Wordless Wednesday

A 10-Miler, Coffee with a friend, and a Hike

Finally, it feels like spring!  This has been a very, very long winter and this morning's run felt sweet!  The air was a bit crisp to start with, but the sun was shining bright.

My legs weren't quite so springy by the end of the run, but who cares?  Definitely not me!  It's gorgeous out there and tonight is Daylight Savings Time and it will be bright out tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.  Yes!!

Then there was breakfast and coffee with this gal because we were having a meeting...really.

Okay, this is an old photo but I forgot to take one today.  Too bad, too, because she had the cutest Lulu top on.

And just because 10 miles wasn't enough, the hubs and I went for a nature hike and to check out some potential running trails in nearby Hamilton.  

But, mostly, we went because the hubs wanted to go here:

That says, "Get Some Dirty Southern Love."

This is what I came for: 

Albion Falls

 

uhmm, some other random waterfall

My legs are officially pooched after this day.   And there's another 10 miler on tap for tomorrow.  Yay me!

Chilly Half Race Report -- The Pacer Edition

I was all set to be a pacer:

But I was missing a tutu.  Thank goodness for mothers that are seamstresses.  How fortuitous for me that the hubs and I were going to visit my parents the day before the race.  My parents' basement is a veritable Fabricland.   A little zippity-do-da and voila!

So the race ensemble isn't exactly the most flattering of outfits, but they obviously didn't hire me for my looks:

So, on to the actual race.

Being a pacer ain't easy.  There's a bit of stress attached to that responsibility and it didn't really hit me until we started when I couldn't get away from the throngs of people who clearly did not place themselves properly in the starting chute.  The race was pretty congested for the first 5-7K, but we eventually got some clear paths.

I had quite a large group of people that were relying on me to get them to the end of the race with a PB.  I chatted with a few before the start of the race so I knew this was a first time for some, so it would have been a PB  no matter the final result.   I told them all my name and told them to feel free to ask me anything.  Who am I kidding?  I knew that some of them would be hanging on for dear life and wouldn't have the energy, nor the inclination, to chat.  It was my job to do the talking and to encourage and motivate them.

We got ahead of pace a couple of times and I advised them of that and that we would try to slow it down a bit.  This became a bit of a challenge as we continued on.  I forgot to mention earlier that in the week leading up to the race I was requested by the 2:15 pacer doing 10/1's if she could switch with me as I was the continuous pacer.  I agreed since it didn't really matter to me.  I got free entry to the race, I didn't really care.  I don't do 10/1's anymore so trying to pace that way was difficult to stay on top of.  In hindsight, I should have changed my Garmin display so that it showed what average pace was.

In the end, we remained slightly ahead of pace, but I kept checking with my group to see if they were okay.  I still had the majority (if not all) of them still with me.   So I stuck with my plan that I outlined in my earlier post that I would encourage them to pick up the pace if they felt good at the 15K mark and again at the 20K mark.  I  think a few of them left at the 15K point, but I can tell you that I had nobody left with me when I advised them that there was 1K left and that they should dig deep and push it if they had anything left to give.  They took off.

Before coming into the finish chute, I hung back to make sure that there were no runners who had been with me that were struggling behind.   I came across the finish line all alone.  I was not offended.  I had done my job.   My chip time was 2:14:16.   A little quicker than planned, but I don't think anyone who finished faster than anticipated would be complaining.   Hopefully, the slightly quicker pace we were running didn't leave behind any casualties.

After the race while I was going through the finishers' chute, some of the runners I was pacing came up to me and thanked me.  Aw, shucks!  That felt good.

Mission accomplished.

All set!

Race kit pick up -- Check!

This shirt is HUGE!

Tutu -- well, we'll see.  Will take a photo and post on Sunday if I manage to put one together.

Workouts Don't Always Go as Planned

Today was supposed to be 8 miles of tempo and an extra couple for warm up and cool down.  For whatever reason, my body said, "Uh-uh, that ain't happening today."  I tried convincing her to keep trying, but she wasn't having any of it.  I tried sneaking a couple of race-pace miles in there, but she wasn't interested.  I even drank my whole energy drink and still nothing.

