Happy Halloween!

I'm totally out of shape.

Sure, I managed to run 3 miles on Saturday without feeling bad but on Sunday.....OUCH! I didn't go to the 5K because I know my quads would not have cooperated. I'm embarassed at how sore they are after such a short run.

I need to run some more before the 8K and the Turkey Trot.

In more exciting news (kind of) I did register for Car-A-Mile. I hope it was a good decision.

Happy Halloween!

October 29, 2005 - Trying to run again....

Can you believe it's been more than a month since my last running outing? I've been so busy I couldn't believe the truth when I finally figured it out.

This morning I was planning on going to a local 5K that was raising money for Hurricane Katrina but last night when I realized how bad I've been with keeping up with a running plan I kind of chickened out and decided to sleep a little later and go out for a run myself just to see how it felt.
I'm thinking of doing a different local 5K tomorrow and I still might -- we'll see how the weather looks.

Anyway -- the run went well! It was good weather, chilly but not once you got moving. I only went 3 miles including the first bit I walked while I warmed up and got my iPod situated and it took just over a half hour. So I feel quite sure I can handle the 5K tomorrow without making too much of a fool of myself!

In other news, I think it's going to cost me about $300 to get my treadmill repaired. The closest place that will do it is in Harrisburg and that's FAR from where I live. That's nearly half of what I paid for the stupid thing which makes me mad that we didn't just splurge on a better one to begin with. What worries me the most is that I'm going to hire the guy, he'll come and then he'll have misdiagnosed the problem and it'll cost even more. Blah! I wish it wasn't so dark in the winter so I could run outside all the time.

My sister and I have decided to sign up for the Car-A-Mile Marathon in May 2006. It's a new marathon in NJ that's associated with a long running 15K so I'm not worried about a first time race director making a lot of mistakes. The premise is that this is a race for the average runner with prizes for the average guy not the elites. They're going to give away a car (a lease, actually, but still fun) at every mile of the race. You need to line up in the corrals to be in the pool of winners. They're going to post the name of the winner at every mile. It sounds totally fun, I think. Plus, it's only about an hour from my house. I'm thinking that if this becomes and annual race it's my big chance to be one of those people who runs a race every single year it exists.

We're also going to do the MORE marathon together in March. That's the one in NYC for women over 40. I'm not 40 yet but you can register as the side-kick of a 40 year old woman and then both run a half-marathon. That's what we did last year and we had a great time.

My long range goal is to run Philadelphia in November 2006. What other races I'll insert along the course of the year I don't know. I still haven't figured out what to do about the San Jose, Disneyland, Distance Run dilemma.

Brian & Helen at Kolob Canyon Overlook

Brian & Helen at Kolob Canyon Overlook
Originally uploaded by hdunn1012.

This is a (bad) photo of me & Brian from the first day of our trip to Utah. We were freezing up there at the Kolob Canyon Overlook in Zion National Park.

We're most of the way through our photos and are trying to get the best ones into a slide show and we're trying to see if flickr is the way to do it. I'm testing the flickr blog posting feature with this picture.

Totally bummed out!

They cancelled the Urban Challenge! It's (was) my favorite race in the world and now it's gone.

I'm mad too because it's only about 2.5 weeks from now and it's all the way in Phoenix so I have a bunch of travel plans I need to cancel too.

This stinks. And it's raining outside. What a rotten day.

A really fun poll from HER SPORTS magazine

Click on this link to add your two cents to the Her Sports Opinion Poll.

I'm still working on my entry and some I don't think I'll vote on.

BEST NAME: Half Wit Half Marathon, Reading PA
BEST COURSE:
BEST SCENERY:
BEST WEATHER:
BEST RACE-BAG GOODIES: MORE Marathon, NYC
BEST T-SHIRTS: Baltimore Marathon
BEST EXPO: Rock'N'Roll San Diego
BEST PARTIES:
BEST FOR FIRST-TIMERS:
BEST FOR WOMEN: MORE marathon, NYC
BEST FOR FAMILIES: Walt Disney World Marathon
BEST FINISHER'S MEDAL: Philadelphia Distance Run
BEST FOOD:
BEST (AND MOST) PORTOLETS:

UTAH was awesome!

