Category: Running + Training

Running is my sport

By , July 4, 2018 10:39 am

Well, that’s obvious. We all know running is the sport I prefer to participate in the most, but what I mean is running is my sport to follow. To watch. To be enthusiastic about. To be inspired by.

This is a relatively new hobby to me! I didn’t grow up in a family with a tradition of following sports, and I was never as in to it before, as I am now. Instagram and podcasts have made me a much more engaged follower. I’m not able to watch events live (no cable!), but I read and hear about the athletes getting ready for them (on their own accounts and in interviews), and read and listen about it (and sometimes watch it!) later.

I realized I was super in to it when my parents were visiting and I spent the end of a run telling my Dad about this year’s Boston Marathon and what went down on the elite side and the theories about why (thanks for listening, Dad!). Afterward, I thought “why am I able to retain that random information? Well duh, cause I am passionate AF about it. And it inspires me.

So yeah, I’ll just be over here, listening to a zillion different podcasts and following all the runners on instagram! And geeking out about what I am reading/listening to with my friends.

No related photo, but here’s when I met Meb the first time!

Duh.

By , July 2, 2018 7:11 am

Two weeks after running Grandma’s Marathon, I had a really obvious DUH! realization about why I felt down in the dumps after the race.

Like, REALLY obvious.

A photo from this morning’s run

The race made me doubt myself. Not the “can I do this?” self doubt I’ve talked about before, but “should I be doing this?” and “am I meant to do this?” self doubt. Should I be out there running marathons if I have such a weak mental game? Why couldn’t I keep up my goal pace for more than 15 miles? Why’d I let falling get in my head so much? And so on.

I had some icky feelings post race but hadn’t identified them as self doubt. The feelings were lingering without me realizing what they were.

But once I identified the feelings, I instantly felt better (okay, and the endorphins of being two weeks post race and working out more helped too), because I understood why I was feeling crummy, and could counter those feelings with logic*.

This isn’t a cry for validation, at all! It’s a celebration of acknowledging a feeling, and the action of doing that helping get through it. I tend to be someone who runs (ha ha) from certain feelings (read: eats their emotions) so this is good for me!!!

*Logic as in, “yes, keep running,” and “you had bad luck that day, it happens,” and “keep working on your mental game, girl!”

Training Week 454

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By , July 1, 2018 8:41 pm

Highlight of the Week: Working out more! Doing well in the heat! Going on a longer ride!

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Monday | June 25, 2018: 7.5 m run + teaching strength class
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 59°/59°, Time: 1:15:10, Pace: 10:01 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, annoyed with traffic noise
Strength: body bars and soft balls, Felt: good

Tuesday | June 26, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 62°/64°, Time: 31:08, Pace: 10:22 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: dead legs
Wednesday | June 27, 2018: rest
Thursday | June 28, 2018: 10 m run
Loc: VP Woods Loop, Temp: 61°/70°, Time: 1:41:10, Pace: 10:07 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good
Friday | June 29, 2018: teaching strength class + 1,218 yd swim + 5 m run + 15 m bike
Strength: body bars and soft balls, Felt: good
Loc: FitNation, Time: 25:51, Pace: 2:07 min/100 yd, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 92°/93°, Time: 51:44, Pace: 10:20, Difficulty: easy, Felt: surprisingly good in the heat
Indoor Ride Time: 1:01:05, Pace: 14.7 mph avg., Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Saturday | June 30, 2018: 35.5 m bike + 3.5 m run
Loc: MB/88th Loop, Temp: 79°/82°, Time: 2:16:32, Pace: 15.6 mph avg, Difficulty: easy-ish, Felt: good, just a bit beat down with the bumps, then wind in the end
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 93°/93°, Time: 34:41, Pace: 9:55 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fine except bugs on my face and sunscreen in my eyes!

Sunday | July 1, 2018: 12.5 m run
Loc: ML/VP Woods Loop, Temp: 78°/80°, Time: 2:15:02, Pace: 10:48 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: decent for the humidity/dew point!

