Happy Halloween!

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and raced well.

 

Friday was my first chance to do my long run. And here goes my first mistake of the weekend...skipping my long run on Friday night. I don't know why, but I just couldn't force myself to run after work. Although I did get to help a sweaty friend celebrate her birthday and go to a yummy steak dinner with my M. 

 

That's ok, Saturday I had a second chance to run! I got up in hopes of running my 10 miles, but once again I just couldn't push myself out the door to run in the cold rain/snow. Why didn't I run on Friday?? Errr.... Call me a baby, call me a wimp, but my warm house just seemed so much more inviting :)

 

Chance number three to run .... Sunday! Well, I might have stayed up till 3am partying on U st and sleep in till 10am. Then I was off to coach from 11 - 4.  By the time I got home at 4, all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. And that's just about what I did.

 

So what's that leave me? That leaves me with running 10 miles tonight. Monday still counts as part of the weekend right? And I should be home in time for all the trick - o - treaters! Kiwi already said she will help me pass out candy!

 

Hope everyone was a wonderful Monday :)

 

Friday Random Facts

1. I don't drink/like coffee, but sometimes wish I did.

 

2. I'm going to go look at tri bikes tomorrow - woot!

 

3. I think it's officially cold weather running season and I'm excited.

 

4. I love wearing boots! They make all outfits look great.

 

5. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.

 

6. Jason made me a card for my b-day and he drew me riding a tri bike in aero. It was so cute.

 

 

7. I secretly wish I wasn't running another half marathon this year.

 

8. I won't let Jason turn the heat on in our house.

 

9. I have never cut grass in my life and plan on never doing so

 

10. Actually I hate all yard work and figured living in the city would require none! Boy was I wrong...stupid big tree that leaves fall off of all year!

 

11. I hate when people don't call, text, etc, me back. So annoying!

 

12. My space heater at work stopped working. Why do I even need a space heater at work? Oh yeah they always keep it so cold in here.

 

13. I would love to go back to school to become an architect.

 

14. I can't wait till the Olympics are in the USA again. I went in 96 when they were in ATL and it was such an amazing experience.

 

15. I once ate entire bag of Red Vine licorice in about an hour. Yep my poo was red that day :)

 

16. I only read books when I travel

 

17. I want to go pick up some fabric and try to make a dress for myself

 

18. I miss pole vaulting, but hitting the bar and landing on it hurts like hell.

 

19. I have post -its all over my desk at work

 

20. I drink water all day at work, but suck at drinking it while I'm at home and over the weekends.

 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Those racing the MCM.. good luck!

Sharing the Run Love

I am always trying to pass the joy of running (or tri-ing) onto others by encouraging them to run, bike, etc. Jason, I think, gets the blunt of my running talk and before he knew me he was staying active by drinking playing kickball. Since meeting each other he has ran a several 8ks, 10 milers, and a half marathon! Now, he still may not hold that special place in his heart for running like I do, but he has thanked me many times for helping motivated him. He recently thanked me for getting him into cycling, which made me feel so good :)

 

I try to talk just about everyone I know into running or tri-ing and tell them how good it feels when you cross the finish line a race.

 

I usually here stuff like this:

 

I don't have the time

Ummm... I don't think anyone really ever has time to do anything and it's an easy excuse. Time management is key and if you really want to do something, then you can always make time for that activity. It may mean that you have to get up an hour early or give up your hour lunch to go for a run instead. I think being a gymnast for so many years and practicing 20 hours a week while going to school really helped me joggle all that life throws at you. I actually like the challenge of trying to fit everything into one day.

 

I am not in shape

When I first started running I had never ran more than 2 miles and thought of running 26.2 just seemed ridiculous. It's never easy doing something for the first time, but the first step is really just putting yourself out there and trying. This may mean that you run for 1 minute and walk for 4 minutes and repeat for 20 minutes. And guess what? There is nothing wrong with doing that! As your fitness level improves, you can increase your run time and decease your walk time.

 

It's boring

I'll admit that running by yourself can be boring something, but it is also the best time to do all your thinking. And if doing things on your own isn't your thing and you need a little help with motivation the best thing to do is to join a running group! Most running groups have people running at all paces. I think that group running makes running social instead of an "OMG I have to run, what a drag." Plus surrounding yourself with other people who have similar interests and goals is very motivating.

