Hello, friends! Dana here. How are we already three-quarters of the way through May??? I can't take it. Someone get me a TARDIS, stat! Anyhoodles, so last month, Heather and I ran the Nashville Rock and Roll 5K together. Heather was supposed to run the half marathon except... erm, yeah. That pesky kneecap dislocation. She can say more on that subject here if she wants. No, I don't want to. It's still bothering me, and it's a sore subject. Ha! You see what I did there? Yea, I'm finally to the point where I can make jokes about it..... BTW, I'll be popping in on this post to add my comments to Dana's commentary - Heather

As for my part, I'ma start with the expo, which was... underwhelming. I've been increasingly disappointed with the expo for the last few years now. The number of vendors has gone down, and I'm not certain of the reason. If these type of health events are anything like some of the trade shows I sell books at, though, the reason must be partially (if not entirely) down to the cost to have a booth, which seems to be going up each year for me, so maybe it's the same for expo vendors? Anyway, I really wanted to see Sparkly Soul Headbands there, as I buy from them every year. No dice. And I know Heather usually pops by the shoe charm place (sorry, I don't remember what it's called). No luck there either. It was pretty much the big, corporate sponsors this year, most of whom I don’t care about. Super serious competitors would probably be happy, but I want sparkly headbands and jewelry, not overpriced, packaged performance food. To be fair, I did buy a knee brace from CEP. I have had good luck with CEP's compression and Plantar Fasciitis sleeves. My knee seems to be extremely troublesome as no brace seems to be able to keep my knee cap where it should be. No brace except the huge blue one that the ER gave me and requires crutches to move around. Not really conducive to running. 


As for race day, we got at the butt crack of dawn, as per usual, and made it to Nissan Stadium with a good amount of time to spare. Once again, we hit First Baptist Church, who open up their facilities to all the runners on race day. They are really lovely, offering snacks and a stretching space, all for free. The starting line isn't far from the church, so we huddled up in our corral. It was a brisk morning, one of those for which I don't know that the perfect gear has been invented - somewhere in the 40-something degree range. I was thankful for my long sleeves while we waited for the race to start, but didn't love them later on. I was perfectly happy with my race day attire. Dana should run more races so that she accumulates as much weather-related running experience as I have. 

Good Morning Happy and Grumpy!

I'll be honest, I baby duckling-ed Heather during a good bit of Mile 1. I wasn't super energized that morning and in a bad head-space. I'm gonna go ahead and blame stress for that. I had a new book coming out three days after the race, so, ya know, it'd been kind of a crazy time of late. Maybe next time I'll plan better. Lol, that's hilarious. Heather called after me to come on! And I had to kick myself in the butt. I still maintain that she did it to get me out of my headspace. I wasn't overly happy that I was running the 5k, but I was feeling pretty good despite myself. Damn race day vibes. They're infectious.

The volunteers, as always, were wonderful, as were all the folks who came out to cheer. Be sure to tell those people thank you as you pass by. The bands were great too, though this is Nashville, so no big surprise there. They cheered all of us too and waved, which was a much needed boost throughout. Heather and I switched jobs around the farmer's market, right around the end of Mile 1. I think her knee had begun to bother her, so I started to encourage her. If I recall this is about the time the hills started. We'd run down a slight incline along the railroad tracks, and then it'd flattened off a bit. Now that a month has gone by and I've reinjured my knee cap a few times, I will say that the downhill is what probably started my knee pain, but Dana was awesome, as she always is. We chatted, she distracted me with some touristy information about where we were running. I kept telling her to go ahead, but she refused. I really started appreciating her more around this time, because I knew the rest of the race was going to be tough on me, and I didn't really want to admit it. 


The St. Jude section almost broke me. As a survivor of childhood cancer, anything I see related to that always hits me in a really tender spot. I was fighting back tears because the hell if I'm gonna break down during this run! I don't know if Heather heard my breathing change or just what (it's weird breathing while you're running and biting your tongue to keep from crying), but she asked me if I was okay.

"Yup."   The St. Jude section gets me just like the Blue Mile at RnR DC. You can't help but tear up. 