Notes:

  • I think my Monday night class liked the workout! During class, someone even said, “Who hates Kim?!” Ha ha ha, love it.
  • My legs were DEAD Tuesday morning. Wednesday is typically the only day I take off from running, which makes Tuesday the sixth day in a row of running, and yeah, I was feeling it. I thought I’d do speedwork on Tuesday because it was going to be the last cool morning of the week, but I passed on that bad idea. I’ll need to find a new speedwork day if I keep Thursdays as a long run day.
  • All the big “fly around your head in circles while you run” bugs are out. Yay… not.
  • It felt good to get back in the pool! I hadn’t gone in three weeks!
  • Into the wind during the end of my Saturday ride, a fellow cyclist passed me and asked if I wanted to draft off of him for a while. How nice! I lasted maybe half a mile at his 19mph pace!
  • I’ve been running with my shirt off when it’s so hot, and I didn’t think ahead about the fact that that would mean I have no where to wipe my sweaty face! I had a painful experience Saturday when I was sweating so much that my sunscreen was running in my eyes and I couldn’t relieve it (I tired pouring water in my eyes and that didn’t help). I’ll have to use the less runny sunscreen next time, and bring TP.
  • With the hot temps at the end of the week, I tried hard to stay on my mental game, repeating mantras like “I love running, I am a strong runner,” and “your legs aren’t tired, you’re just hot.” It’s cheesy, but it works for me, so I am going to keep at it.
  • Monthly recap time. In June I ran 140.7 miles (22 runs), cycled 58.5 miles (2 indoor rides, 1 outdoor rides) and swam 3,444 yards (3 swims) (these are my lowest numbers in all three disciplines, all year! Ha! That is what taper and race recovery will do to ya). My coldest run was 47°F and my warmest was 93°F. I did 2 tempo workouts. I taught 7 strength classes and 1 fitness boxing class. I ran one race, Grandma’s Marathon.

Link to Training Week 453

Things I’m excited about in July!

By , June 29, 2018 8:28 am

June was so busy, I’m mostly excited about resetting and slowing down in July! But, also:

  • The kittens coming home! (We think this will happen in July)

  • Seeing Anne and Terry when they’re in town
  • Going on a bike ride with xaarlin to celebrate her birthday
  • Riding Day 7 of RAGBRAI with Dad, Gina, and Steve
  • Family vacation at the river
  • Treating myself to a mani (and pedi?) for my birthday
  • Swimming outside
  • Seeing summer blockbusters
  • Deep cleaning the house
  • The scab on my knee going away

What’s on your list?

Training Week 453

By , June 24, 2018 4:36 pm

Highlight of the Week: Running with Rachel!

Monday | June 18, 2018: 2 m walk + teaching strength class
Strength: kettlebells and circuit, Felt: better!

Tuesday | June 19, 2018: rest
Wednesday | June 20, 2018: 40 min walk
Thursday | June 21, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 64°/65°, Time: 30:23, Pace: 10:07 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: stiff, but good!
Friday | June 22, 2018: teaching strength class + 4.55 m run
Strength: kettlebells, and cardio/core, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 65°/65°, Time: 46:16, Pace: 10:10, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, happy to be running

Saturday | June 23, 2018: 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 58°/60°, Time: 30:25, Pace: 10:08 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: a bit tired, bloated
Sunday | June 24, 2018: 6 m run (w/Rachel)
Loc: Farmington (??), Temp: 67°, Time: 59:50, Pace: 9:58 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: okay, still felt a bit bloated (legs only)

Notes:

  • I thought teaching strength class Monday night would make me feel like garbage after the marathon, but it actually helped. Yay for that!
  • I skipped swimming this week because I didn’t want to mess up my scab, then spent a lot of Saturday in a lake, without it protected, because band-aids wouldn’t stay on. Eh. It should be fine by now.
  • My legs felt stiff and heavy/bloated most of the week. Hopefully that’s just because it’s a recovery week, and because my diet’s been crap.
  • I loved running with Rachel on Sunday, yay! I hope we can run together once in July, too.
  • Working out so little this week while recovering made me absolutely f*cking bonkers so I plan to get back to my normal routine next week!

Link to Training Week 452

Random Thoughts Thursday 184

By , June 21, 2018 6:27 am
  • Happy First Day of Summer/Longest Day!
  • Data seems to be doing better! We both think he looks bigger, and he’s been play fighting with Khali more (he hadn’t been for about a month). Yay!

