Chicken Playing Squirrels and A Skirt Ambassador

I have been wearing my running skirt to the WTP for the past several weeks. People rarely comment on it although last week, one person did.

I am not sure why tonight was different. Maybe it was because there were less than 100 women rather than the nearly 300 usually there. I had so many people ask me about my skirt tonight. Several ladies said they have thought about it but worried about comfort. Don't worry! They really are comfortable..more so than skirts shorts (no one caught that error for a few days!) by a long shot.

Tonight we actually ran the Women's Distance 5K course. It is mainly out on the W&OD with a few little detours off on the side. It is a nice course although I don't much care for the incline at the 2.5 mile mark. It is not steep but it does go on for a bit to get you up and out of Sugarland Trail and then up and over the Fairfax County Parkway.

I went out entirely too fast although it didn't feel fast. I was running under 11:30....way too fast. I made an effort to slow down. Slow down? Why??!! Because this was a training run and I would rather run it easier than run it like a race. I ended up running at a 12:24 pace for the run. I would like to actually bring up my miles and bring down my time just a wee bit for the actual race.

It is hot and humid here, just like in Tennessee. The nice part is that I live right near a very shaded trail. There are parts of the run that are not shaded but big parts are shaded. Of course, there are also these annoying little black gnats too. Yuck!

Kaitlyn and I ran the Sugarland Trail last week and had a squirrel play chicken with us. We were almost up to the squirrel, who apparently was not aware of us (and we had not seen him) He started to dart out in front of us, which startled me and caused me to do the girly shriek thing, jumping back. He back up when I did and we stared at one another for a split second. Just as I started to move forward, he decided to try darting forward again. I waved my arms and he scampered off into the woods rather than crossing the path. Not even 2 minutes later, there was another squirrel sitting in the path, looking at us approaching. This stinker decided to stare us down until we could almost touch him before scampering off. Bold little squirrels in Virginia.

Did I mention that Lorrie, who I met in Cincinatti, convinced me to try running with a hat? I don't like wearing hats. She was firm in the belief that if I would try it, I would like it. She encouraged me to get a mesh hat. I found a lime green Runner Girl hat that I liked but I object, on principal, to paying nearly $20 for a hat after shipping is factored in. So, I resorted to eBay, where I got a Nike mesh hat, sherbert orange. I would like to find it in raspberry or lime but sherbert orange works. I have worn it a few different times and I have to say, it is not making my head nearly as hot as I though and it is really good at keeping my hair out of my eyes, sweat out of my eyes and the sun out of my eyes. So, for now, I will keep wearing it.

Running Skirts

I bought a running skirt a few months back from SkirtSports and really liked it. I got it in the winter so never actually wore it outside to test it out. It is currently MIA from moving but I know it came with us. They are kinda pricey, even on sale. I was very pleased to see that Target now carries a running skirt and an even nicer surprise, they carry them in larger sizes.

I went to two different Targets near me and scored a plain black running skirt and a navy blue with sky blue trim running skirt. I was a little apprehensive about going out in public but I took it for a spin around the trail.

It was really, incredibly comfortable! There was no riding up at all. It is a little shorter than my shorts are, so if nothing else, my tan line will be up higher this year. I even wore my running skirt last night to my Women's Training Program class.

For those looking, Wal-Mart also carries a running shirt. It is not as nice as the one from Target and only comes in black or white. In both the Target and WM version, the shorts underneath are not as form fitting as I would like. Still for under $20, they are worth checking out if you are considering a running skirt.

Someone asked me Why would you run in a skirt? Why not? I am a girl, why not look like a girl when I run? Beyond that, they really are comfy.

So last night was our second night of WTP. I ran with the beginning runners. At the start of the run, the coach said the front part of the pack would be at about a 11:00 while the back would be closer to a 15:00-16:00 We started running so I moved towards the back. We went just over 2.5 miles and looking, we did not run anywhere close to a 15:00! The slowest my Garmin said I went was 12:25. I don't think anyone was running slower than a 12:40 mile. It was a good run though.

I am in the air over renewing Fitness Journal for another year. It is Fitness Journal that has my map of running across the US. I really like that feature but there are so many FREE fitness logs, I don't think I am going to renew. I did add a ticker with miles run. It is not as cool as the map across the US but is that map really $40 cool? I don't think so. I have maybe 2 weeks left in my current membership and then I am not going to renew it.

