Friday, September 28, 2012

Expect the Unexpected

I was really glad to wake up to this:

IMAG0770
Dense fog. I am a nervous flier so taking off in low visibility makes me ecstatic. Good thing I’ve got my friend, Xanax. By the way, did you hear about the guy who proposed to his girlfriend while they were flying an airplane?  He told her the plane was going to crash and gave her the emergency procedures to read. When she opened it up, it said “Will you marry me?” I think I would have punched him in the face. Or the nuts (better choice). He does get points for creativity, however.

Murphy's Law: It seems the unexpected happens quite often when I’m getting ready to go out of town. I spent four hours in urgent care and at the hospital yesterday with son Sam because he had had major stomach pain all day, in his lower right abdomen. It had been going on since the night before when he started feeling sick.  It just screamed possible appendicitis. So, after an exam, blood work, a urinalysis and an ultrasound, they found it was not appendicitis, but a swelling of the lymph nodes in the abdomen from a virus. Something called adenitis, which I never knew existed.

So, here’s a question for you and something I’ve been pondering. I don’t have any more big races on the calendar, and am moving more into maintenance and down mode for awhile. It seems I am always training for something, so not having a goal is a different feeling.

What does your maintenance plan look like during your non-training period? How much do you run and what other kinds of work outs do you do?

How did your marriage proposal go? We were backpacking up some mountain when Ken popped the question. Perfect!

Time to head to my home state of Maryland. Have a great weekend.

SUAR

34 comments:

  1. He proposed at the finish line of my first marathon. I was totally spent. I said "Are you freaking serious?" then said yes. :)

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    1. Aw :) I went to watch my friend in the Philly Marathon years ago. I was standing about mile 20 and a guy ran buy with a shirt on that said "I asked Diane to marry me at mile 17" and on the back it said "SHE SAID YES!" Very cute! He was running with perma-grin and the crowd was going nuts for him.

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    2. Lindsy -- what a cute story! Kim, your story sounds amazing as well. I like the idea of the t-shirt so he can really be excited about it the rest of the race with the crowd!

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  2. My training and non-training periods kind of look the same right now. lol I don't have anything going on until March (I live in the Land of No Races After October) so I'm just doing a few miles a day here and there. We do a lot of dayhikes w/the kiddos in the fall. I love the Elliptical so I incorporate that and I use P90X selectively for some plyos and yoga. It sounds way more serious than it really is.

    I met my husband backpacking in Banff. He was planning to propose when we were on a trip to Arches Nat'l Park (at "Double O" arch - hehe) but it was a comedy of errors and dead camera batteries. In the end he proposed on my birthday, sitting on our living room floor. It was still perfect.

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  3. p.s. I'm glad your son is okay and hope he feels better quickly! Lots of yuck going around lately!

    p.p.s I would have absolutely punched Mr. The Plane is Crashing in the face.

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  4. maintenance plan for me to to stay ABOVE 20 miles per week running and then take this chance play around with new classes (boot camps, Zumba, 20/20/20, etc) and formats - if I get sore or injured I have time to recover... then I can add what I like to future training. I was just in MD, went to a state park off the Chesapeake Bay for SUP(stand up paddle boarding). it was a GREAT time :)

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  5. Whatcha doing in Maryland? Just one state away from me...

    My husband popped the question behind the TV...I know, very odd. Actually, he didn't even ask. He got a giant bear with a t-shirt that said "Will You Marry Me?" so I actually should have married a stuffed animal...

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  6. 1.sorry about your grand father and safe travels to you Beth
    2 proposal was on the beach at Laguna Beach...no big set up and was just us. I thought it was perfect for me.
    I would have punched the guy on the plane I think
    3 I hope Sam gets better soon poor guy

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  7. SUR -- glad your son is OK. Hope you have a nice time with your family in MD.

    My husband proposed during our cross-country road trip while we were in Glacier National Park. Went on a hike and he popped the question midway through!

