It's taper time in the citttyyyyyyy.........(for Memphis, that is ;)

The week has come-------crazy how it seems to fly by since the NY marathon! I did my last "real" run today with a few strides to test out the legs. I really have no idea what to expect from this marathon, seeing that I have never tried multiple marathons within 4 weeks of one another. I seem to be feeling ok, besides a little bit of ache in my left knee since NY----I am hoping this is just the shift to cold weather. I seem to feel my joints more in the winter than summer conditions.

My Predictions for Memphis (yes, I know these are pretty much every outcome there is, but I'm throwin' them all out there ;) LOL!!


1) I might possibly PR due to Memphis being an easier course than New York. (This would be awesome, but might be asking too much--- p.s. I really hate even including this setence b/c I always feel I am jinxing myself by predicting things ;D
2) Pure exhaustion will come out during this marathon due to NY and not recovering enough and I might bomb this one-----(Oh gosh, I hope not:(
3) I might possibly have some type of injury in my knee lurking and it will only rear its ugly head during the middle miles of the marathon and I might have to sit out the rest ........Yeah, go ahead, laugh.......I worry excessively and the preacher said in church a couple weeks ago that worrying is a sin in itself.......Note to self-----QUIT worrying so freaking' much about worst-case scenarios!!!!!!!! (ok, I feel better now.........It's ALL out on the table ;) em>

Matt has not run since last Wednesday......he has converted to pool running to give the foot a break and is thinking of testing it out Friday morning. It will really be a game-day decision for him. I am hoping that he will be fine; I would love to run beside him the whole way---I know we could push each other through the hard miles toward the end. I don't, however, want him to become injured from "toughing it out" on this marathon. He doesn't enjoy marathons as much as me; he would rather do triathlons. So, it is worth him just doing the half instead of the full marathon if it is hurting him, in order to be fully healed by January for the start of Ironman Canada training. We are thinking of taking a full two weeks off from running and biking after Memphis.............Wow that will be hard for me because running is my stress-reliever ;) We will still swim to keep the fitness up. We both feel we would benefit from a nice break during Christmas in order to get back into the groove of Ironman training in January. I want to be fresh when we start back up!!

We will be getting a new addition to the family this weekend as well ;) Her name will be Sadie and she is a chocolate Doodle. Ollie is going to be SO excited----I can't wait for him to have a friend to play with and know that while we are away all day, he is not lonely and sad...........I will feel MUCH better knowing they are together enjoying each other's company :) We are picking her up in Arkansas, about a 45 minute drive from Memphis. It will be a long ride back after running the marathon, picking her up, and driving right back to Jackson. We are just trying to save some money through the holidays by not staying another night in Memphis.

We've been talking a lot lately and trying to plan things out a little more for the future----paying off some debt, where we want to live and options for us to live, children, etc. I am getting a little baby itch right now. Matt just laughs and says, "Well, we can solve that problem!!" We want to wait at least until Ironman Canada is over.....then we shall see!! The longer we can hold off for Matt to be almost finished with his fellowship, the better it will be financially for all of us, and I can convert to "stay-at-home mommy" like I have always dreamed of doing :)

Please coninue to pray for my Dad and stepmom. Her Alzheimer's is getting worse, and he will, in fact, be retiring at the end of the year to take care of her. I talked to her for the first time today and my heart goes out to them. I worry about my Dad and the stress brought on right now through all of this as well. He is trying to sell his house in Texas in order to move back to Meridian. I know all I can do is trust in the Lord and pray for them and love them at this time. As difficult as this is for them and as much as we want to help, that's all we can do right now. God does answer prayers, even though we may not understand all of this right now.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season, and we will report back after Memphis!!

" Pour some Sugar on Me..........."

LOTS and LOTS of sugar that is ;) The finished Product!!!!! Two days of hard, but accomplished work ;)
(not too bad for my 2nd cake ever ;)

So much to give thanks for on this Thanksgiving day!!!