Lie. But whatever. We kept going. Most of the rest of the course is a bit of a blur. We had to take our first walking break on a hill between Miles 2 and 3. Hills... guh. I didn't actually want to walk, but I was struggling and slowing down. Dana says she wanted to walk, but I have a feeling it was a bit for my sake as well. I hated it though. I was determined to keep an athletic pace, so even my walking wasn't that slow. Those long legs come in handy sometimes. 

Look, a hill. We did have a nice view of the Batman building.

Heather pulled a fast one on me sometime after that, though. There's a bridge (please don't ask me which one) we cross that signals the race is almost done. Heather lied about how much further we had to go when I asked (near the end of Mile 3, which meant I got super excited when the bridge of happiness appeared around the next bend. I pulled ahead of Heather on said bridge, so excited to get my chocolate milk at the end*. I was so focused on the end that I didn't hear Heather squawk next to me when her knee slipped. Oopsie. Sorry. Apparently, she told her knee to suck it up when she saw me ahead of her, though, and stayed on my tail. As soon as we turned the corner and the finish line came into sight, I bolted for it, as I always do. It always feels amazing sprinting across. Of course, I also then wanna throw up as soon as I slow down, but tradeoffs, right? Heather came in a few seconds behind me, and I got to do my best impression of a crutch underneath her. We got our chocolate milk and medals and found a nice spot to stretch.  Just after you crest the hill it's mile 3 or 13 depending on your race, and it's literally all downhill from there. Yep, downhill. My knee tugged weird and it felt like I didn't have a knee cap for half a second. It hurt, but then Dana passed me. I couldn't let that stand. I took off after her, oblivious to the fact that my knee was hurting. I finished 4 seconds behind her, and I was pretty dang happy about that because as soon as I crossed that finish line my knee was done for a bit. Dana, thankfully, is much stronger than her small frame appears and she helped me limp to the finish area. Some medical volunteers started pushing a wheelchair towards me, asking if I needed it. I told them I'd walk it off. Once we rested a bit and stretched, my knee did feel better, but it was tender. I was very thankful that I'd done this race with Dana because 1) I wouldn't have been able to finish the half and 2) that would have been worse for me and I did finally have to admit that I'm injured and my knee needed more TLC. This, of course, didn't stop me from over-training and pushing too hard after getting back home and reinjuring it. 

Hey guys! I'm back, and even though I'm injured and slightly depressed over the frailty of my body, I have accomplished other things. One of those things was finally making a pattern I bought last year. I was interested in this pattern, because not only is it a fun looking skort, but the shorts have pockets! What?! Pockets? I'm sold. Pockets make all the difference in the world.

It's from a Jalie and its the LouLouxe Skort {see it HERE}. I was a little nervous about buying the pattern in the first place, because it's not one of my usual companies, and it's a digital download. I'd have to assemble the pattern myself, which is not a big deal, but more of a lack of convenience. I know that seems like a dumb reason.
So with my knee injury and me being in a funk because of it, I have tried to pull myself out of it by accomplishing other things. I also told my sister that I'd have this new running skirt for her and I was quickly running out of time to get it done. Nothing like waiting until 4 days before you leave to start on a project! Luckily, as with most knit projects, once you get it cut out, it sews up super quick.

This one is no different and the instructions for this pattern are clearly and concisely written, which is always nice. So once I traced the pattern size I needed onto my pattern paper, no need in ruining the main copy of my pattern if I didn't need to, the cutting out of the pattern was straightforward.

I dug into my stash for some of the fabric for this project, and I also went to Jo-Ann's for some lovely jersey for the rest of it. I chose a nice mid-weight knit black jersey for the shorts and waistband for this skort. I had a fun print with some glitz for the skirt portion. So I cut out all my pieces and start the assembly.

It goes together quicker than quick. There's nothing overly difficult about this pattern, other than making sure you have all your markings transferred and you know which pieces are going where. I did have to keep reminding myself which pieces were the front and back.

So I get the piece done, and I can't wait to get down to Nashville so my sister can try it out. As it turns out we end up going for a run on Friday, before the race. She dons the skirt and super cute sports bra, and I immediately start quizzing her. How's it feel? How are the shorts? How's the waist?

