The Bolt results confused me a bit but I think I'll go with my garmin results...eh, it's just a five mile race...And it really amped up a low lying pain in my left UPPER shin right under my left knee. (NOT the formerly cracked right one) Since I started back running in what? May? The left side of my body hasn't wanted to cooperate. I may have been overly cautious about the right shin early on? Who knows? All I know is that after Dec 5th, there won't be anymore running for me for a while. I'll be back in the saddle on my trainer doing spinervals & TONS of yoga. The left baby toe is getting flattened Dec 27th & that will mean no running for 2-3 weeks anyway. I'm going to see if Dr. Bell will X-ray the left knee/shin area but if he can't, I'll be calling Dr. H or Dr. J to get it X rayed. We get back from Vegas early on the 7th so maybe someone can squeeze me in...ugh! I hate to be forced to stop for a while but I guess it's time to regroup. (NYC marathon training is still far off, thank God!)
And what about that Cortland Finnegan on Thurs coming at The Bolt to support a child who normally runs but is battling cancer? You don't hear that kind of thing on the news, just the stupid stuff. Just love "Scrappy". :-)
I have a handful of gifts to buy/send so I'm almost done with the buying. We avoided Black Friday morning like the plague but did hit up the 'boro in the afternoon.
Friday (yesterday): Did 1 hr worth of yoga & it felt good!!
Today: Nothing....we're taking the kids to a movie & heading to the 'homa for a work Christmas party
Tomorrow: spinervals & yoga
Not sure what I'll do beyond that next week...but I do know I need to check the Vegas weather & decide what to pack. Can't wait to get there & many, many thanks to those who're coming, have given us gifts, & have wished us well. It's going to be a fun time & 2011 will be the year for major changes. (I know we've had a lot of irons in the fire lately!!)
Happy post Thankgiving-Black Friday
Goal: Get Faster!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Bolt 5 miler, Turkey, Football.... Happy Thanksgiving!!
Last Sunday:
Nothing since we went to the UT-Vandy game Saturday night & also the Titans-Redskins game Sunday. Drama, Drama…men are just as bad as women with drama & Sports teams are no different from “The Real Housewives of ????” Seriously!
Monday:
After work I had planned to run 6 miles but it turned into 4.7ish since my garmin died & my calves were sore anyway from Saturday’s run/fall in the yard. I drove it after I finished & it appears that I had roughly 4.7 miles at an 8:56 pace with some walk breaks. Ouch!
Tuesday:
30 mins with Jillan’s yoga & my 5 lb free weights in the morning.
Weight machines, ab work, & 1.3 miles on the treadmill at the gym after work to make up for cutting Monday’s run short. (slow 10:26 pace)
Wednesday:
Just couldn’t get out of the bed for yoga (stayed up for the DWTS finale. Ha!)
Predators game in the evening. They lost in overtime. :-(
Thursday:
For the 1st time ever, I’m in town for “The Boulevard Bolt 5 miler”.
Whoo Hoo! Didn't expecting much! Biggest turn out ever for this race. 8,700 runners!
My garmin had me running 5.11 miles at 44:07 8:38 pace
It wasn't as flat as I'd liked but ok. Dodged a lot of runners.
Hot, humid, crowded but I survived....65 degrees on Thanksgiving morning.
Now that's just nuts considering it's going to be a high of low 40's tomorrow.
I mostly ran with a couple of 12ish yr old boys the whole way. I think I did drop them the last mile or so.
Took two walk breaks, which included getting off the course to let an ambulance pass.
A guy face planted on the road & possibly broke his nose. OUCH!
Friday:
Will do yoga in the morning before we get the kids.
Probably put up Christmas décor, some shopping, & a visit with the Heusers…
Saturday:
Will have kids & will finish décor & head to work Christmas party later in evening.
Sunday:
Due to the fact that my left baby toe curls under a bit, I'm getting it flattened Dec 27th by Dr. Bell.
I had the right baby toe flattened in the fall of '03. Doc said the left would eventually bother me, well, here we are over 7 yrs later & it's bothering me a bit. Better to get it done now because it will mean 2-3 weeks of no running. I'm ok with that since my left shin (not the previously cracked right) has been bothering me a little the last week or so. I'll be due for some spinervals inside on the trainer anyway. So, Sunday will involve me on the trainer for about a hour. I doubt I run any before the Great Santa 5k in Vegas next Saturday morning but that's ok. Next week is a BIG week for us! Vegas 1/2 marathon, here we come!
