Wednesday, September 23, 2015

May-August Review

Wow.  I guess I really have been lazy in writing blog posts this summer. It appears as though I haven't done any mileage review since April.  Shame on me.

I have been running though.  And still quite a bit!

May
113.2 miles run

The big deal about May was I completed my first marathon!  Yay me.  Race report HERE if you care to read about it.  Basically, it was hot as hell, long and annoying at times.  I killed the first half and crashed and burned the second half.  Overall finish time 4:08 and change.  Not a BQ but a very respectable first marathon finish.

June
79.13 miles run
135 minutes of biking

My first month that was less than 100 miles since the beginning of the year.  I guess that's ok the month after a marathon.  Still, I was kinda bummed I didn't reach 100.

July
75 miles run
220 minutes biking

Another low mileage month.  Summer is busy people!  I'm not sure why, but even with all the extra sunlight, it was super hard to find time to run.  I did run a half marathon that month and had a respectable finish on another god-awful hot day.  I also broke my 10K pr at the LLBean Fourth of July race.  Race report HERE.  That day was humid too.  Lots of hot and humid weather this summer.


August
92.06 miles run
135 minutes biking

Not a single run over 6 miles in this month but lots of shorter ones and I guess if you do enough shorter runs, they total up to a lot.  Just short of 100 but still a respectable mileage total.

August was my birthday month and I'm now a fabulous 45 years old.  It's hard to believe that I'm 45. I don't feel 45, I don't think I look 45 and I certainly don't act 45.  What does 45 act like anyway?

50 is just around the corner and I really just can't believe I'm almost there.  It's really true what everyone says about getting old.  You feel the same way you felt at 20, but you clearly aren't.  In my mind, I'm still that same girl, but on the outside things just aren't what they used to be.  I hate it.  Getting old is not fun.  But at the same time, I like being alive too so I suppose the alternative isn't any better.

I can totally get why people have a mid-life crisis.  Thank God running keeps me sane.

kids got me a selfie stick for my birthday! best present EVER!


Ooooh!  In other exciting news, I got chosen to be an InknBurn ambassador!  I love their gear and have been applying for 3 years now.  Finally!  I got chosen.  Woo!

where it all started..... with the peacock skirt!

 dragonfly on my friend and I


Yup. It's a fish tank tank


Their clothes are different and cool and I love them.  No one looks like me when I wear them.  Like seriously?  Who has a fish tank tank?

seriously now.  Are they not the coolest??

Who doesn't want to look like a robot?  Their stuff is all made in the USA, hand printed, cut and sewn.  It's a bit more expensive, but it is so worth it.  The colors never fade, the designs are unique and different.  You will not look like everyone else.

Check them out at inknburn.com.

I hope you all had a great summer like I did!  Another year older.  Another PR.  Another grey hair. or 50......

Thanks for reading.  Hopefully, I'll be back at it a little more frequently now.




Monday, September 21, 2015

Portland Trails to Ale 10K Review

Hey there!  Remember me?  I used to blog here about running and biking and life and stuff.  Well, I'm still running and biking and life-ing and stuff, I just haven't written any of it down here on my blog.

I guess I didn't really think any of it being blog-worthy.
Or I'm lazy.
Or I think my life is boring and couldn't come up with anything clever to say.

But here I am again.

Even if it's not interesting or funny, I need to keep writing here because first of all, it keeps track of all my miles for me!  Secondly, I had no idea that I broke my 10K PR TWICE this summer.  Until I just looked at my lonely blog this morning, I didn't have a clue.  I've taken 2 minutes off the damn thing!

Anyway.  Back at it.  I need to review my entire summer but I'll first do this race and get back to that later this week.  Or month.  Whatever.

So yesterday was the Portland Trails to Ale 10K.  Our high school cross country coach (who is damn fast btw), wanted to get a team together from Boothbay for this race.  Top 3 finishing men and women's time combine and whichever team has the fastest time wins.  The men pretty much had it in the bag because we have some FAST men in our area and some pretty fast women too!  (I am not one of those, but somehow I was on the team anyway. :) Charity, I suppose.  haha)

No real training for this race other than the usual running with my best running buddy, Stacey.  Who, BTW, just had her Boston Registration accepted!  Yesssss!!

Race start time was 9:00 which was perfect so I didn't need to get up at the ass crack of dawn.  We left at 6:30 to drive to Portland and find parking, which we were able to find off street kinda near the start.  As I got out of the car, I noticed a cat outside, not on a leash, just hanging out in the middle of the city.  It was in front of a townhouse -sorta thing, but I was really surprised to see the cat just hanging out.  Wouldn't you think it would get run over?

I hoped he wasn't a stray but my daughter went over to him and he was the nicest, purring, loving cat ever.  He rubbed all over us and purred.  My daughter noticed he had a collar and checked it--Scooby. hahaha!  Love it.
Cat selfies are hard to do when the cat keeps rubbing all over your phone....

I had followed my friends and teammates, Stacey and Sara, down to Portland and then ran into my other running friends, Danielle and Sarah before the start.  They were part of another team--but more of that later.

Danielle and Sarah went to go "warm-up" and run 2 miles, (I cannot see any point of that!  Run 2 miles before running another 6?  Silliness.) so we milled around the start area trying to find the rest of our team.  The guys were apparently out running and warming up too (again, more silliness).

 most of the girls

And then finally everyone was done with their foolishness and we got a most-of-the-team pre-race photo.

dudes on either end are FAST!

