Sore neck

The pesky neck sprain is improving. I'm on a steady diet of Motrin and it seems to be getting better. I think I should be OK by next weekend. I better be OK by next weekend! I've skipped weeknight runs because of the neck. If it's not raining tonight I might go for a walk but I really don't want to rock the boat. I hope I'll be able to go for a short, flat run on Saturday.

It's really quite amazing how much it hurts! I never really thought about how much you turn your head in the course of a day! Even sleeping is troublesome.

The running store lady told me that the head of Philly Fit is going to host morning runs out of the store during the week. That's kind of interesting as long as there might be some other slowpokes in attendance. Running store lady also told me that there were quite a few beginner runners coming to the weekly night runs so I might consider going sometime. A more likely scenario is that I'll go out on the trail with Brian and try to spy on the running group and then decide if I could show up on another night to join their ranks.

Philly Fit starts next weekend. I still haven't joined because I don't know if I should sign both of us up or just me. I don't know why I'm feeling cheap about it. I should just look at the fee as a way to rack up some frequent flyer miles. Speaking of miles, my race entries for the PDR were put on my new miles card and they haven't shown up yet. I hope they don't lose the entry forms so I'll get the bargain rate for sure.

Early weather report

I know it's too early to really pay attention to this but...

Accuweather is predicting:

Rather cloudy with thunderstorms. Winds from the NE at 6 mph.
High: 64° F
RealFeel®: 64° F

That's all I can get since the race is 11 days away and most sites only give a 10 day forecast.

Cloudy is good, but I hope it doesn't rain or really storm.

Predicting My Marathon Finish

My primary goal for Delaware is just to beat my very slow marathon PR and to run as much as I can. But as the day gets closer I am thinking more and more about when I hope to finish. This is not my primary race this year and my main focus is on whatever fall marathon I choose to run but I'd still like to set some goals for Delaware that will help me avoid wimping out on race day.

I decided to poke around and see what the marathon predictors say about my finish time based on my recent events.

Running Times says that I'll finish in 5:05:58 based on my Broad Street time and 5:18:34 based on my Caesar Rodney time. Using the VF 5 mile run, it predicts a 5:12:15 finish.

Marathon Guide predicts a 5:03:55 marathon based on Broad Street and 5:13:57 based on Caesar and 5:12:23 based on VF.


On my race entry I said I expected to finish in 5:30 and that's still my ultimate goal but I do hope that I can do better and if the weather and the body cooperate I should be able to do it.

According to the predictors, I should think about beating Speed Turtle (a walker acquaintance of mine) who is shooting for a 5:12 finish at Delaware.

So I guess I have a bunch of goals:

Super ideal, perfect day overall: sub 5:00
Excellent day: 5:12 or better
Really good day: 5:20
Average but still good day: 5:30
Disappointing but still OK day: 5:31 - 5:57
Disappointing not so OK day: 5:58 or slower

Not feeling so great

I feel awful. My shoulders/arms are killing me and I think I'm finally feeling the impact of Sunday's wipeout. I don't know why else they'd hurt except from absorbing my fall.

I'm not going to run or walk tonight. I'm just going home to chill out and hope that I am better tomorrow.

Broad Street Run - Splits

Mile 1: 10:20 a little too fast
Mile 2: 10:54 this is where I fell -- I guess it worked to slow me down and get me back on pace!
Mile 3: 10:59 angry at juggler guy running near me who kept dropping the balls
Mile 4: 10:57 feeling good - ate my new Power Gel with 4x sodium
Mile 5: 10:42 still feels good
Mile 6: 10:30 wow! where did this mile come from?
Mile 7: 10:57 I don't remember this one
Mile 8: 10:55 or this one
Mile 9: 11:04 slowed down a little to hear the Rocky theme at the water station
Mile 10: 10:41 finished pretty strong....but I think the 1/4 mile to finish sign was a big fat lie!

Total: 1:48:03

1:48:02 *

It was an ideal day for the Broad Street Run and overall I had a really good day. My finish was a respectable 1:48:02 -- a full 10 minute improvement over last year.

The asterisk is because my time was screwed up (a tiny bit) by the ridiculous fall I had when I tripped on a trolley track between miles 1 and 2. A TOTAL wipeout. I was laying face down in the street.

I bounced back and with the exception of some ugly road rash and some sore, cut and bruised hands I am OK.

More details later including mile splits.

Extremely mediocre run

We met after work and I got through 5.5 miles but it wasn't pretty. More walking that usual and less motivation than usual. I have no explanation for it but my lame excuse will be that I wasn't 100% from Monday's long run and I didn't want to work too hard before Sunday's race.

Survivor has gotten really good these last two episodes. More strategy than I remember seeing or hearing about for many seasons.

Vacation!

We've settled on a plan and we're going to Yosemite National Park in late September! We might also take in the Eagles vs. 49ers on September 24th before heading to the NP but that part of the plan is still up in the air.

This allows us to go to Virginia Beach and do the PDR (our normal fall racing schedule) and then go on vacation without missing the hardest weeks of fall marathon training. At least I think it works out that way. It will for sure if we do Philadelphia and it probably will if we're doing New York.

The date for the Marine Corps entry is looming and I'm not going to get myself register even though I kind of want to. I'm letting fate decide my fall marathon plans.

I have developed a strange ankle twinge/injury since yesterday. I think it's from too many days wearing junky shoes without enough support. I'm supposed to meet Brian for a run tonight but if the ankle still hurts I might skip it so as not to make it worse before Broad Street on Sunday.

Gatorade Endurance Loves Brian

Today when I got home from work I found a mysterious plastic wrapped box from Gatorade in the mailbox. It's addressed to Brian. It looks very much like the small CD-sized mailing I got last week that contained a coupon for a free 32 oz. bottle of Endurance.

Brian is laying on the couch, completely uninterested in this mysterious box that I am dying to rip open. So I force him to open it. Guess what's inside? Not just one coupon for the drink but a plastic wrapped DECK of free coupons. There must be 25 of them in there all for the big 32 oz bottle. PLUS it has a nifty Fuel Belt Shoe Pocket which is just the right size for keys and a couple dollars.

What on earth did he do to rate such an awesome giveaway? He never signs up for any races on his own, he never fills out the "win a free whatever" survey forms at the expos, he never even buys gatorade! Free stuff is wasted on him!

I guess I can't complain because I seem to have won the QVC lottery -- although it remains to be seen if that is better than the Gatorade lottery.

I hate blogger

I keep trying to post a picture of my run activity but blogger keeps pretending to load the picture and then not showing it. It's so aggravating.

I'm going to try AGAIN but I bet this post still has no picture.

The Long Run

In an effort to simulate race-morning conditions I had a couple of packets of instant oatmeal for lunch before heading out on the long run. I washed it down with a bottle of Gu2O since that's the drink they'll be giving out at Delaware. Gu2O is kind of nasty for anybody who is wondering. It's not the worst thing I've ever had but it's not in the least like the kool-aid flavor of Gatorade and Powerade.

We parked at Oaks near the restrooms and our plan was to run on the trail to VF, where there are water fountains and restrooms, come back to the car (and bathroom) and then head the other way on the trail to the center of town where there are stores so we could buy food or drinks to refuel. The weather was great yesterday but there was a good breeze and we couldn't quite settle on outfits (long or short sleeves?) and so we were able to stash extra clothes in the car, which we didn't need.

I tried out a new pair of shorts from Title 9 that worked out great and I think I'm probably going to wear in the race. The shorts I used to love from last year are all really floppy and make me look like I have even more enourmous hips than I actually do. Plus they have liners like spandex tights that keep creeping up. That didn't seem to happen last year but it's driving me nuts this year. Anyway, these didn't move around too much and were comfy all day. Here's hoping they'll be good for race day.

My waterbottle was filled with Gatorade Endurance formula (undiluted at first) which I topped off with water at VF and then refilled with full strength Endurance for the second out and back section. Much better than Gu2O!

