More Wedding Love

I told you last month about how our wedding was featured on the wedding blog, Polka Dot Bride. We found out this week that our wedding is also being featured on The Green Bride Guide website. This is exciting news because when we were in the planning phase we relied on The Green Bride Guide to point us in the right direction for some of the green choices we made on our wedding day. It makes me happy to know that some of our approaches might serve as inspiration for other earth friendly weddings out there! Check it out!

Also, an editor from the Australian wedding magazine Bride to Be saw our photos on Polka Dot Bride and contacted our photographer Olivia to see if they could interview us for a piece they want to run about the rise of "do-it-yourself" weddings. I was contacted this week by the editor and our wedding will be featured in print in an upcoming issue of the magazine. How cool! Too bad it's only published in Australia, haha. Oh well, I'll be sure to ask them to send us a copy!

Oh wedding love...you are so...lovely. I want to do it all over again (with the same man of course!).

Ragnar Relay Recap

I promised a race recap today and after a nice long nap, here it is.

It all started Thursday night at our team captain Kerin's house. We gathered to go over last minute details and decorate our two transport vans. Team Funky Monkeys was made up of 12 runners, two support members and three volunteers to help at various exchanges along the 192 mile course which started in Branford, CT and ended at Gillette Stadium (home of the NE Patriots) in Foxborough, MA.

Van 1 and Van 2 covered in Monkeys

Here's how the Ragnar Relay worked. Our 12 runner team was divided into two vans of six runners. Van 1, which I was in, would run the first six legs and then pass off to Van 2 which would run the next six legs and then pass the baton back to Van 1 to run the following six and so on until we reached the finish line. Each runner ran a total of three legs of various lengths ranging from roughly 4 miles to almost 8 miles. Overall, I ran about 17 miles, give or take with about 6-7 hours between runs.

Relay exchanges - the "baton" was a slap bracelet

There were 189 teams running the race. Our team started at 9 AM on Friday. I was the fifth runner in Van 1 which meant I had four other runners before me and one after before we passed off to Van 2. By the time I ran it was about noon and it was HOT! There wasn't a cloud in the sky for my 5.5 mile run along the CT shoreline.

Teammate Cameron charging out of the start (holding a monkey) and me on my first leg

After Van 1 finished our first rotation, we were close to our house so we stopped in for some showers and a quick backyard BBQ. This was a luxury that most teams probably didn't get to enjoy, including our own Van 2. It was a great break and nice to have the comforts of home as we prepared for our second rotation which would have us running into the night.

Van 1 enjoying the comforts of home, lucky us

We started our second rotation at Eagles Landing State Park in Haddam around 6 PM. Being the fifth runner for Van 1, I was the first official "all in the dark" runner. I started my 5.6 mile run around 10 PM near the town of Bozrah, which if you don't know CT, that's really out in the sticks. Running at night was, well interesting. We were outfitted in reflective vests, headlamps and blinking lights, but the roads were very rural, narrow and windy and at times it was a little scary to be on the road that late at night. Luckily the van could stay pretty close to check in which calmed the nerves a little. By this part of the race most of the team were pretty strung out so we were mostly running by ourselves. I can only imagine what drivers must have been thinking when they saw us running down the road in the middle of the night.

Ready for my night run

We finished our second rotation and passed the baton back to Van 2 close to 11:30 PM and drove to the exchange point where we would meet up with Van 2 to begin our last rotation of the race the next morning. This exchange point was located at Putnam High School. The school was set up with (very very cold) showers and had a gym floor where we could try to catch a little sleep. Neither of those things actually happened (the shower or the sleeping) because the school was flooded with runners and the conditions were really terrible. We finally gave up and just tried to get ready to start our next and final rotation which came around 4 AM.

Trying unsuccessfully to sleep with hundreds of other tired, stinky runners

I ran my last leg of the relay at 7:30 AM in somewhere town, MA. It turned out this was the hardest leg of my race. The conditions were great for running, but my leg was mostly uphill and through some serious farm country which meant I had to breathe in fresh cow poo the whole way. Not to mention by that point I was running on empty, literally starving because we hadn't eaten much between our second and third rotations (it was the middle of the night after all). No matter, I finished up, tired but happy and passed off to Kristen, our last runner for Van 1 thinking only of the yummy breakfast that was coming our way after we finished.

Running my final leg and passing the stick to Kristen at Exchange 29

Kristen passed the baton to Van 2 around 10:15 AM. Van 2 would take it through the final six legs and finish at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. Our final runner, Mark made his way into the stadium lot around 3:30 PM. The whole team met him and we crossed the finish line together. I have this on video, but it will take a bit longer and a few more naps before I pull it off the camera and edit and post it.

Our final runner Mark, carrying a monkey on his back across the finish line

All in all, I think we had a lot of fun. It was definitely an experience like no other. If we do it again, I think we would do a few things differently, but overall things went smoothly. We were all really tired by the end of the day yesterday. Most of us, including me hadn't slept at all during the entire race. It felt great to get home, shower and just crash.

Members of Van 1 (left) and Van 2 (right)

I woke up today feeling much better. I expected to be sore, but really felt just fine. I think I could even go out for a run this evening if I wanted to, haha. And best of all, my feet are great. I had no problems running in my Fivefingers and no muscle or joint pain the entire race. I can't think of a time when I ran 17 miles without pain. That's saying something.

