2014 WDW Half Marathon Recap

I've finally stopped sneezing long enough to recap the Walt Disney World Half Marathon that was on 1/11/14.

I was super excited to head back to Disney and run, especially when the weather was looking like it would be warm for the race...something completely foreign to me as every other year I've run Disney, its been 40 or colder!

My training runs had been awesome leading up to the race, and the past few months I'd been putting in some extra ellipticalling time, so I was raring to go. The past 2 times I've run Disney, my finishing times hadn't been that great. In 2010, it was snowing and in the 20s, so I was glad to have just survived with all my fingers and toes. In 2012, it was also cold and I was coming back from a season riddled with injuries. So, 2014 was going to be my year!

Race Prep: Trying to dry out my shoes that got drenched in a downpour at Expo...Yummy

Race day dawned so muggy, you could have cut it with a knife. The Turtle decided his days of trudging through with the cattle in the back corrals were over, so he and his sister were my support team. Now that's love. Getting up at 2am so you can wait hours and hours for your wife to run? Amazing! (Oh...did I mention I'd signed up his cell up to get text alerts when I hit the 5, 10, 15k and finish..which would be about 4 texts between 5:30 - 7am...ya know, just in case he slept in...Oopsie!)

Around 4:30 a.m. the Turtle and his sister went to hop a monorail to Ticket & Transportation to cheer me on at Mile 4, and I started the mile walk to the corrals.

My pit crew!

Corral A was full of the usual scary, razor-faced runners in their tiny shorts and 0% body fat bodies, all of whom were doing elaborate stretches and mini sprints with serious glares on their faces to try and intimidate their fellow runners. Yeah, I fit in reallll well, like always. I headed over to the one fence nearest the stage where all the cameras were (you expected any less?). My strategy worked when I got to be front and center on the screen when the race coordinator interviewed Jeff Galloway! Jeff talked with me and a few other runners before the race and shook my hand, so cool! I also got to be about 10 feet away from Chris Powell and his wife, the trainers from Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition, who gave a speech and were going to run with a couple who were participating in the show (he's really short!)

Let the race begin!

The starting fireworks got me so pumped and I was off, keeping it under a 7 minute pace. The first couple miles went really smoothly, passing fun balloons and local marching bands.

I saw the Turtle and his sister at Mile 4 and shouted at them that I saw Chris Powell as I headed toward the Magic Kingdom. I've said it before and I'll say it for the rest of my life, there is nothing more magical than running onto Main Street with huge crowds cheering you on as you run towards Cinderella's Castle. It's amazing.

And, as usual, I almost totally wiped out as I ran down the path out of the Castle...that's 3 times now, I'm not liking this tradition.

After we leave Magic Kingdom, we head into the darkness from Mile 6-9. This year it was lit a lot  better, so my fear of alligator attacks was down. I was on serious cruise control as I headed in to Mile 10.....

Mile 10: What the hell is that weird lump under the arch of my foot!?!?!? The Dr. Scholl's Heel Insert in my left shoe had somehow slid forward (despite the ridiculously tight way I tie my shoes). I kept running another 1/4 mile until I realized if I didn't fix it, it'd probably slow me down. I stopped my Garmin, slid the insert back, retied my shoe and took off.

I wish I could say this was the only time it happened. By the 3rd time around Mile 11, I just ripped the thing out and ran with one insert in, one out. As I reached the Mile 12 sign, the clock read 1:27: 50something. Sweet. I knew I would get in around 1:35, 1:36...just as I'd wanted.

I ran past Spaceship Earth, around the turn around, and headed toward the finish. Wahoo! As I got to the finish, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face, I was so happy!!!

Look at that happy face!

.............

......................

And then my world came crashing down. Ok, ok. It wasn't that dramatic, and now, having a lot of time between it and now, the blow isn't so bad. And in the grand scheme of things I know this is nothing, nothing!

Buuuuut....as I checked my official chiptime on the bus, my happiness came to a screeching hault. 1:39:00. HUH!?!??!

Wtf!??!

How is that even possible? If the clock wasn't even at 1:28:00 when I hit mile 12...that would mean I'd have to have run an 11 min mile for my last mile...which is impossible. If I'm anything, I'm consistent with my pace. And to go from doing 7:15-7:25 avg pace for all my miles to suddenly 11? No way!