We were taking it easy at first, walking to a streching point and then picking up the pace. I stayed with Brian longer than I usually do which was good because that meant that we were talking a little bit and that my pace was controlled and slow enough. Eventually I decided to time a mile and that one clocked in at 11:22 and it felt like a walk in the park. I didn't keep continuous time because I didn't want to get caught up worring about pace. After stopping for water, and eating an Espresso Love Gu, I ran most of the way back to the car and timed a mile in there at 11:25. No more timing though, for the rest of the day.

We had a longer than expected stop here because Brian had an issue with sunscreen in his eye so it took a few minutes to fix that properly and then we were on our way. At this stage we had somewhere between 7 and 8 miles under our belts -- probably closer to 7 -- and we both felt great.

I don't have much to report on this leg even though it was the longest part of the run. The trail here is gravel, which I like since it's softer, but Brian isn't thrilled with for fast walking. I didn't run nearly as consistantly on this section but it wasn't terrible either. I had a harder time keeping pace and I blame that on the music and the fact that I wasn't sticking around near Brian as much as I had before.

When we hit 5.5 miles out we finished up the Gatorade, refueled (I had a pack of Clif Blocks) and bought water and a bottle of regular gatorade at WaWa. My legs felt good and I ran a pretty good portion of the way back too but I know I was stopping more and more. Once we got off the gravel and back on the paved section I could really feel the paved road pounding my legs and I totally wanted to stop running but watching Brian pull away kept me at it.

You can see the peaks and valleys of running but over all it was a pretty solid effort and one I think I'd be happy with in the real race. My fuel tank was still pretty full at the end and we shared a bottle of some strange protein drink I got at GNC on a whim. It was pretty tasty but I don't think my stomach liked it much. My legs feel great today though!

The whole thing took us about 4.5 hours and I think we covered about 18 miles -- maybe a little more but it was good enough in my book!

Next up: Broad Street Run!

Many many miles

I don't think we got to 20 but I'm sure we got past 17 -- probably more like 18 or 18.5.

It was a pretty good outing but right now I'm too tired to write about it. I also think that I've digested my dinner enough that I now have room for the chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream that is lurking in my freezer.

I RSVPed to all the events for dorky QVC weekend. I am officially a huge weirdo now.

Weekend of Parties

I bad news is that I didn't get in one second of exercise this weekend because I was at a wedding shower and a First Communion party. The good news is I'm taking a half day today to meet Brian and do our 20 mile long run. Hopefully we'll have time for the whole thing.

I was supposed to do a local 5k on Saturday morning but I just wanted to sleep late so that's what I did. I think it was probably a good decision.

In other news, I've been invited to a top secret "red carpet" event weekend at QVC Studio Park. I'm half horrified and half thrilled about it. It's all this lame "reception with the hosts" and back stage stuff but since QVC is so close I am very tempted to go. At least for the vendor show -- maybe I'll get free stuff? It says that the invitation is non-transferrable and that I can bring a guest with me. I'm not sure if I can bring multiple guests or only the same one. I'll have to have a lottery to see who gets to join me. My Mom and sister are candiates but I think that Brian's family is WAY more into QVC then mine and they would enjoy it far more.

Stay tuned for updates!

Running is really messing up my TV schedule!

There is no doubt that all these trips to Valley Forge have been good for me. It's very relaxing out there in the nice weather (as I did again last night -- although this time is was more walking than running.) but it's really wreaking havoc on my TV watching!

I haven't seen Top Chef or Survivor this week and I'd be adding Lost to that list too except I hear this week was just a clip show. Not to mention the pile of Netflix I have sitting on my DVD player that I am not watching. And don't forget about all the National Park shows I have taped from the Travel Channel. I don't know when I'm going to find the time to catch up -- and now we have hockey playoffs competing for TV time.

I have an 80 hour Tivo that's jam packed to the point where it's taping no more than one suggestion a day. I need a rainy day with nothing to do but watch TV.

Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon - I can't resist the medal

I just registered us for the Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. This will be the fourth time we're doing the race and every year we swear we're not going back!

They've released a photo of the 2006 medal, and like always, it's very cool. This isn't quite as awesome as the sun medal from a few years ago but it's still pretty snazzy.

VF Loop

Pre-run food: pineapple yogurt, half a gatorade
Hit the trail: 5:29

Walked first mile, stretched out, ran until big hill at 2.5. Walked hill, ran to water fountain, quick stop for a drink, then ran the rest of the route. It was great!

Back at the parking lot: 6:36
Total distance: about 5.5 miles

Best music: You Gotta Move by Aerosmith. Just perfect. It got me through a part where I usually walk without even considering stopping.

Coolest part of the run: the sun was in just the right place to have me looking at my shadow for most of the run. It made me look tall and skinny (and I'm neither) and watching my pony tail swing like a metronome helped me keep a good rhythm I think.

Countdowns

I don't have much to report so I thought I'd share the countdown list that is stored in my watch.

Broad Street Run 11 days
Delaware Marathon 25 days
Philadelphia Distance Run 144 days
Baltimore Half Marathon 171 days
NYC Marathon 193 days

*** 50 days until the NYC Lottery ***

I plan to hit the loop at VF tonight to run the loop.

Long Run - After the VF 5 mile run

So, after the 5-mile run, our master plan was to put up another 13 on the Perkiomen Trail in order to get in our 18 mile long run for the marathon. It didn't quite work out that way.

First of all, we got a really late start on part-two of the day because of all the time I spent blabbing with Char. We also had to revise our "one way" plan of leaving a car 13 miles away on the Perkiomen because the Weather Channel told us that we might have up to 3 inches of rain on Saturday and I wasn't too keen on running 10 miles on wet and muddy gravel. So we decided to do an out and back that would give us 10 miles plus the race. We figured 15 was probably enough plus we could always run past the car to throw in some more miles. Can you tell where this is going, yet?

We set off on the Perkiomen and everything was great, we were planning on running out to the 2.5 mile marker on the Perkiomen (which was partly on gravel and would give us the 10 mile round trip when added to the VF trail) but as I approached the 2.0 mile mark it was getting colder, the sky was getting darker and it was a little more windy. I suggested turning around because I didn't want to be running away from the car when the weather turned bad and it really looked like it was going to. Plus, we'd heard a rumor about storms with hail and I didn't want to be stuck in that with no hope of shelter. So, we turned it at the 2.0 mile marker and headed back to the car. It did sort of rain/mist/drizzle on us but nothing major and certainly no hail but it wasn't a very nice time to be outside.

I had a really solid outing for the first half and pretty strong for the second half but I fell apart a little in the last 1.5 miles. I wasn't pushing myself like I should have and walked far more than I should have. The good news is that I felt pretty good the whole way. I could still run towards the end and had no pain. My fuel gauge was good. If it had been marathon day, I certainly could have continued without being completely demoralized. Still, when it came time to decide about adding on the extra miles, I opted not to. We called it a day with 14 miles total.

Other things I learned: peanut chews are pretty good fuel, orange cream Clif Shots are repulsive, and Lose Yourself is seriously the best paceing song ever. I might have to just listen to that on repeat for the entire marathon.

1st Annual Valley Forge Revolutionary Run (5 miles)

Sunday morning was gray and damp and chilly but not raining so that was a really good thing. We made it to the park just in the nick-of-time and got to the start of the race with about 5 minutes to spare and that was mostly because the race was slightly delayed! I thought having a race close to home would be good but we were still pretty late.

The race itself was great. Mostly along the loop I'm familiar with running but it takes a slight detour around Wayne's Woods and therefore adds one pretty nasty hill to the loop. I did my best to run the whole way and with the execption of the two killer hills I kept it moving the whole time. Clock time: 54:15 and my watch time is 53:01. I'm really happy with both times - I was hoping for 11 minutes or under and I did that, so I'm really glad. I was well fueled and I felt great for the entire time.

I liked the race overall. Parking wasn't a hassle as I had anticipated, the shirt was a surprise (royal blue performance fabric) and the food afterwards was great: lots and lots of PEANUT CHEWS! The only flaw was that the "expo" tent was super crowded but they can maybe fix that next year or I'll be faster and get more of a head start into the tent. They didn't run out of anything though, so that's good. We also ran into my long-lost-friend Char so that was awesome. Our running store guy came in 3rd over all.

I can't wait until next year to do this one again. I think I'll see if I can try to practice on that big hill before next spring. I would be so excited if I could make it through the full loop without any walking. Someday.

