Orphaned Runners

What's sadder than orphaned runners? Another runner girl and I are both orphaned from our normal crews this weekend for our long runs.

On the 4 Girls side, the Pink Nation marathon training team is doing a lot more mileage than those of us mere half marathon mortals, two girls are (independently) out of the country (ooh - aren't we all INTERNATIONAL in Taiwan and the Bahamas), and the Seal Teamers are off being all STPT. So I gots no one.

Tried to hook up with another runner girl group, but they are running Saturday and I need Sunday this weekend. THEN it turns out that this group also dissolved at literally the last minute and left my other runner girlfriend orphaned. She can't run Sunday. I can't run Saturday.

So we're both orphaned. Bummer. It's hard to be motivated without my peeps. Thank goodness Shannon was up for the track on Tuesday! Muah!

But hopefully it will be dry by Sunday a.m. when I will ask my knee very nicely if we (knee and me) can get through 10 miles. We'll be visiting the doctor on Monday. Let's just say that Pilates class with "Squats Brenda" was in hindsight a bad plan.

Running versus the German Luftwaffe

Yes - I can relate the German Luftwaffe to this weekend's running. Be patient!

Well, the back to back race weekend is over, and I have to say it's a SUCCESS! The girls did an awesome job kicking some asphalt and some dirt. Well, some of the dirt kicked back (poor Linda!), but that didn't stop us at all.

Notable this weekend:

• Maggie took First in the "older than dirt" age category at the She Rocks Trails 4 miler today. It was a super competitive category. Being a small race (less than 60 women), there weren't many beginners out there. I was in the same age category, and I finished 20 out of 24. She was also 5th overall. She scored a nifty She Rocks Trails sweatshirt and a plaque for her efforts. She also beat her archrival "M" by about 2 minutes, so that was an awesome day for her all around!
• Linda and I BOTH scored PRs at the 2008 Tiger Trot 5k. Linda came in at 36:47 -smashing through that 37:00 goal for her. I'm not sure if the loud, off-key and wrong lyrics singing of show tunes for that last half mile made her run faster or not, but she didn't quit!

For the She Rocks Trails event, it was a blast. This was the first official trail race for both Linda & I, and we went with more than a little bit of nerves. We'd run the James River parks trails all of twice, and the thought of 4 miles over unknown trails was a little stomach twisting. We got there right AT 7:00 (following the Dee rule of getting to the race waaay earlier than necessary) and were the first checked in. I have to say that the tshirt got cute points (it's their logo, but I like the simpler shirts than the fruity tooty shirts anyway), and having Luna as an official sponsor gave us yummy Luna treats in the bag. Maggie got both a Luna lipbalm AND recovery drink, I got the recovery drink, and Linda got Luna Moons. Surprise surprise!

Negative points to the start time. I know it was a small race, but if the race start time is 8:00, let's start at 8:00, not at 8:15 people. It was COLD out there waiting for the start, and the extra 15 minutes hanging around didn't help matters. So off we went single-file through the woods.

I'm really proud of myself for picking my feet up and not tripping at ALL. I was churning along through the woods, back & forth through the 6 ft deep gully three times in a row (who's sick joke was that), then the Luftwaffe launched a Blitzkrieg. Yep. I'm running along, hear a big bug on my right that loops around to my left, and before I could finish thinking "oh great, biting flies" that jerk STUNG me with no warning at all! I shrieked like a little kid, ran few more steps and pulled off the trail to inspect the damage and make sure I didn't have a stinger embedded in me. One of the Luna Chicks realized I was stung and pulled over to help me out. No stinger, just hurt like the dickens.

See, a couple months ago, we watched a History Channel special on the Luftwaffe vs. the big B-52 American bombers. It was full of footage showing how the fighters would buzz around the lumbering B-52s trying to get a shot in. So today I was the B-52 and the hornet was the Luftwaffe. I can only hope it was the kind of sting that killed the , but there was at least one other runner who got stung on the hand.

