Fourth of July (a couple weeks later)

Oh my, I haven't posted since July 1st.  I am going to attempt to get caught up in the next couple of days.
The Fourth of July has come and gone and now the summer is just flying by.  I had a good race on the 4th. I ran the Firecracker 5 miler in Hanover, MI.  The day before was speedwork day and I went ahead and went and ran 4 800s, all under 4 minutes or sub 8 minute mile pace.  The workout was actually 10 800s but I only did 4 because I had to go and register for the race.  It poured while we were running the repeats and as soon as I left, it stopped raining!
I decided to be silly and wear red, white and blue things.  I had a sparkly headband; I was worried about it but I forgot I was wearing it and never even noticed it.  I wore a red shirt and blue skirt and red, white, blue star/bead necklaces. 

I looked and looked for patriotic knee socks and never found any but I did find these - they are mens' dress socks!  They actually stayed up!   Had this race been any longer, I'd have been in serious trouble because these socks aren't made for running in!  They aren't as thick as my running socks so my shoes were a little loose no matter how tight I pulled the laces.  My feet were stinging by the time I finished.  I expected to have huge blisters because that's what it felt like but there wasn't any.  They were in the process of forming, I could see that but they weren't full on blisters yet.  They were a bit sore for a few days. 

This is, I think, the 6th year I've run this race.  They changed the course 3 years ago so this is the 3rd time on the new course.  There's a few hills out there.  I wanted to run at just under 9 minutes.  I wanted my average pace to be under 9 minutes.   At the first mile, Garmy beeped and said 8:11.  Huh??  Oh crap!!  I can't run that fast!  I knew it was going to get tough at the end, oh well, I'm the queen of going out too fast!  After that, the miles came in at 8:55, 8:45, 8:33, and 8:30.
The result:

This was a small race and did not have chip timing.  My official time was 43:15 for an 8:39 pace!!  I was 4th in my age group and they gave awards to the top 5 in each age group!!
After the race, I had to clean up with my Burt's Bees wipes (love those things!)and change clothes in the back seat of my car (the reason tinted windows were invented!) and head over to Grass Lake where the rest of the family was getting ready for the big 4th of July parade.  We only took 1 tractor this year. 

1935 John Deere D

I found a place to sit along the parade route and was surrounded by little kids!  This parade is known for lots of candy being thrown.  I was helping the little kids retrieve candy!  (and yes, I was giving it to them!)  I remember my daughter collecting a big bag of candy from this parade when she was little.  She's now 22; that's her on the tractor fender. 
After the parade, we got chicken dinners that the American Legion cooked in the park.  We took them home.
Later in the afternoon, I took off to go to my niece's house.  They were away for a few days and she wanted me to be there the night of the 4th because it's crazy in her subdivision.  She was right!  When I drove into the subdivision, the street sides were solid parked cars.  I think every house, except theirs, had 5 or 6 visitors parked in front!  There were kids running all over the subdivision.  Everywhere you looked, you saw people and then there was their house: empty drive, no cars in front, no people.  Now I know why she wanted me there.  As it began to get dark, the fireworks started.  There were fireworks being shot off all over the subdivison!  These weren't little fireworks that you buy from the tents that pop up all over town for the 4th of July, these were serious fireworks!  I sat out on the deck for a while watching the chaos!
So, that was the 4th of July.  Once the 4th of July comes and goes, it seems the rest of the summer just flies by.  I know there is still half of the summer left but I went to bed a little sad that it is going to be gone so fast.  I love the summer time!

