Friday, April 29, 2011

A Wedding and a Fall

I'll admit it.  I was up early (as I always am for work) but I was glued to the tv.  30 years ago, my mother woke my sister and I up to watch Lady Diana marry Prince Charles.  At 9 years old, that felt like the middle of the night.  Sadly, years later, the 3 of us did the same to watch Diana's funeral.  And this morning, though we were each in our own homes, we watched it together and texted all the "pretty" and "omg, tears!" comments we would have said out loud.  It was beautiful, it was a fairy-tale, there was pomp and circumstance, and it was regal.  Royal.  Historical.  I loved it. 
(a cool side note -- the aston martin that Will and Kate drove in later in the day, his father's car, is run entirely on wine!  My kind of car!)

So maybe because I was up extra early, or maybe because I'm just way overdue for one, I tripped and fell while on my run later in the day.  For people who know me, this is not shocking.  What's surprising is that I've had such a long run without a good spill.  That ended today.  My town is filled will cobblestone and uneven sidewalks.  I often roll an ankle while running, and so a true fall was bound to happen.  As I felt my right foot catch, I began to stumble forward.  I probably looked like a cartoon character at that point -- arms flailing.  I had enough time to think the fall through, and so it ended up much less hurtful than it could have been.  I landed hard on my right hand and hip and right knee, and then nicked my left wrist -- my Garmin, to be precise.  Once the stumbling fall was done, I rolled onto my butt on the strip of grass bordering the street and sat there.  I was really worried I'd damaged my Garmin, and I also realized there were definitely people who just saw me take this header.  It was then I decided that if I sat there, staring at my watch and seeming to be fiddling with the buttons, perhaps the 6 cars passing by or all the people in the surrounding houses might think I actually intended to be sitting on the side of the road like this.

"Do you think they really thought that?" my awesome 7 year old nephew asked after I recounted my fall and showed him my scrapes and bruise.

Not a chance.

That's ok.  It's not like I've never fallen in front of lots of onlookers before...    I'm just hoping this one doesn't hurt my race effort on Sunday! 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Colors of Marathon

One of the things I noticed while on my early morning runs last week was just how colorful Marathon, Florida is. As the sun rose, I ran my last run in the Keys with my phone in tow, and snapped a sample of all the color that brightens this wonderful area my family calls home for a couple months each year.
Multi-colored houses,
lots of purples and pinks and whites and reds and
  
beautiful blue skies with piercing rays of sun against the green of the palms

and the pinks and oranges of the dawn.

It was a relaxing week, although for some reason this pic makes me look tense about something.  Perhaps it was because a waiter was in the background and it took forever to snap this one. 

And one funny part of the week was when Roxie would chase after these guys when she found them in the yard.  There were lots of little babies all around, so she always had something to run after!

Yup, it was a relaxing week.  Sunny skies, lots of warm temps, fishing with my dad, poolside with my mom, kayaking, running, open water swimming.  Weird thing is, since I've been home, it's been as warm here as it was down there.  Too bad I don't have that pool to jump into...

***********************************************************************************************************************
There were a lot of you who offered congrats on the 7 Mile Bridge race.  Thanks!  It was fun to see so many people's messages here!
RFTL - I'm running the Broad Street 10 miler in Philly this weekend, then I'll fake some more tri's this summer and decide what's next... 
Joe - really?  A magnet that referred to 7 Mile Island?  Did you ask them?  I'd have thought it was for the bridge, too!
Paul -- yup -- I've used calf sleeves.  If you go back to the posts from this past summer, you'll see I was practically living in them for a while!  These days, the calf is doing well -- and I'm taking care to recover with the compression socks and roll it out after harder/longer runs.  Thanks!
Alison - Thanks!  And I love your blog. I need to comment there more. 
Jen and Shawn and Mindi -- you should all run this one!  It's a fun one to be a part of!  Jen -- you'd likely win the women's race! 
Black Knight -- so cool to connect with someone around the world :)  I'd love to know how you found me, and I'm jealous of where you are!
Charisa -- thanks, as always, for your enthusiasm :)  You are an inspiration. 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sunset


is perhaps one of the most beautiful times of any day.  

