I Made It In ONE Piece...Whew....

Arms, Legs, Ankles, Knee Caps, and Neck...still intact! Whew....Skiing is definitely not for the light hearted!  


But I am still here and THAT is a good thing.

So this Florida girl went skiing.  I had some private lessons, and mastered the bunny slope they call a "green", I call it what it was....an easy, bunny slope, and I was ok with that.  No pride hurt. YAY!  They were like, "you strong like bull, you go blue.."  Um no thanks.  I shake my cotton tail and tuck my bunny ears in my helmet.  Perfectly content. But I will have to say, I am still not enamored with skiing as it will take a few tries and a few years before I can come to a complete conclusion of either "hated it" or "loved it." (or somewhere in between!)

But I will try again.  Saddleback Resort in Rangely, Maine was great and I am so glad that my first go was here.  It was nice, good Ol' New England skiing.

I will say I was more chicken about me possibly losing and tearing my ACL which, according to my ski instructor, Bill, happens when you fall backwards...(I am like..."duh, is there another way?")...he was very descriptive..."oh, with skis on your feet, if you have to fall, you have to try to not  fall backwards because that is how your ACL will simply just go *snap*" - the magic two words...."ACL" and "snap" exactly what I was terrified of.  My eyes glazed over.

My kids, who have never even seen snow, well, they were naturals.  I swear kids do not fall.  SO not fair! Well, my son had to be ski patrol-assisted at one point, but the upside is he was not medi-vac'ed via helicopter like one of the other kids in our group did.  That kid was ok and suffered just a slight concussion.  A rogue snowboarder came out like a bat outta hell and smacked into this 9 yr. old boy....and kept going.  Not cool!  But my son, he kept at it like a champ and was skiing blacks by day three.  Still falling - but with a confident SMILE on his face.  Love that chutzpah!

Maine also had record high temps the week we were there that ranged from the mid-70s to a high 81 degrees on Thursday.  It was record breaking for that time of year as the second highest temperature ever recorded at that time of year was 67 degrees. Some of the teens that were skiing in our group were skiing with Florida-style clothes.  Adriana and Mish were sweating in their t-shirts and they thought...hey...why not? So off they kept peeling layers by layers until that photo above.  They even made it on the news!  A few others started to follow suit.  Having not ever been to Maine, I so did not pack correctly.  Eh, you live and you learn.  I am sure next time I WILL under pack and I will hate myself for it too!

So I did not run for 9 days, but we had a terrific Spring break. Wearing ski boots kept my quads and calves in shape. We met some wonderful people from Maine and New Hampshire and some Tampa folks I would not have otherwise have ever met, made this trip so wonderful.  Also, our friends that have invited us, The Berry Family, which happen to be one of the owners Saddleback Resort, were such gracious hosts.  Their daughter, Lilly, attends my daughter's school and are great friends.

Well other than some there is some alcohol induced confidence in doing karaoke, my friend Supha decided to take videos of us.  Yes, after reviewing, I chose not to post.  You will need to come up and make your own memories....but keep in mind, if you HAD a favorite song, like say, "Stand By Me" it may no longer be your favorite song after the video.  But the list went on, and on "I Will Survive", "Friends in Low Places" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Buffalo Soldier" were quite memorable.  They got people either laughing or dancing or both...good times, good times!


Amita, you and I owned the stage - submitting to Def Jam Records as we speak! Wha? Wha?

I highly recommend this resort if you do not want the glitz and name dropping like Aspen or Vail....I have been to both and I love them, and would love them more if I had won the lottery and have endless amounts of green to drop on lift tickets.  BUT there is something nice about a quaint and rustic lodge with some real good down home folks, awesome beer and spectacular slopes and views.  I would definitely go back!

The whole crew hailing from Florida, New Hampshire and Maine!  Spring Break 2012

Aaaah, still relishing it.  Next week, true training begins and I will conquer Iron Girl (grrrr) in 3 weeks.  NO JOKE, now, N-O J-O-K-E!

Skiing IS Freaking Me OUT!

Two planks on the bottom of my feet
        and a gentle push down a mountain they label "blue."

                    Whooooaaaa...whaaaa?!

Yes, so here I am, a Florida girl of Caribbean descent, pondering what to pack for skiing.  I have never, ever, ever, skied before.  I leave tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. and it is only Maine - not the 12,000 foot elevations of Colorado or the Swiss Alps, I am scared.
Very.

I am more terrified of skiing and hurting my knee or something because of my scheduled first full marathon in Chicago...I kinda have been a bit cautious....(I make sure the floor is not wet when I get out of the shower, cautious). Plain and simple, I do not want to get hurt.

I know of people that get injured, no wait, killed, while tempting that sport we all call "skiing."  Sonny Bono died at, ironically, Heavenly Ski Resort in Nevada, because he smacked into a tree in Wylie Coyote fashion.  Michael Kennedy died a year before him in Aspen, Colorado, again, a tree *whack!* Goodnight!

How 'bout Natasha Richardson?  Pretty actress married to Liam Nielson, remembered for her role in the Parent Trap, a Disney movie where once cute Lindsey Lohan played BOTH of her twin daughters?  Yeah, she gone....how?  Well, during a ski lesson....on the bunny slope....she gently falls and hits her head, gets up, walks away with a mere headache - decides to go back to her hotel room and take a "killer" nap.  Seriously that one freaked me out!!  

