Happy Thanksgiving!

The things we are thankful for...

I received the following in an e-mail from Josh this week...

"I am thankful for you, family, our nieces and nephews, my real job, friends, and the fact that we are citizens of a developed and democratic country."

Happy Birthday AND Veteran's Day!

Happy 33rd Birthday, Josh!!

"It's the best!"... 33 yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting!

How many birthday cards did you get??

In Afghanistan it's been Josh's birthday for 9 and 1/2 hours already! His birthday is 33 and 1/2 hours long this year!

and

In honor of Veterans Day...

Thank You Josh!

Love you!

Race Day - Sunday, October 12

So, I set my alarm for 5:30 and wouldn't you know that I woke up at 5:28 from a dream that I had where the clock said 7:30! Nothing like getting the heart rate going first thing in the morning. Like most runners, I had everything laid out the night before and was ready to go in no time. We left the hotel around 6:30 and made our way down North Columbus Ave to the Starting Corrals, with a quick port-a-pottie stop. Jen had taken a picture of my reaction to leaving the pottie, but unfortunately it didn't turn out well.

I lined up in the Open Corral (aka with the "normal runners") as instructed. There were corrals for the Elite, Top 100, Corrals A - D for seeded times, and then Open... so, I was part of the caboose to this crazy train! Based on my pace for the training runs, I lined up with the 4:30 finishers, or around a 10:00 pace. I debated on lining up with a pace group, but since I hadn't trained with pace groups, I didn't want to get flustered. Note to those who might do this in the future... stick to what you did in training.

Off I go, no turning back...

As the start drew near the corrals became more and more crowded. We were all instructed to be to the corrals around 7 am, but of course, there are those who don't think the rule applies to them and show-up and snake their way through the crowd to get to "their" spot. To top it off, they were annoyed with those of us who had been there and waiting.

The National Anthem was beautiful. It was an ensemble of singers - first a male, adding in a female, and then rounding out with the rest of the group. Just amazing! The race started just before 8 am and I crossed the start line in about 10 minutes, which isn't bad for a group the size of the Chicago Marathon. And we were off - start line...

The Women's Elite Group - they ran as a pack for the majority of the race. Impressive!

This was mile 0.8. The building on the left side of the picture is our hotel. Lots of runners!

Typically, most marathons have markers at every mile and 5 kilometers along the route. However, since the Chicago Marathon attracts a large number of international runners, there were flags indicating every mile AND kilometer. 26.2 miles or 42 kilometers. Just in the distance flags alone, there were 68, not including the 1/2 way point. Lots of reminders of how far you had gone, or how far you still had to go.

As many of you know or others of you could guess, the cooler the weather, the better it is for the runners. With temps starting out in the upper 60s and humidity at 78% around 7:30 a.m., it was guaranteed to be a very warm, if not, down right hot day. After last year's Marathon, the organizers made several changes to this year's event, including establishing the event alert system, as shown in the photo below. The day started (that being the key word) at yellow, and was elevated to yellow earlier in the week. There were many aid stations and the fluids were plentiful. My approach was 2 cups of gatorade and 3 cups of water. I drank the gatorade, dumped one cup of water on my head, one down my back and drank the other one. Many runners breeze through the first few aid stations, however, I believe that it is there for a reason and utilized the beverages at each and everyone - all 20 of them. Yes, that is a lot of beverage to drink and yes, I was drenched, but each cup of water that I dumped on me was such a relief.

So, when did things change? If I remember correctly, it was sometime around mile 20 that we were first notified that the alert system had been upgraded to red, otherwise known as high, or that there were potentially dangerous conditions. It was recommended that we slow down and/or consider stopping. Quite honestly, it felt like a sucker punch. Only 6.2 miles to go, but it sure felt like it was long run still ahead of us. At mile 23, there was an electronic sign with the time and temperature which read a balmy 91 degrees!! At this point, I thought to myself "smart runners finish strong". As people were definitely feeling the impact of the heat, sun and humidity, I knew that I still had control over how my body was going to handle the race. From this point, I decided that I would run as much as possible, but that I would incorporate more power walking to help keep myself from getting sick or feeling the need to stop all together. It added a bit of time, but really my goal was to finish. So, I attempted to run for 3 - 4 minutes and then walk for 30 seconds - 1 minute, depending on if someone was cheering for me. To give you an idea of the itensity of the sun, this is my calf and the tan line from my capri running pants (note - the picture is upside down). At first when I saw this, I thought my legs were dirty.

Jen and Jim were at Mile .8, 3, 12 and 26. Unfortunately, we only saw each other at Mile 26. I am located in the middle of the pictured, under the Bank of America banner on the left/under the building in the middle of the picture. Look for the red shirt.

There I go... just 2/10 of a mile to go. If there was one picture that I wish I had of this marathon, it would have been the sight I saw in between the time that the two above photos where taken. Jen and Jim were right on the edge of the street. Once I found where the voices were coming from, I saw Jen with her arms outstretched, camera in one hand and her phone in the other, yelling "Josh is on the phone!!" She was so excited, smiling -- it will forever be an image that I remember.

