Run log

October running was a lot... 2 half marathons and a BIG WIN at a 5k.  Cross country came to an end & now I have two more hours in my day...which I have managed to fill quite nicely! (and not all with running ~ as I didn't even manage a 100 mile month)  Skipping the Bridge to Bridge half the week after Columbus & choosing the Rabbit Run over the NERC Make a Difference 5k cost me a little in the NERC standings, but not as much as I feared.  Leslie and I are TIED & I win the tie breaker as I've beat her more head-to-head (only because we've met in the longer distances this year & not the 5k's ~ where she kicks my butt)  We are not running the Autumn Leaves tomorrow ~ but we are signed up for the last two Grand Prix events...so we'll see where it plays out in the end.

Here's one more picture from Columbus ~ really like this pick of Team Beef.  And the memory of that great race.

so October brought cooler temps & darker runs & a half marathon PR & a WIN at a 5k.  May be my best running month ever.

Also started bench pressing (today was day 2)  I did 65 pounds for 5 reps.  Tried 70 pounds...and couldn't do it.  Also started going to Dodd's core class on Tuesdays before school...WOW.  My abs hurt for DAYS after the first class.  The next ones haven't hurt as badly...so I must be getting buff.  I also went to HITT class this week & hope to get there more often.  My legs sure were sore afterward, as we did LOTS of lateral movement...and I'm hoping that's a good thing for my overall fitness & running.  Mike, Trisha & I are planning on doing a team tri in August...haven't signed up yet, but we're doing a lot of talking about it.

On another note...Mike has been talking about running an ultra.

October Totals:

94.89 miles for the month ~ two months in a row under 100 miles.  UGH
1165.69 miles for the year 

196.08 miles in my Gortex Ghosts ~ didn't wear them this month

610.38 miles in my pink Brooks Glycerin 12. Camp Stig shoes got one last run at Camp Stig this month

241.85 miles in my Nike Vomero ~ The tread is starting to wear

189.14 miles in my light blue Brooks Glycerin 11 ~ that are now covered in mud as I ran at HogBack North Thursday...to avoid the wind...and totally ran through giant mud puddles hidden by fallen leaves.

Training for:   ?   Starting to up the miles as most people are slowing down for the winter.  This is the base building for our fall 2016 marathon

Podcasts I'm listening to: Marathon Training Academy, Lore, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Dear Sugar, Stuff You Should Know, & This American Life, Love & Radio, RadioLab & Stuff to Blow Your Mind.  New ones:99% invisible

My WEIGHT:  a week or so ago I weighed 133.  Thursday I was 136.  Totally forgot to step on the scale after my run today.

Some interesting facts:

Longest run this month:  13.1 ~ twice ~ qualified for half fanatics

Highest  weekly mileage this month: 34.28 ~ October 18 to October 25

Favorite place to run this month: Columbus half marathon!  

# of bags of Candy Cane Kisses left in my cabinet:  NADA
# of books I read this month: two
Monthly mileage record: 156.69 ~ March 2015 {purposely ran 8 (on a treadmill) on March 30 to beat the August 2013 record}
Highest mileage ever-at-one-time:  26.36 ~ May 17, 2015 The Cleveland Marathon

PR's:
5K: 22:30 (Run For the Grapes 9/28/14}
10K: 50:13 {Run for the Hills 6/22/14 & TIED the time Run for the Hills 6/21/15)
10-miler: 1:21:29 (Hermes Cleveland 10-miler 4/28/12)
half-marathon: 1:44:42 (Northern Ohio Half Marathon 10/4/15)
marathon: 3:57:31 (The Cleveland Marathon 5/17/15)

#20 Landline

#20 for the year is Landline by Rainbow Rowell.  This was a pick from Goodreads top books of 2014.  I needed a quick fun read ~ so I got it.  Then I realized Rainbow Rowell also wrote Eleanor & Park ~ a book I wasn't totally fond of.  But it was a top pick, so I read it.  And I liked this a lot better ~ probably because it's an adult book, not a YA book...maybe.  It's an interesting read of 'What if" in a relationship.  Georgie's husband leaves her to take the children to his parents at Christmas time, because Georgie's demanding job won't let her leave also."  She spends the time wondering if their marriage was doomed from the start and how she could go on without him.  When is love not enough?  What do our choices mean for our future?  If we could change time, would we?  should we?
Good questions & interesting story.

fl: Georgie pulled into the driveway, swerving to miss a bike.  ll: He whispered: "Enough, Georgie, You're here now.  Be here now."

Rabbit Run

Jacob woke up this morning with a lot of congestion in his chest & decided he wasn't running the family tradition, Rabbit Run.  The race (along with the Turkey Day 5k) we've run since it started. Mike & I get in the car and he asks were Dodd is ~ saying, "It sure is quiet.  It doesn't feel right."  So I text Dodd & tell him we have an extra bib.  He met us at the race.

Here we are representing Team Beef!