She says it all fits great, but the real test will be the run. I am happy that she's happy so far, and I'm equally excited about the prospect of making me one. She does express some concern about the length of the inseam and chaffing, but we figure that'll just have to be a test for Friday.

Friday comes and it's gorgeous outside, maybe even a touch hot. She's got her super cute skirt and bra outfit on, and I've got one of my favorites on, plus that stupid knee brace.

We set off for our 5k along the greenway near her house. It's gorgeous. If I lived in Nashville, I'd run this stretch all the time. It's peaceful and is relatively flat. What a nice treat to all of the hills in and around the area. She doesn't run outside, and to be fair she has a valid reason for it. This, however, does not stop me from good-naturedly egging her on about it. That's what sisters are for after all.

So we do our out-and-back on the greenway and she beats me at the finish. She always beats me. Stupid gazelle. Once I catch up with her, I immediately start firing questions at her about the skirt, and she's got glowing reviews for it. The shorts were long enough where she didn't chafe and it's really pretty wonderful. She really likes it. Yay! I'm so happy because now I want one!

So I think this pattern is quite easily a pattern that a beginner sewer could tackle. It's well written and easily constructed. The only 'difficult' part might be that it's a knit, but as long as you pick a knit with some decent 4-way stretch, then you should be good to go.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

So 3 weeks ago was the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I know I'm way late in this review. I had the grand plan of writing this review the week after the race, but then, ya know, life got in the way. There were dentist appointments, orthodontist appointments, kneecap dislocations......wait? What? Oh yea, 10 days after running the Cherry Blossom, I dislocated my patella while doing jumping squats. I was trying to be a good runner and cross train! I was really digging the workout and figured I'd push a little harder and not modify those damn jumps. Well, that plan bit me in the ass. Then came the injury depression.

You know what I'm talking about. We've all been injured, and we all know just how frustrating that can be. The worst part, ok I don't actually know what the worst part is, because there seem to be so many fragmented "worst" parts. So the first bad thing was that my husband was at football practice with Small Fry, so my first line of help was not there. The next bad thing, but turned out to be a good thing was that Baby Girl was there and she found me on the floor, in pain.  I don't know what sound I was making, it wasn't yelling but it also wasn't shouting or quiet. It was just pain and frustration because I "knew" what I'd done. Baby Girl was a rock star though. As a parent, you always wonder if your child would know what to do in an emergency. If they would be able to do what needed to be done if you needed help. I am happy to say that my girl came through. She came upstairs and found me on the floor, cradling either side of my knee making some ungodly noise, and she asked what I needed. I swallowed the pain, tried to make my voice calm and told her to get her older brother. I needed the Big Guy. She was scared and started to cry, but I told her that I needed her to be brave. she needed to be brave and be my Wonder Woman. She left and came back up a few minutes later without said brother. She said something about why he wasn't there, but I honestly don't remember what she said. I was in pain and I was trying not to scare her, but damn if my knee didn't hurt and I told her that I needed her to get her brother up here no matter what. Mommy needed her. My girl came through in a big way. A few more minutes pass, and my Big Guy comes slowly trudging up the stairs, grumbling until he sees me on the floor. Luckily, I was in perfect view of the stairs. He immediately asks what I need and what he needs to do. My children knew what to do, they followed directions and didn't lose their cool. I am a very proud momma. I also owed my Big Guy an apology, he'd come home from school with a headache and had laid down after getting his chores done. Baby Girl was not gentle in her waking of him. The next biggest issue was if I'd be able to run Nashville, but more on that later.

So yea, there was that injury to deal with and the depression that came with it. Nashville was 10 days away. Cherry Blossom had basically been a training run for me. It hadn't gone well, and I was frustrated that I'd bought a pair of shoes and the RnR DC expo that hadn't worked out again. They will, however, make lovely walking shoes. Even that ended up working out though because while I did end up buying an expensive pair of shoes at the expo, I ended up in a better fitting pair of shoes because of the whole experience.

So back to the race and not all the dramatics that happened after it. Race day was cold but beautiful. It was the peak time for the cherry blossoms and they did not disappoint. The whole race was really beautiful, but there is only so much that beautiful scenery can make up for when you're wearing the wrong pair of shoes.

