He had a friend over without asking first

Boulevard typically likes people and other dogs. Stuart typically likes people but is normally less than impressed with other dogs.
To set the stage ~ Both of our next door neighbors have little, yappy dogs(similar to Stuart) and Stuart doesn't mind voicing(er...barking) his concern over this fact through the fence. Boulevard will bark occasionally if Stuart gets him wound up but normally he's not a barker. And the little guys on the other side of the fence, bark back at Stuart. It's really to the point that I try to let our dogs out at different times than our neighbors because all the barking makes me a little nuts. Well when they really get wound up, they start pawing at the ground right by the fence(keep in mind that the yards are all dirt right now) and unfortunately, this pawing has caused a hole under the fence.

Well a week or so ago, Boulevard was outside by himself and it appeared as though he was chasing or playing with something. I looked and it was one of our neighbors tiny dogs...he had squeezed his way through the hole under the fence. There is nothing to fear about Boulevard even though he is 90 lbs but he does tend to throw himself around like he is 10 lbs when he gets really excited. I watched for about 20 seconds and Boulevard would sniff at the little dog, the little dog would bark back giving him a piece of his mind, and Boulevard would jump around him...it was quite comical really.
Eventually I went out and grabbed the little guy and passed him back to his owner on the other side of the fence. Poor thing, if I was confronted with such a monstrous dog in comparison to myself, I think I'd be traumatized too. Guess that little guy learned his lesson to stay in his own backyard. I sort of wonder what Stuart would have done if he would have been in the back yard too. :)

Boulevard-The next time you want a friend over, please ask permission! :)

an invitation for you

If you recall, I have a goal to run two half-marathon's this year. After the one in Vegas, you would have thought I'd given up on that goal, but I HAVEN'T!!

Anne and I have a tentative agreement to run a half-marathon on September 18th here in Santa Fe, NM. This is an invitation to all of YOU as well...have you ever wanted to run a half or maybe have and would like to do another? I invite you to join us!! Although we are at 7,000 ft, the race appears to be mostly down-hill(trust me, I scoped out the elevation changes first). You are welcome to stay with us too. I suppose I should clarify this invitation is for all the readers I actually personally know -- I'm not sure I want a complete stranger in my house. :)

So - check it out. I'm telling you early so you have no excuse! You have plenty of time to train.
http://www.santafethunder.com/

On that note, we certainly would love some visitors this spring/summer to share our love of Santa Fe. If you are planning a trip in our direction, please stop by. Or Santa Fe has much to offer so start planning your trip here!! Just be warned ~ you may not want to leave once you see this place. It truly is amazingly beautiful and the Land of Enchantment!!

Half & Vegas baby!!

Yes - I finished my half-marathon but it was such a DIFFICULT course!! Even the spectators were shocked at the course as they toured it during the race on a bus. The race didn't have parking so all runners and spectators rode buses to the course from a casino and the spectators had an option of a bus tour showing the course so they could see their runners. Remember that elevation climb that I told you about in my last post? Well it was pretty much torture...I thought I'd be able to capitalize on the downhills but I was so dead by the time we got to the summit, that may legs wouldn't go any faster on the downhills. I finished in 2 hrs and 26 minutes, which I was awefully proud of based on the course difficulty. Let's just say I was in tears by the finish line, due to both pain and relief that it was done.

(still smiling - before the race @ 5am - I am woman, hear me roar!!)

(near the finish line on the verge of tears. tears of pain and tears of joy because it was almost done. my knees felt like they were going to EXPLODE at this point!)

In summary - Vegas went a little something like this ->

Ran my race on Saturday morning, went to the strip Saturday afternoon w/ Anne & Natasha(who were there w/ us), went to Marquee Saturday night and danced the night away. Left Marquee at 3:30am to have breakfast and was in bed by 5am. By my calculations - that means I was up for 24 hrs minus the 2 hr nap on Saturday evening. Sunday was pretty lazy. Natasha and Anne both left that day. Mike and I went down to Fremont Street on Sunday night. Monday, Mike and I travelled the strip and went to a show that night. We left to drive home on Tuesday morning. I learned a good lesson about shoes when I was in Vegas in September 2010, so this time around I wore flats until we got to Marquee, then slipped on my heels for the evening, then put my flats back on for the journey home...excellent lesson learned considering my feet were already torn up from running that morning.

