It has been a really long time since I have contributed to this blog, but here we are.
I developed a love/hate relationship with running for a while.
I
love
love
love running,
but it was hurting me on and off, so I think it took on a bit of a fear.
I got away from it, other than trying to get in a run at least once a week, or maybe once a month.
I trained up for the OBX half marathon in 2017, I guess out of necessity. A friend asked me to help her pace the 2:30 runners. So we trained and did it. It was nice to train with others and increase my mileage. We got to run with a first time half marathoner for many of the runs, too. I remembered that I like running with people, and especially with people who are shooting for a new goal.
The next spring, we paced the Flying Pirate, an April race. I hate training in cold weather, but I did it. Then race day was hot and I tanked at the end, with the hills and dirty sandy rocky last miles. I think I might have hated running again.
2018 OBX half again. We paced, finished right on schedule without anyone in our group. Oh well.
2019 Flying Pirate again.
same.
exact.
thing.
Suck it up for the cold training miles, deal with hot weather on race day.
Maybe I don't hate running, just that race. At the finish, I said I wouldn't do it again. A few days later, I reconsidered. I really don't want that thing to be able to say it beat me.
we'll see....
So here I am in August, afraid to say it, but maybe training for a full marathon. A friend in the area was not able to take advantage of the local marathon training group because nobody in the group runs her pace or run/walk splits... I couldn't handle the idea that she would have to train by herself. So I offered to share some miles with her. My original intent was to just join in for the last half of her training runs, but last week, I pulled off 10.5 miles with her, on accident.
And I felt so good!
Because we ran slowly, with good walk intervals, I was able to run farther than I had since that miserable Flying Pirate. I usually run 6 miles at a time; I just did 4.5 more than usual, and I was almost giddy! I didn't hurt, and my body and brain were so happy.
and my knee didn't scream at me.
didn't even whine, really.
This past weekend, Amy ran 13.1 for her training run, and I did 12 of the miles with her. Knee ok. So excited for me. So excited for her. She just did a half marathon for training. That is so huge. The half marathon was previously her ultimate goal, but now we're just halfway. I hope that I can get to 26.2 again, with her. If I can build the mileage, I want to accompany her on this exciting journey.
Amy, thank you for helping me reacquaint myself with my old friend, distance running.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Saturday, February 20, 2016
back to running
after getting an MRI and being diagnosed with arthritis of my knee, I have been nervous about running. I got some injections and ran a marathon to celebrate a friend's 50th state and then didn't do much else for a while.
11/15 - ran OBX half marathon. training plan = 5 mile run 2 weeks out, 9 mile run a week before. lower your expectations. run within your comfort zone. be pleasantly surprised! I kept thinking during the 1/2 that I would just see how my body was doing at 9 miles but I could probably suck it up and do 4 more at that point.....people around me were probably wondering if I was psychotic at mile 9 when I felt really good and started laughing hysterically! I felt good and knew I would finish fine, and comfortably under my self-imposed goal finish time. it was good to be back. unfortunately, I don't like to run in winter cold weather so I have slacked off until today.
2/20/16 - I needed to do a training run for my next half marathon, next weekend. out the door, cool, but not cold, however the wind was a bit blustery.
I love running along the beach. there are so many beautiful and interesting things to see, hear, and smell. I noted the sand overwash from the recent winter storm, a few oceanfront homes have a foot of sand in their driveways.
my random act of kindness for the day was picking up and moving several overturned garbage cans from the roadside to their homes. I saw quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam from the storm, beach chairs and damaged umbrellas, sand and surf toys of all sorts. the two other runners I passed seemed genuinely happy to be out and to see another runner. offseason is nice.
I turned around at 3.5 miles. near Awful Arthur's, I pulled over to retie my shoe and upon returning to the road, I saw my husband about 100 yards away, walking toward me, crossing the street, and then turning around to run away from me. he didn't see me, and I spent the last 1.5 miles trying to close the gap. I was doing well until I noticed him sprinting in the last 1/4 mile. oh well, I decided that a fast finish would cover me. 7 mile training run complete, let's hope it works for a half marathon.