I have spent the weekdays this week writing out day by day, the things that I am thankful for. While I could go on forever, the things I have included this week on Facebook are----

1)I am thankful, most of all, for my God. He has blessed me beyond belief for so many things that I don't deserve. Thank you God-for without you, we would have nothing to be thankful for.

2)I am thankful that God sent me such an amazing husband. A man who loves the Lord, is selfless and encouraging to me,trustworthy and sincere, and also my best friend!

3) I am thankful for my wonderful family-You have helped teach me priorities and values in life, been there through happy,fun times, as well as dark,sad times, but you are always there when I need you. No questions asked-just unconitional, selfless love.

I am still continuing this list throughout the week, but those are the few that I have come up with the last few days. I really do have so much to be thankful for. We all do. Sometimes, I think we all tend to forget what God has blessed us with---just the basic things of living that we take for granted.

My mother gave me a few quotes a couple years ago and they hang on my refrigerator. They remind us of things that we often take for granted. Here goes!!!!

* Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have
enough to eat.
* Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party, because it means you have
been surrounded by friends.
* Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you're employed.
* Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, b/c
it means you have a home.
* Be thankful for the heating bill, because it means you are warm.
* Be thankful for the laundry, b/c it means you have clothes to wear.
* Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, b/c it
means you can walk.
* Be thankful for the lady who sings off-key behind you in church, b/c it means
you can hear.
* Be thankful when people complain about the government, b/c it means we have
freedom of speech.
* Be thankful for the alarms that goes off in the early morning hours, b/c it
means you're alive.


Hope you enjoy those as much as me!!! In other news this week, I have spent the last two days baking a HUGE birthday cake for Matt's mother's 50th birthday tomorrow. Wow!!! I did not have a clue the labor this thing would take ;)
By the numbers, I went through over 1 carton of eggs 16 (yes, 16) sticks of butter (can you feel your arteries clogging as we speak??;p) 2 bags of flour, 2 bags of sugar, 1 gallon milk, and 5 boxes of confectioner's sugar..........and a few other things like fondant, decorations, etc. that I am forgetting to include.

I only had 3 cake pans, but each layer required 3 cake pans each----that meant baking them all separately, cleaning the pans, and baking again.........did I mention I made this cake from scratch........as well as the buttercream icing???!! Oh yeah............last night the baking process alone took 7 hours, with 2 hours of carving and icing. Matt carved out the layers to make them appear "topsy-turvy". ---Don't think I could have done that part without him!! Tonight consisted of decorating the remainder of the cake with fondant, etc. Total cakes = 8 cakes, although in the photos I post later it appears to only be 3 layers. It's called a topsy-turvy cake........I hope she loves it ;)


I think Matt has converted to only aqua-jogging until the marathon. He is be extra-cautious with his foot, because he definitely doesn't want an injury right now leading into Ironman Canada training for next season. I am feeling much better than the previous weeks after NY marathon--not feeling that sluggish feeling anymore. I even pushed myself on mile repeats this morning (which I have a hard time doing alone, especially on a cold morning when I'm tired already from the weekly mileage.) Taper for Memphis has begun, and I plan on enjoying next week thoroughly ;) We plan on taking a couple weeks almost completely off after Memphis marathon in order to rest up and recover and really prepare ourselves for the big triathlon season ahead........I know Matt is excited!! (especially to be done with marathon training ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and gobble up plenty of good food ;)

How to take out a mailbox in 2 seconds flat, using only a Goldendoodle ---by Amanda Cassell

The Innocent Party
The Guilty Party (aka Mailbox Murderer) ---Wanted Dead or Alive