Our friend, Jim, fresh off hip surgery was there ~ "walking" the race.  It was good to see him out and about! & part of the traditional pre-race selfie.

I love this race because I usually have a good turn out of middle school XC runners...and this year I had quite a few high school kids return.  Lucky for me the XC girls weren't allowed to run/race as they just qualified for regionals yesterday & the JV kids have a race tomorrow.  AND there was a Grand Prix race in Mentor, so Kelly & all the NERC runners didn't come to this race. {just a foreshadowing of the results}  

The race started & off went the top runners.  I stuck with two of my 7th grade boys & Mike was right on my heels. I knew he'd stay there until the end, when he'd zoom past me.  Around mile one I realize that there are no women in front of me.  And as I'm going along, I realize that I really could win the thing; I just couldn't let any female past me.  So I stick with Brian and Ben {who are TALKING to each other as I'm huffing and puffing}  Just after 1.5, I hear Mike say, "my shoe's untied."  I couldn't even think what I would do in that situation...so I had no advice for him.  I realized that he stopped to tie it around mile 2, because I couldn't hear him behind me anymore.  So the boys and I run on...we can't see anyone ahead of us, that's how far ahead the leaders were... As I'm about to reach the end of Heritage, getting ready to make the turn to the Haines Hill... Brian Butler come running back, tells me I'm the first female, but there's one coming behind me.  UGH.  I have to push.  Up the hill on Haines (which is always bigger in my head than in real life).  By now, Brian is too far ahead to catch (and I'm hoping I'm too far ahead for #2 girl to catch) and Ben and I are racing.  I see Dodd coming back out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't have the extra energy to even look in his direction.  I 'sprint' to the finish & WIN!  

I've placed second in this race (minutes behind Kelly) but I've never been #1 before!  I have to say, I'm pretty pumped about it.  All the stars aligned & it was worth losing grand prix points!

Here's Mike, who probably would have PR'ed if it weren't for the shoe tying incident.

Team Beef represented well.  Mike was first in his age group & I was FIRST OVERALL FEMALE!

Not a PR, but WOW!  #1.

A BREEZY 52 degrees at the start.  Was going to wear just the sleeveless Team Beef shirt...but was glad I brought the light undershirt.  Same outfit I wore in Columbus ~ when it was 20 degrees cooler.  I was thankful for the sleeves when we ran into the wind.  Would have been too warm for anything over a 5k, but for today, it was the right call.

Columbus half

On our way to Columbus for our first 'travel' race.  

It was SNOWING as we left Northeast Ohio ~ and sat for 20+ minutes on The 90 in a traffic jam...at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon.

Jackson made me my very own sign & I think it's the best sign ever made for me.

We ate our spaghetti and meatball pre-race meal ~ I love the excuse to eat pasta ~ and planned our morning...a 4:15 wake-up so we could drink our coffee & eat our food & be out the door between 5 & 5:15.  Love the fact that Dodd's just as anxious about the 'getting there' logistics as I am.  Because if you're not anxious about that...you just don't understand the anxiety & then I feel like a big dork.  It's more relaxing for me to get there and wait than it is to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep (that I'm not getting anyway)   

We get out to the car...and we have to sit and wait for the frost to melt off the windshield... it was {as promised} a delightful 32 degrees {or colder}.  But as we were sitting there...I remembered no one had any money to pay for parking.  That would have been disastrous!  Ran back in to get the $$ and we were off.  And we were early.  And we got great parking two blocks from the start.  And we looked like homeless people in our throwaway jammie pants and sweatshirts & the blanket Dodd had wrapped around him.  We took a walk to the start line & I think I was the first person in the potty trailer.  Then we waited in the car.  

The start was so well organized.  You had to flash your bib to get into the start area & then you had to flash your bib to get into the correct corral.  We were in A...and thought we were all that with the elite peeps.  There were a ton of port-a-pots in the corral & each corral was fenced from the other ~ which was rather funny, but very organized to avoid the crazy crunch of people.  The countdown clock was running & I knew the start would be on time.  Four minutes to go they sang the national anthem & played  the Chicago Bulls theme music...I forget what it's called...and sent off the wheelchair racers.  Then they blasted AC/DC Thunderstruck & at the end set off fireworks from the top of the start line & off to the side...The adrenaline was PUMPING!  What a start!  Then we were off to Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run. Icing on the cake.  I'm jumping up & down & singing & smiling...and it was hard not to GO...except there were 19,000 people crammed around me.  Let me mention the crowd.  BLEACHERS lined the road for the first quarter mile with cheering and shouting and rock starring.  We turned the corner & couldn't hear Bruce anymore...but we could hear the next band & as soon as we couldn't hear them...there was another band.  There were people THE ENTIRE COURSE cheering and playing music and dancing and waving signs.  It was AWESOME.  And then each mile was 'sponsored'  by a child being treated at Nationwide Children's Hospital.  Some of the kids were there high-fiving runners, but all had a tent and family & friends cheering and holding signs. & then there were signs telling you a little bit about each kid.  It was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.  What these kids and their families live with daily...and here I am doing something I love to do.  My life is not hard.