 

Anyhow, this past weekend I had the chance to pass on my running joy to all of my nieces! Sharing is caring, right?? So, why not spread the running love to your family? My Dad acted as the finish line as we all lined up to run the 100 yard, ok maybe more like 50 yard, dash. It was so cute to see the girls run and they were having so much fun. And watch out for my niece, Grace, she is one fast chicky at 7 years old.

How do you get others involved in something you love?

Happy Thuesday All :)

Wordless Wed - Sleep!

All I want to do lately is sleep! Somebody help me find my motivation!

Happy Wednesday All :)

Pumpkin Contest

This weekend I was happy to relax a little bit on race withdrawal since I had race the past three weekends in a row. So when my uncle brought home 8 pumpkins and suggested that we have a pumpkin carving contest, I jumped at the chance to join in on a different type of competition. 



Our Pretty Pumpkins!



I haven't actually craved a pumpkin in I don't know how many years and I'm not very creative. The pumpkins sat outside overnight and were super cold when scrapping out all the seeds and slimy stuff. Jason hated taking out the seeds and admitted that this was the first time he had ever carved a pumpkin. I went with a classic design that wasn't too original.

My Dad on the other hand took the pumpkin off seriously. He got a pen and drew his design on before cutting it. And by cutting it, I mean he got a jigsaw power saw to cut it!! He wouldn't let anyone else see his pumpkin until he was completely finished! And guess what.. it was a classic design as well :)

We had all our family members who arrived on Sunday judge the pumpkins for their favorite. My Dad won by a land slide and he was so excited!!! He ran around pumping his fist up and down and yelling I'm number one. And the big prize cash prize... we had each put in 2 bucks to enter the contest...so he won 16 bucks :)

 

Overall, this was such a good idea and was really a lot of fun for my family! But, the best part of the pumpkin carving contest was all the pumpkin seeds!!! I love them so much, they are so good!

Will you have a carved pumpkin sitting out on your porch for Halloween?

 

Happy Tues All :)

Running in a New Area

Over the weekend I went to wonderful Columbus Ohio.

Running in a new location can always be fun and exciting, and I made sure I packed some running clothes. I did bring long spandex and a long sleeve running shirt, but the thought of packing a hat or gloves didn't even cross my mind. I stepped outside at 7:30am and my body went into shock!! Umm... hello 30 degrees...so nice to see you! I ran back inside and borrowed my sister's nicely fleece lined pink hate. The one thing that I have to have covered up when it's cold is my ears. My sis didn't have anything but cute fluffy mittens, so I figured I can just pull my long sleeve shirt over my hands. When I stepped back outside for the second time, my head was happy, but the rest of me was still cold.

I had seen a track on my way into my sisters and my plan was the find my way up there and see if it was open. But, first I wanted to run around her neighborhood and check things out. The one thing about running in the suburbs is well all the houses kind of look the same and there isn't so many people out, which means less people watching while running. Actually I didn't see a single person out, not even someone walking their dog.

Within the first half mile I could barely breath as I was sucking in what felt like the coldest air ever. I usually like running when it's cold out, but I think just being thrown to the 30 degree wolves didn't give my body a chance to adjust to the cold weather. I was dying out there and my lungs hated me! I thought about just running right back to the house after making a small loop, but no I kept running. I thought I might get lost making my way out of the development, but soon enough I found my way out and came up on the cutest little covered bridge.

 After running over the bridge I followed a running path that made it's way up to the track.

Once there, all I saw was a fence and chains and locks .... great! I ran around the outside of the track and made my way into the school parking lot and saw that one of the gates were open due to football practice starting at any minute. I asked the coach if he minded if I ran and he didn't. I thought about doing speed work, but with the cold air I wasn't doing so great, so I just stuck with some tempo running around the track. I did three miles on the track, then ran back to my sisters.

It was a fun run and I managed to run 6 miles despite wanting to be a wimp and turn around a half mile into the run.

What's the best vacation spot you have ran at? And are you a cold weather runner?

Happy Monday All :)

To Sticker or Not to Sticker

Your Car That Is....

 

So, I was driving up 295 on Monday making my way up the gym when I got stuck behind a car with 13.1 stickers everywhere on it with an added 13.1 licence plate frame. They seriously had about six 13.1 stickers on their car and no other stickers (26.2, 70.3, etc). I can understand one sticker for each distance you ran, but six of the same distance is a bit over kill in my opnion.