My Garmin said I did a 1:37...which still doesn't seem quite right to me, but is definitely more on par than this! I stopped my Garmin all 3x I had to fix my shoe, and I realize that isn't reflected in my chip time, however..... the last time I stopped for my shoe was Mile 11. So that still doesn't add up.

Before I realized how off my time was

Needless to say, I cried the whole bus ride back to the hotel (and this was no pretty cry either...I seriously need to give myself a break).

Since then, I'm over it. As over it as a Type A / OCD person can be. It still frustrates me, but what can you do? I talked to another runner who said his time was off too. And I never got a recorded chip time for the 15k point.

Anyway, it didn't stop me from having a fantastic time at the Parks for the rest of the vacation! And now that I'm back, I'm practically twitching to run, I miss it so much. Mickey gave me his cold, so I've been taking it easy on the elliptical this week, but I cannot wait to get back on the track on Monday!

Post Race lunch...I could've eaten a horse!

2013 Towpath Half Marathon Recap

The Towpath Half finally took place on Sunday, November 3, after the government shutdown put the kabosh on the original October 13 date.

After spending weeks obsessively checking the weather and planning how to dress, I spent last week watching the forecasted low drop by 1 degree each day the race drew nearer. And this gave me an excuse to find crazy color combinations for my layers!

By some crazy alignment of the stars, my brother's family's schedule was clear and I managed to talk him and the kids into running the 10k. I was super excited since we didn't get to have our usual pre-race slap-happiness for the Air Force this year with the whole traffic debacle. Score!

Sunday actually turned out to be gorgeous! It was a bit nippy in the morning, but I never needed to use the handwarmers I'd bought. My gabbing with my new porta-potty line friend must have warmed me up, (and man was the line long!) My feet and fingers did end up going numb though, and didn't thaw out until about the 3rd mile...so maybe I should have!

And then I saw her.... For weeks I'd been stressing about competing with the "wench" who beat me in the Ten Miler in June (who, coincidentally, stumbled on my review of the 10 Miler...woops..if you're reading this I meant it in the most complimentary way! It means your fast!) I knew she would more than likely be there and I dreaded the idea of running 13.1 feeling like I was being chased or chasing her. Memories of racing RRB to the death  in the 2008 Towpath Half still haunt me. I'll never forget seeing how close he was behind me at the turnaround that day, and imagining him breathing down my neck for the remaining 5 miles...(I won!) We've sworn never to enter the same race ever again. I feared that thats what yesterday would become.

"Run your own race, Tink", I kept repeating to myself. Ha, like I'd buy that garbage for a second.

I'm thrilled. Really.

Anyway, she showed up at the start line and I felt my stomach drop. Grrrrrrreeeeeeeeat. I wished her good luck and she said she wasn't going to be competing with me. This is when the start of an entire 13.1 of delirium began. I thought she meant she wasn't planning on trying to beat me, ya know, to take it easy. It didn't occur to me until the race results came up and I couldn't find hers that she was wearing a 10K bib. We weren't even in the same race!!!!!! Ohhhh... information that would have been so useful to me at the time.

So, the bell went off a min or 2 after 8 and off we went!

I'm especially proud of my tights/sock combo

Mile 1: I pass my nemisis and then she passes me and takes the f off in the first half mile. She put so much distance between us I was actually relieved. There'd be no way to catch her so I could just forget about it. Then 2 more women pass me...After a quick age check, I was cool. They were definitely a group or 2 above me so go on ahead..Knock yourself out by sprinting the first mile dumbasses, (like I'm one to talk!)

Mile 2: My left foot is so numb the ball is starting to really hurt with each step. Please God, please make it just be cold and not an actual problem! A quick Our Father and some begging and I tried to ignore it. Then I attempted to subtract 2 from 13.... that was a fun game. I was pretty sure it was 11 by the 3rd mile.

Mile 3: Man, I can't wait for this thing to be over! Shit, usually this thought doesn't hit me til around mile 8...well this is certainly going to be a fun run. At least my feet and hands have thawed.