Women's Training Program

I joined a local Women's Training Program to get the oomph back that has been sorely lacking. The goal is a local women's 5K at the end of June.

Based on my last beginning running class, I was expecting maybe 50 ladies to be there. WRONG! There were over TWO HUNDRED!

After a short course outline, we seperated into 4 groups - walkers, walk/runner, beginning runners and advanced beginning runners. Right at the get go, they said "Speedy demons, if you run faster than a 9 minute mile, you are not welcome here! We have a different class for you" Hee hee

One of the instructors was a lady I had run with out on the club weekends, Tina, so it was nice to see a familiar face.

We did an easy half mile, then stretched, then did an evaluation mile to see if we needed to go into beginning runner or advanced beginning runner. I already knew I belonged in the beginning runners (11 min - 16 min mile pace) and since I did the Half yesterday, I ran it very easy and slow. We then went as a group for about a mile.

I think I am really going to like this group. We are free at any time to join a different group. If I am just not feeling it, I can go with the walkers. If I am feeling speedy, I can join the advanced beginners. The only man in the class is on a bike and he patrols the courses to make sure no one is left behind. There is a high number of coaches in each group so no EVER runs solo. Even during the actual 5K event, these coaches will be on the course with their group and make sure that everyone is doing well. We will get to run the actual course in a few weeks.

I thought of Clare, a friend up in Canada, during all this and wished that she had something like this near her. Clare has joined a few classes in her local area after being assured that someone would be at her pace and she would not have to run solo. In each case, she had no one at her pace and when an instructor ran with her, they made comments about her running faster and catching up. I know she was frustrated with her local running classes.

So, if anyone is thinking of joining a running class, be sure to check it out!

Flying Pig Half Marathon

When I made the decision to go for the Flying Pig, I didn’t know that we were going to be moving. Even when I found out that we would be moving several states away right as I needed to begin training for the full, I was confident in the fact that nothing was going to keep me from getting my training runs in.

Bwahahahaha…I was WRONG! Absolutely anything and everything that could possibly arise and keep me from running jumped out of the woodwork at me and threw themselves right at me again and again. I decided to skip the full and go for the Half instead.

Even a few days before leaving, I was debating on if I should even go because really, I knew that I had not put in the miles I truly needed to have been running in order to run the Half the way I know I could have ran it. Still, I decided to go for it, slow down, not worry about time and just have fun.

The Expo was great and I had fun wandering around it after picking up my packet. Some members of a Forum I belong to were going to be meeting at 2 pm for a course tour but I had no idea where so I called Luis, the coordinator, who was somewhere in the Expo. He told me where he was so I wandered that way to meet him. Since more of us were on the tour than he had expected, we went in two groups…Full and Half. Boy, let me tell you, taking to tour of the course certainly helped. It was nice knowing what to expect the next day.

After we went on the tour, we headed over to the house to meet up with others and head off to dinner. Dinner was totally insane. There was a lot of food, talking and a lot of noise. After dinner we all went our respective ways.

Sunday morning, Luis came by the hotel at 5:10 am to pick me up and off we went to Meters and Miles, the running store. I handed off my bag to Luis and caught a ride to start line Tanya. The amount of people was staggering. Mary and I hit the surprisingly well organized lines at the portapotties for one last stop before the start. We never saw any pace groups, other than 3:15, so we just kinda milled at the back of the pack. There were a lot of spectators still mingling among us when the gun went off and we had to weave around them to approach the start. I think we were about 6-8 minutes behind the gun when we finally made it to the start. The crowd support was really great.

I knew I had not really prepared like I should have (bad me!) so I was determined to take it easy. Take it easy, I did. I had allergies kicking up, giving me a pseudo chest cold, not fun but running helped. I saw Karen at Mile 3 and said hello to her. Just past mile 5, the lead runner of the Half passed by to many cheers. About 10 minutes later, the lead female whizzed past us on her way to the finish. Mary and I were close together until about mile 6, the climb up to Eden Park. That was the last time I saw Mary since I slowed on the hills and she just kept on going.

