March Running Log

Woo! Made it through March with regular runs every week. There was only one run skipped - cause I flat out was not going to go out for 10 miles in pouring down, 40 degree rain and get pneumonia. Other than that, I ran all my runs! Best part of it - my knee doesn't hurt and so I will have to find something new to worry about. My toenail will fall off again -- guess that's going to be the focus of my attention now.

Let's compare March to February.

February - 41.96 miles (where did I lose .04 miles? What's up with THAT?) - pace 11:49 average
March - 59.48 miles - pace 11:30 average

Today was HOT and muggy and windy and thus slow. Kinda frustrating to have been making regular progress back to my "old" pace, then to have a slow week like this. Oh well. It is what it is. But on the plus side, got to see some gorgeous houses in some really nice neighborhoods in Richmond, and had great company!

Weathergirl

Wow. I discovered something really freaky the other day about myself and the weather.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the weather. I love watching Andrew Frieden on NBC12. I'll TiVo and just keep going back 30 seconds. I tune out for the news, but tune in for the weather.

Upgrading Comcast gives me that all NBC12 weather all the time channel, AND I still have The Weather Channel? It sends shivers down my spine and I'm all tingly.

There's one of those wireless weather stations in the bathroom. I don't have the ones that pick up the forecast wirelessly *yet* - but I have my eye on them.

The ultimate? The IE plugin that keeps the weather forecast at the top of my browser.

But the slightly disconcerting part? I've realized that I only look at the overnight forecast / low temp. I have no clue what the daytime forecast is, what the high might be, or whether I need an umbrella or a parka, short sleeves or fleece.

I, however, can tell you what the weather will be at 6 am, whether there will be rain, sleet, wind, and relative humidity. How many layers? Gloves? Shorts or long pants? Will the rain be starting early? Is a frost in the forecast?

It's obvious, I'm an early morning runner. I get up and run in the (pre) dawn hours (thanks, Congress, for screwing up daylight savings time. It was almost light!) during the week.

Sunglasses are not part of my standard running gear, however reflective gear, headlamps and safety blinkers are. The problem comes with Saturday long runs, where I have the luxury of going laters post-dawn. That's great in the winter when it's nice to have the daylight, but will have to be adjusted again come summer to avoid the heat and humidity, but for now, I'll be content with trying to remember to grab my shades on the way out the door.

Back to the weather. Is this tunnel vision for weather forecasts a unique quirk that makes me just as unique as my DNA says I am? Or is this consistent for runners? I don't see it discussed, but do lunch runners focus on the day forecast and the post-work runners on that? I couldn't tell you what the high will be tomorrow, but I can certainly tell you that it's gonna be in the mid to low 40's with rain close by at dawn.



When do I run?

Disney Princess Half Marathon

Woo! We princesses definitely rocked it out and had a blast. Somehow Florida survived the 4 girls and we survived Florida as well.

Random race thoughts:

• Girl running in belly dancing coin skirt was probably the most annoying runner EVER. SCHING SCHING SCHING. Gotta run faster to get past her.
• 
  
  I ran with Miss America, or at least she claimed to be Miss America. Her shirt said so, she was really pretty, and I asked her if she was THE Miss America and she said “of course”. No sash though (Miss Virginia at the Virginia Beach RNR wore her sash), and I didn’t get her bib number. I can’t find the 2008 or 2009 Miss America’s in the race results, so either she lied or she was under an alias.


• Stopping at Cinderella’s castle to get my best race picture EVER was well worth it. I am so buying this one. I’m HOT!


• The mile markers that were supposed to be so fabulous were actually pretty lame in my opinion. I did look for the hidden Mickeys and found a lot of them.


• I know WAY too many songs from Disney cartoons and I feel obligated to sing along, much to the annoyance of the other girls.


• It was pretty surprising that Disney would play Black Eyed Peas’ “Pump It” with the naughty words in it on property. I’m all happy about having upbeat music playing along the course to keep your energy up, but the “explicit” version? They also played Britney’s “Circus”, but that doesn’t have any naughty words. I didn’t stick around to see if they played “….Amy”. That would have been interesting, indeed.


• The race medal is even better than I expected with genuine faux rhinestones and a big purple heart-shaped one. Very heavy and shiny.


