Rock the Canyon- quick version

So I had this bright idea that we should not only run the half marathon up  hill both ways on Saturday, but lets find a steeper path and run a marathon on it the next day. Thus my crazy running friends and I "Rocked the Canyon" in PA. My slightly saner BRF ran the half and graciously drove the nut jobs home the next day. I do appreciate her oh so much!

It really was an amazingly beautiful place to run even if it was one of the hardest races yet. There was certainly no PR. But dang! a half AND a whole in one weekend. I get bragging rights. correct?!


How could anyone not be glad they got to run in this place. So apparently, PA has its own Grand Canyon. Once upon a time, there was a rail road and it looked a lot more bare as they strip the lumber. The little town has a dinner-YUM! and you can actually drive a loop around the canyon if you want. There is also the option of a wagon ride, which after running up the thing, I recommend.

So up and down and up for 13.1 then allllllll over again for 26.2. That, my friends is the quick version ...

Time to write

So its been awhile. There has been running, tears, arguments with the husband and finally today, sick children. The latter of which being what sat me down to write, finally. Even with all that time I still have no direction, no theme, no real subject. I know, total failure of topic Mrs. Grindal.

The last time I had anything to say, it was really just that I had run my first marathon. Since then, there have been more races and now there is another marathon looming in the next couple of weeks.

In April I first went to Atlantic City. Sadly, I did not see any of the Real Housewives of New Jersey. This is very disappointing. I wanted to see tables thrown. This race was nice.  The most interesting thing about it was the hotel experience. My BRF had gone up with her mom and I took my husband so we had separate hotels. I had booked what looked like a nice, safe rightly price room two blocks off the shore. For those of you familiar with the area, please don't choke on your coffee laughing. My husband and I got there, and he looked at me. The area was not nice, but in I went, checked us in and up we went. My husband opened the door and looked around. "I can't stay here," he said. I tried convincing him it was only for one night. After all, it was paid for. He looked in the rest room. "Gross! I can't sit down on this!" He tried convincing me to get a new place again. One night, I reminded him. He looked at the beds, "I can't sleep on this with you! Who knows what those marks are!" As he was working up his rant, I looked around myself. Uh oh, no coffee pot. Wait, the ad said in room coffee. NO COFFEE??!! I turned to my husband handing him my already dialed, ringing phone to Trump Towers, "Get us a new room." We ended up on the boardwalk a bit of a ways down, but safe, in a large CLEAN room, with plenty of coffee. The first hotel even graciously gave me all my money back. There were really nice folks, just not in a safe area and with no coffee.

We went to dinner and met up with my BRF for some gambling. Clearly, I am not a gambler. Its good to know I can go to Vegas and I won't gamble away my house. I tried penny slots and freaked out at the money I was watching disappear. My BRF just laughed at me. I tried black jack. Not my thing either. I lost what I had left in two hands and the drunk guy told me I didn't know how to play. My husband, however, did all right. Nothing big, but broke even.

Atlantic City Board Walk April 2014

The next morning we raced. Running on the boardwalk was nice. You could see where they had repaired from hurricane Sandy and the boards had give. The section at the middle of the race was on the road, also being repaired, and that sucked. It was rough, very canted and just generally not in good condition. Fix the road and I would run it again, without the gambling.

 

 

A week later was the Dismal Swamp Stomp where I totally failed bathroom protocol. As my running friend Susan says "Go early, go often". My mistake. Won't happen again. It was a local race on a course I had trained for the marathon on. It goes out just past eight miles so its easy to get long runs in for those of us who hate running in circles. I am not a cartoon character and I don't want to run like one, despite what race pictures may reveal. I got there in plenty of time, with plenty of rest. Met up with some running friends for pictures. Went to the rest room. I don't eat breakfast on race day, so usually lots of potty is not on the agenda. (Bad Kris, bad. O.K., consider my hand smacked, I will work harder at fueling.) Chatted with friends and lined up only to think "Oh no. Naw, can't be." Yep, had to pee, again. Off goes the gun. I am slower, so you would think at the back of the pack, I probably still had time. Nope. Small race. The back really wasn't that far back so I had to make friends with the first potty on the course. There went any thought of a PR. The line was 4 deep. Apparently I wasn't the only one who forgot to read the race potty hand book. So I waited, and waived to my friends running by, and waited. Finally it was my turn and then I had to hurry to catch up. Having to do that at the beginning of the race sucks, what with all that not going out too fast and stuff. Totally blew all those rules out of the water. Over all, it was a great race after that. A little hot, but always a pretty course and anytime I meet up with running friends its fun. Plus they had pizza at the end. I love pizza. They should make a pizza race. Yum!

Not sure who took this, but credit goes out to them.

 

May was the Nut Job in Frederick Maryland. I quite enjoyed this race. It had hills, a little rain and historical landmarks. All things I like. I went up with a couple of race friends and we met up with my BRF. First night was shirts, bibs and a quick 5k. The race started on a race track, down the hill and back up the hill to the race track again. However, there was no 5k medal. What?! If you are running a challenge, one that says you're nuts, why isn't there a 5k medal? My running friends were very disappointed in this.  Up again the next morning for more running! Yep, now you know why they give you a Nut Job medal. The half was even better. Rolling hills, through a very quaint town, pretty neighborhoods, good race support and back up the hill for the Nut Job medal and half medal. After we showered, we went exploring. Frederick has some wonderful historic sights and we went to the cemetery to see Francis Scott Key. All in all, an awesome race, even with the late night calls from my daughter at Girl Scout camp for the weekend.