Runner Nerd
loves summer

Best Tempo Run Ever

Today, a 6 mile tempo run was on the schedule.  I headed out to run in the small town of Chelsea.  It started sprinkling on the way there which did not make me happy because I do not like running in the rain.  The sprinkles stopped and started a few times on my way there.  It was just lightly sprinkling when I got to my parking spot.  I decided to go for it and hope that it did not rain any harder than what it was at the time.  I got really lucky because it just sprinkled on and off a few times.
It took me most of the first mile to get going and get up to speed.  I figure that anything under 9 minutes is ok for a tempo run.  I'm training for a 4:30 marathon so, really, anything under a 10 minute mile would be considered a tempo pace!  My first mile came in at 9:15.  After that, all miles were under 9 minutes:  8:45, 8:42, 8:48, 8:52, and a, how did this happen, 8:18!
I can't believe all the odd things that happened during this run!  About three-tenths mile into the run, a squirrel came running out and ran right over my feet; it happened so fast but I'm pretty sure that the squirrel jumped over my foot!  It scared me and I took a quick step back and stumbled a bit and watched the squirrel continue on to the other side of the street!  Just past 3 miles, on a dirt road, a bicyclist was coming toward me and he was drinking from one of those water bottles that attach to the aero-bars and I guess for that moment he wasn't looking at the road because he came toward me on the edge of the road and when he was right in front of me he looked up and he passed by me so close to my side.  Even funnier, as he was passing by, he said hello!  Just shy of mile 5, I enter a trail through a woods that is part of the Chelsea Wellness Paths and is on the hospital campus.    Just as I was coming out of the woods at the hospital driveway, two deer came running through the woods and very close to me made an abrupt stop and turned around to run away from me.  That really startled me!  Then, right after the deer, a Fed Ex truck was stopped at a drive that is for delivery trucks.  The truck was stopped so I thought nothing of it and I continued on.  Just as I was beginning to pass in front of the truck, I heard the engine start to rev up and looked and the truck was MOVING!!  I stopped and took a couple steps backwards and the driver slammed his brakes on; I'm not sure who was more startled: him at seeing me or me at seeing him moving!  On the final stretch of my run, just after climbing quite a steep hill, there were two little boys on the sidewalk on roller blades, they came off of another street and not up the hill I just ran up.  I said something to them about being hard to go uphill.  One of them said something about going fast and how fast can you go?  Next thing I know, I'm racing two little boys on roller blades for about a block!!  That's how my last mile came to be my fastest!  Well, that and toward the end, I really felt like I was slowing down and I was determined to not let this mile be over 9 minutes so I was really pushing.
I was quite pleased with my tempo run!  Next week, it's 7 miles and I don't know if I can keep that pace up for another mile. 
Yesterday marked 15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon.  I ran with my friend, Erika, on Saturday and she pulled me along at a 9:06 average pace for 8 miles!  Yep, that's a good long run pace for a 4:30 marathon!
Coming up Thursday is the annual Firecracker 5 Miler in Hanover, MI.  Erika and I are going to run decked out in red, white and blue! 

Tomorrow I have orientation for my new job!!  I'm going to be working in a hospital that has a unit where long-term ventilator dependent patients live.  That's what I do - take care of people on ventilators!

Runner Nerd
runs and dodges animals, bikes and trucks

Vintage Running Shirt

Yesterday I won a prize!!  I won a prize for having the oldest running shirt!  It was the running store's annual volunteer party.  On the invitation, it said to bring an old race shirt and that there would be a prize for the oldest!  I dug out my t-shirt from 1980!  It is from the 1980 MAIAW Regional Cross Country Championships at University of Wisconsin Madison.  (MAIAW = Midwest Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women - AKA - women's sports at teeny tiny colleges.)

1980 race shirt

This is the 2nd time I've won a prize for this shirt!!  I have an even older shirt from high school.. It's the shirt that we wore to school on the day of a track meet.  It has the school logo and says Girls Track but there is no date.  I'm pretty sure I got the shirt my sophomore year which would have been 1978 but, since there is no date on the shirt, it could not be used in the contest. 
The volunteer party began with a 3 mile trail run for all the runners.  It was pouring rain and the trails were wet, flooded in places, and muddy.  It was not fun in my eyes.  It was also cold.  I changed into dry clothes which included a long sleeve shirt.  I was holding the college t-shirt up and wondering if I could even fit into it.  I noticed that it is a size LARGE; a 1980's size large!  Funny how today a size large would be too big.  It did fit, even fit over my long sleeve shirt.  There was another man with a 1980 race shirt and a man who had a 1978 race shirt and all three of us got prizes.  When we were standing there, a running group friend of mine blurted out, "imagine that, a 50 yr old woman who can wear a shirt from her college days!"  I was a bit embarrassed at the moment but later on, after I thought about it, I felt proud of that fact!! 