I started off in my corral, worrying that I wouldn't be able to keep pace. I really was worried about getting picked up. Between RnR DC and Cherry Blossom, the flu hit our house. Hard. I was down and out for like 10 days. I lost almost 10 pounds and didn't run for almost 2 weeks. It was bad because Cherry Blossom was 4 weeks after DC. Obviously, I knew I could run 10 miles, but I was worried about the time restrictions because I'd been very slow in my runs after the flu and before the race.  So I told the friend that I was running Cherry Blossom with that my plan was to hopefully hold a 12:45 pace and at worst not get picked up by the bus. She and I agree to a meeting place after the race.

The race starts to modest fanfare and we're off. The course is not that much different than last year and the first half the race is actually a bit boring. We pass the monuments and run underneath the Kennedy Center. The turnaround is just past the Kennedy Center so we get to run back under it, and then head back towards the monuments and over near Ohio Drive. We run along the Potomac, which does offer some nice views of the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. I keep regulating my temp by opening up my jacket a bit and taking my gloves on and off. Oh so easy when my hands start sweating, but this method worked for RnR DC and it works here. The first five miles get done in 1:03:16 with a pace of 12:39. Not too shabby.

Unfortunately, the easy vibe of the race starts to fade, and by mile 7 I'm in agony. My feet hurt and my right hip is on fire. Not the usual hip pain I contend with, this was a lateral pain that moved across my glutes to my hip joint, and it wasn't easy up. I knew that it was my shoes. They're too soft. Too cushiony. It was the same problem I had with this model a few years ago, and those turned into excellent walking shoes. Oh well, it was probably time I retired that pair anyways. The crash pads are shot. Only 3 miles left. You can trudge through this. I don't stop running, but I do slow down. A lot. Not even the scenery is helping, but it is distracting. It's so dang pretty. The cherry trees, the water, the serenity of the point. I do love this race, but I also hate it. My 10k time is 1:19:41 and a pace of 12:51.

Those last miles were agony. I don't know how I made it through them. I was distracted by the other runners hurriedly putting back on their jackets after we rounded the point and the wind kicked back up. I was glad I never took off my jacket. I know what the point does. It lulls you into a false sense of security. It's gorgeous, but it's not always nice. The trees still look gorgeous, but there are more tourists walking down the point. Most of them are cheering on the racers. That's nice of them. A coast guard helicopter passes us pretty low. That was kind of cool to see. I'm so glad that the Hubs got me these gloves for Christmas. They're pretty amazing. We finally make it to mile 9. I'm at 1:58:16 with a pace of 13:08. Only one mile left. You can do this.

The last mile was a mixture of agony, between my feet and my hips, and frustration because of the tourists there for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Yes, please walk out in front of all the runners still running the race and yell at them for you almost getting creamed. It's our fault that we're running a race on a road that is closed for us and you stepped out in front of us. So sorry.  Runner's brain was strong this mile. I did chuckle when I saw the 1200 meter sign. Only 1200 meters left. You can do this. Oh, look! There's the 800-meter sign. The 800 meter was your event in high school. You can do this. You can pick up the pace. Oh, look! There's that last little hill before the finish. It's so nice that it's at about the 400-meter sign. I hate you. I am almost done. Thank god. I am taking off these shoes. My feet freaking hurt. I can't wait to take off my shoes. I'm almost done! Pick it up, girly. It's time to finish this as strong as you can muster.

My official time was 2:11:43 with a pace of 13:10. Not my best. It might not even by my slowest, but it was definitely my worst performance.

After the race, I found my friend. We found more members of our MRTT chapter. We laughed and we talked and then we walked back to the car. The glorious car! Where I promptly took off my shoes, and haven't regretted relegating them to be my walking shoes. The Tuesday after the race, I went to The Running Store and bought a pair of Adrenaline 18's half a size bigger than I had been wearing, and its the best thing I've done for my feet in a while.

So this will be the last time I run the Cherry Blossom. Yes, it has the views, but the early start time and frequently crappy weather help make it an unmemorable race. Not to mention the course just doesn't do it for me. It's boring.

