Monday, December 20, 2010

Jacksonville Bank Half 2010

Last race of my thirties...

Well, my very first half was the Jacksonville Bank Half in 2007. I hated everything about it. It was hot and steamy (pouring down rain about an hour before), it was boring, etc. Now, with the benefit of time and experience, I can say that I was a bit too harsh.

Here's what really happened-- I had been relying on my Nike+ system for my times. According to my Nike+, I was blazing fast! The speed shown on my iPod usually was within a few seconds on my 5k times, so I decided I didn't need to calibrate it (as if I was going to find a track here!)

A few days before the half, I decided I was a bigshot runner now, and I needed a Garmin. I proudly marched outside ready to record my super speedy training runs (even at a relaxed pace, I was clocking 8:00 minute miles on my Nike+). I quickly learned that the Garmin, with it's constant communication with three satellites, was totally wrong! Or perhaps, my $25.00 Nike+ plug in thing wasn't entirely accurate. And by not entirely accurate, I mean it was off my pace by about 2-3 minutes per mile. (It's still a mystery why it was correct when I was running in races). Yeah, my little world was shattered.

I went into the Jacksonville Bank Half fully convinced that my Garmin was wrong. After a totally sleepless night, I took off from the start at 8:00 minute miles- cause I was capable of that pace... Bad idea. Sure I was capable of 8:00 minute miles, but only for about 3 miles. The other 10 proved to be a problem. Somewhere around the turn around at mile 7, I started walking. Waves of people passed me. It was beyond dreadful. I dragged in, but I was not happy.(And that's when I learned you should always be signed up for another race in the future so that you can get past the gut reaction of "I will never, ever run again!") Did I mention that my horrible PF first made itself known around mile 7?! No exaggeration, it took me almost 20 minutes to walk into the hotel from the bus stop. I was so naive, I just assumed that I should hurt after running (sort of) 13.1 miles. That ultimately led to the pain and suffering for 26.2 miles during the Goofy, but that's a whole other story.

So I pretty much told everyone who would listen (mostly my running friend, Becky) that I hated the Jacksonville Half.

Now of course, I know that was horribly unfair.

Skip to 2010. This was my third race in three months, and would qualify me to join the Half Fanatics group.

I got up early the morning of the race and drove down to Jacksonville (while listening to a talk radio show where the guest was describing his past life as a horse). Packet pickup was easy. I parked in one of the neighborhoods, but noted the directions on my iPhone. It was yet another cold day. I went with black shorts, a long sleeve bright red shirt, an old jacket, and a Santa Hat (over my running hat). I'm getting dangerously close to the category of "costumed runners"- this frightens me (and my 11 year old).

The starting area is nice- over by the Bolles School. Lots of real bathrooms, which ranks high on my list of good things. Cute shirt too- bonus! I unfortunately listened to a couple of runners in the bathroom line who decided to wear jackets. I knew it was right on the line, but decided to keep mine- until I started getting really hot around mile 3. I left my favorite jacket (truth be told, it should have been retired long ago) and never saw it again...

You run on some busy streets (lane blocked off) and then in and out of neighborhoods. I recognized some spots from my first race, which I thought was funny because I can never remember the route. "Oh look, there's where I started the death walk..."

I kind of think of this race as an insanely long 5k. It was mostly flat or even a little downhill- that was nice. It's a little boring, but good for a fast race. I ended up finishing in 1:54:xx (chip time was in the 1:53s). The medal was much better than in 2007, and the shirt really is cute. I made it back in my car and home by 11:00 a.m.

If I try to run a full next year, this would be a good choice, but only if I spend a lot of time on my playlist...

(I learned how to change the posted dates on these entries- this is more than a little late!)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Reindeer Run

And the annual Reindeer Run is upon us...

I didn't really want to run the 5k because the Jacksonville Bank Half was the next weekend. But, Harry wanted to do the one mile and the shirts are usually cute (although you have to wear them quickly because the reindeer feels silly after December). At least four people asked me if I was going to be running the race in the week leading up to it. I found that highly entertaining.

Harry and I arrived pretty early- it was cold and sort of wet. In four years of running, i've only run in the rain once (and after the initial novelty wore off, it just annoyed me, especially when the water kicked off the back of my shoe onto my leg). Lucky for us, the rain slowed to just a bit of a drizzle. I still worried that with Harry's history of falling, he was doomed to go down...

We lined up at the track with a few kids and some walkers. The race director got the kids to do a few stretches and jumps. Funny stuff. So the race started- I knew we were in trouble within one lap. Harry was whining up a storm. We had to keep passing a gazebo area where the 5k runners were waiting. Harry started jumping in puddles. I yelled at him to get out of the puddles, but then the audience of bored 5k runners started laughing and cheering, and there was no stopping the puddle jumping. So on we went, round and round, with Harry playing it up for his public each lap. By lap three, I was encouraging Harry to jump in the puddles- anything to maintain our forward momentum. We chatted a bit about Universal Studios purely as a distraction technique. A lifetime later, we finished. Someone's got to finish last, right? Harry got a water bottle for his prize. I was concerned he'd freak out over the lack of medals, but he took it well. Maybe he was just grateful to be done too.

We decided we'd use my new camera and take pictures of the 5k. We took a few pictures of Santa Moi (lead bike, in full Tri Santa suit) and then drove over to the hospital. I parked and rolled down my window for the pictures. That whole not getting out of the car thing might explain why some of my pictures were blurred, but it's not like I was being paid! Harry hung out the window and yelled things like "I think you can do it!" Inspirational, no?! I felt a little silly, but it was fun. Not surprisingly, the back of the packers looked like they were having the most fun.

We waited until we saw the police car go behind the last runner. Harry recognized the cop driving- he was excited that he knew him. I realized later that this was the first time Harry didn't fall down in a race- nice! But based on his general attitude during the race, Mr. Harry may be on a bit of a hiatus for awhile... I'm sure his public will be disappointed.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Soldier Half Marathon, Columbus, GA

This was a pretty sweet race. I signed up at the last minute and then called for a hotel (probably should reverse that plan in the future). I finally found a room with a king size bed. Since my mom, Emma, Miles and I were going to be sharing this room, I was a little concerned. Well, the lady in reservations said she didn't care how many people I had in the room as long as I could live with it. Perfect. Hello, air mattress!

The race organizers were very clever- they posted constant news and weather updates on facebook, which made out of town simpletons like me quite happy. They included a medal hint- I'm thinking dog tags! Oh, and I'm thinking I'm going to be cold...

The usual drill: running late for the expo and packet pickup, refusing to make any stops, a few wrong turns, running into the building dragging my crew, blazing up to the table to get my bib... The packet pickup was in the Infantry Museum- totally surprised by how nice it was. Volunteers were great- got all my stuff and we headed to our hotel. The reviews said the hotel was really nice but in a really rough area. Yep. We couldn't find any decent food, so I grabbed a pizza at Little Caesars. The pizza was fine, but again, the area freaked me out. (We did attempt to go to a restaurant by the mall, but went the wrong way for a very long time. I'd write more about that, but it would be in violation of my "never speak of this again" declaration.)

After modeling several outfits for my own Stacy and Clinton, I blew up the mattress and curled up with baby Milo. After all, my mom and Emma had a big day of shopping planned and needed to be in the real bed. I could just shake out the little aches and pains over the course of 13 miles.

And now moving on to race day!

I got up, put on shorts, my running girl Brooks tshirt, hat, my sweet plaid arm warmers, my Zensah compression calf sleeves, a light vest, and my Newtons. I threw on a cheap sweatshirt- both for the warmth and to look slightly less ridiculous. Out the door and into the car... And put the heat on full blast cause I'm going to turn into a Popsicle any minute!

After an uneventful drive I left my toasty warm sanctuary and dragged my shivering, teeth chattering self into the museum. Now that's an advantage to this race! Huge heated building, lots of chairs, and a really clean bathroom with at least 20 stalls. (I'm thinking they have the stalls because they have receptions here- seemed excessive, but it was a beautiful sight. I almost took a picture, but didn't want to look completely crazy). I popped a gel on one of my last bathroom trips.

The plan: take one gel before the start, start slow, rely on water stops, take one gel at mile 7 or 8. Try for a steady 8:30ish pace.

And we start (after they had to turn all the runners around because we were facing the wrong way- are we runners or sheep!?) In the first couple of blocks, we make a u-turn- aha! That must be why we were all turned around! We go up a bit of an incline. I'm still cold. Oh, I am loving my favorite new race attire- little convertible glove/mitten things!

This is a different sort of race for me. We were on the base for awhile and then on a bike path (think paved small road in the woods). Don't get me wrong, it was a great course, I just didn't clearly notice the different miles.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:35
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:37
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile 7: 8:46
Mile 8: 8:29
Mile 9: 9:05
Mile 10: 8:43
Mile 11: 8:51
Mile 12: 8:53
Mile 13: 8:48

Some of my memories:

First, the course was advertised as flat with a rolling hill at mile 2. Most people would probably agree with that assessment. Not me. I saw hills everywhere, and I'd call the hill at mile 2 a bit more than rolling. I guess I'm a true flatlander. I kind of liked the variety, but it did hurt.

