Happy Samhain - with Snow!

Volunteering at the Dry Valley Half Marathon - brrrr!

Mums the word.

Indigo berries near our volunteer station.

We were .7 mile from the finish. It was a small crowd this year.

NYRR Women's Mini 2011

My results are officially posted here.

In a lot of pain and pretty disappointed that my time wasn't any faster, I muster a tearful smile for the camera with my finisher's medal.

Finally, a series of photos for sale on Bright Room photo services. Are any worth purchasing?

If I were to disappear tomorrow, I would hope that everyone remembered me this way.

Boalsburg Memorial Day Run

Almost a mile into the race. It's HOT!

Same place but coming back after 3 miles and 2 brutal hills. I am not happy that there is no shade.

Totally crazed at the finish line but happy I came in a minute and 7 seconds under my goal. See results here!!

Beaver Stadium Run 2011

Thoughts from the Road - #41711

Two Races in one Weekend



Yesterday Jim and I ran a 5k race in Mifflintown and today we ran one here in State College. I am pretty tired and will update this post later but I promised my sister I would make a video of our race today since we ended on the field of Beaver Stadium.

Beaver Stadium Run is a new Blue White Weekend tradition. Runners and walkers of all ages and abilities took part in the second annual Beaver Stadium 5K Run/Family Fun Walk at Penn State University to benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania. We ended through the Beaver Stadium Tunnel and onto the Nittany Lions’ home turf to the finish line.

Dad allowed me to wear his Special Olympics media cap. It was so windy I was afraid it would blow off but it stayed firmly on my head the whole run.



After filming our entrance into the stadium, Jimmy the Eye sat down to stretch out his sore calves and shared this sentiment:


He has every right to be sore with an amazing finishing time of 26:38 from yesterday's race! That is almost 3 minutes faster than his best 5k time! Today we stayed together and finished (as you probably heard in the first video) under 30 minutes for a clock time of 29:48. Not too bad for 2 slow and tired soles, just 10 seconds slower than my time yesterday.

Yesterday had a whole other series of challenges. The main one was a cold pouring rain.

Today's race ended with a lot of snacks set out in the cold wind.

Bananas for tomorrow morning!

Waters in a row!

Eat & Park man face cookies!!

Subway sandwiches usually mean none for us.

Cheese subs from Subway!

Very happy for all of the food!

Capital 10-Miler

A found a few links and one photo I am in. A link to the results can be found at this link. More photos of the race day are at this link.

I am in blue, adjusting my hat.

Thoughts from the Road - #4411

Capital 10-Miler

My weekend in Harrisburg went pretty well. Jim and I had a nice vacation together that included my pre-race pad thai at the cute Café Fresco. It was just blocks from where we stayed.

I had my normal dose of pre-race jitters which Amy and Arron quelled with a FaceTime chat. The moment they extended their arms and gave me such a loving virtual hug, my nerves were never that upset from that point on. I spent a portion of the rest of the night reading race quotes and favorite race course signs that people had found inspirational.

The morning of the race I was torn between running hard or just having a good time. I think I stopped having a jolly outlook toward the race the day before when I saw the shirt in my race packet (remember - for me it's ALL about the shirt). They used the Capital 10-Miler logo which I liked well enough but it was in one color, white, on the most common of t-shirt blue shirts. Meh. At least it was a tech shirt that I could count on it to cling and not shift around nor retain moisture. I unfolded it and it looked really big. I checked the size and it was a small. I couldn't believe this was the smallest shirt they had and asked since sometimes they have just a few kids XL unannounced. They excitedly told me that there was extra small!!! but they were out. WTF! There wasn't even an XS option on the online order form. Thus my grump set in and race morning I still couldn't shake it.

