Jingle Bell Jog 2008

We had a great morning today. All of us participated in a local Jingle Bell Jog 5K. We signed up for Tanner. After running a few 2 mile fun runs, he was frustrated with placing in the top few kids and not walking away with a trophy. He was ready to run a 5K.

He ran a 23:50 and placed 2nd in boys 14 and under. Ian beat us both with a sub 21, but his age group is competitive at 17 minutes. I ran with Beast to pace him and still placed 2nd in my age group. Pete is the only smart one among us who runs at a pace to enjoy himself. He was just minutes behind us.

This may not be the best photo of all of us, but I tell you I am thrilled to have it. With Ian off to college next year (and he really doesn't enjoy racing), this may be the only family race photo we get. BTW, Santa hats were encouraged. Tanner and I plan to run this race again next year by ourselves.

Back on the treadmill

I'm not back on the road like Christy, but I am on the treadmill. There won't be any road running for me for another 4 months. I could bundle up and get out there, but the risk of injury on the snow/ice isn't worth it. So it's the hamster wheel for me. There are two indoor tracks, one of which requires 177 laps to make a mile! The other one is better, but it's still 30+ laps. I decided I can't count that high.

Today was my first day on the treadmill in a month. Between my vertigo and sprained ankle, I couldn't exercise. 30 minutes, 12-minute miles and boring as hell--nothing fabulous, but at least I was moving. I'll ditch the air cast next time. That thing is like wearing a heater and I couldn't stretch properly. I'll just have to be careful.

I need a goal. I would love to run the Equinox Marathon they hold locally in September. It was mentioned in this month's Runner's World as one of the toughest! Problem is, I think I'd need to hire a nanny to get the training in, especially once summer hits and there's no school. They also do it as a relay, so that might be a fallback option.

Until then, I'm going to focus on the Midnight Sun Run they hold around June 21 (the solstice). It's a 10K that starts at 10 pm. It will feel weird running at that time, but at least it'll still be broad daylight. If anybody wants to join me, I'm offering free room and board!

I'm Back on the Road

This will be short and sweet since dinner is on the grill and Baby will be up soon. I just had to post because I am very happy to report that I had the opportunity to run this morning. Granted, 5 1/2 weeks post partum it was only a little over 2 miles with only the first of those miles being non-stop and at about a 15 minute pace, but I got to run!!! And, I was able to run with very little pain. My right glute hurt for about 4 blocks then tapered off, after that I was fine, just rusty and slow. The biggest annoyance was my leaky bladder that no one seems to ever talk about when they talk about pregnancy...Keegles, Keegles, Keegles.

2 Dogs and a Kid

What a beautiful day for a run! Usually, I meet my running partner at 7AM on Sunday for 10 miles. This week he is in the field, so I am on my own. The good news is I don't have to get up early and it is cooler now, so I can run later in the day. The bad news is I have to run 10 miles alone. I procrastinated all morning. I finally got fed up with myself and got ready to go.

That's when I decided to talk Tanner into running with me for the first 3. We had a great time together and we had a chance to talk about some things that we have been putting off, like dad and Ian leaving soon. Funny how you can say things while running that you might not at home. Maybe it is just the lack of distractions. Anyway, he had no problem with 3 miles and his pace was easily compatible. I think we will do this more often.

I dropped Tanner at the house and ran down to my running partner's house to pick up his dog, Gracie. She is a Border Collie and she loves to run. I promised my partner that I would run her when he deploys, so since he is in the field I thought we might as well give it a shot now. His wife was thrilled that I could take her. Gracie gets frustrated when she doesn't get to go and her dad has been gone for a while now. She was very easy to run with so we did 5 miles before I took her home.

Finally, I picked up Piper, my Jack Russell (female) for a final 3 miles. Obie (male) really wants to go, but the truth is he doesn't run well, gets distracted and gives up about 2 miles in. Tanner took him for a walk instead. Piper loves to run. She kept looking up at me with this silly dog grin, ears flying and feet prancing. It was such a pretty day and the temperature was perfect. I understood exactly how she felt. I did 11.5 miles instead of 10.

Got anyone you need me to run?

Advice Needed

I am experiencing runner's knee, I am sure some of your have dealt with this issue. What's the best medicine?

I researched it online, the medical sites say I need to rest/ice them until the pain goes away, but the running sites say to make sure to ice after your runs...does this mean I can still run?

Oh, I hate to take it easy but better now than late winter/early spring when I will be vamping up for tri-training.

Running doesn't make them hurt while I run, the only thing that is painful is sitting with bent knees and stairs (especially going down).

