Motivated to Succeed

Haven't had the best training recently. School has been absolutely insane with xc, seniors, juniors, and of course teaching 6th grade geography! Haven't run since last Monday so not sure how the race was going to go.

WARM-UP: (.75 miles @ 9:52 pace) Got to the race about an hour and a half early up in North Adams. Got my shirt and bib number and then went and parked about 3 blocks away at the Big Y supermarket. I needed to be able to make a "getaway" after the race, as there is a parade afterwards for several hours and they block off the south bound side of Route 8. Jogged up and down Main Street and a couple side streets. Came back and stretched near the church. Thought about my goals: A) Sub 23:00  B) Sub 24:00 C) Anything under 25:00.

THE RACE:  (3.11 miles in 22:44; @ 7:18 pace)

The race started without a hitch. I lined up in the third row and just prepared for the ride. The opening .5 was downhill on Main Street, followed by a left, up and over a bridge out of town, a long uphill and circle before turning around and coming back uphill. A tough course. We went out way too fast. I was in about 50th place at the 1/2 mile mark and I was running a 6:30 pace. Soon people started peeling off as they were tiring. I was still holding my own and though I was slowing down to my 7:20-7:30 pace, I was moving up places. Got up to as far as 32nd place and even with the first overall woman (who beat me by about :45 seconds). I just did not have enough in the tank at the end, which is understandable considering I have not done speed work OR much running for that matter in the last week. Stayed strong and listened to no less than six of my BArT kids cheering me on saying "Go Mr. Griffin!" or "Run faster shorty short shorts!" Crossed the finish line pleasantly tired, tied for 37th place overall.

COOL DOWN:  (2.3 miles) After finishing the race I did a short cooldown, stayed for the awards ceremony only to find out I did not place in my age division because I was in the 19-29 age group. They had a 13 and under, 14-18, and 20-29 :(. I think they should have split it into 20-24 as the top 3 places were scooped up by 28 and 29 year olds that were in a different league. This was fun and I can't wait to do it next year!

Not long now until the wedding!! 

3:40 PM - A little cool, but I was overdressed in a sweatshirt with the kids today. We did a warmup up and over the golf course to the field on the bike path. 5 x 1 laps increasing pace. The last 2 I did incredibly hard, really trying to push A.C. and K.L. who seemed to be struggling a bit but they are definitely capable of good times. Cooled down back to BArT. 3 miles total.

3:40 PM - Ran with the team, 30:00 total. Warmed up, stretched, 1 x loop of the Adams cemetery, followed by up and over the golf course, running with a few of the 7th graders towards the back of the pack. 5 x 1 lap increasing pace before a cool down. Felt good and really pushed it on a couple of the laps, despite still being a little sore from the race on Sunday. 4 miles total (7:30 pace)

Ran a bit at the xc meet today. It was raining buckets and there were just puddles everywhere! I did the best I could to support the kids who were disheartened about the rain. Many of them ran faster than several weeks ago, but some did not run the times they had wanted. I tried to explain to them that you can't improve every single race, all the time. (1.5 miles of jogging from one part of the course to others cheering them on). So proud of my BArT runners!

 Not long now until the wedding! 10 DAYS!!! EeK! 

11:30 AM - Gorgeous fall weather in MA. Temp around 56 degrees and sunny and blue skies. I met at the HVHS, about three miles from BArT. Some of my runners were already there waiting for me. So nice to see them at a meet. This was at the same location as the xc meet on Wednesday. The course was still wet, but what a huge turn around from last time! Entry fee was only $5.00 and it looked as though BArT was representing. As it was, only 14 ended up starting and 13 finished the race. Very small, but fun!

WARMUP: (1 mile @ 9:28 pace) Ran from the finish, through the woods following the last mile of the race course. Noticed that a lot of the course was still muddy and wet. Was not the best footing. Got back and stretched and told the kids not to worry about the race. Goal was to run the whole race (which some ended up doing, others not so much) and have fun!

THE RACE: (3.11 miles in 24:54, 8:00 average) From the gun, a lone runner from HVHS took the lead and I followed him for the first .5 miles Ended up passing him as we went into the woods, not intentionally, but he seemed to start slowing and falling behind. I slipped a bit on the long uphill portion, but then relaxed and started to cruise on the downhill. Hit the first mile in 7:54, and then the second in 7:58. Right after that mile, I got lost. The course was well marked, except crucial markings had fallen down because of the wind. I had to stop for a good :25-:30 to wait for the second place guy to come up and tell me which way to go. I got back on track, though my last mile was 8:35. I was afraid that I had just blown my win for good, as the 2nd and 3rd place runners had been steadily moving up. However, from Mile 2-2.5 there was a long uphill, the same one from the first mile. I started to pull away and opened up a :10 gap on him, going into the last long downhill. I pulled ahead and fought through the tired legs as I rounded the last corner and opened up on a 200m flat line to the finish. I looked over my shoulder once, sure he was closing but I didn't see him! I ended up distancing myself from the 2nd place runner who ran a 25:19, :25 seconds behind me! 