Mile 4: Mile 4? Mile 4? Bueller? What do all races have against Mile Marker 4? I never ever see them! Approach signs for the Akron Marathon....ummm...maybe I'm not in the right place afterall...

Mile 5: Get so excited as I reach the clearing where my mom is waiting. I toss my gloves at her as she takes my picture...and she is so intent on getting the shot that she doesn't notice the gloves flying at her.

Proof!

Mile 6: See Aid Station signs....no aid station. Lies! All lies!

Mile 7-8: Feeling good, pass a sign that says "You're running better than the government!" Awesome! Run under the Station Rd. Bridge, which is the subject of my next painting, as I approach the turnaround.

Mile 9-11: And then it allll falls apart. I see at the turnaround that there's an ok gap between me and 2 women, and then a huge one until the next. And none of these women are near my age. I'm pretty sure I'm in 3rd place overall female, 2nd in my division at this point..with no hope of catching Ms. Nemisis. So, I can just put it on cruise, right?

Not so fast, says my lungs. That would be just too easy. Suddenly, I notice that I can't get enough air. My throat feels closed up and I can't take deep breaths. WTF. I can barely breathe. Did I suddenly develop asthma? Ever since September, I have battled off and on with this problem, whether running inside or outside. Never in my life have I had allergy issues so bad than this year.

Also working against me? Friday night I took a knee to the face when my neice and nephew decided to wrestle their Auntie T. 2 minutes after the attack, blood was dripping from my nose and teeth (not that you could tell from looking at me today, hmph)...so I had some decent swelling going on in my nose too!

I got my ass kicked by an 8 yr old

Mile 12: The battle for air continues. I'm so proud of myself for making it through this far. My speed has slowed down to between 7:15-7:40 pace, depending on when I get a good stretch of oxygen. As I finish the. longest. mile. ever., I think happily about how I have almost 2 full months ahead of me until the Disney Half. 2 wonderful months when I don't have to torture myself with 13.1. Oh, race delirium is a wonderful thing.

Mile 13: I see the crowd as I come out of the trees and am ecstatic when I see the clock read 1:36:00! I forgot we started late! Here I was thinking I'd be coming in a full 2 minutes slower. Wahoo!

Finally! Now give me some cookies!

Finish time: 1:36:15, 3rd woman overall! And totally squashed my age group. The woman who came in 1st in my age group finished a full 10 minutes after me. Shweeeeeeeeet!


When they called my name for 3rd place, I was thrilled! I've never placed in the Top 3 overall in a Half before! This was sooo beyond anything I ever expected! I can count on 3 fingers how many times I've happy cried in my whole life, and 2 of them have to do with races....this was one of them.

Annnnnd, my 2008 record for the Half in the 20-24 division still stands for another year. Mwahahahaha!


Yesterday was a good day :-)


Meanwhile......The woman who won overall will be in my age division next year.... a new nemisis emerges!

Vacation Recovery

Aloha!

I'm back from my vacation to Hawaii and just now starting to get back to the normal swing of things. After a lovely week in my favorite state...

 

 

And an epic trip home that rivalled Frodo's quest to Mordor...filled with deplaning, changing gates, missed connections, switched airports and rental cars with flat tires at midnight....




Teddy bear as body pillow...the new airplane pillow

I caught a major bug. My first run back from vacation is always filled with nerves as I wonder how much stamina and speed I've lost. Labor Day morning, the run went as expected: it wasn't my best, it wasn't my worst. And then the hammer fell. I woke up Tuesday last week completely wiped out. I was just exhausted in that flu-like way,  my throat was sore and I just knew what was coming. As the day wore on, I got more and more beat. There was no getting around it. I was sick.

Wednesday, I was completely useless. I laid around on the couch and I think I scared the Turtle when I was nodding off during E! News at 7pm. I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd already napped for 2 hours, besides sleeping in since I'd called off from work. He said he'd never seen me so tired.

And all I could think of was, I have a race in 3 weeks! I need to run!

By the end of the week I started feeling better, and I got back to the gym on Friday and had an awesome elliptical run. I've run 2 more times since then, but my average pace for my run Monday morning was 7:31, a good 16 seconds from where I'd like it to be. At first, I was incredibly disappointed with the number, especially since I really felt like I was pushing it through the pretty miserable run. But, as my mom and I talked it out, we decided that despite the 50 degree temps it was humid out, and that my cold, which is now steadily dripping out of my nose, is still wearing me out.

