Quote

RunnersWorld.com's Daily Kick in the Butt sent me this quote this morning. It reminded me of how I sometimes feel like I just want to run alone and don't want my running partners with me. Sometimes I'm selfish like that and just want that time to myself to focus on form, pound out stress from a tough day, or just be at peace with the out of doors. Other times however, I crave running with my group. I love running with them. I'm not sure I could have a better group of three to run with. As, this quote says, have running partners just makes everything that much better.

Running is ultimately a personal experience. It is a revival of the spirit, a private oasis for the thirsty mind. Yes, it's healing power only increases in the presence of others. Run together and the oasis grows cooler and more satisfying.

-- Amby Burfoot

Race Report: Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile

I set a PR for the 10-Mile today, but I've never run one before. Ha! So that was easy. Here's how the Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile race went down.

I took a half day Friday, July 25th (my 26th birthday) to travel down to Narragansett, Rhode Island to run the Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile race. It took me 2 hours to get there, which didn't bother me because I knew I was going to hit a lot of early vacation & rush hour traffic. However, once I got about 0.5 miles from where the registration was I could not get any further. They had shut down the roads for the race already. I couldn't figure out why and actually started getting nervous that the race was starting at 5:00pm and not 6:00pm as I had thought. The roads were already closed because the walkers started at 5:00pm. I have to say this made it very difficult and nerve racking (especially for me because I was already jacked up as soon as I woke up). I ended up parking about a quarter mile away (a really nice cop was stopping each car and asking if they were running and telling them where they could go in a really nice way - I'm not used to cops being nice and helpful voluntarily) and then had to find my own way to registration. There were no signs and I had no clue where I was going so basically I just followed people. After hiking through some mud & rocks, I finally found the gym with the registration. They had the registration organized by bib number so I went and got mine, then found most of the safety pins gone. I quickly grabbed the first four I saw and got my number on. They gave us a t-shirt too, but no goodie bag. Apparently they were also handing out bracelets for beer, but no one told me until I was standing at the start line.

Ah yes, the good old start line. No signs to organize by pace so you just had to guess and well I guessed wrong. I thought the start line was right under this banner they had hung across the street, but right before the gun some tall man behind me said it was up way further than that. Great! All of a sudden the gun sounded - no speech, no National Anthem - just bang! And then we were off, or rather we were walking and then I was slow jogging for .75 miles before I could get to somewhat of a decent pace.

After the first mile I had plenty of running room and fell into a good stride. I felt incredible comfortable and was actually trying not to pay too much attention to my Garmin paces. My coach said to go based on how my body was feeling (especially when it came to dealing with the weather) and that's what I did. At about mile 2 we were out in the open sun (did I mention it was about 85 at race start and pure sunshine) and this didn't end until about mile 6.5. I continued to coast along ready for the 3 mile hill to start at mile 3, but the hill at mile 3 and 4 turned out to be smaller than what I expected. However, the climb up mile 5 was tough. It reminded me of Heartbreak Hill, but seemed not as steep and longer. I fought up it and was happy to be greeted by mostly down hills for the remainder of the race. I believe it was mile 8 when there was another significant uphill (there may have been more, but this is the only one I remember) that I powered up. I kept telling myself Dave was at the top of the hill with the camera and I had to look good. It turns out that he wasn't up there, but at least it gave me the motivation. And as I passed a nice older gentleman he told me I looked really strong. Needless to say that gave me an extra boost as well. After that hill I was ready to be done so I kicked it up a notch. I started passing people in cars that were driving by and I was thinking man I could just jump in that ladies convertible. She looked at her husband and said, "she's fast" and I hoped she was talking about me. The crowd support at the end was incredible and definitely led me into the finish. I felt really strong at the finish. No puking feeling, which left me wondering if I should have run harder. My Garmin time said 1:18:18, but my official time was published at 1:19:04.

The finish was a little hectic with people everywhere. No one was pushing us through the food area so runners, walkers and spectators too were just lounging and crowding the area. This made it really confusing to find anyone or see anything. Luckily they had shuttle buses back to the high school so I jumped on one of those and then walked to my car where I called Dave to meet up. This is when I noticed what I really didn't want to notice. I had a lot of pain in my left leg from him to knee to heel to arch of foot. I was not happy. In fact when I saw Dave I started to tear up because I just didn't want to be hurt. I'm feeling much better now as I right this (Monday), but it did take a couple of days.