Nothing since we went to the UT-Vandy game Saturday night & also the Titans-Redskins game Sunday. Drama, Drama…men are just as bad as women with drama & Sports teams are no different from “The Real Housewives of ????” Seriously!
Monday:
After work I had planned to run 6 miles but it turned into 4.7ish since my garmin died & my calves were sore anyway from Saturday’s run/fall in the yard. I drove it after I finished & it appears that I had roughly 4.7 miles at an 8:56 pace with some walk breaks. Ouch!
Tuesday:
30 mins with Jillan’s yoga & my 5 lb free weights in the morning.
Weight machines, ab work, & 1.3 miles on the treadmill at the gym after work to make up for cutting Monday’s run short. (slow 10:26 pace)
Wednesday:
Just couldn’t get out of the bed for yoga (stayed up for the DWTS finale. Ha!)
Predators game in the evening. They lost in overtime. :-(
Thursday:
For the 1st time ever, I’m in town for “The Boulevard Bolt 5 miler”.
Whoo Hoo! Didn't expecting much! Biggest turn out ever for this race. 8,700 runners!
My garmin had me running 5.11 miles at 44:07 8:38 pace
It wasn't as flat as I'd liked but ok. Dodged a lot of runners.
Hot, humid, crowded but I survived....65 degrees on Thanksgiving morning.
Now that's just nuts considering it's going to be a high of low 40's tomorrow.
I mostly ran with a couple of 12ish yr old boys the whole way. I think I did drop them the last mile or so.
Took two walk breaks, which included getting off the course to let an ambulance pass.
A guy face planted on the road & possibly broke his nose. OUCH!
Friday:
Will do yoga in the morning before we get the kids.
Probably put up Christmas décor, some shopping, & a visit with the Heusers…
Saturday:
Will have kids & will finish décor & head to work Christmas party later in evening.
Sunday:
Due to the fact that my left baby toe curls under a bit, I'm getting it flattened Dec 27th by Dr. Bell.
I had the right baby toe flattened in the fall of '03. Doc said the left would eventually bother me, well, here we are over 7 yrs later & it's bothering me a bit. Better to get it done now because it will mean 2-3 weeks of no running. I'm ok with that since my left shin (not the previously cracked right) has been bothering me a little the last week or so. I'll be due for some spinervals inside on the trainer anyway. So, Sunday will involve me on the trainer for about a hour. I doubt I run any before the Great Santa 5k in Vegas next Saturday morning but that's ok. Next week is a BIG week for us! Vegas 1/2 marathon, here we come!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Stretching into Thanksgiving….
Sunday:
Absolutely nothing & I should have done some yoga…oh well, had to do some shopping Saturday & Sunday. I loathe shopping. I’d rather do everything on the net & be done with it.
Monday:
It was raining most of the day but only misting rain after work. I parked at East & went into Tara for a few loops for 4 miles. It was slow but my Achilles & right calf were tight. I think my pace was 9:37 & I’ll take that, especially since I wore too many clothes & had to fight my way out of my neon green jacket. (when will I learn that I don’t need a jacket unless it’s pretty much freezing?!) I did my 5 lb free weights while watching DWTS. I admit, I’m addicted to it. Nothing much else interests me these days on Mon/Tues nights.
Tuesday:
Early morning with Jillian Michael’s. It’s like she’s in my living room now. Ha! 30 mins of yoga with her helps to get me stretched out. I did weight machines & some ab work at DW Wilson after work. I have to admit, I’m proud of myself for weening myself away from Harvey’s. When I did pilates class on Saturday, I got to check out their new spin bikes. After talking about if for years, they’re getting the area next door & expanding.
Wednesday:
Early morning 6.57 miles at a 9:09 pace. It was supposed to be 6 miles but I added the Tara loop, which added more than I really wanted but oh well… Yoga after work with Jillian & I had to get my stuff ready for Thursday/Friday. We went to the “official” lighting of the Opryland Hotel. Joe got free tickets so free food & entertainment. (Craig Morgain & Trace Adkins) We didn't stay for all that, though. I had an early morning Friday at work.