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  8. Beth, hope the man/boy is on the road to healing! We're battling the brown scurge here in the greater Philadelphia region (back to school browns) as we call them.
    It's nice that you'll be with family in MD to remember your granddad.
    My hubby (now my ex) proposed on the couch while we were watching Moonstruck on TV. St Patrick's day, his favorite day of the year. It was unceremonious, sweet and quiet. Also became our favorite day as 6 years later, following a long struggle to get pregnant, we found out we were expecting our first baby on the same day. Must have had some luck to it.

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  9. My hubby and I were doing the long distance thing, and meeting in the middle on weekends. One night, we were sitting around talking and he said, "This is stupid. We should just get married." So, a few weeks later, we did. It's been 18 years!

    I am also headed to MD this weekend...OC Winefest for Girls Weekend! But I have no need to travel. I only live 4 hours away! I wish your trip was for a fun reason. I lost my last grandparent almost a year ago and I am sorry for your loss.

    And what is this maintenance you speak of??? We just go from race to race to race....well, you get the picture.

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  10. I only run 3 days per week, so maintenance is 2 shorter runs and a longer run up to 8 miles.

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  11. He proposed while backpacking!? That is amazing!! I love it.

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  12. Glad your son is okay!

    My fiance and I went to a nice dinner before a concert, which we had tickets to for months. After dinner, we were walking around and he dropped to his knee and asked. I asked, "Are you serious?" because I figured it was never going to happen. He said he was serious and I couldn't stop crying, but managed to say yes.

    The concert was a blurr because those lights caught my diamond and I couldn't take my eyes off of it all night!!

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  13. Yeah, trying to leave town when you have kids is the worst...happened to me just last week. Little Sophia got really sick and I was left feeling guilty and worried about her. Luckily the night before I left she finally got a good nights sleep so I felt a little better. Glad your son didn't have to have surgery, a year ago my 9 year old had the same symptoms and they too thought it was an 'A', $3500 of tests later they discovered it was pneumonia! Good luck w/ your off season, mine looks like this (remember AZ is blazing hot in the summer so don't judget), I swim, eat shaved ice and watch a lot of reality tv. Seriously. :) xo, Jessica

    sweatismysanity.com

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  14. My husband proposed out in the hills at the ranch checking water for the cows in the dead of winter with a generator and Christmas lights spelling "Marry Me" strung on a fence - down on one knee in the snow. I kissed him and said yes - runny nose and all!

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  15. Your native state of Maryland is waiting for you! Baltimore is going to be beautiful this weekend!

    As one of your few male readers (apparently) I'll tell you how I did it. My wife and I met in college during a French Revolution class. (Important background information)

    I told her that I wanted to go see the Maple Leafs skate on their home ice and that I had bought tickets to go see them. (She hates hockey, has never had an interest in travelling to Canada, and was only going because I wanted to. So you can imagine the enthusiasm.) Because we were going out of the country, I said, she needed to get her passport in order. She is much smarter than me and back then knew that we didn't necessarily need passports. I pushed and pulled and she got her passport against her will.

    When we went to the airport, I stopped in front of the Air Canada terminal and she was crestfallen. I gave her the tickets so she could make sure we were at the right place and that's when she found out that she was going to Paris. After dinner on our first night in Paris we walked to the Eiffel Tower and I proposed underneath. In the middle of the whole "Will you marry me sentence" I was touched on the shoulder by no less than 3 street vendors who were trying to sell me something to remember the occasion... I told her if she said "No," that I was going to take her back to the airport that same night and send her home...

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  16. Thankfully I am still training for my first marathon-October 14th in Newport Rhode Island. However when I don't have an event to train for it is almost depressing for me and I start planning my next year's events. I usually swim, bike and run at least one once per week and add more weight training - TRx -Yoga during the offseason.

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  17. Where are you from in Maryland? My home state too!

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    1. Btw, I started running again on Sunday after 3 weeks off w/ pneumonia. I feel surprisingly good, but have definitely lost muscle. Will run the Baltimore 1/2 in 2 weeks (instead of the full), and am registered to run the Philly Marathon on 11/18. Thanks Beth & readers for all of your words of wisdom in "How Sick is Too Sick?" It was kind of like I needed someone to give me persmission to delay my marathon, so you guys really helped me out!!