I had printed off a pace bracelet (which I will from this point on refer to as my pacelette) that would keep me on track for running my fastest ever 10 miles. Each mile had a time printed off that I was to match or beat to stay on my chosen pace. I have a hard time running that distance in an hour and 40 minutes since it requires an average of less than a 10:00MM (MM = minute mile which requires MORE MATH!!!) In March I had finally been dropping my times down a bit and was slowly sneaking under my 10MM average. Before I left home I had printed off an ambitious 1:38:00 goal for my pacelette that would require me to average 9:48MM.

The last time I had a pacelette it kind of freaked me out and ruined my race. The race was hot and hilly and the pacelette was a constant reminder that I was failing to meet my goal. It burned white hot in my SpiBelt during the entire Dry Valley Half Marathon, the only race where I decided to take walking breaks. I couldn't look forward to proudly wearing the race t-shirt after I finished so I was compelled to try PR (in central Pee Ay it's pronounced "Pee Argh") but didn't want that goal to ruin the race for me all together.

I was wasting time and had to pull myself together to get over to City Island where the race started. I gave the pacelette one last glance by looking at the halfway/ 5 mile split - 49:00:00. I then stuck it in Jim's bag of stuff to carry for after the race and decided not to carry it with me at all. I finished getting ready and tried to focus on how to get the best out of my run without fixating on time.

As I was pulling on my shirt I blurted out a mumbled "run the tangents!" as a reminder to myself how to make the best of the course. I immediately apologized to Jim, "Sorry - that was supposed to have stayed in my head."

He normally just accepts my outbursts but this time asked, "What did you say?!" I assured him it was only me thinking about the race but he insisted that I tell him because he thought I had said, "rubber panties!" We laughed and the mood for the entire day lightened at that very moment. I insisted that we continue to call that race strategy "rubber panties" but have doubts that it will catch on as typical racing jargon.

The day was pretty but the breeze on the island kept it chilly. I got out of my warm up pants and at the last moment gave Jim my jacket. It was getting sunny and my darker colored shirt would be good once I got moving. After a chilly delay, we were off and jogged around City Island before turning onto the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge for the first time. We were so packed together that I chose the grated side to run on. It was poor footing, wasn't optimising my tangential running but I knew Jim was ahead on that side of the bridge and I wanted a parting cheer from him at the one mile mark.

This video is of me running on the Walnut Street Bridge as a local band plays... "Batman!?" As I pass you can hear Jim laugh and cheer for me. Listen to what he yells!!

The run along the river was very pretty as we ran toward the sun. The pack settled in as some people passed me and I passed some others. I overheard a couple of young women talking about the wind and hadn't really noticed it. I looked up to a flag they made reference to and it was standing straight out and snapping in the strong breeze. We had a tailwind and I hadn't even noticed.

As we made a looping turn after 4 miles or so the wind became very noticeable as we retraced the course.

Jim was down at the bottom of the Walnut Street Bridge as we passed under it. I saw him in the distance and waved my arms so he would know that it was me coming if he wanted to shoot another video. As I got closer, I saw he was making a video and could hear his voice. Until that moment I hadn't realized how loud the whipping wind was in my ears. I shouted, "I can't hear you." The video below has his response and my less than thrilled comeback. HA!

I glanced at my watch as I passed the 6 mile mark and I think I may have been losing time battling the head wind. I don't think anyone had passed me since about mile 5 and had passed a few runners who had been taking walking breaks. On the Lower River Walk we ran by some cute parks I had never seen before and some geese flew so low that their honking scared me. I thought it was a runner quickly approaching and shouting "on your left!" as they skimmed just over my head before landing on the Upper River Walk.

I saw the Harvey Bridge coming closer at an excruciatingly slow speed. I was slowly gaining on a fellow as we finally got to the bridge. We both ground our way up a little hill that took us to the far pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge. I worked my "rubber panties" just right and passed him as we looped around to get on the bridge. I conversationally said to him, "I'm done with that head wind." He agreed but little did I know the worst was yet to come.