Second, running in an army race was way cool. A lot of soldiers were running the full in camo and boots. Wow. Soldiers were everywhere on the course cheering, including a high ranking General. You finish the race running through a long line of flags with soldiers lined up.

The water stops were great, but I was so distracted looking around the base that I missed the first one. My first water was at mile 4- entirely my own fault, but not a good thing.

The bike trail part of the course was beautiful- lots of changing leaves and views of a river.

I forgot to check the map to see where the turn was for the half marathoners. I asked a woman around mile 8- she was older than me but had sweet pink compression socks and a long ponytail swinging away. She didn't know because she was running the full... And then she passed me. Show off. Or maybe my hero. Or both. Obviously I found the turn around (at the bottom of a hill, naturally!)

Mile 11 was lonely. I think I saw one other runner on my side (some walkers were on the other side). It was bleak and if it wasn't really uphill, it was in my mind. Note to self: long training runs need to be longer or all mile 11s (and 12s and 13s) will continue to be more miserable than necessary.

The finish: great medal (yep, dog tags). Grabbed a drink and wandered back in the museum looking for coffee. None to be had. Dragged myself back to my car (never stop moving until you make it to the car!) and went back to the hotel. Spent the next eight hours or so shopping with my fashionistas. Little bit of PF, but not too bad. Demanded a trip to the army surplus store for some Harry presents... And off to home.

Oh, final time a somewhat disappointing 1:56:xx. Not rational to be disappointed, but there you have it. And it took me at least three days to get warm!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Race for the Pinks 5k

I signed up for this 5k mostly because it was a few blocks from my house. Can't beat the transportation! The 5k was starting at 8:00 and the fun run at 9:00. I drove to the race (which felt really, really lazy) because Harry wanted to do the fun run and I was a little worried about getting him there in time.

Anyway, I put on my running skirt I bought for last year's Princess Half. I'm really not the running skirt type, but I thought it would be appropriate to look girly for the Race for the Pinks. Unfortunately, I'd never worn it before and it was both short and big. The little bit of coverage provided felt like it might slip down- that was distracting!

I talked to my friend Michelle before the race who just wanted to finish. I wanted to have a new time to plug into the race calculators so I lined up behind the always present half-naked, trash-talking high school boys. My friends Cheryl and Mary were next to me. They were doing this race the weekend before the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. Hard core. Cheryl tapped me on the arm and asked how old I was. I told her I'm 39. Her response was something like "oh, I thought you were older!" And now I know I'm a runner, because instead of thinking that I can't get to Botox soon enough, I recognized that she just wanted to know if she had to worry about me in the Master's division. Cracked me up.

The race started. First couple of blocks is downhill. Cheryl and Mary are in front of me. I find this unacceptable since I'm sure they're holding back a bit for their full next weekend. So I trot on past them. And found myself next to Allison. She's a triathlete type and she's running insanely fast. I keep up with her the first mile and a half- we're pushing 7:20s. The course is hitting all the hills. Using Cheryl's logic, it suddenly hit me that Allison is younger than me. Bye Bye.

The rest of the race was uneventful. I finished in something like 23:5x. I was hoping to be faster, but I was in the same order with the locals so I guess the hills took a toll on everyone (except Allison- note to self: don't try to keep up next time!)

Time to go get Harry. Pity I can't get out of the parking lot without going across the race course. Hmmmm.... I grabbed Harry's bib and just started trotting back to my house. I loaded Harry up in the stroller, knowing that he wouldn't want to go one step farther than a mile. I'm sure we were quite the sight- I'm hot, sweaty, wheezing, limping, pushing the ginormous Harry. (At least my skirt stopped threatening to fall off once I got hot). The race monitors laughed at me. Harry and I made it to the parking lot and put the stroller in the car.

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We lined up. I was bragging about how Harry maintains a nice steady pace. Yeah, he immediately took off... and in half a block was walking. I remember him trying to walk on a curb and falling (good to get the prerequisite race fall out of the way early). He'd run, he'd kick pinecones, he'd walk, he'd wave at other people, he'd break into a limp and start rubbing his leg- very busy mile! It was definitely fun, but it took a long time to finish (I think 14:xx minutes). Harry did sprint in the last block or so. To his utter dismay, they'd run out of medals. I knew I'd won my age group, so I told him to stick around and that I'd give him mine. Unfortunately, I forgot that instead of medals, I'd be getting a little towel. Harry was less than impressed. Such is life in the back of the pack.

Photobucket

The teenage age boys were from a cross country team in Douglas- they finished 1st through 5th. Cheryl won the Master's division, but she was behind me. So did I really beat her or did she just play it safe and ignore me since I wasn't in her division?? My vet was at the finish line holding a random puppy. Turns out he'd seen it at his office the day before- it was chasing people on the course so he grabbed it and was going to walk it home. Small town!

I did decide I might have a new policy regarding 5ks. I couldn't run this 5k with my newbie friend because I needed enough time to pick up Harry, but I think in the future I may try to help pace some of my friends. I had an okay race time, but I was really crippled for a full week afterwards. I had to skip a lot of training including two weekend long runs- not smart. I'm not really sure why I can't seem to get rid of lingering injuries (apparently if you have some sort of PF in your left foot, you can overcompensate with your right and then end up with both legs crippled...) but stupid me shouldn't have been so competitive.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Worldwide Festival of Races

This is a hard one to describe without totally admitting what a dork I am.

When I first started running way back in 2006, there was this newfangled invention- an iPod. And on that shockingly little Walkman, you could put something called a podcast. I don't know how it happened, but at some point I started listening to this guy, Steve Runner, who does a show called Phedippidations. Half the time I didn't understand what he was talking about, but I liked listening to him telling running stories and sharing information. And, let's face it, it was free and you can only take so much of the Black Eyed Peas on the treadmill.

One day, my new running friend, Steve, announced he was going to start a virtual race called the Worldwide Festival of Races. The timing of the race fell into my Goofy training. All I had to do was sign up online and print out a bib they generated, run a half marathon over a certain weekend, and post my results. I signed up and that Saturday, I went outside and I ran and ran and ran... and walked some... and ran some... it was my longest run ever. When I finished, I hopped in the bathtub fully dressed like the other hard core runners and took an ice bath. Alright, I'm not that hardcore- I took a luke cold bath, but still. I remember calling my mom and saying "I just ran a half-marathon!" So there it was- my first half marathon finish. I was very pleased with myself, but officially terrified of the Goofy.

Fast forward: I ran the Goofy, and had a baby, and signed up for the 10k the next year. I vaguely remember finishing that one. I think I might have done one other, but it really is a blur.

Fast forward again: When Steve started talking about the Worldwide Festival of Races this year, I was a little perturbed because it fell the weekend AFTER my half-marathon in Jacksonville. Technically I could have counted the Jax half as my virtual half, since I'm the one who reports my results, but it didn't feel authentic. And then I realized Ted was going out of town the weekend of the virtual half- ah, not meant to be.

But wait! Friday night was Parents' Night Out! And now Ted would be out of town and the kids had somewhere to be for a three hour block of time- and the Worldwide Festival was back on! I signed up again...

I scrambled around Friday getting the kids ready for Parents' Night Out (crazy hair night requires significant prep time). After dropping them off, I headed to the Y for a treadmill because I didn't want to run in the dark.

I hopped on the treadmill. Before pushing the start button, I stood there a minute and debated whether or not to pull my scrunched down compression socks up to my knees. Finally I decided that it wouldn't really add that much to the weird runner vibe I was already giving off- bright pink shoes, two water bottles, gels, visor, iPhone... so I yanked the compression socks up and pushed start.

Mile 1: yeah, not feeling it. Surely it will get better.
Mile 2: hey, this still sucks.
Mile 3: I'm cool with the old guy changing the channel, but seriously, the Weather Channel??
Mile 4: oh crap. I forgot to eat dinner.
Mile 5: oh look, I can have a gel for dinner. Yum.
Mile 6: shouldn't this be sucking less by now?
Mile 7: I'm all alone in the gym... kind of creepy.
Mile 8: I am so getting a biscuit at KFC when this is over!
Mile 9: stupid virtual race! have to start the treadmill over cause I'm almost out of time...
Mile 10: soul crushing to see the miles start over.
Mile 11: maybe I should slow down?? (but then this horror will never end!)
Mile 12: I'm so hungry...
Mile 13: that's it! I am NOT doing the last .1 miles!
0.1 mile: oh fine!!- I'll finish this stinking race!

And that's it. 13.1 miles at 9:50/mile. I took a quick shower, changed, and headed straight to KFC for my biscuit (or two). For once the kids were all organized and by the door so picking them up wasn't the usual challenge.

And that's my virtual race report on my virtual race!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Jacksonville Marine Corps Half 2010

Background:

I signed up for this race primarily as a means to keep myself training during the summer. If I don't have a race looming over me, I will stop running. It's that simple.

Week before the race: shoe catastrophy.

Long story, but basically I had one pair of pink Newton shoes that were a little snug and I had a pair of yellow Newtons with 500+ miles (yes, I finished out the 500 miles). I had a pair of Sauconys that seemed fast but were completely untested. I also had a pair floating in the mail (thank you, Road Runner Sports, for sending me the men's version of my favorite yellow shoes and then taking forever to correct it- oh, except wait, it wasn't corrected- I got a duplicate pair of the tight pink shoes that I now need to send back... and there was the long story. D'Oh).