Oh the adventures Ollie dog, Matt, and I have shared.............and to think--we are actually getting yet ANOTHER doodle, you ask yourself??!!! We have truly lost our mind ;) Well, crazy loves company,or so they say........we will have one house full of CRAZY come mid-December in the Cassell household----with an added bonus of a chocolate doodle puppy ;) I just feel so sad for Ollie dog when I come home at lunch and he is looking all lonely and pitiful:( He needs a friend!!! Especially since he is a spoiled little booger already. If we get him a friend to stay entertained with, once we have children, he shouldn't feel so neglected and both of the dogs will have a chance to mellow out a little more by the time the kids arrive. Ollie has actually become quite mellow in the last couple months. We have a hard time getting him up in the morning, and when I come home, he is sprawled out on the couch sleeping...he fell asleep with his body across the couch and his head on my shoulder at 6 pm the other night....out snoring in 5 seconds once his head hit my shoulder! ha ;)

Ok, on to the adventure from yesterday evening---Matt had to go to journal club at the hospital, so I decided I would take Ollie for a little run. I was only going to take him for a couple miles---you should see how excited he gets when I grab the leash~ He was doing great, running with me--he holds about an 8:30 mile--We were on our last mile home and before I know it, he has wrapped the retractable leash around a mailbox, pulled it out of the ground, and is dragging the mailbox in his leash, all in a matter of seconds!!!!!! OMG---I looked around to see if we were causing a scene, unwrapped the leash, and Ollie is just sitting there, looking at me like, "What did I dooooo??" I yelled at him to stay, observed the mailbox for a second, and realized the wood holding it into the ground was rotted and it appeared that someone had placed it back in the hole in the ground temporarily (Whew, maybe Ollie DIDN'T do the damage!) No one was home, so all I could do was pick the leash back up and run the rest of the way home with him and my red-faced self. Ollie never even batted an eyelash at the poor mailbox. How do I always get myself into these situations??!! I have to go back and let someone know what happened today though----hopefully they will tell me it was already broken, like I assume.

This week has been very tiresome for me, training wise. I think I am hitting the burn-out phase of multiple marathoning. A great deal of my marathon training is that I have a great mental toughness when I set a goal for something. NY Marathon was a big goal for me, and when I was pleased with my time, Memphis was sort of on the back burner. I still want to do very well with Memphis marathon, but my mental attitude since NY is not there right now. It's a struggle to be able to get up in the early mornings, now that it's cold, and even though I do make myself get up, the run's are tiresome and I am just trying to push throught them. This morning, for instance, the alarm went off at 4:15 am. Matt always gets out of bed first. Ollie dog always jumps in the bed when Matt gets out (he is taking advantage of "alpha dog" haha!)

I lay around for ohhhhh.........20 more minutes ;)

THE SCENARIO

Matt(4:15am) -- "Morning Babe, get up"

Amanda--"nnooooooooooo.........I'm so tiiiiiiirrreedddd Mattt"

Matt-(4:25am) (after eating a snack) Amanda, you gotta get out of the bed"

Amanda-- "Matt, I'm sooooooo tired......I just wanna sleepppppppp.....I'm so tired I feel nauseousssssss:( Just a few more minutesssssssssss.........(in my pleading voice)

Matt-(4:30am) (Ollie is now laying on one side of the bed,on his back-with legs sprawled in the air,snoring--I'm on the other side, on my back, pretending to be asleep, hoping Matt will leave the room for another 5 minutes ;)
"You two are something else---what am I going to do with you?? Lazy, lazy, lazy"

Amanda- I promise I am getting up RIGHT now...........(did that sound persuasive, I wonder to myself? Maybe he will leave the room for just 5 more minutes ;)

Matt- (4:35am) (after checking his email) "All right babe, come on".......(picking me up, placing each foot on the ground one at a time, and this morning carrying me into the bathroom ---(while Ollie is trying to jump up in his arms at the same time b/c he is jealous)........All right, now you're up........get READY babe!!!! ;)

It's actually pretty entertaining to watch, I would imagine ;) Can we say SLEEP DEPRIVED???!!!!! hahaha!! Once I'm up and the run is over, I am a new woman..........(the steps to get me to that point, however, are a little much!)