This was the 3rd race I've ever one, the other two being a short 3 mile race at a winter HMRRC event, and the other the 1st Annual St. Rose Relay for Life 5k when I was in undergrad. This really was a pleasant surprise!

COOL DOWN: (1.4 miles @ 11:05 pace) I did a .5 mile cooldown backwards on the course to find some of my runners and Coach Lynn. Ended up seeing a few of them doing really well. A.U. was running really well in her second race! Came up on Coach Lynn and Elissa who was struggling a bit. I ran the last .4 miles of the race with them, talked to them and then decided to go back and find our last two runners who had had a rough day and were walking. One had borrowed a pair of running shoes that she had never run in before. I came around a bend and saw her carrying the shoes in her hands, walking. I should have known at the start of the race - I had looked over and they appeared 1. too narrow for her feet, 2. a size or two too small, and 3. not good running shoes for a trail run. Oh well, live and learn. Ran them in and sprinted with Tibby the last 200 m. I owe him BArT bucks because I challenged him to sprint the last bit with me and I lost.

All in all a lot of fun. I got a couple apples and a nice pumpkin out of winning. Next up is the Monroe-Dunbar 10.5 miler on 10/10/10 @ 10:00 AM tomorrow! Back to back races... awesome! 

6:30 AM - Woke up to gorgeous weather. It was sunny and temperature in the mid 40s in Pittsfield. Had some breakfast and headed out to Monroe, MA by myself this year, as Emm had a lot of wedding things she wanted to get done. Got there without a problem about an hour before the gun. Got my bib number and warmed up in the woods a bit.

WARM-UP: 1 mile @ 9:50 Jogged through the woods on a side trail that had pavement that abruptly ended with a wall of trees. Then went down and followed the first .25 miles of the course. Course started coming back to me. Remembering the bottle neck effect from last year and how placement is key to running a successful race.

THE RACE:

MILES 1-5.6: The first mile and a half are somewhat harrowing. It is first a single track slanted trail along the brook that generally consists of moss and wet leave covered rocks. I pushed a bit harder than last year just to have a more enjoyable race and to be able to settle in to a pace I liked. I was not sure going in how great of a race I would run, however I was confident that I would have a blast. Yet, Emmy also gave me an ultimatum. As we are getting married this week, "NO FALLING, NO TWISTING ANKLES, NO BROKEN BONES" Got it?! Good! Haha! After mile 1, there is a beastly and humbling ascent up the side of a mountain to a fire road. It is single track and quad killing. I was definitely feeling the soreness from the race yesterday. Ut oh! Made it to the access road and picked up the pace. Felt more confident than last year. About 5 people passed me on the fire road but I looked down and was averaging 8:15-8:25 a mile and I felt like I was flying so I let them go. First aid station was at mile 3.6. I grabbed some water and pushed on with 2 gentlemen. We shared the load leading, and were plodding along, though as we got closer to the top of Spruce Peak (~2200'), I had to walk more. My legs were just dead. Crested the top and began some of the most harrowing, most fun, and most AWESOME running possible.

MILES 5.6-10.5: When it comes to trail running, though I enjoy ascending and going uphill because I can control the pace more easily, I think I am actually better at running downhill. I hit the crest of the mountain and literally jumped onto the trail to descend. I passed someone right away, but then it was single track with multiple foot drops, so it became more of a maintaining kind of tempo. I soon caught two more including a guy I had let pass me a mile before on the steepest part of the uphill. He yelled out, "Ha. Looking good! This is MY achilles heel! See you at the finish!" I was flying!  Next aid station came right before stream crossing #1. I stopped, grabbed two cookies and water, and pushed on. Water was only 1-2' deep and wasn't bad as it didn't go above the knees. From experience last year I knew to take it slowly coming out of the water as the feet can go numb and also slosh about in the shoes until the water comes out. Recovered quickly and pushed on. At about mile 9 right before the second stream crossing, my hamstrings felt like they were going to seize up so I scaled back the pace. I looked down and I had been averaging a 7:30 pace on the descent. Woah! Got to the second stream crossing and had 2 options. I could either go across the stream via a bridge, OR I could go the normal way and do the 75 foot stream crossing. STREAM CROSSING BABY! Hop, skipped, jumped across and had a blast doing it. Got out of the water and continued on, backtracking on the original mile of the course. Got passed by one person towards the end but that was okay. I pushed on to the finish and was surprised. I still managed to eclipse my time from last year by :02! Finished in 68th place in a time of 2:02:50, good for 6th place in my age group. Headed home to see Emmy. The views going back by the hairpin turns were amazing!

Happy Columbus Day! Ran at home 3 miles.

3:30 PM - Ran at school with the xc team. I got word that I am officially the Assistant Coach for XC Team now! I think I even get a sweatshirt! Woot! We warmed up and the orders I gave were to go to the field which is approximately .28 miles long. Orders were to do 4 laps steadily increasing pace from comfortable to race pace, then to take a 1 minute break and do 4 x hard laps at a 1:1 run:rest ratio. The lead group of boys was really flying, probably close to 5:30 or faster pace because I couldn't keep up with them. Now to translate this to race day? 4 miles for the day in about 30 minutes

Ran at the xc meet as I cheered on the kids at Berkshire Community College. It was nice to see them all and I think they all had a good time, minus C.T. who had a groin injury and collapsed about .25 miles into the race. We didn't win, but came closer to St. Joe's and a couple other teams. We just aren't the same caliber right now because of 1. our size of the school, and 2. not having adequate training time. We are forced to do our practices in just 1 hour including warm up and warm downs. I have confidence in the future it will get better though! Especially if we can get the administration to come around!