I would probably recommend this race to someone and would probably do it again if they bring back chip timing and put in some pace signs to help line up. This really makes everything confusing and can throw a runners time off pretty bad.

Here are my highlights of good and bad. (And as a side note, if you're race director or participant or whatever and think I am dissing this race, please just keep in mind that this is just my opinion and I'm not being mean, but just offering feedback for the future.)

Reasons race was good:

• Pretty few miles along the ocean
  
• Pretty couple miles through nice shaded country roads


• Perfect amount of water stops right where needed


• Cop #1 was super nice and helpful


• Lots of volunteers


• Good post race fruit selection


• Great course
  

Ways the race could be improved:

• Clearly mark registration for those of us not familiar with the high school


• Add pace signs to help runners line up at the start


• Bring back chip timing (It is ridiculous in a race this big not to have it and I'm curious why they don't. Rumor has it they just got rid of it for 2008.)
  
• Help push runners through the finish area a little better and do not allow spectators in near the immediate finish area (causes it to get way too crowded)


• Give me a race goodie bag filled with stuff from sponsors - I love that free stuff!
  
• If the website says there will be signs for alternate parking, please have them - I saw absolutely none

Final results (officially published even though I disagree with my time):
Time: 1:19:04
Pace: 7:54 min./mi.
Place Overall: 425th out of 2,289
Place Age Group (20-29): 19th out of 994
Place Gender: 66th out of 997

___________________________________________
Updated 7/30/2008

Pictures from Capstone Photography went up today. I will probably order the one on the left.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy birthday to me...

Happy birthday to me...

Happy birthday to meeee...

Happy birthday to me!

Today's forecast according to weather.com is:

Happening in the news:

• Deadly tornado hit New Hampshire
• Body of Alex Jimenex returns home
• Iraqi athletes banned from Beijing Olympics
• David Ortiz returns to Red Sox lineup
  

Happening with me:
For my birthday, Dave got me a new digital camera, which I stayed up late last night playing with. Yes, he gave it to me a day early. He's like a little kid - he can't wait to give presents. He's also coming down to Narragansett, RI to watch me run The Blessing of the Fleet 10-Mile Road Race.

Since my last birthday:

• I became a yoga teacher.
• I fell even more in love with the greatest man I've ever met (no, Dave... not Tom Brady, you!)
• I watched me nephew graduate from high school.
• I have PR'd in the Half Marathon distance (2007 BAA Half Marathon).
• I've gained 5 lbs., which I'm not proud of but I don't think it's bad weight because I've been running a lot and doing yoga. I'm sure it's just muscle (she says as she goes for another bowl of ice cream).
• I moved into a new position at work in our IT department.

I've also been thinking of what I'd like to accomplish by my next birthday:

• I'd like to get a marathon BQ time, which is a 3:40 for my age group.
• I'd like to move into a new house with Dave (which we're pretty close to doing now).

I'm sure there are a million more things I'd like to do before my next birthday, but for right now this will have to do because if I don't post this now, then I can't post today and my birthday will be over. So, I'll post as is for now and possibly add more later.

I'm off soon for the race. Let's see if I've gotten faster as I age... (race report will come later on).

Adorably Illustrated Yoga Sequences

I received my iYogaLife e-newsletter in my in-box today and opened it to find the most adorably illustrated yoga sequences. iYogaLife has put together seven series called, Yoga to the Rescue: 7 Sanity Saving Sequences. The illustrations are so adorable and provide tips for positioning yourself in the pose as well as an inset with an easier pose option. I love the illustrations of the women in the poses. The ladies are depicted in all shapes and sizes and with totally crazy outfits.

Take your time while you're at iYogaLife and poke around the website. They have a lot of good information on there and explain it in a very easy to understand way.

Enjoy!

Weather Geek

I am a total weather geek and I'm OK with it. Dave picks on me a lot about how obsessed I am. On a good day, I check the weather about 50 times a day. Seriously. I also watch it on the news at 5pm and 10pm or 11pm and sometimes again at 5am. So tonight I am wicked excited because as soon as I got home the weather was on, but not for good reason.