 

Which got me to thinking.... I have no stickers on my car even though I love running and tri-ing :)

 

People who run hm, marathons, and Ironmans should be proud of their accomplishments!!!! They put a lot of blood, sweet and tears into their training just to have that feeling of accomplishment when they cross the finish line. No matter the distance or the race crossing the finishing line and knowing all your sacrificers were worth is gets people hooked in my opnion. Otherwise what would be the point of waking up at 5am on a weekday to go for a run or giving up your entire weekend for a long run or ride?

 

Thousands of people in Pittsburgh a couple years ago were wearing Steelers Superbowl Champion t-shirts, advertising somebody else's accomplishment. If you run 13.1, 26.2, 70.3. or 140.6 by all means advertize your accomplishment. But at what point does showing off your hard work get to the point of ...umm... being obnoxious? Is one sticker enough from your first race at that distance? Or do you like to show people that you continue to race and put a sticker up from every race you have done? I will be honest, the car that I was driving behind on Monday annoyed me because she had so many 13.1 stickers. When I drove past her I thought, I know running 13.1 miles is hard, but really does the whole world need to know that you have ran 6 half marathons?

 

 

So what type of person are you? Do you feel the need to advertise all your hard work or are satisfied with knowing you crossed that finish line so who cares if other people know?

 

Happy Thursday All

Wordless Wed ~ bmore edition

So the offical race pictures are in!


Saying hello as we run by the lake (mile 8ish)

Not sure what mile this is at?

Holding hands as we cross the finish



And another one as we cross




Great Job Jas!



Way to go ladies!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Three Things Tuesday

1. I was really looking forward to running the Philly half marathon Nov. 20th, but I am no longer able to run this half. This is a personal decision that I made because I felt a family priority was more important than running a race. The decision was an easy one because there is always more races. Well, I actually went into a little bit of a panic mood because I really had my heart set on a PR on this course and was scared I may not find another half that was close to the same date *let the internet search begin!* And in not to long I found a new race that is taking place in Norfolk, VA, The Freedom Marathon, on Nov. 13th. This race actually works out great because I do not have to adjust my training too much and one of my good friends lives in VA Beach so I get the bonus of a great visit! With that said, if you know anyone who wants a Philly Half bib please let me know!

 

2. I am finally feeling better this week after being sick all last week. It's nice to get back to normal and not lay on the couch all night long.

 

3. After 3 weekends in a row of racing, I am taking a break this weekend and going to Columbus, Ohio. My sister is having her second little girl tomorrow, so I will get to visit my new niece and the rest of my family :) I am really excited about this!!! I am also going to a friends wedding on Saturday night. I am really looking forward to this weekend and think it will be a nice break. Although my running shoes are being packed so I can get at least a couple runs in over the weekend :)

 

Have you ever passed up a race because you felt something else was more important?

 

Happy Tuesday All

Race Report: Baltimore Half marathon

Pre-Race

I'm so excited to run!

Since I was not racing this race, I slept like a log. Although I think Jason was nervous and didn't sleep so great. Anyhow, we left our house about 6:15 and made it up to Baltimore in no time at all. Then it was a lot of sitting around before the half started at 9:45. We had to get there early because the full marathon started at 8 and we were then merged into the full marathon at the 13 mile mark. At first I wasn't thrilled about getting there earlier than I had to, but it actually did seem to work out well, food wise. My stomach always seems to act up during a race because I don't think I usually give myself enough time for it to digest. But, this was not the case on Saturday! I had a yogurt on the car ride up, then I had a bagel about 8ish.

 

We left our car about 8:30 and made our way to the bathrooms and meet up with Carly and Suze. It was a short walk of about a half mile to the half marathon start and once there it was a little disorganized and none of the corals were marked.

 

 



About to get our run on!

The Race

Jason and I took off once we crossed the timing mat. He had asked me to pace him for about a 10 minute mile, but I took a look at my watch not even 1 mile into the run and it was dead!!! WTF... this is the third race in the row that my garmin has failed me! This might have really bothered me if I was running my own race, but since I was sticking with my one and only it really wasn't a big deal. Although I could really no longer pace him.

 

The first three miles seemed slow to me and they had all these orange cones in the middle of the road. I almost tripped and face planted over those damn cones I don't know how many times! Jason ran with his headphones on and kept the ear bud out of his ear on his left side so I could talk to him on that side. The entire race I always seemed to be running on his right side though and would have to square dance around him to get back on his talking side.

 

We merged in with the full marathon runners around mile 3 for us and there was a lot of music/crowd support at this point which was so much fun! I saw a guy with a sign that said Jane will you marry me! I'm not sure if this is how I would want to get purposed to! Maybe at the end of a race, but during??