PRE-WEDDING CRAZYNESS!

Thankfully took today off from work so that I could help more with the wedding. Last night we were up until about 1:30 am doing last minute things, and up again this morning early at 6:30. A lot on the plate today. We went at 10am with all the guys to go pick up tuxes and get resized. Everyone showed up except my dad who was still working until 2pm today and was just going to "wing it" with the tux. The tux guy wasn't too happy but oh well! Emmy's dad, Joe and I went last night (Thursday) to go get tuxes so ours were all set. I drove with Jonn, Harry, Steve, Ryan, and Jonathan to Tux Express and we were in and out within an hour. I decided to treat my guys to a breakfast and we drove to Misty Moonlight Diner where we had some good eats to fuel up for all the stuff that needs doing the day before the wedding.

Went back to the house and it was downpouring all afternoon. We had to keep playing puzzle master with the cars rotating them in under the carport so we could load them up without getting things wet. It is insane how much goes into a wedding! Everyone was in really great spirits and it has been a great week because Scott, Rose, Jane and Liana have all been here since Monday.

Rehearsal Dinner scheduled for 6:30 pm tonight so we needed to get checked in at Sylvanus Lodge in Hillsdale before. We had been aiming for about 3:00pm to get out of Pittsfield, but 3 o'clock came and went and we were still there trying to do last minute packing. We finally got the cars packed and had started down the driveway and Essex Street. But as we came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, we realized that all the guys were behind us, but that Emmy's parents were not following us! We pulled over and were trying to call them for five or ten minutes but no answer. Contemplated driving back up the hill, but then they finally made it to the caravan. We had to stop in Lenox at Family Flowers to pick up flowers for the big day. I wasn't expecting so many boxes! I think we had no less than four boxes of flowers, including corsages, flowers for the head table, flowers for the aisle during the service, etc.

Checked in to Sylvanus Lodge around 5 o'clock. We did not have long to "hang around" though. Emm told me that we had a meeting with event planners at Copake Country Club at 5:30 or 5:45. I changed into a shirt and pants and then hopped into the new Rav 4. (We have decided to call her Cordelia). That was another blessing. We just got the title on Thursday finally ending a 6 week ordeal. Emm's mom Mary Rose took it to get inspected, registered, etc. so that we can take it on the honeymoon.

We got to Copake a bit late, but the event coordinators whom we have never met were quick to jump into official boss you around mode. We just took it in stride and I saw that Reverend Dana was there early, so I went and talked to her for 5 or 10 minutes. I wanted to see how she was doing and also to be a good host! Well one of the ladies, I forget her name, she came over and rather rudely asked, "So Benn do you want to be part of the wedding?" I took it as my cue to end conversation and I would follow up with her later at the rehearsal dinner.

Before we knew it it was getting near rehearsal time. Our siblings and parents started showing up. The bridesmaids all made it in, and the groomsmen were here too. Copake has always done a fabulous job catering to us, especially as Steve the head chef said that we were the first official "big" wedding at the venue.

REHEARSAL DINNER

True to form it was raining, rather heavily when the rehearsal was supposed to start. In the four or five times I've been to Copake it has been raining or snowing every time. Haha! Dana took me aside with Emmy and basically said that due to the weather we should consider just "bagging" the rehearsal and "wing it" tomorrow. Looking outside I did not see how we would be able to make it out to the course and run through a meaningful rehearsal so we agreed.

Dinner was great. It was so much fun to sit with everyone and the food was great! We were at Copake until about 9 or so, after which Emmy and I drove with Rev. Dana to the Inn at Green River where she was staying. We had to check in with Deborah, the owner (and yes, it is Deborah, not Deb or Debbie because she corrected Emm's mom!). She seemed a bit weird, but then again I guess most B&Bs are weird. Just not my cup of tea. She made it a point to show us around the room and stuff and where we were staying tomorrow night as we would probably get in after she was already asleep.

After saying good night to Dana, we headed back to Sylvanus and I said good night to Emmy. I went and hung out with the boys until about 3 in the morning (maybe not the best thing to do the night before a wedding), but I hadn't seen my brothers, or Jonathan, Steve, Ryan in a long time! My cousin Andrew came up too from Tennessee for the wedding, and I was able to spend some quality time touching base with him too.

We finally headed off to bed around 2:50 or 3:00. I had to be up at 6:30 to start wedding prep stuff. And believe it or not, I was not nervous! Emm surprised me with a card and a gift of Swiss Army Victorinox cologne and Harry surprised me with Season 3 of McGuyver on DVD!! Two of the best gifts ever!

