Turkey Trotting and Turkey Eating

This morning I "pre-burned" approximately 620 calories by running a 10K turkey trot held at the YMCA where I am a member.  This afternoon I ate wayyyyyyy more calories than that at my sister's house!!  My brother in law cooked a 28 lb turkey on a charcoal grill; it was really good!!  I also had plenty of cake and ice cream!! 

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who may happen to read this!!

Runner Nerd
Thankful for running shoes and ice cream!!

It's running group day and it's raining out there.

I'm sitting here in the library, been studying for a few hours and it's just about time to leave for running group.  Normally that would make me excited and anticipatory (is that really a word) but it's raining outside and I HATE running in the rain.  It's also cold - 38 degrees to be exact.  I'm not looking forward to this; I'm actually wishing I could study more - now that IS crazy!! 
Two more weeks to go!!  My last final is Dec. 7th and it can't come soon enough.  My brain is exhausted!  I got a much needed 100% on an exam in a class last week.  I'm in the 4.0 range but just barely.  Now I just have to ace that final. 

Well, I am off to run in the rain, get soaked and freeze! 

Runner Nerd
needs a break!

More silly running - Lightfest 8K

This time of year is what many runners consider to be the offseason.  During the offseason it's a time to forget about real training.  Running still happens, of course.  There are a bunch of holiday themed races and fun runs where people have fun and dress funny!  I ran a halloween 5K where I dressed in a big pumpkin shirt and spider knee socks!!  My "costume" was minimal compared to many of the participants. 
Last night was another fun event.  It was the Wayne County Lightfest 8K.  Lightfest is a drive through light display that opens this coming weekend.  On Tuesday of the week of the opening they have a run through the lights.  They say it's a dress rehearsal to make sure everything is in place but I think it's a ploy to get hundreds of people to pay $20 so they can pay the electric bill for all those lights!!  It's crazy how many people show up for this run.  It's not timed, there are no numbers, no chips, no winners; it's purely for fun.  I said to one of my running group friends that this proves that runners don't need much of an excuse to run!  I wore a string of christmas lights and a flashing bracelet and glow braclets around my wrists and a glow necklace on my head!! They give everyone a glow necklace to wear since it's a night run.  The first year I did this run the necklace bobbed up and down and hit my nose constantly.  The last 2 years I wrapped them around my lower leg but this year I saw someone else with theirs on their head so I tried it and found that it would stay there!!  This year was the warmest it has ever been for this race; it was 53 degrees!!  I only needed one layer!  It's usually cold.  Last year it was not only cold but rained the whole time and I remember being frozen and soaked.  I was really happy this year!! 

Before the run.
  When else can you wear Christmas lights and a glow thingy on your head in public and be perectly acceptable!



On the bus after the run with a running group friend

 This run is a point to point.  After the run busses take runners back to where we parked.  The bus had crazy music playing and had lights that flashed with the music and a strobe light somewhere down near the floor. 
So, that was fun!  I ran the 8K in just over 47 minutes which is pretty good for me these days.  I'm always amazed at how runs like these are always over so fast. 
In a couple of weeks I will be running another christmas themed run and I'm going to have my christmas lights again!!  I also have a pair of red and white striped knee socks to wear.  I was going to wear them last night but it was too warm at 53 degrees!  The week after that I have one more Christmas run; it's a women only run. 

This semester is winding down which cannot happen fast enough!  I had a good week last week!  I rocked a very difficult exam - I got 105%!!  I missed one so I actually got 98% but the teacher ended up throwing out 2 of the questions so I got an extra point for each of those since I got them right and there was 5 extra credit point problems which I got right!!  True nerd style!!! 

Runner Nerd
runs with lights!