Peninsula Pounders.  Cause we're all from Boothbay.  Which is a peninsula.  And we pound the pavement.  Get it?  #soclever

9:00 we lined up to race and then BAM!  Gun went off.  No warning.  No ready, set, go or anything.  Just bang!  Ok then.  Time to run.

Weather was coolish but a little humid and everyone was worried I'd be hot in a long sleeve, but I hate to be cold so I didn't change.  The course was down hill for the first mile or so and then very flat.  The "trail" part of the race was a gravel walking path around the bay in Portland.  To call it a trail is a stretch, so if you are looking for a true trail race, this is not it.

Stacey took off ahead of me and even though we usually run together at the same pace, she was off like a shot this time.  Makes me think she is running slower to run with me 90% of the time........  Anyway, that left me running alone with no Garmin.  I did have my stopwatch going but the miles weren't marked until Mile 3 so I had no idea of what my splits were.  I guess that's better for me.  Not knowing.  Just run on feel.

Pretty uneventful run.  I did feel like I was working hard for the first 4 miles.  There was a constant headwind.  Like seriously.  We'd turn a corner and there was headwind.  Around the next bend, headwind.  I thought it would never end.  It was like running with a rubber band that someone had attached to you from behind.

The last mile was super nasty as we run by the sewer treatment plant and I don't know if they were mixing up the shit or what, but holy hell, it was frickin stinky.  Just what you want to smell at Mile 5 of a 6 mile race.  Gag.  I passed a bunch of people anyway on that last stretch and for the finish I could see my friend and teammate, Brian, and he was cheering loudly when he saw me.  I sprinted that last bit and finished somewhere around 51:00.

awkward finish photos FTW!


Apparently, I am the master at awkward finish photos.  Not just one, but TWO!  At least my outfit rocked.  And I actually look kinda muscley in that top one.

There was pizza and beer (hence the trails to ALES) at the end.  I had pizza but since I don't drink, I skipped the ale part.  I did hang around for the awards since the print out showed I came in 4th in my age group and our team did pretty well.  The cross country coach came in 2nd overall and 3 of our men were not far behind him.  I knew two of our women finished in under 50 so that's pretty good too.  I thought we would place for the team and I wondered if I might get third because the overall winner looked like she was about my age and that would pull her out of the age group awards.

We ended up with 3rd in the team division.  Turns out Danielle's team had a bunch of younger runners who were overall faster even though us old fogies won a bunch of age group awards.  Damn those young whipper snappers!
all the team minus 1 female


I didn't end up with 3rd  (BOO) so we left right after the awards.

But wait!  I looked up the results later on just to see what my actual finish time was.  Check this out:

See me, number 4?  My time is the same exact time as #3, but I have a faster split and a faster gun time!  I should have been the 3rd place winner dammit!  Her name came up first, so they gave it to her.  I was robbed!  I want my damn bottle opener!  To open bottles of beer that I don't even drink!

Well, whatever.  I'm not bitter.  I am bitter.

My first big race that I actually won something, and I didn't.  Wah.

But I did get a great time--50:57.  One less headwind away from breaking 50..... Next time.

All in all Portland Trails to Ale was a fun race, great atmosphere and I had a good time with my local running friends.  Sign me up for next year!  Although I'll be checking the finishing times much more carefully.......


***Edited after posting the original blog post***
I wanted to update you all regarding my missed 3rd place award.  I wrote to the race director to inquire about the tied times and she agreed that we should have tied, then forwarded it on the the timing company to have them correct it.  She then forwarded me the explanation from the timing company as to why there wasn't a tie.  Here is his response (I paraphrased some):

"All events use net times to score their runners so that the person who runs the fastest from start line to finish line will receive the nod in close finishes.  As for the "tie", by USTAF rules, times should be rounded up to the next whole second so that the chance of a is remote and Liz had a net time that was actually about a full half second faster than Michelle.  So, she was properly listed as the third finisher in her age division."

So, wah.  I guess even though you can't tell by the posted times, it sounds like I didn't get third.

However, the race director is still happy to recognize the tied finish time and award me a medal.

I may or may not go get it since I feel a bit like a crybaby and that I'm getting a participation medal to shut me up.

It was a valid question though, wasn't it?










Wednesday, August 12, 2015

NEDA walk and supporting a friend

Be kind, because everyone is a fighting a battle that you know nothing about.


That quote had more meaning for me this past winter as I learned of a good friend who was struggling with an Eating Disorder.  I had no idea.  Not a single clue.

I thought she was this extremely motivated badass runner.  A super strong fitness freak.  Someone who I wished I could be like, have her muscles and fitness level.

She actually IS all those things.  Just with anexoria, bulimia and body dysmorphia.

After 4 years of suffering with the disease and another 6-9 months of active therapy both in house and out patient, she is now on her way to recovery.  If you care to read about her journey thus far, (and I recommend that you do! She is an excellent writer and her story is compelling.  I learned so much from her), please check out her blog here.  

She has been very honest and open with her struggles and thus is very easy to offer support and help her on her journey to recovery.

