Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Now That the Running Updates are Done -- SEWING!

Many of my sewing projects start with a simple request from P: "Mommy, make me a _______ costume." And then I do. This project started with a pair of shoes. We found a simple pair of black Mary Jane's for P and she immediately groked on to the fact that they looked like "Alice" shoes. And so it began: "Mommy, mommy, mommy! Make me an Alice dress, please!" (at least she's saying please now, so there's that).

I used a basic dress pattern, puffed out the sleeves using the slash-and-spread method (a first for me), did NOT do a collar (not that I care, but she might) and used fabric / notions that I had on hand. The apron was completely self-drafted.

Alice In Wonderland Alice In Wonderland

(Yeah, I know. I used a brown zipper. It's what I had on hand. Whatever. She doesn't care and neither do I!)

Using the same fabric as her Easter dress, I whipped up this dress in an afternoon.
photo photo
(Yes, she's doing yoga while posing for the pics. She's an odd duck)

A shirt for me:
M6120 M6120 in action
McCalls 6120, View A. The fabric was a mystery jersey blend that I found at Mood Fabrics in New York back in January. (I still have some other fun fabrics from that trip, but inspiration is needed to make use of them.)

In honor of going to see Weird Al, Miss P wanted a "Dare to be Stupid" costume.
Ready to see Weird Al Dare to Be Stupid

And my most recent project, a special request from my best friend in honor of the opening of the last Harry Potter movie.
Professor Sprout capelet Professor Sprout hat

And the entire costume - Presenting PROFESSOR SPROUT:
DSC_3211

Yes, she's holding a Mandrake Root:
DSC_3250

Next up in the pipeline? Making costumes for Miss P's fourth birthday party. She's requested both a Pocoyo and a Toy Story party. So if I can get her to narrow it down... (I already have the fabric and an idea of how to do the Pocoyo costume. Doing the Toy Story stuff would be easy, too. Heck, I might just do them both.)

Warrior Dash 06.05.11 - Logan, OH

Seeing as how this was my second Warrior Dash, I was totally prepared this time. Totally.

Yeah, right.

This race came three weeks after the Rite Aid Cleveland Half-Marathon and I hadn't run at all during those three weeks. I could barely walk, let alone run!

I met TK & SM at TK's house and we carpooled from there. It was a little over three hours south of here, so ROADTRIP! Polar Pops in hand, we hit the road and made it in good time. Found a great place to park (right next to the bus pickup/dropoff location) and hopped on the bus. The Warrior Dash was held in a park... if you could say that. More like a nature preserve or something. The mud smelled so bad - it was sulfur mud and it was like standing around in a barrel of rotten eggs. Ugh. The weather cooperated - it was overcast and maybe 80F, so not too hot, not too sunny. We were scheduled to run in the 530pm Sunday wave - which means the course had been torn up sufficiently, and, due to the torrential downpour the night before, was muddier than all get out. Which, while fun, wasn't the easiest to find purchase when trying to climb the hills...

Before we got muddy:
Warrior Dash 06.05.11

When it was our turn to hit the track, we shot off at a good clip. This wasn't a race for time, it was a race for fun. Even though I had the advantage of having done the Dash before, I knew it was much more fun to do it WITH someone, so we kept together. The first mile or so of the course was pretty much all straight up hill - straight up mud, too. Slipping and sliding for everyone. But me... I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers and was able to bend my foot sufficiently to grab roots and stuff with my toes! Woot! Mud, mud, slide down the hill, more mud, run as fast as you can down the hill to avoid falling, swim through the log lake, climb over the cars, run through the tires, more cars, climb another hill, go through the spider web, go down more mudslides, go thru the tunnel (which I didn't do - claustrophobia got the best of me), slide down the hill some more, traverse the creek, climb the cargo net, climb the 12-foot wall, cross the plank, cross a horizontal cargo net, more running and then the finale...

FIRE
FIRE!!!!

