Our Padawans

This year the boys wanted to be little Jedis, also known as Padawans. What the heck is a Padawan? I had no idea let alone how to make a costume like one. So I googled "Padawan" and much to my suprise there is such a thing as the "Wookieepedia", a knockoff of Wikipedia. According to Wookieepedia: "A Padawan, Padawan learner, or Jedi Apprentice in Basic, was a child, or in some cases an adult, who began serious training under a Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master, chosen by the Knight or Master him/herself from the ranks of the younglings."

Baltimore Marathon

Oct. 11 was a big day for me. I finished the Baltimore Marathon (26.2). The ".2" miles really mattered! A couple girlfriends, Michele and Erika and I met on Sat mornings to do our long training runs together and then went separately to the gym during the week. Way before we started training together I signed myself up for the marathon. Then we decided the half marathon would be a huge accomplishment so we were planning on running that on the same day. About a month before the race I got a letter from the event directors saying the half marathon had a 500 person waiting list and not accepting new applicants. Why did this matter to me? That meant if I didn't do the WHOLE thing I would not getting my coveted "finishers metal". I really wanted the metal...and the cool shirt.
So I bumped up my runs so I would not die before the 26.2 miles was over. On race day I felt pretty good. The most I had run before then was 18 miles. I was nervous because if you look at the elevation map it is a very hilly course. The first 13.1 miles I paced myself so I would finish under 2 hours which was my goal for the half. The rest of the race I just kept a pace that I felt I could maintain till the end. It was really an amazing experience. Their were so many runners and people cheering from the sidewalks all along the course throughout B'more. There was a band playing for us at a lake we circled, nice people handing out gummy bears, or snickers bars or pretzels. Kids played drums on pots and pans, "Hon" ladies all dressed up screaming for us. It was just lots of fun. Don, Jayden, Luke and Nick were waiting for me at the finish. I was very happy to see them. Thank you Don for supporting me in this dream of mine. I could not have done it without you!

http://www.slide.com/r/QB6LB3T_yT9gF87dphBf_Kl7pQAEq7W8

MICHAEL PHELPS!

We saw Michael Phelps! Towson, MD (where we live) is also Michael's hometown. He grew up here. There was a big parade to welcome him and Katie Hoff, also a native. Jayden and I ran 1.3 miles from our house to see the parade and made it for the very end. We were able to hang out by the hummer that he was riding on for a couple minutes. He looked very "cool" in a sweatshirt and shades and a short goatee. There were gaurds all around and no one got close for an autograph (sorry Cole). It was fun.