My news channel, The Boston Channel (channel 5), is talking about thunderstorms so severe in Bristol & Plymouth counties that there is a possibility of tornadoes (meaning the weather people are seeing some rotation in the clouds). We are facing winds of 40+ miles an hour and torrential downpours. There is basically a little green on the radar with a whole lot of red and even some purple. Green = rain, Yellow = slightly more sever than rain, Red = storms, Purple = I don't want to be there. I've again posted a photo of my TV taken by my Blackberry.

Outside my window now the trees are eerily still, the sky is a cloudy & almost foggy grey and there is a light constant rumble in the sky. I am probably hearing the rain that the people in Brockton/Taunton are getting.

I used to be really afraid of storms when I was little. In fact, there was a storm one day while I was at elementary school so I went to the nurse's office to see if I could lay on one of the couches in the windowless room while it passed. Instead the crazy nurse lady had me sit on her lap and watch the storm pass by outside her window. Hello?! Were you trying to kill me!? Well, actually, she helped me. I like to watch storms now, but I am still afraid when I see them passing. I also remember to keep the deep relaxing complete breaths going to keep my mind calm (the rain has now started). I feel like watching the storms and tracking it on TV also helps me because it makes me feel like I have some sort of control over the situation even though, last time I checked anyway, I'm not Mother Nature and cannot control the weather.

Alright time to sign off and see how this all turns out (and weather I can get those 800s in tonight).

------------------------------------------------------
Update 7/23/08 @ 10:30pm

As it turns out the storm pretty much died by the time it reached me. I was able to get in my 800s, but unfortunately had to do them along the beach instead of at the track. Apparently the school whose track I use decided to have a lacrosse camp instead of letting me workout on the track. It's OK. I will forgive you this once. After I got down to the beach and was about halfway through my workout the rain started again. It was a nice refreshing rain though and I really enjoyed running in it.

It's storming again now and I love sleeping with the rain and thunder so I'm heading off to bed now to rest my tired head and legs.

My Incident with an Inspection Sticker

You know those little inspection stickers that you find in our clothes? They typically are about one centimeter in diameter with a number on them? Yeah, well this is my story of how I got one stuck to the area on my bum right above my bum crack. Yes, re-read that sentence. Yes, please, go ahead and laugh hysterically and read it again. At some point though, please read the rest of this and find out how that happened.

On Saturday I went with a long run with my running group. It was really hot and humid. I did 15 miles and when I finished I was completely soaked. I looked like I had jumped in a pool and didn't dry off. It was so hot that a piece of gum that was in my fuel belt melted. I changed into some dry clothes, left the group and drove home. When I got home I had some more fluid and some peanut butter toast. At that point, I thought a shower sounded like a good idea.

I showered like I normally do - wash the hair, the face, loofah the body. Then I was rinsing off. I usually rub my hand over my skin to get the soap off rather than just stand in the water. So I'm rubbing away when my hand crosses over the spot right above my bum crack. That's when I feel this mark almost like a scab and I immediately think, "oh no, my underwear chafed me that bad?" I was not happy so I cranked my head around to see how bad it was.

That's when I saw the inspection sticker. So I think "oh! It's just the inspection sticker from my shorts." (Now, my shorts weren't new and I've washed them multiple times so I have no idea why it was still there.)

It's a sticker no big deal, I'll just wipe it off, right? Wrong! The inspection sticker was stuck to my butt! The glue had actually gotten so hot that it re-glued to my butt! I had to take peel it off along with all the little hairs that are there, which really didn't feel great. Then the glue was still there so I had to re-soap up the loofah and scrub the hell out of that spot.

After much scrubbing I was able to remove the inspection sticker and glue from my butt. This was not my proudest moment, but hey, it is pretty funny. So please check your running clothes carefully for any stickers when you're heading out for a super-hot long run before inspector number 112 finds you.

Training Update: Week of 7.14.2008

This week started out well and ended with the beginning of a heat wave. I believe the official start of the heat wave was Friday, Saturday was the hottest and it's still bad today (Sunday). Here's a recap of my week.

Tuesday
Easy run with stretching
This was a nice outing. Just an easy run to start the week. I like starting the week with this nice easy run, but I sometimes feel like I am left wanting more.

