Why I need to sign up for Another Race

Dec8

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am a goal orientated person. I realize that I have been in recovery since my Marathon, but I think I have gone beyond recovery and went into sleep mode. Since Philly, I have ran for a total of two times. Twice, I say. A measly 8 miles total. Wow. Sleep mode.

Now, I know that I was supposed to take it easy, but there is a difference between easy and standstill. I think it might be time to re-grease the wheels, take the breaks off, and hit the road again soon. If not the road at least cross train which I’ve done a total of once. Now I know part of it has been recovery. Part of it has been that my Hubby has been home on vacation, but a major part has just been that I’ve got no reason or desire to push right now which isn’t a bad thing either. Case in point, I went to bed Saturday night thinking maybe I would run the following morning, Yet, when I woke up Sunday morning I sat on the couch drinking my coffee thinking I will start tomorrow. Tomorrow has turned into today and I don’t think I’m running today. Monday is Crossfit day and then I have a whole list of household things that need to get done.

Now, I know that I do have a half in January, the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half. That being said, I think that I need to sign up for something else since I already know that my January half is more about fun and will not be any type of PR. Since I know I will I be running it that way, it is not motivating me. I also know that I won’t be doing the July NJ State Tri as I received a “Save the Date” for a family wedding which trumps the Tri. So I need to look ahead. I need to start planning out 2015.

I’m not sure where this drive is coming from as I’ve really never been a driven person. Not to say that I’ve been a lazy person. I’ve just usually taken things as they’ve come. But I’ve come too far and worked to hard to sit back and just wait for things to happen. No, I’m not going to loose it by taking a few weeks off, but I don’t want a few weeks to turn into a few months. We all know how easy that can happen. If I have a goal. A tangible goal. A goal that I’ve written out and shared. Then you know that I will do all in my power to reach it.

All studies do show that the best way to reach your goals is to actually write them down. I do take it one step further and not only write them down, but tell anyone who wants to (or even if they don’t want to) hear it. I put it on Facebook. I put it on my blog. I put it out in the universe.

Why do I do that? It’s really not because I’m “THAT” person, because believe it or not I can be very shy. It’s really because once I’ve told everyone, I won’t back down. If I’m the only one who knows, it’s easier to tweak my goals. Once I’ve told people though it has become real. I don’t want to have to say, “Oh I didn’t do that after all.”

Do you have a goal?

Do you write out your goals?

Do you share them?

What are they?

Edited to add

So I got a little flap from my sister because I said running the half in January was not a goal especially as she is training for one now. It is a very serious goal and running a half is an amazing accomplishment. That being said – At this time for me it really is not a goal, because I just came off marathon training where I was running major miles a week. Once I get back into a normal running pattern, things will return to as they should be. Please know that I‘m not trying to take away from any one training for a half because I’ve been there and I know how hard it is.

Also as I said we’re just doing this in half for fun and cupcakes in case I forgot to mention that:)

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Dec5

Once again I am linking up with Eat, Pray, Run DC, You Signed Up for What? and Mar on the Run for another fun Friday Five. Yeah for Friday!!!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

No these aren’t my favorite things although, I do like them. I bet you started singing this song too when you heard the title of the post or is that just me? Don’t tell me:)

Anyway, it is hard to narrow down my favorite things. So I’m going to cheat and take my kids and hubby out of the obvious choice of my favorite things. I hope for everyone’s sake it’s the obvious choice for them too. Although, since they are people and not things, maybe they shouldn’t be in this category anyway.

So off we go…..

Christmas – I love, love, love Christmas. Anyone who knows me personally knows this to be so. I love everything about it. From the whole Reason for the Season to the Christmas countdown. I love Christmas cookies, watching Christmas movies, decorating the house for Christmas, and the whole craziness of this time of year. Love it!

Case in point, I usually have 3 Christmas trees in my house.

The first tree is the basement tree which holds all the ornaments my kids have made over the year. The second tree is my window tree that I get to decorate by myself. The third tree is our real tree which we will get this weekend. This is the tree that Santa leaves his presents under and is decorated with Hallmark and old family ornaments that can not be replaced.

Coffee – I would be remiss if I did not include coffee on my list. That being said, I think my feeling for coffee may even be stronger than including it on my favorite things list.

