One last long run...

I've been very diligent in getting my runs in this week...it's been hard trying to fit them in around a tiring work schedule. But, I won't complain...I'd rather be too busy than sitting around, watching the clock :-)

My husband and I celebrated our 1st anniversary over the weekend. We were hoping to get out of town, but, as usual, work interferred. Instead we made it a night of take-out sushi, champagne (a whole bottle...uggh), and frozen wedding cake. Not quite the quiet weekend away in New York we were hoping for, but it was memorable in it's own way :-)

My last long run (of the year??) is this Saturday, then the taper to the half the following Saturday. Should be a great weekend, starting with a carb-load pre-race meal with fellow RBFers. I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well for Susan in the next week...head over to her site and drop your two-cents worth. She's asking for advice!

My blogging will continue to be sparse on this end...I'm not finding much time to sit at the computer these days.

Where does the time go?

Wow...long time, no write. Life has been hectic: lots of late nights/weekends at work, husband's 30th birthday, hair-cuts, errands, house-cleaning, etc. Still, I've managed to keep pretty much on track with my scheduled training (I did skip Thursday's 6-miler due to dead legs and lack of interest). It's been somewhat challenging getting the runs in...mornings no longer seem to be an option due to lack of sunlight. So, I've been resigned to running after work (when my motivation to run is at an all time low). But, today was a pretty pleasant 10+mile run...Fall is in the air and it feels lovely!

Next week is the last long run before the Hartford Half-Marathon...it may also be my last long run of the season. I'm contemplating pulling back on my mileage, intending to give my body a rest. I'm planning to incorporate more yoga and cross-training after the race. We'll see if that actually happens...sometimes when you don't *have* to be out there putting in the miles because "the schedule SAYS so," the long runs become less of a chore.

I've been reading your blogs and commenting sporadically. I've missed congratulating so many of you on big races and successful runs...my apologies :-) Hopefully the coming weeks will find me with more time (and interest?) in blogging.

Belated Race Report

So…back to the race! This is gonna be a long post...you've been sufficiently warned :-)

We met up with Bill, Jon and Dianna on the steps of the church, who were at various levels of pre-race warm-up. I don’t remember chatting too much…I had so much left to do: attach bib, lace-in timing chip, attach fruit snacks to shorts, strap on iPod shuffle, put clippies in my hair, re-tie shoelaces, wonder if I needed to pee again, etc, etc. Luckily, David was kind enough (or was he?? Was the intent malicious?) to assist with pinning my bib. April-Anne appeared and then left again (to her car, I think) and then Michelle arrived with her family and *adorable* daughter. David did some warm-up laps, Dianna headed off in search of a short line at the porta-potties, Lara and Susan disappeared to find the 5K start, Jank was gone, Michelle was gone…and David, Jon and I weren’t really sure what the plan was. I was anxious to get to the starting line…David was still warming-up and Jon was doing his ITB stretches. Men…let’s get going!!

The three of us walked around the start, looking for familiar faces. We saw April-Anne pass by, hollered at her to join us…I was a little concerned since she probably wanted to start the race with Dianna and not with 3 sort-of-strangers :-) I kept looking at my watch and all I could think of was how nice it would be to be peeing right now. But, the gun went off, I got a quick kiss on the head, and we shuffled across the starting line. I hadn’t really given much thought to running WITH people…I’m so used to running alone that I just kind of took-off and headed out at my own pace. Pretty soon I realized that April-Anne is running along with me so I popped a few questions her way, not really knowing if she liked to talk and run, or if she just wanted to concentrate. We passed through Miles 1 and 2 together, then she decided she wanted to pull off the pace a bit. I don’t really remember much about the miles or the bands at this point…all I could think about was how much nicer this whole experience would be if my bladder wasn’t gently reminding me that I had sucked-down too much water too close to start time (normally, I’m really good stopping all fluids about 1 hour before).