And, I'm really really trying to think healthfully and put it in perspective. I ran a 7:31 average pace for 9 miles. So what if it was 16 seconds off my PR for a training run? Who cares? Only me. It really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't make me a better or worse person. It's just a running pace. There are way more important things in this world.

Now, I just have to keep repeating this mantra til I truly believe it and give myself a break! I really do put too much pressure on myself. And bit by teeny, tiny bit, I'm trying to relax my mind's strangle-hold on ridiculous, unrealistic, only-achievable-if-I-don't-have-a-life goals. PR's are dangerous things. Once I hit them, I thin I have to hit them each time once I know their achievable. Its a slippery slope I'm trying to get off of!

Phew! Ok, enough confessing. I told you I was OCD! I've got a ton of paintings in the works. I am soooo busy my head is spinning! I'll post the latest one later this week!

Does anyone else beat themselves up over bad runs?

Summer Running

It's been awhile since I've blogged about my running. This summer has been an awesome one for my running. I've been really similar to last summer, and hitting some fantastic average paces, like 7:14s!With our frequent trips up to Cleveland, I've gotten the chance to do a lot more mom-tourages and trail runs with RRB than normal, which was a great change of pace. It's always nice to have someone to talk to and to get outside!

I've also been getting up at 4am on Thursdays for ElliptiThursday (as GymJim and I call it). Getting my ellipticalling in before the sweatbox heats up to its toasty 100 degrees has been awesome. I get my elliptical next to the fan and have my whole day ahead of me when I'm done. Honestly, going in to work at 12 has made me feel like I'm on  vacation on Thursdays, its great! And, getting to watch Good Morning America while I crunch is the best treat ever. I mean, I love me some Katie Couric at my usual crunching time, but GMA is sooooo much better!

I'm gearing up for my fall races that are coming up: the Air Force Half Marathon in September (here's hoping I only do 13.1 this year!!!) and the final race in the Towpath Trilogy, the Towpath Half Marathon in October (just 3 weeks after the Air Force!). And of course, The WDW Half in January...wooooot! I couldn't convince the Turtle to run that one with me this year, so I'll have to amuse myself with my pre-race slap happiness at 3am that day!

Here's some highlights from the summer so far...

Closed road? What closed road?

My post-race happy dance after hitting 7:14 avg pace

Post race giddiness

A well-deserved coconut popsicle

Torturing my Teddy Bear

Birthday Running

Nothing rings in a birthday like 23 miles! I went up to Cleveland to celebrate my birthday, my neice's birthday and a bridal shower....whoow, that's a lot! It was a jam-packed weekend that included running every day, and it was awesome!

First up, running (swimming?) 10 miles on the Buckeye Trail, including the infamous Puke Hill. RRB and I could barely breathe, and I was sure to remind him how much I hated him every step of the way...until he bought me a coconut popsicle... then all was forgiven!

Best popsicle of my entire life

Then, after celebrating the birthdays, I ran with my sister in-law from the party back to her house, and my 8 year old nephew came along too! I mentioned back in the winter that my sister in-law was just entering the crazy world of running, and now she's signed up for her very first 5k this Saturday, the Run for Pierogies (absolutely appropriate for us Polaks!). We're all going to do it as a family, I'm so excited! Hopefully, my mom's achille's issues will let her join us as well, she can always recover after ;-)

Then, for my actual birthday I dragged my mom out of bed for an early morning 9 miler. It was swampy again, but I managed a 7:19 pace, which is my best non-racing pace of the season, so I was thrilled...no wonder I felt like crap!

Make way for the crazy girls!!!!!!!!

The weekend was so much fun, and I can't wait to go back up for an extended weekend for the 4th of July. Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Who needs birthday cake when you can have pie!?

29 and still asking for stuffed animals!

 

Towpath 10-10

I was oddly calm about yesterday's race, the Towpath 10-10, the 2nd part of the Towpath Trilogy.

Other than freaking out about whether or not it would be cancelled due to lightning, my usual butterflies only came on race day, not days before like normal. This really freaked me out because I was afraid I wouldn't run as hard. Thank goodness that wasn't the case!

