Tag Archives: running amuck

the reluctant marathoner

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I recently stumbled upon the Runners’ Lounge. This is for Take It and Run Thursday: Marathon Mania, and for anybody who thinks they can’t run a marathon.

I was never athletic as a child. I didn’t do well in sports, and I didn’t particularly like running.

But for some reason, I decided to give distance running a shot a few years ago when my office was starting a team for an 8K charity race.

I joined my local running club’s beginner class, then moved on to their 10K class.

I trained with a group I met through the 10K class through the winter, and successfully finished my first half marathon — 13.1 miles — in March of 2005. It was about a year after I started running; a couple weeks before my 30th birthday.

I remember chatting with people during that race, saying I never thought I’d run a full marathon. At the time, I had no desire to.

And around mile 10, when I was exceeding my longest training run, my knees were aching. Actually, I think everything was aching! I managed to finish with a smile on my face, but I could barely walk.

Yet, I thought it was a good idea to run another one six months later. And at the finish I remember exclaiming to my running buddy how I couldn’t imagine having another 13.1 miles to go. It still hurt.

I kept going with the half marathons, though. By the fall of 2006 I had completed four of them, when some of my friends started talking about running a full marathon.

Yikes! That’s 26.2 miles!

But they were talking about running a very conservative marathon, using the run/walk Galloway method. That made it a bit more palatable.

I was in.

We trained throughout the winter and into the spring. We took short road trips for our long runs to get a chance in scenery. We were all first-time marathoners, and were a bit nervous about the distance. We had three 20+ mile runs, which most people don’t do. Some training groups go to 22, but many stop at 20. We went up to 24!

Some of the training runs were rough. I had some knee trouble but it didn’t stop me. (I did go to a doctor to make sure it wasn’t anything serious!) And actually, the pain didn’t come back for the 24-mile training run or on race day.

I ran with my friends, and we kept a steady pace for the entire race. I teared up a little when I saw the finish line. I did it!

It’s been just over a year now since I crossed that finish line. Since then, I’ve run two more half marathons, a ten-miler and a handful of shorter races.

Will I run another marathon?

Maybe.

Sometimes I want to. Other times I remember the pain and all of the weekends we lost to long training runs.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

list day 8: i am crazy

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Saturday mornings, I run with my friends.

This morning, we were a bit worried about the weather. We had plans to meet at 8:30 a.m.

Around 7:30, one of my friends sent out an email to see if we were still planning on going. It was pouring by her house.

Another friend responded that we’ll see what happens in an hour!

I immediately went and checked the Live Super Doppler Radar, which looked like this at the time:

I had high hopes. It looked like the storm would be moving out of the way. I started getting ready to go.

One last check at 8:00 produced the following:

Excellent! It looked like we’d be clear for a little while.

We altered our plans to run in a park with a four-mile loop, with the option to add a couple paths to bring it a little over five.

There were some shelters in the park, just in case a predicted thunderstorm rolled through. (Normally, thunderstorms immediately cancel runs, but it only seemed to be raining.)

When we started, it was foggy, but no rain. It was actually a bit warm, around 50F and humid.

About 20 minutes into the run, we took a brief break to tie our jackets around our waists.

Not a minute later, the skies opened up. Of course, my partly water-resistant jacket was now around my waist, and my tech shirt got drenched.

It poured for just a few minutes, but the damage was done. I did, however, swap the soggy shirt with the windbreaker at our bathroom/water stop. Still wet, but more comfortable!

After the loop, half the group wanted more mileage and took the shorter four-mile option. A friend and I decided our bodies were done running for the day, and chose to walk two more miles instead while they ran.

It rained again, but we were already wet. At least we had dry clothes in the car — we always go out for breakfast when we’re done!

Anyway, the point of this post is that yes, I run in terrible weather, and we realize we’re crazy!