You do not want to be a wuss, but dang, how many times do we bump our heads and we do not rush to the ER?  Only because you do not want to sit there for hours and hours to finally have the intake nurse ask: "You are here for what?  You're serious?!  You mean to telllll me, that YOU are here wasting MY time because....because you bumped your little head?!"

Umm. Yes?

Let's not even go with Sarah Burke, come on!!! 

Here is a chick that lives, eats and poops adrenaline.  She probably began skiing soon after taking her first baby steps!  Seriously, as the photo above demonstrates, she made skiing looks so darn easy.  Yet she died demonstrating a half pipe or something crazy like that during an X-Games break, for her Monster Energy Drink Sponsor.  She has done this trick more than a dozen times. She was a bad-ass! "Was" being the key word.

Sara Burke Photo by: Alessandro Garofalo/Files, Reuters

So pray for me, please!  Know that I WILL wear a helmet.  Pray that I will have the courage to try the slopes after surviving the ski school lesson on day one (Surpassing the curse of Natasha). That I do NOT wuss out and honestly try to like it (channel my inner Sarah).  If after, I feel totally unsecured about not injuring myself, then I am going to *gasp* fake an injury, so I can just hang out at the toasty lodge with a good book and a hot toddy....because I do not want to end up like that guy below:

Dang....OUCH!!!!!!!!  Sometimes a girl has gotta do what she's gotta do!

Homework Hell...Marathon Swells...Ugh Too Damn Old.

So I am back in college.  Yes, in college where professors are younger than me and I feel like I stand out like a sore thumb....although some lovely, sweet young girls in a few of my classes make a point to say...."you're how old?!  Well, you look like, totally awesome.....for your age!" *Smack*  (Cue in Price is Right when you overbid: Womp, womp, womp)  Oookie Dokie! I know it is supposed to be a compliment (*totally*), but it is a reminder that the sand in the hourglass has trickled to a veeeerrrrry high peak.  Decided to take three classes which are all work, work, work, read, read, read, write, write, write. Oh. Em. Gee.  There is no backing down.  I mean, hay dios mio! I am falling behind in the best way I can and I have decided that sleep is for sissies.  Because this (3 a.m.) is THE ONLY time I can do any of this.  At least I look "good" for my "age"....have THAT going for me.

What the hell am I doing here?

Oh yeah, the bucket list.  Dang it.  At this rate, kicking the bucket might come sooner.  My stress level is in an ultra high level now and my poor kids only see the back of my head while I type, type, type away on the computer.  Hope they recognize me after this semester.

So what's a girl who is searching for her true self going to do?

Well, unfortunately THAT girl signed up for yet another 1/2 marathon before her first full marathon (Chicago in October) training begins in May.  My last half will be the Iron Girl Half Marathon! Wha? Wha?
(No seriously, grrrr, I feel like a bad-ass when I say: Iron Girl!).

Yes, I say unfortunately because I did not prepare for the second one as well as I have prepared for the first one and I feel as if I have been hit by a Mack truck.  Fortunately, Iron Girl (*grrrr*) is in April!

Courtesy of Q105

Although my first ever half was only 3 & 1/2 weeks ago, my second was just this past Sunday, the Publix 2012 Gasparilla Half Marathon.  Arrrrrgh, pirates in New Balance and Nikes were everywhere speaking pirate-speak and it was only a matter of seconds before you started to speak pirate-ese, too. I only, P-Arrrgh'ed by 41 seconds, my knee once again felt as if someone jabbed it with an icepick at Mile 7, and my bowels decided to do a cross between the Irish Jig and a retro-1980's Breakdance -Electric Boogaloo.  Back to physical therapy I go.  But it was fun dressed in a 3 ply lawn bag while awaiting for the storm to finish pummeling me at quarter to 5 in the morning as we are lining up to begin our 6 a.m. gun start.  Yes, waaay better than coffee for a wake up call...Oh I was awake....WIDE "deer caught in headlights" AWAKE, between the 55 mph winds and coooold rain, Oh dear God, please stop torturing me, puhleeese!?

Courtesy of www.tampabayrun.com

After finishing 13.1 grueling, cold, wet, blistering miles and getting my pretty sweet medal, I ate my stack of celebratory pancakes then got home to see pieces of my tile roof in the pool and on my dock. I looked down and saw that nice skull and cross bone finishers' medal hanging around my neck and said..."yeeeeaaaaahhhaaa it was so worth it!"

Courtesy of the http://mealsandmiles.com/2012/03/04/gasparilla-half-marathon-2012/

I hobbled back in the house, popped an Aleve and laid down on the couch. Eh, I will call the roofer mañana.

SO WHAT NOW?

Tomorrow I NEED to run, but can't.  Oh yeah LIFE is putting my training to a screeching halt.  Let's hope maybe it is a good thing....maybe with this much rest I might get my time: 2:05 if not better, for my next half marathon, in April...no wait...I want to sub-2 hours at my next, that should be enough time to regain my mojo.

I will be running a po-dunk race in Oldsmar called The Armadillo 5k on Saturday and I have been trying to go a sub-30 minute 5k, so I will try my hardest.....it has been alluding me by 10 itty, bitty seconds!  So now I am shorting this blog because I just cannot type one more word, this is my last homework....and apparently I cannot run one more mile either....ugh. Stinks being old....where is my Aleve?