"It's the final countdown..."

"It's the final countdown..."- tell me you can't hear the music from Starship backing that up.

Shamrock is a week away. My very first marathon, which was preceded by my very first taper. Let me tell you that sucks! I highly recommend stocking wine and lots of it and be prepared to clean your house thoroughly. With only a week to go, my final long run is 8 miles tomorrow. The words "it's only" 8 miles, 3 miles, X number of miles have crossed my lips more than once and left me chuckling at myself. I never thought I would say such a thing. 1 year ago I ran my first 1/2 marathon, 2 years ago I ran my first race ever. I feel ready. Bring it on! Oh, and yep, just for me, it's gonna rain.  So either I am going to rock it or blow it, but no matter what, I will finish it and will become a marathoner.

Taper mode it a whole new experience. One not unlike what I call a bad buzzy brain day. When you have ADHD or ADD or whatever they are calling it this week, you have trouble concentrating to begin with. As an adult, I can feel days that are worse than others. I know when the focus shuts off. Taper feels a little like that. I need stuff to do. I can't sit still and I can't focus on any one thing for very long. So to reign in that feeling and bring some focus back, I have been reading about autism Spectrum Disorder and how dopamine levels affect the level of disability and the correlation between those levels and ADHA, autism, depression, etc. It's fascinating stuff. What can I say, my brain needs input, especially during times of taper, apparently.

There are tons of articles on research showing how excise releases the feel good endorphins. Regulating dopamine and getting plenty of rest for the marathon and means good serotonin levels which together equal, you guess it- fewer buzzy brain days! At least, until you taper. So I have decided that running another marathon will be good for me. Not necessarily the marathon it's self but all the training that goes into. Its a forced regulation of dopamine. No drugs needed. The only problem, taper. So here it sit, typing about the countdown and a random subject.

I have checked the parking maps, the running maps, worked out a Gu/hour ratio, checked and rechecked the weather, sold girl scout cookies, rethought my running outfit, consulted the car pool, and thanked all the running gods for my BRF and family for supporting my craziness. The only thing left to do is run.

...at least I hope to be after next weekend.

Hoping for Warmer Weather

Lately we have had a lot of...gasp!...snow. Wait, I live in Virginia Beach, (well, Chesapeake, but close enough) there should be no snow you say! I agree! After 22 years in Maine, shoveling the stuff, I really only want to see it once, maybe twice a year for 1 day. Mother Nature has had other ideas. Apparently she needed to remind Virginia of the good old days when they used to get snow all the time-like back in the 1920's. Where is my global warming?! GRRR! Here it makes the roads a mess, school gets cancelled, you can't get to work and dang its a pain to run in since NO ONE salts the side walks. However, there is light at the end of the dreary tunnel. That's what the race folks said. I guess its like the weather guy, great hair, used car salesman smile, and don't believe a word they say.

Myrtle Beach was my light at the end of a snowy tunnel. A relaxing race weekend I could enjoy and would hopefully make me lighten up about my training. I drove down on Friday, making sure to leave early enough to get my number and make the Neon 5k for the night, missing, yes, Valentine's Day. Hallmark, please don't call, but we don't usually do much anyway and I made sure my daughter had a balloon and card to come home to. I am not completely evil. My husband got to come home to clean dishes too. I am down right saintly-hehe! I met my BRF and her race support at a wonderful restaurant. I only wish I could have eaten more.

I was afraid if I really enjoyed it the way I wanted, when I had to run at 7pm there would be more neon on the ground then the race folks intended. I did have some wonderful salad and a couple of small slices of delicious pizza. I LOVE pizza. I order it, make it at home, and love to try it everywhere I go in search of the BEST pizza. So far, Boston has provided the best. They need to deliver a little further south though.

Dinner done and the wind was kicking up. OK, I can deal with a chilly night. Not quite 60 and sunny, but better then snow. I found my way to the race and the start. There were so many families and kids and I am just not fast enough to start at the beginning of a crowd, so I decided I was running my race. I met a wonderful lady whose daughter was singing the national anthem and got to chat with her. Not something I normally do. I usually leave the chatting to my BRF as she is much better at it then me. It was really neat to talk to the lady. Both she and her daughter had overcome some obstacles and her daughter had even had the guts to take her shot at American Idol. Wow! I was just here to run a little old race. Maybe I should try this whole talking thing more often.