 

The course was pretty hilly and there was a nice big one around mile 5 I think. I would keep looking at Jason to make sure he was doing ok, but he was looking strong. I would sometimes run ahead of him and he yell at my to slow my roll, and then I would drop back and run with him again. It is sometimes really hard to slow yourself down to run with someone else, but I was so glad I was not trying to PR on this course because it was hot, windy, and hilly. I was more than happy to run with Jason in a pressure free, happy go lucky race. I did a lot of looking around the Baltimore neighborhoods enjoying the pretty row houses and the sketchy ones too!

 

To me the worst part of this course is not the hills that is famous for ... it's the loop around the lake. This was my 5th year running and I always hate the part around the lake. Jason agreed with me as we entered the loop at around mile 7. Although this year there was a band on one side of the lake and they also had some food/candy which was nice. I think this is also the point that Jason started to hurt. We had not taken any walk breaks, but took our first one at mile 8 as we exited the lake. I kept telling him each mile from this point on that it's just like our 5 mile loop, or our 4 mile loop and so on. I always like to break up longer runs into shorter segments so that it seems like you are running a shorter distance. I don't know if this really helped him or not?

 

Between mile 9 -10 you ran up a big hill that had lots of crowd support and music. It's actually my favorite little block of the whole race. At the top of the hill, there was beer! And stopping and having a beer was awesome! I'm not sure what our split was for the 10 mile mark, but I was happy to see it and knew we were almost to the finish line. It's about at this point that Jason was really hurting and we decided it would be smart to take walk breaks at the last couple of mile markers.

 

Before we knew it we could see Camden yards in the distance. I think Jason thought it was closer than what it was and started to kick it up. I went with the flow, but we slowed back down after about 2 minutes. We entered Camden yards and the crowd support was great. I liked the sign that said; "don't walk, people can see you". And then the best part of the race came! Jason grabbed my hand about 200 meters from the finish line (which made me get all teary eyed) and we ran across the finish line hand in hand. It was the best feeling in the world to cross the finish line with Jason and I am just so proud of him for running his first half :)

 

Official time: 2:17:14

 

 

Post Race:

I don't have much thoughts on this race besides the fact that I had a lot of fun and I was so glad I was able to run this with my husband and support him the whole run :) I'm not sure though if he is in love with running yet.... maybe I should register him for more races :)

 

Happy Monday All

BMore Running Fest Expo

I have not been feeling good all week and have really been dreading driving up to bmore and have been wondering if I will even feel well enough to run this silly little race tomorrow. Sometimes I wish, ok all the time I wish, that races had same day packet pick up! With Baltimore being an hour drive on a good day I was not looking forward to driving up there fighting traffic. Once there, I parked in one of the free parking lots over by the stadium. Then the race had buses shuttling us from the parking lots over to the convention center, so I got on the bus and off I went to the expo.

I made it to the city!

Once inside the expo, I started to get excited about the race again and forgot I didn't feel good.

I proceed down the escalators and got my bib number, then made my way over to the t-shirt table. Now the t-shirts at the Baltimore running festival are always nice! This is one of the only reasons I have done this race 5 times, because to be honest...the race course sucks has lots of hills. It's the cool race swag that brings me back every year. Even though I love the shirt this year, I am not in love with the color at all! I should have just sucked it up and ran the marathon because they got a pretty light blue shirt.

At least it fits in with fall colors...pumkin anyone?

I finished walking around the expo trying to get as much free stuff as possible, then made my way back to the bus line. So, I now have my number and cool shirt....so I'm ready to run! Well, sort of ready ... now all I can hope for is that I feel better when I wake up tomorrow!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and good luck to those of you who are racing :)

Baltimore Half Goals

Well, the Baltimore Half marathon will be the last of my three half marathon races, 3 weekends in a row. The first two I raced, this one however I am not trying to race it or PR.  Although it will be hard to leave my competitive side behind and not want to try to run my little heart out, but I'm not. I am simply out there to have fun and support Jason!

 This will be my M's first half marathon! Woot! Woot! I'm really excited for him...I think I'm more excited about him running than he is. I tired to warn him that Bmore is hilly and not a fun race to choose for your first half, but he didn't listen to me. He must love hills or something, but who doesn't?

