My Missed Half

This past weekend I gave away not one, but TWO race bibs. I had over committed myself because the date on the website for The Haunted Half was incorrect when we first started looking at it so my day was free to register for The Brent Event with a local girl who is trying to get trained for the Tinker Bell Half in January.

Wellll... I double booked. So I gave the 10k Bib to one of the girl's other friends and then... the leg... so I gave my Haunted Half bib to a friend of my BRF Sara. SO BUMMED.

From the get-go I was jealous... She Insta'd this picture of them at the start.

That's me there on the left. I am SO FAST. 

And then this one.

Buuuuut, I can take it. I really wanted to see how she did because, if you remember, when we did Big Cottonwood she finally left me to sprint the final mile and her thirteenth mile was an 8 minute mile. So she finished 3 minutes ahead of me. This girl had the potential to kill this. 

I waited for more news and then there was THIS...

Her official time was 1:47:10. And that is ridiculously fast!

I am so happy for her! If I were there I would have only slowed her down - I didn't even want to race it I wanted to have fun in costumes! I am so happy for her that she got this PR!

If I ever get below a 2 mile half I know I can retire. (I won't but I know I could...)

She made me feel a little better by telling me she prefers to race with me, even if she is slower. She said I am far less annoying to talk to than the voice in her head that kept telling her to go faster!

Yay for Sara! So sad I couldn't play too but knowing she did so well made me feel so much better. In the meantime I went to the PT and found out exactly what my issue is. More on that later.

Congrats Sara! You rock!

I am pouting.

Hey!!! Sorry about my little blogging haitus! My twins turned six and what do you know? They notice. everything. So I have been quite busy making it special. Not to mention playing with new toys.

Disney Infinity - it's for the whole family ya'all.

My second half marathon was supposed to be on the 26th, this Saturday. I say supposed to be because I can't do it. I am giving away my bib. And I am so upset about it! I guess you would call this pouting. I am pouting.

I went to the doctor to have my leg checked out. I was starting to think it was likely a stress fracture from the down hill running (in prep for this half!) but I had no idea. I was kind of nervous about that because they take so long to heal! Not good.

In talking the doctor he basically had no idea what I did to my leg. It was unlikely a stress fracture would show up on an x-ray. He said they would need to do MRI's to confirm but instead of spending the money we can treat it like a stress fracture. Buuuuut let's do x-rays just in case to rule things out.

The x-rays were super clean. After he left I took charge of the computer and this is what you get...

I just added this one so you can see what my fat butt looks like on x-ray. 

There is another x-ray of my hip but that is rated R.

There are no bright spots or anything to cause him concern and we looked at my hip and knee which looked great (good to know). 

He did an examination and wiggled my knee around. Not terribly comfortable but everything seemed great to him! He was now 100% sure it was soft tissue and not bone. Hallelujah. Aside from people thinking I am making it all up, the healing time for soft tissue injuries, made up or not, is significantly shorter than a stress fracture! 

So now what? He recommended that I got to Physical Therapy for a month because obviously something is going on. He recommended their therapist that works specifically with runners (he called him a "giant running nerd"). He will hook me up, make me run and analyze my run. This is something I was considering paying out of pocket for because my hip flexor issue was this same leg so it's possible there is something going on with my form that I can tweak. I will do that and four therapy sessions. 

Also - bad knees run in my family and the doctor said it is definitely possible for people with bad knees and hips to run! As long as their form is correct. 

In the meantime, he told me that running the half on Saturday wouldn't do any permanent damage but it would significantly set back my healing time. I hadn't trained now, having taken a couple weeks off, and the idea of going back to where I was after my last ten mile run? Not able to walk? No thanks. So I had to break my BRF's heart and tell her I am out. 

My first appointment with the PT is next Tuesday and I will keep you posted how that goes, I think it will be fun! 

For now - No running. None. All low-impact exercises only Elliptical, Stationary bike and swimming. We are two for three here at home but I don't think all my begging will get Matthew to buy me a pool. Not even a little one. I haven't done anything though because my leg still hurts. I think I will give it another week or two then pick things back up again... but still no running, that will get a few weeks more and then I will start slow again. I need to be in tip top shape for the Princess, training starts in December!

DisBroad What! What?

You may have noticed by now with my hints along the sidebar over there ------>
that I am totes in the club! I am a DisBroad! We are a group of great gals who love Disney!

Except for one thing... I have only ever been to Disney once, and it was half my life ago...

What?!

So how did *I* get to be a DisBroad? Here we go...

At the beginning of the year I was talking to a couple of my imaginary friends Patty and April. We have been online friends for over five years (wow, what a trip eh girls?). You have heard of them if you have been following this blog since the beginning.  Patty was a RunDisney fanatic and she had recently recruited April to do her first Princess Half Marathon. They were hitting the recruiting pretty hard and well... it didn't take much to talk me into a group trip February 2014!