After the fire was the mud bog. Gross.
team ka

Team KA:
ka warriors

Warriors!
Warrior Dash, 06.05.11

It was a good time. Finished in 48:xx - definitely could've done it faster, but that's not the point of this, now is it?

Cleveland Half-Marathon Recap...

So yeah, I've been remiss about this whole blog thing. Excuses, excuses. So much to do, so little time, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Here's how the Rite Aid Cleveland Half-Marathon went down for me:

It was cold and drizzling - which was perfect weather for running! We left Akron around quarter after five. The information packet said to be downtown no later than six because the roads would be closed, etc. With a quick pit-stop in Brecksville for my nervous gut, we made it to Cleveland right around 6am. Found a parking spot over by E 4th street and proceeded to make our way down to the starting area (Browns Stadium). P was a trouper - she insisted on walking the whole way (as opposed to being worn by daddy - ah, but that carrier would definitely come in handy as they waited for me...).

Before the race:
At the start. Before the pain.
(I was wearing the headband at the insistence of P. I don't normally wear those.)

From the time the starting gun went off, it took almost eight minutes to get to the starting line. My goal for the race was to finish vertically, but there was a time goal (I know, I know... bad T) I wanted to accomplish: 2:30:00. In order to make that goal I knew I needed to line up in the 5:00:00 pace group. The crowd was so big and the starting line so unorganized (really, they should have started in waves) that I couldn't get close to the 5-hr pace group. I was ahead of the 5.30 group - and could still see the sign for the 5-hr pacers, so I grudgingly accepted my spot and started on my way.

The first three miles went by so quickly. Even though I was wearing my earbuds, I did NOT listen to music. I had them on only to hear the mile markers and time from my runtastic app. I couldn't believe how many people were in line for port-a-potties so close to the start line. I guess I could, though, really, because when I'm not in a race and just running for fun, I usually have to facilitize somewhere around mile 2.5. (I seem to have a nervous gullet for race-day and always manage to get that out of the way beforehand!)

Around mile 4 my right IT band started hurting. Not so bad that I was going to stop. I was making good time (for me, anyway, I was averaging a 10:12 mile). I kept plodding along, happy with how things were going.

Halfway point:
Halfway done!

Yes, I really was feeling good! Sore knee, but all was well.

Until mile 10.5. I sidestepped a safety cone that had been put in the most inadvertent place and when I did that, my kneecap decided to jump track and start rubbing against the cartilage. Yeah, that hurt. Slowed my progress significantly. Up until that point, my 2.5 hour half was totally doable. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I started walking... and walking... I walked for about a mile and half until I decided it hurt just as bad to walk as it did to run, so I might as well get this over with as soon as possible.

As I rounded the corner for the sprint to the finish, the hubby was there with his trusty camera.

Here she comes! IMG_3524

Finish line ahead:
The finish line is in sight!~

As I was coming in for my finish, apparently so was the female winner of the FULL marathon! Yes, she ran the entire course in the time it took me to do half of it. *sigh* Oh well - at least there was a ton of excitement as I was crossing the finish line.

After finishing and collecting my medal, banana and chocolate milk, I wandered around trying to coordinate meeting up with the hubby. I was cranky and in pain, so it wasn't exactly the runner's high that's so promised.

We trudged uphill back to the car (another mile) and stopped to take pictures of P.
IMG_3546

Miss P braved the elements to watch mommy run.

After it was all said and done, I have my medal:
Medal Acquired

...and I have my sticker:
It's official!

... and then I went and ate the most disgustingly fattening thing I could think of: Strawberry-smothered french toast. It was delicious!

The aftermath of my feet. (SFW, just not safe for the squeamish). Believe it or not, they didn't hurt. Or maybe they did, but the pain in my knee was so much that I didn't notice the feet hurting.

Oh, and that 2:30:00 goal? Missed it by that much. My official time was 2:35:22. So close...