We crossed timing mats at every 5k. Here is how I faired...

5k (3.1 miles) - 30:41

10k (6.2 miles) - 1:01:38 (+30:57 from 5k)

15K (9.3 miles) - 1:34:20 (+ 32:42 from 10K -- I did have to use the restroom in this one!)

20K (12.4 miles) - 2:07:26 (+33:06 from 15k)

13.1 miles - 2:14:52

25K (15.5 miles) - 2:41:25 (+33:59 from 20K)

30K (18.6 miles) - 3:16:36 (+35:11 from 25K -- This is where I was "lost" on the course. I forgot that we did 2 loops out to the west side of Chicago.)

35K (21.7 miles) - 3:52:31 (+35:55 from 30K -- Started dodging banana peels - a lot of them at mile 20.15!)

40K (24.8 miles) - 4:29:07 (+36:36 from 35K -- Dodged more banana peels and changed my approach to finishing the race!)

FINISH - 4:44:27 (+15:07 from 40 K or 1.2 miles later -- Just wanted to finish!)
- Pace / mile: 10:50
- Placement Overall: 15876
- Gender: 5508
- Age Division: 1464

There was a reason why the 27th Mile Post Party was given its name... it really was a good mile away from the finish. It took forever to get to the runner re-unite area. Not only did I want to see a familiar face, I wanted to talk to my husband!

At last . . .Thankfully, this isn't a close up -- a much needed change of shoes!


Still chatting, getting cooler...

Again, I cut off 53 minutes and 49 seconds from my time at the Marine Corp Marathon. I really think that if the weather had been on my side that I would have easily been able to run a 4:30 marathon. At least I can say that I ran the race that was in me, and I am proud of how well I did. It was an emotionally driven day and there were certainly points when I lost focus or rather got lost in the emotion of the day.

As I took my twice weekly (sometimes more) walks with Nan, we would often talk about the training and the race. We joked, at the time, about my "oscar acceptance speech", hence giving her the title as "warm down coach". As I proceeded through the training and race this weekend, the list of people who were there along the way really did contribute to the success of this past weekend. Here is a little shout out to the people I would like to thank.

Harland -- my (unofficial) "coach". As I have mentioned before, he coaches for Teams in Training and was always willing to give me advice, support and encouragement.

Nan -- my "warm down coach". Nan and I walked every Sunday and Wednesday beginning back in March. As the big runs came around, Nan would make sure that I got in my "warm down" walk and or a mid-week walk on a day off. The Pasquarello's were huge supporters.

Hailey -- my "fan club President". Hailey was always willing to share my story and always asked how the training was going. She even decorated the garage for my return.

Lisa (and TJ) -- my "training partner(s)". Lisa would come and rescue me during the mid-length and long runs, running by my side for a few miles, to help break up the length. TJ was along for the ride.

Heather -- the training blogger from Michigan. Sharing the trials and tribulations, "badges of honor", and anxiety of it all with you was incredible. I look forward to chatting with you again soon.

My family -- my lifeline to get through this year. I'll admit you are all right - I am probably insane, but your support makes me believe that I can do anything. My parents were at the airport with their Chicago 26.2 shirts on when I arrived home. It was such a wonderful surprise.

Jen and Brew -- my "curb crew". Jen and Jim (Brew) flew in from D.C. to cheer me on and we had a wonderful weekend together. I can't thank them enough for everything they did with me that weekend. Just knowing they were in the crowd, though I didn't see them and they didn't see me, helped to keep me going. It was incredible to share the experience with them. Again, my favorite part was seeing Jen at Mile 26 when she told me Josh was on the phone! Priceless!

And of course... Josh - You are and will always be my greatest inspiration. I love you and we really are one step closer to you coming home. Better lace up those running shoes and start practicing! Wink!

An Early Wake-up Call

It's my first day of the long weekend - aka vacation. For the last month or so, I have literally needed to peel myself out of bed at 7 or somtimes 7:30, eventhough the alarm goes off at 5:30. Today, a phone call woke me up at 5:25 - it was Josh (2 pm his time). (He had actually called yesterday at 6 am, but I never even heard the phone!)

He sounded wonderful. Seemed to be well rested and doing well. I gave him the scoop on the local neighborhood children and upcoming kindergartners - reporting who had what teacher for school next year. Our nephew, Dominic, was screened for kindergarten the other day and did very well, making Uncle Josh very proud of him.

He said it is VERY HOT over there and that our 90 degree heat would actually seem cool to him. It helps that over here he could wear shorts and tshirt and would lack the 60 or so pounds of body armor.

He is excited that is July. As you all know, a lot has happened the past few months and he said that knowing it is a new month just helps. He says hello to everyone and continues to thank everyone for their support and encouraging words.

A special thank you to some of my co-workers and their families. My friend Hailey had a covert candy drive with some other people from work and her family. She shipped him four ten pound packages full of candy to share with the Afghani children. A continued thanks to St. Michael's School in Annandale, VA as they raised money to purchase phone cards for Josh's group - which continues to keep Josh connected to us via phone, as well as many other soldiers and their families.

A little shout out to Barry...