All of that was just a set up to explain why I ran two miles in the week before the race. Yep, TWO. My PF was flaring up and all of my shoes freaked me out in their own special ways. I took the extra time to print out pace charts. As the week grew longer, I started tossing those charts- 1:46? Ha! 1:47? Not likely. Finally, I decided I'd just wing it with my Garmin- if I could hit steady 8:30ish miles, I'd be happy.

Day of the race:

I was on the road by 4:00 a.m. I think it's actually easier to drive at that hour than try to pack all of my running stuff and all of the kids' stuff and get ready in a hotel... Of course, after you've run Disney, hitting the road in pitch black darkness still feels like sleeping in!

Yeah, forgot two important things: there's no traffic on the back roads in South Georgia at 4:00 a.m. and the Marines were in charge of the race. I was parked and ready at 5:30 a.m. and packet pickup took about 30 seconds. Oh well- gave me time to stress out over the three pairs of shoes I dragged along! Did I mention the race started at 7:00 a.m.? I watched them make some last minute adjustments to the balloons at the start line- not everyone can say that!

I perused some sort of Florida running magazine, decided on my old tested yellow Newtons, popped a gel and 2 endurolytes, and just people-watched from my car. Finally I made my way to the port-a-potty lines. While in the line, I chatted with a father and daughter running together (he'd done 3 Goofys, this was her first half). He warned me about the "corkscrew"- I wasn't really clear on what it was, but it involved a bridge and a horrible descent around mile 11... Oh good.

We lined up. There were no corrals or even signs. That didn't make me very happy. The Marines band played the National Anthem- really good.

And the start:

Ugh. Too crowded. Lots of weaving. I'm good with walkers even with their Camelbacks- what do I know, they may be testing their equipment for an Ultra- but must they get right in front of me??

Mile 1- 8:49

And there's the first bridge. It wasn't too bad...

Mile 2- 8:17
Mile 3- 8:51


Somewhere in here was the second bridge. It was really bad.

Mile 4- 8:18

I was delusional. I actually thought I could recover from the bridges and get back to an 8:07 pace.

Mile 5- 8:30

Lucky break: found an older hard-core looking guy in a bright green shirt. Decided he would be my pacer.

Mile 6- 8:25

Kept following the old guy. I liked the auto-pilot. Somewhere around here I actually noticed some of the cool stuff we were passing- trendy restaurant/shopping area, neighborhoods...

Mile 7- 8:33

I was feeling pretty good, although every now and then just out of nowhere I'd get hit by a massive urge to start walking. I usually gave myself a mental slap and changed my music...

Mile 8- 9:04

Dude, the old guy was so slick- I didn't even know he had a gel until I saw him toss it. I got mine out of my pocket (not easy carrying my iPhone and water bottle too). It wouldn't tear. Damn. I stopped running and finally tore it- I ate maybe half. In all my fumbling, I lost my old guy pacer.

Mile 9- 8:23

I could see the bright green shirt on the horizon, but I couldn't catch the old guy. I threw out my water bottle.

Mile 10- 8:51

I was still sad about losing my pacer, but I distracted myself wondering just exactly what the "corkscrew" was and how close we were...

Mile 11- 8:47

We were on sidewalks along the river now. It was nice because of the view, but it was kind of tight and my 500 mile Newtons weren't so cushy on the concrete.

Mile 12- 9:31

And around here, I learned what the "corkscrew" was. First, there was a pedestrian bridge- you went up about three squares of sidewalk, then leveled out about two, then repeated. And again... I made it to the top without walking, but then had a weird sort of out of body, knees buckling sensation. It was disturbing, but I was pretty sure no one around me was in good enough shape to rescue me, so I pressed on... to the corkscrew. It was a square ramp thing that just went down and down and down... I guess it was designed to avoid stairs, which I would have appreciated had I been pushing a stroller, but the sharp turns were really painful. I finally made it down. The one part of the corkscrew that I did like?? I saw a little bright green shirt way down below me. It was my old guy pacer! I couldn't catch him, but he hadn't gained a bunch of time on me since my unfortunate gel incident...

Mile 13- 8:57

We were in the Jacksonville Landing area now- lots of random people staring at us. I was desperately looking for the stadium... People who still had a little kick started passing me. Bastards.

Oh look, a photographer. At mile 13. After three bridges. Lovely.

.1- 1:02

And the finish. 1:54:26.


We ran under some sort of artillery Marine tank things. Pretty cool. A Marine put my medal around my neck- it's actually a nice substantial medal. For the price, I didn't expect much. (Now that I think about it, the shirt was really nice too. This race was quite the deal for your money!)

Another Marine handed me a pint glass. It's all trendy now to grab a beer at the finish- Budweiser was a sponsor. While fun in theory, I passed on the Budweiser before 9:00 a.m. I did however score a Moe's breakfast burrito. Normally I would scorn a breakfast burrito (not because I'm so pious, but because the thought of eggs in a burrito isn't appealing). I ate this one in the car (that I found after the traditional wrong turn in the parking lot). Best part of the race.

Photobucket Ah, burrito...

Donned the sweet compression socks, pulled over to change my wet shirt, and made it home by 11:00 a.m. Not bad!

The best part of the race (besides the breakfast burrito?): I didn't finish and immediately freak out about how I was never running again!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Harvest Run 2010

Over the years, I've developed some running fears. There are two main categories: elements outside of your control and then those involving internal control.

All right, elements outside your control are obvious- dogs are number one, then maybe traffic, then weather. Oh, and Thursdays are trash days- which is worse, the closed trashcan still full of trash or the recently emptied one with the lid flopped open?! (Trick question- the worst is to get behind the TWO trucks that are in my neighborhood- took me a long time to realize there wasn't just one truck sadistically following me on my rambling route!)

The internal control issues are related mostly to coordination- you know- fall off a curb, twist your ankle, knock out your front teeth, etc.

Some fears even combine the two: twist your ankle while screaming and running from a pack of chihuahuas or have a driver see you conducting your music because the heat exhaustion finally made you snap. Not that I have any experience in either of those fears. Ahem.

That brings me to the Harvest Run 1 mile Fun Run. Coach Harry wanted to run this one with me. It was the same day as the duathlon so I was looking for a really good reason to not run the 5k- perfect!

Harry and I lined up towards the back. He'd been talking trash in the car- he's going to run the whole way, there's no walking in running, and I better try to keep up. Yeah, ok. He was wearing an armful of Superman silly bands... The race started. We took off!

Within maybe five feet I realized that I was pushing the baby, but I didn't see Harry. Huh..seemed really quick to lose him. I looked behind me- nothing. Then I looked down. And there was Harry- looking like he decided to stop and make some snow angels on the asphalt. Well that was unexpected. And in my next surreal moment, a man behind us (who I'm sure had kids of his own cause only a parent would do this) just hoisted him back to his feet and put him next to me.

So both Harry and I had a shared out of body experience and found a new running fear- falling flat out backwards! There was nothing to do, so we just started running.

Harry did well the first quarter of a mile or so. He complained a bit about his feet. Personally, I would have gone with the "I just landed flat on the street" excuse, but whatever.

Around the halfway point, we found a friend from swimming lessons. He started chatting with Harry. Then he said the greatest thing ever: "I'm going to win, you're going to lose." Now this kid was faster and older and thinner, so he was probably right. But, he didn't count on how competitive Harry is. Suddenly the feet felt fine and we were booking it(comparatively speaking).

Harry's friend is all over the place- he's behind us, he's in front of us- just chatting with people. I think he literally ran circles around us. The kid really is oblivious just talking to people and having fun, but Harry is getting all worked up. With about two blocks left, I spotted the kid sitting on a curb with a friend. Yes, sitting.

I whispered to Harry, "Your buddy isn't paying attention... if you just keep on running, we're going to win..." He nodded at me conspiratorily, and we kept on moving. Finally, the last turn- out of nowhere, Harry threw in a sprint finish (again, comparatively speaking). I had no idea he'd saved a little kick! We finished in 12:20. Not the fastest mile ever, but we were pleased. (And yes, we totally took the distracted friend!)

After the race, we decided to watch the 5k. Harry and his friend hung out together raiding the food goodies, poking at ants, cheering, and just doing other boyish things. I think they were both pleased with the race- Harry was quietly glowing over his victory and the other kid probably knew it was a "fun" run and that he could have taken us at any point. I let the baby out of the stroller (who never said a peep during the race) so he could hang with the big boys.

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And that's pretty much it. Harry has another sweet medal and I have a new running fear. Oh, and after much discussion, Harry and I came to the conclusion that the fall was caused by a silly band flying off his arm at the start- we think he tried to catch it and lost his footing. We're both fuzzy on the details...

Monday, August 30, 2010

Heels to Wheels Duathlon

I signed up for this one in some euphoria induced haze from surviving the Turtle Crawl Tri- What?! No swim?! I'm in!

And then I started running more miles. And running more miles. And my bike sat in my garage... And I learned something about myself: I'm just a runner. I can dabble in the whole bike/swim thing when I'm hurt and I can't run, but if given a choice of the three, I'll be running... and sitting on my couch, but mostly running.