What do you recommend or do for yourself when this happens?

Hands Free Running

V -congrats on anther great race, maybe some day I will be up to running a 10K or longer. As for now I am happy with my 3 mile runs (will be trying for 5 on Saturday when the kid is in daycare).

I have been running more, of course with a kid since hubby is deployed. I must share my new love. Stroll Smart, a hands free running devise that attaches to the stroller and you push with your stomach.

From what I read you either will love it or hate it, I just got mine and love it and once I get used to it I think I will like it even more. It takes a little getting used to steering with your mid-section, but having my hands free is worth it. I thought that maybe the dirt trails would be too bumpy for it, but it works just fine. My only complaint is that the belt's hot, not a problem this time of year, but not sure about mid July.

It is currently cheapest on HappyMothers.com, with S&H it comes to $48... well worth the money.

Grape Race

Before I tell you about last night's race, I must admit that I posted that last entry a bit too early to realize how sore I was going to get. The day after the Fastest 10K in the World Race, I got our of bed intending on a nice slow run to stretch eveything out. Well, I got out of bed and them stopped cold. I didn't know if I was going to be able to move. I spent 3 days hobbling around. I have not been that sore after any of my marathons.

Last night I ran the Grape Race through the vineyards. The area is really beautiful. The winery has a nice big yard with huge porches for tasting while lounging. The race itself was
difficult. It was still quite warm at 5PM and extrordinarily dry. We ran on several dirt roads, so the dust was an issue. I can't remember the last time it rained here.

The organizers put on a nice party. There was live music, dinner which was catered by PF Chang's and a nice glass of red wine from the winery. The long sleeve race shirt came in handy as the sun set. Pete is TDY and Tanner ran the 2 mile again so I didn't stay for the after dinner dancing, but maybe next year I will go with a girlfriend and a change of clothes and stay longer.

Tanner finished 1st in the 2 mile, but they didn't award that run. It is time for me to find him a 5K so he can race for time and in a category. I finished 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group with a 43:50 (7:03 mile). I won a medal and a bottle of red Zinfandle from the winery.

I still did my 10 miles this morning. I coughed a lot last night with a rattling chest. I thought I might be getting sick, but now I think it is just the dry air. Tonight I intend on tasting that bottle of red with a big steak.

Blow the Dust Off!

WOW! Someone blow the dust off this blog! You guys must be as busy as I am. While it may be impossible to catch you up, I will try to give you some highlights.

Last weekend I was filled with nostalgia. I was in DC for a conference and it coincided with the Army 10 Miler. I have lots of great memories from that weekend with so many of you. I stayed in the Hyatt this time, but I was frequently at the Metro station near the Marriott. Remember how we found that cheap place for breakfast on like the last day we were there? So glad I remembered and it saved me lots of money. Even though I was TDY, the per diem only goes so far in that town. Christy, I passed that restaurant that you and I ate in after the race. We had those huge Buffalo burgers and we ate all of our fries! We were starving!

So, my life is not my own these days. I have tried to prioritze things so that I don't get into the same predicament that I did last time Pete was in command. I barely maintained my fitness. Well, even though I work in the gym, I have not been very good about getting my work outs in. I have managed to stay around 25 miles per week, but that has been a struggle as well. I have been saying that I need to find a race so that I have something on my calendar and I will make time for training.

Thursday, one of the guys at the gym asked me if I was running the 10K this weekend. What 10K? He told me and I grabbed an application (yes, we had them at the gym and I didn't know). I came home and told Pete I was racing this weekend and we needed to go to the new running store I was told about 'cause I need new shoes and socks. If I can't really train for it I might as well have new shoes. I registered Friday and had a chance to talk with the owner of the store, which is about 20 minutes from me. They offer group runs Tuesday and Thursday evening, so maybe I will check that out.

So this morning, I got up late, rushed like crazy but made it to the race in plenty of time. I ran hard, and I am sore, but I placed 2nd in my age group with a time of 38:59! That's a 6:16 mile!

OK, now I will fess up. The race is called the "Fastest 10K in the World." They bus the racers up to the top of a mountain and you race downhill all the way. The difficult thing is that it is so fast, you feel a bit out of control and it is a hard on the body. I didn't anticipate the altitude difference, so the first few miles are difficult because it is hard to breath. My knees and quads are fine, but my calves are shot and I have blisters. The elites broke the world records. The male winner did it in 24 minutes and something and the female did 28 minutes and some change. They won $2000 for winning and another $10,000 for breaking the 10K world record.

BTW, Tanner ran the 2 mile fun run and was the first kid in. He may be my runner.