Music was pumping, kids were glowing, the wind was whipping and off we went. After the first mile it thinned a bit so I pushed out of the lally gagging comfort trot and moved. Mile two thinned even more so I pushed even harder. I was almost to mile 3 and still picking up speed when I realized I was picking up speed and wondered what the heck was going on. Through the finish and I had my medal.

It certainly wasn't a fast race or even a PR, but I was darn proud of how much faster I got each mile. I never stopped running. Yeah for me! My race felt good.  I headed back to the car, to the hotel and to bed. I had to be up at 4:30 for the next race. Ugh! They better have the whole zoo at the start!

Alas, no zoo. Instead, they ordered up more wind and pouring rain. What?! That wasn't in the brochure! Not only that, but on little dinner and NO COFFEE in my room (my world was coming to an end), I was now cold, wet and not properly caffeinated. Eventually I headed for the mandatory porta potty stop before the race and ran into my BRF-thank goodness! Someone to commiserate with and who not once told me to stop whining (though she probably should have). You know you are BRF's when you don't make plans to meet, at a race in a different state, in the rain and you STILL meet up.

Whining and potty done, we lined up, at the back where everyone slower then a 2:30 finish was crowed. No one seemed to know where one pace started and one ended, so the start was a little crazy. About a half a mile in I lost my BRF and had to just run my own race again. About mile 1.5 the rain stopped completely and the sun was coming out, but only because the hurricane force winds were blowing the clouds and runners around like crazy. We were warmer, but I could actually lien into the gusts and remain up right. If I had wings I would have won the whole thing! It wasn't bad through. Not my best, but not far off the mark even with the rain and wind. The best part was that my training for the marathon is paying off in my half marathons. I wasn't nearly as tired as I normally am and the wind and rain were mere annoyances rather then race breakers. That's kinda cool. Race done and I even saw the elephant on the way back to the shuttle. Maybe a little luck for the Shamrock next month? Lets hope so! Best of all, I enjoyed it, rain, lack of coffee, whining and all. I also felt better about my training. Mission accomplished.

Freak Out

So I haven't made it to Myrtle Beach yet. I have been too busy worrying about the training for Shamrock. When you look up self doubt in the dictionary, I am pretty sure there is a picture of me as there is next to the work worry. Anyone who knows me long ago realized that I can take anything, any situation, and moment in time and turn it into a blood pressure cooking worry fest. Those people have either taken it as it is, shrugged and loved my anyway or move on. My latest greatest is the Shamrock. I had the brilliant idea that since I was running all these half marathons, why not a whole? Seems great in theory, right? Sure!

Except that we had snow. I don't mind snow, until it interferes with my schedule. To reduce worry, I follow a schedule. My training runs are scheduled. I get my daughters extra curricular activity schedule ahead of time to make sure its on the schedule. When it snows and they cancel school and side walks are icy, it messes with my schedule and I start to freak out. I ran 20 miles two weekends again. Last weekend was only 3.5. During the week I did not run my 5/8/5 on Tuesday/wed/Thursday, but I did run some. So now, I am freaking out. I have looked up the percentage of how much you actually lose in a week of not training. 3 to 4%. Two weeks 15-20%. OMG! I have to start all over right? Not so much, but my head thinks I do. I only have 6 weeks left to get it together! Only 6 weeks to keep up long runs to make sure I can hit 26.2! How in the world is that going to happen?! One step at a time, it will happen. Seriously, so I have to run 20 again. And then 21 next weekend, 22 the following weekend. As long as we don't get anymore "storm of a generation" storms, I should be good. BUT OMG! Only 6 weeks to get it together! What the heck am I going to do when I have to taper?! Maybe I should have my husband sedate me until race day.

It doesn't help that I have been doing a lot of this myself. Not only is it snow season, its busy season. Kids, jobs, snow, more snow, and vacations to warm places season. Also, I thought it would be easier to run the long runs alone, because then there would be no one to laugh at my pace. Insert head smack- duh! There is a reason most people do this with another crazy friend. Lesson learned. On that note, I am head to the gym and the dreadmill or maybe outside. Either way, I need to not get off schedule...AGAIN.