Thursday:
Ran 4.5 miles before work. (9:05 pace)
Opryland Hotel after work.
Friday:
Had to run errands, plus I drove into work from Nashville.
Saturday:
Ran 9.44 miles, was trying to make up .06 for an even 9.5 but face planted in the yard. ha! (9:15 pace) Struggled a little with breathing & hills but overall a decent run. I'm as ready for the flat Vegas 1/2 course as I can be at this point.
Thinking of heading to the UT-Vandy game tonight. Go Vols!
Hello Thanksgiving week….& the Boulevard Bolt!
Absolutely nothing & I should have done some yoga…oh well, had to do some shopping Saturday & Sunday. I loathe shopping. I’d rather do everything on the net & be done with it.
Monday:
It was raining most of the day but only misting rain after work. I parked at East & went into Tara for a few loops for 4 miles. It was slow but my Achilles & right calf were tight. I think my pace was 9:37 & I’ll take that, especially since I wore too many clothes & had to fight my way out of my neon green jacket. (when will I learn that I don’t need a jacket unless it’s pretty much freezing?!) I did my 5 lb free weights while watching DWTS. I admit, I’m addicted to it. Nothing much else interests me these days on Mon/Tues nights.
Tuesday:
Early morning with Jillian Michael’s. It’s like she’s in my living room now. Ha! 30 mins of yoga with her helps to get me stretched out. I did weight machines & some ab work at DW Wilson after work. I have to admit, I’m proud of myself for weening myself away from Harvey’s. When I did pilates class on Saturday, I got to check out their new spin bikes. After talking about if for years, they’re getting the area next door & expanding.
Wednesday:
Early morning 6.57 miles at a 9:09 pace. It was supposed to be 6 miles but I added the Tara loop, which added more than I really wanted but oh well… Yoga after work with Jillian & I had to get my stuff ready for Thursday/Friday. We went to the “official” lighting of the Opryland Hotel. Joe got free tickets so free food & entertainment. (Craig Morgain & Trace Adkins) We didn't stay for all that, though. I had an early morning Friday at work.
Thursday:
Ran 4.5 miles before work. (9:05 pace)
Opryland Hotel after work.
Friday:
Had to run errands, plus I drove into work from Nashville.
Saturday:
Ran 9.44 miles, was trying to make up .06 for an even 9.5 but face planted in the yard. ha! (9:15 pace) Struggled a little with breathing & hills but overall a decent run. I'm as ready for the flat Vegas 1/2 course as I can be at this point.
Thinking of heading to the UT-Vandy game tonight. Go Vols!
Hello Thanksgiving week….& the Boulevard Bolt!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Recovered from Ragnar, I think…
I’m still assessing the damage. Ha!
Last Saturday night I went to bed at 8pm, Joe was asleep by 7pm.
We stayed awake as long as we could. I was wide awake at 5am but it was really 4am. (Time change) Joe didn’t wake up till around 7:30am.
I moved around a lot, got our laundry done, & relaxed Sunday. (sore!)
Basically, just rested & so did Joe. We ate at the “Dead Lobster” (Red Lobster) & got stuffed.
Monday afternoon, I decided to do 30 mins of Jillian Michael’s yoga & worked with my 5 lb weights after work. I felt good & not near as stiff as Sunday. It’s been a long time since I ran 17.7 miles in 1 ½ days. I’m cautious right now especially since Joe’s cousin in law, Kurt, has a stress fracture from running/training Chicago. Ouch!
Tuesday morning, I did more yoga & weight machines at DW Wilson in the afternoon.
Wednesday morning I’m got in 4.2 FLAT miles early AM at around a 9:18 pace. Felt decent. I did MORE yoga after work. Surely all this yoga is doing something other than stretching me.
Thursday, I got out for 5:06 at an 8:52 pace. I was pleased but still took it easy & ran mostly flat. I did weight machines/abs Thursday afternoon.
Friday, I had a butt load of stuff to do after work so I didn't do squat.
Saturday morning, my run was 10 miles...9:02 pace….I was pleased considering I had some hills at the beginning & end.
The weather is CRAZY. I feel like I’ve been sweating all week! I would have choked a little in the heat had we had these highs last Friday afternoon but it would have been nice not to be freezing to death in the early morning hours of our later “legs”.