11/15 - ran OBX half marathon. training plan = 5 mile run 2 weeks out, 9 mile run a week before. lower your expectations. run within your comfort zone. be pleasantly surprised! I kept thinking during the 1/2 that I would just see how my body was doing at 9 miles but I could probably suck it up and do 4 more at that point.....people around me were probably wondering if I was psychotic at mile 9 when I felt really good and started laughing hysterically! I felt good and knew I would finish fine, and comfortably under my self-imposed goal finish time. it was good to be back. unfortunately, I don't like to run in winter cold weather so I have slacked off until today.
2/20/16 - I needed to do a training run for my next half marathon, next weekend. out the door, cool, but not cold, however the wind was a bit blustery.
I love running along the beach. there are so many beautiful and interesting things to see, hear, and smell. I noted the sand overwash from the recent winter storm, a few oceanfront homes have a foot of sand in their driveways.
my random act of kindness for the day was picking up and moving several overturned garbage cans from the roadside to their homes. I saw quite a bit of flotsam and jetsam from the storm, beach chairs and damaged umbrellas, sand and surf toys of all sorts. the two other runners I passed seemed genuinely happy to be out and to see another runner. offseason is nice.
I turned around at 3.5 miles. near Awful Arthur's, I pulled over to retie my shoe and upon returning to the road, I saw my husband about 100 yards away, walking toward me, crossing the street, and then turning around to run away from me. he didn't see me, and I spent the last 1.5 miles trying to close the gap. I was doing well until I noticed him sprinting in the last 1/4 mile. oh well, I decided that a fast finish would cover me. 7 mile training run complete, let's hope it works for a half marathon.
Monday, January 7, 2013
another day.
on again off again.
regarding running - last blog wondered if I could marathon with virtually no training. the happy answer is - yes, if the conditions are right. got through 26.2 in March with a runner's high, which I never get, so that was nice. I kept telling myself to hold back, hold back, and by mile 21, I knew there was no reason to do so...just run....
March marathon was followed by a May marathon, not great, but not horrible. I was really cranky the whole trip - sorry to my 2 travel partners.
June marathon, preceded by massively stressful travel disruption, was run at altitude. thus, less oxygen and humidity than I would like. extra cortisol in the system. lots of elevation, hills, up and down. not a good time. I guess I bonked, just could barely run from about mile 10 on. finished but it was a bad time for me and I just felt demoralized. it is rare that I ask my body to get me through a marathon and it lets me down. I didn't want to run more marathons for a while.
Fortunately the 50 State club and Marathon Maniacs reunion convinced me to sign up for one more party. after all, Tulsa OK shouldn't be hilly. who knew. I don't even remember what my expectations were other than to maybe redeem myself and have a decent run..done. I was so happy that I felt good for most of the way. best time of the year, even with the extra 0.3 mile "center of the universe detour" (so worth it)
redemption.
so was it my body or my mind? interesting.
regarding running - last blog wondered if I could marathon with virtually no training. the happy answer is - yes, if the conditions are right. got through 26.2 in March with a runner's high, which I never get, so that was nice. I kept telling myself to hold back, hold back, and by mile 21, I knew there was no reason to do so...just run....
March marathon was followed by a May marathon, not great, but not horrible. I was really cranky the whole trip - sorry to my 2 travel partners.
June marathon, preceded by massively stressful travel disruption, was run at altitude. thus, less oxygen and humidity than I would like. extra cortisol in the system. lots of elevation, hills, up and down. not a good time. I guess I bonked, just could barely run from about mile 10 on. finished but it was a bad time for me and I just felt demoralized. it is rare that I ask my body to get me through a marathon and it lets me down. I didn't want to run more marathons for a while.
Fortunately the 50 State club and Marathon Maniacs reunion convinced me to sign up for one more party. after all, Tulsa OK shouldn't be hilly. who knew. I don't even remember what my expectations were other than to maybe redeem myself and have a decent run..done. I was so happy that I felt good for most of the way. best time of the year, even with the extra 0.3 mile "center of the universe detour" (so worth it)
redemption.
so was it my body or my mind? interesting.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
it's been a while....
and I'm pretty sure nobody is actually reading this anyway, so it's probably fine to just let the poor blog wither away.....
but for some reason, I just came back to give it CPR. or something.