That's my whole justification for why I hadn't been on my bike in three months. I bought a new pump, pumped the tires, took the sticker from the tri off, and rode around the block. Most people do brick workouts for preparation- ride the bike for say 30 minutes, run for 15 minutes. Nope, not me.

Saturday morning rolls around. After about a month of never waking up late or resetting my alarm for the kids' schools, I woke up late. Not just a little late, but supposed to be in transition 15 miles away 15 minutes ago. Hmmm... At least I didn't have to think about options- throw on the clothes, grab the transition bag, throw the bike in Ted's truck, and on the way! The race was going to start at 7:30 a.m. I arrived at the park at 7:20 a.m. I ran up to the registration area, started filling out the waiver, had to leave my bike and run back for my ID- tedious. Finally got marked and dropped off the bike. My entire transition space consisted of a towel, my helmet, and a water bottle. I had to stash my goody bag behind the bike because I didn't have time to go back to the truck again.

Saw a few friends. Chatted a bit, but still frazzled by my crazy morning. The thought of racing 43 minutes after waking up is a bit daunting. The thought of having part of that race be on my bike was too much to bear.

They gave us our instructions and we all lined up in the grass. It turns out they wanted us to run along the grass for maybe 1/10 of a mile and then turn onto the street. Race starts. No big deal, but I was a little wobbly in the new Newtons with the funny lugs on the grass. We hit the street- lots of little long hills. You go up, you go down, then you do it again cause it's an out and back course. I think I'm second or third girl, so I'm pretty happy. My pace was in the neighborhood of 7:20 miles.

And now I'm in transition- I grab my helmet and bike and walk to the mounting area (it's a crack in the asphalt that I guess looks like a line). I get on and realize my glasses are totally foggy. Oh good. I still can't get my water bottle while riding and there's no way I can get to my glasses and clean them. And for that matter, what would I clean them on? As I'm pondering all of this, my head is slightly forward and the breeze hits my glasses- problem solved!

I head out on the roads. OK, not only did I not ride my bike ahead of time, I didn't check my gears. Yes, I checked the basic "don't leave it in too hard a gear" thing because apparently people get on and then fall off, but I forgot to make sure it wasn't in too easy a gear. You know the big gear thingy? It was in the small ring, so I couldn't generate much speed. I tried pushing down the button a bunch, but it wouldn't shift. As all of this is going on and I'm practically hyperventilating, everyone I just passed is passing me. "On your left!" Oh, really? All of you are on my left! The people with the fancy tires are killing me- "wait, you're passing me on my left? I thought that was the lifeflight people coming to get me!" Seriously, they make this crazy whooshing noise... Everyone had on their fancy bike shoes too. Oh, and my bike was making this horrible noise like a sticker was hitting the tire over and over. I decided to think of it as a metronome so I didn't completely lose my mind. (Turns out it was part of the cadence thing for my Garmin that I've never been able to work- that was money well spent).

OK, had to pull it together. Hit the turnaround....s l o w l y... told the volunteer I probably needed to learn to turn. Chatted with a nice guy who had a bike like mine. Took off again. I mashed that stupid button again out of pure frustration, and lo and behold, my gear shifted! Now I could push a little more. So I keep on pedaling and chatting with people passing me. At least being passed helped kill the time! Oh look, another embarassing turnaround. Seriously should have at least taken a couple of spin classes cause this bike thing is starting to hurt.

Finally, finally off the bike. So happy. Grabbed my water bottle with Heed. Did I mention I can't drink on the bike? Waycross Bank and Trust had signs every few miles with giant letters: HYDRATE. Mocking me.

Grabbed my hat and hit the grassy path again. Now the problem isn't so much my shoes as it is my legs. I heard someone say they had dead legs. When I heard that in the past, I assumed it meant your legs were exhausted. Yeah, that's not exactly it. They are exhausted, but the problem is more that they don't know how to move properly and for at least a half of a mile, you can't convince them that running is a natural thing. If I were ever so reckless as to eat right after getting a filling, I assume it would be the same way- having to teach yourself how to chew. I felt like I was teaching myself how to not move in such a jerky way.

We ran down the same course, so more hills. The really fast people are headed towards us. Everyone yelled encouragement to each other, which I thought was very fun. That was highly unusual- most races I've done people are either extremely quiet and listening to iPods or they are all out crazy like Disney. One of the really fast guys reached out to high five me- don't know how fast he was moving, but that hurt! My first mile was 8:15, the last one 7:52. I was pretty proud to pull off an under 8 minute mile at the end! As I was headed towards the line, I could see the clock at 1:19:xx. Having no clue of a goal time, I decided I'd be good with under 1:20. Final time: 1:19:33.

My time was good enough for 5th overall girl, and 1st in my age group (40-44, excuse me!?) I was pleased with the race, but I think duathlons may have just landed in the BTDT category for me...

So now, my been there, done that category consists of: bridge runs, triathlons, and duathlons. I thought I'd like it better because of the whole "no swim" thing, and I am certainly grateful there wasn't a swim, but I just am not that good on my bike. And really, I don't want to take the time to get better on my bike. I still like it, but it's not really my thing right now. I'm scared of riding on the roads, I'm scared of the fancy pedals, I'm scared of why I would need a helmet. I may very well want to ride more in the spring when I'm tired of running or have met my goals or most likely, am totally injured...

Oh, and my Newtons were a huge hit. Several people asked about them, and one older guy said "I remember you. Those pink shoes blazed past me and I never caught them again." Can you say race highlight!?

Friday, August 27, 2010

New Newtons!

So, I just retired my yellow Newtons with approximately 490 miles on them.

They cost about $150.00/pair. What's that make their per mile running cost? I'm going with about 30 cents per mile.

The Asics I bought from the running store?

They cost about $80.00. A bargain, right? Well, I demoted them to walking only status at 6 miles cause they almost crippled me. So what's their per mile running cost? Oh, about $13.33 per mile.

And people look at me funny for buying Newtons and think they're too expensive? Sure, if they don't work for you, that's one thing, but I didn't even think mine needed retiring until I realized how close I was to 500 miles. (Speaking of which, I'm going to have to run the last ten miles in the old yellow ones just for closure).

Anyway, I now have a new pair of pink Newtons for people to either covet or mock. With any luck, they'll be blazing past the mockers.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Harry's Munchkin Super Kidz Tri

Race Report: Super Kidz Tri!!!

Harry did his first tri this weekend at the ripe age of 4. I was worried about everything- he'd think people were laughing at him, he'd freak out in the pool since he'd only had 2 weeks of lessons, he had a new bike, etc.

Race morning: Got the baby to the sitter and packed up Harry and all of his stuff. He got to use all my tri gear (fancy water bottle, goggles, helmet, etc). We made it to the Y and set up his transition area. We picked up his swag bag and he got body marked. Oddly, he was mostly interested in the ruler in the bag...

Photobucket Transition.

We went to the pool early just so he could check it out again. When anyone asked if he was ready, he said "oh, I'm ready!" He put on his required swim vest. We waited in the bleachers for Ted and Emma to show up. (And when they did, I laughed at the look of panic on Ted's face when he suddenly thought he'd forgotten to bring the baby.)

Harry lined up. They had all the 4 year olds go out together after explaining that this race was about completion and that they should take their time and be safe and have fun. Harry's lane was by the wall. The race starts. The boy sprints down the handicapped ramp in the water and does a giant leap. He comes up sputtering, but starts swimming. We're following along the side of the pool as everyone is cheering. The kids are all pretty close. Turns out Harry is better in the water than his mother. He makes it to the end with no problems. Ted hauls him out, and we're off to transition.

We throw on a shirt and shoes and head down the stairs to the track. (They call it a track, but it's really just a vaguely oval shaped asphalt path). I put on Harry's helmet and helped him on his bike. He hasn't done much riding since it seems to rain every afternoon, but he gets it moving. The four year olds are required to have training wheels. I keep my hand on his back and we go around the first lap. And then, as everyone from my track club is cheering at the end of the first lap, we have our first mishap. I don't understand how it could happen with training wheels, but Harry goes down hard sideways and drags the bike with him. I tossed him off the bike, picked it up, put him on, and we took off again. I would have been freaked out by such a truly spectacular fall, but all he said was "you know, that kind of hurt..."

So for the second lap, I ran holding Harry's handlebars. Ted ran over to record him, and Harry just yelled "meet me at the finish line, Dad!" Emma was cheering, which we could just hear over all the commotion. And we are back in transition- yes, off the bike and I can stand upright!

Helmet off, and we're running. It's one lap around for the run. Harry goes out at a good clip, but not a sprint. He's able to maintain his speed all the way around and doesn't walk. The last few yards Emma joins us. I let her run him in.

And now Harry has his medal (which he put with my medals- how cute is that?) He's got big plans for future races. There's a 1 mile fun run this Saturday that he really wants to do.

Photobucket

The thing I liked best about Harry's race was that even though he wasn't the fastest, he was just thrilled the whole time. And I learned something about my racing- worried about people laughing at him? worried about the swim and the new bike? Those fears didn't apply to Harry at all- they're my usual race day fears that I was putting on to his race... weird, huh?