It was at this point in the race that I took some water from the water station and nearly hurled. Apparently, the water had been taken from the hose and it was foul and nasty. No kidding, my lips were numb and tingling and it smelled and tasted horribly of chlorine. I dumped it out, ate some Clif Blocks to get the nasty taste out of my mouth and continued up, up, up.

Now, I am not a fast runner to begin with and hills will make me even slower. I am putting out the effort but my pace suffers. Walkers pass me by going up hills, no kidding. One asked in a tone of disbelief why I didn’t just walk. I smiled and kept going. Later, two women walking behind me decided to discuss my running and go on to state that I should walk rather than just run slow because it is so much better for my body. Hellllooo! I have ears, I can hear you.

Things continued along well, I took some Gatorade over water because even though I don’t like it, it was better than the nasty water. About mile 11, my left calf started to cramp. I tried stretching it but it was bound and determined to cramp so I just ran through it. About Mile 12, I saw Karen yet again and knew we were almost done. You could hear the crowd revving up and that certainly spurred me on. When I could see the Finish Swine, I made my tired legs give everything they could to sprint past the line. My final chip time was 3:06:26 Since I didn’t have any grand expectations, I wanted to finish at around 3 hours so I was pretty pleased with my time.

I got my medal and then had to find where to get my chip removed (missed it twice before I found it) and then walk a pretty good distance to find some water and food. I knew my bag was somewhere and eventually asked a runner wearing a store shirt where the tent was. I found the tent but my bag was not there. I had to wait almost 2 hours before Luis came in and I got my bag. I looked for others but there were so many people that it was impossible. We should have coordinated that a little better.

Over all, this was a fun race for me. It was slow but I ran it slow. I felt good, I was not stressed as much about the time like I was in my last Half and I had fun. I saw the photographers on the course and posed for them, chatted with people around me occasionally, thanked the volunteers and police on the course.

While at dinner, Tanya said she had spoken to the one of the winners of one of the Flying Pigs, a marathoner who won several marathons. He had asked her what she was running and what she expected her time to be. She told him she hoped for under 6 hours but it could go to 7 hours. He told her, in all sincerity, that he envied runners like her! What? She questioned him on this and his reply, I thought, was pretty interesting. He was envious because he said he CAN'T run for that long, he could only run for about 2 and a half hours. Hmmm, I never thought of it that way. Still, given a choice, I would go for faster speed over longer time :grin:

Floating Down the River

Last week, while sitting in church, one of the speakers told how her family had challenged one another to run a Half Marathon. They trained enthusastically, held to their training schedule and completed the race, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. She found another Half to run and only one sibling would join her. This time, everything seemed to conspire against her and while she ran and completed the race, it was without the same sense of accomplishment she had felt previously. In looking at everything, she saw where she had been committed to the first race and had never really committed to the second one.

I have been floating down the Nile river since mid February. I have made some of my runs but like the woman above, everything seemed to throw itself down to block me from completing them. Moving, sick kids, sick me, foul weather.... I thought I was committed to my upcoming race, I wanted to be. I entered the race, I have hotel and plane reservations. It wasn't until I was sitting in that pew that I faced the fact that truly, despite what I thought, I was not committed to my race the way I need to be.

I docked the boat I was floating on and made the decision to switch from running the full marathon to running the half. The only thing I am in disappointed in is myself for not being honest with myself right off. I should have switched as soon as I saw what was going on but I wanted to prove I could still do it.

Another major contributing force to my loss of motivation is my loss of support. By that, I don't mean my family but I am a runner who needs to have buddies to run with. So far, I have not found that here but I also admit, I have been heartsick and not really looked. I just don't feel like I have clicked with the new running club but it is a two way street, I need to make an effort before I can write it off.

After I made the decision to switch, I joined a Women's Training Program...for a 5K. But Denise, you can run a 5K! You have run a Half for crying out loud. True but I am not doing the program for the training so much as I am doing to forge new bonds and find new running buddies. I want to recapture the joy in running that I had in Clarksville and that I lost some when we moved here.

So, for all that I have been running some, it was not what was needed to truly prepare for a full marathon. I knew it as soon as I saw it happening but I let myself believe I could overcome it.

Now, I am feeling a lot less pressure, I am looking forward to running the Flying Pig Half Marathon and I am excited to find some new running buddies. I *will* find people to run with. Heck, I know of at least one woman at church who runs, don't I?

Says It All

Short. Sweet. To the point.