As Mile 4 approached, I saw what seemed to be an official sign pointing to porta-potties. Down in the distance (a ways off the course, in a public park) I see two sets of two toilets. I make the decision to just do it…otherwise I’ll be thinking about pee for the next 8 miles. I headed over to the side of the road, jumped over the guard-rail, briefly worried if I’d be disqualified for leaving the course, ran down a fairly steep, grassy hill, hoped I wouldn’t sprain an ankle, and pulled up to the first set of port-potties. No shit, both of them were locked with padlocks…What?! I ran a bit further up the park, crossing my fingers that the next two would be unlocked (seriously, if not, I was going to pee there anyways…I’d already wasted enough time with this jaunt). The first one appeared occupied, but I pulled open the door on the second one and hollered with brief happiness. It was at this point, I realized that peeing here would create a life-long memory...there appeared to be human feces smeared near the seat. I don’t believe this porta-potty was placed here solely for the race; I think it was there for many, many dirty nights in the city. I did my best to yank down my shorts so as NOT to drop my much needed fruit snacks anywhere in that place. However, I did manage to displace my race bib (though, later I exaggerated that it had entirely fallen-off…just one pin came off…it didn’t *really* fall on the floor, Jon). As I felt relief wash over me, I wondered how many lovely diseases I may be exposing myself to in this New Haven porta-potty :-) After reattaching the bib as best I could, I took off and headed back up the hill to the course.

Honestly, it’s not just because it’s been a week since the race, but I don’t really pay too much attention to my surroundings when I’m running. I did notice that we probably ran through some “not so nice” parts of New Haven, near some water (which gave a major head-wind), through neighborhoods where people were offering water and sprays from the hose, up a few hills, down a hill, etc. I remember feeling pretty frickin’ tired at Mile 8…I was afraid I was burning out. I’d had water at a few of the provided stops, and eaten a few of my fruit snacks about 45 minutes into the race. I think I’d wasted a lot of energy early on thinking about peeing, actually peeing, and then trying to make-up for time lost peeing.

About Mile 10, I decided I was going to just push-it…as fast as I could manage for the next 2.4 miles. I’m pretty sure I passed quite a few people, but I wasn’t really focused on others…just trying to dig deep and gut it out to the finish. After passing the 12 mile marker, I thought, “holy crap…less than 4 minutes left, just keep pushing”. I remember seeing Susan and Lara, looking a little overwhelmed with trying to find us AND take pictures :-) I smiled and just pushed and pushed. I crossed the finish line, and headed right into a crowd of people…no water, no one helping to remove chips, nothing. I felt truly spent…I kept walking a bit, trying to recover my breath (I was wheezing a bit), desperately searching for water. After I found a bottle, I took off my chip, handed it to someone, and headed back towards Lara and Susan. We cheered loudly for the other RBFers, everyone of them looking happy and strong.

After the race, we chatted some more over beer and cookies (and of course, some healthy stuff, too). It was really a marvelous, marvelous day. I feel so fortunate that I’ve met such a fantastic bunch of people, and grateful that many would travel so far for something as unique and crazy as a meeting of Internet friends. I can’t wait for next year…and maybe I’ll be the one traveling many, many miles to make it to New Haven :-)

And, I will post my splits...only because you asked :-)
Mile 1 8:25
Mile 2 8:07
Mile 3 7:38
Mile 4 7:21
Mile 5 8:23 (extra time in potty)
Mile 6 7:54 (eating fruit snacks)
Mile 7 7:37
Mile 8 7:54 (I'm tired of running)
Mile 9 7:30
Mile 10 7:47
Mile 11 7:11
Mile 12 6:58
Mile .4 2:40
------
Time 1:35:31

“Just sit and write…do it…do it N-O-W!” Gah, it feels like the last few hours before a big paper is due and I’m just now getting around to starting it. Why, oh, why can I not get motivated to write this race report?! (Well, there’s this little thing called “work” that’s been EATING ME ALIVE!) Also, there have been so many good write-ups done already (everyone but me and Jank) that I’m afraid mine won’t measure up. Plus, well, I really, really want to post my splits…and I’m afraid I’ll come across as a braggart (nice word) or that I’m full of myself. Maybe I’ll post them, maybe I won’t. In any event, here goes nothing:

In a previous post, I briefly describe the night before the race: So MUCH fun! Excpet for this one guy from Michigan, the RBFers I hadn’t met before turned out to be quite wonderful people (see Jon, an attempt at humor and sarcasm). It really felt like a group of old friends meeting at a favorite hang-out, chillin’ like old times. We dined, laughed, over-hydrated (Sarah), laughed, de-hydrated (and is there an adjustment calculator for “number of beers consumed?”), dined some more…and then really, just kept eating more! We departed with a few pictures and comments on missing those who couldn’t make it down for the dinner.

