May 2013 Starters
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Carin - Welcome back! It is easy to lose sight of this thread. Now that I have my computer back, I am able to bookmark it so I don't have to wander around the website looking for my friends now.
We missed you!
willow0 -
Miranda and Carin - Congratulations on finishing your race! What a fun way to connect with NS friends! Did you have time to do some other things together while you were in California or was it all about the race?
Carin - It's nice that you were able to step down from the marathon in Alaska and register for a half-marathon instead. That will give you more time to work up to the longer event. I know one day we will hear that you successfully completed a marathon. But, of course, you need to do it at a pace that works for you!
To both of you: Does "corral" refer to your starting placement? It sounds like that depends on your speed in other races?
willow0 -
SO and I finally clicked the button and upgraded our plans from Select (which is no longer available) to Uniquely Yours. I was terrified to lose my discounts, because when we signed up in May 2013, there were really some excellent discounts going, plus I had a 12% corporate discount (same amount as a health insurance one). But they all stayed put. I took screenshots before and after just in case something happens.
With the $70 UY discount that is happening right now, plus all the other discounts, we're actually getting UY for over $6 a month less than Select was. Now I just hope that we have enough room in our freezer for more frozen food between the two of us!
Unfortunately, my next order just processed last Friday and hasn't even arrived yet, so I won't be getting more frozen food until mid-June.
Super deal! This makes me want to make the move, too! I'll definitely have to put some thought into it
willow0 -
We met up with everyone at the expo (where you pick up your race materials and there are lots of vendors and things selling stuff) on Friday, then we had dinner together on Friday/Saturday/Sunday... although Carin did not make it to dinner on Saturday, I never did hear why.willow_river wrote: »Miranda and Carin - Congratulations on finishing your race! What a fun way to connect with NS friends! Did you have time to do some other things together while you were in California or was it all about the race? I am guessing she was tired because she had to get up early on Saturday as well to run the 10K! So we got to spend a lot of time chatting over meals and that was fun. Carin and her husband are really nice! 
I'll post a couple pictures at the bottom... I don't really have many, I only actually have the one that Ben took of me in the hotel room after I showered and some screenshots of my official proof photos (I didn't buy any). He tried to take a video of me crossing the finish line with his phone... I was so slow that the spectator area he was in was getting pretty cleared out and he was literally standing right at the finish arch, but he made a mistake and it wasn't actually recording. Woops! The other picture was one that someone else took of most of us after we ate an early dinner on Sunday. Carin's husband and Ben (my SO) aren't in the picture, and neither is the non-NS friend of one of the other ladies who was there, or another NS friend that met up with us to chat for a little bit but did not stay.To both of you: Does "corral" refer to your starting placement? It sounds like that depends on your speed in other races?
Yes, in bigger races, they divide you up into corrals based on your predicted finish time, so that the faster people are in front and they get slower as you go back. It gets very congested in the back with slower people and walkers. You have to do a lot of dodging to go around people (I actually ended up going 13.6 miles in my 13.1 mile race!), especially if people in groups are not being considerate walkers and are walking 3-4 across in narrow areas, or do dumb things like come to a complete stop in the middle of the road to take a selfie or text someone. Yes I really saw this happen more times than I have fingers to count! It wasn't so much that taking the selfie or texting someone bugged me, especially in the parks everyone is taking photos/selfies or stopping for pictures with the characters. It was stopping right in the middle of the road that bugged me. Common sense says move off to the side before you are going to be stopping!
The proof of time for the Disney races has to be from a race 10K or longer, and I didn't do one in time, so I had no proof of time and got placed in the very last corral, and my time suffered a bit for that, and I didn't actually get a time that would place me much further up I don't think. My finish time was 3:15:41. I am doing a local 10K in mid-June though that "only" has 2200 runners maximum (right now 1650 are registered)... compared to the 13,000+ that were at this half. So I am hoping that I'll be able to get a better time in that to move me up for my race in November.
Me in the hotel room an hour or so after finishing. We went back so I could shower, then we went out in search of breakfast, which was actually harder than it sounds... we waited forever!