So, this weekend I have the following races lined up:
1) Saturday: Duathlon- 2 mile run, 14? mile bike, 2 mile run. I haven't been on my bike in forever but I wanted to do this race to encourage local events... it's going to hurt!
2) Saturday: 1 mile fun run with Harry and maybe Emma;
3) Saturday: may run a 5k with a friend who's a newbie runner- not sure yet.
Crazy.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Future plans

I've been putting in some big miles so far this month, so provided I don't end up injured (which is a bigger "provided" than I care to acknowledge), I've got to find some race goals.

Known upcoming races:

1) Heels to Wheels Duathlon, Aug. 28. Yeah, guess I better peel off the race sticker on my bike from the Turtle Crawl tri. What? It was only 3 months ago... The duathlon is run 2 miles, bike 14, run 2. I'm thinking it won't be that hard, except for that chunk of 14 miles in the middle. And I need a new pump. Cause you know, the only thing harder than riding a bike for 14 miles is riding one with flat tires. So apparently my new bike euphoria a year ago was extremely short lived.

2) Jacksonville Marine Corps Half, October. In theory, this is the one I'm training for, but I can't seem to push the send button on active.com.

3) Peachtree City 25k, Darkside Running Club, November. Dual purpose- visit Ted's brother's family and do a race. I love when I can merge things like that- then it's not all about me! The race looks interesting. There's a 50k at the same time, so there should be a lot of people way weirder than me which will be refreshing. It's a 5 mile loop on golf cart trails with "rolling hills." I'm a little concerned about the possible disparity between my definition of rolling hills and the locals. Still, there should be lots of people moving sort of slowly (cause they've got 30+ miles altogether to go!) I wonder if they'll laugh at my Garmin and Newtons? Probably not my Garmin, definitely the Newtons. I've filled out the form but haven't taken it off my desk.

4) Jax Bank Half Marathon... or Full? In theory, this could be a good year to run a Full. I'd love to break 4 hours, and horror of horrors, a Boston Qualifying time for me would be 3:50. Ugh. The running calculators predict I could do under 3:50, but that's if I can stay injury free with perfect training and have a perfect day. I don't know if I want that kind of pressure. I could do the half- did I mention my main goal is last minute Christmas shopping in Jax and a last race before I turn 40?

5) Princess Half, Feb. 27. I'm sure I'll do it, but I need to work on my outfit.

Optionals:

Tallahassee Half or Full? Breast Cancer 26.2 with Donna Half or Full?

Gate River Run, March something. I don't really like this run (hello, bridge at end!), but if you are in the top 10% you get a cool hat. Granted I'll never wear the hat because I'll feel like a pretentious runner, but it's kind of tempting. Emma can't believe I'd run 9+ miles as fast as possible "uh, just for a hat?!" And then when I told her I probably wouldn't wear the hat, she laughed... a lot.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Ready Set Glow 5k

Ah... a midnight 5k with glowsticks! Does that sound cool or what?!

Yes, it sounded totally cool... a month before. Slightly less cool a week before... and then it just made me feel really, really old as I contemplated actually putting on my running clothes at 11:30 at night.

No, no... I'm young, I'm hip, I'm doing a 5k at midnight.

So, Ted's passed out (you know, he's a year older than me). The boys are passed out. Emma's wide awake. So I give her the remote and her phone and tell her to have a big time. It's the Friday night before school starts- I know, I know, I'm an incredibly responsible mom.

After killing a few hours that would have been better spent sleeping (and by sleeping I mean watching Chelsea Handler while eating Ritz crackers and peanut butter), I drove over to the Y. It's all of a mile away from my house.

Guess what? It's still incredibly hot. Heat index 103 hot. Great.

I pick up my packet. The t-shirt is sort of cute, but not run at midnight cute. The glowstick is a nice touch- it's a bracelet. Instead of bibs they wrote your number on your hand. I probably should tell them to go the tri route next time and do the arm. My bulging tendons made it hard for the director to write my number on my hand- note to self "hands are looking old." Nice confidence booster.

So I walk to my car with my goody bag. I just got a haircut, so I decided to leave the hat behind (and sunglasses- d'oh! this feels weird!) I try jogging a bit and realize that even with drinking water and sitting around during the day, I'm still really tired. I'm feeling more uncoordinated than usual- think it's because my body wants to be asleep.

OH, and there were tons of people with little kids in the park- so weird! There were a lot of people at the race- I guess they all liked the novelty too. I'm rather smug about the fact that I don't have my children playing on swings at midnight until I remember I left my 10 year old in charge of her two brothers. (Hey, she knew she could wake up Ted if she needed him!)

Race starts. I'm exhausted, but I charge up the big hill by the hospital- good plan! Yeah, so that hurt. I'm wheezing and I can't see my Garmin. I downloaded a new playlist for the race- yeah, Bare Naked Ladies "Who Needs Sleep?" not nearly as clever at midnight. The race was supposed to be lit. Well, you could see in the sense that you probably weren't going to trip, but the disembodied barking of invisible dogs was extremely disturbing. I assumed any dog that loud must be behind a fence or it would have already eaten someone in front of me, but I didn't like not being able to see them coming.

Mile two. Still haven't recovered from the crazy fast first mile, or the exhaustion, or the humidity. I hang on by following a guy in front of me. He doesn't know it but he's dragging me in. We pass a few people on a bit of a downhill.

I see a group of men in front of me. I pass a couple of them and then realize one in front is Ron. Ron and I always finish near each other, trading the lead. I really wanted to pass him just so I could say "hi" and annoy him, but the more I thought about it, it sounded like a whole lot of trouble- have to turn the music off, have to take the headphones out, have to run a lot faster. He could have this one. (I was also distracted by my sudden hatred of James Brown and his mocking tone- NO, I do not feel good!)

And the finish. Down a long hill. It's 26:00. I was surprised because the effort seemed the same as a faster race, but there were so many horrible variables that it was okay. Finishing sort of near Ron made me think it was a pretty good race. And I was too tired to really care. I think my card said 30th finisher. There were about 135 people in the race.

Photobucket
This lovely picture kind of sums up the finish.

I stuck around for the age group awards because I thought I was the 4th or 5th girl across. Hello, should always read the fine print on the registration. Awards were by DECADE and only for first. C'est la vie.

In the meantime, the humidity increased to the point that there was tons of thunder and some lightning. Emma started texting me like crazy- "I hear thunder. R U OK?" and my favorite- "baby awake! Hurry!" followed by "baby being good. ok." I gave her my shirt for being my race support.

So, that's it. I'm going to put midnight races in the same category as bridge runs or those dreadful tour things. Novelty runs that I don't really have to do again. Nothing against the race- it was well organized and attended and generally a good race, but it was at frigging midnight. Enough said.

Monday, August 16, 2010

July 3rd, Sunshine Festival

So a month later...

This race and I have a history.

It was my first real 5k in 2007. I did it in 29:59 and was thrilled. And horrified. I'd signed up for the Goofy- 39.3 miles in one weekend. That was suddenly seeming a lot harder...

In 2008, my mom and I "ran" it when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant. It marked pretty much the end of my running until the baby was born in September. It wasn't really the running that was a problem. It was the heat and the look of concern on the volunteers' faces- "Is she going to have that baby right here? I'm just handing out water and pointing the right way- I did not sign up for baby duty!" We finished in something like 43 minutes.

In 2009, I ran it in about 25:16. I had higher expectations and it basically left me utterly deflated for the rest of the summer. I didn't run again until realizing I could sign up for a tri for our Labor Day Disney trip.

So, that's the Sunshine Festival 5k- I always think I'm going to like it, but it's usually a morale-crushing, willpower-destroying disaster. I don't know why I forget that every year.

Anyway...

July 3rd comes along- my mom kindly picked up my packet the night before. I got all my stuff together that night and prepared to get up early. Worked out fine. Made it to the course with plenty of time to spare. Ran slowly a bit and did a few strides. Talked to some people I knew, and tried to ignore the creeping heat/humidity and my sudden revelation that I hate this race.

And we start- this year I lined up closer to the front. Not right by the teenage boys and the hard-core old guys without shirts, but not next to the guys in the khaki shorts. As usual, I found myself next to a stinky guy. What's up with that?! It's early in the morning and you're going to get sweaty, so I understand not taking a shower before, but if you are that stinky before the race, cut the crowd some slack. Way too early for that kind of sensory overload...

It's a flat course around parks and neighborhoods. I never can remember the course, which is crazy since I run there a lot, but I'm just following people. I go out with my new strategy of starting as fast as I can and trying to hold on. It's not sophisticated or particularly smart, but it is easy to remember. Mile 1 is under 8 minutes, mile 2 about the same. By mile 3 I'm questioning why I keep running 5ks, but I know if I blow this I'll have a complete meltdown- so I push through. Final time: 23:3x. I can't remember exactly, but it was my second fastest 5k and much hotter than the one I set my PR in. So I'm reasonably pleased. My mom met me at the finish. She said I looked pretty good and wasn't as stinky as usual. (Uh, thanks? So like, I wonder if pre-race stinky guy had peaked in his stinkiness or if he got worse?! I left him in my tracks at the start- no way I was sticking around to see what happened on the stinky scale of 1-10. Looking back on Mr. Stinky, I'm wondering if I should have told him to get to a doctor. I mean, I'm a runner who's been in a lot of stinky races and I have three children so I am no stranger to stink, but I'm still gagging a little just thinking about him. As a matter of fact, I have to end this topic now. Right now.)