Do not fret, however; This is not an everyday occurance (Well, it's only an occurance when Matt has to be done with running 12 miles before it's even LIGHT outside!!!!!! I'm not a complete lazy bum, I promise ;) I am just a big fan of sleep and comfort, none of which you can accomplish when running 12 milers before the sun comes up ;p)

I hope I am just suffering from a little post-marathon fatigue and not overtraining syndrome. My pace hasn't slowed very much---everything just seems to take more effort and with my mental toughness of having a goal to attain, it's harder than ever. Hope I get it back before Memphis or it ain't gonna be pretty ;(
Hopefully the taper after next week will do me some good. I need to start getting better sleep at night and tryihng not to be so stressed over things like the big month of patients at work (can't complain about more business), Christmas gifts, friends and family I am praying for in which I have no control over, etc.

I am going to take it all in stride and do what I so often tell others........"One day at a time, One day at a time"...........or at least until Ollie murders another neighborhood mailbox ;)

New York Marathon race report ----- and wonderful 8 day vacation ;)

Long time, no blog ;) I have been SO busy at work since I got back and getting things back to normal since we left for NYC that I haven't had time to post. So, on to the race report! After eating a great meal with friends of pizza at John's pizzeria off Times Square the night before the marathon, we were off to bed. (But not before I had a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery---yum :) I didn't sleep very well, but then again I never do before race day. I always make sure to get a good night's sleep 2 nights out instead and I am alway great on race day. 4 am came bright and early---got all my racing things together (much more easy than a triathlon :) and met Rick, a friend from Meridian, in the lobby of our hotel. We had to walk about 9 blocks to the buses for the marathon, which would drop us off at Staten Island to wait for the race to begin. And wait we did...........from 6am until 10 am !! Luckily, we got a spot in a big tent (never mind being packed like sardines---Hey, I was warm and not complaining ;) I tried to chill out and rest, but that's hard to do when you have to sit indian-style for almost 4 hours ;) There was a light drizzle outside and it was chilly, but it did end up clearing before the start of the race. I waited about 2 hours before the race to eat my peanut butter and bagel. Ok, so I had made multiple visits to the Port-a-pot during those 4 hours, due to hydrating so much that morning. I had one hour before my wave began, so I decided to make one final trip. Big mistake!!! Because I was in the first wave, we were to begin with the pro men, at 9:40 am. I stood in line for 45 minutes!!!!! Yes, 45 minutes, waiting for the #$%^! Port-a-pot!!!!!! Once I started looking for my wave start, I realized that we had camped out in the furtherest spot from the start.......awesome! So, I was running around like a mad woman, asking everyone where my wave was........It sounds like a simple thing, but when you are around 45,000 other runners, 50% who are foreign and don't speak English, it's not so simple. I was in the blue wave--easy enough......except for the fact that there were 3 different bibs that were blue. Blue bibs for wave start 1, blue bibs for wave start 2, and I don't even know what the other bibs were. A guy directed me to the wrong blue wave........ughh.....I will spare you the rest of the details, but I ended up running an extra mile to find the area I needed to be. I finally found my wave start--it was 9:30am.......whew! 10 minutes before the wave takes off.....except for the fact that they had blocked off my wave already and wouldn't allow me to jump in. Fantastic!!! This is getting off to a bad start, I told myself! I proceeded to jump in with the 2nd wave, whose numbers begin with 23,000. I was in the 9,000 wave........yeah, that's how many people were in front of where I was to begin :( Oh well.......what can you do? The positive side to this is that I did get to jump in at the beginning of the wave, which meant I didn't have a large crowd in front of me, and since my original wave was 20 minutes ahead of me, I had lots of room before I caught them! I said a prayer for God to watch over me and everyone during the race and we were off!!