I-Phone – I don’t know how I made it through most of my life without it. It has all my contact information, many pictures, and I may leave home without American Express, but I do not leave home without my phone

Twilight – Ok, don’t judge me. I admit it. I love the Twilight series. I’m a romantic at heart. Although I will admit that I like the books better than the movies as I think some of the storyline gets lost in the film version.

Running Mama’s – I love my local MRTT group. I love the comradery of it. How we build each other up. How we help each other out. And most of all, how we understand our compulsion to run which many of my non running friends do not get. It’s nice to have a place where you are understood. Everyone should have such a place. I’ve made some really great friends through this group and it really has gotten me where I am today and inspires me to go further!

So these are a few of my favorite things and

When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

What are your favorite things?

Excuses, Excused, Excuses……..

Dec4

I’ve been bad. I’ve let things slide. I’ve put things off. I made excuses. They really weren’t valid excuses but good enough that I used them. What have I been doing that so bad? I’ve haven’t been taking care of myself. I figured, I’m running. I’m healthy. I don’t need to go for my checkups. So when the notices came that I was due for my annual checkup, my mammogram, and my dentist appointment. I put them to the side telling myself, “After the Hat Trick, I will go.” Then the Hat Trick rolled into Marathon training and I conveniently “forgot.”

Now as a mom, I make sure that my kids go to all their checkups, I make sure they do all the things I haven’t been doing. I guess I was following the adage, “Do as I say not as I do.” In this case it really isn’t the right one. I really am too old and too smart to not do these things. So yesterday, I made myself sit down and at least make 2 appointments and hopefully today I sill make the last one. I honestly didn’t know how long I had let things go until I went to make my mammogram appointment and the gentleman told me that I am going on 2 years. Oops. Obviously, I was bad BEFORE I started any of my real training, but during training it was a good excuse.

Now I have friends and family that have suffered with either the scare of breast cancer with tumors or I even have one friend who has one more chemo treatment to finish up after her double mastectomy. She is one of the reasons that every time I run I use my Charity Miles app to raise money for Stand Up to Cancer. So I get it. It is important. Now I’m not saying that I think I have any issues. I’m just saying that I really should let a trained professional say that. I think many times since I, obviously, am healthy enough to train and run a marathon (God, I love how that sounds); that means I don’t need to see any doctors. I take after my Grammy that way! A woman who is still kicking at 90 even though she smoked, drank nothing but coffee and never listened to the doctors. Now I’m not as bad as her, but I really do need to do a better job taking care of business.

What do you let slide while your training?

Word of the Week – Salutations

Dec3

Greetings and Salutations.

We’ve all been there. Your out for your morning/afternoon/evening run and you see a runner coming at you on the horizon. You’re a friendly person and bring your hand up to wave. Then bam nothing. No wave. No smile. Nothing. Why? What’s the problem? Too much effort to be polite?

Then instead of it being a normal polite thing to do, you start to think when you see a fellow runner –

Do I wave?

Do I smile?

Do I do the head nod?

Do I just pretend I don’t see them?

Well I admit it. I always acknowledge them. More times that should happen in a civilized society, these people who I am sure are pleasant in every other aspect of their life don’t conform to social standards while on the road.

Actually, I would never do that! Besides this is not a “talent’ that I have mastered yet. Although, come this winter I just might. But back to the topic at hand.

sal·u·ta·tion

noun \ˌsal-yə-ˈtā-shən\

the act of greeting someone

Full Definition of SALUTATION

1 a : an expression of greeting, goodwill, or courtesy by word, gesture, or ceremony

b plural : regards

2: the word or phrase of greeting (as Gentlemen or Dear Sir or Madam) that conventionally comes immediately before the body of a letter

So why do some people make this so difficult?

Rule # 1 – If someone says Hi or acknowledges you, acknowldeg them too

Rule # 2 – If you run right past a person, a head nod is acceptable too

Rule #3 – Don’t be an @ss

It’s really that simple!

I will tell you that on one of my long training runs where I was at about mile 10, I was running towards a gentleman pondering if I would do the wave. He one upped me. He put his hand out for a High Five as we passed each other and made some remark about keep up the good work. I said something like same to you. I don’t remember the exact words, but I will say that his actions reminded me of being at a race and people pumping you up. Just the simple act of the High Five helped put the spring in my step for a bit. It was like acknowledging that we were both in it together to get it done which is true. We are all out there running for our various reasons. We are all out there for ourselves, but we are not out there alone.