So the answer was obvious when she asked her friends to come walk with her on her team "Recovery Warriors" at the NEDA walk last Saturday.  Of course, I said YES and I actually got my 2 teen daughters to come with me too.  I did bribe them with shopping afterward, but whatever.

 Team Recovery Warriors!

homemade shirts for Doreen!

The walk raised over $9000 for NEDA here in Maine and our team alone raised $705.  We met some really special people, heard some really tough stories and all walked in honor of all those recovering. There are even therapy guinea pigs and my daughters bonded with them!  Mumu and Lulu came on the walk as well in their little red wagon.  Hysterical.



We walked 2 miles, slowly, since many of the walkers are still in active recovery and are not allowed to exercise (things I would never have thought of....).

It was a beautiful day to support a dear friend and I'm really glad we did.  And if you suspect someone of an eating disorder, by all means, please call them out.  Direct them to NEDA and the support system of doctors and therapists that they have.  There is help available.

NEDA
  • 1-800-931-2237
  • http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
  • Doreen's blog--please read  http://dori30c.blogspot.com/2015/06/finding-my-voice.html  


Thursday, July 9, 2015

LLBean Fourth of July 10K Recap

LLBean hosts a Fourth of July 10K road race every year, and it is pretty huge!  The race is capped at 1,600 runners and that's a pretty big race for Maine.  I have never done it, mostly because it's always hotter than the surface of the sun on July 4th and also because I have feared the traffic getting home.  I have to drive through Wiscasset to get back to Boothbay Harbor and in the summer, traffic is backed up MILES, all because of one stupid little food shack.

see that shack to the left?  and see the traffic coming from the north?  it's that bad coming from the south as well

So basically, I'm scared to death of being stuck in traffic in Wiscasset.  Unless you leave at 6 am and want to return at 8 pm, you are likely to be sitting in that mess.  Not exactly my idea of fun on 4th of July.

Anyway, I decided at the last minute to run this race when Danielle basically told me to.  You know, Danielle, that helps me make really excellent life choices, like running a marathon.  And running up and down a mountain for 6, 9 and 12 miles for a hoodie.  Yeah.  That Danielle. Everyone needs a friend like Danielle. :)

I did nothing to prepare for this race.  I knew nothing about this race other than it's so damn hot as you finish and all the fast Mainers run it.  Way to be prepared, right?

I left my house at 6, arrived in Freeport around 6:50.  Parked very easily at CVS, which is right at the start and finish.  #win!  Walked right to bib/shirt pick up and then found Danielle and her husband, who she also dragged to this race.  Selfie of course. #duh

Of course, I totally wore all the red, white and blue for the 4th.  

It was cool to start but a bit humid.  Kinda, almost perfect.  It would have been the ideal temperature if there was a little less humidity.  But alas, we can't have everything, can we?

Danielle and Tyler were talking about his training for this race (or lack thereof) and there was some mention of the route.  Me: Oh, is it flat?  Danielle: Um, no.  Shows me the elevation plot which looks like a bunch of downhill for 3 miles and a bunch of uphill for 3 miles.  Fab.

Turns out I don't mind hills when I haven't already run 20 miles.

The race starts right on time and off we go.  No watch.  No nothing.  Just running with 1,200 of my friends.

Mile 1:  downhill, cool and fast for me for sure.  clock said 8:07 and that was gun time, not chip time.  eek
Mile 2:  feels similar pace to me but really no idea.  Just running.
Mile 3:  another clock says 24:xx.  wow.  super duper fast for me.  just thinking I'm going to crash and burn once the uphills start.
Mile 4:  hills aren't so horrible.  I mean, there's a hill and all but really nothing worse than what I regularly run in Boothbay Harbor.
Mile 5:  some flat some hill.  again, whatever.  just running still.  I come up behind my local tri hero--Angela Bancroft.  She's running with her son.  I start feeling pretty badass that I'm even anywhere near her pace-wise, but then also realize her son is probably 11 and she's probably running a bit slower than her usual pace.  Whatever.  Still feeling badass.  I talk to her for a bit (SHE'S SO NICE! gush gush), feel a bit stalker-ish but she didn't seem to care, and then moved on.

clearly I win at race photos  #sophotogenic

so patriotic though. at least my outfit is on point


Mile 6:  Angela and her son pass me (dammit!) and we are on the long stretch of Main Street to the finish line.  This is where the sun is usually brutal and everyone complains of how hot it is, but today there is a bit of cloud cover and it's really not so bad.  Still just running with everyone around me.  A few pass me, and I pass a few.

Finish:  Clock says 50:47.  I'm feeling pretty damn proud of myself since that's about a 2 minute PR on what people consider a 'difficult' course.  BAM.

Final chip time ended up being 50:25 at an 8:07 pace.

Say what??  8:07 pace??  Since when do I run that fast?

yet another fabulous finish photo for me.  I do look a smidge better than the guy in pain in the front. only because you can't see my face very well

381/1242 overall
15/101 in my age group

Went directly from the finish line to my car and headed home.  I was back in my driveway by 9:20 a.m.  Not too shabby.  Missed Wiscasset traffic and the parade.  I'd call that a win!