As far as Ragnar goes, loved it! (Race report in previous post!) Loved every minute of it & so proud of myself for holding it together on the last, torturous leg of 4.4 miles that I did after Unionville. It felt great to be done but if I ever do it again, I want a Van 2 “set of legs”. Next Fall at this time, Joe & I are running the NYC marathon. (God willing the injuries stay away!) Paul S. threw his hat into the ring for the 2nd year in a row. FINGERS CROSSED!
I’m on the fence with the blog. I gave up on wordpress a few nights ago & got a little frustrated. My feeble, little brain can’t wrap around it & make it look nice so I scrapped it & created another google blogspot. I FORGOT the password to it, though! ARG! The one I thought I used (but didn’t write down) won’t work! Oh well, can’t even edit out the copied errors on it. I really want it out there for anyone to read that is considering a relay. I totally enjoyed the few reports I read from across the country. So, I'm going to unhide this blog for a while. If some weirdo finds it & ticks me off, I'll hide again.
My stats for my 4 Legs of the relay: 17.7 miles in 1 ½ days.
(I made up one “leg” due to injured runner)
6.1 miles of rolling hills-53:55
4.5 miles mostly flat with a pretty good downhill-38:58
2.7 miles rolling then a HUGE downhill-23:28
4.4 miles mostly flat-45:32 (Ouch!)
As for our wedding in Vegas (during the ½ marathon Dec 5th), it’s pretty much planned…got final email with directions today! Our race shirts below.
Last Saturday night I went to bed at 8pm, Joe was asleep by 7pm.
We stayed awake as long as we could. I was wide awake at 5am but it was really 4am. (Time change) Joe didn’t wake up till around 7:30am.
I moved around a lot, got our laundry done, & relaxed Sunday. (sore!)
Basically, just rested & so did Joe. We ate at the “Dead Lobster” (Red Lobster) & got stuffed.
Monday afternoon, I decided to do 30 mins of Jillian Michael’s yoga & worked with my 5 lb weights after work. I felt good & not near as stiff as Sunday. It’s been a long time since I ran 17.7 miles in 1 ½ days. I’m cautious right now especially since Joe’s cousin in law, Kurt, has a stress fracture from running/training Chicago. Ouch!
Tuesday morning, I did more yoga & weight machines at DW Wilson in the afternoon.
Wednesday morning I’m got in 4.2 FLAT miles early AM at around a 9:18 pace. Felt decent. I did MORE yoga after work. Surely all this yoga is doing something other than stretching me.
Thursday, I got out for 5:06 at an 8:52 pace. I was pleased but still took it easy & ran mostly flat. I did weight machines/abs Thursday afternoon.
Friday, I had a butt load of stuff to do after work so I didn't do squat.
Saturday morning, my run was 10 miles...9:02 pace….I was pleased considering I had some hills at the beginning & end.
The weather is CRAZY. I feel like I’ve been sweating all week! I would have choked a little in the heat had we had these highs last Friday afternoon but it would have been nice not to be freezing to death in the early morning hours of our later “legs”.
As far as Ragnar goes, loved it! (Race report in previous post!) Loved every minute of it & so proud of myself for holding it together on the last, torturous leg of 4.4 miles that I did after Unionville. It felt great to be done but if I ever do it again, I want a Van 2 “set of legs”. Next Fall at this time, Joe & I are running the NYC marathon. (God willing the injuries stay away!) Paul S. threw his hat into the ring for the 2nd year in a row. FINGERS CROSSED!
I’m on the fence with the blog. I gave up on wordpress a few nights ago & got a little frustrated. My feeble, little brain can’t wrap around it & make it look nice so I scrapped it & created another google blogspot. I FORGOT the password to it, though! ARG! The one I thought I used (but didn’t write down) won’t work! Oh well, can’t even edit out the copied errors on it. I really want it out there for anyone to read that is considering a relay. I totally enjoyed the few reports I read from across the country. So, I'm going to unhide this blog for a while. If some weirdo finds it & ticks me off, I'll hide again.
My stats for my 4 Legs of the relay: 17.7 miles in 1 ½ days.