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Grete Waitz

I sent my sister a text this morning that simply said:   

H sh*t.  Grete Waitz died.  Cancer.


Her response:  No way!!!  She's like, your idol... 



Yup.  Grete Waitz was the first runner I was a fan of.  I was intrigued by her.  I remember watching her win those marathons in NYC.  I remember listening to her and thinking how great of a person she seemed.  Even before I was a runner, I was a fan of hers. 

When I became a runner, I even put my hair into pigtails like hers.  I probably secretly hoped I could run like her someday.

Grete was invited to run the NYC marathon as a pacesetter in 1978, although she'd never run a marathon before, and ended up winning it and setting a new world record.

She was a pioneer in female running, she did work for several charitable organizations, and she continued her determination in the fight against cancer.

A class act, in my book. 

Grete Waitz died today at the age of 57, in her hometown of Olso, with her husband by her side. 

I truly hope she knew how much she was admired and appreciated, even by those of us whom she never met. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

7 Mile Bridge Run -- Marathon, FL -- 2011

It took an enormous effort just to get in this race.  The 7 Mile Bridge is sometimes lovingly referred to as the 8th wonder of the world.  It's a pretty cool thing, even without the race over it.  I was excited I was going to be a part of this.  Finally, the day to fly to the Keys arrived. 

I got down late Thursday night, went for a short run and spent some time with my family/nephews on Friday, and then headed to packet pick-up Friday evening.  There were so many people in line already and pick-up hadn't even started yet!  Eventually I got my stuff and already noticed how nice the volunteers were and how excited everyone was to be a part of this. 

There was much debate about where my parents should plant themselves for this race -- there isn't any spectator info to be found anywhere! -- but we finally made a plan.  We live on the starting line side of the bridge, so they would drop me off early, drive across the bridge to the finish side, see if they could park over there and stay at the finish, but if not it would be early enough for them to get back to the start before the bridge closed.  (Turns out they found a great parking spot right by the finish!)

I packed some dried Kashi cereal, a banana, water, and a throw-away beach towel.  We left the house and just a handful of minutes later, I was camped out at the start.  It was 6:00am.  Race time was 7:30.  It was dark for almost an hour while I waited, but I chatted with other runners and felt excited but peaceful in that time. 

As the sun started to rise around 7am, I made my way into the porta potty line.  I'm so used to standing in those lines forever before a race, and yet here I was, 5 minutes later, and it was my turn.  So I let the person behind me go.  And then the next. And the next, and so on.  Soon it became a joke. 

"You're just trying to get people to let you in the front of the line for the post-race beers, aren't you?!"  they joked.  Um, yea-uh! 

I met a bunch of people in that line.  One lady started crying on my shoulder she was so nervous about her time.  (*NOTE:  you have to cross the finish in 1:30:00 or they'll pick you up and put you on the bus.  They are on a strict schedule to get the bridge re-opened at 9am!).  One guy had run it many times before and told me a couple cool things to be aware of.  Another was a teacher, like me.  Everyone was just friendly

7:25am I headed up to the start. 
I considered warming up a bit before that, but decided since this was my first race back I'd just take mile 1 easy.  The 1500ish other runners and I lined ourselves up, took in the scene around us, and within a few minutes the gun sounded and we were off. 

It was already warm, but the sun was still low and it was off our left shoulder.  So was the slight breeze.  I settled into a pace right around 8 mpm -- right where I'd planned to try to run today -- and I slid alongside the left bridge barrier.  I'd stay there through the entire race, and continually wonder why so many people didn't realize that's the wind side, and a slight shadow was cast on your legs by the bridge wall... 