Anyhow, my plan of attack on this run is to run by M's side! That is my one and only goal :) If he wants to run a 9 minute mile...great... if he wants to run a 12 minute mile... that's fine too! I just want to stay positive on this run and help him stay positive. We usually don't run together because we do run at different paces and we have only tired to run two other races together. The first one was a 8k which he got pissed at me for running with him because he said he could see it in my eye that it was killing me to run slow ... and he was right... and off I went running after 1 mile with him. The other race was the GW Parkway 10 miler ... which worked out great because I left all my own time goals at the door and just ran a nice enjoyable run next to my one and only.

Hopefully he has a blast on Saturday and doesn't get sick of hearing me talk/make up my own songs for 2 hours :)

Happy Thurs All :)

Race Report ~ Watermans Run Leg

Well as you know already, I was part of an awesome relay team at the Watermans Half IM.

This was my first time participating in a triathlon relay and I must say that it was so much fun and I can't wait to do another one! It was a lot different than doing the whole tri on your own and I felt so much more relaxed!

Since I was doing the run leg (which was 13.1 miles of running fun) I had a lot of waiting and sitting around to do before my leg actually got under way. I wasn't sure how to approach the food situation with all the lag time before my run. I didn't want to eat to much and didn't want to eat to little because my stomach is weird and is the main cause of all my bad runs. I went with eating a yogurt in the car on the way down, then had a bagel during the swim and a banana right after the swim. Then while Jason was biking, I munched on some pretzels and fruit snacks.

The Run
Jason came flying to the bike dismount line 10 minutes earlier than expected and I had just got out of the port a potties. I basically sprinted to our bike rack and waited for him as he came running in behind me.

how do I get this on?

I fumbled with getting on the timing chip and off I went. I didn't have my watches ready... yes watches... I was wearing two! My Garmin was low on battery because I was stupid head and forgot my charger in the hotel room in CA and didn't realize this until Friday night. My watch had 33% life left. So I wore a back up old school one just on case. Well, with all the hurry and not being ready for Jason, my watches weren't ready. I couldn't get the Garmin to start up and I played around with my old school one because it was still running Jason's bike split on it. I got that one going probably 30 seconds to a minute into the run, so I knew right there, that there wasn't really a point in looking at my watch because the time was off anyhow. Plus I was just happy to finally be out there on the course!

On my way to 13.1 miles

I had no real goal in mind on this run, besides to finish in under two hours and to kept a positive attitude since the other people out of the course have been through a lot harder day than me. The run course starts up a nice steep hill and throws you out onto the road where there was no shade and you were running on the side of the road. It was hot by the time I start the run (maybe around 80 +) but I wasn't going to let this bother me. We ran on the hot road for what seemed forever before turning around at about the 5k mark. I felt bad passing people because they had swam and biked and looked tired/death marchish and there I was feeling good with nice fresh legs.  At this point, the 5k mark was the only marker I saw, and I loved the fact that I didn't see any mile markers and that I wasn't looking at my watch! I was just running by feel and this always seems to make a run go by faster for me. I thought there needed to be more water stops though. I only remember seeing three on them on the whole course. It wasn't too bad for me, but for the others who were doing the full half, I really think needed more water stops. At about mile 4 something they had us turn onto a gravel driveway. This was the same drive that we drove up two weeks ago when Jason and I came down to preview the bike course. I thought ... oh shit... when I kept running down the drive way and saw two houses and no running paths or arrows or anything. There was no runners in-front or behind me! I stopped and turned around to see if I could see anyone, nope! Shit .. I had no idea where I was suppose to run?!??! I then saw a small grass path with some worn in tire marks in it. I guess this is where we are suppose to run?? I took the leap of faith and ran down it. This was actually the awesome part of the course because it was all wooded and once again you had no idea what mile marker you were at? Some people would hate this, but I loved the no mile markers (or maybe I just missed them all because I wasn't looking for them). I could see another runner in the distance at this point and knew I was headed in the right direction!

Before I knew it, I was running across a small wooden bridge and about to finish my first lap! I saw, Jason, Steph, and Emily cheering and I was happy to see them! One lap down and one to go and I felt good! 

One more to go!

I did look at my watch at this point and saw 48 something on it and knew I was running a 8:30 something. The second loop was tougher because I knew what was in store for me and nothing (aka hills) was a surprise. My left hamstring started to give me issues going up the hill out of the park. I had demonstrated some gymnastics on thurs. night that made only my left hammy really sore. I pushed the nagging pain to the back of my head and kept running. The turn around point seemed longer on the second loop and I was so thirsty! More water stops, please! I has happy when I was running up the last hill into the wooded part of the course. Time was flying by and before I knew it I was running towards the finish line! Which I thought was at the top of a little hill, but was actually through the parking lot. ops.