(I made up one “leg” due to injured runner)
6.1 miles of rolling hills-53:55
4.5 miles mostly flat with a pretty good downhill-38:58
2.7 miles rolling then a HUGE downhill-23:28
4.4 miles mostly flat-45:32 (Ouch!)
As for our wedding in Vegas (during the ½ marathon Dec 5th), it’s pretty much planned…got final email with directions today! Our race shirts below.
Ragnar Relay: Chattanooga, TN - Nashville, TN - 195.5 miles
I got a facebook email back in late Spring, I think, from Michele E. asking if I wanted to join her relay team. I had received a post card from Ragnar about it already but at the time I had just been given the go ahead to run again. I had finally recovered from a hairline fractured tibia (crack right on the front of my right shin). That thing took 1 ½ yrs to heal but that’s another story…listen to your doc, don’t RUN, no HIGH impact of anything if you want it to heal FAST. Enough said!
Fast forward to October, our team (both Vans) had gone through musical chairs on runners. Van 1 van hit a deer & wasn’t going to be used. Sonia S. stepped up with an offer to use her van. She found out she had a stress fracture so she & her van were out. Paul had to drop out to work on the other side of the US so he was out. Van 2 got Pam A’s daughter, Jordan, to join in on the fun & gave us Jill M. (THANK YOU, VAN 2!) A week before game time & we’re down a runner in Van 1 & had no van. Jill offered to drive her 5 person SUV, again, thanks Jill. You saved our ass! We decided that we could handle the extra “legs” so no big deal. We knew all 5 of us were fairly strong. I knew I didn’t want to run my “easy” legs so I ran Sonia’s “legs”. We recorded all our times on each leg & those notes are not with me right now as I type this but we rocked! Our first legs were strong, which made me nervous that we would be hurting later. Turns out I was the only whiner they seemed to hurt. Ha!Our runner order was Jill, Joe, Rob, me, Anderson, & “empty legs”.
Jill left Coolidge Park at approximated 8:30am Eastern with a smile on her face & rocked up & down some concrete hills for 7.8 miles. She did awesome! She handed off to Joe & he took off for 6.2 miles. Anderson was driving then & we got lost. Ha! We missed a turn off but realized when we saw no runners or vans we needed to back track. No big deal! We found Joe looking strong & high from eating a few small bags of M&M’s. He finished faster than I thought he would because I was in a house waiting in line for a bathroom when he came to find me. I hydrated myself big time & was heading to a bathroom every 30-45 minutes. I was bound & determined a migraine was not going to ruin my weekend. Joe handed off to Rob who ran 6.8. Again, he, like the rest of us had a great fast, first leg & he handed off to me. Before I started, I saw a skinny red head from a distance while I was in the van & I thought, “That looks like Michelle, my cousin, who lives in Chattanooga!” Turns out when I was waiting on Rob to hand off to me, we locked eyes. I was surprised. I hugged her, we had a short conversation, Joe took our pic, & then I ran 6.1 miles in 53:55. It was rolling with a few bigger hills where I took 20-30 second walk breaks. I didn’t want to wear myself out by powering up the big hills the first “leg”. I was pleased! I was told about the “Muffin girl" van. It seems that there was a team of women with something on their van that said “honk for muffins”. Joe, Rob, & Anderson asked them for muffins from what I understand & the girls acted like they didn’t know what they were talking about. Joe said they were hungry & wanted muffins. Seriously, I think the guys thought they were giving out muffins. One chick stood up & shook her “muffin” at the boys. I’m not surprised at all that the muffin girls were way behind us at the finish if they did that all day/night on the course. Ha! They did cheer for me while I was running & I thought to myself how nice they seemed. I just had no idea how “nice” they were until I finished. I thought we were going to have to pour some cold water on some of our van members. Ha!!!
I handed off to Anderson & his first leg was 8.3 miles! I felt so bad for him. He did GREAT but said his legs were tired when he was done. He brought Van 1 up most of steep way on our first legs. I wish I had got a pic of him but that droid doesn’t like cold weather & I seemed to fat finger the touch screen. Arg!! During Anderson’s run there were about 4 loose rottweilers running. Most of them fell off & only one dog remained but we called it into Ragnar anyway. The one remaining “runner dog” stayed mostly with this one guy. The dog didn’t look dangerous at all & just wanted to participate. He was funny to me, tongue hanging out, & he just kept going. I think that dog ran 10 miles! Ha!