So, race report: I awoke after a fitful night of sleep…bizarre dreams of my mother scolding me for cutting-up the fish wrong (no idea where that came from) and my father trying to get a refund for tickets purchased for an amusement park ride (again, who knows). I ate my regular breakfast of English muffin with peanut butter, drank my 2 cups of coffee and then started with the water (maybe we’ll see where this leads to). I gathered up the remaining cookies and piled everything into the car. I caravanned to New Haven behind David, Lara and Susan…I cranked my music and sang out loud, consuming water between songs. We arrived in New Haven, struggled (?) to find parking…I was getting nervous about the time, and continued to keep guzzling water (I know, I know). We parked, I kept panicking…do I need to feed the meter quarters (oh, just ask the policemen) , how much time do we have before the race, should I bring my sweatshirt or leave it, on and on went my mind-blabber. We gathered-up the gear and headed to our pre-determined meeting point.

But, before we arrived at our site, I quickly darted into line for the porta-potty (now, on regular basis, I drink a lot of water, so my bladder can likely hold more volume than the gas tank in my husband’s Honda…seriously). It took longer than expected to ah, “finish my bidness,” (TMI alert: my nerves stop me up) and I was getting embarrassed, since everyone KNOWS what goes on when someone is in the bathroom for a long time. Finally a success! Hopped out and headed over to the rest of the gang.

-----End Part I-----

More about the actual race in another post...just creating dramatic effect, okay?

New Haven was an AWESOME RBF-Fest!

Okay...lots of people are gently prodding me for another post about the weekend. Unfortunately, I only have a few moments to spare here at work (ie. "hell"...really, AFTER the race yesterday, I had to come in to work AGAIN for a few hours. Laboring throughout Labor Day weekend). I *promise* a full report on the tremendous amounts of fun we all had soon :-)

And to everyone who made it to New Haven this weekend...you are all *so* special to me. I had a truly memorable time :-) Thanks so much...
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You can read several accounts of the weekend here: David, Susan, Lara, Dianna, Jon, Michelle

The night before...

I had a wonderful night, reuniting with friends and meeting new RBFers! Though, I'm feeling *REALLY* nervous for tomorrow; it's finally hitting that all the fun this weekend centers on actually running a race. I've been wired all day...I hope I wasn't too obnoxious to be around tonight. Even my husband commented on my "personality change" today...

So, I met up with Susan, David and Lara, and we headed down to New Haven in the late afternoon. We picked-up our packets without any problems...and a "certain someone" REALLY enjoyed the Expo shopping :-) We met-up with Dianna and Jon (from Michigan...can you believe it?!) and headed out for some pre-race pasta and pizza. We finished the feast with unbelievably delicious homemade cheesecake (really, Dianna...very, very good!) and then we were treated to Jon's truffles! (and I totally scored! I took home SO many...I feel a bit bad about how many truffles I took, but, really...not *too* bad). It was really a great night...and there's lots of "blog fodder" generated from the evening :-)

Now, I'm off to bed...though, I doubt I'll sleep much. I'm more nervous for tomorrow's race than I was for the half-marathon. I guess it's because I didn't know what to expect for that first distance race...tomorrow, well, I have an idea of what it's like to race that distance. I'll be competetive...but very supportive of all the RBFers (Aprilanne, David, Dianna, Lara, Michelle, Susan, Jank and Jon)! We will conquer New Haven tomorrow :-)

September 1st already?!

It's hard to sit down and write after so much time has passed (was it only a week?)...kind of like trying to catch-up with a friend that you haven't seen in awhile :-)

I've been consistent in my running over the past week and followed the schedule pretty much to a "T" (where does that phrase come from?). I have one last run before Monday's big race, a short 3-miler tomorrow. This past weekend's long run (11+ miles) was great...I actually carried some fruit snacks along and plopped a few in my mouth about 45 minutes into the run. I had completely forgotten that during my earlier training, I had always taken some sweet treat (jelly beans, fruit snacks) along when my runs were over 70 minutes. So, actually feeling good after the run really re-charged my excitement for racing! New Haven, here I come :-)

This coming weekend will be filled with lots of "good things" (but, not Martha Stewart-style). Friday I have a long, hellacious day at work...but it will pass quickly. Because I'll be away so much on Sun/Mon for race day festiviites, I'm making Saturday "Spend Quality Time with Husband" day. First is a breakfast date at Panera, followed by a few hours of work (both of us), and then a movie date...there's a movie coming out this weekend (which I'm not going to mention...I've already gotten a lot of grief from co-workers) that he's been dying to see since an earlier one was made (dang...did that give it away?!). We'll either do dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants (Thai) or I'll make something yummy at home (safer...don't want food issues before Monday). Either way, Saturday will be a fun day for the both of us.

Sunday and Monday will be all about the running! the RBFers! the race! the fun!

More to come :-)