We went back to get the rest of the peeps back for the awards ceremony. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of action at home in terms of dressing/waking/etc. We finally headed down long after the ceremony. People were cleaning up. I found someone in charge and claimed my age group prize-- 3rd out of 39! It was a nice ocean scene print- kind of fun.

So that was it. Another year, another Sunshine Festival.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Running store!

At long last, I went to a real running store. I live well over an hour away from any "real" running stores. (Being the running snob that I am, I don't consider the mall stores "real.")

I had to pick up Emma at camp about a zillion miles away. On the way up, I took Emma and the baby through Columbus, Georgia (curse you Columbus with your "one wrong turn and you're in Alabama" lack of signs!) We went on a bit of a side trip to Calloway Gardens. Unfortunately, I only remembered how boring it is when we got there. (Okay, it may be lovely when it's not 100 degrees). We then went on a side trip to the Wild Animal Safari Park. Hello, surreal! We bought some food and hopped on the zebra bus with no windows. You hand food to the animals, unless they have "horse-like" mouths in which case they may grab a finger, so you throw it.

I'm totally digressing.

My mother and the baby and I went back a couple of weeks later to get Emma. I had a gift card from the Turtle Crawl Tri (or as I think of it, the ocean horror) for Big Peach Running Store. So, off we went. After a few map reading glitches, we found ourselves at a little store in some Atlanta suburb. Small, but packed full of tasty treats! The guy helping me was about 18 and had a very "hands off" approach. Really nice, but I almost felt like I needed to ask if I could you know, buy something. And this after I mentioned we were on a pilgrimage! Strange. He put me on a treadmill and some funny scale type thing (I don't think it weighed me- wouldn't have agreed to get on that!) Turns out I have high-normal arches and should run in a neutral shoe. He said I had a great steady gait, which was odd since all I could see in the replay of the video was my duck landing. When I pointed it out, he said something to the effect of I land like a very steady duck with very little deviation. Uh, okay. Trust me, I still look stupid.

So I tried on a bunch of shoes- I ended up with some Asics and some superfeet liners... and a new sportsbra... and some socks... and gels. I asked about Newtons, but they were a bit dismissive in a "I don't really know much about them" kind of way. And then we had to leave- my mom was growing a bit impatient (even after the high of finding new people to tell she ran a half-marathon) and the baby was starting to sprint on the little fake track they had for shoe testing.

And that was it.

Oh, and I've run twice in my Asics with the green superfeet. Did three miles on each run and was absolutely crippled. Thanks, trained shoe fitter guy! HA! It worked out in the end because they are really comfortable for walking and seem to help with my PF, but still...

Liking the sportsbra and the socks as well, and haven't run enough to try the variety of Hammer Gels I picked up. Probably should check the expiration dates. You know, now that I think about it, I'm not really sure why I'm left with such a good impression of the whole running store experience. Weird.

Friday, June 4, 2010

5k benefit for Emmanuel school

So I don't even remember the name of this race, which is CRAZY, cause I won it.

You read that right.

I was overall top female... WTH??

OK, there were a lot of beginners there and the usual fast people were obviously not there. I decided to take this race more seriously and ran a real warm up. I started out in the direction of the one mile fun run. A friend's 5 year old, Patrick, was running the one mile. His grandfather was far behind him and his older brother predictably dumped him. I decided Patrick would be a good running buddy so I joined the one mile fun run. He actually was perfect- we'd sprint at a 7 minute per mile pace, and then walk at a 22 minute pace (he also caught a ride on a golf cart for the one big hill- smart kid!) It was a really good warm up- note to self: bring Patrick to every race!

The 5k started. All I really wanted to do was get past the clump of little kids who always start in front of me. I pushed hard and saw I was at a 7:30 pace, which was ridiculous. I held on though because those little kids are fast little sprinters and I couldn't see them (or hear them because I was listening to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" on some sort of horrible loop). At about 1.5 miles I caught a teenaged girl- I told her we were halfway there, and she stopped pretty much instantaneously. So then I felt like crap- I thought I was encouraging her, not taking away her will to live! Regardless, I was pretty certain I was now the first girl, so you know, to heck with her- she's young, they'll be other races... I passed a water stop- a small dog tried to get me. Hello, who brings an unleashed dog to a water stop? Oh well. And now I'm going uphill. It's feeling hard, but not impossible. Now my Garmin may be hurting my pace- I see I'm still in the 7:30s. I felt like I could go faster, but I was worried I'd literally fall down. Hmmm... oh, and I'd never moved that fast, so my actual coordination felt off, as in I wasn't sure I was swinging my arms fast enough. I distracted myself by listening to yet another round of "Don't Stop Me Now." It was making me absolutely crazy, but it worked that far and I couldn't possible jinx myself by changing it.

Finally, the finish. A guy in a tri shirt passes me with a "good race" comment. It doesn't bother me one bit because he was young and fit and he should have been in front of me way before then. I push through, hearing "first girl." Crazy. My time was 23:09. My long standing 5k PR was 24:42 so I'm pretty surprised.

I picked up my medal and went on home trying to figure out when I became a "real" runner. And then I entered my 5k results in the McMillan Running Calculator, and see a prediction for around 3:40 for a full marathon. I know it's probably optimistic and reflects proper marathon training, but I need a 3:50 to qualify for the Boston marathon... oh, the torment. Curse you, Boston dream!

Swamp Run 10k

Haven't really posted lately (that's how all my posts start). As the title says, I ran the Swamp Run 10k a couple of months ago. I really didn't even want to go, but my husband was already committed to watching the kids. Seriously, who would pass up that opportunity on a Saturday morning?!

I drove out to the Swamp Park, hopped out of the car, and realized it was freezing! I had on shorts and a light t-shirt. D'Oh. Either I didn't notice the temperature in my frenzy to get out of the house or it dropped 20 degrees in about 10 miles. Either way, I was not really happy.

I grabbed my bag, threw on the long sleeve race shirt, and wandered around doing that pre-race thing- go to the car, get the Garmin, drink water, lock car, put key in shoe pocket, freak out thinking I need something else, get key out, open car, repeat.

Finally I decided I was just going to have to be cold and left the race t-shirt behind. I was concerned that wearing the t-shirt before the race would guarantee a twisted ankle.

The race starts. I have no expectations. I started out at what felt like a slow pace. The first mile is on the road. Somewhere around mile 2 you head into the trails. (Trails are really just narrow grassy paths). It was hard to pass on the trails, and I was actually feeling like moving fast now. Got to another open road and started passing people. It felt a little risky to pass people around mile 3 and 4, but I was feeling strong. I even passed a girl who totally killed me at the Gate River Run last year (I expected her to get me back, but she didn't. Sweet!)

There's a turn-around on the roads, which was a nice distraction. There weren't that many people in front of me. Since it's an out and back course, I tried to push it some to avoid any log jams on the trail. I saw my friend Mary. She yelled some encouragement, as always. (Mary is in her late 50s, but crazy fast!) I pushed past her and headed home.

I saw two men ahead of me the last half mile. I passed both, expecting they'd catch me in the end. I never really have a final sprint. They didn't catch me! Shocking. Final time: 52:10. A new PR and good enough for 2nd in my age group and a little trophy.

I hung around with the old runner guys after the race who let me in on their trash talking- that was hilarious. Me and the 60 year old guys. They had a big pancake breakfast too. Usually I skip it, but this time I thought "hello, pancakes!"

All in all, pretty fun. Oh, and when I looked in the race results later, the two guys I passed were like 67 and 14. Yeah, I felt a little bad about that...

Monday, May 17, 2010

Well, kids, I survived!

Turtle Crawl Sprint Triathlon:

First, I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to pick up a friend and drive an hour to Jekyll Island. Very Disneyish, except I had to be reasonably alert since I couldn't hop on a bus!

Uneventful drive. We found the place with no problems (probably because for once I was really early!) Picked up our race stuff and handled transition relatively well. I would much rather do it the day before, but I still managed to get all my stickers and numbers in the right places. They had a tri-tat system- you put temporary tattoos on for your numbers. Great in theory, but took too long. Being the needy type that I am, I grabbed a volunteer to help me with mine. We both messed up, so I had tattoos and regular Sharpie markings. Tons of people reversed their numbers, scratched them out, and wrote them in marker, which I found amusing.

What I did not find amusing?? They had already lengthened the bike to 14.4 miles because of construction, and then they added 50 yards to the swim for 650 total. (Thankfully, I wasn't doing the Olympic!)

The swim:

So you might have gathered that I was nervous about the swim... we walked for an eternity down the beach. A bunch of people from our class were together, sharing the apprehension. Our coach told us to get in the water. It was really windy and there was a strong current. He said it would be hard to get to the first buoy, but then the current would drag us in to the finish. (You went out to a buoy, hung a left and went straight until turning for the finish). It was a timed start. We entered in pairs within a couple of seconds of other people.

Getting to the first buoy was sooo hard. I heard some people screaming for help behind me. I was conveniently breast stroking (also known as treading water) because I'd swallowed a ton of salt water already, so I could see the lifeguard on her surfboard- she was paddling over and yelling something like "I can't get there yet." This did not encourage me... The current kept shifting- I didn't know that at the time, I just knew that my coach was a big liar! I did a lot of freestyle once I calmed down and changed up my stroke to deal with the fact that I was breathing on the side with the waves. It still took forever to reach the buoys. I was swum over a couple of times and a guy knocked one side of my goggles- nothing like some salt in the contacts! Anyway, after about 30 minutes of sheer terror, I was finally out of the water. (Our coach later said it was the most challenging open water swim he'd done in 15 years).