So the next race is RnR Nashville, and with the injury, it was all up in the air which race I'd run.

Thanks so much for reading!

Isn't it funny how one project can spawn another?

So I updated the blinds in the living room {HERE} and then I decided that there was just too much white going on with those windows, and I needed to tone that down.

But what to do?

Well, obviously, I was going to add some color, but what color? And how?

The how was actually pretty easy, because I knew I wanted something natural feeling and I spied an indigo dyed wall hanging at Target and it was instant love. That is what I wanted to emulate for my curtains. A quick google search revealed that shibori style dying would be just the ticket. For those that don't know, shibori is the Japanese method of resist dying for fabric. I wasn't going to be using a wood block in my project, cause I'm lazy like that, but I did love the geometric lines and symmetry to some of the shibori dying techniques.

So after a quick trip to Ikea (love Ikea!) to fetch some white 108" curtains, and then realizing that I bought the wrong white curtains. I had bought tab-top curtains, and I wanted traditional rod-pocket curtains. No biggie! A trip to my sewing machine and I stitched those tabs to the back of the curtain and voila! I have some rod-pocket curtains now.

Now it was time to agonize over what color to dye said curtains. After some (ha!) back and forth over colors, I decided that a pretty primrose yellow would be just the thing for the living room.

I apologize for the lack of pictures here. Hopefully, you guys can visualize what I'm talking about here.

Now in order for me to have the loosely geometric line effect, I needed to fold the curtains a specific way. I would basically fold my curtain like you would the flag. In my research, I failed to notice just how they folded the fabric on the diagonal. This would come into play later. I placed 3 rubber bands loosely around each side of my triangles.

So I mixed up my dye bath following the directions on RIT's website {Primrose Yellow}, and then put my curtains into the bath for 30 minutes or so.

I pulled out my curtains, and I was in love. Then I rinsed them, and I was not so in love anymore. While the color had been what I wanted, my folding technique had thwarted my dying process. Only the top of my curtain was really dyed, and the yellow was not a pleasant one.

Determined not to be thwarted, I hung up the curtain and it became abundantly apparent that I had screwed up. The hubs came home and was very kind in his opinion about the newly dyed curtains. I told him they looked like pee, and I was going to redo them. He did not argue with my assessment of them.

Ok, so what went wrong? First, was my color choice. The yellow was not strong enough, and after seeing the yellow curtains against the strong green of the room, it just wasn't going to work. I needed a color that would hold its own against the greens, purples, and reds in the room. Hmmm, what color would work with those colors? The color in the room is Grape Leaf by Behr, and the rest of the colors I've picked are similar to grapes......  You see where I'm going with this? I needed a nice raisin color. Clearly, my room was speaking to me. RIT's website came to the rescue again and I decided on Tawny Port. See it {HERE}.

So now that the color was decided on, I needed to examine my folding technique. When you fold a flag, you wrap it up in itself in a series of diagonal folds, and that's where my problem was. The dye couldn't penetrate all those wrapped layers. If I wanted the edges of my curtains to receive the most dye, I needed all the folded edges exposed, so rather than wrapping the diagonal folds, I needed to accordion fold them. & Then We Tried has a great post about shibori folding techniques {HERE}.

So now that I knew how I'd screwed up, it was time for take 2. I mixed up another batch of dye. This one definitely looked like a witch's brew.

I folded my curtains like the flag again, then I refolded them the way I needed to. Sometimes I'm a slow learner. Then into the bath, the curtains went. They hung out for about 45 minutes.

Note, I didn't bleach the yellow out of my curtains. I put them in the new dye bath as they were, and said a prayer that it'd all work out. I'm a crazy hippie that way.

Luckily, I was not destined to fail a 2nd time. After rinsing the curtains, I was so in love with them! They turned out exactly as I envisioned. Into the washing machine with a healthy dose of vinegar was the next step. Then into the dryer until they were mostly dry.

While the curtains were doing their thing in the laundry room, I started hanging up the new curtain hardware. I screwed up again. I only bought enough hardware for one bloody curtain. Of course! Argh!
Well, my one curtain looked super nice hanging up by its lonesome for about 2 weeks, before I got back out to Ikea to buy more hardware, but once I got the 2nd one hung it was totally worth the wait.