Overall, I really enjoyed this race.  It was well organized, easy to get to and park, a decent route, the weather was nice and I had a great finish time.  I will definitely do this race again next year now that I know I can get home without being stuck in traffic hell.  The registration was really inexpensive--$25 which includes the nice shirt you see on the dude in pain in the last picture above.  It's a tech shirt and had a nice cut for the women.  I believe if you signed up early enough, there was a lottery for sneakers or socks.


Well done, LLBean!  Thanks for a fun race!


Monday, June 22, 2015

a shout out to the asshole

Hey you!  yeah you!  The asshole in the white Volvo that felt the need to yell at me while running today.  Why don't you suck it.  Just suck it.

So today, like so many other days at lunch time, I went out for my run.  I usually run from my office to the local high school and back which is about 4 miles.  The roads I run on are local town roads except for two times when I cross Business Route 1 (which is kinda a main street in our town) and then actually run on it near the high school.  But otherwise, all you city people would laugh and consider this town and its roads like being in the country.

Anyway, I left and went out on my run.  I pass the ONE street light in town, and the ONE fast food chain, and head down a back road that cuts behind the main road.  As I'm running I come up on two girls on the right side of the road.  One is walking, the other is riding a bike.  I am on the left side running against traffic.

There is only us and this one white Volvo coming towards me.  I look as he passes me because he has to slow down a bit, and he is screaming at me and waving his hands frantically as he goes by me basically motioning for me to run in the ditch.

Fuck you, Mr. Volvo.  Fuck you.

Here's a bunch of reasons I say fuck you.

1.  You do not own this public road.  It is not your private driveway.  I can run on it too.
2.  I do not have to run in the ditch just so you don't have to slow down to pass me.
3.  Speed limit was 25 anyway,  So sorry you had to slow from 45 to 40.  Pardon me.
4.  I'm pretty sure that my business, which is in this exact town, pays at least three times more than any property tax bill you might pay.  At that's if you even live in Damariscotta.
5.  We all know that you were speeding through the back roads to avoid the traffic on the main street.  So I apologize if you could not get to your Big Mac 20 seconds earlier.

Basically, you suck at life if you feel the need to yell at someone running on their lunch hour, on a back road because you had to slow down a little.

Take your road rage to Massachusetts or DC or somewhere where it fits in.


Monday, May 11, 2015

Maine Coast Marathon--in which I emerge from the gates of hell to gain superstar status (or so I think)

Maine Coast Marathon was yesterday, Mother's Day, and it was a doozey.  We will get to that in a bit, because first, there was prom!

Back when I signed up for the marathon, prom was supposed to be the following weekend.  Once I signed up, they changed it to the same weekend.  Fabulous timing.  But really, it didn't matter too much because who actually sleeps before a race anyway?  Not me.

But I digress...

Prom.  Yes back to that.  Somehow I actually managed to pull off all the things on my list of shit to do on Saturday that I planned out in the last blog.  I did run 4 miles, get to baseball, host a bunch of people (with food) and managed to remain sane.

One small crisis with sticky boobs, but really that was it.  The girls all looked beautiful, the boys shot some guns, (yes, we are rednecks) and all the parents enjoyed some food and company.

 cause who doesn't shoot guns in their tux? #totallynormal

having some trouble with the boutonniere 

my favorite

That's my baby!  wah.

Anyway, with them all off to prom safely it was time to get ready for my marathon the next day.  The weather has been kinda eh these last few days but Sunday was predicted to be sunny 80* and humid.  Fan-freakin-tastic.  Nothing like training in snowpocalypse and then running in hell.  So much for acclimation.

Thankfully, I had received a new tank to wear in the mail so at least I could look like a rock star.  You know that old saying, "don't do anything new on race day"?  Well, I pretty much ignored that and was going to wear this tank anyway.  Turns out this was maybe not the best decision, but I sure did look good!!

 flat Michelle


New fish tank tank from InkNBurn (LOVE), tried and true Altra Torin sneakers, favorite black shorts and Rev 3 visor.

After very little sleep, 4:45 arrived and it was time to get up.  I packed all the race clothes and supplies I could think of just in case the weather changed.  I even remembered the Body Glide this year!  My buddies and I hopped in my car and we were off!

The start was about 1:30 away from our house and another runner friend offered the use of his driveway to park my car.  Otherwise, we would have needed to park at the finish and take the shuttle to the start, adding another 45 minutes onto our morning.  That would have been a REALLY early wake up call.  Thank you so much my new best friend, Dan!!

We walked the short walk to Kennebunk High School which is where the race started.  Of course, we snapped a selfie on the way.

probably the only selfie I look half decent in
best running buddies ever--Stacey, me, Lauren

Right at the high school, I ran into my other running friends, Speedy McFast aka Sara and Mr-Ironman aka her husband Eric.  Sara had raced the half marathon yesterday and was taking on the marathon today to complete the 39.3 challenge.  Amazing and crazy all at the same time!


Eric was to be spectator extraordinaire today and he sure was!  I saw him at least 3 times and he cheered for me each time!  Yay for Eric and spectators!!

The race started right on time at 7:30 after the playing of the National Anthem (for which I proceeded to get all teary eyed during per usual). It was already warm at the start so I unloaded my shirt onto Eric for safekeeping.  Thanks Eric!

And we were off!