So needless to say the middle two miles were not the fastest for me. Apparently I'm a little sensitive to the venom - I haven't been stung in decades cause I am paranoid - and it was a miserable afternoon having some sort of muscle reaction to the venom. I found a medical article that said to take antihistamines, so after a long Benedryl-induced nap, I felt functional again. In case you didn't notice, this is my inner drama queen looking for some pity. Woe is me! I got stung! *sniff* You can send me flowers and get well balloons if you want to (please).

Linda had an unfortunate encounter with some roots and tore up her knee, but it wasn't as nasty as it looked when she crossed the finish line. Hopefully it's not bruised too badly, and she gets super credits for gutting out the rest of the run. Hmmm - Maggie is the only one who didn't get injured and she won the age category. Maybe that's the trick!!

Linda leaves for Taiwan tomorrow, so she'll have plenty of time to heal, but we are all hoping that her Garmin works in Taiwan (why wouldn't it??) and we are looking forward to seeing her Garmin / Google Earth uplinks from her runs in Taiwan. Have a great time, Linda!

But overall it was a blast and I'd actually do it again. There's a 8k on May 3, 2009, so maybe I'll be back to challenge the trails one more time!

Two Races Back to Back

OK - what was I thinking? Maybe thinking this was a good way to get out of doing 13 miles this weekend? Nah. But I've got two races back to back this weekend.

First up - the Tiger Trot 5K today (in just a few hours). Returning to the scene of my first EVER 5K last year where I cried while running, and got Dee and Shannon to cry too after they treated me to their show tune repetoire. I'm all vaklempt, and at packet pickup was making a general idiot of myself, since I apparently felt like I deserved some extra special goodies in my packet. I will give a big thumbs up to the Tiger Trot organizers (Tracy being the leader - how alliterative is that - Tiger Trot Tracy) for having two of my favorite things -- a reusable Ukrops shopping bag and a packet of electrolytes. 4Girls member LINDA is coming to run it, and I think she's bringing Steve with her. Linda is gonna spank this one and get her a serious 5K PR. I just feel it, and since I am planning on running her in, I am packing a cattle prod to ensure it.

Cool thing about this race - it's to benefit the PTA and they have a BAKE SALE afterwards. This soooo beats any lame bagel or banana post race food, even if it does cost 50 cents!

Tomorrow - SheRocks Trails - 4 miles at Camp Hilbert in Goochland. A little nervous about 4 miles all trails - but hopefully they are stable trails and not the "my ankle has never been right since Christmas AND the motorcycle wreck" ankle-twisting horror that is Buttermilk Falls. If it is, then I can just have a nice leisurely walk through the woods and brush up on my botany. "Is that an elm or an oak? " Linda is also up for this one, as is Maggie. I think the plan is that I drive and they navigate.

So - race reports forthcoming, but I am gunning for a PR in the 5k today. Is it too early to count as my Shave Your 5K time?

My Cat Snores

This is too funny. I love working at home because I learn new and amazing things when the house is empty and silent.

My cat snores.

She's *only* 13 - so you can tell how often I've had an empty & silent house.

OH - and I am so stoked cause I ran three consecutive miles under 10:00 today! First time EVER!! Woo hooo!

I'm a PRINCESS!

Yep! I'm going to the first EVER Disney Princess Half Marathon!

I'm bummed that there's not some cool logo that I can use in the blog (hello Disney? Where's a LOGO for this event???) EDIT: Logo obtained! FINALLY!!!!! but the thought of the special PRINCESS TIARA finisher's medal sends shivers down the spine of my inner 6 year old. I can have some serious dress-up fun with that!

I'm hoping that instead of 4 GIRLS running, we'll have 4 PRINCESSES running, but the evil stepmother of budgets and cost may put that dream to bed like Sleeping Beauty.

Oh - and Disney - in case you are listening. The "Which Princess Are You?" question on registration needs more choices. I could only choose from:

• Sleeping Beauty



• Belle



• Cinderella



• Snow White

Umm - which of those girls was a Runner Girl? Where's Pocohontas? At least she RAN!! The rest of these princesses had magic carriages and prancing white horses. Or Ariel? She swam!

OOH - A new schedule

OOH! It's a shiny new schedule! I don't even pretend to know what it all means - but that's why I'm not the coach. I do pity the people out there who are trying to figure this out on their own. I can't fathom navigating the sea of schedules and training plans (like the nautical references together?) to come up with the "right" thing to do by myself. I put my trust in my (certified) coaches and I run what they tell me to run. I could NOT have accomplished what I have accomplished in the past year without their support and guidance (and love), that's for sure.