Me on the left, Carin on the second from the right. The other two ladies are ones we know from the Biggest Loser challenges.
Proof I crossed the finish line. My mom thought I was smiling because I was happy to be done, and I guess I was, but I was mainly laughing because Ben was literally right off to my right side by the finish line/archway and I had been waving at him like a crazy person because I thought he was recording a video. 
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Congratulations to y'all for finishing! It's so cool that you were all able to meet up.
On Saturday, I sat out for several hours and cheered on the IronMan race participants. This was my 4th year going and sitting out watching and cheering people on the run part of the course, and it is still just as amazing to me. If you ever have the chance to go and watch one, you should! The fact that people are physically able to compete in that, is crazy to me. Even more so the fact that the majority of the people that do the race have full time jobs and are not professional athletes who get paid to train and compete.
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Miranda - Thank you for posting the pictures and information about the race. I really enjoyed hearing about your experience. I'm impressed that you were still able to smile after running that far!!!
Again, a bit congratulations to both Miranda and Carin for completing the race!!!! Woo Hoo!!! Wish I could have been there to cheer you on.
I admit, I'm a bit envious that you were able to meet some of your NS friends in person. How cool is that ! Maybe someday. . . .
willow0 -
willow_river wrote: »Wow, Amanda! Thinking about how water all flows down to the Gulf really puts things in perspective. It doesn't take a lot of water up stream to cause a problem as it flows accumulatively downstream. I guess you just have to stay out of the way of high water! I assume that is taken into consideration when building permits are granted? Stay safe!!!!
willow
Hi Willow, During one of the Hurricanes, Floyd, the town next to mine had deep water in the downtown area. It was up to the second floor on many buildings. A couple of buildings burned to the water line as there was no way to get firefighting equipment to the fire.willow_river wrote: »
Hi
Not amazing to me, I have trouble walking more than a 1/2 hour at a time. To me those people here that are doing 1/2 marathons or Marathons However thank You for saying so.
Congratulations to Miranda and Carin!
Roger0 -
willow_river wrote: »Wow, Amanda! Thinking about how water all flows down to the Gulf really puts things in perspective. It doesn't take a lot of water up stream to cause a problem as it flows accumulatively downstream. I guess you just have to stay out of the way of high water! I assume that is taken into consideration when building permits are granted? Stay safe!!!!
willow
Hi Willow, During one of the Hurricanes, Floyd, the town next to mine had deep water in the downtown area. It was up to the second floor on many buildings. A couple of buildings burned to the water line as there was no way to get firefighting equipment to the fire.
Willow - It does impact where the county / home lenders / etc will let people build / buy houses to some extent. For the most part, this part of the state is kind of used to it and the area has been developed in such a way that the rivers have some room to rise before they start flooding houses but it doesn't always go according to plan.
Roger - Sadly, fires during flooding is not all that uncommon for the very reason that you listed. Your comment made me remember that several years ago (early 2000s) when Hurricane Allison (I believe) came through it hit downtown and the Medical Center really hard. Houston has a fairly large Medical Center that people come to from all over the world and for some reason someone didn't ever realize that putting the generators in the basement (which we don't have around here because typically the water table is too high and because of the proximity to the Gulf) was maybe NOT a good idea. So a lot of the buildings downtown and the hospitals in the MedCenter that had generators still didn't have power. Talk about a giant clusterf*ck of problems. haha. All of those buildings and hospitals have since moved the generators to the roof. I guess it's one of those times when the builder/ arcitect designed the buildings like they do for everywhere else in the country and until it proved to be a problem no one thought about the possible negative implications.
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Last night, a friend of mine wanted to go to Sonic (a drive in fast food place for the parts of the country that are not blessed with Sonics haha) to get a milkshake. During the summer they have half price shakes after 8pm. Well.... rather than getting a peanut butter shake which is SUPER tasty, I got a Diet Sprite with sugar free peach syrup. Also quite tasty and NOT off plan! Yay!0
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spamanda53 wrote: »Willow - It does impact where the county / home lenders / etc will let people build / buy houses to some extent. For the most part, this part of the state is kind of used to it and the area has been developed in such a way that the rivers have some room to rise before they start flooding houses but it doesn't always go according to plan.