First of all, wholey moley...all the packages of stuff you guys have been collecting arrived this evening. I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for contributing such great stuff for us and for the children we see on a daily basis. They will love it. We love it. I especially appreciated the zip drives, as apparently everyone in the Army is supposed to have one now, but it something they never issue. I must have missed the memo that was passed out in triplicate four times about picking one up. I mean seriously, a zip drive. As an infantryman, I had to memorize the Infantryman's Creed. The Infantryman's Creed has strong one liners like "I am the Infantry, I am my country's strength in war." or "I am the Queen of Battle" (I know, a little weird, but apparently artillery gets to be the King of Battle, so we had to settle for queen.) or "I am the heart of the fight wherever, whenever", and oh by the way do you have your zip drive? I mean who knew. So, that was a great find in the box. Also, the one female supply clerk that we have attached to our unit, just about fell over when I passed off the copy of the Glamour magazine to her. So, put your hands together for whoever threw that in. I seriously thought she was going to pass out. I especially want to thank Rick Miller for boxing all that up and sending it off in the mail. I really appreciate. You guys are the best!

We will be passing out all of that great clothing real soon. I found some kids in one village, that I really would like to give the bulk of it too. They are terrific. As many of you know, at night we wear Night Vision Googles or NVGS. They are attached to our helmet by something called a rhino mount, because it looks like a rhino's horn on your head. The NVGS can be stowed in an up position until you are ready to use them. Then you can swing the rhino mount down and it brings the NVGS to your eyes. I make it sound a lot less awkward and not as uncomfortable as they are. It is a piece of equipment, you hate until you actually really need to use it, and you are like man I get it, I completely see the point behind all that. Walking with them on, does not even begin to compare with driving with them on. Anyway, we were in this village, as it started to get dark, and I mounted my NVGs on my head in order to be prepared. The kids thought it was some sort of video camera. They begged me to lower it in front of my face, and when I did they thought that was the cue for the camera to start rolling. Well, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph it was like a Dance Party, American Idol, and WWF rolled into one. The boys were all striking body building poses yelling that they were John Cena, the girls were all singing Britney (I am sure The Prophet Mohommad is rolling over in his grave on that one), and the rest were just dancing fighting and nudging each other so that they would be seen "on camera". When I put them back on my head, they all stopped, and said oh mister, mister...please" So, I sent them all over to another truck and told them that that truck had candy and made a run for it. Don't feel too bad for them-they were the lead truck that day,and they had driven really slowly all day and chosen way more difficult routes than necessary, so we all know what they say about paybacks.

I am sure many of you have been watching the news and have noticed that there is quite a bit of activity here in this corner of the world as of late. This was expected, and something we have prepared for and trained for. The Taliban like to launch a "Spring Offensive" every year. It usually lasts from April to September, and then as the weather changes, they go back to hiding out. I think people are sometimes surprised by the violence here. With that being said, please take everything you hear on the news with a grain of salt. Everyone I have met here wether they be US, a coalition partner, or a member of the Afghan National Army or Afghan National Police is working as hard as they can with the resources they have been given. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we draw courage and strength from them everyday. Sister Michelle, my fourth grade teacher, would be amazed at how quickly the Hail Marys roll off my tongue. I was always a little slow at prayer memorization. I mean who can concentrate on afternoon prayers when you are one amen a way from lunch. It is the support of you all that carries soldiers like me and allows us success. You will never know how much we appreciate it.

In another news...I did watch Michelle Obama interviewed on The View in the chow hall. It was on all eight televisions. BOO! I have nothing against the junior senator's wife from Illinois, I just have only seen The View in Saturday Night Live sketches. It just seemed like an awkward programming choice for a post with over 85% men. Unfortunately, for the first five minutes, I really was not sure who she was because TV watching is few and far between. A little embarassing, I know.

Finally, today is Friday, and I am not going to lie to you all-the Kindergarten Team at times has been known to have a meal or two at the big Burger King on an occasional Friday. Today, I found myself at one of the larger American Bases here in Afghanistan that happens to have a BK. So in honor of the Kindergarten Team, I had my lunch at Burger King. Although, I did not have to race back to school by 1:15, only to fumble with the back door only to remember that I had to go in the front door which forces me to pick up my kids with a LARGE soda in my hand. It wasn't nearly as fun because A) my wife did not show up to surprise me to eat with us like she sometimes does, and B) I got yelled at by three different people in about three consecutive seconds b/c my sunglasses were on my head, which apparently next to not having a zip drive is the worst sin you can commit in today's army. I hope you guys have a great weekend and a great summer. Josh

AH CHOO! Got tissues?

Josh appreciates all of the packages that he has received, but wanted me to share that he has plenty of tissues for the time being! He did say that should he or anyone get a cold that they have a great supply to draw from.

A special thanks to Nate and Steph Kidwell for their recent package to Josh. Stephanie went to Geneseo with me and Nate serves as a New York City fire fighter. They sent along NYFD t-shirts to Josh and his "truckmates." Sadly, Nate's firehouse lost several fire fighters on 9/11. Josh was especially grateful for the tube of toothpaste because he had just left his behind in the bathroom on the same day that he received the package.