So, here's the rundown:

The Turtle & I had a wedding reception to attend the night before the race, which made hydrating interesting (I made those hall attendants earn their pay refilling our table's water pitcher!)

I knew I should have brought water bottles in my purse!

My 4:45am wakeup dawned without a drop of rain, so I was very optimistic that the weathermen were wrong.



Teddy did NOT approve of the hour

And the wishful thinking ended as mom and I pulled into the parking lot of Quaker Steak & Lube when the rain began.

About 30 minutes before the race start, I left mom in the car to join the porta-potty line. 10 minutes later, my clothes were completely soaked and I headed off for the 1 mile walk to the start line with the other runners, all of us looking like a line of glazed-eye refugees fleeing a zombie apocalypse (sorry, just started Walking Dead and I have zombie on the brain. I may never sleep again).

Once at the start, the rain came down harder and my teeth started to chatter. I scoped out the crowd and picked out a few girls who looked quick, as well as last year's female winner overall. How do I know which girl won last year? Because the dear old people who put the race together emailed her picture to everyone to let us know that last year's champ was returning. Way to put a target on her back! (Naturally, I checked out her time last year, a 7:06 pace, and immediately lost all hope in coming in 1st overall)

They informed us that the start would be 5 minutes late because 10k and 10mile runners had gone to the wrong race starts. Arrrrgh! But, just when the 30 second countdown began for the bell (yes, they started the race with an old school hand bell), the rain stopped....after all, we wouldn't want to actually benefit from the rain cooling us down during the race! Nay nay.


Mile 1: Feeling good, all the racers are getting into their groove and jockeying for their spot in the lineup to sit at for the rest of the race. And there's mom! Though I hate a lot of back-and-forthing in races, it gave my mom the opportunity to see me 2x before the finish, which was awesome! I pretty much never have supporters out throughout the course, as mom likes to see me at the finish, so this was a really nice bonus! It's amazing how excited you get just to run past someone you know!

Mile 2: FINISH??? What kind of crazy race has you run under the Finish line banner before its over!?!?! And where the heck is mile marker 2? Wait a sec, let's check my Garmin....2.59 mile?! What the..!?! This would be the first of many missing mile markers. 2, 4, 6 and 8 are on a date! (Don't you roll your eyes). Ooh, there's mom again!



Weeeeeeeeee! I hope I can keep this wicked pace up for 8 more miles!

Mile 3-4: I conquered the first pass over the 2 bridges without too much trouble. It didn't sap my energy as I feared it would, so I was pretty relieved. I got into a groove, following the guy in the white tank from the picture above.

Mile 5: As we approach the beginning of the loop that will take us back toward the finish, I look behind me and see....no one. Not a soul. Just like every other race, I always end up running in a little bubble all by myself (which I prefer, so I don't have to hear footsteps of someone dogging me from behind!). Well, minus White Tank Guy (WTG), who I am now pulling ahead of. He looks over at me and grunts out, "I'm dyyyying, have a good run."  

Mile 6-8: I hear grunting approaching. I look to my left and its WTG. "HEY!", I say accusatorily. He looks sheepish as he pulls up next to me and says hi. For about 1/2 a mile we run side by side until he finally asks if I mind him running with me. No prob, I say. And then begin chatting intermittently with him, as he grunts responses...and probably cursing me in his head to just shut the hell up. :-) 

Mile 8: Before we approach the bridges for the 2nd pass, I notice I'm catching up to last year's Top Female winner. I've had her in my sights for the entire race, and I can't believe I am actually going to have to pass her. As I do, I feel like I just stepped into a trap and fear the sprint she may do when we get to the finish. After doing some foggy race math (1+1 is what again?), I figure out that I'm in 5th place for females. But just knowing I was able to overtake last year's champ gives me a boost!

Mile 9: After following WTG's lead and grunting my way up the 2 bridges (it helped! I think he's on to something), I go in for the long home stretch. Where the hell is that finish line!? I notice I'm catching up to another girl and try to decide if I should pick up the pace and try to overtake her. We've still got a ways to get to the finish, and I really don't feel like passing her to just be repassed. Plllleeeease pick up the pace girl, so I don't have to consider this! Damn it, you just slowed down more! Fine, you want me to pass you, you got it!