Roger - Sadly, fires during flooding is not all that uncommon for the very reason that you listed. Your comment made me remember that several years ago (early 2000s) when Hurricane Allison (I believe) came through it hit downtown and the Medical Center really hard. Houston has a fairly large Medical Center that people come to from all over the world and for some reason someone didn't ever realize that putting the generators in the basement (which we don't have around here because typically the water table is too high and because of the proximity to the Gulf) was maybe NOT a good idea. So a lot of the buildings downtown and the hospitals in the MedCenter that had generators still didn't have power. Talk about a giant clusterf*ck of problems. haha. All of those buildings and hospitals have since moved the generators to the roof. I guess it's one of those times when the builder/ arcitect designed the buildings like they do for everywhere else in the country and until it proved to be a problem no one thought about the possible negative implications.
Hi Amanda
The Generators in a hospital in Manhattan got flooded out during Sandy. No expected the water to be that high
A medical center with no power is not a lot of use. I guess they checked out the roof by You and found that it could take the load.spamanda53 wrote: »Last night, a friend of mine wanted to go to Sonic (a drive in fast food place for the parts of the country that are not blessed with Sonics haha) to get a milkshake. During the summer they have half price shakes after 8pm. Well.... rather than getting a peanut butter shake which is SUPER tasty, I got a Diet Sprite with sugar free peach syrup. Also quite tasty and NOT off plan! Yay!
Hi Again
We do have Sonics here in NJ. When they open the Police have to be there to handle the traffic backing up onto the Highway or roadway. I am amazed that happens, I tried it after the initial opening rush had subsided to normal levels and was not that impressed.
Congratulations on not being tempted to go off plan!
Roger
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Hi Again
We do have Sonics here in NJ. When they open the Police have to be there to handle the traffic backing up onto the Highway or roadway. I am amazed that happens, I tried it after the initial opening rush had subsided to normal levels and was not that impressed.
Congratulations on not being tempted to go off plan!
Roger
I agree about their food not being worth waiting in police directed traffic for. haha. Even pre-NS, I rarely ate food from there. The best thing about Sonic is the drinks (with the endless flavor combinations), slushees and ice cream. Luckily the drinks can be calorie free or low calorie thanks to Diet Soda and some sugar free flavor syrup! yay!
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spamanda53 wrote: »Last night, a friend of mine wanted to go to Sonic (a drive in fast food place for the parts of the country that are not blessed with Sonics haha) to get a milkshake. During the summer they have half price shakes after 8pm. Well.... rather than getting a peanut butter shake which is SUPER tasty, I got a Diet Sprite with sugar free peach syrup. Also quite tasty and NOT off plan! Yay!
Huge YAY and CONGRATS milkshakes are evil things that draw you in lol, you did well resisting
~kel0 -
Hello guys!! Thanks for answering all the questions Miranda - I am experiencing a lot of challenge in finding balance in my life and things that are really important to me are suffering - like connecting with my NS buddies!! It was just awesome to finally meet some of the people that feel closer than sisters and realizing that I only knew what they all looked like from pictures. I'll never forget the feeling when I felt a tap on my shoulder while standing in the GetTravel pick-up line and looking up to see Sue in front of me! I guess until that moment I did not really believe I was going to actually meet everybody, although we were planning it for almost a year!
Another thing that was getting away from me, was meeting DH's newest granddaughter for the first time. She is 6 months old and although DH went to meet her in December, I could not get away. So this week-end we are going to OKC to see her and deliver the loot from the Anna and Elsa boutique in Disneyland to the sister (she is almost 6 and an absolutely lunatic Frozen fan!). I just hope the weather behaves! I just love my stepson and his family to death, so very excited about the week-end!0 -
Hello Friends!
If you've seen anything on the news about Houston you know how crazy it has been last night and this morning. Luckily, I am to the north of Houston and while we had a lot of rain and loads of lighting and thunder we don't have quite the flooding issues that they have closer to downtown. Some of the pictures that are being shown on the news and on Facebook and other social media platforms are insane. There was one picture I saw that showed an overpass that had a clearance of almost 14ft and you could tell that the water was probably a foot or so from touching the bridge. There are other pictures that, if you didn't realize that it was a freeway you would just think it was river (with an exit sign haha). And then there are some pictures that show how high the water rose from 10pm - 2am.