  • We visited the kittens again on Tuesday! The ones with orange collars are the ones we plan to adopt. And if that all brown one in the bottom picture doesn’t have a home, I bet it will end up at our house…

  • I was deemed “ineligible” for the job I applied for at work. No interview for me. My boss offered to help the next time I apply though (and would have helped before if I had thought to ask). Hopefully it doesn’t take a year or more for positions to open again…
  • Bobbi shared this photo with me that the Duluth News Tribune posted from the beginning of Grandma’s Marathon (that I am in – can you find me?). So yeah, just a little crowded at the start, but nothing unusual for a marathon. I obviously need to work on running around/next to people.

  • I am still reading California but really want to start Let Your Mind Run, which Mica sent me as a surprise!!! Thanks, Mica!

  • And with that, I am going to head out for my first post-marathon run. My quads feel good, and we’ll see how the knee feels!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 183

What’s next in running?!

By , June 20, 2018 5:41 am

NOTHING! I am taking the summer off!

Ha, kidding. You guys know me. I’m badly itching to get back to running. I’m just waiting for my quads to give me the okay, and for the scab on my knee to be in a good spot (whatever that means).

I’m over feeling upset with how Grandma’s went. I’m done thinking about the “what ifs” and questioning my mental game (could I have powered through?). There’s no point! Instead I’m thinking about what a fun weekend it was, and feeling VERY proud of my friends’ races!

That doesn’t mean a fall marathon isn’t in the back of my mind, though. If I have a healthy summer, and registration is still open for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, I will consider registering for it. Consider.

Otherwise, the only thing I am registered for right now is the Gear Western Country Half Marathon in Long Lake, Minnesota on October 13th. We have a family wedding sort of nearby in Minnesota that day, and my mom suggested I do a race while I am there, so here we are… I’m all signed up in the “running/galloping hobby horse division” of the race!

The race has submitted an application to Guinness World Records for the first and fastest half marathon while riding on a hobby horse. The unofficial record is 1:27:55! I won’t be competing for the record, but think it will be humorous to run the half with a hobby horse (you can run a 5K with the hobby horse too). A few rules:

  • You must provide your own hobby horse, OR rent one. My mom is making mine!
  • The pole of the hobby horse from its neck to the ground must be at least half as tall as the runner. The horse head must be larger than the runner’s head. The horse head must have the appearance of a horse.
  • Hobby horse runners have to start in the hobby horse corral. (Will it be fenced in? Ha ha.)
  • Hobby horse runners have to gallop the first and last 100 meters of the race, and in specially designated gallop zones.
  • The hobby horse runner must have the horse between their legs for the entire race, either carrying them with their hands, or with a harness.

I already have my horse’s design and name figured out, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise! Here are some horses Mom designed for Gina and Steven to try to convince them to come, though. (That didn’t work, ha.)

So that’s it, for future race plans. Maybe some 5Ks will pop up, but I have nothing in mind!

All the love

By , June 18, 2018 6:01 am

I had an amazingly fulfilling weekend abounding in enjoyable conversation, silly jokes, and encouragement. Typically, being around people all the time for a few days in a row emotionally drains me, but not when it’s the right people. It was a pleasure the entire weekend with great people – my great people!

FRIDAY!

Bobbi and Riyanti picked me up at 5:30 am on Friday, and Bobbi drove us to Duluth (thanks, Bobbi!!!). It’s been FOREVER since I’ve seen Riyanti, and Bobbi and I haven’t spent much time together recently either, so the trip flew by because we were gabbing the whole time. We only stopped twice and were in town by noon. Woo hoo! (And thanks for letting me crash your drive to Duluth, ladies!)

We met a college friend of mine, Jessica, at her office to pick up bleacher passes that she had for the race (for Bobbi, Riyanti, and their friends to use to spectate after they ran the half!). And we all went to Pizza Luce for lunch. Bobbi and I ate there when we road-tripped to Minneapolis a few years back and I thought she’d mentioned then that they were in Duluth, too. I was so happy they were. They have a ton of vegan options and my pizza was delicious!!!

I got “The Rustler” – “topped with mock duck, pineapple, banana peppers, red onion, cheddar and mozzarella on BBQ/red sauce.”