I apparently last posted about 7 or 8 months ago. Carmel IN was the last on the list...since then...
July: Mad Marathon, VT (hard, HILLY, great travel)
Aug: Leading Ladies, SoDak (hard downhill, beautiful course, another amazing trip)
Sept: Oktoberfest, MI (had to stay an extra night so I could watch Miami beat OSU in football, wonderful to catch up with an old friend)
Oct: Prairie Fire, KS (rainy marathon, wet weekend, underwhelming city)
Nov: the quest for 5 Star Maniac Status - Savannah, GA, followed by the Richmond, VA and OBX, NC double.
Dec: finished up the year with a trail 50k. distance, no problem...found out that I am so not a trail runner. girl picked last has no coordination, just perseverance, stubbornness, and good endurance skills.
which brings us to marathon #61. since my knee hurt after #60, and I don't like running outside in VA during the winter, I kinda didn't train. I did a 16.5mile run while in FL a few weeks ago. Other than that, it's been a max of 3-6 miles, or combo of stuff up to 90minutes (e.g. 30min treadmill run, 30min elliptical, 30min bike)
My challenge, which made me slightly nervous was to see if I could run a marathon w/ virtually no training.
stay tuned...if you're out there.....
but for some reason, I just came back to give it CPR. or something.
I apparently last posted about 7 or 8 months ago. Carmel IN was the last on the list...since then...
July: Mad Marathon, VT (hard, HILLY, great travel)
Aug: Leading Ladies, SoDak (hard downhill, beautiful course, another amazing trip)
Sept: Oktoberfest, MI (had to stay an extra night so I could watch Miami beat OSU in football, wonderful to catch up with an old friend)
Oct: Prairie Fire, KS (rainy marathon, wet weekend, underwhelming city)
Nov: the quest for 5 Star Maniac Status - Savannah, GA, followed by the Richmond, VA and OBX, NC double.
Dec: finished up the year with a trail 50k. distance, no problem...found out that I am so not a trail runner. girl picked last has no coordination, just perseverance, stubbornness, and good endurance skills.
which brings us to marathon #61. since my knee hurt after #60, and I don't like running outside in VA during the winter, I kinda didn't train. I did a 16.5mile run while in FL a few weeks ago. Other than that, it's been a max of 3-6 miles, or combo of stuff up to 90minutes (e.g. 30min treadmill run, 30min elliptical, 30min bike)
My challenge, which made me slightly nervous was to see if I could run a marathon w/ virtually no training.
stay tuned...if you're out there.....
Sunday, June 19, 2011
a history of when and where....
to remind me where I've been.
1 Pittsburgh, PA 5/6/2001
2 Marine Corps 10/28/2001
3 Richmond, VA 11/9/2002
4 NCR Trail, Baltimore, MD 11/30/2002
5 Columbus, OH 10/19/2003
6 Marathon in the Parks - Shady Grove to Bethesda MD 11/9/2003
7 Space Coast, Cocoa FL 11/30/2003
8 Disney 1/11/2004
9 Miami 2/1/2004
10 FL Gulf Beaches 2/22/2004
11 Baltimore 10/16/2004
12 NYC 11/7/2004
13 Space coast 11/28/2004
14 RNR AZ 1/9/2005
15 Hartford 10/8/2005
16 Space coast 11/27/2005
17 Disney 1/8/2006
18 Mardi Gras, NO LA 2/5/2006
19 A1A, Ft Lauderdale, FL 2/19/2006
20 Delaware 5/21/2006
21 Baltimore 10/14/2006
22 Chicago 10/22/2006
23 OBX 11/12/2006
24 Vegas 12/10/2006
25 Myrtle Beach 2/17/2007
26 Baltimore 10/13/2007