Now I am not saying that you need to high five every runner that you see. Although it might be cool if you did. I’m just that we are all out there together getting it done and it would be nice if we didn’t pretend we don’t see each other out there.

Do you say Hi to other runners?

Do you like it when others say Hi to you?

The Age of Entitlement

Dec2

Yesterday while pursuing my Facebook Groups, someone posted a news article about a race in Cincinnati. Apparently it is the longest running road race starting 105 years ago. It was probably a Turkey Trot before the phrase Turkey Trot even existed. It’s grown to a large race of 15,000 now. The race went according to plan, but then it veered off course. Apparently, when people finished they plundered the post race snacks taking more than their fair share. Taking so much that they had arm fulls. Taking so much that those who finished near and at the end had nothing. Taking so much that the there was no extra food to donate to local food banks. It’s a sad day for runners.

Then the discussion turned to bad running post race behavior. A few of the women told of times that they volunteered at races and people tried to loop around to get a second medal. Really? Really? When one guy was called out on it, he said he wanted one to give it to his daughter as he promised her one. Then give her yours! My 8 year old coveted my Philly Marathon Medal. Can’t really blame him either. You know what? I told him that when he is much older and I no longer want it (AKA I’m dead but I didn’t put it that way to him), he can have it or he could also run a marathon like Mama when he’s bigger. One even mentioned a blogger (not me!) who bragged about taking more than her share of the bounty.

I will admit to taking an extra banana a time or two, but I have never taken so much that I couldn’t carry it. It’s insane. Let’s be honest. If you can afford to pay for registration, your Garmin watch, and all the bells and whistles we love so much, you can also afford to buy your post race snack. Come on people. This is not your weekly grocery shopping trip. Yes, many times a company will donate samples so it might not be costing the race anything. That being said, those companies want EVERYONE to sample their product just not a select few. It really boggles my mind.

The sad thing is that this type of behavior isn’t just post race. You see it everywhere you go. Everyone wants something for nothing. The problem is that there really isn’t a free ride. Yes, maybe it isn’t costing you anything; but that doesn’t make it free. Someone, somewhere is paying for it. There is no free lunch. There is no free ride. Everything comes with a cost and it is really time that the masses realize that.

I don’t know how to change this behavior that is so prevalent in our society/world anymore. Except to say my favoirte slogan…….

It really is true. If every person took it upon themselves to be a better person, to be the type of person that they would like other people to be, the world really would be a better place.

Now as far as Post Race activity goes, I hope that if you see someone being a total glutton, you call them out on it. Usually it is best to do it in a joking manner and tone. This way you get your point across, but you do it with a smile. Most people when called out on bad behavior usually (not always, but usually) are embarrassed and realize they should behave better.

Have you seen this Post Race Behavior?

Have you called anyone out on it?

Are you part of the problem or solution?

Why Not?

Nov30

The night before the Philadelphia Marathon one of my MRTT Mama’s asked me,

“How did you decide that Philly would be your first marathon?”

To be honest, I really never put any thought into it. I, actually, thought that maybe one day since I’m so close to NY that my big moment would be the NYC Marathon. If you remember my musings in my post You Can’t Always Get What You Want, I really thought and planned to run my first full in 2015. Then a funny thing happened. I finished my Hat Trick and Philly which was in the far recess of my mind moved front and center. Then I thought about it. Took a long training run and jumped right in. As much as a planner I am, this seems to be how I end up at the starting line more times than not. I hear about something. I think to myself that sounds like a fun challenge.

I think, “Why not” and dive right in.

Before I even went to Philly though, I had already decided that I would try to do the 9 + 1 in 2015 which would guarantee me entry in 2016. For those who were like me and didn’t know, the NYC Marathon is not a race you can just sign up for and it is not an easy road to get into it.

For normal people like me, you have 3 options.