As we climbed in altitude on the windward side of the bridge, we were hit on the side by the strongest winds I have ever run in. Over the mile long bridge we were pounded by a relentless gale that had me dipping my head to keep my hat on. It was so strong that I cannot remember checking my watch at mile 7 and part of me was starting to lose confidence. I realized at one point I was misjudging the length of the bridge because I had crossed the shorter Walnut Street Bridge from City Island so much more quickly. About 2/3 of the way across I decided to take off my hat and carry it. I pin my iPod Nano into my Ruffian hat during races that do not allow head phones. It provides some music and also records my run data. If my iPod and favorite hat flew off and into the lanes of traffic to my left I would be very upset.


I hoped beyond hope that the leeward side of the bridge was not going to be as bad. My feet made a slapping sound as they hit the ground through the little underpass and I gritted my teeth to climb back up onto that bridge for my return trip. There was still a breeze but nothing like on the windward side. Soon I was actually able to start thinking again and remembered checking my watch at 8 mile that was about 1/3 of the way back across the Harvey Bridge.

My watch read 1:20:?? at the 8th mile. I was on my regular old 10MM pace and that made me pout but only for a short moment. I realized I had averaged that pace even with the head wind so it was possible, if I had it in me, to make use of the tailwind. "Why wait?" I thought. If I could start on the leeward side of the bridge I might still keep it under 1:40:00. I was tired but one of the many quotes that I had read the night before came back to me, "Pain is temporary; your race time on the Internet is for all eternity." I slowly started to kick it up a notch.

It still wasn't easy on that bridge and I can't remember if I had to take my hat off on that side or not but when I finally settled onto the Upper River Walk my hat was back on and I was slowly putting the hammer down as best as I could. When I hit mile 9 I checked my watch but couldn't figure out if it was a better pace or if I was just maintaining. I was encouraged that my play list seemed to be off and that the songs that normally inspire me to get to the 9 mile mark seemed to be a little delayed.

I kept trying to reel in this runner ahead of me who was in that bright yellow visibility color. He was still ahead of me as we approached the Walnut Street Bridge as I glanced over to City Island and could see that I had been mistaken about the final approach to the finish line, They had added about .1 - .2 mile loop before we turned for home. That made me a little sour but I tried to turn the anger into some energy as I started across the breezy pedestrian bridge.

I was able to run on the sidewalk for the return on that bridge and kept trying to catch that guy in yellow. I had to take my hat off yet again and upon exiting the bridge turned to fight the wind straight on for about 200 meters. "Rubber panties" were second nature to me as I hit the next left as sharp as I could to turn up a hill for and head for the finish line. "That's it, finish strong!" said the volunteer on that turn as I growled out loud and pushed my way up the hill.

I never quite caught the yellow guy but he kept me going. I knew where the finish line was and searched for the timer as I pushed as hard as I could without letting my legs get out of control under me. I saw it turn to 1:39:00 and just started yelling "Yes! YES!" because I knew even the race clock time was going to bring me in under 1:40. When you start farther back in the pack and the race isn't chip timed, your race clock time can be off up to a few minutes. My watch time (I start it exactly at the start and finish lines) read 1:38:59. I was so pleased I had left the pacelette behind because I felt great about this new PR instead of feeling like I had failed a piece of paper.

Here I am crossing the line, I am after that guy in yellow. I just love the song that is playing as we cross the line since it represents my efforts.

Archives!!

As time allows, my goal is to scan in old photos (and slides?) that are not yet in digital format. Don't forget to look in the archived blog posts listed in the right hand column of this page. I did a 1974 post of some 6th grade track meet photos to show a little of what I hope to share. Stories will hopefully follow.

April Foolishness

Something I am looking forward to in early April. Double the miles of the race I entered last year at that time is the Capital 10-Miler.

Thoughts from the Road - #11211

Not Now, I'm Doing Math

We used to steal our son's shoes off of his feet on long trips in the car as one of the many ways to fight off boredom and stay engaged. Before Kindergarten, he became obsessed with general math and begged us to give him problems to solve to pass the time. When he wasn't in the mood for playing around and having his feet tickled he would seriously tell us, "Not now, I'm doing math." Math was too important to be interrupted with a frivolous game.

