Breakers to Bay 2012

Well, I did it.  That's about all I can say for today's race.  Considering how crappy I was feeling last night, that's saying a lot.

First, we got there in time for me to catch the last bus, which means I made it to the start of the race with just enough time to potty and line up for the start.  The first two miles of the race are hilly, and that was really tough without any warm up.  I was taking walk breaks almost from the beginning.

The third and fourth miles were great- beautiful scenery and more down hill or flat.  I easily hit my stride and got my breathing under control.  Then that last mile, up another hill and then into gravel and eventually sand.  I really do not like running in sand!

So, I finished about one minute faster than last year.  I think my time was 53:14, but I will have to double check that when the times are posted to the website tomorrow.  I also have pictures that I can put up, hopefully soon.

I can't say enough positive things about the race itself.  The course, the volunteers, and everything about the set-up is just great.  Breakers to Bay was my very first race, and I think it will always be my favorite!

Just real quick..

It's almost time for me to leave for work, but I just wanted to leave a quick note.  I haven't got time for like, a real blog post or anything, just this.

oh.  hi.

Wanna go fast!

Usually I do interval runs on the treadmill.  The benefit is that it is super-easy to track your time and distance.  The down side is that you will only run as fast as the belt is spinning, and the belt will only spin as fast as your brain (and not your legs) tell it to go.  If my brain tells my legs they will go 7mph and no faster, that is how fast they will go.  In fact, that's the fastest they have ever gone.  Push that 8 button and the thing sounds like an experimental aircraft trying to take off.  I imagine faltering, flying off the back, and crashing into the wall.

Ouch!

I had 4x400s on the schedule, and it is too nice outside to be on the treadmill.  So, today I decided to run my intervals back and forth on the road in front of the house.  Just to make it "fun" I decided I would walk down the hill and run up the hill and into the wind.  Just for fun.

Thomas ran the first couple with me.  I don't know how the child can run all out (he kept up with me pretty well) and continue talking non-stop, but he can.  He's great company.  My quarter-mile times were:  1:54; 1:44; 1:46; and 1:40.  Obviously, the first repeat was the most challenging in that it totally sucked.  In retrospect I should have taken more time to warm up.  But I was in a hurry with the warm up today because the kids wanted to get to the library and back before I have to work tonight and I definitely can't afford to skip the stretching afterward.  So, yeah.  That first one was tough.  If I hadn't already told Thomas that I was going to do that four times, I probably would have done it once.

But I did it!  And I did it quite a bit faster than I would have done it on the treadmill.

In closing, here is a picture, just because it made me smile.

Happy little tree!

2012's First Race

It has been an almost perfect day today.  I ran the 10k in something like 65 minutes.  I learned that when the course description says "six challenging hills" it really means rolling hills throughout with one or two ass-kickers.  Actually I felt great until about the 5.5 mile mark.  I was at the back of the main pack, for sure.  But I wasn't even close to last.  Overall, I feel this was a successful day for me.

So, yay!

Courage

I don't remember much about her. All I know is that she was an overweight adult who had decided to join the advanced ballet class with a bunch of teenage girls. I also remember how horrible we were to her. How we whispered and laughed.

She was probably younger than I am now, but at the time she seemed so old. And oh, my God, why do they even make leotards that big?

But now I recognize her courage; the strength to show up, week after week. The love of the ballet drove her to surrender herself, not only to her own physical limitations, but to our taunting as well.

I wish I could go back in time and be nice to her. I also wish I could find her today, and tell her that across twenty-ish years and unknown miles, she has inspired me. Wherever she is, I hope she is still dancing.

That's my man.

He did the sweetest thing today. He drove me out to the end of a country road, told me to get out, reset the trip odometer, and drove off.

It was that third thing- clocking the mileage home- that really tells me I'm loved.

I didn't actually want to do a run today, but it worked out pretty well. I did 8.3 miles at a 10:41 average pace. The sun was hot, but the air was early-spring crisp. I saw a deer, a few rabbits, and a bazillion birds (and a few dogs). I even got to pee outside. If my darling hubby didn't know me so well I would have talked myself out of experiencing today's run.

So, thank you, sweetie. I love you!

I'm going to Norway!

Norway Spring Classic

It is considered THE first race of the season for my area. I wanted to go last year, but was still afraid of the 5k distance. This year I'll be doing the 10k.

One interesting note is that I can enter as a "Clydesdale". I can't spell it (and neither can Blogger's spell check), but I can enter it. Simply means I'm heavier than your typical female runner.

There I am, Mama Clydesdale.

I like clydesdales. They make me think of beer, and beer is kissing cousins of cheap wine, my drink of choice. And so, I'm happy, even though I'm basically identifying myself as a plus-size female.

The last few weeks I've been running every other day, doing whatever I feel like that particular day. Mostly tempo runs of three to five miles, with longer runs about once every eight days. I'm going to jump in to an intermediate 10k training plan for the next two weeks and then see what happens. I'm not going for gold, here. I'm just wanting to set the bar for this year. There's still plenty of time for serious training and racing.