I'm finally back from my vaction and all I can say is that if you have never been to Bryce Canyon NP or Zion NP you must book your trip immediately and get there as soon as you can.

The scenery was just spectacular and since we stayed at the NP lodges for most of the trip we were kind of "unplugged" from the world because there was no TV or internet or anything else. Early to bed and early to rise made for a superbly relaxing week away.

We did great hikes in both parks and spent lots of time just hanging out looking for animals and drinking assorted coffee drinks (they had a really good coffee bar at Zion). We (well Brian) took an enormous number of photos and as soon as we have some time to plow through all the digital images I'll link to a slideshow for you to view.

I have learned since my return home that they have a half marathon at Bryce Canyon. Very Interesting....

Dilemma: California Half Marathon 2006

I have a dilemma - I have to choose between two new interesting races.

I think I posted before about the new Disneyland Half Marathon in September. They're going to have a castle medal. How cool is that? Anyway, I just found out that there is going to be a new Rock'N'Roll Half marathon in San Jose in October.

I want to do both. Both have potential for good pre or post race vacations. Both offer new medals. Both are races I'm sure I'll like. I think I'll probably get a better shirt at Disneyland if the Disney World marathons are any indication. Plus it gives me a reason to go to those parks that I'd most likely never visit without the half-marathon incentive.

However, I love all of the Rock'N'Roll races. And I wonder if I'd get a special prize if I did VA Beach, PDR and San Jose? I'd be earning a new medal: the special 26.2 for doing two rock'n'roll half marathons plus the VA Beach/PDR combo and maybe an extra special one for doing all three? I don't know. It's going to be hard to choose.

Walk for the Wissahickon - 11 mile hike

Brian & I spent a good part of Sunday on a hiking adventure to "preserve open space". The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association sponsored a hike along the Green Ribbon trail which runs along the Wissahickon Creek. You could take a 21, 7, 11 or 4 mile hike along the trail. The hikes were stuck together and were led by a guide who worked for WVWA and they provided water and snacks. All in all it was a pleasant way to spend a gorgeous fall day, although neither of us is dying to do it again.

We opted for the 11 mile hike. The guide was a guy who kept a nice pace -- we never felt trapped or like snails and since they made clear in the registration packet that kids under a certain age, dogs and strollers were not welcome at this event things went great. They had weeded out the snails ahead of time so we were left with a good crowd of speedy hikers.

The trail was mostly flat with the typical eastern PA rocks. You had to keep your eyes on the trail to keep from tripping. There were seven creek crossings but they were simple since they had laid planks and ladders across the creek so you didn't need to get wet. We're at the end of a particularly dry summer though so this could be more interesting/challenging if the water level was higher.

We only stopped a couple of times for street crossings and bathroom breaks and the WVWA folks provided a steady stream of water, granny smith apples (my fave!), bananas and an excellent assortment of candy. At the 7 mile mark we stopped for about a half hour for lunch and most of the group hopped on a bus back to the start of the hike. About a dozen of us pressed on to the 11 mile bus back point.

I think the only problem with this hike was that it was all business. Because we were all herded together there really wasn't any chance to just meander along and take in the pretty creek views or look for wildlife. It was a nice day, and being with the other folks wasn't bad, but I think we would have had more fun alone and maybe more fun later in the season when the leaves had turned color.

We spent the afternoon watching the Eagles awesome comeback on Tivo [We were clued in by the happy shouts pouring out of our neighbors house that the 2nd half was worth watching] and playing with our new espresso machine. We got the machine on Saturday with some gift certificates we've had since the wedding but haven't managed to spend yet. So far the machine is fabulous and we're both sad we waited this long to buy the gadget!

5 days until Utah!