• Anyone who told their family “watch for me – I’ll be wearing pink” likely regretted that fashion choice.


• Ditto for the girl wearing a velour track suit and the one wearing a velour Pocahontas costume.


• Running up Main Street through Tomorrowland to go through Cinderella’s Castle was awesome!


• I hit my mysterious “I’m just gonna cry for no apparent reason” wall at 12 miles, so the race pic of me going through Epcot is actually me crying through Epcot. But the music there was happy. And I still don’t know why I cry, but I do.


• If you think your steamed shrimp are soft, stop eating them and cut one in half and make sure it’s cooked. If not, you will get food poisoning, even if you just eat a few.
  If your steamed shrimp are semi-raw shrimp at Joe’s Crab Shack, they send all the managers out and fire all the cooks immediately. Plus it’s free.


• People in Florida really can’t stand the cold. Runners were out there in long sleeves, sweatshirts & gloves. It wasn’t cold, people.


• I learned that I knew nothing about Mulan as I haven’t seen that movie. Must catch up!
  Fairy godmother glitter lasts for days.


• Best costume – hands down – Princess Fiona (the ogre version). Cropped green tee with hairy belly hanging out, tiara & tutu. Worn by a guy who’s shirt said “Lost a beer bet. I’m so very sorry.”

Here we go!

The nerves and butterflies have set in. We fly out in less than 12 hours for sunny Florida for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. Just the thought of that genuine faux rhinestone encrusted tiara-shaped finisher's medal gets my princessy-bits all tingly! Of course the fact that it's going to be 80 degrees every day while we are there is tempered by the fact that Richmond is also going to have unseasonably warm weather. It's NOT FAIR that the one time I go somewhere warm that it's warm here, too.

So, today's stresses and nerves and wanting to cry came from:

• Learning that our race bibs are color coded based on what princess we picked when we registered, BUT THEY DIDN'T TELL US WHAT COLORS THEY ARE! AARGH! I picked Belle. Belle wears a yellow dress. But I was going to run in a pink skort. Pink skort + yellow bib? ICK. If I had known about the color coding, I would have picked Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She wears pink and I'm all about pink right now. But maybe Belle isn't yellow and Aurora isn't pink? And what were the other princesses? Cinderella (blue)? And Snow White (???? she was a clown in her garish red/yellow/white. I never liked SW)
• The race course map only shows one "food" station around mile 9. Are there any Gu's anywhere? What is the "FOOD" being offered at a "FOOD" station?
• Where do we park for the expo?
• Where IS the expo?
• I don't have cute enough clothes for a girls weekend. (NOTE: worked through lunch and left early for a power shop through JCPenney and Shoe Carnival. Clothing problems solved with help from cellphone camera and picture mails to Speedee (Red? or Blue?))
• The dishwasher that was supposed to turn on at 10 this morning did NOT turn on and my bottles for my fuel belt are not clean & dry right now.
• Can I take empty water bottles for fuel belt through TSA screening? I can't find bottles on the banned list, but it doesn't say I CAN either!
• TSA screening. I have not flown commercial with carry ons since 9/11 as I am afraid of screwing up the screening process. So I am the designated "checking a bag with toiletries over 3 oz" for the crew.
• Sunscreen can't be found in 3 oz or less size, and I really don't want to be a lobster bake in Florida. See above.
• HOW many people are registered for the race? Is it 7,500, 10,000 or 20,000?
• What corral am I in?
• What corral are the girls in?
• Why did I find one mention of the "MEN" being in the last corral? MEN? UMMMM this is a women's only race, people.

SIGH

BUT - I have my girls with me. My girls love me and my girls will make sure that I get where I need to be and keep my head on straight. So time to chillax, make sure I have my stuff together, and be ready on time in the a.m. for my pickup.

Traveling to a "strange" town is tough, and I give the Disney people ZERO points, yes ZERO points for the amount of helpful information on their website. I expected to see detailed course map with info on where the water stops are, what's offered at the water stops, directions to expo, etc. NOTHING. ZIP. NADA.

So, whilst the dishwasher chugs away so I have squeaky clean bottles (that are going in the checked bag cause I am NOT throwing away my Fuel Belt for the TSA people), I sit and worry.