.25 miles before the finish I'm about to overtake the girl when she looks over, sees me, and takes off like a shot. "F you" I say outloud. Hmph.

Finish Line, I think we've met before

I finish in 1:11:38, only 10 seconds behind the wench who just couldn't let me pass. BUT, that also got me in 4 WHOLE MINUTES sooner than last year's champ! She never did pick it up to beat me! YAY!

Though the race time says I had a 7:10 pace, my Garmin said 7:06 and I'm sticking with that! I had such a great race! I felt good the entire time, I never hit a wall and am so happy! When I had looked up last year's female winner's time and saw that 7:06 pace, I immediately threw out any ideas of coming in top 3 overall...and while I still didn't place in the overall, I did run that pace, which I had no idea I could do for a 10 mile race. I've never run that fast for that long before! I'm ecstatic!

With my award and goosebumps

I ended up placing 2nd in my division, (1st place going to that wench), 5th female overall (257 female runners) and 37th place overall (533 total runners). YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!

1+1= 4

Mom and I headed out for the 1st mom-tourage run of the season last Sunday, and it was a spectacle as always!

There's just something about early mornings....or afternoons, evenings, aw hell, or anytime you get the 2 of us together, that slap happy insanity ensues. Really, you can't take us anywhere.




Mom got into character with my water belt

It really is quite dangerous for me to bring my camera on my runs. Mwahaha!

I had an awesome run too! 7:22 average pace, which is not too shabby for my first balls-out run of the summer. Funny how that used to be a mind-blowing pace to me until last summer when I started spitting out 7:14s! Oh how quickly my impossible-to-reach bar rises. Will I ever quit expecting PRs from myself with every run? I need to find that magic "content" bean somewhere!

Adventures with RRB

I knew it was going to be an adventure when RRB texted first thing asking if I'd brought old shoes. That can only spell one thing: MUD. Luckily, I had a beat up pair of Mizunos at my mom's...though one shoe was missing a shoe lace I now have hanging around my rearview mirror. After raiding her sewing basket, I tied 2 old laces together and presto! Like a brand new shoe!

My next race on Father's Day has 4 killer hills in it (ok, not really killer, but any slight incline is torture for me), so I've been wanting to get some hill training in before then. All I have to do is slightly mention that I'm even thinking about agreeing to doing hills and RRB seizes the opportunity. Seizes the opportunity without properly scoping out our path. Ok, he trial-runned our route days before....and got lost. And yet, I still follow him.

We went to Hinckley Reservation in Medina, OH and ran up some monstrous hills, that never really had the equal downhill to go with it. But it was so much fun!

I have no idea why I keep putting my life in this guy's hands

 

Halfway thru the run we climbed the mother of all hills. At the top? This really cool rock/cavern grove full of rock carvings some guy in the late 19th / early 20th century carved into them. Really neat!

 

 

Well, it was really neat the first time....RRB realized we'd made a wrong turn after descending down the mother of all hills (Everest). Passing the carvings the second time was not as fun.

You are NOT my favorite person anymore. (Note hot orange makeshift shoe lace)

After threatening RRB's life, I got over it...until I stepped in a creek. I've mentioned in the past that I don't do trail downhills very well. I pause my Garmin and tend to tiptoe down, fearing for my life...same goes for creek and river crossings.

Step 1: Stare at body of water in confusion. "You want me to cross this!? F&#*!"
Step 2: Scratch head and plan attack...mutter expletives, curse out RRB
Step 3: Tentatively step onto first rock..more expletives
Step 4: Scratch head and plan attack. Curse out RRB again
Step 5: Onto next rock
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until crossed

Yes, I have serious issues.

Anyway, my carefully crafted creek crossing plan failed.

Glad I wore old shoes

It was a great run, we got 10.5 miles in. We had so much fun and I got some monstrous hills in to help with my race. I love being back home!

Friends thru thick, thin, mud, hills, fire alarms, hamster circles and insanity

Awesome Weekend

I have been such a blogging slacker lately! But mostly, its because I have been so busy. I have some exciting Disney things in the works, plus I found out last minute about an art show I could enter, so I had to paint something up lickity split.

