Just Plodding Along

This weekend I went to Colorado to celebrate my sister's upcoming wedding. A little tequila, a little running, a little of this Ice cream bar at the bridal shower = brilliant I got several miles in with a view like this Overall a great weekend. On the plane ride home I finally pulled out this and came across this article. And it made me ridiculously happy. If you come across the May issue of Runner's World I would recommend giving it a read. The idea of these older gentleman meeting up once a week putting in a few miles and heading for breakfast in Hawaii seems ideal. The fact that they use note cards to make sure they are all at the correct place and have turned off their headlights struck me as funny and then extremely endearing. I can only hope that I am still running when I am half their age. The fact that they use running to keep not only their bodies healthy, but also their minds healthy was intriguing. This article made me think about how we a...

The Skeleton Skamper in Mt. Pleasant WI was held on October 27, 2012. Otherwise known as the day I threw down and finally finished  a half marathon in under two hours. While this race will always hold a special place in my heart for the day I finished in under two (may be the only day, man that was hard- a little uncomfortable the whole way) there were some issues I would like to bring up, the main one being the course was at least 13.3 or 13.4. Last time I checked a half marathon is 13.1. But let us start with the 5 a.m. wake-up. Mount Pleasant is right outside Racine, WI and about a 40 minute drive from where I live. This race had race day packet pick-up starting at 6:30 a.m. I rolled out of bed downed some coffee, made a bagel with PB and banana to go, put on a long sleeve, capris (apparently I do not fear my shins being cold), ear cover and gloves, and headed out a little after 6. Plenty of parking outside the community center where the start and finish of the rac...

Things got off to a rocky start for this half when we piled in the car at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to head towards Crystal lake (an hour and 15 minute drive) and it wouldn't start. And the panic sets in. But D saved the day, poppin the hood, looking at things (with a flash light since it was still dark out). I just stood there in my running skirt looking lost, totally pissed but also ready to give up and head back to bed. Eventually we noticed our neighbors light on and I went and knocked on the door to ask for a jump. And since they are the nicest neighbors in the world they agreed and D jumped our car. I gotta say if someone dressed in compression socks and a crazy elephant head band showed up at my door at 5:30a.m. I am not sure I would answer. I owe those people cookies for sure. After our dramatic start to the day it was smooth sailing the rest of the time. We got there around 7a.m. where I grabbed my race number and long sleeve shirt and headed back to the car to sit in the he...

D & I got up around 5:30 for the Havasu Half . Not so much from the alarm going off but more from the fact that we fell asleep around 8p.m. watching HGTV. We get pretty wild when we go out of town. Watch out. When we woke up the weather was cloudy and cool and looked like it could rain. Thankfully there were just a few sprinkles but the wind was pretty strong. Of course this is the one time I only brought one running outfit. But actually it worked out because once I started running I was plenty warm. Two thumbs up for half number 13 Our hotel was only a mile away so with a short drive across the London Bridge we arrived in the parking lot.   We waited in the car for awhile and then headed to the start. There were plenty of porto potties and a bag check if needed. Since the race started near a park there looked like there might have also been real restrooms to use. These signs were hung all over town welcoming runners. Starting Line  After the nat...

Havasu Half this morning. Official finish time: 2:05:22 A 9:34 average pace. What? A PR by almost 3 minutes. Race review to come!