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  18. Glad Sam is okay--safe travels, wish it were for a happier occasion. My husband proposed to me at work. He was there for an event that day; we'd been eating pie and talking to a coworker about how hard marriage was. After she left, he and I were on opposite sides of my desk and, out of the blue, he said "Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes," then we stood and looked at each other for a minute before one of us said, oh, I guess we should kiss. So romantic, eh? No matter; it worked, and we're still together after nearly 33 years. :D

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  19. Awesome that Sam is ok!

    My proposal was, in a word, horrible. I drove to work and met her with a ring, a rose, and a bottle of champagne when she got off work. I didn't think about the fact that we had to drive home separately and we couldn't drink the champagne until we got there. I also totally forgot what I'd planned to say and just sorta stammered for a minute or two. At least she took pity on me and said yes.

    My standard non-running workout is my road bike. I love the feeling of tearing down the road! Brings me back to my childhood on my Schwinn.

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  20. WOW... it was super foggy like that here yesterday. It might have been today, but I didn't look outside until right now and it's sunny :P

    I spend most of my time in maintenance so I can't really answer that question with any depth! But it might come as no surprise that I was the one who popped the question...on the Fourth of July because I feel fireworks when I am around him :)

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  21. Hello from a new fan - your blog is fabulous and hilarious, by the way. Thank you for lightening my days! I just wanted to say (from one nervous flier to another) that Klonopin is far superior to Xanax. Less sleepies, more not-care-sies. :)

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  22. I was a Denver Bronco Cheerleader (The Pony Express - the originals) back in the day, so my husband felt it would be appropriate to ask me to marry him via the jumbotron at Mile High Stadium. I have to admit, that was very cool, and of course I said yes!

    It seems I am always training for something too, but, I like it that way, it keeps me from becoming too complacent. However, the most I ever train for is a half marathon, so it doesn't require quite the regimen that you put forth.

    Glad your Sam is okay.

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  23. My daughter had an appendectomy last year and spent 3 days in the hospital. Yikes it was hard. Glad he's ok and hope he feels better soon. My husband proposed on the way to Lake Tahoe. He pulled over with a beautiful view of Tahoe basin and pulled out the ring. Four months later we got married in Tahoe then went to Yosemite for 3 days and hiked Half Dome.

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  24. Mesenteric adenitis. Looks like appendicitis. But isn't. Whew! Is he better?

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  25. Glad Sam is ok. I am not a fan of the big production "surprise" marriage proposals, especially in front of an audience. It puts the girl in an impossible spot. The more the build up, the harder it is to say no, or even I need to think about it. I think it comes across as arrogant, assuming she will say yes. And to pick a ring out without her input seems really dumb, though I suppose you could be clever enough to have scoped out her taste in jewelry. But most guys, including me, are simply not that observant.

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  26. My husband proposed on a hike up to the Continental Divide near Winter Park. I wasn't feeling well and was lagging behind him, but he insisted we get all the way up (not like him...he's usually a mellow go-with-the-flow kind of guy...I should have known something was up). He told me later he was really nervous hauling a diamond up that whole way. :^)

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  27. My maintenance period stays pretty much the same as when I'm training, the only thing that changes is the intensity. I lay off the speed work and for my long runs, I generally don't run longer than an hour and a half. If I miss a long run, I don't care. I may sub it with a trainer ride instead.
    Glad to hear that Sam is ok!!
    As for our proposal. It was 2 days after my birthday, I was home sick and we were sitting on the couch together talking about how well our families got along (they had met for the first time on the weekend) and hubby said "Well that just bodes well for the future". I looked at him kinda funny and then he said I got you something else for your birthday, do you want me to get it? Of course I said yes, so he reached into his pocked and pulled out a silver box and then popped the question. :)

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  28. I'm currently following a six-month training plan to get ready for a March marathon.
    I've learned from experience that it's easier for me to "stay" in shape than "get" in shape, so once the marathon is behind me I plan to remain "half marathon-ready" by running three miles 3 times per week, then longer runs on Saturdays that will rotate 6, 8 and 10 miles.

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  29. I really like dense fog but I hate it when you are driving through it that you can see anything in front.

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