Here's a few more pictures for your enjoyment ->

(Picture by New York New York.)

(Natasha, Me, & Anne at Marquee)

(@ Fremont St)

(waiting for the show to start @ Planet Hollywood - Mike sporting his new aviators. :))

T - 6 days

Six days until the half-marathon and a vacation in Las Vegas. I have one more long run to do tomorrow and then Wednesday and Thursday will be easy 3 mile runs. I should be tapering down to 8 miles tomorrow but I fell a little behind on my training back in January so I'll be going 11-12 miles tomorrow.

I received my 'registered athlete' letter detailing everything I need to know about the race. What I failed to notice when I registered is that the half-marathon climbs 800-900 feet over the first 5 miles. Yikes! I've definitely been doing hills during my training but I don't think I've climbed that much. The good news is that the remainder of the course is completely down-hill, the weather is supposed to be great, AND I'll be running at about 3,500 feet which is 3,500 feet lower than I've been training at.(I've been training at 7,000 feet if you couldn't do the math) Hopefully it's all a recipe for success! Finishing the race is always the goal!

The land that I'll be running on in Vegas is all BLM(Bureau of Land Management) ground...which I didn't really know when I registered so hopefully that'll keep Mike entertained as he waits for my at the finish line...hopefully with a cocktail in his hand waiting for me. :) Then after the race, we plan to have a heck of a time in Vegas with some friends!! Once again - sounds like a recipe for success.

BLM swearing in

Yesterday afternoon was Mike's formal swearing in ceremony for BLM. He was sworn in back in October before he left for training but yesterday there was an official ceremony. They had snacks, cake, and everything!

[The woman is the Director of NM BLM, the guy in the light grey shirt is the NM State Ranger, and the guy in the vest is the SAC(Special Agent in Charge) for this region.] I'm not really clear why I had to stand up there with him but I was there for moral support!

Look - I even dressed in brown for the occasion! I even showered and dressed for the day ~ If you ever have worked from home you know what I'm talking about.

Since we had special plans last Friday at Ojo Caliente(which was fantastic by the way), we stayed at home for Valentine's Day. We had shrimp fondue and strawberries with chocolate fondue. It was DEEE-licious!

That is quite a chocolate-covered strawberry you have there Mike. YUM!

Stuart looking depressed because he didn't have a valentine. Poor guy! So - Stuart became my valentine back-up. Such a cutie-pie he is!!

Watch it ~ I'm running here!

Did you finish the 10 miles? yep
How did it go? unh...it went
How long did it take? longer than I'd like to admit
Was the weather nice? it was wonderful ~ I forgot to put on sunscreen so I hope my ears didn't get too much sun
Did people in cars honk at you and try get your attention for whatever reason? yes - my message to those drivers...just leave ME ALONE! I'm going to ignore you and do I look like I want to have a conversation with you? NO!! Bug off!
Did you have to walk? more than I'd like to admit
Did you almost get hit by a careless driver? I suppose it would be exaggerating if I said I almost got hit but as I was crossing a street, a careless driver trying to turn right basically blasted through the red light he was supposed to stop at in order to let me cross the street. He did, however, roll down the window, wave at me, and said he was sorry.
Did it annoy you that you had to stop at so many street lights? Not really ~ it was a nice mandatory break
Did you almost quit at mile 7? yep ~ I could have turned to go home at mile 7 but thought, "What's another 3 miles?" and kept truckin' on
Did you finish strong? if you call walking the last 1/2 mile finishing strong then I finished SUPER strong!
How many miles are you running tomorrow? absolutely none
What's on the agenda for tomorrow then? Yoga
What was the best thing about your run today? finishing

10 miles??...No problem

Hopefully I'll be saying 'no problem' after I'm done running those 10 miles. I'm trying to convince myself it will be just fine and I'll feel like a rock-star afterwards. I don't have any Gu or Sport Beans so I'll be surviving on water only. I have my route all mapped out and my clothes ready so I can take off this afternoon at the warmest part of the day. I think it's supposed to get into the 50's today so it's going to be a fabulous day for a run. I should probably put on some sunscreen too because the Santa Fe sun is shining brightly!

Including today, I have three long runs left before the big 'ole half-marathon. I'm really looking forward to it...I haven't run a race(and I use the term 'race' loosely) for so long.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.