Saturday, October 16^th, 2010 –

I woke up early around 6:30am – early in that I had only gone to bed about three and a half hours earlier. Despite this I was wide awake, beaming at the thought that today was our wedding day. I got up and grabbed coffee from the main desk in Silvanus. A couple others were already up including my cousin Kara and Rose. We boys needed to be gone and to the lodge around 830am to help set up at Copake.

We made sure that all the boys were up by about 8:20ish at the latest. My brothers Jonn and Harry were there, as was my cousin Andrew who made the trip from Tennessee. Jonathan and Steve, my two other groomsmen were there, as was Ryan who offered to help. We got to the lodge and quickly set up the rest of the equipment for the sound system. My mom and others (Scott, Rose, Jane) were arriving around 9:00 or 9:30, so we wanted to get what we could done before hand. The sound system was great! Afterwards we helped carry out tables that were not needed for the reception. We had decided that 10:30 was our cut off time after which we needed to go back to Silvanus to get changed into tuxes.

Copake got two new event coordinators seemingly overnight, and we couldn’t find Mary McGuire, our original coordinator anywhere! These two ladies seemed to basically run the show and they told me that the guys had to be at Copake no later than 12:00. We did not want to miss any deadlines, so we left my mom et. al to continue working setting things up.

As we headed back to Silvanus to get into tuxes, the weather still seemed a bit ominous. It had rained most of the night, and while not raining particularly hard, it was still cloudy and blustery. Temperature at Copake was only projected to be 53 degrees today with the weather clearing up in the afternoon. As I drove the RAV4 back to Hillsdale, I realized that I was not all that nervous – yet. I think that since we had basically been go go go since the start of yesterday it hadn’t really had a chance to sink in yet. Even now, after the ceremony, Emm and I are still flabbergasted that we are actually Mr. & Mrs. Griffin now!

* * *

The time had finally arrived for TUXES! We got back to Silvanus at 11:00 after following the GARMIN GPS and taking a really long back way. I was actually getting a bit frazzled thinking about the time crunch and getting all 7 guys in tuxes in time and back to Silvanus. But we made it. We all split up into different rooms and started showering/shaving and getting ready. I chose to go to Room #5 and got ready with my youngest brother Harry and my dad. As I was getting ready Jonn came in to say he was on the phone with Ellen, his girlfriend from Norway! I talked to her and she wished us good luck. So nice to hear from her. I wish she could have made it!

We were all dressed and after some goodbyes and updates on where the girls were (They had gone to get their hair done early in the morning and would be arriving to Copake after us.) Jonn, Harry, Steve, Jonathan, Ryan, and I all headed off to the ceremony. My dad and Joe also had tuxes but they’d be coming a bit later. My mom had stayed to finish last minute preparations and still had not got back to her room to change.

The drive over to Copake Country Club was surprisingly quiet. Jonathan told me how he was really happy for me and glad to be a part of today. I told him thanks and that maybe the nerves were finally hitting me a bit. I think though that knowing since I met Emmy that I wanted to marry her one day, having the two year engagement, and just feeling that this was the right choice made it that much easier. I was never really nervous to the point of nausea and actually I think I get more nervous going to the dentist or doctor’s then on my wedding day!

The Ceremony

As promised we got to the country club exactly at 12:00. I thought that we were supposed to go to the clubhouse and then coordinate from there. We were told the groomsmen would be ferrying up guests the .3-.4 miles from the clubhouse to the 7^th green via golf karts. However, when we pulled in, they told us to keep driving to the second entrance. I assumed they were having us park down below or something, but instead they were having us drive right up to the green! Turns out we were not alone. I think because of the blustery cold wind and rain that they wanted us up there as easily as possible. So we pulled up with everyone else. The coordinators were nowhere to be found, but we climbed out and waited near the tent. One of the ladies soon showed up and told us we were supposed to be down below, because at the very least the groomsmen were supposed to drive their respective bridesmaid up to the green. I stood by myself for a while, greeting all of our friends and relatives as they arrived – a kind of receiving line, only before the actual ceremony.

I was there before the musicians and even Rev. Dana. It was pretty cold, but I was just excited to see everyone that I don’t normally see. In all we had somewhere around 100 guests, significantly more than our original 70, but still the perfect amount. As I stood there, I remarked at how important it is to celebrate with the ones you love and the ones that love you.

Guests filtered in. The tent we rented was a nice addition, but was getting blown around by the wind, despite its dozen or so wooden support beams. I continued to stand outside, and workers from the country club ferried up blankets to distribute to our guests.

Reverend Dana got there and promptly took a blanket herself. I was fortunate to be wearing pants and about four shirts/coats with my tuxedo. Dana said that we would should try to keep it “short and sweet”. Much like the rehearsal, she said in the essence of time and for the benefit of all those present, we should err on the side of caution and brevity. She had two pages of readings she was planning on doing but if okay with us then she would like to cut that out and keep it short. I said that that would be a really great idea.

My parents arrived about five minutes before the start of the ceremony. They came and stood next to me at the front of the tent, and my mom helped fix my boutonniere, made with a peacock feather and some bright green berries (Emmy made it!). Right about 1:00 I could see the parade of golf karts coming down from the clubhouse. Jonny & Missy, Harry & Kara, Steve & Lindsay, and Jonathan & Liana. I was still anxiously looking for Emmy, and somehow she made an appearance once the golf karts had been parked. She lined up behind the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and though I couldn’t see much, from what I could see, she was breathtakingly beautiful – as she always is - ; her dress was an ivory with a bunch of sequency pearl colored additions going down the front and side. She had a small train on the dress and it was just amazing. Her hair was gorgeous and I think it was here that I started to get a little nervous.

