a mighty fine race

This past Sunday, I raced with the B.A.A.  And it was awesome!  They put on a really great race:  wave starts so the course isn't too crowded, water stops every mile, hundreds of volunteers, and pretty sweet shirts.  They also brought in the winners of this past year's marathon; male and female.  They both won this race as well.  :)  As it was an out and back course I got to see them fly by me.  Literally, it's like their feet don't even touch the ground.  I finished exactly 30minutes behind the leader; that's 5min/mile slower. 

The weather was fine; super humid, cloudy and warm.  Thank goodness for the clouds because otherwise the race would have been much different!  As it was, I didn't feel like I was going to set a PR (personal record) as I hit the half way point at just over 29min.  But the second half proved to treat me well and I finished the 10K in a time of 57:06.  That's 9:15min/miles (the leader finished in 27:18...which is just under 5min/mi). 

Here's a pic of me and some friends prior to the race:

I didn't have a whole lot of time to enjoy the post-race party but I did get my medal and picked up some goodies on the way out.  I headed for the T completely drenched in sweat...gross, but as a friend pointed out, it's not the worst the T has seen, surely.  I made it home in time to quickly head to church then made my way to a friend's house where we played Just Dance on the Wii for over an hour - that's a great arm workout, btw.  All in all, it was an awesome day and I'm stoked that in my debut with the BAA I got myself a PR.  That, my friends, is a mighty fine race. 

never an exciting moment

You're all familiar, I'm sure, with the saying, "never a dull moment..."  Well, typically when I'm at the gym, I feel the opposite is true.  There's never an exciting moment there.  It's so boring, even with music and television, it's all I can do to slog through a treadmill or elliptical workout.

Well, last night, as I was nearly finished with my workout something exciting happened.  I wish I could tell you it was the good kind.  But it wasn't.  I was on the elliptical listening to some tunes to keep myself going when all of a sudden a heard a commotion and people yelling, "Turn it off!  Turn it off!"  They were referring to a treadmill that had continued going while a man was lying on the floor, unconscious behind it.  People rushed to see if he was okay when all of a sudden, he began seizing.  I knew that I was not needed (nor would I be of any use) if I went over to try and help so I shut off my music and began to pray for this man and for those who were on their way to help him. 

A policeman arrived, followed by a couple of firemen and finally some paramedics.  The man was sitting up and hopefully conscious by the time I left (just 10min after the incident).  I'm not sure what exactly happened or if the man is okay...but I sure do hope he is. 

I also hope that the gym will go back to being boring.  This is not the kind of excitement I like to see...

do you see what i see...

A while ago I took some pictures of my lake in February...I thought it was time to take some pictures during the early summer.  Today was a gorgeous day at the lake and since I had my ipod while I walked around, I realized it was a perfect day to show you around.  Enjoy.  

runner's tan lines

It's been pretty sunny most of my training days.  I'm not complaining...there's nothing pleasant about a rainy spring and summer!  But it sure does make for interesting tan lines as a runner...

I have a line just below my knees and one just below my ankles.  The skin in between these lines is tan.  On the other side of each line is still winter white.  Eeek.  I have a line on my left wrist that clearly defines my watch band.  I have a ring around my neck, in the front and the back, that showcases the neckline of my favorite running shirts.  It's all pretty impressive.

I should mention, in case you're wondering...I do wear sunscreen.  Matter of fact, I've recently started wearing this sport sunscreen from Neutrogena.  It's easy to spray on, doesn't stink and stays on!  Even when it's super hot and I'm, ahem, glistening.  (Women don't sweat.)  I don't use that on my face, though. I use another Neutrogena sunscreen, the same one I take to the beach.  I mix it with my moisturizer on a daily basis and it is great!  Not greasy, doesn't sting my eyes, and protects my face from the sun.

In my younger days, I couldn't be bothered with sunscreen and wouldn't have thought twice about going out for a run at prime sun time with out protection.  Now that I'm older and wiser (sort of...) I sure do.  Getting a tan is not my primary goal in the summer any more.  Staying healthy is.

Okay, I'm getting off my soap box and will talk training now.  This past week was the first official week of training for Newport.  I only racked up 21mi because I was lazy.  But I got a solid 11mi in today despite the heat.  I ran the first 6mi with my friend Joci (who pinky swore that she would run a half marathon within a year!).  The last 5mi were on my own.  It's hot...but man, it's a gorgeous day.  So happy to have a beautiful summer day!!!  Hopefully it stays nice and sunny so I can work on these tan lines more...

it's official

It's offical:  I'm a runner.  Not sure if there was any doubt before...  But it's even more official now.  Why, you ask?  Well, because today in the mail I received a piece of mail from (wait for it.........) The Boston Athletic Association.  The Boston Athletic Association that puts on a little race we like to call The Boston Marathon.

The BAA started out as a running club over 120 years ago in 1887.  It was this club that put together the Boston Marathon, running the first one on April 19th, 1897 with just 15 runners.  Found on the BAA website:  According to Article II of the B.A.A.'s 1890 Yearbook Constitution, their objective was to "encourage all manly sports and promote physical culture."  Apparently, running is a manly sport.  :)


Manly sport or not, lots of women run too!  (Did you know that more women ran a half marathon in 2010 than men?  Now you do.)  Including myself.  And I'm a real runner now.  Because I got that piece of mail.


Wanna know what it was?!  I'm sure you're breathless with anticipation.  I signed up to run the inaugural BAA 10K on June 26th!  (What's up with me and inaugural runs this year?  First Kalamazoo, now this!)  Anyway, I was super excited to see the envelope in my mailbox; disappointed to see that the mailman had folded it to get it in my box (the envelope clearly states "DO NOT BEND"); and delighted to see my name printed on my bib.  Here's the contents (that proves that I'm a real runner, lest we forget...):

  

it's the in-between

My checklist for the spring:  Run a full marathon - Check!  Run a half marathon three weeks later - Check!  Run sporadically until you have to start training for a fall full marathon - Double Check!

I'm just not consistent these days.  5 miles here, 3 miles there.  That mindset will soon have to change.  Training officially begins for Newport on June 12th.  Whaaaaa?!  That's only a week away.  But it's also only 18 weeks away from October 16th!!  (If that doesn't make the summer feel short....)

For now, just one week to revel in the in-between and sporadically run miles.  Whatever miles I want.  It feels good.  I think today I'll run three.  And tomorrow I'll run six.  Yeah, that sounds good.

sunday, sunday, sunday (of last week...)

This was written last week...  I've since completed the half with a time of 2:13:45.

It's been three weeks since Kalamazoo.  And I can count the number of times I've gone for a run on one hand.  It's not that I don't want to run anymore or that I'm done now that I've completed two marathons...It's that I need to just not run for a while.  First I blamed it on letting my body heal, and now it's just that I haven't felt like it.

It's like if you absolutely LOVE tacos and you eat them everyday (at least 5x a week) for six months.  Then you eat them for an entire day, that's all you can eat, you are going to be sick of them and not want tacos for a while.  Right?  Well, that's how I feel about running right now.

However, that needs to change because this Sunday is Boston's Run to Remember.  A half marathon through the streets of Boston and Cambridge.  This was the very first half marathon I ever did back in 2007.  I'm excited to run it again and I'm excited to do so with friends.  I'm hoping that I can run well even though I haven't really been training well...

Part of me thinks it will be cake; another part of me thinks it will be hard...