 I love my new curtains, but I now I need to attend to some touch-ups on those walls.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Well, I intended to have this post written and posted on Thursday, but some little evil bug decided to waylay those plans. Stupid spring.

So now that I'm feeling human again, I'm so excited to dish about how my third outing at the Rock 'n Roll DC Half Marathon went.

I was nervous about the weather in the week leading up to the race because it's March and it's temperamental. The forecast ranged from snow and rain, to slightly windy, and then the forecast settled on mostly sunny with low winds and in the low 50's. Perfect weather. WHAT!!?!? I was going to have nice weather for a race? That's unusual.

A post shared by Heather (@sewhalfcrazy) on Mar 10, 2018 at 3:03am PST

So as the morning of the race dawned, I was up and eating breakfast - obsessing over the weather forecast in front of me. The winds were a little higher than previously predicted, and having run this race before, I know that along the water the winds are always a little worse than they say, or at least they feel like it. Also, knowing how I react to wind and cold in general on long runs, I decide that I need to adjust what I'm going to wear for the race. I opt to wear a slightly heavier jacket, figuring that if I get too warm then I can just unzip it a bit.

It was 6am before I knew it, and my ride was picking me up. There was a group of us again from our MRTT chapter running the half and the full marathons. Unfortunately, the marathoner's race started at 7am and the half at 8:30, so we weren't able to see the marathoners off. A quick stop at Starbucks, and then we were off towards DC.

A post shared by Heather (@sewhalfcrazy) on Mar 10, 2018 at 5:00am PST

We get to the Smithsonian with plenty of time to spare. It was cold, but the staging area was set up exactly as it has been in year's past. Gear check was simple, and the lines for the porta-potties moved steadily along. Everyone was trying to stay warm and loose.

The crowd in the chute was subdued, but happy. People chatting, stretching, warming up. I was in the corral by myself. My friend and her husband were two corrals in front of me. When I signed up for the race, I put my finishing time as 2:45. I figured I would hit this race the same as I did for the PW Half. I would just run whatever was comfortable. I had also decided not to bring any hydration with me, and use the course support. I was excited not to have my pack on me. My form sometimes suffers when I wear it because I tend to pull my shoulders to my ears when I get tired, and wearing the pack seems to exacerbate that.

So the race finally starts, and we slowly make our way back towards the start. My corral starts about 20 minutes after the gun fires. We start off down Constitution Ave. and its gorgeous as always. The first mile floats by without me even noticing. I was just enjoying myself and the sights along the way. 11:52 pace

We wind ourselves around the National Mall and head directly towards the Lincoln Memorial. The first water stop is in the shadow of that gorgeous marbled wonder. I decide that I'm going to hit every water stop since I'm perpetually dehydrated, and because why not? We then bear right on to Rock Creek Pkwy. headed towards the Kennedy Center. As we run along the river, I'm really happy that I opted for the heavier coat. The winds on the river were chillier than advertised. Coming out from under the building we hit Mile 2, and I realize that I completely missed the first-mile notification. I also figure that the clocks started 2 hours before and I was running faster than I realized. Oh well, it's still a comfortable pace. 11:39 pace


We turn right and run up along the side of the building, almost directly into the sun. It's getting a little warm now, with the sun fully out and me all in black. I open the neck of my jacket up and instantly feel better. This stretch of the course is boring. We do hit the first checkpoint though. The clock says that I've been running for about 36 minutes. That's not bad for a 5k time. 12:05 pace

Running back towards Rock Creek Pkwy, the course is the same as it was on the way out. At least we're not running into the sun anymore. This mile goes by pretty quickly. 12:05 pace.