As the bridesmaids came down and lined up and the groomsmen it was here that I ignored everyone in front of me and just tried to lock eyes with Emmy. She was being escorted down the aisle by both Mary Rose and Joe. The flower girls, Jane and Annika had already made quite the appearance. Annika was taking one petal at a time and throwing it, while Jane did not want to throw her petals on the ground. Turns out Jane caught on and proceeded to throw petals all throughout the ceremony as evidenced in the photos with a skewed proportion of petals on her side of the aisle.

Reverend Dana has been my favorite minister since I can remember. She is a short lady, not more than five feet tall, and she has an excellent singing voice and a gift for orating, as any minister should. I believe above all, it is her ability to make the most of any situation, and improvise when need be that allows her to be such a personable figure. She made several jokes about the weather, and did make mention how it would be a memorable ceremony. I kind of chuckled because just like times past, it had to be raining or snowing when I was at Copake.

Emmy and I stood at the front. She tried to hold my hand, but I was afraid that holding hands would actually block the view of Dana from the crowd as she is so petite. I was also a bit nervous, though I kept my calm and collectedness.  

We wrote our own vows several days before the wedding, with editing and input from Kara, Emmy’s sisters, and our sister in law Rose. I have been carrying mine in my wallet since the ceremony and I like looking at it at least once a day. My vows are:

“Emma, today I take you as my wife. I love your quirky sense of humor and since I have always been attracted to people who are smarter than me, I know we will be perfect together. No matter what life may bring, I promise to be open with you and to encourage you. I promise to stand…or run…or bike by your side through good times and through bad times, to give my best to you, and to grow with you. I will treasure you and care for your completely and will love you always.”

When it came time for the rings, Jonn had been holding them and produced them on a little pillow my mom had made. He remarked how he didn’t know how to get them off the pillow though! We figured it out and he untied them. Dana blessed the rings and then it was my turn to put Emmy’s on. But when I tried, I couldn’t get it over her second knuckle. I tried for a good 10-15 seconds, was sure I had turned a bright, bright red, and Dana noticed my falter and said, “You can just hold her hand if you can’t get the ring on”. I finally squeezed it over her knuckle though and gave a sigh of relief. Everyone clapped. Haha! Emm got my ring on without trouble, after which we held hands while Dana remarked and blessed our marriage. All I could think of was WHEN DO I GET TO KISS HER?! After what seemed like an eternity, we finally were given permission to kiss. I leaned in and never felt more at peace, more at home, or more loved than in that single moment. In a few seconds I could feel all of our love over the years, all of the joys and celebrations wash over me. I truly felt on top of the world as if nothing could bring me down. We walked down the aisle and shared a moment outside the tent. Before we knew it there were a few snapshots and everyone made a hasty exit to their cars to drive back down to the country club to get out of the cold. Su drove us down in the SUV, and we picked up my dad, who was walking down the side of the road about halfway to the clubhouse. He hopped into the car with us and that made me really happy. My parents are among my greatest supporters, and I would do anything for them.

Photos

Kate Drew Miller was there since about 11:00. She was with the girls, snapping photos as they were getting dressed and ready to go. After the ceremony we only had an hour for photographs, but Emm and I both knew that any time with Kate Drew Miller is bound to be a fun and memorable time. Right after we got down to the clubhouse, Lindsay presented me with a Copake Wedding Dash running bib she had custom made for me with the number “101610” on it. Though it doesn’t sound like much, I have kept every bib number from every race that I have run that gave them out. This will be one of my most cherished bibs of all time. Emmy pinned it on my back for me and we headed out to take photos.

The majority of our photos were taken down by the lake. There was a lifeguard station, rock walls, a couple huge rope swings, and just a lot of nice options for pictures. I normally do not like photos, but I couldn’t stop smiling! The high I felt from putting that ring on my finger was greater than any running high I have ever had.

The ladies from Copake were not to be ignored. The dark haired woman kept telling us to go, go, go. Time was of the essence and it was of greatest importance to “keep on schedule”! I found it a bit rude, but I just went with the flow. The important thing was spending time with the ones I love.

Kate had us do a few group shots, family shots, and then we got to have a bit of fun. We had a couple jumping shots and running ones. I can’t wait to see how all of the photographs come out! I heard it might take about a month, but I am hopeful that it doesn’t take that long.

The Reception

We were lucky to have Lindsay’s roommate Jenne Robertson as our announcer for the evening. Of equal if not greater importance was also Jonny’s agreeing to do the DJ services for the night free of charge. We would have been lost and without music were it not for his expertise.  We made our way in couple by couple. Missy walked in with both of my brothers. Then they announced us as Mr. & Mrs. Bennjamin Griffin! Aagh! We walked in while everyone clapped, and made our way to the dance floor for our first dance.