Running in the Mountains

Since the last time I slowed down enough to type something, I have run in the Outer Banks (awesome, and frankly, I think they need more half marathons for me to run down there), been robbed and had to leave my race at the start line due to said robbery (this NOT being so awesome), run in Tennessee (where I am still convinced they mixed up Whiskey and Wine) and run in West Virginia.

 Outer Banks

Over the Bridge in the Outer Banks-loved it!

I learned I love running in the Outer Banks, cold, warm or other and I do NOT like running in West Virginia. It seems great on paper, but not so much in reality. I also learned that we now live in a neighborhood where we need an alarm-total suckage.

Richmond start in the rain.

A week after I ran in the Outer Banks I was suppose to run in Richmond, VA. This race I was doing myself. I was looking forward to it and the awesome swag that supposedly waited at the finish line for me. The night before I even had time to catch up with an old friend. Things were looking good and then I got to the start line. There was no one to keep me company, which was OK because it being downtown Richmond, and me being there early, I could wander and look at historic land marks. Of course, it started raining, then pouring, and then my husband called. We had been robbed while I was sleeping in the hotel and he had duty. (No one was home at the time-thank goodness.) While the dog appeared to have tried to eat the robbers (good dog!), they still got away with the TV and my kindle. What?! My kindle?!...oh, and the TV is gone too? While my husband and I went back and forth about me coming home, it started to pour hard enough I was worried about my phone. Running wet was no big deal, but no music for the run? No acceptable. I was upset, he was upset, and it was pouring, so I went home, bib and all. I will have to regroup and try again next year. We talked to the cops, of course, but even after the house was dusted for prints, there was nothing. Here it is January and still nothing. I hope they blew out their backs carrying the darn TV.

Despite this, it was the holidays, my family was safe and there was another race to be had in Tennessee in some small town where the Titanic lives across the street from the Hatfield and McCoy's. Dinner was sold out, so instead my BRF and I headed over to the Titanic to find out if we would live or die. We both survived, hand a nice pasta dinner and after a good nights sleep, we lined up to run. I have to say, staying the host hotel, at the start line is the way to go. You just roll out of bed and BAM, you run. No shuttles and crazy parking.  No crack of dawn alarm. Cookies on a chilly course, not such a great idea, but the Santa Hats and shirts were cute. While it was no Outer Banks, I quite enjoyed the race, hills and all. Yes, the secret is out. While they aren't easy, I like hills. I don't know why, maybe that's the part of my brain that's broken. They make you work hard to get up them, and then there is all that fun of running down them. You just let go and gravity will take over. AWESOME! At this point, I am sure you all realize I am crazy anyway.

 Santa Shuffle in Tennessee

To make sure we knew we were running a half marathon, they put up a sign with the mileage.

 

Then there was Christmas! Yeah Christmas! Then off to West Virginia. There are many great drivers out there. My husband is one, as is my BRF.  However, crazy as I am, I DO NOT make a good passenger, especially when its close to freezing, raining, on mountains that drop off the side, and there are deer that I swear, were stalking us, waiting for their moment to jump in front of the car. I did not like it Sam I Am. It made my tummy hurt. I also don't like running at 2pm. Who does that?! apparently folks in West Virginia. To help thin out the already small group of competition, they wanted to make sure you were off your game, didn't know how to fuel and ran at that point in the day when everyone needs a nap anyway. They failed to realize I wasn't competition in the first place! Of the less then 300 that ran, only about 15 took longer then 2:30:00 to run it and a hand full of those had signed up as race walkers. Maybe they handed out time modulators to the walkers when they told them that fast field was walker friendly. However, thank you walkers, you made sure I wasn't last.

