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.

YES!

VALIDATION:

"Ultimately, the best runners are the ones who are willing to work very hard but who have a little bit of a lazy streak in them."

BENJI DURDEN, Coach

That was the quote of the day today from Runner's World.com. 'Nuff said.

Dr. Bayne Selby and I with our age group lighthouse awards at the Charlie Post Classic 5K at the end of January. It was a cold day!

It's my parents' fault...

L--of course I will enjoy the California sunshine and the fermented fruit juice! But perhaps some family history will provide perspective on my urge to strive for excellence.

I can remember my Dad at the dinner table pronouncing, "I win!" gleefully, after he finished every evening meal before my mother, brother and I. I could never beat him.

When I was about 4, my mother and I were sitting on her bed looking through the childhood treasures which she kept in a cigar box. Among the saved items was a blue ribbon which she won as a girl at a County fair race in her native Selby, South Dakota. I was intrigued by that prize and asked to have it, but she said I would have to earn my own some day. Bummer! That set the stage for my competitive running career. Out of 200 plus races, there are fewer than a dozen times when I've gone home empty handed. If you aren't the winner, then you're first loser, and who likes that???

Stopping to drink the roses

I got off work early today (we always close at 3pm the day before a holiday) and took advantage of this to go for a run on the national mall. I hadn't been running outside here in DC for a couple of really cold months, but we're having an unseasonably warm spell. That combined with the days getting a little longer, and I was able to once again get down to the Washington monument in time for the sunset (and yes, this means that even though I got home at 4 I still didn't get my butt out the door until 6:00, and in fact it was seeing mom's post about winning every race ever that made me put on my running shoes and head out the door). Anyway, it really is spectacular to see the sun set behind the Lincoln memorial and mirrored in the reflecting pool and see the planes take off from Reagan once I get down there. The run back (especially on a Friday) is the leg that the view has to make up for: dodging people and breathing in secondhand cigarette smoke and smog, etc.

I'm trying to slowly build my mileage throughout February and March so that I can start a training program in April for the 1/2 marathon. And hopefully I'll have the Bridge Run and a 5k in Baltimore in between for some short-term goals.

I've noticed a trend...My mom's posts are all about win, win, win, go, go, go, and "training schedules," and discipline, whereas mine are always more about the visceral experience of running. I'm hoping she can stop to smell the roses (er, drink the wine?) a little in California and just enjoy it. You will mom, right?

Sold Out!

Just checked the Napa/Sonoma website and they reached their cap on the half marathon registration on Jan 28th. So it sounds like it is a popular race that will keep its unique character and not get overrun.

My Charlie Post 5K finish time was 24:46, exactly the same as the Resolution Run, with an excuse for not improving being that it was not a goal race and I "trained through" it. I was pleased to win the Grandmaster trophy, a cute little replica of the Sullivan's Island lighthouse, my 5th at this race. Owing to the natural physiologic slowing that occurs with age, most big races have a masters (fastest over 40 years of age) and grandmasters (over 50) winner for both males and females. Some really progressive races add a senior master category for those racers over 60. I'm waaayyy over 60. I got the GM award because a speedy 50 year old lady beat all the over 40 ladies, giving her the Masters award.

I am looking forward to the next race, an 8K (5 miler) weekend after next!

Training in the cold

Generally, I prefer cold weather running over hot, but the cold and dark of mostly night time training is killing my motivation. Having laid a decent mileage base, I am just starting the speedwork phase of my schedule which means back to the track on Tuesday nights. Maybe that will perk me up a bit. The track workouts mostly entail trying to avoid getting trampled by the much younger guys who show up to do the same thing, only faster. Much faster.

This month's Running Times has a page devoted to the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon which is what L and I are training for this summer. It is a HILLY course, worrisome when you hail from the Low Country. I sense some painful hill work in the future.

I have another 5K race coming up at the end of this month, so it will be good to see if I can trim a few seconds off my finish time. Keep plugging away on the treadmill, Laurel, stay warm and get fit!

Winners all!

Mom, Steph, and Me with our handmade plaques. While Steph and I were significantly slower than the Nance, we still posted a respectable time in the Resolution Run, especially for not having trained for a 5k, and, in my case, not having run much at all. (What was our time, Steph, just under 27:00?) Since other women our age are actually really fast and won the overall awards, Steph and I placed in our agegroup. The lesson here? Mediocrity pays off.

...
On that note, I haven't done so well keeping up with my running since I've been back in DC. I blame the weather (11 degrees on my walk to work yesterday, and that's not counting windchill) and the excitement over the inauguration.

Mom got me a subscription to Runner's World AND Running Times for Christmas, so hopefully that will inspire me to get going in the new year. I saw some people running outside from my 7th story view while on the treadmill at the Y, and they looked very, very cold. Nonetheless, they made me feel very very wimpy.

One final note: I have got to get around to calibrating my nike+ iPod thingamajigger. While it's nice to think that I'm running 8:30 miles on my easy runs and covering twice as much ground as the treadmill tells me I am, I shouldn't live under that delusion for too long.

The New Year

Laurel and I and her friend Stephanie and Steph's Dad, Chris, all did the 5K run at Hampton Park on the Saturday following New Year's. Running conditions were perfect, and the venue of Hampton Park, Citadel grounds and Joe Riley Stadium was flat and scenic. I ran a 24:46 which, although not stellar, was a good effort for the first race of the year and good enough to win my age group. There were awards all around, actually, as L and Steph took 3rd and 2nd in their age group and Chris ran off with 2nd in his. We won discount coupons at a sporting goods store and I also won two passes to an upcoming antiques show. The latter will be given away to a friend who has an appreciation for that stuff. The wooden plaques we won were a bit makeshift--no, make that cheesy--I'm hoping Laurel can post the picture of the two of us displaying them. They fed us red rice, beans and collard greens, a traditional Southern meal. While a nice touch, its appeal still mystifies me after all these years of living here, however.