I have never enjoyed crunching numbers and sometime about 8th grade I ended up feeling very stupid when it came to Algebra. I had been placed in a group of students who were set on an accelerated path through Junior High School, we were constantly pushed to enroll in classes that were 2 years more advanced than anyone else in our grade. I did excel in many topics but math was not one that came easily and I struggled to keep up. The track we were on was clearly outlined as a long series of advanced math courses for years. I was relieved at the beginning of my senior year when I had enough math credits accumulated to graduate and could have a year without any math class and take on 2 science classes.

As a runner, I find myself thrust back into doing math more often than I would like. I am not a maniac about bettering my time and don't really keep an eye on my watch for that reason. If I do have to be at a specific location by a specific time, that ends up requiring... math.

As an example, Monday I wanted to set out from home to run 10 miles. I had never run that far in the snow before so I wanted to be generous with the amount of time I would need and estimated 2 hours (my 10 miler normally would be closer to 1:42:00). Because of the snow, I didn't want to have to run the final mile back to my house which is all uphill and a gravel snow covered road part of the way. I asked Jimmy-the-eye to pick me on his way home for lunch at a park that is enroute.

With all of the above information, I needed to figure out when to turn around to make it back to the park close to when he was to pick me up. This required me to see how long it took me to get to the park (about 2 miles into my run) and subtract that out of my remaining time and distance for the return. Then I realized that I had to cut that time in HALF when applying it to my finale 8 or so miles because I would be running that time in both directions. AUGH! All I wanted was to take a run!

On top of all of that, I was carrying water and fuel which I wouldn't need for my entire run. I like to refuel about 40 minutes/ 4 miles into my run and once more at 8 miles. I spent most of my first 4 miles trying to figure out exactly where to drop my water bottle in the snow so that I would be running back past it for my 8 mile refueling. This, of course, required that I had a plan for exactly where/when I would be turning around. My first 4 miles were super-saturated with little math problems. Next time I will plan ahead and wear my CamelBak.

I need to mention that I can't do math when I am really exerting myself so my figuring has to be put on hold if I have any hills to run up. I also need to focus if I share any of my route on roads that have traffic; no math on roads. Loose dogs, tricky footing, wedgies, running snot and any malfunctioning gear will all cause my calculations to be put on hold (at best) or be totally forgotten (at worst). It may surprise you that I can walk/run and chew gum at the same time, I just can't do math.

On the plus side (pun intended), once I have figured out the general length of a route it is much easier to know how to tackle it in the future. Running by a landmark I will think, "Oh, that's my 8 mile point when I start from point X and run route Y," even though it would only be my mile 3 for that day. I don't forget things like that if I have put effort into getting it straight a run or two in the past. I don't want to have to do the math more than once.

It is said, to run a strong race a runner is encouraged to run negative splits. That means for each mile you run it is a good practice to try to run each additional mile a little bit faster than the last. More math. I have been coasting along at a 10 (something) minute mile pace for quite a while. I think I could probably train to get a little stronger but I will be honest, I like working with 10s. The only race I where I had my splits written down, they stayed tucked neatly away in my SPIbelt as I struggled to keep myself moving forward at any pace. For the time being, I will just be glad to run my second half of anything faster than my first half.

Maybe I am becoming more comfortable with the mathematical challenges running has thrown at me. I was pleased to recently realize that I almost naturally run the tangents of any race course. That has not been, however, to make better time nor that I relish Euclidean vectors. I can easily be distracted from doing math but I won't run any farther in a race than I absolutely have to. I'm not that stupid.

Festive Photo

I found this photo of the Nittany Valley Half Marathon that I am in. I am last on the right. We are somewhere between miles 3 and 4 and I ended up passing all of these folks.