Just for fun running events

This was the scene last night before a night run. 
Neon green or yellow and reflective trim.  The run was a fun run to commerate the date being 11-11-11.  Runners really don't need much of an excuse to have a run!  One of the members of the running group I run with hosted at his house which is near a lake that has a trail going around it.  There was a full moon last night which made running even more fun.  I was happy when I saw this picture because I wasn't sure if the old running pants I was wearing were still reflective on the trim along the zippers at the bottom of the legs.  I can see from this picture that they are!  It looks really dull compared to how it used to look.  (I'm the one on the left with my back to the camera)
That was last night at 7pm.
Today at 9am I was at it again!  I ran a 5K and a 10K back to back; it's the Iron Turkey!  I ran a 30 minute 5K and just over an hour 10K so it was like a long run.  The 2 races are an hour apart; 5K at 9 and 10K at 10.  I had a half hour between them and when I started the 10K I was stiff and had a really hard time getting my body moving again.  I had the best race number today!!!! I am the one in the middle with the race number!

I had the best race number!

All too soon racing was over and I had to go back to my other life - being the world's oldest college student.  After going home and showering it was off to the library for a few hours of studying for an exam I have on Monday - oh, the excitement! 

Forget what I said about cold weather gear in my last post!

November 8th and it's 65 degrees at 6:30pm!  Yes, that was the situation this evening here in, of all places, southeast Michigan! 
I had tights, baselayer and long sleeve shirt stuffed in my bag and then I realized that it was already 52 degrees at 9:30am, so in went a pair of shorts and short sleeve shirt just in case.  I'm glad I threw in those just in case provisions! 
I studied in the library all afternoon (true nerd style) then headed over to the running store for group run.  I passed a business just down the street from the running store that has a sign which displays the temperature and it said 65! 
This was our first run post time change.  It was completely dark well before our start time of 6:30pm.  Until now it was still light when we started but dark by the time we finished.  Nothing a neon yellow running shirt, headlamp and reflective arm bands can't make work! 
Last week I got new running shoes.  Every time I get new running shoes I can't wait to get them dirty!  They are soooooo white and clean, I can be seen coming a mile away!  I got more dirt on them tonight.  The dirt roads weren't really muddy but it had rained a little so there was slightly wet dirt to pick up!!
Well, running is done so it's time to get back to the nerd part of Runner Nerd; big test tomorrow.
Runner Nerd
enjoying unseasonable November weather

It's tough being the world's oldest college student

Well, it has been an exciting weekend!!  Friday I had to go to school; normally I don't have class on Friday.  Last week was Respiratory Care Week and, as a member of a respiratory therapy program at a community college, I learned that it's a big deal in the world of respiratory therapy!  We had a ventilator race at the college as a fundraiser for a camp for kids with asthma.  I have learned that old, outdated, retired ventilators get used in ventilator races at colleges and hospitals all over.  Our college has 2 old ones, very heavy old ones I might add!!  We decorated them up.  I used the bumble bee wings I wore in a halloween race last year and we used yellow balloons and made the bumble bee ventilator!!  The other ventilator was pink!  We wrapped it in pink paper and pink balloons.  We also had some smaller machines - something along the line of a BiPAP machine on stands and wheels.  We decorated one as big bird and the other as a christmas tree.  We raced as teams of 2.  The race was around a circular drive in front of the building.  It wasn't a very big lap and there were 5 laps.  My team mate and I won!!!!  It was harder than I thought it would be.  The old ventilators are big and heavy and hard to steer!  It was a really nice day just a tiny bit chilly.  It was fun.  

Ventilators ready to be raced by a bunch of crazy RT students!