Runner Nerd
ran cross country in 1980 and still has the shirt

16 weeks

16 weeks from right now, I will be lining up with 39,999 others to run this thing called the Chicago Marathon!!  I'm getting excited. 
I still need to pick a plan and commit to it.  I've been going over a couple of plans from the Chicago Marathon website.  I'm also going over Hal Higdon's Intermediate plan.  I'm pretty sure it was the plan I used for my first 3 marathons.  (My 3rd one is my PR of 4:09)

I didn't do my long run yesterday because I'm doing it today at 4pm.  I'm running with the Ironman training group from the gym, same people I do track workouts with on Wednesdays.  They are swimming this morning, I believe they are swimming the Ironman distance of 2.4 miles. They will then be biking 100 miles, they are out there biking right now.  There are a couple people who will be joining them for the last 30 miles of the ride.  After that, they will be running 10 miles and that's when I join in the fun!  I'm running with two men who normally run faster than I do but after a long swim and 100 mile ride won't be moving along normal speed.  They want to stay right around 10 minute miles so that's my job!  It's going to be around 85 degrees when we run and the sun is out and shining brightly today!  This will end their biggest training week, then they will taper for 3 weeks and do their Ironman!  They may be running 20 miles next week, I'm not sure.  If so, I'll probably run along some portion of the 20 but that will be in the  morning.  Today's training is to mimic the actual race day.  They will be running the marathon in the afternoon heat and sun so today they practice in it. 

Runner Nerd
runs with Ironmen

A PR while running in costume

I have a new 10K PR!!  I even ran this new PR time while wearing a Statue of Liberty Costume!
Once again, I was leaving my house in the early hours of the morning.  
This is my friend and I before the race.  I'm on the left. 

Statues of Liberty ready to run

This was the Liberty Run.  Registration for this race includes a Statue of Liberty costume.  After the race, all of the Statues are gathered in a fenced area for the purpose of making a Guinness Book record of most people dressed as the Statue of Liberty.  This was done last year and was certified by Guinness and this year they wanted to break their own record! 
I ran the race with my friend, Erika.  We didn't even warm up; we just lined up when it was time:

lining up at the start

For running, we gathered our Liberty dresses up on one side and used a hair tie to hold them up.  I also wore my race # belt which helped me to control the thing while I was running!  I definitely wasn't a 65 minute pacer for this race!  This was tough!  The last two miles got really tough.  At one point, I fell behind Erika and she kept yelling to get caught up with her and somehow I did. 
We crossed the finish line with our torches raised high!

finishing

I looked at my Garmin after I pushed the button and it said, 53:40!!  I can't remember ever having a 10K time under 54 minutes!!  I'm pretty sure this is a PR for me!
Then we had the record breaking gathering.  They set up a timing mat at the entrance to a fenced area; as each person crosses the mat (with race bib still on) they are recorded.  The gathering has to be for 10 minutes.

Statues of Liberty as far as the eye can see!

After we exited the gathering area, Erika noticed the race results posted and so we went over there to see what our times were.  We both discovered that we were 2nd in our age groups!!  We got beer glasses!  the glasses are hard to see in the picture.  Our torches are in the glasses. 

Age group awards

Erika and I have run in prom dresses and Christmas lights and now Statue of Liberty costumes!  We were thinking of how we could use the costumes again for a Halloween race.  I was also thinking that I could wear it on New Years Eve in New York City in the Midnight Run! 
We are planning on doing the Red Carpet Run again this year and are making plans for what we're going to wear.
Tomorrow is 17 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon so it's only 1 more week until I will officially be training!  A few weeks later, Erika will start training for the New York Marathon. 
I'm exhausted tonight.  This early morning stuff is not for me!  Soon, I will be going to group long runs at 8am on Saturdays - oh joy! 

Runner Nerd
has a new PR

Spirit of the Marathon 2

I went to see Spirit of the Marathon 2 this evening.  I didn't dislike it but I like the first one a lot more.  The stories were good but it was harder to follow because I did not understand the language of some of the featured people.  I prefer to just watch a movie and not have to read the translation of what they are saying in another language.  Several times I missed something because I was looking at something on the screen that caught my eye and then the words were gone.  Also, the other way around; I'm reading the words and missing out on what's going on.  Maybe it's just me.  Last night I re-watched the first Spirit of the Marathon on Netflix; maybe that was a mistake!  In spite of being a bit disappointed with having to read so many translations, I am more excited than ever to get going with Chicago training! 

