Blogging on the Powwow

I travel to Maine regularly since my step-daughter, Dorothy, is only about an hour away in southern Maine. For someone who commutes 90 minutes each way to work--through Boston--it is almost a treat to shoot up I-95 into Maine. Easy-peasy. But, every 3 months or so I plan a more extensive trip into Maine, north of Portland, to visit family and friends. I usually cram as many visits as possible into a single day. I'm someone who likes to be busy, so this works very well for me, and I like to think, for others as well. This past Sunday I made stops in Biddeford, Saco (that was for Reny's , I confess), Brunswick, Woolwich, and Topsham (where I got in another stop in at a Reny's) . I knocked off four visits with friends and family, made a drop-off at another friend's house, and hit two Reny's stores. It was a productive day! Here are some of my lessons learned and discoveries made on this quick trip back to my home state.  We've lived in Massachusetts for five ye...

I started this as a Facebook post a few days ago, but took it down and decided to write a full blog post. I've never been great at pitch -- my own or someone else's. Sharp? Flat? Adjust up, adjust down? Is it right now? No idea. It's a terrible thing for a child of two music teachers to admit. It's even worse for an oboist to admit, given that we give the tuning note for the ensemble. But, that's what tuners are for, right? Well, something hasn't been right with my pitch, or so I thought. I always leave my tuner on during rehearsals, but now I started keeping it on during my practice sessions. Sharp. Regardless of the reed, the weather...sharp on all notes above middle B.  I talked to Neil. Which reed? All reeds.  Which notes? Everything over B.   Well, you could have a crack.  A crack? Had I cracked Neil's beloved, old Laubin? I confessed to Neil that in a moment of weakness I had pulled out my reed 1 millimeter to get my pitch down during rehearsal...

I ran my 10th marathon (or marathon-plus) run this past weekend. There are so many good things that happen on the course that only the runners get to see. One of my favorite things that happens in marathons is the goodwill that is exhibited by spectators. It is present in every race, but it's message and form is always a little different. If you Google "marathon signs" and hit images  you'll see all kinds of funny and inspiring signs that spectators make for marathoners. Here are some of the messages I saw this past weekend. The last one is my favorite. RUN FASTER, I SMELL CHEESE. YOUR LEGS WILL FORGIVE YOU...EVENTUALLY! I HAVE A HERO AND HER NAME IS ME! CARPE DIEM ALL IT TAKES, IS ALL YOU GOT! Adults and children alike line up to cheer you on, slap your hand as you run by, and yell out your number, You can do it 306! Looking strong 306! You got this one!  Of course, when they yell it at mile 3, I'm usually thinking ...I had better be looking good at ...

Anyone who has read my blog posts before or who follows me on Facebook knows that I am a casual marathoner who has been suffering a bad streak of running injuries since 2011. I'm training for my 10th marathon (or marathon-plus) and using a coach, Leigh , at Athletes Treating Athletes , so that I don't injure myself this time. Having Leigh available in all forms of communication (cell, text, and email) in a heartbeat has been a dream for me. I get daily (sometimes twice daily) feedback, encouragement, and guidance. I have been on the brink of an injury a couple of times during this training cycle, but Leigh has kept me injury-free so far. The marathon is in 3 days, so I'm hoping that my opportunity to fully damage myself is limited.  I have had many different types of running injuries, but my body's injury of choice as of late is a stress fracture in the second or third metatarsal of my left foot. It's a miserable thing, in part because it takes a long time to hea...