Like I said, I am north of most of the damage, and the worst of the flooding and I had no issue getting into work today. The traffic was so insanely light this morning it seemed as though it was a Saturday morning at 7am rather than a weekday. Since the City of Houston and Harris County have basically told people NOT to go anywhere and the business and offices announced that they were closing today, it left very few cars on my 7 mile commute this morning. haha0 -
If you are curious.... This is a traffic map from 6am. The blue roadways don't mean that the road was entirely impassable but that there was water covering at least part of the road (ie: single lanes or on the service road next to the freeway): pic.twitter.com/VmhNTPYa1J
And these next few are pictures taken of Brays Bayou throughout the night. If "Bayou" is not a term used in the rest of the country it is basically a river. So, it is made for water but this shows just how quickly the water rose in some areas:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF6AYGGUMAAFWv4.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF6xMEJUMAAzdWK.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF6iKtiUEAETf6-.jpg
And this was it at 8am this morning: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CF8O5DjVAAAChlP.jpg - Receding a little bit and at least its off of the road0 -
Hi Amanda
We have been seeing reports on the news. No Drought now I guess
They said that one river rose 26 feet in a short period of time and they showed a bridge completely washed away.
If You live there it must be hard to believe that other areas are in a drought condition, especially California. We are in a moderate drought here in NJH and according to the WBZ news I watched last night Via Satellite TV so is the Boston area.
Have a Good Day
Roger0 -
Hello friends! Back from a lovely although somewhat scary week-end in Oklahoma! Also loads of flooding, bad weather, rain, tornadoes!! We went to one park where the water also rose 18 ft in a very short period of time. I took a picture of the yellow line in the middle of the road just disappearing into the water, with the park facilities about 300 yards away surrounded by water up to half-way up to roof-height! Rather scary stuff!
Seeing the family was lovely though! The new baby is just so cute!! Had a great time, but now back to reality and more catching up!0 -
Roger - You are correct in assuming that we are no longer facing drought conditions. haha. I think we actually were out of drought in this area around Sept of last year if I'm not mistaken. But according to the news yesterday, we are almost 11" above average for rainfall so far this year. And that was before this mornings storms.
Carin - Before the worst of our weather came, the news was keeping up with Oklahoma and Dallas weather and yikes is right. Luckily, we don't have the tornadoes that OK gets, although there were a few small ones here. The tornadoes coupled with the flooding is not something that I would like to experience. I hope that your family stays safe!0 -
SAfricaChick wrote: »Hello friends! Back from a lovely although somewhat scary week-end in Oklahoma! Also loads of flooding, bad weather, rain, tornadoes!! We went to one park where the water also rose 18 ft in a very short period of time. I took a picture of the yellow line in the middle of the road just disappearing into the water, with the park facilities about 300 yards away surrounded by water up to half-way up to roof-height! Rather scary stuff!
Seeing the family was lovely though! The new baby is just so cute!! Had a great time, but now back to reality and more catching up!
Hi Carin
When I see the weather reports from out there I am so glad I am here in NJ right now despite the other problems here.
I am sure You enjoyed Your visit immensely.
Cheers
Rogerspamanda53 wrote: »Roger - You are correct in assuming that we are no longer facing drought conditions. haha. I think we actually were out of drought in this area around Sept of last year if I'm not mistaken. But according to the news yesterday, we are almost 11" above average for rainfall so far this year. And that was before this mornings storms.
Carin - Before the worst of our weather came, the news was keeping up with Oklahoma and Dallas weather and yikes is right. Luckily, we don't have the tornadoes that OK gets, although there were a few small ones here. The tornadoes coupled with the flooding is not something that I would like to experience. I hope that your family stays safe!
Hi Amanda
It must be tough handling having everything ruined by weather.
BTW I guess You saw the email touting Buy One get One free from NutriSystem on fruit smoothies?
Cheers
Roger0
