We started training this weekend with the coach and team. Last year I was a walker, this year I want to run it. My coach started me on a 2:1 run walk schedule. I run 2 mins and walk one until I have the stamina to up it to 3:1. With luck by the race I'll be up to a 5:1 or 6:1 ratio.

If you would like to visit our fund raising site it's at www.firstgiving.com/alicyndrew

I'll be posting details of our training and fund raising here.

Most importantly our little team of around 30 people rose just over $90,000!!!!!

At the dinner on race eve, the speaker was a doctor who sits on the board of the Melanoma Research Foundation, she told us that we raised enough money to fund a grant. They were so excited at our results, they love us!!! There we were at our carb loading pasta dinner, packed elbow to elbow at the tables listening to how much good will come from this money. They've been doing some cutting edge research but they need so much more. It was an amazing experience to be a part of this team. Our coach has melanoma and is in a program with NIH. Two of his nurses were on the team. He's also retired Navy and several Navy people joined us (good military discipline). We had seasoned athletes and we had newbies that never THOUGHT about doing this or that they actually could. (ahem as in moi)

I'll start with the ending
My official results - YES I met my goal time!!!
http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=46046277&rsID=73380
Mark's official results (he didn't fund raise this year, he joined me for the race and was a great motivating force).
http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=46045355&rsID=73380

The morning started off FREEZING!!! It was in the 20's, we were all just thankful that it wasn't the day before when it was freezing AND really windy.
We all met in the lobby at 6:00 AM sharp and did the team photo. I was wearing two layers on the bottom and 4 on top, plus a hat, gloves and a gater around my neck. I also slathered on super thick moisturizer and chapstick. Mark and I headed over to the race start and got right into the porta-pottie line. We promptly got separated from the rest of the team. From there we headed over to the runners corrals, smooched each other good luck (he was in a faster corral then me) and off we went into the crowd. I was in the last corral, this corral has no number, and it's called "The last wave". It's where the slow people start from; it's also a good 20 mins after the clock starts. So you wait and freeze and talk to other waiting freezing strangers. You try to stretch but it's pretty crowded, eventually you shuffle along and hear that soon the last wave will get to go. We heard the Rocky theme song more times than I can count. Suddenly I realize that I'm on the wrong side, I'm in with the full marathoners, but I'm stuck in the crowd and see lots of others with red half marathoner bibs, we all decide that this is not a big deal. It wasn't as the full and the half run together for the first 13 miles.

We finally get out of the gate and we're off. I can't describe the feeling of starting something like this with some 18,000 other people. It's a bit overwhelming! There were so many spectators cheering us on. I had my name written on my shirt and I'd hear people call out to me. I mostly walk fast and then add in some slow jogging. Pretty soon into the race the cold air got to my lungs and I could feel the asthma kicking in, I ripped out my inhaler and settled it down (I was prepared for this). Then around mile 3 my nose started running faster than my feet and I started hacking. These 3 angels from New Jersey gave me some tissues; I really treasured those little tissues. I shared the story of our little fundraising team with them and several other runners. I'd share the story with anyone that looked at me with interest.

The spectators were awesome!!! There was a man who rode his bicycle and would meet us at various points in the route just too high five us. I think I high fived him about 5 times during the course of the race. There was the row of frat houses with the guys banging on pots and screaming at us about how great we were doing.  At mile 5 I saw Coach Stenny; I got so excited I started to go faster and he had to tell me to slow down. He stayed with me a bit and off I went again on my own. At mile 9 I met Coach Don, he was there to escort each and every one on the team up the big hill. I had visions of jogging up the hill with Don, but my lungs didn't share this vision, we walked it. The sun came out and the day seemed glorious!!! At mile 12 there was Stenny again, he gave me the scoop on the rest of the race and off I went. Right before Mile 13 was my Mark, he was so proud of me. I was kind of out of it, but he said to meet him at the photos, I got that. That last .1 was the hardest. You feel like you're there, but where's the finish line??? You're circling around the park and still no finish line. I wanted a big finish; I wanted to run over that thing with hands up in the air cheering, if only I could reach it. Finally there it was, I picked up the pace, shot my hands in the air and smiled at the cameras

