Sometimes I don't feel worthy to say I served. But I did and on Veteran's Day I hold my head high for my little itty bitty part I did to serve in the United States Military!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Happy Veterans's Day
I looked back through my blog & realized that I never posted about Veteran's Day. Which, I find odd since, both Jim & I are both veterans. It does seem so long ago, ok it was so long ago that we were in. Even though it's just a glimmer of time it's such a huge part of who we are and how we came to where we are now.
Jim was in the Army for 8 years. 4 full time active duty, including a tour in Saudi Arabia during the First Gulf War and 4 years in the Reserves where he met me. He was an airborne combat engineer. His list of accomplishments are through the roof.
I was enlisted in the Army for 8 years. 3 years in the Reserves and 5 in the Inactive Ready Reserves. To best sum up my time in the service I posted this picture last year.
Sometimes I don't feel worthy to say I served. But I did and on Veteran's Day I hold my head high for my little itty bitty part I did to serve in the United States Military!!
Sometimes I don't feel worthy to say I served. But I did and on Veteran's Day I hold my head high for my little itty bitty part I did to serve in the United States Military!!
Monday, November 10, 2014
Wildcat 50k
This was my 4th year to run the Wildcat 50k. I didn't really think I was going to do it this year. Not from lack of wanting to, more just because of scheduling. While my running has been ok, I'm far from being trained for this race. Of course, that has never stopped me in the past. I don't think I've ever considered myself trained for this course. Last year I at least had the training miles behind running a 50k, but one could easily argue that I was running so much that I wasn't well rested. (Am I ever well rested? I am a mother to 6 kids after all & constantly train without much of a break!!) Either way I'm never prepared for the hills and terrain that Wildcat Den has to offer. I did get a good hilly run in last weekend & a stair workout in just a few days prior. But I know well enough that that is not enough training! Didn't stop from getting out there & running!!
Even though I'm not logging a lot of miles (really trying to hold off until I start my Boston training) I didn't bat an eye at running 31 miles. I'm no stranger to this distance or this course. And lately I seem to have an over abundance of energy. My runs have full of adrenaline and I just can't wait to go, go, go! I was hoping that it would hold up through my race & I seemed to be off to a really good start.
(Taken during my first lap. Thanks for the picture Larry!)
I ran my first loop in 57:58. Not too shabby and pretty consistent with many other runners.
Loop 2 felt really good with the clock showing 1:57:44.
I finished loop 3 at 3:09:10 and still felt good & strong, but I was starting to slow a little and starting to hurt some too.
On loop 4 at mile 20 my phone, thus my music, died, but I still felt pretty strong until coming back. The hurt was more intense and I was beginning to struggle. At least on the inside. Everyone I saw kept telling me I looked great & strong. I knew otherwise. At about mile 24 I had someone come up behind me and strike up a conversation. I had passed many other runners through out the day and either I zoomed past them or them me with your usually runner banter & encouragement. This runner though stuck with me and kept chatting. If ever I thought about stopping or walking I certainly couldn't do it now. On one hand that's because the conversation was a good distraction. When it's just me & my mind there's too much thinking about what hurts. Talking and listening kept my mind off of what was going on & I just moved forward. On the other hand I wasn't going to totally weenie out when this runner had taken the time to come along side of me. Yes, we still walked at a few points. It was almost a must with those steep hills. But I couldn't let myself straight up walk with a runner right next to me!! We finished that loop in 4:24 (I'm a little unsure on that time, but it was in that general area). There was a very big part of me that did not want to go out on that last lap. The informality of the race makes it so easy to say I'm done & no one bats an eye. Yet, I knew I'd be so mad at myself if I didn't get it done.
I started loop 5 with some legal pain relieving drugs in my system because there was no way I could do this last lap without it. At least not without coming to a complete walk. I had lost track of that runner who finished loop 4 with me. All that chatting & I never asked what his name was (I found out later that it was Jeremy). Once I got started I saw him up ahead of me & used that as a focus to try and catch up with him. Before I could though another running friend caught up with me & we got busy chatting & keeping each other company. Honestly at this point I would've kept company with a serial killer & I wouldn't have cared. Anything to keep me distracted from the pain and to keep me from walking. It worked. The pain didn't go away and I slowed even more, but I was ok with all of that considering my lack of training. It wasn't a complete shock that I was running this way. Eventually with the help of my running friends I finished loop 5 with a new PR of 5:44:45.
(Celebrating my PR)
Before the start of the race.
Even though I'm not logging a lot of miles (really trying to hold off until I start my Boston training) I didn't bat an eye at running 31 miles. I'm no stranger to this distance or this course. And lately I seem to have an over abundance of energy. My runs have full of adrenaline and I just can't wait to go, go, go! I was hoping that it would hold up through my race & I seemed to be off to a really good start.
I ran my first loop in 57:58. Not too shabby and pretty consistent with many other runners.
Loop 2 felt really good with the clock showing 1:57:44.
I finished loop 3 at 3:09:10 and still felt good & strong, but I was starting to slow a little and starting to hurt some too.
