April Shower....

Can't say I'm sad this old ugly embarrassing thing is out of my life!!

Demolition begins!!

And then continues some more...

My very new and un appealing drain. This took about an hour of jack hammering through the foundation that I was told by the plumber it was "very hard." What did he expect? It's cement.

Rob and Tyler. Thanks guys!! I recruited them to insulate and then sheetrock the walls to get ready for this.

Drum roll please......

Does this make you want to come visit? I'm pretty sure anyone who has stayed at my house and been plagued by the environmental hazard that used to be here can appreciate the pictures. Now, just a little painting to do and a new curtain to hang and I'm all set.

I love April Showers.

NYC 2010 Marathon Photos

Our ride to the marathon start.

Here we are. Nice and warm on the Staten Island Ferry.


Waiting in line for the shuttle bus from the Ferry stop to the marathon start.

Waiting til our turn.

The UPS trucks who take our bags to the finish.

The Start Line. The weather was perfect.

My friends who are 'all smiles' at the start.

On our way onto the Verrazonno-Narrows Bridge

There's a famous opera singer (left side of flags) singing the national anthem.

Welcome to Brooklyn!

How could I not take a picture of this guy?

March 16, 2011 - Mel and I are on our way!

My running cohorts gave me grief about having my name on my shirt. It wasn't long until they wished they had done the same. I had my person cheering section for 26.2 miles!

Somehow I've got to get one of these Team Tillman shirts. At the start I saw a guy wearing this shirt and then saw him again at the finish. Loved it!

They call this the "death march". Down the road from here are the UPS trucks with my bag of warm dry clothes.

We had some help from a very nice girl from Ohio who helped us navigate the subway to get home. The runners brain had taken hold and the subway map was just way too complicated.

Early the next morning some of us went over to the finish line area.

We heard there was a marathon gear sell.

This ING Cafe was around the corner from our apartment. We didn't figure out until later it was there and selling the same merchandise as the place in Central Park for 15% off... I could have slept in and saved some money! Maybe then I wouldn't have looked so tired. My motto, "I can rest when I get home."

What a great time. Thanks NYC!! Can't wait to do it again another year.

NYC Random Photos

Dylan's Candy Bar. This store is always worth a stop.

Lucky for me, it was just around the corner from where we stayed.

Bryant Park skating rink. This could be my new motto.

View from on top the Empire State Building.
It was freezing up there!

NYSE

Haven't seen the Letterman Show yet. Years ago, I did see Letterman interviewed by Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show... does that count? I mostly remember the red converse shoes he was wearing.

LDS Temple.

How they block out the city noise inside this building is simply amazing!

My favorite Times Square bill board. No sightings by me, thank goodness!

Me, the Bull and some Dork who wouldn't move.

Two ladies in green...my favorite color.

Miner from Chile on the Today show. He was freezing!

Momma Mia and More

It's Sunday night. I just found Momma Mia on TV and it reminded me of great times this past November while in NYC for the marathon. I promised I would write more about this trip. Well, now that it's a distance memory...here goes. I can only say there's just been a lot going on since then... What was extra fun was Mo went with me. We had a blast!

There were a bunch of us that went. It was actually quite remarkable we found our way to the expo and then found each other for a photo once there. Here we are all checked in with our numbers, shirts and other race swag in the official marathon bag. Next, there is expo shopping to do. And dinner once we get back to our hood.

Oh, an honorable mention on our accommodations. They were fabulous! We had 3 apartments on 57th Street. Everything you could possibly need was right there or easily accessible via the metro or bus.

While there we saw two broadway shows. I have always been a Momma Mia fan. We'd purchased Wicked tickets in advance and decided if we could pick-up another show while there we would. It worked out splendidly. We sat so close to the front in Momma Mia my pant legs shook from the sound system.

Another highlight after seeing Wicked was our ride home. The whole group took the metro to get to Times Square. We all loved the show. My favorite line is "we can't all come down in a bubble"... anyway when leaving the theatre there was someone offering us a limo ride back to our apartments. He said he could take 12 for $60. We piled 17 of us in the stretch and road across town in style. For my first limo ride I was sitting on the floor on someones feet with friends landing on me every time the driver hit the breaks. We laughed the whole way! We tipped the driver well and he offered to take us to the airport at the end of our visit.

This was the trip that seemed to be far into the future and then all of the sudden it was time to pack. I absolutely love to run NYC. When people ask me which marathon is my favorite I say I have two. New York and Big Sur. You couldn't get two more contrasting marathons with all the people running and spectating in NYC vs. the spectacular scenery of Big Sur. This run did not disappoint. Marathon photos still coming...

Breakfasts of Eggs and Oatmeal

For over the past year, probably close to 2 years now every morning starts about the same. It's like Ground Hog Day. Get up, workout, shower, get ready and hurry upstairs to cook my 4 egg whites and 40 grams of oatmeal. It's the way to start the day. It's good for your heart. Eggs whites are a pure protein so they help muscles heal after a workout. Eggs and oatmeal are cheap. Oh, there are lots of good reasons.

Personally, I like my eggs in an omelet. Spray the pan with a little Pam, separate the eggs and you're good to go. On special days, like Sunday, you get a little cheese added in. It's delicious. With the eggs I get 40 grams of oatmeal. 40 grams, no more, no less. This turns into a bit of a game with the food scale. It's taken me a long time to perfect getting 40 on the first try, but I've almost perfected it. It's only taken a year. Wash it down with a half cup of orange juice and I'm off for another day.

One more thought... If you do the math of 4 eggs a day for 365 days a year it's a lot of eggs. If you do the math, it's 1460 eggs (over 121 dozen) just for me. It's like the lady in the grocery store once said, "That's a lot of eggs!" And that's no yolk...

Where's Doris?

My detailed report to follow soon....I promise!

Disneyland Half and Cupcakes

The Disneyland Half Marathon held September 5, 2010. This morning started off by realizing I had set my alarm for 4:30 p.m. It's a wonder I didn't miss the whole darn thing! We stayed at the Annabella on Katella located just a short distance to the start line...good thing... My quest for my Coast to Coast medal was close to being underway.



Mickey and Minnie were there to wish all 14,000 of us well. They said all states were
represented plus 60 countries. It was quite a crew. I was corraled with group C. The weather couldn't have been better. Mid 60's.


Me and Mike...one of my favorite characters! I had a little drama on Katella prior to entering the park. That's why my number is hanging like it is. Those dumb little bumps they put on the lines in the road in California got me. I turfed it, hard... I'm sure it was a perfect volleyball dive...That's why my number is hanging like it is. I have a skinned elbow and knees to prove it. Hurt my pride the most...



My Star Wars buddies. They are a little intimidating!

I like Mary Poppins. Makes me want to sing supercalifragilisticexpaliosuous...sp?? Anyway, you get the idea...

I had this picture taken for the kids. Pretty cool, hu?

This shows the big light show they now have going on.

Toward the end we ran around field of the A's stadium. I even made the jumbotron! This was pretty dang fun.

Now for the postrace celebration we went and found Sprinkles. These are the tastiest cupcakes I've had. And had again the next day. In fact, we might just make another stop today. And you can bet we've discussed how we could potentially get them home on the plane, or shipped, or something.... although probably not likely. So far my favorite is the chocolate filled marshmellow. Yum. Pictured top left.
I just realized I don't have a photo of my medals. I'll have to save that for another post....