I also have been going home to Cleveland a lot recently, which has eaten up a lot of my weekend painting time. But it's been so worth it! This past weekend was awesome. The weather was perfect for my run on the Towpath with RRB.



Gorgeous!

It was so perfect, I went back for a 2nd run the same day! This time I joined my sister in-law to show her the beauty of my favorite place. She's new to running and I'm so proud of her for making such great progress at this! I had an awesome time running with her and hopefully soon we'll be able to do a 5k together!



Cheesin'

Then, I got to strap into my wedding dress and model for my friend, Natalia Dale, the most awesome photographer ever. I don't know how she does it, but she makes everything look so beautiful! She helps this sweaty, stinky runner look pretty!

I always jump at the chance to put on black angel wings!



Song Bird captured the moment of the moment!



Never thought he'd be helping me back IN my dress!

I'll post new pics of paintings soon. Did you all have good weekends too?

Towpath Trilogy: 5 Miler Recap

Sunday was my first race of the season and I was so giddily nervous, I was randomly clapping and squealing sitting in my car while I waited for the start.

Mom didn't seem to have this issue

The weather was almost perfect, upper 50s and partly cloudy, if only we could have gotten rid of the wind...though I hardly noticed it during the race.

My lofty goal for the race was to come in 1st woman overall. My regular goal was to come in somewhere in the Top 3 Overall, or at least 1st in my division. And of course, when I put those kinds of goals in my head, the pressure is on!

I positioned myself right at the front of the pack and did my normal bunny hops to work off my nervous energy (and stay warm). While chatting up my fellow racers (read: giving the Disney Marathon free advertising), I spotted HER.

HER: A fake 'n baked, jet black hair, string-beaned, mutant with the cockiness of an Olympian. She was hanging out at the start line with HIM, an equally cocky, pro-runner-attired mutant.

So much for 1st place.

Runners, on your marks...
"No Line on the Horizon" set on iPod.

Get Set...
Hand over Garmin's 'start' button.

Go!!!!!!!!!!!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Outta my way, bitches!!!!!

The only psychotically grinning runner

Mile 1: Man, there's a whole slew of women passing me. I hope they're just fast starters!

The first part of the race is uphill (a theme of this race) and then we turned onto the Towpath. Even without the leaves on the trees, it is such a pretty race. I love my Towpath!

I used a huge downhill to my advantage (man, is that going to suck coming back up), and passed the remainder of the women who had gotten ahead of me at the start, minus HER.

Mile 1.65: OMG, that's it?! Holy crap. This is turning into the longest 5 miles I have ever run!


Mile 2: Side stitch! Dammit! Really? This little bugger never did left my side the rest of race, har har.


Mile 3: Finally heading back. Wahoo!


Mile 4: Almost there, almost there. Crap! There's that blasted hill! Who maps these courses out, Satan?

Mile 4.75: Oh look, there's HER and HIM. Jogging back. Because they're finished. And wanted to gloat. Where's a gun?

Mile 4.9: There's mommy! Yay! I'm comin', I'm comin'!

Mile 4.97: WHHHHHRR! The middle-aged guy I'd been passing back and forth the whole race goes whipping by. Dammit! Not enough time to catch up.



Yeah...He totally sand-bagged me by letting me pass him that last time

Mile 5: DONE!!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished in 35:35:4, 7:07 pace,  2nd woman overall, 15th place total out of about 365. I'm so happy! And for the first time in my entire running career, I got PAID! I got a very pretty matted picture of the Towpath, and $25 to Vertical Runner, a local running shoe store. Awesome!



Not too shabby for the 1st race of the season, and only 2nd run outside in months!

Oh, and about HER and HIM? HER and HIM both came in as top Female and Male. HER beat me by almost 6 minutes. This got me very suspicious. How is it possible that there are 6 minutes between 1st and 2nd place? So, I googled them and found out she's a track/cross country coach at a University, and he is her student! How is that right? Maybe next time I'll go race some kindergardners on the playground! I hope they feel real proud of themselves, trouncing us normal folk. Lol. (Ok, I'm totally joking around, but come on! So not right!)

And tonight.........I'm signing up for the 2014 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. YESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!