Here is a list of most of the races I have run since I started in 2004:

  1. 5/2/2004 – Patriot’s Cup Corporate Challenge 8K
  2. 11/21/2004- Cold Turkey 10k
  3. 2/12/2005 – Annapolis Striders Valentine’s Day 5K 2005
  4. 3/6/2005 – B&A; Trail Marathon/Half Marathon – Trail Run – 13.1Mi
  5. 6/5/2005 – Womens Distance Festival 5K
  6. 7/9/2005 – Women’s Distance Festival/Run After The Women 5K
  7. 7/10/2005 – Women’s Distance Festival
  8. 8/7/2005 – Dog Days 8k Run
  9. 8/28/2005- 30th Annapolis 10 Mile Run
  10. 9/3/2005 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon 2005
  11. 9/11/2005 – Annapolis Striders B & A Trail 10K 2007
  12. 10/2/2005 – Annapolis Striders Metric Marathon
  13. 11/19/2005 – Cold Turkey 10K
  14. 11/24/2005 – YMCA Camp Letts 10K Turkey Chase
  15. 1/15/2006 – P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon & Half Marathon – Half Marathon
  16. 2/11/2006 – Annapolis Striders Valentine’s Day 5K 2006
  17. 5/7/2006 – Governor’s Bay Bridge Run
  18. 6/18/2006 – Dawson’s Father’s Day 10K Run
  19. 6/25/2006 – Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K
  20. 7/9/2006 – Women’s Distance Festival
  21. 8/6/2006 – Dog Days 8K Cross Country Run
  22. 9/3/2006 – Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon 2006
  23. 11/4/2006 – Downs Park 5 Mile Run
  24. 11/19/2006 – Cold Turkey 10K
  25. 12/10/2006 – Annapolis Striders Anniversary Run 15k
  26. 5/6/2007 – Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon 2007 – Run-Marathon
  27. 6/30/2007 – Reston Runners’ Spring into Summer WDF 5K
  28. 7/8/2007 – Women’s Distance Festival 5K
  29. 7/14/2007 – Women’s Distance Festival/Run After The Women 5K 2007 – RUN-5K
  30. 8/25/2007 – Women’s Distance Festival 5k “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” 2007
  31. 9/2/2007 – Rock n Roll Half Marathon 2007
  32. 9/16/2007 – Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run 2007
  33. 11/18/2007 – Cold Turkey 10K 2007
  34. 12/9/2007 – Anniversary Run 15K
  35. 12/15/2007 – Celtic Solstice Five Miler 2007
  36. 2/9/2008 – Annapolis Striders Valentines Day 5K 2008

I know there are some missing; these are the ones tracked by Athlinks.

the last pair

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I have a hard time finding running shoes I like.

I’ve struggled since they stopped making my beloved Asics 2090s several years ago (the 2130s are the current model).

I’ve tried a few others, but I keep going back to this line. I’m not sure they’re the best shoe for me, but I haven’t found anything else that works.

After I didn’t like last year’s 2120s, I bought three pairs of 2110s on sale. I’ve just started running with the final pair.

the last pair -- Asics 2110

I love this color combination, so I’m glad I saved them for last. Previously, I wore them in light blue, green, orange and light blue again.

I’ll be good for a few months, but after that I’ll begin another exhausting search for the perfect shoe!

got a light?

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From October to April when it’s dark out after work, my running group meets at a community college to run.

There are only so many routes so it’s kind of boring, but it’s well-lit and safe. There aren’t too many other options, so we just run our loops there twice a week.

Often, people ask us for directions when they’re looking for a specific building. Despite running there for years, we don’t really know the names of the buildings so we’re not much help.

That happens all the time, and isn’t really unusual.

Today, though, someone loitering before or after class approached part of our group and asked if anybody had a light.

Uh, wrong people to ask! Typically, runners aren’t smokers!

At least we got a laugh.

Tonight, I am thankful that it stopped raining before my run.

When I left my office, it was cold, windy and raining. Our meeting place is closer to my house, so maybe we cleared the storm. It wasn’t quite as windy, and the rain had stopped.

We tend to run in most weather conditions. Thunderstorms and excessive ice are really the only deal breakers … but cold rain is not fun!

is your refrigerator running?

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Well, you’d better go catch it!

Ha ha ha …

Is your refrigerator running?

I actually managed to run the 5K around my usual pace, about a 9:30-minute per mile average. Actually, it’s the first 5K that I’ve come in under 30 minutes since after the marathon. And I couldn’t move my arms because I had to hold the box still!

Is your refrigerator running?

Cost of costume: $6.99 to buy Velcro to hold the doors closed and a few hours of work. I won 1st place in the race costume contest — $100 gift card to a nearby restaurant!