I ran this one on the treadmill this morning, because the roads were really slushy and wet outside and I was really hoping for a good run.  I was trying to hold my marathon goal pace.

This is what happened instead:

According to Hansons Marathon Method, "Over time, it is the tempo run that will dictate whether or not you have selected the right marathon goal."   This run would have given me some ongoing confidence that I've picked an achievable goal for my marathon in May.  Although I'm a bit disappointed the run didn't turn out as planned, I take some solace in the fact that they can't all be good ones.   I've had some pretty solid runs in the past few months so I'm not completely discouraged.  I have another eight weeks until the moment of truth, and the Around the Bay on March 24 should give me an indication of how much more work I need to put into this or whether I need to re-evaluate.

This just highlights that I need to pay closer attention to what fuel I'm taking in the day before these tempo runs.  They are my rest day and yesterday I was a bit more lax with my food intake.  Rookie mistake and I should know better.

So, I've shaken this off (and, yes, taken the advice I am always so ready to give my fellow athletes) and will live to fight another day.

My body won this battle today, but she won't win the war.

Old and New Friends

A while back I posted about my motivations and inspirations.  Specifically, I mentioned a couple of friends I would bump into on some of my solo runs.  They are "young" in their 60s and 70s.  The other day, I was lucky enough to bump into them again, so I snagged a photo of them -- minus one.  Dennis is suffering with shingles so couldn't make it out for the run, poor guy.

These two ladies are positive, upbeat women who are such great role models.  They represent what leading a healthy lifestyle is all about.  When I told them I was posting this photo on Facebook and on my blog, they were thrilled.  Little do they know there's not much traffic here, but they got more coverage on my Facebook page...lol!  I hope I was able to convey to them what an inspiration they are to me.

The very next day, I was running the Around the Bay route again with my run group and I extended the invitation to my DM friends.  Ten people from the Winston Churchill Running Room joined us.  It would be the first time ever running this route for eight of them.  I learned later, after a celebratory breakfast (lunch), that some of them were freaked out very nervous about it.  If there is one thing I can count on is the support, both mentally and actual, of my group.  We made sure that there were support vehicles at various locations along the route.  I provided maps for everyone, but it's very easy to get lost because there's a lot of twists and turns at the beginning of the route.  No matter how many times we've done this route, there's always someone who goes off course.

It was wonderful to meet so many new runners.  I'm happy that they were able to lay to rest some of their fears about going into this race.  They now know about "the hill" and that it's not as bad as they thought.  Going into a race mentally prepared for it is most of the battle.  They were all pretty exhausted happy runners at the end of it.

And now, my duties as a pacer will be put to the test this weekend.  Chilly Half, here we come...

Is Winter Over Yet?

Just some of the lovely views around home and on my runs this past weekend.  It sure looks pretty, but I'm done with winter now.  Can someone please stop pissing off Mother Nature?

This past Saturday I did a virtual run in support of the Run for Sherry.  What you see above is what we got dumped with the day before the run.  Thank goodness the morning of the run was bright and sunny.  It was a beautiful day.  It made me appreciate that I was fortunate enough to be able to get out there and dedicate my run to someone who shared the same passion for running as I do but whose life was cut short by a senseless, tragic crime.  This run was a gentle reminder that we all need to be aware of our surroundings and extra vigilant when running alone.

I normally would have run a 10K this day, but I was running the Around the Bay route (30+K) the very next day and wanted to save my legs for the tough course so I made it a 7K instead.   My legs thanked me the next day, I assure you.  

The roads were pretty clear so we were fortunate enough not to have to dodge into piles of snow....until we got to Valley Inn hill.  The bottom half of the hill was not cleared so this was what we had to contend with.....

.... a single track up.  That's my husband in back and my kick-ass friend in front.  Unfortunately, this is what happened to my husband at the top:

He tapped out after this.  To give him credit, though, he got to 28K and he hadn't run that distance in over two weeks.  He's pretty awesome!

So now that we've been thoroughly dumped on, I'm asking kindly that spring gets sprung now.  I don't think it's too much to ask.