Nittany Valley Half Marathon

The Cold; 28° and 15mph winds.

The Crowd; 650+ runners at the Ag Arena.

The Start; about 10 minutes late as we stood there freezing.

The Hill; Park Avenue after turning off Orchard Road.

The Finish; 2:14:06 - my personal best even with the added hills.

A couple of different ways to look at the elevation of the course.

DL>DNF>DNS

Firstly - kudos to Jimmy the Eye for completing his first 10K race in the 10th annual Big Valley 10k!! His time was a smart 59:09!

I got second place in my women's age category for my time; it was a PR*. It was the first time my 10k time was under an hour in a race and this beautiful course was loaded with hills.


Funny thing is, I also placed last in my age category since there were only 2 of us that ran. That gave me a chuckle and made me think a little about what the silver medal I held at the end stood for. Everyone who ponied up an entrance fee got a t-shirt. Even though I have a policy of not wearing mine until I cross the finish line, I still got the shirt just for entering. Not everyone who entered got a medal nor did every finisher.

I remembered a post from a running message board about a fellow who knew he was probably going to be last in the race he entered. He was dreading being followed the whole route by the ever present ambulance and the course clean up crew. A wise master runner told him that DL* was better than DNF* with is even better than DNS*.

I chose to enter, run and was able to finish. I wasn't dead last, I was stride for stride with Jimmy the Eye right up to the finish line. There were even a few more runners that came in during the next 13 minutes. My medal, I decided, might be for last in my age group of women who finished but well ahead of those who didn't toe the line. I have worked hard to get where I am and I am enjoying the journey.

***
DL = Dead Last
DNF = Did Not Finish
DNS = Did Not Start
PR = Personal Record

Dry Valley Half Photos

Grace gave me some photos yesterday and I wanted to share them. Before and after the Dry Valley Half Marathon this past October 2010.

Dry Valley... Pikermi!?

Now you get it, Dry Valley Half Marathon was yesterday. I had run the last 10 miles of the course a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I had a nice pace and the hills weren't so challenging that I was dreading them, just aware of them.

The hardest parts of the race yesterday were the late start time, 1:30PM, and the fact that it was an unseasonably warm day. Lewistown's high yesterday was 74°. When you are running long distance it feels like it's 20° warmer. You can do the math and my feet took the brunt of the heat from the asphalt and started to blister about half way through the race.

The heat, the blisters, the "dry valley" were all challenges and I really felt it. For the first time since maybe March I actually had to take walk breaks during my long run. That was so mentally discouraging that I was shocked that my finish time was less than 2 minutes off of my PR (personal record).

My knees are a bit swollen, my blisters are re-inflating time to time but my muscles are feeling much better after a night's sleep. My over all therapy has included chocolate chip cookies, a congratulatory gift from my mother-in-law. My super ugly and painful feet now look a lot better with bright indigo nail polish. It covers up where I have 1/2 a toenail on my one foot and a bruised nail on my other. This was another perfect finish line gift from my Dad & Mom.

Thanks to all who gave me support before and during the race. Seeing Jimmy-the-eye at mile 12 with a bottle of water was a godsend and I am sorry I missed the awesome chalk drawings he left on the bridge I crossed. I was too busy looking for pot holes since I could hardly lift my feet.

I finished about 38th of about 50. My biggest victory of the day was not asking Jimmy-the-eye to drive me the last mile back to the parking lot. That's a hard thing to suppress when you have stomach cramps and are just wanting it all to be over.

I really liked the race except for the heat and time of day. I would also encourage volunteers not to be shy about lending encouragement. Shy cross country running teens who mutter "good job" as they are texting friends don't quite convince me that they are rooting for me. Huge kudos to Jimmy-the-eye for standing for hours and being a cheerleader for the 37 who passed before me. They didn't get a water hand out but they got his heartfelt encouragement. I bet he was the best out there and I know they loved seeing his Pikermi chalk art. Go, Go Go!