RROY 2008

I absolutely forgot to post that I actually clinched second place in my age group for Rochester Runner of the Year 2008 by finishing the Run for Hospice 5K. Note that I said finishing as I didn't actually run the race...I kind of walk/jogged! Congrats to my friend Adam, he is officially 1st place in his age group for RROY!

Grad School

I just registered for my final grad class at University of Rochester!! I can't believe I'm finally at the end of my program. I feel like I've been in school forever!! Yay!

Election '08

The Presidential election of 2008 is only 9 days away! I'm hoping our country can come together and vote for the change that we need by voting Barack Obama as our next president! Here is a fun video that encourages all to get out and vote!! I can't stress the importance of this decision! Check out some CNN articles along with other video's discussing the monster the McCain ticket has created with Sarah Palin....

McCain's own people are saying she is difficult and "a diva". Seriously, they created it, now they need to deal with it! Please don't allow this women to sit in the second most important seat in our country, it truly will be our demise.

From CNN:
"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. "Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Seriously....do YOU want this person leading our country? I should hope not!

Vote Obama '08!!

Long week....

It has been a crazy long week!! My internship has been an incredible experience! Some of the students reinforced my decision to become a counselor when they told me I should be a counselor b/c I've helped them so much! I then explained to them what I was doing at their school and that I was going to be a counselor when I was done. One of the same girls came in to see me yesterday with her 1st marking period grades b/c she wanted me to see them....little did she know, I had already peaked at them in her student record! She did very well! I love being in the city schools and I love working with that population of students! There are so many diamonds in the rough. I have already learned so much about the resilience these kids have, just by listening to their stories and the challenges they have faced in their lives.

Classes are going well. I'm in the middle of midterms, papers, etc, so it's been rather stressful the past few weeks. I can't wait until December b/c I will be officially done with all the coursework for the program. Next semester I will only need to work on my thesis and finish my internship! Whoo Hoo!!

I have been hitting the gym whenever I can, but I'm having hip and low back pain. Ugh! It makes me nervous b/c I don't want a new hip at 33! So, I'll still take it easy for a while. I had my final appt last week and he cleared me to start doing things again, but I must remain low impact. I definitely won't be running until after the 1st of the year and my next road race won't be until Johnny's Runnin' of the Green in March '09.

So....

The Red Sox didn't complete the comeback and are now on vacation, so in my world, baseball season is over! Now I can totally focus on football and the Bills continuing their fantastic season. Go Bills!!

Holy Red Sox

In another exciting game, the Red Sox pulled off a win against Tampa Bay to even up the series!! They will play game 7 tonight and the winner will play the Phillies in the World Series!! GO RED SOX!!!

Run for Hospice '08

Today Derek & I ran to benefit Hospice and then ate our little hearts out!! This 5K has the absolute best food spread of any race I have ever done! They get about 850 runners and a huge amount of food donated by local organizations and grocery stores. Now, I didn't actually run it, I kind of walked and jogged a bit here and there and simply did it just to cross the finish line. My friend Adam convinced me to do it because I needed one more race to qualify for second place in my age group for Rochester Runner of the Year. So I crossed and I got my 6 RROY races in for this year (and had some kick ass food)!

The never ending roller coaster ride that is the Red Sox has come to a head this weekend as they were facing elimination in Thursday nights game. Alex and I turned the game off at the top of the 7th inning when the Sox were down 7-0 and we gave up hope. Damn, we totally learned out lesson!! The Sox actually came back to win it 8-7!!! So, we are looking forward to tonights game to see if they can even up the series and force a game 7!! Let's hope they can pull it off!!

Day Two...& other fun news!

I was back at the gym again this morning for my Cardio Interval class that I love and have missed so much over the past few months! I did everything very low impact, no jumping and I generally balanced myself on my left leg for upper body stuff, but I still got a very good workout! I'm taking Guinness to the park later and that will round out my exercise for today. I'm feeling good, but I'm still going to take it easy, I don't want to re injure it or need surgery!