As I glided along (those early miles really did feel like I was gliding!) I took in all the sights of this once-in-a-lifetime race experience:  The news helicopters circling overhead.  The miles and miles of blue water on all sides, as far as the eye could see. 
The boats coming close and waving.  The volunteers -- the only spectators along the course -- cheering and smiling every mile or so.  The smells.  The sunshine.  The knowledge that this is the ONLY day, each year, that this bridge that connects the middle and upper keys with the lower keys is actually shut down, CLOSED, to traffic, and I'm one of the very few who gets to run across it.  Every other day of the year, pedestrians are not allowed across. 

About 2.5 miles in comes the big bridge.  It really wasn't that bad -- it reminded me of running over the bridges on LBI.  But cruising down the backside, by about 3.5 miles into the race, I started to feel the heat.  It was probably in the low 80's and humid, and no shade from the sun.  They had wet sponges at the water stops and I took full advantage.  I was still holding my pace, but by mile 6 I was feeling worked.  I slowed way down for a few seconds through the next stop, let my head settle (it was starting to feel like it would explode if I kept going!  D*mn heat!), and then got back to it for the last mile or so.  Doing that was a smart move. 

As I hit the 10k mark, I knew I had about a half mile to go.  The course officially measures 6.8 miles, and as much as I was enjoying the race, I was ready to stop running fast in those conditions.  My body doesn't like the heat/humidity even when it's accustomed to it! 

With the exception of the bridge, this is a completely flat race.  The road isn't even crowned.  As you approach the finish, however, there is a slight decline.  Slight.  But welcome.  I could see the finish line flags, I could see the crowds, and I was even able to spot my parents right there next to the finish. 
I threw my hand up in the air to wave to them, pushed through the finish, stopped my watch, and was thrilled to know that even with my slowing through that later water stop I still finished faster than I'd expected. 

54:55 on my watch, which I'd see later matched my chip time.  Right around the 8mpm pace which I'd hoped I'd hold in this first real race effort since the marathon last May.  In this first race since my months of calf injury.  While I was running, I was grinning.  I was giddy that I was able to run somewhat fast, and that I wasn't having any calf twinges at all.  When I crossed that finish line, I was happy I would run at all. 

I collected my medal, met up with my parents, walked a bit and eventually my parents told me to get on the bus back to the start, get my beer, and they'd find me when they were allowed to cross back over the bridge (we expected that to be well after all the runer busses crossed, but really they were just a couple minutes behind me). 

As I rode back over the bridge, on this bus filled with runners experiencing their own sense of accomplishment, we shared the stories of how we each got into this race and what we loved about the day.  At the after party, I got my beer, found my parents, and saw the results posted. 

Days later, the 5th place AG (out of about 100) still stands.  I'm listed now as 133 out of 1405 overall, and I have to check the place in females overall.  Pretty good! 

We wrapped up our post-race celebrating and headed back to the house, and it was perfect.  A quick weekend trip, a fun, special race, a solid run.  After months of not knowing if I'd ever run solidly again, it was a super way to get back in the game. 

******************************************************************************************************************
I'm not sponsored or anything, but there are a few thank you's to be made here.  First, I have to thank my parents -- they allow me to stay at their house, they drive me to these races, they are my biggest cheerleaders and they support me at every turn.  (My sister's a big supporter, too!).  Also, my friend T -- he's the one who made it possible for me to even run this race.  He got my app, filled it out, and hand delivered it to ensure mine was one of the first 1500 received.  Jen was more than willing to help first, so big thanks to you, too!  And lastly, the hundreds of volunteers and police and firemen of Marathon, FL.  Every single person involved in this race was super nice and supportive and seemed genuinely excited to be a part of this.  You even see them all wearing their volunteer shirts around town the next day! 

Anyone who can should try to run this race one time.  It's a special one!  (and rumor has it the registration may be online instead of through the PO Box next year, although I think that's what made it even more of an accomplishment -- you have to win the race to get in the race!)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Too much, too little

Too much going on
Too little focus
Too much to say
Too little flowing of words
Too much to do
Too little time
Too much I should feel good about
Too little ability to allow that
Too much wanted
Too little attained

Too much in mind
Too little

Monday, April 4, 2011

Warmth

It was 78* this afternoon.  Warm.  It'll only last one day -- tomorrow it's going to be 55* again -- but today it was 78*.  I switched my routine around to run instead of bike, for two reasons: 1) because it was 78*!  and 2) so my body had to run in the heat.  I'm racing in Florida this weekend (well, I'm in a race) and the heat/humidity will be foreign to my system. 