On loop 4 at mile 20 my phone, thus my music, died, but I still felt pretty strong until coming back. The hurt was more intense and I was beginning to struggle. At least on the inside. Everyone I saw kept telling me I looked great & strong. I knew otherwise. At about mile 24 I had someone come up behind me and strike up a conversation. I had passed many other runners through out the day and either I zoomed past them or them me with your usually runner banter & encouragement. This runner though stuck with me and kept chatting. If ever I thought about stopping or walking I certainly couldn't do it now. On one hand that's because the conversation was a good distraction. When it's just me & my mind there's too much thinking about what hurts. Talking and listening kept my mind off of what was going on & I just moved forward. On the other hand I wasn't going to totally weenie out when this runner had taken the time to come along side of me. Yes, we still walked at a few points. It was almost a must with those steep hills. But I couldn't let myself straight up walk with a runner right next to me!! We finished that loop in 4:24 (I'm a little unsure on that time, but it was in that general area). There was a very big part of me that did not want to go out on that last lap. The informality of the race makes it so easy to say I'm done & no one bats an eye. Yet, I knew I'd be so mad at myself if I didn't get it done.
I started loop 5 with some legal pain relieving drugs in my system because there was no way I could do this last lap without it. At least not without coming to a complete walk. I had lost track of that runner who finished loop 4 with me. All that chatting & I never asked what his name was (I found out later that it was Jeremy). Once I got started I saw him up ahead of me & used that as a focus to try and catch up with him. Before I could though another running friend caught up with me & we got busy chatting & keeping each other company. Honestly at this point I would've kept company with a serial killer & I wouldn't have cared. Anything to keep me distracted from the pain and to keep me from walking. It worked. The pain didn't go away and I slowed even more, but I was ok with all of that considering my lack of training. It wasn't a complete shock that I was running this way. Eventually with the help of my running friends I finished loop 5 with a new PR of 5:44:45.
Overall it turned out to be a really good day. I was slightly bummed that while I had been the lead female the entire race, I slipped to 3rd within the last mile. And while I had good pace I slowed with each lap. Even, consistent pacing has never been something I've been good at. But looking big picture I ran well (especially with no training), met some new friends, saw some old & got to spend my day doing what I love.
Also worth noting that my husband, Jim & 2 sons, John & Andrew came to run as well.
John (age 13) completed 2 laps, 12.4 miles. That is the longest distance he has ever ran. Andrew (a week before his 9th birthday) ran 1 lap, 6.2 miles, the longest distance he has ever ran. Jim, who rarely ever runs was there to run with the boys as they did their loops. They are all superstars!!
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Trying out the app
I recently upgraded to a nice new fancy smancy phone. I previously had a smart phone, but it was in fact quite dumb. I could never add the blogger app like I wanted to. So I thought I would give it a try. Especially for those short efficient posts that I'm trying to do every day. So let's see how this goes.
Since I have you here let me jazz it up with a few pics & some running randomness in my little corner of the world. I took this one last Saturday on my morning run.
It was such a great morning for a run and as soon as I ran past this my brain screamed "THAT is a sight to remember!!" So I back tracked a few steps to snap the shot.
After I was home from said run I was checking on my Instragram & saw that I had a new follower. Look:
I literally stopped dead in my tracks & let out a shreak!! If you're not a runner you have no clue who Bart Yasso is. I know the name in a heart beat & was awe struck. Ok, never mind that he also follows thousands of other bloggers & runners.....it's still gold to me!
Do you have anyone famous that follows you on a social network site?
Anyone else use the blogger app to post?
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
October/November Rewind
Oh hey there!! I'm not even going to beat around the bush to point out the obvious, that I've become rather sucky at this blogging thing. I'm full of excuses (most of them valid & understandable) and I've considered on more than one day to call it quits & close up shop. However, I'm still hanging in there & not ready to cut to drastic measures yet.
To plunge back in I'll give you the run down of September & October. While I have taken a big step back from blogging and computer use in general, my running hasn't changed too terribly much.
Miles Ran
September: 117.61
October: 114.78
Races Ran
September: Rival Game Relay
October: Knox College Homecoming 5k
Run Streak Continued
September: 856 days
October: 887 days
Total Mileage for 2014
1172.26
So there are your basics. And it's all I really have time to blog about anyway. Since things are changing in my life (mostly all for the good) I'm left with little leisure time on the computer so I'm going to attempt to continue to blog, but focus on short efficient posts. We'll see how it goes!!
To plunge back in I'll give you the run down of September & October. While I have taken a big step back from blogging and computer use in general, my running hasn't changed too terribly much.
Miles Ran
September: 117.61
October: 114.78
Races Ran
September: Rival Game Relay
October: Knox College Homecoming 5k
Run Streak Continued
September: 856 days
October: 887 days
Total Mileage for 2014
1172.26
So there are your basics. And it's all I really have time to blog about anyway. Since things are changing in my life (mostly all for the good) I'm left with little leisure time on the computer so I'm going to attempt to continue to blog, but focus on short efficient posts. We'll see how it goes!!
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