My plan was really no plan--it had gone back and forth between starting around 9's and then trying to negative split or going out with Stacey at 8:30's ish and keeping with her until I couldn't and then trying not to crash and burn.  Starting at 9's felt slow so I decided to get to Stacey and go with her.

Mile 1: 8:26
Mile 2: 8:29
Mile 3: 8:40
Mile 4: 8:33
Mile 5: 8:24
Mile 6: 8:37

These miles felt easy and great!  Really.  I felt awesome.  The temp was perfect and the run through Kennebunk was pretty.  It was around Mile 6 that I started to feel some discomfort under my arms.  My very fancy and pretty new tank was rubbing and starting to chafe.  Fack.  20 miles was a long way to suffer with chaffing.  I texted my friend Danielle to see if she could grab some body glide to save the day.

Mile 7: 8:30
Mile 8: 8:29
Mile 9: 8:18

We were right behind the 3:45 pacer.  I actually could not believe that this is where I was running.  It was so easy.  So comfortable.  other than my underarms.  Danielle texted back to check at the aid stations, they should have vasoline.  Brilliant!  Day saved.  kinda.

Mile 10: 8:34
Mile 11: 8:26
Mile 12: 8:53

This is where I asked about Vasoline.  They had some, just not out.  Dammit!  I lost a bit waiting for them to get it out for me.  I slathed it on then ran off to catch up with Stacey.  After that aid station and trying to catch up with her, I felt myself starting to slow.  She went ahead and I stayed a little behind.

Mile 13: 8:49

Danielle was here around this mile marker and jumped in to save me.  Stacey was ahead and I knew I was done running with her for the day.  She was off to get her BQ and I did not want her to wait on me.  Danielle ran the next few miles with me and chattered away which was great.  I didn't have to speak and she did all the talking.  It was a nice distraction since running was starting to get hard here.

Oh, I should mention that my half marathon split was the fucking bomb!  I killed my PR by about 3 minutes.   1:52:02.  Bam!  Take that bitches!  Maybe I should have run the half the day before and called it good.  Oh, well.  Too late now.  Still another 13.1 to go.  Jokes on me.

Mile 14: 9:05
Mile 15: 9:10
Mile 16: 9:31

I think this was the first hill that I walked.  It was the beginning of the downward spiral into hell.

Mile 17: 9:26

Danielle jumped off around here to try to get to the finish for other people she was helping and rooting for.  I sadly, went on alone.  I think she really helped me keep pace here as it was starting to get super hot and my legs were wanting to be done.

Mile 18: 10:54
Mile 19: 9:38
Mile 20: 10:03
Mile 21: 11:21
Mile 22: 10:45
Mile 23: 11:07

This group of miles totally sucked balls.  It was so damn hot, we were away from the ocean running on this boring ass road.  Bugs were getting me.  Black friggin flies.  Wtf.  Seriously?  Black flies?  I was not mentally prepared for bugs.  It pissed me off.  There were some hills here and I walked all of them.  I was adopting the "try to run a mile, then walk a half mile" method.  It morphed into "run as far as you can, then walk until you are too embarrassed to keep walking then try to run again" mode.  I walked all the aid stations and was taking water and gatorade every time.

I cannot remember where it was but somewhere around Mile 20? there was a man and his wife handing out popsicles.  I got the last one.  I swear I almost kissed them both.  I have never enjoyed a red popsicle more than I did at that moment.  It literally saved my life.  Or felt like it at the time.

It was also during this group of miles that I had a man and another woman that kept passing me when I walked, then I would pass them when they walked.  Ordinarily, this wouldn't be of any interest but the man was the most smelly man I have ever smelled in my life and the woman had this frankenstein run/shuffle thing going on that drove me batshit crazy.  Each time the man would pass (or I passed him) I would literally get slapped in the face with his body odor.  It was unbearable, in that I would hold my breath each time he passed me.

Really bad.  I promise.

The woman with her clop/shuffle thing drove me nuts because she wouldn't get out of the damn dirt on the shoulder and it made this noise that made me want to push her in the ditch just to get it to stop.  The man finally went far enough ahead of me that I was free of that stench and the woman dropped behind me so the torture was over.  At least the noise and smell torture.  The other tortures would continue, like the raw spots under my arms…..

I stopped at one aid station for water and gatorade, around mile 22?, not sure cause it's all a overheated blur, and I saw the 4:00 pacer pass me.  I almost cried.  Then I was pissed.  Then I said fuck it.  My 3:55 was clearly a pipe dream at this point, but I still had a 15 minute buffer to keep my B race goal (which was really my A race goal cause I kinda knew there was no way in hell I could get a 3:55 on my first marathon).  So I just set myself to finish this bitch and be done with it.  I seriously would have lost my shit if the 4:15 pacer had gone by me.  Thank God that didn't happen.

Mile 24: 10:36
Mile 25: 11:39
Mile 26: 11:07

The last 3 miles to the finish were really, really hard.  The terrain wasn't particularly difficult but my hamstrings hurt really bad, the chaffing was almost unbearable and my toes were killing me too.  The path to the finish was cool in that it was a walking path under the road and plenty of spectators were lined up along that path cheering.  It really pushed to me to finish strong.

badass status

I had no idea my legs could look that good!
marathon training for the win!

so happy! the most happy!

Finish time:  4:08:37!  Yeah baby!!