This would be where I got nervous. We were dancing to Kina Grannis’s acoustic version of “Stars Falling Down” (available on Youtube). Learning how to dance had been on my list and Emmy’s but with work schedules and wedding fiascos we had not had any time to practice the dance! I have never danced in my life and actually my first dance ever was with Emmy last year at Erin’s wedding. My goals were 1. To survive the dance, 2. To concentrate on Emmy, and 3. To not step on her dress! I think I accomplished two of the three.

My parents and many others said they thought our dance was sweet. I got lost in it because I just looked into Emmy’s eyes and lost track of everyone else around me. After our dance we went back to the head table in the first room and had a snack and got settled.

Dinner came quickly and it was yummy buffet style. Grilled asparagus and vegetables, mixed salad greens, oven roasted chicken breast, and garlic mashed potatoes. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and it was nice to sit down and enjoy company. After dinner we started making our rounds checking in with tables and saying hi and thanking everyone for coming. There was a bit of dancing and then they announced it was time for the tossing of certain items.

Garter & Flowers, and Cake, oh my!

I had the pleasure of going first with the tossing of said items.  Everyone told me to go for it, and boy did I. Once “The Boys are Back in Town” by Springsteen came on, I got down on all fours and went for it with my teeth! Was able to remove it completely with my teeth only and was going to fling it but couldn’t because of the elastic. So I balled it up and through it over my shoulder. My youngest brother Harry caught it!

Next was Emmy’s bouquet toss. She through it and what do you know, my sister Su caught it. Talk about family representing. When people asked about their intentions and how generally garter/bouquet catchers are the next to get married I made a joke about how that would totally fit with Galway weddings!

We went inside and did more rounds and just had a great time for more than an hour. Music was playing, people were dancing, and then before we knew it it was time for cake. Another thing we had meant to practice but did not have a chance to. I think we did fine though. Emm led the way.

After cutting the cake I tried to tease Emmy a bit with it and I think karma came to make me aware that nice guys finish first, because sure enough about half my piece of cake either fell down Emm’s front of her dress or on the floor. Oops! She got me back though, smearing a bit on my nose.

Missy, our maid of honor, had made the cake for us and it was a delicious golden yellow cake with raspberry jam swirls in it and vanilla frosting. It was absolutely amazing! We asked her if she could make us a cake like this every year!

All good nights have to come to an end, eventually…

As the night wore on, we got our dance on a bit, highlighted by Jenne Rob and Jon Stanley having a dance off to MJ’s “Thriller”. Hilarious! The fire was going outside and we were able to make some s’mores. I looked up on the hill and saw that the tent had fallen down about an hour after the ceremony! Good thing we had the ceremony at 12 and not 1! Sure enough though, the sun came out, the winds died down, and it turned into a glorious evening. Before we knew it we were being asked to move into the far room as they set up for dinner service and then being asked to leave. Always a bittersweet moment when a celebration has to end. Many of our relatives had already left, but some friends and family were choosing to stay at the Silvanus Lodge for the night, as we had rented out the whole place anyways. Emm and I went back to the lodge to change out of our stuff and then we got a ride to where we were staying for the night, The Inn at Green River. Deborah was not there, but it was unlocked so we let ourselves in and up to our rooms. It is a nice place, but again bed and breakfasts are not my thing!

We were finally able to sleep in until about 8:00am on Sunday, and then went to breakfast at Misty Moonlight Diner back in Pittsfield with Emma’s family, Kara, and Missy. Missy and Kara signed our marriage license, which we had realized early in the morning that Dana had not asked to sign. Just one minor glitch! No worries. We mailed it to her and she is signing it and delivering it to Nassau where we got it from. The lady that wrote our license, Rita Labrum, is the same woman that issued my mom and dad their marriage license certificate back in 1984! Kind of cool!

Sunday afternoon, after packing a bit more, we headed out to East Stroudsburg, PA for our honeymoon! We were driving our new 2005 RAV 4 which had been inspected and passed on Friday, we were going for a week away from work, and most importantly we were going together as husband & wife. ( I still don’t know if it has sunken in with both of us! )

Honeymoon Footnotes:

Monday: Went to Bushkill Falls and did about 2.5 miles of hiking. Really nice place. They have 8 separate waterfalls. We especially liked the Main Falls and Bridal Veil and Bridesmaid falls. What a great start to the week. Saw a black bear back at the house.

Tuesday: Went with Emm to the McDade Trail and we had two options. Either run on the flat gravel path to the right of where we parked or go to the left on the wooded unmarked trail. Of course we picked the latter! Ran out about 11 minutes, then turned and came back with the intention of going and running a couple minutes on the gravel path. Well Poor Emm told me she lost our camera when we got back to the RAV. She checked and checked and couldn't find it. I said I'd run back out to where we had turned around, looking as I went, and then come back and meet her in the middle and walk back. If it fell out we'd find it. Well we did that and I ran the full trail again and she said she would walk out and back because 2 sets of eyes are better than one. I went back to the RAV and ripped it apart and couldn't find it. Went back and met her and told her it was okay. Well we get back to the car and decide we need to go to Walmart as our new camera's battery had died and we had left the charger back at home in Massachusetts. We get in and are about .25 miles down the road when she looks out the window and sees it down in the front of the dash below the wipers. I pull over she grabs it and instantly bursts out in tears. She is such a cutie! Love this girl!

