It's over!

So we did it! We survived a half marathon and it wasn't much of an ordeal...just the last three miles. L beat me by 35 seconds although it seemed much more than that. She zoomed out of sight as I ran out of gas. We ran together most of the way, enjoying the scenery--vineyards on either side of rural roads, horses in pastures running with us, hot air balloons in the distance. Very scenic. I gave some help adjusting a Garmin Forerunner to a tiny 70-ish woman while we waited for the start. Her Moeben sleeves should have warned me she was a REAL racer--she ended up beating me by five minutes! Her name is Imme Dyson and she is a nationally known uber age grouper. My chip time of 2:06:17 was pretty pathetic, but it won my age group, so I was happy and surprised. My winnings-- a bottle of wine, of course! Additionally, there were at least a dozen vineyards conducting wine tastings under tents at the finish. L and I found some very nice Zinfandel and Pinot Noir to guzzle under the warm California sun. Our trip also included some nice meals, a Segway tour of Sonoma wine country, horseback riding and visiting a few more wineries and a cheese factory. What a great time!

on winning

Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don't have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.

-Amby Burfoot, The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life

Napa to Sonoma map of race

I'm not sure what to think of the elevation (click on "show elevation"). Looks like the "butt burner" at the beginning is only .5 miles long. I don't like the slight uphill during the last 4 miles though : (

It's almost here!

Mom and I will be running a 1/2 marathon in less than a week! Ahh! I can't believe it's already upon us. We haven't been good about updating the blog, but trust us, we've been running. I've been nursing a strange psoas or deep ab (can't tell which) muscle pain for about 2 months, and for the last month I've had a cramp in my right side ribs at all times. Perhaps it's from dehydration since it's been getting hotter lately, but it's always with me, even when I'm walking briskly to or from work or the grocery store. So that's annoying.

Last weekend I ran 11 miles, and it's the longest I've ever run. I went out at mid day and it was HOT. I also, stupidly, went north instead of down to the mall where there are water fountains galore. An uphill at mile 6 and vendors selling bottled water while I ran by penniless made it pretty difficult.

There's an article about destination races this month in Runner's World. Mom and I are gearing up for winery tours, museums, and lots of relaxing and site seeing post-race!

What happened to May?

I spent the month of May trying to build back some mileage. My weekly totals were 7, 12, 16, and 20. I spent a weekend with L in DC and had a grand time. Our run to the Mall was leisurely because it was hot, but allowed me an overview of the monuments. We ate well, travelled around on the Metro and took in some museums. Then I spent a week in Kentucky as an oral Boards examiner, so that set me back a week without exercise. My last "long" run was 7 miles--I hope to run an 8 miler this weekend. It'll be slow due to the warm temps and high humidity. We don't have much time left to prepare!

Hamstrung

Okay, I was disappointed with my Bridge run 51:47 chip time/51:55 gun time, about a minute slower than last year. My goal was to win my age group for the 3rd time in a row but it didn't happen. I was 4th. Well, really 3rd because Number 1 was a woman who has never been in a race before, i.e., whoever ran with her name/bib number wasn't a sixty-ish woman. I was mostly disappointed, however, because I was in terrific shape until I injured my hamstring at the Gift of Life 5K three weeks before the Bridge run. I did some more damage to it while in Maui at a medical meeting, running hills with a much younger friend. The uphill segment of the Bridge run tore it up some more. But the old Broad still beat the young'uns. (Of course, I had a head start from a better starting corral., a perk of high end past performance.)

So now I sit on ice bags a lot and try to stay in shape with deep water pool running. I haven't run more than 2-3 miles a week in the past month. I am seriously worried about how I will get in shape for a half marathon in less than 3 months. I've injured this same hamstring three times before and it always takes me 3 months to get back to just normal running. But, L, you better take advantage of this setback and get some mileage goin'. Mama never gives up, y'know!

Spring Update

Well, we're finally getting warmer weather up here in Capital City, which bodes well for my training. The longer days, too, mean I can get runs in outside after work.

Mom and I recently ran the Cooper River Bridge run in early April in Charleston. Mom, despite a sore hamstring, of course beat me. I beat my time from last year, however. And, more importantly, my friend Rob. He may have been tired from running a marathon the week before but really, that's no excuse : P I ran a 52:31. Last year I did 54:00, so I'm happy.

So let the Spring training begin. Ten weeks out from the 1/2 marathon, I'm going to start a program Ryan Hall put out on Runner's World. Until then, I'm just gonna run as much mileage as possible very slowly.