While we were getting ready to order, it started storming like crazy outside and the power flickered on and off a few times. Bobbi had warned me how nutso the weather is in Duluth (how rapidly it changes), but I had to experience it to understand it.

Me, Riyanti, Bobbi, and Jessica

It was nice to catch up with Jessica, and I appreciated that Bobbi and Riyanti were easy-going about the day’s schedule (when they didn’t have to be, and still had the expo to go to, and a 5K to run that night!).

We went to the expo and it was crazy-crowded like Bobbi warned me it would be. We ran in to the friends Bobbi and Riyanti were staying with, and chatted with them for a while. Then as we were walking to the expo, we walked by Kara Goucher and I impulsively said “Hey, Kara!” Gosh, what a dork. She said “hey” back. Face. Palm.

Bobbi, me, Rityani, Kelly, and Carly with “Grandma”!

I struggled with the crowds at the expo and felt my heart rate go up, and the blood drain out of my face. I just tried to stay out of people’s way!

Gina and her friends, Bob and Jessica (a different Jessica!), who I was staying with, were still around the expo, so when we were done, Bobbi and Riyanti dropped me off and I left with Gina and her crew to go back to the rental house.

Gina found a gorgeous house to rent in the woods, northeast of downtown (thank you, Gina, for coordinating all that!). It was calm and relaxing, and perfect for this weekend – we could “cook” (aka, heat up food), wash our stinky clothes, relax without hotel noise, and spread out. The house had a huge workshop outside and seemed to be on a few acres. Steven would have loved it!

I got to share a room with Gina! And Fred, the fish.

We spent the evening catching up and discussing race strategy. Then it was lights out for an early wake-up call!

SATURDAY!

On Saturday, the four of us ran the marathon! And they all had great races, yay!

Bobbi and her friends used the bleacher passes and were waiting for me to cross the finish, which I greatly appreciate, because they were cold, and I took longer than I thought I would. My tracker actually showed I stopped so Bobbi texted me during the race to make sure I was okay. I felt bad making her worry, but also appreciated her concern. (Yeah, lots of use of the word “appreciate” in this post – I think that was my word for the weekend!)

Bobbi and Riyanti also had stomach issues during their races, so I asked if they thought it was something we all ate on Friday – maybe Pizza Luce? They theorized it was the fiber in the Triscuits we had on the car ride up. That very well could be. Oops. Sigh. Triscuits are now known as “Trouble-Maker Triscuits” to us three.

Gina, Bob, Jessica and I made the long walk to the car after the race, and went straight back to our rental house to clean up and chill out. I loved hearing about everyone’s races, and appreciated how encouraging they were to me about mine. People had been telling me what I did was “badass,” which was nice, but it helped to share the disappointment with people who had run the same distance at the same race as me, and could understand exactly what I was saying about the race, and commiserate about their past marathon struggles. The marathon is a long distance and you never know what will happen on race day!

A side note: someone asked me if I thought about stopping earlier to get my knee looked at, instead of at mile 23 (when the fall happened at mile .25). I did. But every sign I passed for a medic said “Drop off or medical help” and I was worried I would drop out. Also, the stops were a bit off course and I didn’t want to add that much extra to my overall mileage. Ha. When I did finally stop, it wasn’t an official medic, it was the Navy volunteers. They, and the medics at the end, both told me they had way less people visiting than usual because the weather was so good. Yay! I’m glad it was and so many people had great races!!!

After we all cleaned up, we went out for an early dinner. Gina found a place in town that had some vegan options (fried avocado yasssss!!!)! Gina always takes care of me, and I appreciate it (there’s that word again!).

When we got back, we watched some of the Chris Mocko Show on YouTube, enjoyed ice cream we picked up after dinner, and later watched the Breaking Two documentary (so good!). We spent the evening chatting about the race and life, and I felt very in the moment and lucky to be spending time with caring, thoughtful people.

Me, Jessica, Bob, and Gina

During they evening, they all worked together to bandage up my knee (Jessica is a nurse, woot!) and all “signed” it. Ha!

SUNDAY!

I thought my body would let me sleep in on Sunday! Not so much – I was up shortly after 5:00. But that’s okay, because it meant I had more time to chat with Gina, Bob, and Jessica before we left.