The bike:

It's a long way to transition, up a boardwalk and through sand. I was fine with that, cause I was out of the water! I put on my shoes without socks, grabbed my helmet, and headed to the mounting area. I got going without any real problems. Now here's the thing with my bike- I've ridden a lot on a trainer, and I've ridden a lot slowly outside. So I had no idea how fast I should be going. I was averaging about 17-19 mph (I did take my Garmin). I passed a bunch of people (cause if I didn't make it clear, after the swim, pretty much everyone was in front of me). I realized I was at about mile 4 and about to pass a guy with 20 on his leg. And I thought to myself, perhaps I'm not much stronger than a 20 year old boy and I should stick with him... So that's what I did. (I eventually passed the 20 year old at the end of the run, which really pleased me. ) The bike was great, except for the last 3 miles in a headwind. But again, I wasn't in the ocean, so I was happy.

The run:

Dumped the bike and helmet. Grabbed the hat and race belt. Drank some water, since I'm still too nervous to grab my bottle on the bike. Couldn't think of anything else to do, so I started the run. Here was my happiest moment- even though I only did one brick in training, the run felt fine. Legs weren't heavy (so should I have pushed more on the bike after all?) The course was a mess because of more construction. It was an out and back, so I saw some people from my class both ways which was a nice distraction. My Garmin said the course was a little short and that I averaged about an 8:17 (hard to tell since I was not the best at turning it on/off at just the right spots). I was extremely pleased that I wasn't running much slower than just a regular 5k without all that near drowning and biking stuff first! I saw our coach before the finish- he yelled about a final kick. Miracle of miracles, I was able to pull out a little sprint to the finish. I never can do that! The run ended up being a 24:42, so maybe I started my Garmin early? Hey- tied my 5k PR with all that drowning/biking before it!

So that was it. They had lots of food and goodies afterwards. We sat around a bit and cheered for people and talked about the race (mostly sharing swim horror stories). Got a sweet albeit ridiculously bright t-shirt. The official results have me at 1:51:xx and 4th in my AG. I'm dying to see the splits so I can tell just how horrible I am at swimming!

There's another sprint tri in October at the same place. The swim is only 400 yards. I'm torn between never, ever wanting to see the ocean again and wanting to redeem myself. In the meantime, there may be a local duathlon in August- now that I can work with!

OK- final results. For my age group: 10/16 in the swim, 7/16 on the bike, 1/16 on the run. I guess I know where I'm most comfortable!

Here I am with my friend at the finish. I'm the Goofy one in the pink hat.
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Friday, April 9, 2010

Tour de Torture

As always, I'm posting late.

Anyway, Tour de Torture-- 3 runs, 1 weekend.

The first run is a Friday at 6:00 p.m. It's four miles through my neighborhood. Now I know these hills, and I'm not overly pleased. Still, I think I may be able to use some strategy based on knowledge of the course. Yeah, so I go out too fast. I'm cocky, I'm ready to go. I run up the horrible street with the horrible hills too fast. I can usually maintain about a 9 minute pace if I'm pushing it on this street- so I go for about an 8 minute pace. Predictably, I'm not just wheezing, I almost sound like I'm crying. So I chat with the older, wiser runners who pass me and just try to get moving again. I really don't like night runs. Too many chances to ruin yourself during the day! I finished somewhere around 34 minutes and then went home to say bye to Ted who was leaving for 3 days... as in leaving me alone in charge of 3 kids... with two races to go.

Saturday morning is a 5k. With the exception of having my babysitter show up at 7:59 for a race starting at 8:00, it went well. (They started a bit late, but I was hustling up to the start strapping on my race belt as the horn blew!) I forgot my Garmin, which may have helped. Same basic route, but cut out some of the hills. I don't know if it was because it was morning so I hadn't sabotaged myself yet or because I didn't have the Garmin pressure, but I felt better. The clock said 26:xx but someone told me he thought the course was long. Again, Garminless, so no clue.

Saturday afternoon was a 1 mile run. Never done a 1 mile run. Not worth the effort in my opinion. You go out blazing, can barely breathe, never get time to settle down, and then it's over and you have the whole "do I really have to take another shower?" thing going through your head. The clock said 8 something, but my Garmin said 7:5x. Whatever. The whole Tour de Torture concept was getting a bit, shall we say, tortorous...

It took awhile for them to tally the results. I played with my phone.

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Best part of all?!

Check it out:

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Harry always wants to know if I "won" my race. He totally doesn't get the concept of everyone winning for finishing the distance. Finally, I was able to announce that "YES! I WON." My mom was in town watching the kids for me, so it was fun to show off my medal.

I should add that this was a perfect storm- I ran reasonably fast, but tons of the usual runners who could run circles around me weren't at all the races due to a bike race on Saturday morning. Still...

Oh, and Harry promptly knocked the head off the running girl, but I was able to wedge it back on. Typical.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spring

Finally, we have decent weather.

I decided I'd do a slow recovery run today at lunch. I started at a good pace, but then found my time creeping faster. To keep myself slow, I started taking pictures on the run. I finished with a little over 5 miles... with no sign of my usual post half-marathon injuries. Let me praise the Newtons again!

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Slowed down my pace nicely.

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You can see I don't have a whole lot of traffic concerns on my routes. Is the second street not a beautiful sight? It was just re-paved a couple of weeks ago- tedious at the time, but really nice now.

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I'm actually more afraid of one of these than cars.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Princess Half Marathon 2010

The Princess Half Marathon was yesterday! I can't believe I'm updating so quickly...

GOAL

Try to finish the half with a decent time. Finished in 2:21:xx last year. Think I can beat it.

SUPER SECRET AND QUITE POSSIBLY TOTALLY UNREALISTIC GOAL

Hmmm... Try to break 2 hours based on results from Dolphin Days run.

Positives: My time at the Dolphin Days was reasonably fast, I'm not injured.

Negatives:
Everything else.

More specifically: longest long run was 10 miles, wearing 2 week old shoes that require different running style (Newtons), wearing new clothes, trying to set a PR at Disney after a day at the parks, potentially eating tons of bad food at the parks, the picture taking temptation on the course, the time... as in have to get there by about 4 a.m.

Friday: THE EXPO

We check in at the hotel and then Emma, Milo and I drive to the Expo. I remembered the stroller this year, but you have to leave it outside the building. Really dumb. I get that it's crowded, but there are tons of moms dragging children... if you're dragging children, you're not dragging merchandise and you're on the verge of giving up and getting out of the building as quickly as you can. Case in point: I looked at the stuff for sale and left with a pin and a keychain. And the only reason that even happened was that there wasn't a line at the checkout.

I printed my waiver ahead of time and found my number was 14. I thought that was pretty funny until I went to get my packet and saw "Elite" on the bib corner. Tempting, but who wants to be humiliated that quickly in a race? I had to drag the baby over to Runner Relations, and then drag him back to another window to get my proper bib. Then it was back the other way to pick up the t-shirts/goody bag. The t-shirts were mis-labeled, so we had to guess on the sizes. Tedious. I had a really nice volunteer but the baby was getting very, very heavy.

I can't believe I was so frazzled that I didn't have Emma take a picture of me with an elite bib.

SATURDAY: the Parks

Same routine as always. Hit the Magic Kingdom bright and early.

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We ride Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, Buzz, the race cars, the people mover thingy, etc. Emma and Ted went on Space Mountain while Harry, Miles and I shared ice cream sundaes (which we never confessed).

Photobucket Harry driving!

Everybody liked the rides including the baby. A bird stole a piece of popcorn right out of Milo's hand. He offered it more. Clueless! Harry found the birds disturbing, and rightly so.

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We grabbed lunch at our usual Pecos Bills. It's never as good as we think it will be, but it's reasonably easy and part of our traditions now.

Harry, Emma and Ted got in line for Splash Mountain, but of course, it went down for repairs. Probably for the best. It was about noon, and the wait was 5 minutes. I'm guessing people were getting wet and really cold.

Harry wanted to hit Buzz again, so back we went. Ted wanted to do the Carousel of Progress, but all I see in that ride is a confined space for an eternity with no easy opportunity to get out with an angry baby. The baby and I passed. We wandered towards the Castle and discovered the High School Musical parade was meandering around. We danced for a bit to Metro Station's "Shake Shake Shake" which had been edited considerably (which I know because it's on my running playlist- the humiliation!)

Walkie-talkie fun!
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We decided since we only had the one day at the parks, we'd head to Epcot and hope the boys could make it without a nap. Yeah, good plan.

All was well at Epcot in the beginning. Harry was big on the Nemo ride- here I'm taking a picture of Ted taking a flip video of Harry- no wonder he thinks he's a rock star.

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The boys were starting to fray at the edges a bit...

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It was the Flower and Garden Festival. I barely noticed this year, but probably because of the distractions provided by my peeps.

