportunity for this 2-3 hour task, I got out the scissors, nipped a bunch of mats, then escalated to the shaver. I would give myself a "C" for the quality of Gilligan's current 'do. I think he has some bald patches (the razor attachment would get snagged, fall off then I would give him a buzz cut, until I finally realized the attachment was off). And he sort of has a mohawk thing going on-this I have no easy explanation except perhaps all of the cool dogs have a mohawk.

I would however give myself a tip because it is hard work to shave a 120 lb dog with long fur. I have never tested how volumnous he is but I would guess easily 30 gallons or so. To give you a sense about how much fur I shaved, currently we have a town provided recyclable container that is filled with his fur. What's even worse is that we are not sure what to do with it. Is it recycleable, trash, compost???

I am lucky Gilligan is pretty agreeable to being bathed and shaved. Sporadically he would wander off in to another area in our fenced backyard, but it is a tiny backyard, so I could easily walk over and remind him of our goal for the day. Also, for his shaving he could just lie down stoically while I ruined his coiff.

At the end of his shaving ordeal, I saved the best for last. Gilligan likes to regularly change his collar. It gives him freedom of expression. He has two collars that were ready to be in play: a Ben and Jerry's collar and a Breast Cancer awareness that is bright pink. Since May is breast cancer awareness. He choose to show his support by sporting a new Breast Cancer Awareness Collar. Now all he needs is the "Feel your Boobies" T-shirt and his ensemble would be complete.

Agenda for Today: Donating Blood and Carmen's Italian Ice for Gelato (because it's half price day:-)

Sporting my pink pressure bandage...oddly enough, the technician tried to give me a lime green pressure bandage since my outfit was lime green with khaki's. Since I did not want to have a monochromatic lime green outfit I asked for pink to create a more "springy" ensemble.

Tristan showing Gilligan how to eat a Gelato. Or is it taunting Gilligan with his Gelato? Gilligan is a big fan of any ice cream or italian ice, or any other treat for that matter...during the summer on lucky weeks he can go to Carvel for buy one get one free Wednesday, Brusters for Bring your own banana get a half price banana split Thursday and the 8th of the month for half price Gelato at Carmen's Italian Ice. And don't think Tristan and I aren't excited about these economical but tasty treats!

Today I have a full schedule of activities including my regular workday as well as several "extra-curricular activities".

In the morning I will successfully lose 1 lb the easy way...donating blood. Since I am a universal donor (O-neg), I try to regularly donate blood. But to a certain extent I have to be a bit cautious about not donating too close, before or after, a significant endurance event (50 miles or greater). I am over a month away from Umstead 100 and two months before VT100 and this weekend I have no marathon (because the one time I donated on a Friday and ran on a Sunday I felt a little peaked).

I expect this will go relatively smoothly and easily. Sometimes they blow up veins but in fact this hasn't happened in the past few years (so maybe it was just an awkward stage my veins were going through). I do know they are not happy about how pitiful my veins are and I tend to get a cluster of techs who all swarm me and click their tongues about pathetic veins. But ultimately with my encouragement some relatively experienced hematologist will just jab me with gusto successfully.

As a post-donation treat, Tristan and I have our evening mapped out. We will be going to Carmen's Italian Ice in Rockville where on the 8th of every month they have half price Gelato. For those of you fortunate enough (or is unfortunate, because the traffic is a nightmare) to live in the DC area, this treat is well worth a car trip:-)

Of course Gilligan will be joining us! This means that for two day's in a row, Gilligan will have ice cream. Last night (of course) we went to Bruster's for Bring your own Banana half price Banana split night. Gilligan is a lucky dog:-)