Later in the day we went and played mini golf at the development. They have 2 x 18 hole courses. We played both until it was about dark! "Queen of the Deuces" Emm had like 8 or 9 hole - in - 2's! Insane!

Also saw a couple dead raccoons along Rte 206, a lot of deer, more deer. We also decided to name the RAV Cordelia. I think it fits! 

Wednesday:  biked on the Ironton Rail Trail in Whitehall Pennsylvania. Did two full loops. A really nice circle. Saw a couple guys out to kill a time trial. We ended up doing about 13 miles in 47 minutes. Felt really great. Got a nice picture of us inside a toy train at the start where we parked the car.

Afterwards we went to the largest General Store in the USA "Country Junction" off of Hwy Interchange. They had a crazy assortment of animals, chickens, goats, pig, llama, a cute little brown puppy, as well as furniture, stuffed taxidermied animals on the inside, and all kinds of baked goods. We bought some kick butt sugar free fudge and candy. Yum!

Afterwards we were looking for things to do and found the Asa Pakcer Mansion in Jim Thorpe, PA. Emm and I laughed because it was called Asa Packer. Walked around there and then drove home to rest up for the trip to Philadelphia tomorrow.

Thursday: Got up and left early for Philadelphia. Emm slept a lot on the way down, resting up for a day of fun. We hit the zoo for nearly 5 hours. We saw all types of things. There was a cute baby orangutan, flamingos, peacocks just running around everywhere and Emm's favorite: at the bird sanctuary there were two little birds about the size of midsize yearling chickens. They were building a nest together. One would go ahead, pick up a piece of straw/grass and throw it over his shoulder while the other one would come behind pick it up and do the same thing to get it closer to the nest. They would repeat this process until they got it back to the corner. Cute! We also saw the cutest 11 minute animated film about a little bird living in Philly that had to migrate during the winter to Central America. There were lights, sounds, WIND!! (YES WIND!) and other special effects. We echoed one of the four year olds that walked out saying "Man that was the coolest movie in the entire WORLD!"

After grabbing dinner at a cute Afghanistan restaurant, we went back to the zoo parking area, boarded a "ghost" bus and went to the Eastern State Penitentiary, the coolest and neatest haunted house. The jail sits on 2 square city blocks with 30 foot tall walls. It's insanely huge. Al Capone stayed here for a year or two back in the day. Well we got there at 730 and found out it was so popular the next available tour was not until 10! So Emm and I decided we were here so we might as well wait. We went across the street to a neat cafe called "Mugshots" with a little jailbird on the front of the logo. We got tea and a cookie and waited. The haunted house was pretty nice, though a group of about 9 football macho heads in front of us ruined it. We ended up listening to a couple of the guys who were with us that said to wait and then go without flashlights and see how far we could get. Got back to the house about 130am, a 2 hour ride back.

Friday: Freezing cold. We went to Dingman's Falls off of Rte 206. Really nice waterfall. Neat because there is like a 1/2 mile long planked walkway to and from the falls. Afterwards we drove to New Jersey and went to see a state forest in New Jersey. We hung out at the lakefront. We were the only ones really there. We went to get food at a firehouse restaurant. Really good turkey spinach wrap. Yum! Hung out back at the house. Went to the Gem and Keystone and got some really good pumpkin ravioli, caesar salad, grilled brook trout, and grilled tofu and veggies. YuM! They had good porters and beer here too!

Saturday: Last day in PA. Went running with Emm. We ran at another part of McDade Trail. We picked a super hilly part! Oii! Ran about 3.5 miles. Saw what we thought was a hunter but turned out to be a lady and her dog, both with orange vests. They warn people to get hunting vests because there is hunting permitted in the Delaware Water Gap. Went to Bamboo House for our last full day here in PA. Yummy!

Honeymoon outings, runs, hikes, bikes, and walks to be posted here as soon as real life gives me enough time to compile it.

8:00 PM - A rough first day back from the honeymoon. It was go go go. I had to get caught up on over 200 work emails and then spent from 3:30 to 7:00 compiling grades and writing individual progress reports for everyone. I knew it was going to be a rough day when I realized on the way to work I had brought my xc clothes, but not my shoes. Doh! Highlight of the day, but not really. Got called fat by a fellow teacher - in a nice way (if there is such a thing). She was like: "So Mr. Griffin we need to have a talk. It has come to my attention that you seem to have gained weight since you started here last year." I explained to her that yes I have and though I am impressed by the fact that she exercises each and every day, I have too many duties at school and home to have that happen. In addition the stress from work has correlated to an increase in Guinness consumption. I expertly explained that I am working on losing the weight. I am making a new effort to exercise more each week. I have been caffeine free for nearly 4 weeks, and I will try going back on the meatless diet. Really grinded my gears. I don't like being called fat as I have battled weight gains since 3rd grade. Though I am starting to get kind of depressed. Had to register as a Clydesdale for the Stockadeathon this year. Weight today after the run: 211.8 lbs (sad face)

Started at 8:34 pace, and sped up to 8:00 pace the second mile, then 7:30, then 7:00  and 6:30 respectively for the last several laps.