While we were running we made sure that Van 2 knew where we were & who was out on the course running. I was also making comments on Facebook when I did have a strong enough signal. It was sporadic for a while where the “banjo’s were playing” & the “meth looking” trailers were sitting. Grundy County is poor & we totally forgot to donate our canned goods to Cowan exchange area. Arg!!!Anderson handed off to Joe so Joe could cover the 1st empty “leg” of 4.2 miles so Joe got 2 “legs” first time around & by now he was on a serious sugar high of M&M’s, seriously!
Joe decided to run this leg with a paper party hat on, which was soft with his sweat by the time he finished. He handed off to Michael C. of Van 2 but botched the hand off. Ha! The announcer pointed that out, too. He had to slap the bracelet twice causing Van 2 to loose valuable seconds. (I’m kidding!!!!) Michael headed up the rest of the mountain, straight up & it appeared that half a mile to a mile into it, it was starting to sleet. Poor Michael! Kim text me later saying he did it around 54 minutes so I think he managed a 10 min pace straight up in that mess. Go Michael! Michele had to run in snow & sleet during her first leg. They had horrible weather during their first legs. We looked out the windows of the “The Blue Chair” & saw heavy sleeting rain coming down on several occasions, stopping, & starting over again… Poor Van 2! Joe decided to erase the smeared stuff on Jill’s windows. Joe put something like “Van 1 got better weather but Van 2 got to sleep in!”
After we ate a late lunch/early dinner at “The Blue Chair” we then went to Shenanigans to hang out since “The Blue Chair” was very stupidly closing. Dang, didn’t they want runner’s money?! We killed all our time in those two places watching exchange 11 from the front windows of Shenanigans. I knew Kim would be running through Sewanee campus & handing off to Marc so he could run down to the Cowan exchange. Joe got our safety flag & ran across the road to chit chat several times. He was like a kid who had too much sugar! We studied our list of 2nd legs & realized Anderson only had 3 miles to run the next time around. I told him he could do that drunk so he & Jill drank a few more beers. Ha! See what you missed, Rob, by going home for rest/shower after your 1st leg?!
Joe & I were outside on the sidewalk when I noticed a woman in a really cute hat. I saw her face & it was Kim C. I screamed to the top of my lungs when I realized it was her. When she handed off to Marc we went inside & finished up our business & got on the road to the next exchange.It got dark & it was getting SO COLD! I started debating on whether to run in my pants or just my layers underneath for my 2nd & “extra leg” to Lynchburg. Jill took off still wearing her shorts on her 2nd leg of 4.5 miles. She got to run past all the liquor stores in Winchester. Ha! When she finished she said she had been plenty warm so off my comfy, warm pants went. Joe led us through the Winchester Square towards Tim’s Ford. To me, this was one of the most confusing dark areas of the course. People were off work now & traffic picked up. Joe’s “3rd” leg was 5.7 miles & he finished it strong. He was knocking back some 8 minute miles so far on the course. He ran in shorts & would be sweating profusely, stretching after each leg. I, on the other hand, would head straight to the Van & put my heavy Titans fleece on like a big wuss with no stretching. Rob took off for another 6.1 miles. He wasn’t too thrilled to have to do this again but his belly was full of Subway meatball sub, I think & he ran real well. When he handed off to me, I was psyched up & ready to go, screaming for him when we would spot him. My voice got a little hoarse. I took off like I was shot out of a gun. All I could think about was, “We’re getting close to Lynchburg, we can get done, & get warm!” I had 4.5 miles on my 2nd leg, then I had to stop while Anderson did 3 miles, then I had to start again with 2.7 miles into the main exchange in the Lynchburg city park. I passed/chick’d 3 guys on this leg. I was fired up when I passed them like they were standing still. Joe yelled my name in the dark as I was about to head down a hill. I knew I was getting close to the next exchange at the end of the 4.5 miles. I finished with an 8:40ish pace according to Joe. When I finished, my head was sweaty & then my hair felt like it was freezing. On my 2nd & extra “leg” I wore a head lamp & a head lamp around my waist. I’m glad I did because there were times where it was so dark & I was so ALONE.