Wednesday
120 second hill repeats with gradually increasing difficulty of pace
Another good workout. I feel like I attract jerks though. Here's the thing... I am running up the hill - keep in mind I have already done a 2 mile warm up, drills and strides - and this man in a business suit is walking down the hill with gigantic bag sticking out at his side. I look up and see him while I'm about 10 feet away so I think, "OK. This guy is going to move to his right." Well, the man does not move so at the last minute I dodge to the right a smidge, but my elbow clips his bag. I think absolutely nothing of it because clearly this guy must know how difficult it is to move side to side while running up a hill at a pretty good pace. Well much to my surprise, he does not know what that is like because as I run back down the hill and pass him again - this time not hitting him - he spits. Yes, he actually spits. So I think well just another disgusting person spitting. Then I run back up the hill for my second repeat. He walks right in front of me and says as I run by, "Do you want to run into me again?" Man I was so mad. I sprinted up that second hill (which later proved to be my fastest hill) with all the frustration he put in me. Now, I know he will not read this post because hey, he's obviously not a runner, but just in case... Mr. Business Suit man, I hope that I hit your bag and that the sweat I produced during my intense workout splattered all over you. I hope that next time you will not spit at me like a coward when my back is to you. I hope that next time you will wait for me at the bottom of the hill so as not to interrupt my workout. I hope that you will someday again say to me, "Do you want to run into me again?" because I can't wait to say, "No I want to punch you in the face." And then I will punch you and I will run away because I am that fast and that awesome. So take that Mr. Business Suit man! Oh... and one last thing... thank you for the motivation so I could have a great workout.

Friday
Easy run with barefoot strides
No business suit man on today's run, just the usually man at the track. I am convinced he's an ultra runner because I see him there every time I go just running around and around and around and around and around and around. I have no idea how many times he goes around that track, but he is dedicated. He is there at the exact same time every single day. It's really impressive. So far we've just exchanged the "hello" and the "oh you should run closer to the sprinkler, it's so refreshing" comments, but someday, if I don't feel like I'm interrupting his workout, I'll ask him what he's up to. And back to my workout... it was humid today, lots of sweat. Barefoot strides are my new most favorite thing. I love strides. I also love running around barefoot because that's what I always did as a kid. So love + love = superlove. I super love barefoot strides.

Saturday
Long run
The plan was 12 easy miles and then two a little harder and two a little harder than that. However, when I was pouring sweat at mile 3 like I had already run 10 miles I knew I was in for a tough day. The whole crew was out today - Sarah, Paul, John and myself. I love running with this group on long runs, we seem to always have something to talk about and when we're not talking it's a comfortable silence. I know I suck up to my group every week, but they really are awesome. We just need a group name... . So the first 12 was hot and humid. John & Paul left somewhere around the 12 mile mark because they were planning to do 13-14. Sarah and I continued on for our 16-17. All of a sudden I can feel my body burning up. It was really just from the cheeks of my face up. Then Sarah says, "wow, do you feel like it just got hotter all of a sudden" and I couldn't have agreed with her more. I said "yeah, it feels like my face is really red." She glances over at me and agrees that it in fact is really red. I told her I didn't think I would be able to add on the extra loop at the end of our run to make it to 16, let alone add on two to make it 17. She agreed and noted that our perceived exertion for today was probably longer than what we were actually running. It was just unbearably hot and humid today. We ended up cutting back to 15 miles. I was happy be did and confident that we made the right decision for our body. It was actually so hot that a piece of gum I had left in my fuel belt and melted. And it was so hot that I had an odd incident with an inspection sticker, which is so hilarious (at least to me) that I've posted it separately (click here).

All in all good week, but please humidity go away!

Total Weekly Miles: 30 miles

Training Update: Week of 7.7.2008

I had a very successful week in training. This week had a nice balance between challenging workouts and easy workouts.

Tuesday
Easy run with stretching & strides
This was a nice run. Just enjoying the outside.

Wednesday
Warm-up, running drills, 4 x 1-mile, cool-down
I hate mile repeats. This was such a difficult workout. I did it on a half mile straight and relatively flat stretch of road, which made it challenging because at the half mile I had to stop and turnaround. I tried to stay away from doing it on the track, in part because I was told to and also because I won't be running on a track surface in a race so I shouldn't practice that way (right?). All I can say was that I was happy to see the end of that last mile.

Friday
Easy run with strides
I went out later Friday night than I normally would have. I just really enjoyed being outside. It was nice to enjoy some fresh air.