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Then it got cold, people got sort of hungry in a "I've snacked all day but not had a real meal" kind of way. Irritation set in. It was still fun because I demand fun at Disney, but Epcot with two irrational creatures is not the best (and then there were the boys to consider. LOL)

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Photobucket A happy moment.

The boys did fall asleep briefly, but it didn't help much. Back to the hotel...

Really, back to the hotel worked for me. It was 8:00 p.m. and I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. I still hadn't organized my pile of stuff, and I was worried about the weather.

SUNDAY: The Race!!!

My iPhone alarm goes off. Wow. No matter how organized you get the night before, it's still hard to get ready that early. I drank a Diet Dr. Pepper, put on all my layers, grabbed a bag full of extra water/gels/towel/etc. to toss at the start and hit the road. Oddly, as I was leaving the hotel at 3:45 a.m., pizza guys were making a delivery. I get on I-4 and head towards Epcot. As usual, I keep an eye on the signs but basically follow the cars in front of me. I'm pretty sure the SUVs, minivans, and cabs out and about at this hour are chock full of princesses.

I'm parked by 4:10 a.m. Now that was too easy. We're supposed to be in the corrals at 5:30 a.m. What to do in the meantime? I fiddle with my stuff in the car- take some stuff out of my bag and pretty much put it all back in. I start walking to the staging area (where they herd everyone before they open the corrals). I turn around after about 100 yards to retrieve any clothing I have in the car. The pink jacket I decided I wanted to leave in the car so I didn't end up donating it? Yep, it can go to charity. I now have on a short sleeve shirt, arm warmers, a lightweight vest, my running skirt, baggy maroon pants, my hat, my Newtons, a running jacket and a purple sweatshirt, and my race belt. I'm like a giant fluffy plum. I'm carrying my crown in my bag cause I want to preserve some dignity.

I walk to the staging area. There's the pre-requisite DJ playing 80s music. Then he launches into the "Cupid Shuffle" and before my eyes something like 200 women start line dancing. It was at exactly that moment that I decided I was excited to be there. Just surreal.

I hit the port-a-potty lines, and start the long walk to the corrals. There are two women from Michigan near me- they're in t-shirts and shorts. They said they were cold. You think?! It was in the low 40s. I had draped my Ariel towel over my neck- I took pity on them and handed it over. They said it was an answer to a prayer- I was hoping the running gods would approve. A lot of people were really not dressed for the weather- what was up with that?!

I get in Corral A. Yep, A, as in right behind the Elites.

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I'm by the stage with the announcers. They have a camera crew that keeps interviewing people around me. Very strange to watch the interview next to me and hear it slightly delayed on the video screens! With about a half hour to go, I pop a gel and drink some water. I'm still killing time. Damn if more people aren't line dancing- Cupid Shuffle again, YMCA, etc.

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I decide it's time to break out the crown... hello, wardrobe malfunction! My gloves stick to the velcro holding my crown together and the velcro tears out of the crown. Luckily I had taped my pace chart on my phone with duct tape- I ripped some off and did a hasty repair. Who knew?! And now I think that the running gods must be with me- crown repairs at the start line. Throw whatever you want at me, Princess Half, I'm ready!

Ten minutes to the start: I take off the pants. Not easy with shoes, and I had a sudden irrational fear that I'd be naked from the waist down, but it worked. Then the sweatshirt. It is the coldest of colds.

The Fairy Godmother appears. She cracks some princess jokes and then does a little jig to the Cotton Eyed Joe.
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As Harry would say, I didn't see that one coming!

The countdown from 5.... fireworks this year! And we are off.

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Mile 1: 9:27

Crowded. Cold. That's about it.

Mile 2: 8:42

Trying to make up time. Still cold.

Mile 3: 9:05

First character picture opportunity. It's the Princes/Heroes. I give the guy my camera, but something to do with the darkness outside and the brightness of the float pushed my camera over the edge. After ages of messing with it, the guy takes a video of me.

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Mile 4: 8:53

Little panicky about time goal. Dump the jacket. Pass the Ticket and Transportation Center somewhere around here. Lots of spectators giving high fives. I go out of my way to high five everyone. For some reason, this is crazy fun. A spectator yells that he likes my outfit and another tells me to just keep smiling. What nice spectators to be out in this freezing cold humoring a bunch of runners!

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Mile 5: 8:43

Getting back on track. I can't remember if Contemporary Hill was here or later- oh well. I wrap my headphones around my iPhone- don't need music in the upcoming Magic Kingdom!

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Mile 6: 9:56

Uh oh. Magic Kingdom. I'm doing great, blazing down Main Street. I'm taking blurry pictures and moving on... and then Pluto is by Tomorrowland and there's only one person in line.

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And then we head past the Pooh Ride and Dumbo... then right by the Carousel, I spot a line of Princesses and other random characters. Such a short line, how can I not stop?

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Oh, jeez, this is ridiculous, but it's Mickey and Minnie!

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And the trumpet guys...

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And then it's through the Castle. Got to position yourself just right in hopes of getting a photo. And then just in case, have to pose for one in front of the Castle!

OK, I'm moving again. Time to get under control. I'm thinking about how Becky should be there to reign me in!

Mile 7: 9:21

Frontierland- almost out of the blackhole that is the Magic Kingdom. And there's Jessie. Oh... Harry loves Jessie (who he also calls Annie). I've got to stop.

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Ok, now cross the railroad tracks and take the obligatory blurry photo of the train. Seriously, why don't I ever take the 2 seconds to stop for the train picture?!

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Now we're in the float area backstage. Time to get serious. There's a long line for Peter Pan- I don't stop. I'm so proud I barely notice stopping for the Genie picture. Damn! And it's a waterstop and now I'm moving.

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Mile 8: 8:42

OK, I printed a pace chart for 1:55. I'm a little over 5 minutes off. I still have a shot at breaking 2 hours. I'm pretty sure it will hurt. We're in the tedious area where they squeeze everyone into one tiny lane of traffic. It's hard to weave in and out. I read a few of the inspirational signs; they just irritate me. I'm pretty sure I'm not smiling as much.

Mile 9: 8:51

I'm feeling the fade. I'm starting to panic about the fact that I've never worn Newton shoes more than 6 miles; I didn't run more than 10 in training; and I'm just growing weary. I decide I'm taking a gel at the next water stop. It may be too late to do me much good, but it will at least be something different to do. I get it out and start squeezing it so it won't be frozen.

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Captain Jack was somewhere out in this great wasteland that is the area between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. As a sign of my dedication (desperation?), I don't stop for him.

Mile 10: 9:25

I take the Chocolate Hammer Gel and drink some water. Really wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped, but the novelty of not moving was nice.

Mile 11: 9:00

Getting ugly. I'm looking at the mile marker clocks- it's going to be ridiculously close.

Mile 12: 9:15

So I forgot how bad the overpasses were. First there's this long winding overpass- the kind that makes you joke about g-forces when you're driving. Just keeps going up. Then you go down... great. Then you go up another one. I can see Epcot in the distance. Normally this would be a welcome sight. Not with a time goal.

Mile 13: 8:53

Killer. I tried to up the pace. And I'm proud to say, I did up it. But, alas, not quite enough. We cross through Epcot towards the finish line. The Gospel choir was there (on the left) this year. That was nice. I see the time- 2:00:10. It's not going to happen. I think about stopping right there, but then I thought maybe my chip time would be better and I didn't want to be crushed steps away from the finish. I push through...

FINAL CHIP TIME: 1:59:72.

(Ok, 2:00:12.)

I got my medal and asked the volunteer to take my picture. She had to give my camera to someone else because she couldn't get her glasses on with all the medals around her neck. Then, I remembered I needed a picture for my iPhone. I went up to another volunteer and she couldn't get her glasses on either! What are the odds? I got my picture and staggered off.

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I went through the buffet line at the end- bananas, bagels, oranges, raisins, Luna bar samples, pineapple cups, Diet Cokes... grabbed a bag full of stuff. I hope they didn't run out of the Luna bars- the women in front of me were stocking up with huge handfuls. What was that all about? I grabbed a massage for $10.00, rolled off the table and out of the building, and went to the concessions stand to see if the shirts were more appealing without the baby. The shirts were easier to look at, but I was shivering like crazy. I considered buying a jacket, but the $49+ tag seemed silly, so I just headed to the parking lot. For once, I found my car on the first try.

Trouble back at the hotel...

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LAST THOUGHTS:

Well, the 12 seconds make me laugh. Do I regret taking pictures? Not really. Taking pictures gave me a few breaks. Who's to say I wouldn't have crumbled around mile 12 had I not taken some extra time? (And yes, the photographers took pictures too, but not with the characters. And no, I don't know what I'm going to do with these pictures since it's just me and the characters, but that's not the point). In theory I can always try to run for time in a more traditional and boring setting, although running as fast as possible in a boring setting is not sounding all that appealing.

There was a guy running with us carrying a tripod. He gets my vote for best support crew EVER. He put together a youtube video that can be found under Princess Half Marathon (make sure it's 2010)- he's friendofvic. First he caught me posing with the Princes/Heroes and then waving after the Magic Kingdom. That's some funny stuff.

And, I'm embarassed to add, I just downloaded the Cupid Shuffle so I'll be ready next year. I'm busting through 2 hours next year... and I'm taking pictures, so I've got a lot of work to do!