Be very lucky enough to win entrance through the lottery
Do the 9 + 1 Plan (run 9 NYRR qualifying race and volunteer at 1 or raise $1K)
Run for charity and raise a specific amount which is usually a decent amount

That’s it. Unless you are an elite athlete which I am obviously not. There is no gauarnteed entry to a Soccer Mom which is kind of sad as we are the ones who really have to juggle it all to get to the starting line. Now my running cohort did complete the 9 + 1 in 2014, so she is guaranteed entry to 2015 marathon. Yeah, Dawn! I came to the party late. Very late. So I set my goals on running 2016 and just being a supportive friend in 2015.

Then a funny thing happened on Thanksgiving. Over dinner, I was talking with my parents and hubby about Philly. Someone made mention of me running the NYC marathon one day. I had to explain the process of getting into the marathon and how you couldn’t just sign up. When I said the only way to get in for next year was to raise money for charity. NO one seemed to think that would be a problem They all thought and said, “You could do that!” So now the seed has been planted. This one may not go further than the seed, but I have been looking online for charity options which will be posted in January. This one I don’t think I can just dive right in as normal.

So only time will tell.

I will run NY one day.

I just don’t know when that day will be.

Either way, it will be a fun ride till I get there.

Either way, I still think it would be fun to run the 9 + 1 races next year too.

The dirty little word Recovery

Nov28

Continue reading →

These Boots Were made for Walking

Nov26

Never having done a marathon before, I really did not know what to expect regarding how I would feel. Yes, I’ve read about post marathon recovery and saw the video of the walking dead after the NYC Marathon. But I still didn’t know how I would feel and I don’t think it’s something that you can fully explain to someone either.

I do know that by the end of the marathon, I was spent. To the point that while running the last mile, my sister ran onto the course and gave me a rose. I took it, but then gave it back to her telling her that I didn’t even have it in me to hold the rose. I really wasn’t lying either because at that point my sole focus was just to keep my legs moving which is harder than it sounds. The rose just felt too heavy, so I gave it back. I did take it to carry over the finish line (I think).

Of course, my legs just felt beyond tired at the end. Although in retrospect, I actually think that they hurt worse when Dawn and I did our 20 mile training run. They felt heavy and tired, but it really wasn’t till I stopped putting one foot in front of the other that the realization came that although I could move forward moving up and down stairs was not easy. I get it now. After all those miles of making your legs move forward, they forget that the muscles need to move other ways too. Luckily that is short term and honestly so worth the pain.

The process of training and running a marathon really is similar to childbirth in the fact that you prepare for the event for months. You go into it very excited and nervous. You don’t know fully what to expect (even if you’ve done it before). The pain starts off small and builds over the miles. By the end, you are just exhausted and want it over. Then when your cross the finish line, you realize it was all worth it and would probably do it again. You don’t forget the pain, but realize in the end it was worth it.

I was lucky too in that when it was all said and done, I limped away with only one blister, sore heels, one sore ankle, and of course legs of jello. Upon arriving home in the evening, I took care of the blister and soaked in an Epsom salt bath which felt amazing. Then off to bed where I don’t think I moved all night.

Then in the morning when I hobbled out of bed and rolled out my legs, I put these shoes on.

Monday

Tuesday

Now these might seem like odd post marathon shoes, but they worked for me. They took the pressure off my heel and supported my sore ankle. I wore them all day too! Maybe this isn’t for everyone, but this seems to work for me as I did something similar after long training runs. I actually did read something about wearing heels and that is why I first tried it. I like it. I really do.

What are your post marathon shoes?

Girls Gone Wild

Nov25

Let me just say that this title is probably slightly misleading.

Ok, not slightly.

Completely.

I know some Mom’s who plan “Girl’s Weekend” that involve Vegas or such.

Let me interject that I hate the term Girls Weekend as I am not a girl anymore, but a woman. I realize that Woman’s weekend doesn’t sound right, but come on. Can’t we come up with a better term? What would you call it?

As often, I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

Girls Weekend.

I’ll be honest. I’m a bit of a homebody. Don’t feel sad that I don’t get out much. I like it that way. That being said, I haven’t been away from my family with friends since I think forever. This was my weekend. This was my kick up my heels. I did it alright too. I did it in style.

First there was the picking up of my wing man or wing lady in this case. (Yes, you Dawn). We also had an extra passenger. A friend of Dawn’s who was going the same way. So as with most things. The more the merrier! Once we were loaded up. Off we went to the city of Brotherly Love for our adventure. We follow the Garmin which takes us the scenic tour, but we still get there with time to spare.