27 Marshall U Marathon, Huntington, WV 11/4/2007
28 Ocean Drive Marathon, Cape May NJ 3/30/2008
29 Country Music Marathon, Nashville 4/26/2008
30 Newport, RI 10/18/2008
31 OBX 11/9/2008
32 San Antonio 11/16/2008
33 Rocket City, Huntsville AL 12/13/2008
34 Little Rock 3/15/2009
35 Shamrock VB 3/22/2009
36 New Hampshire 10/3/2009
37 Maine 10/4/2009
38 Harrisburg, PA 11/8/2009
39 Vegas 12/6/2009
40 Mississippi Blues 1/9/2010
41 Melbourne Musical Marathon 2/7/2010
42 Go St. Louis 4/11/2010
43 Tacoma 5/2/2010
44 Wineglass, Corning NY 10/3/2010
45 NYC 11/7/2010
46 Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins AFB GA 1/15/2011
47 Miami 1/30/2011
48 A1A Ft Lauderdale 2/20/2011
49 Shamrock VB 3/20/2011
50 24 hour run Hampton VA 4/16/2011
51 Wisconsin Marathon 5/7/2011
52 Carmel Marathon 6/11/2011
1 Pittsburgh, PA 5/6/2001
2 Marine Corps 10/28/2001
3 Richmond, VA 11/9/2002
4 NCR Trail, Baltimore, MD 11/30/2002
5 Columbus, OH 10/19/2003
6 Marathon in the Parks - Shady Grove to Bethesda MD 11/9/2003
7 Space Coast, Cocoa FL 11/30/2003
8 Disney 1/11/2004
9 Miami 2/1/2004
10 FL Gulf Beaches 2/22/2004
11 Baltimore 10/16/2004
12 NYC 11/7/2004
13 Space coast 11/28/2004
14 RNR AZ 1/9/2005
15 Hartford 10/8/2005
16 Space coast 11/27/2005
17 Disney 1/8/2006
18 Mardi Gras, NO LA 2/5/2006
19 A1A, Ft Lauderdale, FL 2/19/2006
20 Delaware 5/21/2006
21 Baltimore 10/14/2006
22 Chicago 10/22/2006
23 OBX 11/12/2006
24 Vegas 12/10/2006
25 Myrtle Beach 2/17/2007
26 Baltimore 10/13/2007
27 Marshall U Marathon, Huntington, WV 11/4/2007
28 Ocean Drive Marathon, Cape May NJ 3/30/2008
29 Country Music Marathon, Nashville 4/26/2008
30 Newport, RI 10/18/2008
31 OBX 11/9/2008
32 San Antonio 11/16/2008
33 Rocket City, Huntsville AL 12/13/2008
34 Little Rock 3/15/2009
35 Shamrock VB 3/22/2009
36 New Hampshire 10/3/2009
37 Maine 10/4/2009
38 Harrisburg, PA 11/8/2009
39 Vegas 12/6/2009
40 Mississippi Blues 1/9/2010
41 Melbourne Musical Marathon 2/7/2010
42 Go St. Louis 4/11/2010
43 Tacoma 5/2/2010
44 Wineglass, Corning NY 10/3/2010
45 NYC 11/7/2010
46 Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins AFB GA 1/15/2011
47 Miami 1/30/2011
48 A1A Ft Lauderdale 2/20/2011
49 Shamrock VB 3/20/2011
50 24 hour run Hampton VA 4/16/2011
51 Wisconsin Marathon 5/7/2011
52 Carmel Marathon 6/11/2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
quotes to keep you moving
"To dream anything that you want to dream,
that is the beauty of the human mind.
To do anything that you want to do,
that is the strength of the human will.
To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the
courage to succeed."
- Bernard Edmonds
"Nobody cares if you’re not a good dancer.
Just get up and dance.
The same holds true for racing.
Whether first or last, we all cross that same finish line.
Just get out there and run."
- Karno
that is the beauty of the human mind.
To do anything that you want to do,
that is the strength of the human will.
To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the
courage to succeed."
- Bernard Edmonds
"Nobody cares if you’re not a good dancer.
Just get up and dance.
The same holds true for racing.
Whether first or last, we all cross that same finish line.
Just get out there and run."
- Karno
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