VF Loop Again! How boring!

Valley Forge really is the easiest place for us to meet. Too bad it's so boring to do the same thing every night. I guess it's good to compare how I feel though under such controlled circumstances.

Tonight's run was OK. The weather was great but I guess my fuel wasn't as good because this was more difficult than the last two outings here. Sportbrain gives running distance of 4.1 avg. speed 4.9 and running pace 9:42. Again a total scam because of the downhills.

Speaking of downhills, I find that my "core" muscles hurt by the end of this loop but only on the downhill section at the end. What's even more strange is that they hurt depending on what pants I'm wearing! Isn't that bizarre! If I'm wearing tights, like under armour or something, that are stretchy and supportive, no pain. Regular shorts -- OUCH! I have to like, hold my guts in on that last downhill section. It's just bizarre and kind of embarassing to realize that I need a girdle when I run.

I got my cool "will power" shirt that I hope to wear at the marathon. I might try it out on the long run this weekend. It seems really stiff so I hope it's more comfy once I wear it.

I suppose that's all the news. The weather is supposed to stink this weekend but I hope it's dry enough so we can get in the long run without too much misery.

Valley Forge Loop

Brian and I met at VF last night. The weather is so awesome these days it's really pretty easy to get out there and workout.

I started out slow and stuck with him through the first three miles (this included stretching and a water break) and then suddenly I got a burst of energy and pulled ahead. I did as much running as possible and felt really good the whole way.

Sportbrain gave me running distance of 4.3, running pace 9:43. (Very generous and I guess it's from the downhills!). That's an improvement over the last run at VF which gave me 4.2 running and a 10:05 pace.

I'm curious how I'll be able to perform on the slightly different course at the run on Sunday.

Clean Air 5K + lots more miles...

Saturday morning we went down to MLK Drive to do the Clean Air 5K. I had a pretty lousy performance but it was a great race anyway.

We were running late and I forgot to grab the Oatmea-to-go that I was planning on eating for breakfast so I had to settle for an Hooah bar instead. (yuck!) We got there just in the nick of time but did manage to line up about 30 seconds before the gun went off. It was unusually hot and humid for 9am in April but it was still a gorgeous day. I went out too fast, finished the first mile in 10 minutes, took the next mile to try to slow myself down and then tried (but failed!) to run in the last mile. I finished in 34:40 chip time, which is not my best but not my worst. I should have been able to do better than that but it was still fun.

The post race food was awesome! I didn't eat a whole lot of it, which was stupid of me, but they had lots to choose from. Bagels, donuts, fresh fruit (apples & oranges), yogurt, yogurt smoothies, ICE CREAM, salads, energy bars, coffee and iced coffee. There was more, I'm sure. They also had great booths and samples of stuff and even free massages. Excellent raffles too, although we didn't win anything.

After the race we had to do our long miles for the marathon. We walked back to the car to get our supplies (about a mile away from the Kelly Drive loop) and then came back to the loop. We checked out the new Schuykill Banks trail and then did the Kelly Drive loop. With that plus the 5K and the trips back and forth to the car, we figured we did a little more than the 16 miles required for our training plan. Unfortunately, I had a very bad day and could barely run at all during the long run. I think at first the problem was bad fuel to start with but my bad attitude took over and I wound up just walking 90% of the distance. WIMP!

Valley Forge Loop - 5.5 miles

I met Brian at the loop after work last nigth. It was the first time we've met this spring and it was awesome. I think we need to do make the post-work workout a priority. The only bad thing is that we didn't spend much of the time together since our paces aren't as similar as they once were. Oh well!

I'm so happy with how I'm getting better at tackling the hills at Valley Forge. I used to hardly be able to run any of the hills but now there is only one that totally shuts me down. I ran almost the whole loop tonight at a pace good enough that Brian never caught up to me and that's awesome for me. I didn't time it but I know it was one of my better workouts.

Catching Up on 2006

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've posted anything here and things have changed.

First of all, the Car-A-Mile marathon got cancelled and I signed up for the Delaware Marathon in it's place. That's coming up quickly: May 21. I'm so not ready for it, but that's pretty typical!

I've signed up for the Love the Half National Challenge where I need to do at least six half-marathon (or longer) races in order to win cool prizes. So far, I've done two races: Caesar Rodney 1/2 in Wilmington and the MORE half marathon in New York. Both of those were pretty good. I had a PR at Caesar despite rain and hills and I wasn't so far off that pace in New York. I really am not a fan of those hills.

I entered the lottery for the New York Marathon! I find out in mid-June if I get into that race and if so, I'm going. If I don't get in I'll probably do the Philadelphia marathon. I need to do a fall marathon to fulfill Love the Half, so that's the logical choice, especially if I do PhillyFit again this year.

I've given up on the Goofy Challenge for 2007 in favor of going to Rock N' roll Arizona with my sister.

I have a busy race schedule coming up too! Check the side bar for details!

Two runs this weekend

We had a pretty good weekend. My sister ran the NYC marathon. (She said it was fabulous and that everybody should run this race at least once.) I went for a run myself on Saturday for about 4 miles, then gave blood and did my good deed for the weekend.

On Sunday, Brian and I went to Valley Forge to cover the extended 7-mile loop. We ran the beginning and end and walked on the river trail portion. That was pretty good for me considering the Saturday run and the blood donation. I felt good and was a little worried that my legs would hurt today but they didn't. Yay!

I posted most of the Utah pictures up on Winkflash. There are a lot of them and the best ones are not even there because they're panoramic and don't show to best advantage at this website. However, these guys did really nice prints from Hawaii and they are cheap so that's where the photos live for now. Click here to check out the long slide show. Click here to see me & Brian posing like dorks on a rock in the middle of the Virgin River trying to take our self portait with the camera on a tripod.

Hills Hills Hills

I just checked the Car-A-Mile page, as I do 400 times a day, to see if there were any updates. Today there was! They've posted a course map and an altitude profile. As you can see, it's hilly. UGH!

The good news is that one of the best places to run around here is Valley Forge which is also full of hills. I guess I'll have to force myself to run on the hilly loop instead of on flat trails so I'll be ready.

All my other races have been like pancakes. This should be interesting indeed!

Ironman

I set my Tivo to tape anything related to Ironman Triathlons. It's awesome! The people who do these events are just amazing. I have no interest in ever doing such an event but I do love to watch them on TV.

What I find most amazing is that the race is so hard that even the pros walk and DNF and just struggle with it like the regular people do. You don't often get to see that.

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!

Random Stuff

I have been brainwashed by the breast cancer people. I almost bought these pants last night but didn't want to wait in a long line at the store so I didn't. But I can't stop thinking about them and I think I need to go buy them at lunch time. [They are breast cancer awareness jeans -- mostly they are just regular jeans with a pink design on the pockets and a cute belt and they give money to Susan G. Komen if you buy them.]

I need to get my treadmill fixed. I haven't run since the PDR and I actually kind of miss it. I don't think I'll be running until after Utah though just because I won't have time to do it.

I can't wait until Utah! We leave next Saturday!

This weekend I'm doing a trail walk or hike or something. It's a guided hike on a mostly flat trail so it might be really annoying but Brian & I figure it will be a good way to spend time outside on a different trail than we usually use and if we hate it we can just ditch the gang and take off on our own. They offer 21, 11, 7 and 4 mile options and I think we're doing the 7/11 hike. I don't think I have 21 in me this weekend!

The 3-Day: the last day

The final walk of the 3-day was short in comparison to the other two. About 14 miles. Unfortunately for the people with sore feet, knees, etc. there were lots of hills.

The last day is really different because they have a special closing ceremony and they hold all the walkers in a special holding area about a quarter mile from the real finish area until the ceremony is supposed to begin. This is good because it forces the faster people to slow down and take in the atmosphere. I tried to stay in the middle of the pack on the final day and I saw a completely different scene than at the front. It was still great, but lots more crowded and that meant a less pleasnt time at the pit-stops and more crowding on the route. But it also meant more people to talk to and more rowdy crowds. All in all though, I prefer the front.