Running and pushing an old, heavy, cumbersome ventilator

After all that fun, we headed back to the classroom.  We have had so much work to do lately that all of us are behind.  We just worked on stuff that we needed to catch up.  It is a good feeling to finally be caught up on all the little things like quizzes that are done on a computer in the class and our simulations that are also done on computers in the class and finishing up various worksheets,etc.  I was there about 3 hours working. 
After I left school I went for a much needed run!  As usual, I changed in the back seat of my car thanks to the miracle of tinted windows!  I did a loop around a park and a few miles on the paved trail for a total of 5.5 miles.  All of my miles were in the 9s!!  I am getting back to how I used to run!!  It feels so good to push myself again! 
Saturday and Sunday were just full of fun!  Both days I sat on my butt in a chair in the library all afternoon doing homework and studying.  Today after the library closed I went running around the small town where the library is located since I had a very short window of daylight left.  It was a great run.  I combined several routes from a walking tour brocure I saw at the library and also some places I remember from when I ran with a marathon training group in that town several years ago.  I ran 4.5 miles and, again, all miles in the 9s!  I just felt great afterward.  Today was the first time I wore a headband to keep my ears warm this season.  I guess I can't do anything about winter moving in.  I dread it but I know there will also be fun times.  The Lightfest 8K is coming up, is there anything more fun than running at night with christmas lights wrapped around your body!!  I registered for an all womens 5K that I did last year - Jingle Belle womens 5k.  It was a blast last year.  I remember people wearing christmas themed clothing so I'm ready this year!!  I bought a pair of red and white striped knee socks to wear to christmas themed races this year!!  There is also an evening run planned on 11-11-11 that is just for fun; it's on a trail around a lake.  Of course, there is a party afterward!! 
Well, I have a few things to finish up and then have to get to bed so I can be ready to resume my role as the world's oldest college student tomorrow morning! 
Happy running
Runner Nerd
digging out the cold weather gear

and the blogger disappears for 3 months

I just logged in here and saw that I last posted on July 4th after running the July 4th race. 

What has happened since then???????  I'm not sure I even remember!

I finished my semester at the end of July on a Monday.  The end of that week, Friday, Saturday, Sunday I had continuing ed classes for renewing my EMS license.  Sunday after the last class ended at 6pm I took off for the Upper Peninsula to visit my parents.  My sister from California and my sister who lives in Lansing were already there.  They were staying in a cabin at a resort near my parents' house.  I got to the Ferry dock at midnight.  (My parents live on an island serviced by a car ferry) The next ferry wasn't until 1 am so I had an hour to wait.  There was quite a party going on at a bar near the dock and there were people wandering in the streets so I did get to talk to some very drunk people!!  It was quite entertaining. 



My car in the ferry line at midnight. (I was first in line an hour early)

 


Just about to board the 1am Ferry to the island

I really had a great time with my sisters, my 2 nephews and my parents up on the island.  We were able to float around Lake Huron on a pontoon.  I went for a run, of course!!  We did lots of grilling and eating!  I got to spend time with my nephews who always have me laughing and always amaze me with their knowledge of dinosaurs, outer space, you name it!!  I made a run to a store to get a few things for dinner and as I drove into the place I saw the most amazing sight!  I was nearly 600 miles from Ann Arbor but...there it was....a lighted sign on the side of the building:  "ZINGERMAN'S bread sold here"  HUH????  Zingerman's bread on an island in the UP??  While I was there I continually checked to see if my grades were posted and when they finally were, I was one excited nerd!!!  All 4.0 once again!!  I was very relieved.  I rocked my 2 finals!!  My sisters just rolled their eyes! 

600 miles away from Ann Arbor



All too soon it was time to head back home.



In line to board the Ferry back to the lower peninsula





southbound on the Mackinac Bridge



I still had 5 weeks of freedom! 

I worked several shifts during the next 3 weeks.  I got my training on track for the half marathon I ran last week.  I got my mileage back up in the 30s per week.  I had been doing speedwork with a group from the gym since early spring.  I enjoyed time with my daughter who was home for the summer and enjoyed not having homework to do and just having time for myself. 

Eventually I had to go back to school.  I ran my half marathon, the Grand Rapids Half Marathon.  It wasn't my fastest but it also wasn't my slowest.  I ran a halloween themed 5k Saturday which was a lot of fun.  It was a night race.  I dressed like a jack-o-lantern and had spider knee socks!  It was a beautiful evening and I didn't even have to wear tights!  I wore my running skirt just to make it look even more silly! 

All dressed up for a night Halloween 5K

Well, that's about it.  I'm a tired nerd.  Tomorrow there is homework to do, a test to study for, 2 online quizzes to take and then it's running group night. 

Next up is the Wayne County Lightfest 8K, a fun night run through a lighted drive through light display.

Runner Nerd
back from non-blogging
still the world's oldest college student nerd and still a runner