When I handed off to Anderson, I knew I had to get in the van quick & stay as warm as I could. I had a short time before he’d hand off to me & I would have to run the downhill of 2.7 & man was it DOWNHILL!! Anderson finished his 3 miles just a hair over 23 minutes. I took off knowing it would be over quickly & feeling pretty good. I think I passed two women & then the sleet started pinging my face. It stung but I told myself that I’ve run in sleet before, it’s no big deal. Keep going & push it in & I prayed it would stop sleeting for Van 2! Then the severe down hill kicked in…I couldn’t really see that well & prayed there were no pot holes to trip me up because I knew if I went down, I’d break something, probably my nose. I tried to control my feet/legs but it was weird. It was like I really needed a parachute. I can tell in my quads & achilles today that I did that hill. When I got to the bottom the volunteer read my number & yelled me in…I handed off to Michael & then Van 1 was headed to Tullahoma for some food & warmth at my place. I felt sick on the drive in…just icky sick. I made myself eat a ham & cheese sandwich after I showered but it felt like a bomb in my gut. We got to my place around 11:20ish & left somewhere around 1:30 or 2:00am, I’m not sure. I felt like crap. My stomach was rolled over & my quads were screaming a bit. By the time we got to Unionville & Jill told us the school was open, I was feeling blah… Thank God, we had use of their warm school there. Let’s just say that I felt much better when we left Unionville. Jill took off again in 25 degree weather in shorts. Amazing but I decided to stay in my pants on my next leg. She did great on her 3rd leg of 4.5 miles. Joe got ready for his final leg of 5.2 miles knocking out a 7:30something pace. He was sweaty in 25 degrees with shorts on but fired up that he was totally finished running! Great Job! Rob took off for his final leg of 6.1, bless his heart, he didn’t have anything shorter than 6.1 on all his legs.
When I took the hand off from Rob, I knew it was going to be rough. I started out ok but somewhere during the first few miles I wanted to cry. I never saw our van, my legs wanted to walk, my quads hurt, my face was frozen, my lips were chapped… I saw the Van with all the Christmas tree lights on it. I don’t know what team that was but I was grateful. This was a very long isolated area for me where there were few people around & hardly any traffic. It was around 4:30-5:00am around this time. I kept thinking to myself, “Well, on a normal work day, you’d be up anyway getting ready to run.” The Christmas tree van yelled at me, “Good job, you’ve done 2.6 miles!” I was so grateful they let me know how far I had gone because I felt like I was crawling. I wanted this done!!! Then I felt rumbling…a train came by & blew my left ear drum out. OMG! I started taking walk breaks at this point. Then off in the distance I saw light, the next exchange was within reach. I had no idea what kind of pace I had been doing but I knew it wasn’t pretty. Joe told me I had around a 10:21 pace for those painful 4.4 miles. I passed two women & one man but he blew past me right at the exchange area. I was so mad. Ha! Anderson took off on his FASTEST leg. He knocked down a 7:30 pace on 5.5 miles. He was done! Jill took off for Healthway’s on her “extra leg” to bring Van 1 into “our finish”. She did her final leg of 4.4 miles & we were so happy to see her sailing into the exchange area to hand off to Michael so Van 2 could get their final party started.
Jill drove us to her house. Joe & I headed to the condo for rest & showers. Jill let Rob & Anderson clean up at her place & brought them to the finish line. We met them at “Big River” later around lunch. It appeared that Van 2 would finish sometime around 1:00 or 1:30pm. We were all amazed at how early we got done. Jordan, Pam’s daughter rocked in the last 3 miles. “Agony of de feet” made it safe & sound to the finish line in officially 29:41:39. Ragner Relay 2010 for “Agony of de feet” was done! I highly recommend it if you didn’t do it this year. I plan to be in the NYC marathon this time next year, God willing I don’t break something.
Joe & I at the starting line. Joe waiting on his first hand off from Jill at exchange 1. He was way too excited!
I took a picture of this newspaper mailbox somewhere before Jasper. I cannot believe their paper is called "The Hustler"!!!
Van 1 Fabulous runners who are finished at Heathways!
At the Beer Sellar in downtown Nashville, TN after we all crossed the finish line.