They were also the friendliest group of people at a race I have ever seen. Or least, when you look like death warmed over they are. Of course, I didn't realize that until my BRF asked if I was OK. Apparently, death didn't just warm over, it came and stomped on my face and they were telling me good job, keep it up because they were afraid I would collapse and die on them! But still, they care enough to try. I didn't mind the snow and I didn't mind the cold. While I have lived in the warm South for over 10 years, after coming from Maine, those things still don't bother me all that much. I did keep wondering why I was having a hard time breathing. I had taken a hit of my inhaler before the race, it should have been fine, oh wait, that's right, we were in the mountains in a high altitude. Insert head smack! Another reason not to like this race. There was also a tunnel. A dark troll tunnel. I am slightly claustrophobic. Normally, this will only get bad when there are too many people too close to me. This is my dance space, stay the heck out of it and all that. In a tunnel, a dark tunnel that echoes and you can't see where everyone is...its just not cool. In theory it seemed really neat as there is the history of the trail being an old rail road bed and the tunnel being part of it. Once I was in the tunnel, not so much. I followed the edge and didn't dare to pass anyone.

Before I even hit the finish line I was ready to be home. I really did NOT want to be there anymore. I didn't feel good, I was exhausted, and feeling more then a little whiny. I wasn't even sure my dinner was going to stay down when we stopped. NO MORE RUNNING IN WV! It was pretty, the company couldn't be beat, and the box is now checked. The deer didn't kill us and I made new running friends, so its not all bad. BUT NO MORE RUNNING IN WV! Just in case it wasn't understood...NO MORE RUNNING IN WV! Just to make sure I got that point home, there was a chemical leak last night and now 300,000 plus are without water. No even a shower. It's bad. If that doesn't say no more running in WV, I don't know what does. I really hope those people are OK, it is a truly awful situation that can use everyone's help- but, NO MORE RUNNING IN WV!

 The river we ran next to. Don't fall in!

 Prickets Fort next to where we started.

Next up is Myrtle Beach in February. This I can handle. I will drive, it's on the beach and there are cool animals at the beginning. It is almost a relief after West Virginia. Then...drum roll please...my first full marathon, the Shamrock. Here's to hoping I don't keel over at the 20 mile marker.

Wicked Crabby

October finally brought some relief from the humidity, which normally means you get some relief from the heat too.  I was hoping it would be in time for the Crawlin' Crab at the beginning of October. The weather gods just chuckled. I didn't know it at the time, but they were saving the perfect running weather for November. Maybe they wanted some extra thank you points that month, But hey, I run rain, shine, sleet, snow and steamy heat. I even run on Sunday's so I have one up on the post man.

The Crawlin' Crab was the half marathon for October. One a month keeps the doctor away! Better yet, it was the closest one to me other then the Dismal Swamp Stomp. I didn't have to get up at 3am. Packet pick up was close by. I was joined again by my BRF, and the usual suspects. We are almost becoming cliquey, for shame! The race was in Hampton. It was a pretty unassuming race. Its best sales pitch really is that J&A Racing put it on and they always do well.

We lined up and off we went. I went right to the side line to add a safety pin to my running skirt. Now I know I haven't lost that much weight. I had pinned one side since that was sufficient on the last long run, but this time I could feel the undies starting to slip with the skirt. Rather then flash the world when I tripped over my own feet,  I stopped and pinned the other side; problem solved. I merged with traffic and off I went again to the first porta potty. Dang it! But when you gotta go... and I didn't know when the next one would show up.

While the next porta potty was not on the agenda, humidity and sunshine were. By the time I finally crossed the finish, I am pretty sure I had sunburn and the salt from my sweat stung. Not cool. Definitely-crabby.

Some of the girls had a great run. Me, meh. I could take it or leave it, but it is another half in the books.

Next up was the Wicked 10k. The running in between the two races was like the Crawlin' Crab-meh. Thank goodness for BRF's who motivate. I am pretty sure we elected a new cabinet, president and reorganized the department of education on those runs.

I had no expectations for the Wicked 10k. I had actually lied and put what I wanted to finish rather then what I knew I would finish and amazingly wound up in the perfect corral for me. My BRF had been telling me race by race I was in the wrong corral and highly recommended I give myself a little more credit. She was right. Yes, Jessica Meier, I am putting it in writing, you were right. The best thing about the Wicked 10k is the costumes. I think I like this race the best out of all the races J&A Racing does. Its just fun. Last year, we had cold gale force winds that sand blasted your face when you came around the corner on the boardwalk. In true Virginia fashion, this year was warm and a little humid, but for Virginia do-able.