Once I stopped running on came the coughing, the nausea. I felt awful (I hear this is common) as I kept walking along just following the crowds, someone handed me a medal, someone handed me some Advil, another handed me a plastic blanket, and some water appeared out of nowhere, Mark was by the photos and we got our picture taken together, we smiled and raised our fists in victory (Stenny likes when we show enthusisasm). We got some food in the tent; the bananas they served were frozen. The chicken broth with rice was really good!!!! We were done, we were glowing and we were totally spent.
We are doing it again with Coach Stenny and Coach Don next year; they tell us that we're going someplace different they just haven't picked where yet. Mark is going to join the team and fundraise with me. TEAM DREW!!!
Some things I learned along the way
·         If it is cold make sure your base layers are long enough, because if they aren't they WILL ride up and FREEZE your belly and lower back. BRRRRRRRR
·         When putting on a sports bra step into it like a bathing suit, this avoids the strangulation method that I used to use.
·         If you go to training and listen to the coaches, you WILL improve, get faster and stronger
·         While training, I found the highest percentage of good looking, shirtless, muscular men on the Mount Vernon trail near the Airport, worth training just for that view
·         Eat carbs before the workout and  protein after. Hammer gels in Raspberry taste like the center of a jelly donut! YUM
·         Always train with a hydration system!!
·         There will be one training session that you will bonk, one when it's going to be miserable weather and one where you'll feel sick, pray all three don't happen on the same day. Lucky for me, they didn't
 
How I got into this
In closing I just wanted to share that I've been very fit in the past, but had really gotten out of shape. I went for my physical last spring and was counseled strongly by my doctor that I had gained too much weight and my triglycerides were border line elevated. I was trying to go to the gym and not finding the dedication or the motivation to keep going. Then I met Coach Stenny and his wife Kendal at the gym, they were recruiting people for the race. Every excuse that I could come up with was met with a solution from the coach. He wasn't pushy, he was nice and welcoming. Kendall told me about his cancer and how they were motivated to help fund more research into cures, she was so friendly. Some wild emotion came over me and I signed up. I just had to be a part of this, I thought I'd lost my mind. Instead I lost 18 pounds and gained discipline, motivation, a great team of friends and a sense of accomplishment!!
 
Once again, thank you to all of you who were there for me over the last 6 months. BTW – I'll need you guys again next year

This is Daisy, we just rescued her from Homeward Trails which is a wonderful rescue group. Daisy is mixed Dachshund/ Beagle. She's very sweet and has been a total angel to get to know. She was found roaming the streets of rural North Carolina and picked up. She had tags so the owner was called. The owner would not pay to pick her up so she wound up with a rescue league (thankfully as the alternative would have been euthanasia). She's 3 years old and the calmest dog I've known. She's almost zen like in her personality. She's a happy little thing that loves scratches and cookies. When we adopted her she had no idea of people speaking to her, I would have thought she was deaf she was so unresponsive to voice except I would see her listening to other sounds. Thanks to using organic chicken hotdogs, some basic training, good walkies and affection Daisy is now coming when called, knows her name and has a few commands under her belt. All in just over a week!!! such a smart girl. I can't recomend adopting highly enough. There are so many wonderful pets just waiting for a home.

I don't really know African art so I did a little research and decided to go with patterns. I hope you like the piece, I had a lot of fun making it and I learned a lot making it

 A top view of the bowl

 The bottom of the bowl

 I need to raise $2200 minimum, which is a good chunk oh change. So I decided to merge my talent with glass with my new challenge.

This is a real challenge for me to do this kind of exercise. I am training every week, 2 days mid week I walk 3 miles, then on Sat meet with the team to train where we increase a mile each week. This Saturday I'm up to 5 miles. Should be interesting, will I be stoic or will I whine?

So you're probably wondering how you're going to win a fused glass pendant. To encourage people to donate I'm doing drawings on various weeks to pull a name from my pool of sponsors and that person wins a free pendant. For the first week Alex won a pendant Way to go Alex!!!

I think that when I do the drawings I will pull from the full pool of donors so if you've donated then you're in the drawing for a free pendant. If you haven't donated then feel free to come make a donation for a good cause. AND if you decide to donate several times during the course of my fundraising effort, I'll put your name in the drawing for each time that you donate.

If you'd like to sponsor me please hit this link

http://www.firstgiving.com/alicyndrew

I'll be announcing the winners of the raffles here. Thanks to everyone that helps support this worthy cause.

 I added it to some dichroic glass and made a pendant that is really pretty. I sent the pendant to the inn keeper because she really loves that beach and her little island. My thought was that she could always have a piece of her beach with her where ever she went.

This got me thinking, "HEY, I can do this with any sand." Soooooo if you read my blog and you have a special place that you'd like to have a memory of, let me know. Get me a little sand (a teaspoon is enough) and I can encapsulate it into a pendant.