Team "Agony of de Feet" running to finishline downtown Nashville
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Ragnar Relay Pre-planning…
The hardest part of this thing has been finding the runners & every runner staying healthy, seriously. We started out with 12 runners…2 unconfirmed that eventually backed out. They were filled easily with 2 runners that work where I work…Then the Captain’s husband’s knees weren’t cooperating. He was out.
Jill filled his spot. Then Paul, in Van 1, found out he had to be on the other side of the country for work the week of the relay….Jill moved to our van & Pam’s daughter got Jill’s old “legs”. Then Sonia, (our van provider) got a stress fracture (or two). It’s been musical chairs with the “legs” & vans. Ha! Now Jill is driving us in her SUV & we’re making up the 3 empty legs. (we’re bad ass!)
Anyway, I’m going to create a wordpress blog & write the race report there.
I’ll eventually more or less close down blogspot for that one. I do want everyone to have access to the race report because I learned a lot from reading the reports online from other Ragnar relays. (Learned more than I did from reading the race bible that’s for sure)
It’s going to dip into the high 20’s overnight Friday night.
I would prefer it only dip to the 40’s but you can’t dial up your weather.
It’s not like I’ve never ran in temps like this before…but dang my REALLY cold weather gear looks so old & shabby. (Santa, are you listening?)
I can tell I’ve not worn the stuff in quite some time but truth be known, I’ve never had to wear much COLD weather stuff anyway.
Generally, I wouldn’t even bother with tights with high 20’s but my body isn’t adjusted yet….still thinking on that. As long as my core & hands are warm, I’m usually ok.
During the day, we have perfect weather predictions so far, with highs reaching in the low-mid 50’s. That’s shorts, singlet weather for me…or I may just wear the vest over my sports bra. I ran this morning 6.27 miles….mostly flat with some short rolling hills. 9:17 pace but that’s with me stopping for about 20-30 seconds to tie a shoe lace that had a knot in it. It was 49 degrees & I was sweating off the top of my head. Sports bra, reflective vest with light around my waist, shorts, compression socks. That was plenty of clothing for me at 49 degrees…we’ll see….The main thing is to bundle up when I finish because my body heat plummets quickly.
I’m planning on sleeping in the next two mornings. When I say sleeping in…a whole hour later with the alarm going off at 5:40ish. Ha!
I’m stretching the crap out of my body the next few days, also.
Jill filled his spot. Then Paul, in Van 1, found out he had to be on the other side of the country for work the week of the relay….Jill moved to our van & Pam’s daughter got Jill’s old “legs”. Then Sonia, (our van provider) got a stress fracture (or two). It’s been musical chairs with the “legs” & vans. Ha! Now Jill is driving us in her SUV & we’re making up the 3 empty legs. (we’re bad ass!)
Anyway, I’m going to create a wordpress blog & write the race report there.
I’ll eventually more or less close down blogspot for that one. I do want everyone to have access to the race report because I learned a lot from reading the reports online from other Ragnar relays. (Learned more than I did from reading the race bible that’s for sure)
It’s going to dip into the high 20’s overnight Friday night.
I would prefer it only dip to the 40’s but you can’t dial up your weather.
It’s not like I’ve never ran in temps like this before…but dang my REALLY cold weather gear looks so old & shabby. (Santa, are you listening?)
I can tell I’ve not worn the stuff in quite some time but truth be known, I’ve never had to wear much COLD weather stuff anyway.
Generally, I wouldn’t even bother with tights with high 20’s but my body isn’t adjusted yet….still thinking on that. As long as my core & hands are warm, I’m usually ok.
During the day, we have perfect weather predictions so far, with highs reaching in the low-mid 50’s. That’s shorts, singlet weather for me…or I may just wear the vest over my sports bra. I ran this morning 6.27 miles….mostly flat with some short rolling hills. 9:17 pace but that’s with me stopping for about 20-30 seconds to tie a shoe lace that had a knot in it. It was 49 degrees & I was sweating off the top of my head. Sports bra, reflective vest with light around my waist, shorts, compression socks. That was plenty of clothing for me at 49 degrees…we’ll see….The main thing is to bundle up when I finish because my body heat plummets quickly.
I’m planning on sleeping in the next two mornings. When I say sleeping in…a whole hour later with the alarm going off at 5:40ish. Ha!
I’m stretching the crap out of my body the next few days, also.