The whole ending of the weekend was pretty cool. Approaching the final section of the walk the streets are lined with walkers who have finished, friends & family, and crew people who are screaming and clapping and cheering while music blares. You can hear them well before you see them and it's more dramatic than any race finish line I've experienced. I think this must be what it's like to be on the red-carpet. Once you finish you get your cool "victory" shirt. These are blue for walkers, pink for Survivors and white for crew people. They're very nice.

After all the walkers have come in for the day. They send the spectators up to the stage and separate the particpants into three groups: walkers, crew, and Survivors. Then we proceed into the closing area (through more throngs of cheering fans) where they put us all into concentric circles -- walkers on outside and then when we're all in there the crew comes in to be applauded by us. And boy, was the cheering for the crew amazing. I actually felt the ground shake. And they deserved every second of it. They really are amazing and they spend four days doing it and get less rest than us. They were great. Lastly, the survivors make it into the innermost ring and raise up the 3-Day flag. [Actually, they raise a blank flag symbolizing a world where there is no cancer and thus no need for the 3-Day. Nice sentiment, but I think they should use the regular flag.]

Anyway, during this final section a whisper went through the crowd telling us that the 3-Day tradition is to remove one shoe and hold it above your head in tribute to the Survivors. Let me tell you, it's pretty hilarious to see thousands of stiff, sore people trying to bend over in a tightly packed corral to remove a sneaker from a blistered foot. However, the sneaker salute was very neat. At least to the walkers, I'm not sure what anybody else thought of it. Later I noticed that the picture on our victory t-shirt is of three walkers holding up their shoes.

You might also notice in the photo that the person in the center is a man. I was surprised to see so many men walking. They were treated like extra-special heros but there were plenty of them there. I think they should market more to men because all the guys I talked to expressed a reluctance to particpate but were all glad that they had decided to do it. So tell all the guys out there -- come and walk!

My last words on this [finally!] are that it was an excellent experience, very well run, and something that I think you should do if you're even slightly interested.

The 3-Day: Camp Two + THE ESCAPE

So things at camp on Day Two were good! My friend Lisa, who was working on crew, met me at the finish for the day and took pictures and it was really fun. Plus, I still felt great after 40+ miles. Life was good, and hanging at the camp with Brian and my sister who visited was really fun too. I was glad they got to see what it was like and take it all in.

As the day wore on and the last walker made it back to camp and raised the 3-Day flag [see photo -- they make a big fuss over the last person to make it back] my exhaustion started to kick in. I was beat -- so you can imagine just how thrilled I was when they announced that in the morning of Day Three they'd be taking us by bus to Chestnut Hill College. Awesome! My sister, who was still at camp, lives across the street from the college! And that meant that I didn't have to sleep in the tent!!! I'd get a real bed and a real bathroom and that I could sleep late on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the 3-Day folks make a big deal of scanning the walkers in and out of camp each day so they know everybody is safe and sound. When I asked about how to make that happen even though I was leaving the camp they told me it couldn't be done.

So I escaped. I packed up my tent and my duffel bag and snuck out of camp. We did recon at the college to make sure we could find the pit stop and route markers for the next day and then I hit the sack.

Check out my fugitive picture -- that's me leaving my hide out and making my way back to the route on Sunday morning.

The 3-Day: Overnight + Day Two

I enjoyed "camping" quite a lot. [Did you check out my huge puffy air mattress? I was completely not roughing it!] It's fun to be surrounded by people who are totally immersed in the same thing as you are, all obsessed with the walk, the aches and pains, etc. I was also amazed at seeing the people hobbling around camp, bandaged and hurting and how they were all still planning on heading out on Day 2. I still felt great at this point -- a little stiff maybe but good. Some of these folks were wiped out.

Anyway, I was in bed by 9, asleep by 9:05. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of tarps flapping wildly in the breeze. I found my trusty headlamp and wandered to the porta-potty (although there was so much moonlight I hardly needed the light) and made it back to bed in one piece. I was up at 5 to start the day with a totally huge and awesome breakfast [eggs, hash browns, biscuts, bacon, oatmeal!]. Seriously, they feed you like you would not believe at this thing.

I packed up the tent and was out on the road by about 7:20. We had 19.5 miles on tap this morning so I was glad to see that the weather had changed and it was a lot cooler on day 2.

Day 2 was cool because I was passing through a lot of familiar territory. My huband's hometown, my sister-in-laws neighborhood, my old office park to name a few. I called the family and tried to help them figure out how to meet me for lunch. The 3-Day folks never really give up too much info on the route but I knew which mile would be our lunch stop (13.1) and where the nearest "cheering station was" (13.1) so I told them to get a map and find a park in the vicinity and come find me for lunch.

I got to lunch, and was right at home -- the theme was NERDapolooza! Brian and my sister were at lunch and my Mom was up at the cheering station a few miles later. Amazingly, after 33 miles and change I still felt great. Thanks to a couple Spenco second skin squares on my heel hot spot my feet felt great, and so did my legs. Right about now was when I started to regret not signing up for Disney's Goofy Challenge.

Brian walked with me for about 3 or 4 miles and I got back to camp in the front of the pack again. He met me back at camp, helped set up my tent and then took off while I got in line for the shower. This time things weren't going as smoothly because they had trouble finding a level spot for the shower trucks and they opened late. How dare they?!

The 3-Day: Camp One

I hobbled into camp the first night and made my way to the gear truck to pick up my stuff and my tent. I have no idea at all what to do with a tent or how to put one up but luckily the nice crew guys were there to help all of us do the tents.

After setting up the tent and my air mattress I collected my clean towels and went to the shower truck. The hot showers are an awesome feature -- I really can't imagine this without the showers. Since I was in the front of the pack I didn't even have to wait in a line, I just walked right in. Fabulous!

So, now I'm clean and my bed is all set up. It was time to explore the camp. It's really pretty impressive. They have the whole tent city, a giant dining hall with tables and a stage for entertainment, plus a medical tent, a 3-day merchandise tent, and a place to hang out and relax and read and just chill out. It's pretty cool.

The 3-Day, Day One - I don't think I'm going to like this

I left for the 3-Day on Thursday night. Walkers were supposed to report to Sesame Place no later than 6am on Friday morning and since I am not a morning person AT ALL I thought it would be best to stay at a nearby hotel. In the morning I waited in the hotel lobby by myself surrounded by packs of women decked out in pink gear who were all eager to get started. This made me kind of sad that I was alone and I was worried that this was going to be a long, miserable weekend.

Getting to Sesame Place, still in the dark, I dropped off my gear and was handed a pack of Mike & Ikes by the cheery crew guy who collected my bag. This was indicative of things to come: really nice crew people and free food! I made my way to the stage and waited, nervously for the next hour or so until the sun came up and the ceremony to start the walk began. In the meantime more and more packs of women crowded the area. Some of them were actually wearing fake styrofoam boobs on their heads. Many of them were chanting annoying boob-themed cadence chants and singing boob-themed songs. I thought to myself that if this kept up I wouldn't make it through even one day.

The ceremony was nice, a series of people talking about why they walked and coming to the conclusion that we all walk because we believe in a future without breast cancer. [For the record, over 400,000 people die each year from breast cancer. Every 3 minutes a new person is diagnosed. Every 13 minutes somebody dies. That's a lot of people.] I have to say, it was a total tear jerker of a presentation especially when lots of people around me started bawling I guess because they were remembering the people they knew who had died. I felt kind of like an interloper because I have no connection to the disease. (Thank goodness!) They also told us that Philadelphia had about 2000 walkers who raised 6 million dollars. Nice work!

Finally, about 7:15 we got started. We left the staging area and headed out onto the course -- and the whole first section was lined on both sides by cheering, clapping crew members who were handing out high fives and 3-day bandannas. (more free stuff!) It was very uplifting and fun.

The first day of walking covered 23 miles between Langhorne and Warminster. We walked through a couple of beautiful parks, and some cute towns. Spectators were few and far between except for the designated cheering stations but there were some notable exceptions like the lady in the Yellow car who kept popping up and telling us we should feel "damn good" about what we were doing and the nice lady in Newtown who set out snacks and opened up her house to the walkers so they could use her bathroom. This is a huge deal -- all we do the whole time is go to the bathroom. Porta-potties on the horizon cause the crowd of walkers to cheer with excitement. It's crazy -- but they push water and gatorade on you constantly so pretty much all the time you are scrambling for a bathoom.