Mike and I sort of ran together.  And I really enjoyed not pushing it.  We did finish together, hand in hand.  Here's the link to that video

And here are our stats...Mike and I had the exact same finish time:

Here we are...freezing after the finish ~ Dodd with is AMAZING PR of 1:39:46. {exactly 10 minutes ahead of us...WOW}  He got his medal engraved with his name and time {first time I've seen that option at the end of a race} AND he got to bang the PR gong.  

Great to run Craig's favorite race.  Honestly I can see why.  Columbus is done right ~ and there was a part of me that wished I wasn't making the turn off at 13.  I bet the full is just a cool as the half...especially since the full goes through OSU & the stadium.  If I don't get to do Marine Corp, I'm running Columbus full next fall.  It's a delightful 32 degrees at the start.

Team Beef represented ~ We got a LOT of shouts out for our Team Beef attire. And this was the first time I've run a half (anything over a 5k actually) without my iPod.  And I'm so glad I didn't have it.  The crowd was such a part of the experience.  I my be spoiled for any other race.

What I Wore:

32 degrees (or slightly colder) at the start with very little to no wind ~ sun came out & it warmed to the low 40's by the end of the race.  I was VERY comfortable in my underarmor capris, a light long sleeve black undershirt & my Team Beef sleeveless top.  I wore gloves until mile 6 or 7 & tucked them into my pants...wasn't sure I wouldn't want them again.  Pulled my sleeves over my hands a few times, but didn't get the gloves out again.  Forgot they were in my waistband until they fell out IN THE PORT-A-POT at the end of the race.  After that trip, I only had one glove, which I wore because it was cold.  All the spectators had on winter coats!

#19 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

#19 is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  It's a story of  11 year old Flavia de Luce ~ the youngest of three children & the only one who has no recollection of their mother who disappeared on a hiking adventure.  In this first book she has to solve the mystery of the dead stranger in their garden.  The story involved her father's childhood & poor choices he made...and she has to decide if she thinks her father is capable of murder.
Since I am able to read about a page and a half before I fall sound asleep & then read a few more pages when I wake up around 2:00 am and can't fall back asleep...I have great difficulty following story lines & catching the little details that make a good story.
My reading habits are not as enjoyable to me as they usually are...which is a hard lump for me to swallow as I have a whole ginormous list of books I want to read...
And it's hard for me to know if I liked a book or not.
Flavia is not always a very likable character.  She and her sisters fight viciously & that really bothers me.  However, she is quite clever & resourceful & I like that about her character.

Quotes;
p27 ~ "I found a dead body in the cucumber patch," I told them.  "How very like you," Ophelia said.

p73 ~ You never know what you're getting into when you stick your nose in other people's rubbish.

p219 ~ There always was a whiff of sulphur about the lad.


Words:
p35 ~ decrepitude

Northern Ohio Half

The before and after selfies for the Northern Ohio Half are as entertaining as ever ~ The after shows the two with the PR's smiling...the one who didn't look at his watch in time & was 30 seconds from a PR, not so much.  Kidding aside, a great race for all.   Dodd was determined to run with the 1:45 (8:01 min/mile) pace group ~ especially when I told him I'm not much of a talker at an 8:00 minute pace.  And I kinda just stuck with them.  I did start out a tad faster, but by the 1 mile marker I was in the group.  Felt ok, so I kinda just hung there.  At mile 4, my favorite nemesis passed me & I did surge ahead trying to keep up.  Dodd told me to slow my role & I kinda did ~ and by mile 8ish (I think) we had reeled her in.  On the dirt trail past the Lagoons the pace group (Dodd & the pacer) pulled away from me, but I clocked a 7:57 minute mile at the time, so they had sped up slightly.  I never did catch them, but they were in site.  Miles 11 and 12 were a little slower for me, but mile 13 was 7:46.  Finished with a clock time of 1:44:42 ~ a PR by 16 seconds!  The best part was Dodd finishing strong ahead of me.  Our 'coach' was right behind us at 1:48:04

Leslie (my favorite nemesis) and I both placed second in our age groups (she moved out of my age group last year...I have three more before we complete head to head again)

and check it out ~ in the top 10!

I won socks and a $15 second sole gift card!  Love it when I win cash money to my favorite running store!

My favorite runners!  A great race!.

And, what I'm always adding to my race recaps ~ 1. If it's a Brooks woman's shirt ~ get the LARGE.  2. The food here was excellent.  The pancakes were very yummy.  There was pizza & subs that Mike LOVED.  & apples and bananas & granola bars.  I'm not a big after race eater, but I like the variety & Mike wanted to mention the food.  3.  It was 50*ish at the start.  Not much wind. Could have worn a skirt, but the capris were comfortable.  Wished I'd worn a short sleeve shirt by mile 3.  The long sleeve one I wore was light & I could unzip & push up the sleeves, so it wasn't bad.  But I would have been more comfortable in short sleeves.