After I crossed the finish I got my water bottle and just sat.  And laid down and sat some more.  Then tried to get up and decided that wasn't the best idea since I felt dizzy and wanted to barf.  So there was more sitting down.

I found out my friend Stacey had finished in 3:54 ish so she made her BQ time!  I was so happy for her!!  It turns out she also won her age group!!  We hung around and watched our other buddy, Lauren finish.  I tried to get up again and wasn't doing so well, so I got some help to the medic tent just to make sure I was ok.

They took my vitals while I got to sit in a shaded tent with an ice bag on my head.  It felt divine.  The doctor took my blood pressure and said 96/80, I said isn't that strange?  She said yup.  I can't say that was the answer I wanted to hear....  But her diagnosis was dehydration and not death so I guess I was going to survive.  Honestly, just sitting in the shaded tent was all I needed.

three happy finishers!

I need to thank these ladies for all their support and help while training this god-awful winter.  Who knew when we were running in snow and 12* weather that it would be 85* and humid for the race.  Zero time for acclimation.  Just jump right into hell and run there.  Well, we all did it, and finished!  These ladies made 20 mile training runs fun.  Well, maybe not fun, but bearable.  And Danielle, my cheerleader in another town, just makes my life better.  Believing in me when I didn't, sending me cards in the mail that make me laugh and cry with happiness and always helping me to make poor life decisions.

Overall finish 265/702
Female 109/380
Age Group 11/53

I am pretty damn proud of myself and my first marathon effort!  And I may or may not be looking at another flat/fast marathon in the next few months…… shhhhh!




Monday, May 4, 2015

April's Miles and Marathon Month!!!!!

So.  Here it is.

Countdown week until the Maine Coast Marathon on Sunday.

Hard to believe it's this weekend already.  Time flies when it's winter for SIX STRAIGHT MONTHS.  hashtag not.

Anyhoo--run down for the month of April.

128.12 Miles logged for April.  The majority of those being outside and virtually none on the treadmill.  Thank you sweet baby Jesus.

I've managed to log over 100 miles/month every month this year so far.  Turns out long runs of 15-20 miles weekly will jump up your average quite a bit.  huh.

Average pace for the majority of those runs has been in the 9:00-9:30 range, with the exception of the two 20 milers in which the wheels fell off the bus (so to speak) and the average of the last few miles dropped considerably to 10:30-11:00.  not gonna BQ with a pace like that....

I will asterisk that by adding that both of those 20 milers were done in Boothbay Harbor and all its horrendous hills.  Hills that blacken toes and chew up quads and blister feet and suck the will to live right out of you.  So I would counter that even though the pace was slower, the effort given was similar to a flat 20 miler at a 9:00 pace.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.

So here is what I'm hoping to accomplish this Sunday as far as finishing times:

A Race--the all things rainbows and unicorns race, the buy a lottery ticket cause this shit ain't ever gonna happen again race:

3:55 or below.  Preferably, 3:53 if I'm anywhere close to this number so there won't be a chance of BQing and then not making the lottery.  Cause that would totally suck balls.

Chances of this happening--.001%

B Race--this race that would be a really excellent first marathon for me and the one I should be super-duper proud of but won't be because it's kinda close to BQing but not really.

4:00-4:10

Chances of this happening--50%

C Race--the race that will most likely happen because _________________ (insert whatever variable here that can fuck you up on race day:  rain, heat, wall hitting, barfing, cramping, not enough water, too much water, not enough fuel, too much fuel, chaffing, blisters, sun, whatever,  You get the picture.)

4:25 and longer

Chances of this happening--50%


So there you have it.  Now that I've said this I'll probably shit the bed and finish in 5 hours and I'll have to never blog again because I'll be so embarrassed about it.

And now begins the process of checking the weather every single second of every single day.  Right now it's showing thunderstorms.  Fan-freaking-tastic.  And other than weather checking, this is what is on the agenda for this week:

Monday--rest.  hmm maybe a 3 miler.  We will see. work.

Tuesday--7 miles, work.

Wednesday--5 miles, work and daughter's lax game

Thursday--work, no running.

Friday--5 miler, work, packet pickup and expo

Saturday:
7:00 am--4 miles
9:00 am--son's baseball game
12:00 pm--daughter's hair appointment
2:00 pm--host 15+ people at my house for a pre-prom party with food and drinks while the girls get ready for prom.  Stab forks into my eyes.
5:00 pm--if no rain, go to the waterfront for prom pictures.  Cry.
6:00-11:00 pm--go home and wander aimlessly around the house trying to prepare for a marathon the next day all the while wondering how prom is going and if she's having fun and blah blah blah.
11:00 pm--daughter gets home and then I can try to go to sleep.

Sunday:
4:45 am--wake up
5:15 leave for MARATHON!!!!!
7:30 race begins
11:23 finish race and BQ baby!  yah right.


Feel free to stalk me if you so desire.  My bib number is 1395.  If you download the Race Joy app, I believe you can follow me there.

See you on the other side!






Thursday, April 9, 2015

March Miles and Beaver Sightings

So the calendar says "spring" but the weather here in Maine is still shit winter.  It's opening day for the local semi-pro baseball team and we get 4" of snow.

welcome to Maine!  fuck you!


Seriously, Mother Nature.  You suck.  Or in the words of my 9 year old son this morning, "Mother Nature is a butthole".