Finally back onto Rock Creek Pkwy, and I'm so happy. It's such a pretty stretch. I mean it's hilly, but it's also gorgeous. I love watching the runners across the way, who aren't racing. They're just out running their normal Saturday morning run. It'd be so great to be able to run this stretch all the time. I grab some more water and take a fuel packet. I'm not familiar with the brand, but I remember seeing them at the expo. I decide that I'm going to stick with my gels. The Incredibles were under one of the underpasses handing out high fives and cheers. I love that they're always there. 12:14 pace

At the end of this mile is the Blue Mile. I can't help but tear up as I run along. It never fails. I read all the names and try not to think about the hill that is coming. The hill is awful. It's so steep and seems to go on forever. I eventually arrive at it though. It's lined with volunteers holding American flags and cheering on the racers. I start my trudge up the hill. I've been good about my hill training this year. I kick it down a gear and start working. The volunteers are cheering and offer high fives. I end up giving so many people high fives, because it's just too hard to pull my hand back in, and there's no way I'm going to stop getting up this hill with all of them looking. I continue to climb. I'm slow, but I'm not walking. I grunt near the end of the flags, near the halfway point of the race, and the volunteers cheer in my ear. Will this hill never end? And who the heck thought it was a good idea to put the halfway mark of this race on this hill? I did it though. I made it up that bloody stupid steep hill, and I didn't stop once. My legs are burning, but I reach the top and I take a nice deep breath, and it feels amazing. 12:32 pace.


Running downhill has never felt so good. We're running through Adams Morgan, and it's so lovely. I know I'm running slower, but I figure conquering the hill gives me a little leeway on running slower. I'm not running for time. I'm running for me. 13:53 pace.

There are a few hills and whatnot now, but looking at all the scenery is great. I start thinking about my Small Fry. He's hiking up Stony Man Trail. I'm jealous that I can't be there with him. I know he's having fun, and that he's in good hands, but still, I'm jealous. He's the one that spurs me on at the end of a race to go faster. He's the one that is always fighting to prove himself, even though he has no reason to do so. He has to be on top. My adorable, infuriating, quick-witted, smart-mouthed, caring boy. I miss him. I miss that I'm missing the hike with him. I know what he'd tell me though. He'd tell me to get it done, to finish. He'd do it with those big brown eyes and those terribly long lashes (totally jealous of my son's eyelashes). Well if I can't be there with him, I might as well make him proud. I can start to hear the drums from the drum band. Oh, that means I'm near Howard University and the reservoir. And those birds. I'm running down the hill and the drumbeats are getting louder. My footfalls are starting to match the beats. I'm feeling really good, and I feel like my form is so much better than it has been lately. 13:22 pace.


So the drum band is behind me, but I can still hear the beats, the reservoir is to my left, and some crazy seagulls above me. Please don't poop on me this year! These seagulls are crazy, they're acting like starlings. I'm nervous running under them, but there's nothing to be done about it. Luckily, I leave the crazy birds behind and continue on my way. The great thing about this part of the race are the spectators. I mean the spectators are great all the time, but the ones along this bit offer alcohol. I don't partake, because beer, ew. It does make me smile though, and the street reeks of beer, even after I've passed the Guinness for Winners of Mile 9, and Mile 9 Beers. It's a gross smell, but it also makes me happy, because the other runners are very excited about the libations. I realize that I don't have enough gels to finish the race, as I eat my last two. Oh well. I'll figure that out. 13:08 pace.


We're on North Capitol Street, and it's so sunny and bright! It's gorgeous now. I unzip my jacket a bit more and take in the sights. We pass Prospect Hill Cemetery, and the Capitol Building looms in front of us. The only downside to this bit is that it goes under roadways, which means dips and hills. I keep my pace steady, and just really enjoy this time. 13:08 pace.


How am I so close to being done? The sights are keeping me entertained along with the other runners. I notice that I've never really left the pack of runners. It's spaced out a bit, but I'm still surrounded by runners. A lot of them are walking now, but that's ok. I'm not. I'm still feeling good. My toe probably has a blister on it, but that's ok. It's not too bothersome. I decide to take the SIS gel that I had picked up at the first fueling station. I'm not too sure about it, but it wasn't terrible. It was cherry flavored, so not terrible, but I couldn't finish it. We'll see how it goes. 12:51 pace.

I'm slowing down, I don't know why. Maybe it was that gel. I don't think I'll use that gel again. Your form is terrible, Heather. So I straighten up and just keep going. It doesn't matter how slow you go, so long as you finish. I'm looking at all the people around me who are walking and I feel for them. I've been there. You got this. Just keep going. You're almost done! 13:53 pace.