Last night, I had a great time relaxing with a night to myself as Alex is in Gettysburg with his brother, nephew, and nieces. They are all very interested in spirits and ghost hunting, so what better place to do some searching! They are also lucky to be down there right now b/c the Travel Channel show Most Haunted did their first ever live ghost hunt in Gettysburg last night. They have scheduled a ghost walk for tonight in the same house the show was in last night! I can't wait to hear all about it! Judy, I will write about all the details just for you, I know how much you love this stuff!!

In other great news....the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay last night in the first game of the ALS!! Whoo Hoo!! Go Sox! Game two is tonight, let's hope they keep the momentum going!

Quick shout out to a soon to be birthday boy......tonight is my friend Jeff's big 30th bash!! He turns the big 3-0 tomorrow and we will surely be doing a midnight toast to welcome him to the 30's club!! Congrats Jeff!!

Back in the gym....FINALLY!!!

So I finally was able to head back to the gym today! YAY!! I didn't do anything crazy and really only focused on upper body, but I did a wee bit of cardio and it felt great! I then took the dog for a little one walk/jog around the pond at the park and didn't have any hip pain at all. I definitely feel like I just might be totally better!! I go to the Ortho one more time next week and hopefully will be given a clean bill of health!!

Barack Obama for President

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a strong supporter of Sen. Barack Obama's run for President. I feel that he is not only the best suited to bring a different perspective to the government and provide the needed changes this country desperately needs but also the most real and relatable candidate. I don't think he's perfect or has all the answers, but I feel that in this time where we are facing not only US, but global economic failures, we need someone who will work toward getting us through this time. For this and many other reasons, Alex & I were excited to receive our Obama/Biden yard sign this week, which we proudly and promptly put out front!

Last night was the 2nd of 3 debates between the two presidential candidates and it was rather interesting. I found myself becoming very irritated with McCain as he wasn't saying anything and was simply repeating things he said last time and dropping names of Washington big wigs. That's it. That doesn't make me feel good about the prospects of him becoming president. Aside from the fact that his VP pick is complete looney tunes!!

Obama definitely made some strong points and did a great job of continuing to tie McCain to Bush's policies from the past 8 years. I think that is important for people to understand because if we want to get out of this mess, we need someone different. We cannot afford to continue with the same people and the same ideas. It isn't working!!! I appreciate that Obama is passionate about Education and Health Care as those are two areas I feel could make or break our country. We are not providing the proper education to most of our kids and the repercussions of that lack of education will absolutely hurt our country for years to come. McCain is all about the war and "winning" (still not sure what we are winning). That should no longer be the focus. I support our troops as they are sacrificing themselves everyday for a war which shouldn't continue any longer. My brother-in-law along with many other young men and women are or have been out there. My brother-in-law is a reservist and has been to Afghanastan once and Iraq twice! It just isn't right. We need someone who will work to help us move on from the war and focus on things internally. our country is falling apart and we are no longer the super power that we once were. We can get that back with the right leadership and the right focus!! This is by far the most important election of my life and may very well be the most important for many years to come. Please get out there and vote, make your voice heard! It is your right and your priviledge to help make a change.

My post run "friend"

This little gadget is my post running savior! The T-Roller is a fantastic little tool to work out all the muscle kinks one might have after a long run or really any type of workout! I picked mine up at the Boilermaker in Utica, NY this past summer and it has done wonders in saving me from post run muscle soreness. So, check it out, you just might love a post workout deep tissue massage as well!!