In order to go to the movie this evening, I had to miss the group track workout.  Today was hills!  Earlier in the day, I went to the usual high school track and ran a mile warm up on the paved trail that is right by the school then on over to the street where the big hill is.  I did 8 loops all by myself.  The climb up the hill is .3 mile and then we turn on another street which loops around and comes out close to where we start each hill repeat.  The complete loop is .6 mile: .3 uphill and .3 downhill.  This takes place in a neighborhood with little traffic.  When I was there at 1pm there was no traffic.  I never saw a car on the street until my last loop.  There is more traffic at 6:30 pm when people are home from work.  There were two houses where a lawn service was there mowing and working in the yards and I think I provided some entertainment to those people!!  I know they stared each time I passed by!  My total run was 7.1 miles.  It was tough but I felt good afterward! 
After the movie, I gave in to temptation and drove over to a place that I should stay far away from!!  It's a good thing that this place is not very close by and I'm in the area infrequently!  I went to Sugar Berry Frozen Yogurt; it's a self serve frozen yogurt place.  Oh my!!  I made sure to completely fill the bowl with several different flavors such as red velvet, cheesecake, vanilla, and birthday cake!  I topped it off with white chocolate and caramel!  I hope we do one of our longer routes tomorrow night at group run! 

Runner Nerd
ran, went to movie, ate frozen yogurt, had a great day

Pacing and meeting new friends

Today I paced another 10K at 65 minutes!  This time, I was all by myself.  I tried to set my Garmin to give me a split time every quarter mile, like I did before, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.  I don't know how I did it before and then put it back to miles the next day.
This race was a Hawaiian themed race called  Kona Run.  I had to leave the house at 4:45 am.  Why do I let myself get talked into these things??!!  (A fellow Thursday night running group member is on staff for this race and is in charge of putting together a team of pacers so that is how I got involved.)  
When I went to the start area with my 65 minute sign with the other pacers,  people started coming up to me asking me about pace and stuff.  I recognized one woman but had no idea why I thought she looked so familiar.  I hope she didn't notice me staring!  Something she said made me realize that I had read her blog recently!  She is "That Loud Redhead", AKA Stephanie!  She was running with her 11 year old son who really wanted to try to break 65 minutes; it was his 2nd 10K.  Another woman kind of looked familiar, too, but I had no idea why.  Later on, her and Stephanie were talking about running their first half marathons last week (6 days ago!) at the Dexter to Ann Arbor Half Marathon!  That's when it hit me, I had seen a comment that my sister had made on Facebook to someone who had run the half marathon and I was pretty sure that it was her so I asked her if she knew my sister and she did!  When she told me her maiden name, I did remember her from high school!  I had two runners who had run a half marathon 6 days ago!
I know we were right on target at 4 miles at 42 minutes.  (10:30 per mile x 4 miles)  We were a little fast for the 5th mile and when we were coming up on the 6 mile marker we were over a minute ahead.  My 11 yr old runner really hung in there the last mile.  I knew we were around 40 seconds ahead at 5 miles so I slowed a little and walked a few extra steps at the water stop right after the 5 mile point.  He really pushed through and when we were coming up on the 6 mile marker, he took right off!  He was very happy with his 1:03:something 10K PR!!  It was the highlight of my day! 
Somewhere along the way, I think around 4 miles, a car came barreling around the barricade at an intersection and proceeded to drive fast down the middle of a street full of runners as runners swerved right and left to avoid being plowed over.  I guess not everyone likes having the streets closed and a bunch of healthy, happy, athletic people running their races! 
After the race, several people who ran with my pace group gathered for a picture and somehow my phone/camera did not end up with a group picture so I am hoping to get one of the whole group from one of the others.
I also took a picture of "That Loud Redhead" and her son:

Stephanie and her son, the proud owner of a new 10K PR

 I also got a picture with my high school classmate and good friend of my sister, Pam:

I really like the shirt given for this race and, for the first time ever, I wore it to run the race in!  I've never done that before.  I know that I will wear this shirt a lot.  

Tomorrow it is 18 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon!!  Time to get a training plan picked out and get going!! 

Runner Nerd
very tired from getting up at 4 am.