I felt great all day, even towards the end when the sun beat down on us and things got a little more difficult. But over all the day went smoothly. It was so different from marathons where it's all about pushing hard and going as fast as you can. Here it was about making friends, and talking, and stopping to stretch and eat and relax every 3 miles or so.

At every pit stop along the way, the crew would wear costumes and play themed music as they provided food (string cheese, peanut butter and bagels, raisins, bananas, crackers, chips, pretzels, Pria bars) and bathrooms, and medical attention and of course STICKERS! How nerdy am I that I liked getting stickers more than just about anything?

I was back at camp around 4:00 and was one of the first hundred people to make it back. More on camping later.....

It was great!

The 3-Day is over and it was awesome. I highly recommend this event -- if you're considering it even a little bit I think you should do it. It's fun, and well run, and for a good cause.

I was going to post some pictures but blogger seems to be going a little crazy today so that will have to wait. Booooo.

Packing

Oh my god! The packing was TERRIBLE!

There is a 35 pound limit on the stuff you can lug to the 3-Day. That does not scare me after the 30 pound seaplane limit from our trip to St. Croix.

What I hadn't counted on was how difficult it would be to wedge everything I needed plus an air matress (yeah, I'm bringing a matress, I'm a big wimp) and a sleeping bag into one duffel bag. I had to move from the one I was planning to bring to a different larger one. Thank goodness I had that option. Right now it's about to pop open and explode everywhere. Tonight, after I get to the hotel, I'm going to unpack and try to put everything in there in a more coherent way. Right now it's just all wedged in however I could make it fit.

It's so funny -- after I get to the hotel I need to take off all my work clothes and get into my pjs so I can send all the dirty clothes/shoes home with Brian. I also need to send home my handbag and everyother extra thing I have on me today so that it won't clutter my 3-day bag. This is so crazy.

The weather seems like it will be OK. Cool on Saturday -- a high of 73? -- but mostly dry. At least I hope so.

I'm trying to hook up with my team but so far not much luck. Keep your fingers crossed there will be no rain and some cool people.

These 3-Day people really know what they're doing...

So, my last post was all about feeling panic over the weekend. Then I open my e-mail and find a link to a short movie from the 3-Day people. It's just scrolling text with dramatic movie soundtrack music playing. Here's what it said:

WELCOME TO THE 2005 3-DAY

You’re about to join in a bold experiment.

An experiment with a goal no less than to rid the world of breast cancer.

It’s hard to imagine a challenge so great could begin with something as
simple as tying your shoes.

Something you do every day.

Soon, you’ll tie your shoes with a courageous purpose in mind:
to change the world.

We’ll have a big advantage. Because there will be an awful lot of tied shoes out there.

And they’ll all be headed in the same direction.

Toward the same goal.

Some will walk fast. Others slow.

Groups will fall in step, while others will keep their own rhythm.

You will find that some shoes are old. Some brand-new.
And that they come in different sizes. And shapes. And colors.

None, we hope, will have high heels.

As you were tying your shoes this morning, maybe you were thinking about all the things you need to pack. You know, an extra pair of socks, sun block, maybe a picture of the kids.

Now that you’re reading this, you probably just thought of something else.

There will always be something else.

Don’t worry.

You’ll be okay.

The most important thing to bring to the 3-Day is something you can’t forget.

You always have it. You just have to remember to share it.

Kindness.

Kindness is like water. Everyone needs it.

Some more than others. Some times more than others.

For at least three days, let’s try to give out more kindness than we ever have before.

Don’t be afraid to tell someone if their shoes need tying.

Reach out to your fellow walkers, in hand and in heart.

Give a crew person the hug they so richly deserve.

If you find yourself in camp early try setting up a tent…for someone you don’t even know.

You’ll find, kindness is contagious.

Kindness makes everything better.

Even sore feet. Even using porta-potties.

Which is good. Because the 3-Day isn’t easy.

It’s a long road.

Soon, it will begin to move beneath your feet.

It will be the start of something big.

Something bold and challenging.

Walking 60 miles in three days. That definitely falls into the “big” category.

That’s what sets you – and the 3-Day – apart.

The little voice inside your head that said, “What is the most I can do?”

That’s the stuff this world could use more of.

This adventure will begin with a single step for each of us.

It will reach out for generations to come.

Galvanized by purpose and guided by the irrepressible light of hope, we are taking a stand against breast cancer. Working together,we have the power to do the most extraordinary things.

Know that our boldness will bring about change.

Lives will be saved.

Hope for humanity will take a giant step forward.

And just think, it all starts with the simple act of tying your shoes.

See you on Friday with your walking shoes on!

Now I wish it was starting tommorow.

Total Panic is Setting In...

I went to Target the other night to pick up a cheapie air-matress with a battery pump so I won't have to sleep on the ground at the 3-Day and I had to buy one that came in a completely mutilated box because it was the only one left and there was a woman there about to pounce on it. I had to beat her to it. I'm sure she was looking for a 3-Day bed too because this chick looked even less like a camper than me!

Anyway, I got that, some rain gear, a travel alarm clock, some tarp type things and as I'm lugging it all home I am realizing what a crazy adventure this is going to be. My friend who came up with this whole 3-Day scheme has dropped off the face of the earth (she's totally hiding from me because I guess she decided not to do the event and can't bring herself to admit it) so I am heading into this on my own.

I've never camped before and I've never done an event bigger than a 5K on my own before. I don't think I've ever spent 3 full days alone before. Ok, so I won't really be alone since there are about 3000 people doing this event, but I don't actually KNOW any of them. I've never slept outside or in a tent. I'm kind of grateful that my friend is bailing because I think that might mean I get my own tent. That will be good because I don't think I'd like a total stranger snoring and whining about her blisters in my tent with me.

Tonight I have to go home and figure out exactly what I'm bringing and how to pack it correctly. I guess if I forget something it won't matter since I can just buy it or call Brian to come and deliver it to me but even that is tricky since they aren't even telling us where we're going to be on any given day. It's a total mystery adventure!

I've been checking the weather constantly. Right now the Weather Channel is giving all three days a fitness index of 8 which is quite nice. Unfortunately, there is a 30% chance of rain every day. It better not rain. I just hate rain -- luckily I bought my 89 cent emergency ponchos from Target. They wont' keep my feet dry but there is no way I'm dorky enough to wear those totally nerdy "sloggers" [think totes galoshes for sneakers]. I'd rather have blisters.

I picked up another possibly interesting thing at Target -- a one time use digital camera. If that works out maybe I'll actually post some pictures of this event!

Philadelphia Distance Run 1/2 marathon

Sunday morning was the Philadelphia Distance Run - a half marathon race around Philadelphia. There were about 10,000 runners signed up to run on Sunday and it was a great day for a race.

I wasn't sure how to approach this because I had run a new PR two weeks ago at Virginia Beach and I'm doing the Breast Cancer 3-day this weekend so I wasn't sure what my legs were ready for on Sunday. I decided to just let my body do the talking and kind of wing it and not care about my performance. If I wound up walking the whole time, so be it. Just make sure to have no injury or sore spots for the 3-day.

I got into my corral (one ahead of Brian) before the start and spotted my most hated race nemesis who I always see at the big local events. So much for walking at the start -- I need to get in front of the nemesis and stay there! Before the gun went off I decided to try something new and I ate a gel before we started. I thought this might help to counter the mile 11 bonk effect I felt at Virginia Beach.

The first two miles feel good, if a little warm. They made me worry that the day would heat up and be tough but luckily that never happened! Between miles 2 and 3 things were pretty lively as a guy was leading the E-A-G-L-E-S cheer over and over again as he ran. With the echo coming off the buildings that was pretty fun. I think that kind of wiped him out though because he faded as we made the turn onto the parkway and I never saw him again.

I made it to the 5 mile mark near the Art Museum before the winners finished the race so that was a minor accomplishment for me! Yay! At this stage, I'd been running the whole time except at the water stops. I felt really good and I was a couple minutes ahead of my Virginia Beach pace. Yay again! I ate my second gel at this point.