The first mile was over Veranzo-Narrows bridge (sp?). It was almost 1 mile long I believe. Coming down the other side of the bridge, my watch said I hit a 7:06 pace.....can we say "not good?" Ughh.......I kept telling myself to slow down....there were many hills to come and I couldn't explode in this race from going out too fast. Lots of crowd support (amazing crowd support-much more than Boston!!!), adequate water stops, etc. I kept around a 7:33 pace until probably around mile 19? I need to go back and look at my watch. There were lots of bridges, which correlated to lots of hills!! I couldn't believe I was holding this pace, especially since my original goal was to go out slow on the 1st mile, then hit 7:45 splits evenly every mile. I just decided to go with it, and if I slowed, I slowed. I felt pretty good until Central Park. The last 3 miles are where I struggled. This is where hills are where you don't want to see hills:( Your legs are tired and beat up, and the last 3 miles of a marathon are a mental and physical struggle anyway. I made myself go from mile to mile. This always seems to work for me.....if I look at the big picture and start calculating how many miles I have left or how much time I have left out there, my mental toughness goes. Well, it worked. I hit pretty even splits at the end, except for mile 24, where there was a pretty significant hill thorugh the park. I heard my name around mile 25, and saw Matt in the crowd! That was a good pick-me-up that I needed so bad at that time. During the race, one of the large bridges was covered. My garmin watch got a little off-track from losing signal, so I was excited coming into the finish line. My watch said I was going to break 3:22. I was pushing to do this, because I was pretty close. I was a little disappointed to see that I didn't have a 3:21:53. (I know that's being very picky, but if you're a competitive runner, you understand trying to get under a certain minute mark if you're really close :) Looking back, I now wonder if I had started out slower around that 7:45 pace, if I could have picked it up and had a stronger race at the end. I am proud to have PR'd, nonetheless, and thank God for keeping me safe throughout the race and injury-free through some pretty high-volume training.



Great race!!!!! Tough, hilly course, but the spectators were out of this WORLD!!!! Even if you wanted to stop, they weren't going to let you!! One of the funny (or Matt might disagree :) situations we ran into during our vacation was the fact that I packed lots of boots----actually just one pair of black boots with heels-----problem was most of my outfits required the black boots to match :) Now, if you have ever tried to wear high heel boots after a marathon, let me tell you it's no fun.............to top off the "no fun", try to do it in NYC, where the majority of every day requires walking. Top that off with the fact that we had to catch multiple subways, which require steps to get down to the subway.........Matt was not a happy camper trying to walk "Grandma Cassell" around on Monday after the Sunday marathon ;) We quickly (or not so quickly with my slow self) made a trip to a store to buy some FLAT boots ;) I won't make this blog too much longer----I've probably lost your attention by now ;) We did LOTS in NYC though------saw the play "Wicked"---absolutely wonderful!!! Central Park had to be my favorite place---we did a couple runs before and after the marathon, and it has to be the most beautiful during the Fall. Amazing colors and just gorgeous scenery everywhere!!!

We visited the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Top of the Rock, Natural History Museum, wax museum, Dylan's candy store, 5th avenue (Tiffany's, Saks, Versace), 9/11 memorial, Chinatown and Little Italy,

lots of badddd eating (John's pizza, Ray's pizza, Junior's cheesecake, Pommes Frites belgian fries, Carmine's italian, Tao, Mesa Grill,Magnolia Bakery, Planet Hollywood, ........oh my gosh did I eat all of that junk????!!!!!!!!!!)