Bobbi and Riyanti picked me up at 8:30 am, the same time Gina, Bob, and Jessica had to drive back to Minneapolis to catch their flight.

Bobbi, Riyanti and I had breakfast, then headed out at 10:00 am. And had a HELLA hard time getting out of Superior, Wisconsin. Sigh. The north section of the highway we needed to take through most of Wisconsin was being shut down for flash flooding (see article here) with no detour set up. We tried simple/close detours on our own, but the back roads were already flooded!

We came up with a longer detour route, and had to drive through two instances of low moving water to even do that. Eek. The detour we took ended up adding about an hour and a half on to our already long drive, and we weren’t thrilled, but made the best of it, and were happy to be together for it! Although, I would say I definitely got a bit slap happy. It was hot out (mid 90s) and every time we got out of the car, I felt sicker (with a headache). But I didn’t get sick (throw up) in the car, so that’s a win!

I enjoyed hearing about their races. They did the 5K/half marathon challenge and enjoyed it (minus the re-route at the end of the course due to construction), and had a good time staying with their friends! Bobbi and Riyanti were super sweet about my crap race and told me they were crying when they saw me run in holding hands with Bob, because they were so happy I was finishing with a good friend and not out there alone. I was extremely grateful for that, too.

Bobbi dropped me off at 6:45 pm! What a long day. And again, thanks to her for doing all the driving.

Steven had dinner ready to go and we ate and watched a bit of Mad Men then did our Sunday evening chores and went to bed. I tried to minimize the amount of times I had to go up and down the stairs, because that isn’t going so well (normal post-marathon quad soreness).

I was telling my college friend Jessica about my race on Saturday, and she said she understood why I enjoy running when I have such a good support group, and how cool that is. It really IS cool. And makes my heart happy. Despite the race not going so great, I still had an amazing weekend and am grateful I got to have all of those meaningful (and silly!) conversations!!!

Training Week 452

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By , June 17, 2018 9:30 pm

Highlight of the Week: Finishing Grandma’s Marathon with Bob!

Monday | June 11, 2018: rest (walked all over NeoCon!)
Tuesday | June 12, 2018: 5.2 m run (last 3.4 w/Dad on bike)
Loc: hood, Temp: 61°/61°, Time: 49:06, Pace: 9:27 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: heavy legs, but okay!
Wednesday | June 13, 2018: 3.3 m run
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 76°/76°, Time: 28:45, Pace: 8:43 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, hot!
Thursday | June 14, 2018: 3.3 m run + 8 m ride
Loc: VP Woods, Temp: 63°/66°, Time: 31:39, Pace: 9:35 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: a bit sluggish at first, hot!
Indoor Ride Time: 30:17, Pace: 15.8 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Friday | June 15, 2018: rest
Saturday | June 16, 2018: Grandma’s Marathon
Loc: Two Harbors to Duluth, Temp: 61°/49°, Time: 4:36:36, Pace: 10:34 avg, Difficulty: easy then hard, Felt: good then crummy
Sunday | June 17, 2018: rest

Notes:

  • My legs felt SO heavy on my Tuesday run. I haven’t felt like that in forever! I walked a ton the day before, but wtf, legs! Dumb taper.
  • It felt really odd to work out so little this week, but again, taper (and wasn’t free to teach or swim when I normally do).
  • I talked to Bobbi and Riyanti today about how strange it was to me that I felt so hungry at the end of the race, despite sticking to my planned fueling every four miles. Then Riyanti pointed out that I slowed down a lot, and my four miles was more spread out. DUH, Kim. I fuel every thirty-five minutes and had picked four miles because that was easy to remember – when going race pace, four miles = thirty-five minutes. But that math doesn’t work when you get off pace! DUUUUUH.
  • I’m really hoping I can do some cardio this week, but I have to see how my knee heals from my fall at the race! It’s swollen, bruised, and not scabbed over yet. You might see a lot of walking in next week’s training recap!

Link to Training Week 451

Grandma’s Marathon Race Report

By , June 16, 2018 3:12 pm

Wow – we had somewhat great race weather in Duluth for Grandma’s Marathon today and I DIDN’T PR! Ha, let me tell you why…

First, though, logistics. I stayed at a (beautiful!!!) rental house with Gina, Bob, and Jessica. They planned this trip a while ago and Gina invited me to join them in April! We left the house at 4:30 am and drove to the DECC (Duluth Entertainment Convention Center) to park. Grandma’s Marathon is point-to-point and we parked at the finish and took the train to the start (you can take the train or bus to the start, but you can’t park there).