June is the Race for the Dream half. Last year it was sooooo hot. I was taking two waters. One to dump on my head and one to drink. However, its a 'local' race, so you can't miss it. This year was the complete opposite. They changed the course and the start place. The morning couldn't have been prettier. After a cat snafu, I got to the hotel late the night before and didn't get much sleep. The start was right at the hotel though, so I got up, met my friend in the hall (we had somehow managed to get rooms across from each other despite booking separately) and down to the start we went. Best advice of the day- "Run, my friend, just go run." The day was gorgeous, I felt good, the course was awesome, hills and all, so I did. I just ran. Hello my new PR! I didn't quite break the numbers I wanted to, but everyone has to have a goal. I am VERY happy with how I did.

Now reading this, and past blogs, you think, "What the heck?! Does something happen at every race?" Good question. No coffee, crying kids at night, cat issues, maybe I am writing about the wrong thing, or maybe I am just pessimistic, always finding bad things. Either way, its time to make it better.  To have positive things happen you have to be positive. Its ways been easy to blame myself for all the bad things in the world and convince myself I deserve them. What a horrible way to look at things. So no more. Stuff happens, friends come and go, but my running will always be there. My husband is a great guy, my daughter is a wonderful child. I really can't ask for better. I love running. I love seeing all the new places it takes me. I am a bit shy in making new friends, so if they want to be there great, if not, a team is not required to run. I can love what I have accomplished for me and support others without having it be a bad thing.

On that note, up next is Rock the Canyon. A half on Saturday and a whole on Sunday. It should be amazing. It looks soooo pretty and when I am done, I can say I did it. Plus, I can mark PA off the list and there will be a covered wagon ride, how awesome is that?! I can't wait! More great company, history and hills. My favorite! Bring it on!

The marathon

I did it. I am a marathoner. I got to check that one off my bucket list and I am darn proud of it. I also can't wait for the next one. Yes, someone needs to smack me and hard, I know. Better yet, the next one is a back to back half and then a whole. I am getting more badass as I go. Yes, I get to say that. All those training miles earned me that right as it does anyone who has run a marathon.

Whoever created the above got it right. I haven't smiled like that since I got married and had my daughter. The feeling of accomplishment is AMAZING and makes you want to accomplish more.

The Shamrock is always a good time, though I have always done the 8k. I heard from my BRF the beer stops on the half, though not race sanctioned, did have incredible race support and pink elephants. We are completely spoiled in Virginia Beach. The mass public always supports those of us crazy enough to get up a 4:30am to go running in the cold, the windy and the hot and humid. Maybe I just have it backwards and we are just great entertainment that they wait all year for, like the super bowl.

As is race typical, we were up early. Most of the girls I run with were running the half. (most time for the after party that way) I caught a ride to the beach with one and hung out at Starbucks while they started since the half started and hour and a half prior to the full. It gave me a chance to settlement my stomach and gets some fuel in me. Normally, that's hard for me in the morning. By the time I was ready to head for the start the sun was up, but the temperature wasn't. Virginia Beach weather blessed us with 70 degrees Saturday but only 44 for my Sunday race start with rain predicted by about 1. Bleh! I was in the last corral and we counted down and off we went. It was weird to here the half coming in being announced while we counted down to start, but off we went.

We went over the bridge (hill-yeah! I am a closet hill lover.) down to the base and back up to the next base and back down the boardwalk. I stopped for pictures on the bridge and the second base which has a historic lighthouse. A girl has to have pictures-right?


I felt great to the half. Better yet I had screaming fans to cheer me on. My best running buds and my BRF were hollering my name loud enough for all
of Virginia to hear. It was AWESOME!

I stayed steady until about mile 18. Another running friend had told me about 18-20 would suck and then it would be ok again. When I hit 18, I knew exactly what she had been talking about. I swear, I didn't know Shore Drive was that long and boring. It was horrible. If I was someone who would give up, it would have been there. Instead, her voice hollered at me to suck it up. Get past 20 and it will be ok. So I did. At mile 20 one of the military guys gave me a banana and some pretzels and 2 minutes later every thing was a-ok. Thank you banana guy. Thank you.

At about mile 24 the banana wore off and my Garmin died, right in the middle of a walk interval. The guy behind me must have thought I had given up.

"Run with me to the 24 marker." he said. "We are almost there." and so we did. But when I was ready to keep going, he wasn't. I tried, but he wasn't willing so I just kept going. 25...I could see the Hilton. 26 and I was almost there. I think I could hear my cheering section before I saw them. 26 and I picked up speed. I'll be darn but I was going to pass that girl that kept playing leap from with me- and I did.  And then the finish. My BRF, my running friends, by husband and amazing daughter, all saw me through the finish of my very first marathon and I couldn't be happier that they were there to share the moment with me. It wouldn't have been the same with out them.

 Mile 9 for my daughter's 9th birthday which was the day I ran the race. Happy Birthday Honey!

The Finish is in sight!

"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.