The stretch along West River Drive (now Martin Luther King Drive) was pretty good, I started more of a run walk along here but it was still mostly running. Brian caught me close to the 7 mile marker and while he acknowledged that he was probably going too fast, he felt good and wanted to maintain his pace. I let him go, knowing that it really wasn't worth it to me to push things any harder than I was.

Just past mile 8 there was a Power Gel station and here is where I nearly met my doom. I stopped streatch a little while I ate the gel and made sure that I had enough water to wash it down and that stop could have been bad. My IT band, which had been silent to that point, suddenly freaked out and hurt like hell. It even hurt as I walked, and that NEVER happens to me. I kind of freaked. I got off the road and started to walk on the grass which was a little softer and stopped a couple times to stretch it out. Back on the road, I decided to try running again and since it hurt equally to run and walk I decided to keep on running. We crossed the bridge onto Kelly Drive and by the next mile marker I had forgotten the pain. (For now anyway)

The rest of the race was total run walk and I was still pretty far ahead of pace from VA Beach. At Boathouse Row, which was past the 12 mile marker, I saw that if I really pushed it I could probably break 2:30 but my knee was hurting and I was a little scared of hurting myself for the 3-Day so I just maintained the status quo and finished in 2:31 and change.

I was really happy! That's about a 3 and a half minute improvement over Virginia Beach. I also managed to beat the race nemesis by quite a lot -- like 40 minutes.

The medal they gave out at the PDR was excellent! A very cool replica of the LIberty Bell. It may be my coolest medal ever. Anyway, I was pleased to see that Brian had finished ahead of me and was waiting at the line for me. He managed a totally awesome 2:25 finish! Amazing! now I have a goal for 2006 -- to beat his 2:25 time!

The race was really good and fun and when it was over I got to meet Deena Kastor, the Olympic Medalist and winner of the race. She set the American Record on the road on Saturday and she hung out and was signing race bibs and medals. It was very cool.

So here we are on Tuesday and my legs are in good shape and I'm trying to get in the right frame of mind for the weekend. I'm a nervous wreck, that's for sure.

Urban Challenge - Lexington

Wow! What fun!

My sister and I, UC team Walk Don't Run, helped out Team Ski Bums from Cincinatti at the UC in Lexington, KY today. This was an adventure since we don't actually know the Ski Bums except from an online message group of Urban Challenge people.

They were getting clue support from thier normal clue solver & a member of another team that they are friendly with but asked us if we'd be willing to help a little and since we were really sad that we weren't going to Lexington ourselves we were glad to help. We were nervous wrecks but everything turned out great!

The whole point of UC is to solve clues that lead you to 12 checkpoints around a city where you need to get your picture taken. You don't know if you're right until you've handed in your camera at the end of the day. You also have to get to the checkpoints on foot or using public transportation only. So, it's a foot race for thinkers.

Anyway, it appears that we didn't not hinder the Ski Bums as they managed to come in a solid 4th in the race. We were thrilled! It was so fun and now I really, really can't wait for the National Championship in Phoenix.

Urban Challenge is so awesome. I hope this isn't the last year for it.

Awesome races!

I haven't been thinking about the PDR so much because I am completely obsessed with two alternative races.

The first one is the Urban Challenge in Lexington, KY. I'm not actually running this race but I am going to help another team who will be on the ground running. This is rather nerve wracking because I don't know the team I'm helping except from talking to them online. They asked if my team would be willing to help them & their other online brains at the race. Since I'm dying to take part in the UC in any capacity this year, I said of course. But now I feel like I have to really be good at helping or they'll hate us for ruining their event.

I'm also completely distracted by thinking about a half-marathon that isn't even going to happen until this time next year. I got a secret e-mail from WDW Endurance detailing the new Disneyland Half Marathon that they'll be holding next September. Registration opens October 15 but the secret e-mail said previous WDW runners (I've done the Disney marathon twice) will get first crack at registration before it opens to the general public. The race is going to go through both California parks and other parts of Anaheim. I've never been out there and I don't anticipate ever scheduling a trip to Disneyland just on it's own merits, so this seems like the perfect reason to get out there. Plus, they say that the medal is going to be shaped like the castle. How awesome is that?

The Disney marketers have me hook, line and sinker. Special new medal, secret way to register, and all that jazz. I can't wait to hand over my money.

In the meantime I have a little thing like this weekend's half to think about not to mention next weekend's 60 miles.

Yay! A new PR

I really stink at this blog thing.

My training has been lousy and my posting even worse.

The good news is that we went to Virginia Beach, despite our concern over the Hurricane disaster/gasoline shortages, and we had a gorgeous weekend at the beach and a great race.

Brian & I both set PRs on the course and my sister had a pretty good time too even though she swore she was going to take four hours to complete the course (more like 2:50).

My main goal for the race was to do it at a 12 minute per mile pace or faster which would have me finishing at 2:36 or better. My stretch goal was to finish in 2:30 (11:30 pace or so). I think that I could do that if I had a perfect day.

Sunday morning was perfect for racing -- slightly cool, low humidity. Just a gorgeous day. The wave start SUCKED. I hated it completely. We were trapped for 25 minutes before they let us cross the starting line. Usually it takes me less than 10. I understand how they didn't want to crowd the faster runners I guess but this seemed really horrible. I think I wouldn't have minded the delay so much if they didn't force us to stand smooshed together in the corral for all that time -- let us get in there later. I could certainly have used another porta-potty stop if I'd know I'd be trapped for all that time. Anyway, I hated the delayed start and I found the entire race to be far more crowded than ever before. I don't know if that's because I was faster doing the race or what but overall I really, really disliked the wave start.

The 2:30 pace group was in my corral with me so I decided to see if I could hang with them and hit my stretch goal. I was OK and right with them, or even slightly faster than them until the 5K mark when for some reason the road was smoky and smelled like BBQ. I slowed down in the smoky section and never quite got back on pace with the group.

I walked through water stops and found myself mostly running but taking the occasional walk break for the next several miles. I was planning on walking in Camp Pendleton because it's normally really hot in that section of the course and I thought it would be easier to walk there but it turned out to be nice and cool so I kept running. I did walk up the bridge around mile 8.

At the loop onto Atlantic Avenue I realized that I had passed my sister somewhere along the course and that made me happy because I knew she started ahead of me. Still, I was starting to lose some steam.

Brian caught up to me at about mile 10, right before the turn onto the Boardwalk. I was really glad to see him because I was tired and I thought he'd give me a boost and also because I was excited that he was having a really good race! His plan was to take it easy for the first 5 miles and then if he was feeling good he'd turn it up for the rest of the race. He didn't think he had a great time in him this year since he really hadn't done any fast walking leading up to the race. Anyway, he obviously was doing great and he easily turned on his turbo boost on the boardwalk and left me behind.

It was amazing that I had no juice at all to propel me to follow him. He went and I just couldn't make myself go after him. Very frustrating! I felt good in my brain and I was in no pain or anything but I just had no energy. I did the gels in the normal way but I think I must not have had enough breakfast or something because I just had nothing left. I walked almost the whole mile between 11 and 12 I bet. At the last water stop I doused myself with cold water and ran the rest of the way to the finish line. The cold wet shirt really helped me hang in there for that last stretch.

Anyway, my final time was 2:34:50 which I am just thrilled with. Maybe I can hit the 2:30 at the PDR in another week.

Brian finished in 2:34:15 so he's still the family champ.

Tuesday Run - 4 miles (3 run, 1 walk)

We've been having amazing weather this week. Nice and cool, low humidity, just about perfect.

I went to the park after work to run and I had a really good outing. I ran 3 miles along the river at an 11:00 pace and then walked the last mile back to the car drinking my water. It was a good run, not too hard, not too easy.

I'm getting really excited for Virginia Beach - it's only 11 days away!

This weekend I have to walk 18 miles to get ready for the 3-Day. I'm actually looking forward to it. How crazy is that?

As you can tell, I've pretty much given up on PhillyFit. I shouldn't have because it's a good program and I think it would be great for me if my only goal was the marathon but this summer it's just not quite the right thing for me because my focus is different from the groups.