Yes.  Yes she is.

Anyway, despite the craptastic weather that we've been having, I seem to be able to still rack up the running miles.

138.65!!

Which included 4 long runs of 16, 14, 20 and 17 miles.  Just one month ago the longest run I had ever done was a half marathon.  Now, a half marathon seems like an "easy" day.  Go figure.

20 miles sucked and was ugly and took me close to 3:30 to finish so I have no idea how I think I might finish a full marathon in 4 hours, but you never know.

me hating all things running

Boothbay Harbor is the land of all the hills so a flat course might be in my favor.  With my luck it will likely rain like hell or be sunny and 80*.  Either way, I'm sure to die, vomit, curse, dehydrate, chafe and slog to a +4:00 finish.  On Mother's Day.  Cause what else would I want to do on Mother's Day?

So enough of all this mileage shit and marathon talk.  Let's get down to the real reason you are reading this blog.  Unless you care about me and running, the reason you are here is to find out what the heck I'm doing talking about beavers.  And you likely have your mind in the gutter.  And you'd likely to be right on with that thinking.

Read on folks.....


So on Monday evenings for the past month or so, I've been running a field hockey clinic at the Y with the varsity coach for younger girls.  This Monday was the same.  I came home from work, put on my running gear (in which I go commando,,, this is important.  remember for later.....)  and headed to the Y to get a couple of miles in on the track before field hockey at 6:30.  Fine.  Ran my 2 miles, did the field hockey clinic in which I played some 2 on 2 with the girls, then came home.

Dinner was ready when I got home so we started eating.  I happen to eat standing up at the counter and my husband says to me--what's on the front of your pants?  I look down and much to my horror (and everyone else who's eating dinner at the time) the seam of my running capris are split from the band at the waist all the way down to the crotch.  My entire crotch/bush/beaver/hoo-hoo whatever you want to call it was completely hanging out for all to see.

I did not tear this further, this was the actual hole in my pants.....

WTF!??

How does one's pants split open completely in the front and you don't even notice???!!!  How long did I walk around flashing everyone at the Y?  And worst of all, how come no one told me??

Ummm, excuse me coach?  I think your hoo-hoo is sticking out.

Omg I can't even imagine that conversation.

Seriously.  It's a wonder they let me volunteer.  Or maybe that's why they let me volunteer......

I guess I'm going to have to re-think the commando thing.....


Anyway, that's what happening in my end of the world.  No spring, snow again, more miles and beaver sightings.  Good stuff.  And my running friends, they are so supportive.....


Happy April.




Thursday, March 12, 2015

Three Things Thursday

I haven't done a TTT for some time now, so there must be at least 3 things that I have to say, right?

1.  In my brain, today is Friday.  I thought last night was Thursday night and I think today is Friday.  What a disappointment to realize that it is not.  The kids have tomorrow off for a teacher in-service day so for them, it is actually Friday, but for me, well, people still want to have their eyes checked.  Wah.

2.  This morning was the third morning in a row that my running buddy and I managed to get up and run at 5 a.m. before work.  Three days in a row!  On the time change week!  That is nothing short of amazing.  It was dark as shit, but also pretty warm (for Maine) and quiet.  The first night, I barely slept at all I was so worried about oversleeping and missing the 4:45 a.m. alarm.  who the fuck gets up at that hour??  stupid people. that's who.  The second night, I slept like a rock but woke up at 4:40 on the nose and last night was similar.  Today I actually feel pretty normal like I didn't do anything special at all.  Like getting up and running at 5 is perfectly sane and regular behavior.  huh.  Maybe I could be an early morning runner.  I will say, it's pretty nice to get it out of the way.  Leaves more time for things like laundry and snacking at 8 p.m.

 Day 1

 Day 2

Day 3
I don't always run at 5 a.m. but when I do, I wear an owl hat.  And apparently, I only own purple running clothes.


3.  So you know how you have your favorite bra?  And maybe you have 1 or 2 of the same ones and even though you have other bras you only wear the 2 favorites?  Well mine were getting crappy looking so I thought I'd buy 4 of the exact same of my current favorite ones.  Smart, right?  Then I would have 2 crappy old favorites and 4 brand new fancy favorites.  I looked at the number and bought the same ones X's 4.  

Guess what?  

New bras feel like shit.  They don't stay in place, I feel like they are too small (like that is even possible with my tiny boobs) or something.  They ride up and I'm constantly yarning (Maine word) on them and adjusting to make it feel normal.  Not a good look.  

So now I have $80 of bras that I hate and I'm back to wearing my 2 old crappy favorite ones.  

Yet another argument for wearing running clothes all the time.  Running clothes = sports bras.  And even though I have flat boobs in sports bras, they are all comfortable.

Yes.  This is yet another of my fantastically awesome #firstworldproblems.


How is your Friday Thursday going?  

Any bra issues you care to share?



Wednesday, March 4, 2015

January and February Review

2015 is starting out fantastically for me as far as running is concerned.  I have been able to log crazy miles in the dead of winter thanks, in part, to my fabulous running friends and the fact that I have been far more disciplined with my workouts.  Yay me!