Let's kick it up a notch, girlie. Your form is good. Your calves feel good. Your toe will heal, and it's just a blister. You've had thousands of them. Hey, look there's a 20k sign! Woohoo! Only 1k left! Still chugging along. One foot then the other. I'm hungry. I wonder what we're gonna eat. I bet my friends are done. I wonder how the marathon is going. I feel surprisingly good. Man, I love running. Running is the best. Tra La La La! Small Fry would've laughed at that. Then he would've told me that I'd need to be naked to say that. Then Baby Girl would've shouted it while jumping off the couch. I hope dance went well. Hey, look! There's RFK! Woot! I am almost done!!! 12:38 pace.

I keep my pace pretty even, until the last 100m or so. Then it's time to start shaking out those legs. Let's do our little sprint. Small Fry would be proud. Man, so much leg to move.

A post shared by Heather (@sewhalfcrazy) on Mar 10, 2018 at 5:00am PST

And I'm done!

My official time was 2:48:37. It's a good run of the mill time for me, but more importantly, I had a freaking awesome time. This was a great race, and I felt really good afterward. I wasn't stiff or sore like I usually am after a race.

I took advantage of the changing tents and realized that it wasn't just a blister. *graphic toe warning*



Oops.

Oh well. I guess my shoe wasn't laced tight enough.

Being sick right after damaging my toe like that did have its upside - my toe was allowed to heal. You know I would've rushed it and started running on that toe before I should've. It's still black and blue more than a week later, but it's not painful anymore.

I can't wait for next year! I'm also hoping that Cherry Blossom has the same lovely weather in a few weeks!

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

Sometimes you can improve on an already awesome recipe, this is not one of those times. We're keeping it simple folks.

March = Green. Green = Mint. Mint = Chocolate. All of this equals a happy Heather.

Dana is a whiz in the kitchen when it comes to syrups and getting her lattes just so. I applaud her for this; except I'm lazy and cannot be bothered with all of that work right now. Dana has a lovely minty mocha recipe that includes hot chocolate mix and a candy cane. I have neither of those, and I find that the hot cocoa mixes to be too sweet for my liking. So here's my Lazy Girl Minty Mocha fix.

Minty Mocha

Have you ever had a moment where you didn't know which project to work on, so you start on something new? Yea, me too.

This is what happened last Saturday when I had a few hours to myself and didn't know what to do with them. I decided that I needed a new skirt to wear for our outing that evening, so I pulled out a pattern I'd been wanting to make and grabbed some green denim that was originally intended for jeans but would now continue their existence as a skirt.

I don't know how long I've had this 70's  inspired pattern, but it's been a while and when I was "cleaning up" my sewing room (read - moving piles around) I found it and the denim that was never going to become pants. I mean I bought the denim to become pants, but I have no idea what I was thinking.

This pattern would be the perfect beginning sewing pattern. It's straightforward and incorporates a lot of skills that a beginner should cover, but not so many as to be overwhelming. The guide sheet also does an excellent job of outlining the construction of this super simple, versatile skirt.

I decided at about 1:30 to make the skirt, and by 2ish I was sewing it up. Of course, I didn't allow myself enough time to get it finished before my deadline because I decided to jazz it up a bit by adding top-stitching details to each of the seams. I also didn't have enough buttons. So many little problems adding up. The kicker came when I ran out of bobbin thread while top-stitching the waistband. That's when I walked away for a day.

The next day is when I realized that I screwed up my buttonholes. Not terribly, but I lined them up wrong when I was marking them, so I ended up having to add an extra to my skirt, but not that you can notice.

With the skirt finally done, and me trying to think outside of my fashion box, I headed to Target to take advantage of the sales and clearance stuff. Our Target is being remodeled so there is a lot of clearance! Score!

I ended up finding this fun striped shirt, which I'm not sure if it's black stripes or very dark blue stripes, but I kind of like that I can't tell, and this lovely mustard seed yellow cardigan. Some old wedges out of my closet, and the new skirt, and VOILA! I have a fun, versatile outfit that works all year.
My purple locks even worked with my outfit. I need to touch-up my grays, but the Pravanna violet is still looking good even after a month.