On top of that, I've about had it with getting up early to workout. I need my sleep and I just don't get it with that organized running group.

Weekend at the Shore

Brian & I headed down the shore this past weekend. It was great -- fabulous weather and very relaxing but it didn't do much for my training schedule, that's for sure.

Saturday we walked a little on the beach and then later to pick up dinner. Strolled is more like it for both outings but the total miles was probably around 4.

Sunday we went for a real "fitness" walk and it was good. The weather was hot, and pretty humid, but nothing a little Gatorade and a cold bottle of water couldn't cure. I think the walk only covered 5 miles or so but it felt good. I met a couple other 3-Day walkers who were finishing up 18 miles when I saw them and another woman stopped me to say she was a Stage III survivor and that she appreciated the efforts of the walkers. That was nice.

I wore my Supernovas because I didn't want to risk getting sand in my Asics. I can't believe I've worn them for so long because they totally suck compared to the Asics. I even got a blister! On a 5 mile walk!! What's up with that? I actually am very puzzled by the blister -- it's between my 3rd & 4th toes, a place I've never had a problem before. I think there must have been an odd string in my sock or something.

Inside and Outside

Last night was just beautiful! Not too hot, not too humid and with a nice breeze. I went to the park after work and ran about 3 miles and then headed home to tinker with the treadmill.

It's still not perfect but I did get it to a point where I could run a whole mile on it without fearing for my life. That's good because the thought of not having access to the treadmill spelled doom for my training plans and my waistline.

I ran outside without music or anything and it was good. I think my pace was as crazy as always but I never felt too bad. I started off walking, ran once I felt warmed up. I ran the second mile in 10:15, which is really fast for me, so at the 2 mile marker I started to walk and took a quick drink. I finished up running and overall I was pleased with it. I haven't run since last Thursday so I really needed this. If the weather holds up I might try to do the same thing tonight.

It's fixed! (I hope)

My treadmill was all messed up this weekend. SOmehow the belt went crazy and was scary to walk on at even the slowest speed. Running was out of the question.

yesterday I read online that you should turn it on and let it run by itself for as long as your normal workout or even longer. I did that and while it's not 100% it's a heck of a lot closer than it was and it's probably usable. At least I'm considering using it for a 30-minute run tonight when yesterday I wouldn't have dreamed of such a thing.

I walked somewhere between 9-10 miles on Sunday morning but that was my only workout of the week and it wasn't a high intensity thing at all. I need to get some miles in today even if I have to do it outside and since it's raining right now that's not looking promising.

I've realized that the 3-Day is looming and that I need to do a 15-20 mile walk either this weekend or next. I'm not sure how that's going to work with the weather and going to the shore (hopefully) but it really needs to happen or I'm going to be one of the 3-Day wimps I've been mocking.

Virginia Beach is only 19 days away. My current plan is to wear a 12:00 pace band and maybe one a little faster. I'll be OK with the 12:00 pace finish but I'd love to do better. I'm not sure that my training will allow much better than that though, especially if it's hot.

Sunday Run/Walk - 5 miles

We were shooting for 8 miles today but only did 5. Same concept as Saturday but our hearts weren't in it, it was more humid and there was a park ranger in a souped up golf cart-ish thing on the trail spewing smelly exhaust that just made the whole ordeal very unpleasant. We turned around to get rid of the ranger and then I wimped out at the car instead of pushing for the extra 3 miles.

Saturday Run/Walk - 9 miles

Well the alarming trend continues. I blew off my early morning group run to sleep in. I haven't been feeling well and the sleep seems to be somewhat beneficial to me.

After spending the morning catching up on chores Brian & I hit the trail in the late afternoon. We were on the Perkiomen on a part of the trail that's beyond where we usually walk. It was gravel and shaded so it was good. The heat and humidity weren't too bad so this ended up being a decent day out.

We started out slowly just getting into things but a little less than halfway into things we stepped up the pace and Brian started his fast walking and I started my running. It wasn't fast, somewhere between 11:44 and 12:00 per mile but it was plenty for my LSD and I'll be content if I can maintain this speed at either/both of the half marathons. All told, we did about 9 miles and I'd guess 6 of them were running miles.

Awesome Run

I only ran for 30 minutes tonight but it was a great run!

I pushed myself harder than usual by upping the MPH with every song that came on the iPod. I finished 2.75 miles in the 30 minutes which isn't spectacular or anything but that comes to just under 11 minutes per mile and that's faster than I normally run. Best of all I never felt like quitting, which is a refreshing change of pace.

Long walk: 8+ miles

We drove up to Green Lane for an afternoon walk today. It was more for fresh air than for fitness. We didn't walk fast at all we just walked and talked and planned future vacations. It was good. We need to do this more often.

Saturday's Lousy Run

After a totally hectic and stressful week at the office I couldn't face the 6AM wakeup call for Saturday's run so I decided to sleep in. The Philly Fit schedule called for 8 miles for the half-marathon and 12 for the full-marathon. I wasn't feeling up to 12 miles so I figured I could do 8 to 10 by myself after a good night's rest.

I was up at about 8:30 had a good breakfast and was on the trail before 10. I was planning a re-run of last weeks run and I hoped to get in about 10 miles running on the shady, gravel trail. Since I was going out for a long time on my own I decided to bring my iPod along for the run. This proved to be a huge mistake. First of all, my armband still hasn't come from Amazon even though I ordered it weeks ago, and that meant that I had to carry it in my hand. Very pesky. But the larger problem is that I just can't run outside with music and maintain the correct pace. I'm all over the place -- fast, slow, dead. Awful.

I wound up doing 6 miles instead of my intended 8-10 and it was a rough 6. I need a running partner, that's clear. The music had me all messed up and I stopped listening after the first 3 miles but I still had to carry the thing and deal with the headphones. Never again!

I got home and did one more mile on the treadmill but by this point I was really frustrated and kind of hungry so I gave up for the day.

Tuesday Run - 4 miles

I took off Sunday and Monday. I'd planned to walk on Sunday but I wound up building bookshelves instead and decided it would be smarter for me to finish some chores than leave for a 10 mile walk. I need to start doing back to back high miles but I guess it will have to wait one more week.

Monday, I have no real excuse for skipping -- just lazy.

Tuesday I was actually looking forward to the run. I was hoping to do it outside but the heat index (according to the radio) was 110 degrees so back to the treadmill for me.

I was hoping to stay on for 40-45 minutes but was uncomfortable and bored pretty quickly (what a surprise!) The first 20 minutes were fine -- nothing special. I decided just to hang on until 3 miles and then call it a day. That was the plan but when I hit three miles and was walking to cool down I had a surge of energy and remembered a conversation I had with Brian about running a 10 minute mile. He thinks it would be easy for him to do it and I scoffed and said no way. I was curious if I could run a 10 minute mile so I walked until I hit the 3.25 mark and then put the Foo Fighters on the iPod and started running at 6.0

It was pretty fun! It's amazing how much faster that feels than the speeds I normally run! Anyway, I didn't stick it out for a whole mile -- just a half -- but it was a nice end to the workout and I think I might incorporate this kind of thing into training. Maybe next time I will try to run a full mile -- I think I could if I wasn't already tired/burned out from the first 3 miles of the workout.

Anyway, with the extra fast half, my warm up walk and the cooldown periods I covered just over 4 miles.

10 miles on Saturday

Wow. I'm really being a lazy slacker with this blog.

Saturday morning I met the Philly Fit crew for a 10 mile run. I was a little worried since I haven't done a long run in several weeks. Luckily, the weather was pretty nice, much less humid than usual, so things were looking good. There was a fairly small crowd today and I found that there were even fewer people than usual who ran at my pace. I did manage to hook up with a buddy just before mile 2 and we ran together for most of the day.

The first two miles [out and back on the Perkiomen towards VF] were good -- nice and easy. Things started getting a little tougher at mile 3 where we hit the gravel and the slighly rolling hills. They don't last long though and the next few miles weren't bad either. The rocky path and the shade make for a nice run, I think. Less pounding than the paved trail and a lot less hot. The last mile before the turnaround was a little hard but I think that was mostly because we saw the people heading back. Somewhere between mile 5 and 6 I had my first Accel Gel. YUM! It was chocolate flavor, which I normally don't like, but this was surprisingly tasty. It was thin with an oddly gritty consistency but I kind of liked that.... it was a little less slimy than Gu because of the grit. Anyway, it was a new thing because it has protein and carbs in it. I'd give it thumbs up.