Here's what's changed in case you were interested:

I want you doing longer runs on Tuesdays to build your endurance. Bumped up your Thurs. speed a bit and slowed your Sat.

AND - if that wasn't definitive enough, we had Chinese for dinner tonight. Here's my fortune:

Through greater effort and hard work a precious dream comes true.

Ladies - could you ask for any greater affirmation than that? I get my new schedule and an hour later I get that gentle nudge from the Higher Power. There ya go. I'll hold up my end of the bargain, you hold up yours. Richmond Half - WATCH OUT! 2:30 goal time for me!

Open letter to Land Rover guy

So do you keep your kayak and mountain bikes on your Land Rover 7 days a week because it makes you look cool at work, or do you just have one heck of a tough commute?

Post Race Hangover

I definitely have a "post-race" hangover. No, I didn't get all liquored up and have spent the entire work week with a literal hangover. Nope, it's a MENTAL hangover.

See I worked so hard following my training schedule, and for those of you who have been following my posts, my long runs worked up to a grueling 15 miler, then back down. The 15 miler was my avowed first AND LAST 15 miler as I used some rather unlady-like words at the end. Yeah, I'm a big talker, aren't I?

Well, I hope my words are tasty, cause you guessed it, I have to eat them. Yep. Resetting my same schedule with the Richmond half-marathon on November 15th as the new race day drops me back to a few weeks before that 15 miler.

Yes, I gotta do it.

Yes, I am gonna do it. I am NOT a wimp.

Am I going to cuss again? Not sure. I may switch things up and cuss people out before I get started that day just to be different. Will it be a different route without the Nickel Bridge? I can certainly hope so!

We Rocked N Rolled 13.1 miles!

Yes! We are all safely back from an amazing Rock N Roll Virginia Beach Half! For those of us that this was our first half, we DID IT! The weather was not particularly favorable for any smoking PRs, (72 degrees, 90% humidity at 7 am), but we all made it through safely and us newbies set our baseline half times. There were some PRs cooking, though!

• Russ Smith 1:55:19 Amazing first half marathon! So proud of you!
• Shannon Roberts 1:59:34
• Darryl Cotman 2:01:57
• Tammy Barton 2:08:31 15 minutes faster than her PR!
• John McLees 2:19:29 Proof that beer is good fuel
• Dianne Michaels AKA Emily Richardson 2:28:17 Not too shabby for a girl in her second trimester :) AND 13 minutes faster than last year! Why to kick ass m'Lady.
• Pam Drew 2:37:10 First timer! (yep - it's me!)
• Corinna Hearn 2:44:01
• Kara Silva 2:44:38 Awesome for a girl who hasn't run a lick in over a month and HATES running to boot!
• Ginny Flynn 2:55:21 Because a broken foot is NOT an excuse!
• Dee Shackford 3:04:39 (running people in - PINKY!)
• Linda Ma 3:07:16 First timer! Way to keep it up, Linda!

People watching definitely made a 16,000 person race much more entertaining than training runs. Things I saw:

• Joggler dude. I think I actually passed him at the end! Cause running 13.1 miles isn't tough enough - he had to juggle too!
• Girl with cowbell tied to her shoe deserved to die. But, she kept me motivated to get past her quickly.
• Ditto for girl that had something mysteriously going "shhk... shhk.... shhk" in her fuel belt as she ran. We all gave her weird looks, as sport beans are NOT that noisy.
• For the shirtless guy with the headphones who randomly would loudly sing one phrase of whatever it was he was listening too, NO - you are NOT my Superman. Those around me agreed.
• The Hoyt division runners are amazing and inspiring and get a free pass to the front of the line in Heaven. You inspired me and continue to do so. Thank you for all you do.
• No less than TWO of the bands broke out into Brick House as I passed. Coincidence? I think not!
• Mrs. Virginia. You ran with your sash on - way cool.
• My coaches - Dee & Shannon - love you guys. You brought me to this place and I have to say, I am HOOKED!! MUAH!