This pendant is in ocean colors, but I'm planning to try an Earthy one too. We just got back from a trip to Colorado and visited the Great Sand Dune National Park where I snagged a tiny bit of sand. I think that would go well in a red pendant, so we'll see how that comes out.

Oh I have glass news too. I am getting away from glueing on bails and starting to work with pinch bails. You drill a hole in the glass and then the bail pinches on and grips into the hole. No glue, prettier and less chance of failure. Little hint about glass and glue, ARRRGH it's a real pain. If you get a group of glass fusers in a room and want to get em talking, ask them what they think about glue and stand back. They'll go for hours. Some have the perfect glue, some "claim" to have no problems with glue, others have given up on it. I'm in the camp that has pretty much given up. 

Anyway I'll be posting pics of both, the new garden and some of my new pendants

Last week the Dogwood finally started to come into bloom and I snapped this shot. Now it's in full bloom and really stunning. 

My garden is coming into bloom and I am thrilled. I love watching it come to life after the dullness of winter. First there's the excitement of a little yellow crocus peeping out in the bitter cold. The thrill when I see my Pansies made it through the winter again and they're breathing life into the window box. Then come the Daffodils, and I love every one of them. I'm half Dutch and I love my bulbs, I've got more types of Daffodils and tulips growing then I can count!!!

This year I tried some Orange Princess tulips and I am in love, sometimes I come home and just admire their beauty, I revel in how they change as they mature. Starting a vibrant orange, then shooting a dark purple streak on the outside, then a dusty orange, all of the shades are equally stunning and a great show. It makes me feel happy to be a part of this beauty that is my front yard. When I wake up each morning I snap open the blinds and look down to the garden. When I leave for work I talk to them and admire the life and diversity of color. When I get home I'll grab my camera and shoot a few nice shots in the diffused light of late day. I need to keep taking pictures because it keeps changing. Each fresh new green shoot is an adventure, a sign of more to come. A promise of more beauty. As with the crocuses, these too will fade and I know that more will shoot forth in it's place. I will lovingly care for the fading leaves and nurture the new life. Such is the life of an artist gardener.

 Nature is a wonderful inspiration.

I've been working on this piece for a long time, now I need to figure out what to name it. It's a direction I've been wanting to go in for awhile. The base was made seperately from the top, then fused together in the kiln in a seperate firing. Took a few kiln firings to get it right, I'm excited about it, will be doing more of these.

I was commissioned to make two bracelet sets, one in blue and silver and the other with red with black and gold. The picture of the red one looks kind of brown but it's actually very bright red.

I'm very happy with how these came out even though they were a lot of work, they were fun and I learned a lot. I'll probably be making more of these guys as I think I could do some other designs that will be fun and stylish.

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

We had our first snow and the rose bush was caught by surprise still blooming. Icicles grew off of the bloom, it was so beautiful. It's all melted now but luckily I got pics before it did.

I love the garden, it is full of beautiful surprises

 I have a whole new line of pendants that are like nothing I've ever done before. Eventually I'll get them photographed and post pics. I also have some nice bowls and serving dishes.

The address is 4444 Arlington Blvd, Arlington VA

Come see me!!! 

I always knew I had cousins here but since my parents divorced when I was a kid I never was able to get to know them. A few years ago I found out them with the help of a very kind Dutchman who was trying to fill out a geneology tree that contained my part of the family tree. Mark and I visited them a year and a half ago and I loved them. This time I came by myself and am really enjoying the visit. Yesterday they took me to a local nursery where I bought bulbs, they had some that I had not seen in the catalogs and the prices were really good. I spent 60 Euros on bulbs which is a frikken lot of bulbs!!!!! I plan to give some to friends and have one beautiful spring in the garden. If we ever sell this townhouse I'm digging these guys up.

Tomorrow I go to Antwerp Belgium to meet with another cousin, they're going to tour me around town. We're also going out for Moroccan food which is very exciting as I LOVE Moroccan food!!

The trip to Belgium will be about the most touristy thing I do on this trip. I came here to visit with my family and it's been great. We hang out and chat, they try to teach me Dutch and I do my best but I can't remember it, they make fun of me, I feel the love. Yesterday we went to visit Lieke my cousins grandaughter who's almost 2, her toys were helping me learn a little Dutch. I now know that the Dutch word for Squirrel is Acorn ( I know I spelled that wrong), also cats are called Poosh (hang out with a 2 yr old and you learn what the animals are called).

It's been a wonderful trip