At the finish!

Nope a little farther to go!

My Offical time was 1:51:47 ... which is actually a PR!!!

Overall
This was seriously so much fun being part of a relay team! And the run really seemed to fly by for me. I had no stomach issues at all and felt pretty good the entire run. I think not having a goal in mind and not looking for mile markers or my watch made me really relaxed, which allowed me to have a good run! During this half marathon I felt so much better than I did last week when I was trying to get under 1:50. It was hotter and a hell of a lot hillier than San Jose, but somehow I managed to have fun the entire run and still PR by a minute. Had I actually been paying attention to my watch I would have pushed myself harder for the last 5k to get under 1:50, but not a big deal. There is always next time.

And as I mentioned earlier, I had so much fun!!! I will definitely be doing another relay some time. Check out Steph's blog to hear all about her super fast swim!

Happy Wednesday All :)

Weekend Recap ~ Tri-ing & Cheering

My weekend was kicked off with a bright and early wake up call for the Watermans Half IM tri on Saturday. We carpooled with Steph and got lost trying to get out of the city. Luckily we spotted a car with two tri bikes on-top and figured they were going to the same race and just decided to follow them! That was until they were going the wrong direction and making U-turns... I thought to myself .... you dumb asses ...but as we got closer to the car it looked like Lauren's bike, and sure enough it was Lauren and Phil. They were lost too! After the debacle of getting out of the city with 295 being closed, we finally made it to the race site in Indian Head MD with plenty of time.

Team Awesome!

I was in a relay team, doing the run leg, so I had lots of time to sit around and relax before my leg actually started. Steph did the swim leg and was super duper fast and was one of the first people out the water!

Great Swim

Jason was on the bike in no time and off he road to enjoy the 56 miles of hills. Steph and I waited around the transition area and cheered on the rest of our friends as they came into T1. Then there was just a lot of waiting around until Jason returned.

Good Job on the Bike

Jas got back to transition earlier than expected and off I went running as I fumbled with my watch. By the time I started the run it was hot and sunny. The course was hilly with a surprise wooded part that I loved!!! My watch died on me and I just ran by feel so I was nice and relaxed.

Yippy, it's finally my turn!

Once we finished we stuck around and watched our friends finish their races! It was a great day and I had so much fun! Although I should have put sun screen on because I got pretty red.

So happy I'm able to do this with my Husband

 

Good Job everyone!

Later that night we went out for a friends b-day, but did not make it long because Jas and I were both so tired from biking/running and the sun!

Sunday morning Jas and I rode our bikes down to about 7th and Independence to watch the Army 10 miler.

3.2.1 ....Cheer

It was fun watching a race and I think my arm and fingers actually got sore from ringing my cow bell non-stop for over an hour and something!

More Cow Bell

It was cool to watch the lead runner with all the cop cars around him, then watch the flood of non stop runners behind.

Lead Runner

Cars before the lead runner

The course looked crowded and I somehow managed to spot Beth and Allison, but didn't see anyone else out there, sorry. But, great job to all the runners!!

Today, I am off work and being all around lazy!

And now I know what Kiwi does while I'm at work!

I hope everyone had a great weekend! And awesome job to everyone who raced!!

Full Race report on the run leg to come tomorrow :)

Being a Spectator at the Army 10

 

This Sunday is the Army 10 miler. I have ran this race several times, including the time that they extended the course because there was a suspicious package under the 14th street bridge. I remember thinking, good god my splits are off and this seems longer than 10 miles.... well because it was!! Anyhow, this year I somehow missed the registration date and lost my chances of running this race since it sells out so quickly.

 

So, I'm doing something differently this year .... I will be a spectator!! This is something that I usually don't get a chance to do because well I don't like to miss out on races. But, I think it's going to be a lot of fun!!!! I plan on standing at 7th and Independence Ave which will put me at about mile 5.6 something and the mile 7 marker on the way back. I will have a cow bell in hand and plan to do a lot of cheering for all my friends who are running. Hopefully I will be able to spot everyone as they zooming by me.

 

It will also give me a chance to see what being a spectator is all about. Sometimes I think that my support crew has it harder than me with all the running around they do during one of my races to see me at different points. I'm still undecided as to what is harder, doing a tri or being a spectator at a tri.

 

My support crew:

 

 

Anyhow if you're free this weekend and want to come cheer with me, just let me know! If you are racing this weekend, good luck and kick some butt out on your course!