The return trip didn't go as well as the first half of the run. My partner was having trouble both aerobicly and with her knee and we took a lot more walk breaks than earlier in the day. Eventually it got to a point where I think we walked at least a half mile and maybe more. That's when she just let me go ahead of her and told me not to feel guilty. I did this, just over a mile from the finish, and I it was really difficult to run at that point. All the walking had my brain checked out of running mode so I really struggled that last mile and I'm sure it was more mental than physical.

All in all a pretty good day. My legs felt fine -- I was slightly worried about my IT band at about mile 6 but nothing came of it. I didn't even need ice or Advil.

Time: 2:04. I would have liked to have been faster but ten miles is ten miles.

Surprise 5K aka Phil's Tavern 5K

I decided to skip my treadmill run to go a small 5K near my office.


It was a good decision I think. The humidity had finally broken and it was a pretty nice night.

The 5K course was mostly shaded and mostly flat. It went through a neighborhood where there were a suprising number of spectators and a couple of kids manning homemade water stops. There was one main waterstop which was at an ideal spot since we passed it three times during the race. They even had a kid with a sprinkler hose wetting folks who needed to cool down. That was probably not necessary last night but any other day this week it would have been crucial.

I finished OK -- 33:05 by my watch -- and I didn't walk at all except for when I was drinking water. I thought about walking a lot but the way the course was designed I kept finding a new landmark to run towards so I never totally threw in the towel. I started at the back of the pack and steadily passed people through the whole race. I'm sure I still came in in bottom 20 people but I did about as well as I could.

Tonight I should be back on the treadmill.

40 minute run

I did a 40 minute run after work yesterday and it went well.

I tried out my new Gel-Nimbus shoes (the bargain pair I got that are one generation older than my new shoes) and they felt pretty good.

It's funny how the first 20 minutes or so go by without much difficulty but then it becomes so hard for me to think about anything except staring at the clock and waiting to get off the treadmill. Sure, my body is complaining a little bit -- I get hotter, slightly more uncomfortable, but really it's not that much of a problem. It's my brain that just can't hack it. Those last 20 minutes were like torture.

Music helps, for sure. I wouldn't have made it through the last 5 minutes if "Lose Yourself" had not come on the iPod. The song is 5:18 (I think) and I just just over 4 minutes left to go. I wanted to wimp out but that song helped me power through the last few minutes. I don't even love that song but somehow it puts me into a zone that I can just disappear into and then all the sudden we were at 40 minutes and I was allowed to stop.

Tonight the schedule calls for "speed work". I'm not sure if I'm going to do that or just run normally. Probably normally.

Total miles: 3.55 in 40 minutes
Best song: Everlasting Love (Gloria Estefan) mostly because it was driving Brian crazy which made me laugh.

Rough Weekend

Wow. What a weekend.

Good news: I finally picked up my wedding pictures, I finished the new Harry Potter book, and the new season of Battlestar Galactica started.

Bad news: it was hot and humid and my running efforts were feeble to non-existent.

I decided to sleep in on Saturday morning and skip the Philly Fit group run on Saturday morning. It was at a new location, slightly farther away, and I was too much of a bum to set the alarm for 5:45. I got up around 8:30 and hit the trail for my solo run about 10am. By this time it was about 80 and some crazy percent humidity. Over 75%. It was brutal. I ran the first mile and a half and though I might die from it. Once I walked it was nearly impossible to make myself run again. I forced myself to complete 4 miles but it may have been the hardest 4 miles I have ever done. It took forever and completely wiped me out. I had great intentions of coming home and doing some miles on the treadmill but housework and Harry Potter got in the way and I didn't do anything.

Sunday morning I met my friend Lisa for a walk at 8 am. It was raining and hot and humid but luckily the rain stopped within the first 10 minutes of the walk. We did a pretty good pace and it was fun to walk. I haven't walked in ages and it felt god. Hot, and sticky and gross but nothing like Saturday. I don't know if there was a difference in the weather or if it was just the running/walking difference but I felt a lot better on Sunday. Amazingly, the walk gave me some sore muscles! Sore in a good way though. I think it's funny that I never have sore muscles from running and I got them from my normal sport, walking.

Tonight my schedule say 40 to 45 minutes at an easy pace. There are heat warnings in effect and it's high humidity again so I think this will be on the treadmill. I hope I can make myself stick it out!

Project Implicit

I was watching an episode of Alan Alda's Scientific American Frontiers the other day and it was all about hidden motives. [If you've never watched it, this is a great little PBS show where they study all kinds of cool things like "cool vs uncool" and "what faces are attractive" and stuff like that. Alan Alda is usually the guniea pig who gets into an MRI machine and looks at stuff and then gets his brain waves interpreted. It's cool if you are a science geek.]

Anyway, this episode was about hidden motives and he was at Harvard with experts who are studying implicit bias in people. They take a series of tests using a computer test where you sort keywords and your reaction time to the sorting indicates your hidden bias. The examples on the show were serious topics like gender and race. It was fascinating. Anyway, they mentioned that you can go to the Project Implicit website and participate in the research project yourself. Of course, I went right away to be a research subject.

Guess what they evaluated me on?

Kobe vs. Shaq

How hilarious! It says they have about 100 pairs of things that they test and you get a pair randomly assigned for your test. (You can take many tests but I've only done one so far.)

As it turns out, I have a strong implicit preference for Shaq over Kobe.

It was fun -- you should go check it out.

Treadmill 5K - 35:00

Nothing particularly eventful today. The run went OK. I spent half the time dying to get off the treadmill but that was mostly because it was hot and not because my legs/lungs were hurting.

I probably should have stuck it out for 40 or 45 minutes but I am a wimp so I gave up and made dinner instead. I'm really looking forward to Saturday morning's run so I can do some long miles and see how that feels.

I think I'm going to have two pretty solid days: 9 miles on Saturday and then between 8 and 10 on Sunday with Lisa and Char. I'm going to really hate the Sunday miles because I'd much rather be home reading the new Harry Potter book. I can't believe how excited I am to get the book!

The Philly Fit coach said that they are going to start doing Tuesday evening "speed work" as a group. I guess that's good but I am sort of dreading it. Hopefully the meeting spot will be easy for me to get to so that I can at least try it out before returning to my dull treadmill workouts.

I'm back from St. Croix!

I got back from my awesome trip to St. Croix on Sunday. I didn't do one bit of real exercise while I was there. Mostly I just sat on a beach chair, under a palm tree and watched the waves roll in. Every so often I'd snorkel a little bit or walk up the hill to my room but for the most part I just laid around. It was great.

Monday it didn't even occur to me that I should be running after work. Today I realized that I hadn't run in over a week and knew that if I didn't work out today I was in real danger of never working out again during the week. I had to get back on track. I was pretty worried that I'd have lost a lot of ground with the week off but I actually think it did me good!

I only ran for a half hour but it went fine -- I actually enjoyed it! Who would have thought? I managed to cover 2.75 in the half hour, which is a little faster than my usual pace so I was quite pleased. I'm sure the schedule called for more time and distance or hills or something like that but I was just glad to get some miles on my feet.

Saturday Run - 7-8 miles?

The run today went great! The humidity broke and it wasn't too hot. We ran out the Betzwood Trail then on the road and then back to the parking lot via the river trail we took last week. It was nice because the 2nd half of the run was in shade.

I didn't follow the walk/run intervals but tried to just keep slugging along without stopping except to take drinks. This worked out well and while I stopped a little more towards the end of things I ran a whole lot more than I did last weekend.

I timed myself from the start of Betzwood to the end of the river trail. My estimate is that equals about 6.5 miles. Time: 1:13:44

I also ran both ways up the hill and over the bridge so I think I did close to but not quite 8 miles.

Tomorrow I leave for St. Croix. I still don't know if I'm bringing my running shoes with me!