I laughed when I got on the train and saw it was basically a Metra car! Then I was worried it would eff up my piriformis like my rides on Metra to the city do, but it didn’t. Phew.

It was an hour and twenty minute ride! Then we got off and immediately got in hella long porta pottie lines.

Jessica, Bob, Gina, me

We walked to the start a few minutes before race start (7:45 am). Luckily we could line up by our estimated pace time, even though we got in so late.

There’s no corrals and we all took off as one big group. It was crowded and I tripped and landed on my hands and knees a quarter mile in to the race. I felt shook up, and looked for Gina (for emotional support) but didn’t see her and kept running. (She later told me she saw someone hand me something, but didn’t see me fall.)

I texted my dad and snis to tell them what happened and ask for encouragement (no, I was NOT using my phone when I fell). They sent me some and I tried to get out of my head about the fall, but I did think about it for a few miles.

Then I decided to ignore it and stick to my goal 8:46 per mile pace plan. I took gels every four miles and was having stomach issues (needing to poo, and having cramps). I went to the bathroom at mile 9 and got back on pace until mile 14, then it went downhill (not literally, it was up and down for most of the race). My stomach felt jacked up, and my knee was starting to hurt. Sigh.

I went in to survival mode and put a smile on my face and did what I could for running and walked when I needed to. I was trying not to be frustrated and to still have a good time. I had been using all my mantras hoping I could get my pace back but it just wasn’t happening. I was frustrated that I couldn’t even hold long run pace for very long!

Gina passed me around mile 16 looking awesome (she got a PR!!!) and she made sure I was gonna be okay. I planned to do whatever I needed to get my medal and finisher shirt!

Spoiler alert, I got it

It had been foggy all morning and started to rain a bit at 17, but only for a few miles. The temperature actually dropped during the race and the breeze felt great (it was 61° and 82% humidity when we started and 49°F and 96% humidity and cool when we finished). My face felt too hot when I started, and for a few miles, but it really wasn’t bad.

I was doing a run/walk and getting lots of comments on my knee (which I was trying to ignore – my knee, not the people!). I went to the bathroom again at 19 (ugh) then kept going. During mile 22 a course marshal approached me and asked if he could help with my knee and I started crying. Sigh. So emotional. My knee was bugging me more and more as it began to scab over. Some Navy people cleaned it a bit and bandaged it up and sent me on my way and it felt stiff, but better.

I kept going and Bob approached me around mile 24 which was a lifesaver. I picked it up a small bit with him (as much as I could!) and we finished together, in 4:36:36. Quite a bit off from 3:50!

I was so hungry when I finished (which is odd since I was having gels every four miles despite my stomach feeling messed up). And cold. We found Gina and Jessica (she PR’d and BQ’d!!!) and went to the medic tent to get me cleaned up (and get some asphalt out of my knee).

So that was my race!

Steven asked if I wanted to do another marathon right away. Nah. I think I’d rather just train long and not race!

A few notes:

  • I saw a lot of funny signs including “if MPR raccoon can do it, you can too!”
  • I appreciated the texts from family, and Bobbi to see how I was doing. I appreciate Bobbi waiting WAY after her half finished to see me come in. I appreciate xaarlin writing just what I needed to hear when I told her I was struggling.
  • This race is well done! I think I’d like the course better if I wasn’t all effed up, though. Ha ha.
  • We all loved the tall balloon mile markers – we could see them coming up, even with the fog.
  • Sometimes you can see the finish way off, on clear days. I was happy it was foggy and I couldn’t!
  • The rolling hills did seem to get to me, which was disappointing – I hill train and run inclines on my long runs. A lot of times I’d be like, “this effort feels hard, am I on an incline?” Ha. A LOT OF THAT.
  • I’m so excited for Gina and Jessica and so appreciative of Bob!!!
  • Ha. So when I did check the weather when I was packing, I didn’t even think to check the START town. I checked the finish town! Lesson learned for point-to-point race weather checking!

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