Total Time: 34:05 Total Distance: 4.26 miles Average Pace:  8:00

8:00 PM - After school I went to Waconah High School down in Pittsfield to help my xc team. Made it with about 15 mins to spare. Was really proud of everyone. It's a 2.5 mile course, and temps were warm today at nearly 72 degrees. We were scoring against Mt. Everett and Drury. Sore feelings towards Drury. We love one of the runners, Unique as he was our student last year; however one of our runners approached a judge last time we scored against them because one of the Drury runners cut a corner and should have been dq'ed. However as we could not name the runner, they said there was nothing they could have done, and we lost. This time Drury copped out. Their star runner claimed he couldn't race twice in one weak (lame!) and hence they couldn't score as they only had 4 runners. Mt. Everett only started 3 so they couldn't score either. BArT won by default for the boys. The girls won both of theirs too. PRs all around and a lot of minutes shed from just last week. I hope energy is restored. We have been getting mixed messages from many faculty members.

 Tonight a local pizza shop, Arizona Pizza, Inc. was having a fundraiser for our xc team which was great. 20% of ticket sales tonight as long as you mentioned BArT go directly to our xc team. I ordered pizza and such and did my part. Saw a lot of BArT people there too.

Ran on the treadmill when I finally got home. Legs a bit sore. Ran 4 miles in 33:33 (8:23 average) + 1 mile at the race today. 

8:30 AM - Easy 20 minute run on the treadmill before going to cheer on my team at BCC for individuals. Did 2.26 miles, good for 8:51 average pace. 

Note on the individuals invitational. BArT rocked. Almost all PR'ed and all but one of our 13 runners ran under 30 minutes. One girl even took 7 minutes off her PR from 2 weeks ago! Amazing considering we only have a 1 hour practice 3 times a week.  

9:30 AM - Got up early, got dressed and a cup of coffee and then headed out to the race. Didn't get there until 5 after 9 and had to jog to the registration tent. Held in the scenic Thacher Park, New York, ARE makes you park in the parking lots and walk/jog up to the starting line. I like this though and it makes for easy get away after the race. Jogged to the start and got my bib number #581. Missed out by a week or so on the giveaway of a florescent orange hat. Darn! That'll teach me to register early next year.

My buddy from college xc Chris Chromczack was there dressed as his normal zombie self. This race is among my favorite of all time. It's put on by one of the best running clubs out there and everyone wears costumes and shows up ready to have a great time. Chris has an important job before the start of the race. He moseys around from port-a-john to snack table to bathrooms and sneaks up on people with a chainsaw w/out blade. It's funny to hear first timers scream a bit. Haha. He got me when I first came up and I turned around and said hey. The only time he really scared me was at mile 12 when he jumped out of a bush at me haha. He is one wild and crazy guy!

RACE TIME!

Race started promptly at 9:30 am. The ARE also puts on the Squirrely Six Miler in conjunction with the Hairy Gorilla Half and it has been my strategy in the past to run and just follow the pace of some of the 6 milers. 

 MILES 1-2: Bottleneck affect. It is a .1 mile run into the woods and then it's essentially single track. Too many people slow down when they see mud. Newbies! hmpf! Went through the one mile in about 11 minutes and then the two mile mark about 22 minutes.

MILES 3-5: Got into a rhythm. Miles 3 and 4 had big hills and I just plugged away. I forgot to mention that I haven't run more than 4-5 miles at a time since the Monroe Race. I was running this race as part of the Saratoga Stryders, one of the running clubs I am a member of. Flattened out going into the last mile.

MILE 6: Hit the 6 mile mark in 58:50 (5k had been 31:30). So I sped up the last mile and was on track to have a strong race. Headed out onto the second loop, thankful to be shed of the 6 milers and happy that it wasn't merely a repeat loop but a different one :).

 MILES 7-8: A couple really muddy sections. No aid stations with anything but water. I was beginning to think this was a bad idea. I remembered about mile 8 I had failed to eat breakfast! Doh! Running on empty, but I just kept plugging away.

MILES 9-11: Funny sight was a woman dressed as a ladybug that got her picture taken running away through the fields during the race. Sad thing, she beat me haha! That'll teach me to stay in shape! Around mile 11 you come to a 180 degree turn. A guy in a banana costume was standing there to make sure we turned. Six feet after the turn is a 100 foot drop off!

MILES 12 & 13: The last two miles were tough. Had to walk for about 5 minutes total, about 1 minute every 5 minutes of running. Blah. No real hills here which is generally when I walk, but I had to step to the side and let a couple dozen people pass. Just not my day. All in all a good show. Got beat by my former English teacher's husband though. He generally doesn't beat me.

FINAL TIME: 2:16:19, 169th place of 281 total finishers for the half.  Most people I got passed by in the end had gone through the last check about 5 minutes after me which shows how the walking did me in. Oh well. What a blast! Fueled up with bananas, got my hairy gorilla medal (plush toy), and headed home.

Total Mileage for the Day: 14 miles