Check into the hotel and off we go for some fun!

First stop……

The Expo!

Where you expecting something else?

We did a few loops. Made a few purchases and met by chance the rest of the MRTT Mama’s who were kicking up their heals in the same fashion. We parted ways with these Mama’s at the expo as they were going out to eat and we were planning to just grab something quick and eat at the hotel. The only snag here is when the city is booked to capacity picking up a quick dinner still turns into an hour wait. So while waiting we hit 7-elleven for some evening snacks. Probably not best to do while hungry.

Case in point and these are only mine.

I will say by the time we got back to the hotel to eat, I was beyond hungry! So hungry that when we met up with the other Mama’s in the lobby that I actually said, “I hate to be rude, but I’ve got to eat” and then proceeded to shove the food in as fast as I could. Carb loading at best. Big portion of pasta with some protien of chicken parm. Yum!

Then the party continued back in the room. This is where we got wild. Going through our clothes putting are final wardrobe into place.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

Then off for as much sleep as can be had the night before your fist marathon.

I know.

CRAZY!

The next morning, I even woke up before my alarm at 4:45 AM.

That really is crazy!

Dress to be out in the cold for a while.

I am what appears to be the homeless person in the middle, but I will say that I was warm. Especially since I was in a later corral. The tip here is BEFORE donating old coats, sweatshirts, and such, think will this make a good throw away coat at a race. If so, put that in a separate pile. No one wants to start a race off cold and if you are not that vain and have a good sense of humor, you won’t mind looking like a homeless person.

Especially if by noon you can proudly say

“I just ran a Marathon today!”

Hang On Snoopy

Nov24

Well I did it! I finished my first Marathon. I finished exactly where I wanted to finish too. My goal was to finish around 4:45.

Here is the breakdown.

10K at 1:04:49, Pace 10:26.

Half Marathon Split at 2:19:37. Pace 10:39

Finish at 4:46:20. Pace 10:42

Don’t you love how my pace increased? Although, I will tell you, I went out and throughout the course tried to maintain a steady pace between 10 and 11 which my garmin reflects. I’ll be brutally honest. It was hard! It was long! And they are liar, liar pants on fire that it is a flat course. Yes, it starts off nice and flat, and there are some lovely hills to go down. The problem is all the hills to go up are on the end. They should flip the course and end with the flat part, but that’s just my opinion.

I’ll also be even more honest. Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I walked a little at the end. I kept telling myself that my legs were not tired and would carry me through, but I still walked. I think I did that because I knew that I was going to be in my time zone. I also did it because, damn, my legs were jello!

Now, there is a lot to talk about with this race, but today I want to talk about the cheering fans.

I went down with a bunch of great moms from my local MRTT group. Most of us went by ourselves without any family. I, actually, have never had any family come to my races. It really never bothered me. I still get a kick out of all the cheering fans. I like to think that people who line up to cheer along a race cheer for us all and they really do. You’ve got the people reading your name on your bib, calling out your name and encouraging you all the way. It’s amazing and believe me there will be a whole post on these fans!

Yesterday though, something extraordinary happened. I was reaching a critical part of the race. It was the part where the people running the half marathon get to go to the right and those of us continuing know we have another 13 to go. It’s very disheartening and really a kick in the pants. I was having a dialogue with myself at the time to tell myself to keep going as the thought had popped into my mind to go to the right. Then I heard my name being called and I saw them. My sister who lives in California, my Mother who was screaming the loudest, and a family friend. They had signs and were cheering for me. How could I not finish now? It actually became my manta!

“Your if your sister can fly from California, you can finish this! They came to see you finish”

This is the thrill of finishing with a mother who can’t hold her excitement and brought roses too

There is a video of it that I posted on my FB page. You can see me trudging along, the surprise on my face, the smile that brightens it up, and the best part is the excitement my mother had. What you don’t see is how it lifted my spirits and really did help me to finish. I really don’t know if I could have done it without them!

To finish my first marathon was an amazing experience, but to finish with family there took it to the next level.

The Accidentally Running Mama

Run, Bike, Swim and Have a Life!