The VP Debate

So Alex & I watched the debate in anticipation of some major gaffe and we were sadly let down. I will give credit to Palin for hanging in there and not making any major blunders, however, she also didn't really say anything at all. Nothin. Especially no g's. Whoever told her to speak directly to the camera deserves some credit as that seemed to be working for her in the beginning. However, when the camera stares were accompanied by winking and back woods missuse of the English language, I wanted to vomit. Seriously, I absolutely began to have a physical reaction to her, don't ya know. Let's also discuss this maverick thing.....are they kidding me? It was rather obvious about halfway through the debate that she was trained (in debate camp) to continue to repeat that they are maverick's. Enough already. Let's really talk about the issues, and not the issues that are written on your little note cards. I want to hear something of real substance come out of her mouth besides the whole hockey mom thing. If I'm to believe that she is ready to possibly be President of the United States, I need to see more than what was presented last night. There are so many other issues I had with last night, like how she wouldn't answer the questions Ifill was asking her, or winking and blowing kisses to the crowd, or using that folksy voice and verbiage to try and sway the impressionable masses, but I just don't have time to get into all of that. Again, I don't feel she completely bombed, but I also don't think she is ready to lead our country either.

It's been a while....

I have been a bit crazy with grad school and the internship, so my posting has fallen to the wayside! (Sorry Judy!) I've also been thinking about the direction I might take this thing because I'm not running for the moment, and it's hard to write a journal about something I'm not doing!! A quick update on the stress fracture in my hip....saw the Ortho on Tuesday and after some X-Rays, he said it's healing nicely and I can start putting up to 40% weight on my leg. I'm still on the crutches for another 2 weeks, but he thinks he will be able to take me off of them after my next 2 week visit. Whoo Hoo! I have absolutely decided not to run again until after the 1st of the year so I can have enough time to make sure the hip is healed and start strengthening it again.

OK, so I am thinking I might go with an election discussion as that is a pretty hot topic right now, and something that gets me all kinds of fired up! It has also taken over my life (in addition to school) for the past few weeks and months. Alex & I hosted a debate party for the first Presidential debate and my friend Dina came over, along with some other Rochestarians who we connected with through the NY Obama website. We also went to see Bill Maher Live at Cornell University this past weekend and he was brilliant!! Alex, Dina, myself, and our friend Cliff took a road trip to see him this past Sunday and it was so absolutely worth it!! Raunchy as hell, but I just loved everything he said....however, Dina & I felt really bad for the sign language interpreter who had to sign some of those words!! We also ordered our yard sign and have looked into some of the Rochester helps Ohio/Pennsylvania road trips. It really is an amazing feeling to be a part of this in the hopes that our country will realize we need something new because the old just isn't working anymore!

So, we are now preparing for tonight's much anticipated V.P. debate! Our friend Jeff (and possibly Mara) is coming over and we have discussed some possible Sara Palin drinking games....for example: every time she says "shore up the economy" you drink 1....every time she says "Alaska keeps an eye on Russia" you drink 2.....every time she cracks a joke about Biden's age you drink 3 (for the sheer stupidity of that remark)....and so on!! OK, maybe that was a little low, but seriously, I am insulted that McCain's camp believes that simply by placing a woman on the ticket, they will get a woman's vote. Are they delusional? Really? Just any old woman and I should vote for her? I was a Hillary supporter, so I'm part of that target group, and I wouldn't even entertain the idea of voting this woman into the second most important office in our country. I voted for Hillary in the primary and was really hoping she could grab that nomination, but not because she's a woman, because she represents many things I align with and support. I respect McCain, I really do, he sacrificed a lot for this country.......WAY BACK WHEN!! There has to be a change. Something has to give in this country because the direction we are headed in is not good for many many reasons beyond the economy. How about Education? Does anyone realize what we are doing to the children of this country, or should I say not doing? How about we focus more energy on the inside instead of the outside. There is enough turmoil within our own borders to keep the government busy for years to come, yet, we choose to spend our energy and resources on others.....who don't even want us there!! But I digress.....and I will get off my little soap box now!

I guess, take what you want from this posting. I guess the big message here is GET OUT THERE, REGISTER, AND VOTE!! I don't care if you vote for my candidate or the other guy, (as Nike put it) just do it!! It is your right and duty as a US citizen to help make a difference. Also, I certainly welcome other opinions and ideas as I feel it always offers an opportunity for personal growth when you hear others perceptions and thoughts.