I am going on a diet today!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!! At least we had a healthy breakfast and lunch the majority of the time ;) Does that even it out?:)


We had a great vacation---




I am blessed to have a husband whom I enjoy being around so much and that totally "gets" me.......high-heel boots and all Now it's "Back to Life-Back to Reality"(as the song goes:) Things are going great for us right now---busy, busy, busy!! (Well,not Matt, he has a very laid-back month---jealous!!!!) We had an awesome triathlon party on Monday evening with pro triathlete Justin Daerr. He spoke to the group and it was a fun night for sure. It was fun getting to visit with triathlon friends we haven't seen much of since tri season as well. Training picked up for me again this week--Memphis marathon is only 3 more weeks away---hope my body is recovered and ready to go again. I'm finally feeling almost back to normal--my speed is there, just not the tiredness that proceeds a marathon. Matt is going to smoke this one as long as he can fight off the cramps he sometimes get in endurance events. Lastly, I introduced a close friend to Pinelake, our church, this past Sunday. She loves it and I'm so glad she might start attending regularly soon :)

All for now---------have a great rest of the week!!

A lot on my mind...........

I have had one busy week!! Work is very busy this week, but I can't complain about that--that's a good thing :) I have been extra stressed trying to help a friend in need right now. I am so worried about them but know that God is leading them every step of the way right now. Due to privacy, that's all I can say. Matt and I are both praying for this person right now and wish for much happiness for them in their future. They deserve this so much and I know it will come for them.

My father also heard the news from the doctor this week that none of us were wanting to hear. My step-mother has Alzheimer's disease. All we can do is pray right now and know that it is all in God's hands....taking one day at a time together. I am so worried about him and want him to also take care of himself. It is unknown how soon he will need to retire, but the doctor did say that she couldn't be left alone. Please pray that it will all work out and there will be peace with this situation. It is so hard for them both right now. I just can't imagine how hard it must be.

We are in the process of packing right now (I actually started last week......yeah, I know, but I like to get a head start ;) for New York. Our flight leaves EARLY around 6:00 am Friday. I am supposed to run that morning according to the plan.......I really don't think that's going to happen ! LOL!
Matt is still debating over the NY Yankees world series tickets. They are going to be expensive, but I told him I would stand behind whatever decision he makes. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but we just don't know if the expense it worth it. Must decide soon though! Right now, we're just dealing with last-minute things, like booking the vet for Ollie to be boarded while we're away (he LOVES that place!!!), buying maps, reserving restaurants, etc.

That's all for now.............hope everyone is having a good week.

Happy Fall Ya'll !!

So, after ALL the rain over the last few weeks and me growing tired of picking up 3 scarecrows about 50 times after the rain/wind would knock them on their faces, we made a trip to the local farmer's market to purchase a hay bail :) Isn't it cute?!

The good news for the week? Matt passed his Internal Medicine boards with flying colors ;) I think I was more excited about it than him!! Now, one last step-----Hematology/Oncology boards in the future..............I bet he will be glad when he doesn't have to take any more tests!!

Not much going on this week------tapering for the marathon..........never knew my mind would become so altered on what a longer run is considered. 10 and 12 milers are a piece of cake now------kind of like my mind used to think of 5 milers. It's crazy what your body will get adjusted to when you train it with volume.

Plans for the weekend include the Lake Caroline 15K. Matt is planning on racing it. I am planning on running it as a training run with some friends----possibly a 1 mile warmup and cool down to get my last longer length run in before New York..........can't believe we will be leaving in less than a week!!!!!! Matt is in hopes that the Yankees will make it to game 6 of the World Series.....It would fall on the Wednesday that we are in NY!!! We shall see!! Matt is going to work at the VA Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday afternoon to make a little extra dough.

Leaving you with a cute note, my little 4-year-old niece, Anne Elise, stays with my mom during the week. My sister, Elisa, has started saving baby clothes for me for the future when I will need them. Lately, my mom has been putting them up in a safe spot upstairs at her home. She says Anne Elise goes upstairs every morning, refolds the clothes, and says, " I am getting these ready for the baby, Nana". I think she is under the impression that I will be having a baby VERY soon :) Last November, she was staying at my house one night and said to me, "I want a baby for Christmas, Manda". I said, "Oh, do you now? Where are you going to get one of those?" She replied, "You" :) LOL!!!!!!!