It was weird to run in this warmth, but it was great.  I did a progression-ish run, and got about 7.5 miles done.  For the rest of this week, I'll cut mileage just a tad to give my legs a break and hope for a fun race on Saturday. 

I also had to bake a chocolate cake today for a coworker.  More warmth.  Warm oven, comfort food.  Warm.  But awkward, too.  With the exception of a piece of flounder and one tuna/avocado sushi roll, I haven't had any animal products in 4 weeks.  I knew I'd add stuff in eventually, but I really haven't yet.  So when I had that bowl with the traces of cake mix left in it and on the spatula, I sooooooo wanted to lick it.  But it didn't feel right.  But I soooooooo wanted to.  Normally, I'd dive right in!  I wavered.  I even texted my sister about it. 

                    And then I did.  I licked the spatula. 
                       I scraped the bowl. 
                            It was yummy. 






It wasn't much, but it was familiar.  And chocolately.  And comfort.  And warmth. 

When I was done baking the cake, I heated up some of the black bean croquettes.  They were much better today.  I think they had time to solidify overnight in the fridge.  I made a side salad of wheat berries/carrot/red and green peppers/broccoli/toasted almond slivers/oil and balsamic vinegar.  I made some more tomato/avocado salsa.  I sliced up some juicy orange. 
And I ate outside on my deck, chatting with my neighbor. 

Warmth all around. 

Sunday, April 3, 2011

BALLS!

Black Bean Croquettes, to be exact.  This picture doesn't really show the coloring well, though.  Here's the recipe.  They were pretty easy to make, but when I cooked them, I thought they'd come together a little tighter.  I liked the idea of baking them, but I honestly feel like they would brown better if they were sauteed in a little olive oil and then baked.  Or maybe broiling them a bit at the end would color them and crisp the outside a bit better.  I'll experiment a little next time.  They were tasty, and the salsa was yummy.  I put some on the side to eat with bites of the croquettes, and some on mixed greens with walnuts and a little oil and balsamic vinegar.  Top it off with some juicy orange wedges, and this was a delicious meal! 

The BALLS! capped off a decent few days of running and weekend stuff.  I ran 12 on Friday, 5ish on Saturday, and 6+ today.  Legs are doing well, and since I've lost a few pounds the running is a little easier.  All good stuff.  I have been a little bored with my running routes, though.  It'll be good to go away in a week or so for some running in new scenery. 

I also had a good swim on Thursday.  Got new goggles that worked way better than the other new one I had.  No leaks!  Yay!

And, one more thing of BALLS! for this weekend. I went to Drexel University yesterday to watch a former student play for the varsity men's lacrosse team.  He was a troubled kid when I had him in middle school.  He was suspended several times, struggled academically, and many teachers lost patience with him.  Not me.  I could see he had potential, and I reminded him all the time that he could be making better choices and he could really succeed.  He was a likeable kid with me, and he felt comfortable in my class.  In fact, when things were bad in his other classes, he was freely allowed to bring his assignments to my room, slide into one of the back rows, and work there.  He wasn't a disruption, and he felt safe there.  At the end of the year, he thanked me, and wanted to hug me (I let him, since there were other people in the room).   Throughout high school, he stayed in touch, and I watched as he slowly got his stuff together.  I watched him succeed in lacrosse and wrestling, and in his academics.  When he graduated and told me he was going to Drexel and majoring in business and playing lacrosse, my heart skipped for him.  He red-shirted his first year there to extend his playing eligibility, and yesterday I watched him, as a sophomore, start for the varsity team.  His grades are good, too.  I was so proud.  Although I waited for a bit, I didn't get to see him after the game (I was going for beers with a guy I met!).  I sent him an email, though, and I hope he feels just how proud and happy for him I am right now.