My new running store tells me that this week they will do their regular Tuesday run at 6PM and then come back to the store for a wine tasting. Now, that's my kind of running store! Well, they don't do it every week. This is in preparation for the next 10K, which is out near one of the vineyards and is sponsored by such vineyard "The Grape Race." For the race fee, you get a long-sleeve technical shirt, dinner and a glass of wine. If that doesn't convince you, the military fee is only $20 and it starts at 5 in the evening! Finally, a race with food, wine and a evening start.

Life is good.

Waiting to exhale

I only have a minute, but I have a question that has been in my mind for a while. I've been taking exercise classes and the instructor, like all the other ones I've had, tells us to exhale on exertion and inhale on the negative. How important is this?

Sometimes I feel like I'm hyperventilating if I do this and I don't need to breathe that often. Other times, my respirations are off -rhythm, but it doesn't bother me. So should I breathe when it feels like I need to or do as the instructor says?

BTW, I've found that although I'm very weak, my cardio fitness isn't that bad and my balance is really good. I did great on the Bosu ball, but I had trouble climbing stairs for a few days after! I'm really enjoying this class. It changes each time. I'm looking forward to our lifting day. Today we did Boot Camp but it felt more like a football practice. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

Oh, the humanity! (of the Human Race)

Ok - I will start by saying - I'm ok. And I really liked "racing against the world" as Nike put it... and it was fun to race with my friend anastasia (her first race ever!). With that out of the way....... this race was a grade A sh*t show.

Every single person was unhappy at the end - the course was just plain dangerous...but I'll get to that! First of all, the race started 45 minutes late (start time was supposed to be at 6pm). They made all 10,000 runners line up at 5pm. So, for nearly two hours, we stood in 87 degree temps and waited. And waited. It was stunning.

So, at 6:45 - we finally start running. Well, we don't...actually. It takes us 9 minutes to get to the start line... here's why. The "road" we ran on was 12 feet wide. Which may seem like a lot - but it's not. Especially not for 10,000 people... and, here's the best part.... you will not believe this.... you had to do two laps of the course, so the 12 feet wide road, quickly became 6 feet wide to share the road with the 6 minute milers and the 15 minute milers.

Did I mention the roads weren't paved? Because they weren't. It was gravel. With big rocks and occasional holes. I decided at mile 2, as the sun was setting (no, there was really no lighting) that I was just going to power walk the race and focus on finishing it safely.

Here's the best part - at one point, mile 3 for the slow pokes and mile six for the fast guys - the two lanes merged to go over a foot bridge that - NO JOKE - was maybe 5 feet wide - if that. So, we came to a standstill. I'm not kidding. I stood at that footbridge for 10 minutes. People were furious, screaming, pushing. It was not a pretty picture of "the human race". Oh - also? No portapotties on the course - I saw WAY too many p*nises (how do you make that plural?) - I felt like I was back at Angies house at bath time!

I digress.

So, people are literally losing it at the footbridge screaming that they wanted a refund.... turns out that someone was hurt on the five foot wide foot bridge and an ambulance came and got them. Ugh.

So, we're off again after 10 minutes.... and the people that lapped us are screaming "move it, move it, move it..." Holy crap. Seriously? It's not the Boston Marathon. Chill.

Mile four, Mile 5, Mile 6 - all fine. I'm power walking really doing great - passing runners... feeling great and safe and mature that I wasn't obsessed with running - I was obsessed with taking care of myself and having some fun.

Oh - here's my favorite part. Mile 5ish - I see a girl go down. So, there's an organizer next to me and I said - "there's a girl up there who looks like she's hurt" - he says "wha happen?" - which is New York for "excuse me, what did you say, Miss?" I repeat myself. And he says - "oh." and DOES NOTHING! Turns out she was just tying her shoe - but that's not the point!!!!

Did I mention I also ran this with one pupil dilated? It's a long story - but, added to the craziness of the day.

So, not unlike the Olympic Marathon, we finished in a stadium - it was so much fun to finish on a track!!! And - it was lit! And, there were no rocks! Beauty!!! So, finish. Run into Anastasia and quickly tell her that all races aren't like this! We were handed our medal and some hot water and a mushy power bar and sent on our way.

There was a concert - but interestingly, most runners left immediately after the race. A bunch of us talked on the way back to the city - it was so dangerous to have 10,000 runners on a course like this. It's a wonder no one was seriously hurt. We thought MAYBE the course could have handled 5,000. Maybe.

So. The human race. Wow. Glad I did it and glad it's over! :-) Cathy