I somehow was late leaving the house (kids will do that to you), late getting to the race (thank you traffic), missed the group pic (well crap) and had to parks blocks away (we'll count this as a warm up). That's ok. It was still a great race. I ran the whole 10k at a decent pace and had time for beer. Yeah for beer! The absolute best part about this race was walking back to my car and seeing the last person come in for the finish. It was clearly a struggle, but they were doing it. Better yet, the J&A race support person was cheering her on, saying encouraging things and I think I even saw her laugh at one point. That race support person should get their very own medal. It was true race support. I wish everyone was that supportive, we would probably all be healthier for it. I also hope that last person went in and had their soup and beer and said "I did it!", with a huge pat my self on the back smile because she deserved it.

Costumes again, were awesome. They are every year. It's part of the fun. I don't wear a costume, I don't do cute matching running outfits and I have a very ugly running hat for cold weather, but I still appreciate all those that do.

Two in two weeks- yep.

After a disappointing Rock n Roll I had a "fun run" planned. It was the Diva Half in northern VA wine country. I say fun run because I had no finish time goals. I just wanted to run with my BRF in beautiful country and drink wine. I also wanted to see if I had the recovery it took to run two in two weeks. Supposedly you are suppose to rest a certain amount of time for a certain amount of miles. I suck at waiting. Point in case, I am currently signed up for a half at the Outer Banks and the following weekend I will be running the half in Richmond. Bummer they only schedule these things on the weekends, or maybe that's to force crazy people like me to rest.

Diva was everything I was looking forward to, except traffic. Two lane roads and an antique care show the same day in the same area, did NOT bode well for in and out traffic. My BRF was onboard for this trip. After confusing my GPS on the beltway we followed the map in my head towards Leesburg and then GPS caught up. Thank goodness I can still read a paper map and remember what I saw on said map. Technology is great, but sometimes you gotta go old school. After that little adventure where I showed my New England manners by physically waiving thank you in the rearview along with saying it, we arrived at the expo. I got my lovely daughter a shirt, we got our numbers, tried some wine we hated and decided we were done. Off to the hotel, which was easy enough to find.

Jessica (said BRF) went to get the key. I sat and guarded our stuff awaiting her return. Back she came and in went the key...that didn't work. Double check numbers, rooms and keys...still a no go. Back down she goes and get the key redone. This time it works BUT someone else's stuff is in our/their room. What the heck?! Did we get double booked? Did the maids forget to clean. No. The front desk person is slightly dyslexic. WRONG ROOM! After finally getting the right key to the right room, we dump our stuff and go looking for food. Syri (iPhone help person) and I got in an argument about pizza. I wanted some and she couldn't find a location in a good neighborhood fast enough. Grrrr. Finally we were fed and then off to bed with an early morning wake up. I had brought coffee, the good stuff and had it ready to go in the morning.

Crack of dawn wake up, sleepy coffee and we were off. We made it most of the way there and then stopped in traffic that creeped along. Which was still ok. We had left early enough that even with inching traffic we would be ok for the start. Apparently, we were in the minority. Hello people! Country lanes and lots of cars equals grid lock. Parking was plentiful at the Tarara Winery and well directed, though I clearly have issued following directions when two people are directing me and I left a whole parking spot next to me, which was filled, of course. We rounded up our stuff and hiked off through the field to the start.

At the start we jumped in the porta potty line and caught up with some other MRTT'ers (Moms Run This Town-best running group ever!). We then ran into Michelle (a fellow MRTT'er) and her entourage. (husband and two boys who provide awesome support!). Just when we are heading for one last porta potty trip they announce the race is delayed. Whats! Its cool and pretty and perfect running weather-RIGHT NOW. However, they want to make sure everyone makes it in for the race. Those who didn't plan as well are still stuck in traffic. Then there was an accident. You are going two miles and hour. How the heck does that happen?!

And thus we wait, and chat and hit the porta potty line, and chat some more.