Sunday
16-Mile Long Run
I loved this run today! I felt strong through the 16-miles. I was able to run with John and Sarah, which is always great. They are both very encouraging and we have some great conversation. John was in high gear today leading us the entire way. He looked great and I was happy to be able to just follow his lead. Sarah and I hung back and took in the scenery (trust me, we were still working - we had to to keep up with John). There was a rowing race (is there a name for that?) on the Charles River and it was so fascinating to see. I've never seen that before. I love the way the boats glide through the water and how the rowers make it look so effortless.

Total Weekly Miles: 35.8

Race Report: Mattapoisett 5-Mile Road Race

On Friday morning I drove the hour plus down to Mattapoisett for a 5-mile road race. I came out of this race with an "eh" feeling. I liked and disliked the race itself. I liked and disliked my performance. Here's how it broke down.

Results:
Official Time - 37:40 (7:32 min./mi.)
9th in division of 85 females aged 19-29
146th overall of 973 total entrants

Reasons I Didn't Like the Race:

1. There were no signs for parking like the website said there would be. It's such a local race that I can see why there aren't, but put them up if you say you are going to, please.
2. The National Anthem was played 10 minutes before race start. I'm sorry, but I had to run through this and I couldn't stop to listen. Ten minutes before equals a lot of runners still warming up. Please wait until just a few minutes before race start next time.
3. Because many of us were still running during the National Anthem, one very rude woman had to say, "Stop walking/running the National Anthem is on." Which then forced me to use my filter and not say, "Hey fatty, you better walk whether they are playing the National Anthem or not." I know that's not yogic, which is why I acknowledged I was not being proper and didn't say it.
4. The clocks at each mile were way off. The first clock I hit said 7:00 and although I wanted that to be true it definitely was not.
5. Terrible after party. There was some good fruit to eat which was nice because it was humid, but the one activity afterwards (unless I didn't hang around long enough) was the awards. Let's party for a bit people!
6. I had no idea where the start line was and thus didn't know when to start my watch.
7. About 80% of people who lined up ahead of me were running 2 minutes per mile slower than me. It's always nice to have pace signs so people have some kind of general idea where they should be.
   

Reasons I Did Like the Race:

1. Mattapoisett is beautiful! The course was just incredible. There were a couple rolling hills, but nothing very difficult. There were trees, shade, lots of crowd support, people were actually cheering and holding their hoses out as sprinklers.
2. A really nice lady who also came alone sat by me afterward and we chatted for awhile. It's always nice when someone does that.
3. There were a lot of fast people there, which I find really inspirational.
4. Even though the race was big, the crowd spread out after the first mile-ish and then it was just nice and easy.
5. A girl actually said good job to me as I passed her. I later saw her and found out she is only 15. I'm not sure what that means or how I feel about it.

Reasons I Did Not Like My Performance:

1. I did not PR as was my goal.
2. I had to stop for 10-ish seconds because of a terrible side stitch that I was unfortunately unable to run through. What the heck causes those things anyway? I hardly ever get them.
3. At the end of the race I was left wondering if I really gave it all I had. I don't like that lingering thought. I prefer to know I did give it all I had.

Reasons I Did Like My Performance:

1. I felt strong throughout the race.
2. I don't believe that anyone I passed came back to pass me.
3. I stayed very focused throughout the race mentally encouraging myself along the way.
4. It just felt good to race again.

So that's a breakdown of the race. I would recommend it to someone looking for a scenic 5-mile race that is sort of laid back. I would not recommend it if you are looking for something perfectly organized (or for a good t-shirt, these ones were boring).

I'll get back on track with weekly training updates this week probably. The boyfriend and I are super busy putting some finishing touches on the house so we can just get it to good-enough-to-move-in status, which has to happen by July 31st. Ah! So If I'm not writing, then I'm either running, working, teaching yoga, stripping paint, sanding, priming, painting or at Lowe's.

Weekend Running Upstate NY

I haven't written in awhile, but I wanted to tell you about some cool stuff from my weekend in Upstate New York. I grew up here and love going back to visit. It's so beautiful! My parents house has a gorgeous lake view, there is little traffic and lots of animals. My little sister and I went out for some interval training on Friday (two Friday's ago now) and then a long run on Sunday. On Sunday's long run as we set out she heard a little rustling in the field to our left and as we glanced over it was a big white tail doe. She was beautiful as she effortlessly bounded through the field. Then on our way back home we saw a baby fox standing right on the edge of the road about 10 feet in front of us. It was incredible. I love running and being able to enjoy nature's beauties!