January

Miles Run--100.45.  You read that correctly, folks.  ONE HUNDRED MILES run in JANUARY!  In MAINE!  100 miles is a new record for me and certainly a huge achievement to get it done in one of the worst winter months.  Not to mention, we had record snowfall and bitter cold temperatures the last week of January extending into February.

I've had very little cross training lately, with 60 minutes on the spin bike and 1 measly hour of tennis. I can't do everything, it seems, so running wins.

February

Miles Run--111.  I love that number.  More than last month.  February is a shorter month and the weather continued to be atrocious but I still managed to get that many miles in.  I believe I had maybe 3 of those runs outside and the rest were on the treadmill and the track.

So.
Boring.

But all this mental training will be good for that marathon thing I have coming up in May, right??

Other notable events in Jan/Feb:

~10 mile PR at the Mid-Winter Classic, taking 6+ minutes off my best time.

~running 16 miles--longest run ever.  10 on the track and 6 outside, in the dark, in the snow and cold with my running buddy.  Big accomplishment.
~the oldest daughter's basketball team won their conference championship!  So very exciting.




But then lost unexpectedly in the first round of the playoffs.  womp. womp.

The day after the boys team lost very unexpectedly in the first round.

Both games at the buzzer.
So.
Much.
Sad.

~added on after original post--I just finished watching all the Breaking Bad episodes.  I'm kinda feeling like I'm having withdrawal.  I was a little late to the party on this one, but it was a great show.  Moving on to Saul and his new series?
~So many snow days. I think we got somewhere in the range of 90 inches of snow in the last week of January through February.  I don't think the kids had a full week of school ever in February.
~My oldest started driver's ed.  Want to feel old?  This is how you feel old--watch your kid driving a car for the first time.
also notable in this picture, the giant ass snowbanks we have.  and they are bigger now.

~some indoor field hockey where our little local team of 7 girls went up against club teams and much bigger schools and looked pretty damn good!  2-1-1


~and I can't leave the boy out, he started travel team basketball and scored #allthepoints in the first few games.  I hope this kid grows early (although I doubt it), cause he's gonna be something else on the court.  (things every single mother in the world says.... )


Moving on to March.  Let's hope the giant piles of snow melt before June......

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Catching Up--in which I finally recap Dec and the year 2014

So as I sit here in between patients (after the nine millionth snowstorm this week), I thought it might be a good time to catch up on all things blogging.

December

Run--62.74 miles
Bike--100 minutes
Swim--2000 yds
Tennis--6 hours
Weights--15 minutes


Review and totals for 2014

Miles Run--668.88
Bike--2155 minutes of biking or spinning  That is approximately 576 miles of biking.
Swim--44,000 yards which equates to about 27 miles of swimming.

That is a total of 1271 miles, which is like driving from Boothbay Harbor, ME to Nashville, TN.  I guess I covered a bit of ground this year.  I also exceeded my running goal of 600 miles, so I'm pretty proud of that!


Favorites for 2014


Bradbury Mountain Trail Series

My first time racing on trails and I really, really enjoyed it.  It was hard, both mentally and physically but I did them all.  The 6, 9 and 12 mile race I finished and now can call myself a Bad Ass.  And I have the hoodie to prove it. Thank you Danielle, for helping me make poor life decisions... ;)  And of course, now I have to do it again next year so you can earn your hoodie!

 smiling fool, that's me!

see?  Bad Ass^^^


The Harborfest Half was so much fun in that Gary Allen came to run with us and I had a miserable sufferfest of a half marathon in which I ran (walked) #allthehills and sucked #allthewind.  It was long and awful and hard but I'll likely do it again next year.  

 will someone get him a cheeseburger?  Jeez.



I had a random 10 mile race in Massachusetts that I won an entry into.  No friends here, but a nice race with nice people and a cool photo.  Thanks, random photographer.


Surprisingly, the Santa Shuffle Half Marathon was a fabulous race!  It was well organized, parking was easy and plentiful and I had a great PR, finally, finally breaking the 2 hour mark at 1:55!!  AND we dressed up!  #allthefun  I cannot wait to do this race again next year.  So gimmicky, but extremely fun.



What's in store for 2015?

~I had a fantastic race at the Mid-Winter Classic 10 miler on Feb 1, which you can read all about here.

~I have done the unthinkable and ran over 100 miles in January, which brings me to the completely unimaginable--I signed up for the Maine Coast Marathon in May!  Never in a million years did I ever think I would sign up to do a marathon.  Never in ten million years did I ever think I would even be able to run a marathon.  I have to thank my running friends, Stacey and Lauren and Danielle, for helping me to make more poor life choices.  All of us fools (and so many more!) will be at this marathon, on Mother's Day, trying to finish and maybe, just maybe qualifying for Boston.....

Never in my wildest dreams (nightmares??) would I have entertained the thought of qualifying for Boston, but lately my running times and my old age have led me to believe that it just might be possible.

Maybe old dogs can learn new tricks or at least run many miles in 3:55......

~Also on the agenda is a redo of the Bradbury Mountain Trail Series.  It was fun and different and I plan on doing it again.

~Beach to Beacon 10K
~Harborfest Half Marathon--cause I enjoy suffering and this one goes right by my house.

That's it so far.  I need to find a half marathon sometime in April, if you have any suggestions in the New England area.  I'd also like to do a relay like Ragnar,


What do you have planned for 2015?