And as we wait, it gets warmer...but finally the national anthem plays and we start. The roads are loose gravel and pavement. Rolling hills are really rolling hills, but the company of Michelle and Jessica and wonderful. We are a funny group, cracking jokes, yet support each other and other runners. The Galloway method makes the hills easier to contend with. But hills are hills and we are fund Virginia Beach where it is FLAT. The way is beautifully amazing. I love it. My fellow runners, no so much. Those around us seemed to have a lot of complaints. I stopped for pictures. I really did enjoy it and would live to run that area again, without the two and a half hour delay.

After awhile, I apparently had noticeable itchy legs. Michelle and Jessica insisted I go ahead of them so I finished out the race. Just before the end, I dropped my ID. Slick, right? I had to back track to find and then finally finished the race. A water, bagel and banana later and I had my very large medal, my friends and it was time for wine.

Traffic out was worse then the way in. By the time we got to the intersection we were hungry and desperate to get out of the traffic. Syri, where is the closest winery? Syri came through and we pulled u-turn and off we went. First winery was good, and was selling food. Having had a good experience, we hit another one. Lost Creek was YUMMY! Two more and we decided since we were driving we were done for the day. It was off to dinner. Syri found us a hole in the wall that was also good. The pizza we had been looking for the first night was yummy. Back to the hotel for some DCC on tv and home the next morning. I really did enjoy this race and the whole trip that went with it. I hope I can sucker someone into going with me again next year. Maybe we will buy the wine first.

 

Catching Up

So I have been slacking. Completely and totally slacking. I have since run the Rock 'N' Roll, Diva and the Crab...and I'm not dead yet! Actually, I have signed up for the Southern Fried Challenge in NC which consists of a 5k on Saturday and a 1/2 on Sunday and then a week later I have signed up for the half in Richmond. Its for the blanket, I swear. In the midst of signing up and running I haven't been writing. Shame on me. I have some catching up to do.

First and most awful and yet somehow, my most proudest race was the Rock N Roll, Virginia Beach. My gallant BRF joined me in early morning, hot humid long runs that were so sticky you expanded more energy pushing through the air then actually running. I get a double calorie count for those runs. We were determined to be ready for all the horror stories we had heard. Then it cooled down. We danced, we ran and I doggedly checked the chameleon weather every morning. I couldn't possible get that lucky. And I wasn't.

At 3am I got up, desperately berated the coffee to percolate faster and tried to be happy that I was up to run that early. For whatever reason, the City of Virginia Beach ha decided it was better to park up 15 minutes away and bus us to and from the race, which meant you had a deadline to make the last bus. Needless to say, we were there waaaaaay early for a 7:30 race. And the heat and more importantly, the humidity were back with a sock to the gut. So much for cool and rainy. We were even there early enough for me to eat breakfast, or at least my version of it, which was water and a bagel. Normally, I don't eat before a race, because my tummy doesn't have time to settle before I start. This time I did. So we are there early and we are tired. Its humid enough to make you think you had extra clothes on, and I ate breakfast. Not a good start.

 But thanks to my BRF, I got to potty like a rock star. I highly recommend buying Brooks shoes for the potty pass. You'll eventually need the shoes anyway and its worth it. My BRF thought she would be able to use it because she was running the second half of the relay and gave it to me. She gets double BRF points for that. You will never want to use a normal port a potty again.  She gave me that wonder piece of sunshine that morning. It flushed. It had soap, sanitizer, snacks on the way out and even better- no line.

Brooks Potty Paper.

It did not make me a faster runner though. I totally, completely hit the humid wall at about mile 8.5/9. The sun came out, there was no shade and I just felt done. Instead, I popped a Gu, slugged some Gatorade, called myself a wussy and told my self to suck it up. A salt packet later and I was moving again. Once I was back on the main road I hit shade and picked up the pace. I finished. It was my worst time but I had tackled the beast and won. My feet in the ocean at the end had never felt so good.

 

 

Next up was Diva. I had totally planned on enjoying this race. It was to be a fun run with my BRF and I was totally looking forward to it and the wine we would be tasting after. Yeah for running road trips involving wine. Why don't they have a vodka or rum race?