I'm hoping to use this race as a spring board for some longer races I'm looking to do this summer and fall. Keep your fingers crossed that these funny looking shoes are the key to my running success. And of course, like usual, I'll keep you all posted on my plans and progress. Happy running!

Want more pictures? Check out the Official Funky Monkey Race Page.

Baby, We Were Born to Run

Remember this post? In it, I recounted my sob story about how I've been an "injured" runner for the better part of the last three years. After unsuccessfully participating in physical therapy, massage therapy, aqua therapy, chiropractic therapy, cortisone shots, knee surgery, custom orthotics and eight different pairs of running shoes, I got really desperate and tried acupuncture. And no, that didn't end up working either. I was bummed. I was out of options. Or so I thought.

On a suggestion from a running friend, I picked up the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. Chris narrates the book which starts off with a single question that can't seem to be answered by any doctor: "why does my foot hurt?" In search of the answer, he travels to Mexico to study the running habits of the Tarahumara Indians. The Tarahumara have lived for centuries in the deep isolated terrain of the lethal Copper Canyon and utilize techniques that allow them to run for hundreds of miles without rest. And how do they do it? With little or nothing between their feet and the canyon floor, that's how. No super cushioned Nikes, no pillowed Pumas. Just their feet. And guess what? Not only can they run hundreds of miles and chase down antelopes, but they do it all with a smile on their face. Pure enjoyment. If you were to ask me, I can't recall really enjoying any of my 20 mile runs. Not because I don't like the distance, but entirely because by that point, I'm in serious mind numbing pain.

Born to Run takes you through the history and trade secrets of the Tarahumara. It also takes a hard look at human evolution and trends in the running shoe market that have led to an increase in running related injuries over the past 30 years. Humans were in fact, born to run, and we sure didn't evolve to need fancy shoes to do it. Below is a short video clip that summarizes the results of a great study from Harvard University and published in the journal Nature, that explains the difference between the forces at work during impact while running in shoes versus running in bare feet.

So where am I going with all this? Maybe you've already guessed it. Bare foot. Well, almost anyway. In the interest of avoiding the need for frequent tetanus shots, I'm rarely running completely barefoot. Instead, I've been wearing "foot gloves" called Vibram Fivefingers. They are basically rubber covers for my feet so that if I step on glass or other sharp objects, I won't need to take a trip to the emergency room.

I've been running in Fivefingers now for two and a half months. Not only am I completely pain free, but I also have Superman calves and am really enjoying running again. It's more than being pain free, it's a whole new level of connection between me and the ground. It's liberating, it feels just like being a kid again. I think the Tarahumara said it best: "when you run on the earth, if you run with the earth, you can run forever".

My first real test of my new running technique will come this weekend. I'm taking part in a 12 person, 200 mile relay race that starts in New Haven, CT and ends in Boston, MA. We'll begin at 9 AM on Friday morning and hopefully reach Boston by 4 PM Saturday afternoon. I'll be running three separate legs of the relay, a total of 18 miles. All in my Fivefingers. If this goes well, I have even more ambitious plans for a race in July. Keep your fingers crossed and check back on Sunday for an update on the race!

I'll leave you with some of my favorite excerpts from the book Born to Run (thank you Kindle).

Just move your legs. Because if you don’t think you were born to run, you’re not only denying history. You’re denying who you are.

There’s something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we’re scared, we run when we’re ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.

Ultrarunning seemed to be an alternative universe where none of planet Earth’s rules applied: women were stronger than men; old men were stronger than youngsters; Stone Age guys in sandals were stronger than everybody.

In terms of stress relief and sensual pleasure, running is what you have in your life before you have sex. The equipment and desire come factory installed; all you have to do is let ‘er rip and hang on for the ride.

That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain.

Thomas the Train

Yesterday we took our nephew Andrew to ride Thomas the Train. Andrew LOVES trains so this was just perfect for him. Thomas the Train engine is on a national tour and happened to be in Essex, CT this weekend. I think Andrew had a great time. It was definitely sensory overload though, even for the adults. There were of course, trains everywhere - plenty of real trains, but also carnival train rides, wooden trains, train balloons, train tattoos, train paintings and more! Here are a few pictures of the day.

28 and Counting

This was a double birthday week in the Chadwick-Pulaski house. My birthday was Monday (May 10) and Summit's birthday was yesterday (May 14). And technically (if you believe that 1 dog year = 7 human years), we're exactly the same age - 28.

We celebrated by working as usual, eating two yummy dinners and two yummy desserts - carrot cake (my fav!) for me and a doggie sundae for Summit from Higgies (if you grew up in Higganum you know all about Higgies).

James working hard in the kitch

yummy dinner - tofu stuffed peppers!

Summit helped make the card

Higgies for a Doggie Sundae

Not to mention I got spoiled with THIS.

And THIS.

And eventually one of THESE (when they come out in June).

Oh what a lucky girl I am.

Happy Mother's Day!

"A mother's love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible." ~Marion C. Garretty

Momma Chadwick

Momma Pulaski