Boy, this sure summed up my run today. I saw it while I was crossing a bridge on my 15 mile long run today and had to get a picture of it.

I should have known to stay home when I woke up with sinuses about to explode but I thought that running would clear them out. It was about 26F out, clear and sunny. It was beautiful...until the wind started to cut through you.

Last week, the trail was covered in ice covered snow. Most of that had melted off today but I would guess that about 20% of the trail was still covered in a layer of ankle breaking ice, making you walk. More than once I did the cartoonish windmilling of my arms to prevent from falling smack on my rear. We had to divert off to the muddy horse trail at a few points because it was so dangerous going through the ice. After being forced to walk gingerly so many times, about mile 6 I started to question if I should even continue or throw in the towel right there. It would still give me 12 but not the 15 I had planned. I decided to tough it out.

We made it to my turn around point, 7.5 miles from our start. I had some Clif Shots (Chocolate, yummy), some water and some Clif Blocks (CranRazz...again, yummy). I made the call home to let husband know we were alive still (I had my 10 year old with me)

Things went along fairly well until we were approaching the 10 mile mark. At this point, we came to one of the large ice covered areas we had to cross. I heard a sniffle and saw my loyal support crew was in tears. She was cold, she was tired and the ninny had a jacket that didn't zip. I know, bad mom for not checking but I thought she would have the sense to bring one that zipped. Had I known, I would have sent her back for the zippable one or if I had known after we got to our start point, I would have forced my jacket on her. As it was, my jacket sat in the van since I knew I would not need it. Anyway, she didn't want me to call back up to come and get her and wanted to finish the run with me. I took over pushing her bike through the ice, pushing her bike and pep talking her. This went on for a few miles before she felt okay to ride again.

At this point, my legs threw up their arms (if they had them) and said "What? Are you serious? You want us to start running again after that nice, long walk? We thought we were done here. (insert snort of disbelief) Sure, try to run...see if we cooperate." I pushed myself into a shuffle, not really a walk but a far cry from the run I had been at.

I was still several miles from my finish and everything just came crashing over me. What was I doing? Why was I doing this to myself? I looked at all the other runners who went breezily by me and wondered why I ever thought I could run, let alone run a marathon. I miss my running buddies, I miss my running coach, I miss the running store and people who were so supportive of me. Despite the fact I had hundreds of people on the trail with me, I felt like I was doing this all by myself and really, what was the point.

My pity party lasted about half a mile. At this point, a couple ran by me again. I had passed them going out and took note of them. We passed this time near a patch of ice. The man was talking to the woman as they crossed it. "A little to the left, good, now go straight. We are passing a lady and her daughter, same ones as before." Then he smiled at me and said "Great day for a run!" They continued on their way and I shuffled on my way.

What was so awesome and humbling about this is that the woman was blind. Her partner had their wrists held together by something and he was her eyes for this run. I can't imagine trying to walk that path, let alone run it in the dark yet she was doing it, smiling and going strong. It made me feel like a big ole weenie.

So, I made it back to our start, we got warm, we got hot chocolate, hot showers and my 15 is in the book. It is over, it is done with and I can just put it behind me.

Next week's long run is an "easy" 11 miles. Woo hoo! Who would have thought I would look forward to a "short" run of "just" 11 miles?

Food for Thought

I read a lot more blogs than I have listed over there (and it is not a reflection on those not listed, it just means I have not taken the time to add them).

I was reading Lisa's blog and she was singing a familiar refrain: How do I get my miles in during this crappy weather? Bill, who is someone who also reads her blog, made the comment:

Instead of saying "I must run 12 miles today", which may keep you out slogging through the elements long after you're spent, instead schedule a 90 minute run. Whether you run 8 miles or 15 miles during that time, what matters is that you did the time, which is what your body needs more.

It is such a simple thing but it sure hits home. It makes sense, doesn't it? I know that yesterday I was working hard and it took me 45 minutes longer than it should have. In the space of time I took, I should have been at nearly 16 miles rather than the 14 I had to fight to finish.

Maybe this is what I need to do during this crummy weather. I have a 15 miler on my schedule for Saturday. Maybe I need to not be locked into 15 miles but instead, say "I am going to run 3 hours"

I dunno.....I am going to think about this some more. What do those of you who read along think?