I need a girl's trip so bad I will run 13.1 miles to get one! Wait... what? Run? I don't run! What was I thinking?

So I did what I had to do and I started running... and running... and here I am (when I am not injured which is like... all the time...) running!

Enter Disney. It is my goal to get the kids to Disney in 2014. I just couldn't make it happen this year. But I have such a great Disney network now that they (and you!) can help us get there right? So stick with me and let's find the Disney magic together!

You can read a little more about me on my family blog.

For short, I have five kids, ages 5, 5, 3, 2 and 1. I am one busy lady! In addition my daughter has special needs due to a brain and spine malformation. She is one of a kind and pretty darn awesome. I love to watch her inch stones and how she influences others which is why I journal in my other blog.

I love my husband, reality TV and being a mom and that's about as much as I have time for. There will be plenty of time for other hobbies (and sleeping) later right? Right?!

In my spare time (ha!) I call myself Colorfully Twisted and I make custom ornaments and jewelry and I am just gearing up for a busy couple of ornament making months. I will have a Princess 2014 ornament hanging on my tree next year!

My blog is mainly running focused but the DisBroads and I have a little something in the works to help you to follow along in my Disney journey. (As well as keep up with a whole host of other things!) Stay posted and keep up with the DisBroads on FaceBook.

I am looking forward to sharing a lot of my running and Disney firsts with you!

Remember how...

I went off about that article a little while ago... and then I went off about a follow up article not too long after?

Remember how I tweeted the author of the article to let him know his article was #weaksauce?

Well he can take it...

Not long after that Tweet from me he started following little old me on the tweeter. Which I found hilarious. I am not a big tweeter-er and I really have nothing important to say. Not only that but the Tweeter removes what little filter I have! I just go out there and spout off... sometimes when I shouldn't!

This author, let's call him Kevin shall we, tweeted a picture of a raccoon in a garbage can that he took late at night while running through Central Park. I responded with something silly (raccoons are scary yo) and he tweeted me back telling me that the picture was definitely not a close up!

So even though I don't approve of his writing (okay, I have only read two articles)(and okay he does happen to be a Pulitzer Prize winner) and I told him so, he can take it and he just keeps on running.

Seems like a pretty stand up guy no?

So Kevin, let's see what else you've got. I will be watching you!

(Poor guy...)

Slowest Generation - revisited

Remember that WSJ article I got all worked up about? Here is a link for reference. Well - they responded to me!! Okay, okay - maybe not me specifically but they responded to the general masses. (Sounds so much more exciting the other way no?)

After all, I certainly wasn't the only one that has notice this article. There was a whopping 283 comments from WSJ subscribers to the original article while readers duked it out on whether or not parading through races was a good thing or a bad thing. The author nailed the controversy and buzz right? Considering it's a narrowed target audience and you have to be a subscriber to comment? So there is something to this?

Now that we see that there is interest, let's follow up on it! He did! He knew there was more to the story so he wrote another article that published yesterday.

The Slowest Generation Strikes Back.

I do love this opener "Anyone worried about apathy among the young nowadays ought to try this: Call them slow."

But other than that this article... for lack of a better term, stinks.There is nothing to it. In fact, the only cool piece of actual information that I read in it was the response from The Color Run's founder: "In two years, 2 million world-wide participants have toed our start line. If that isn't impressive enough, 60% of them had never done a race before." (Note, my first 5k was a similar novelty run just a couple months ago and now I am training for my second half.)

REALLY, that's it? There is no information on WHY people choose to run these type races over others? No information on the US obesity rate and why it's okay to bag on anyone choosing to just move? No information about how much money is here? (It is the WSJ after all, mixing things up!) That's it?

What about this?
Defending the "Slowest Generation"
This Runner's World Forum
Another Blogger's Response
And another one...

Oh boy - okay - There are far too many responses that provided a much more WSJ worthy information piece. A simple Google search clearly proves that this article fired up a whole host of responses from people ready to share what they thought, and it's good stuff too! Stats, resources, etc.  (Don't worry Kevin - I won't do all the investigating for you... you get paid more, and I have like... one reader.)

I will just ask again... Is it a shame to get people moving for the "wrong" reasons? An entire industry of 'Novelty Runs' has been created... and it makes MONEY. Not to mention the races that attract serious runners and novelty runners alike, hello RunDisney.  More and more children are wanting to get involved because being active looks like less of a chore and more like fun! Any stats on the ages of new runners?

Even though it was pointed out that I am older than the generation spoken of in the first article, it still gets to me a little. I think there is a lot more to this story than this simple (weak) response from the WSJ. Did you read it? What did you think? All fluff?

(PS. I may or may not have tweeted the author and it may or may not have included the tag #weaksauce. Someone might need to take my Tweeter away!)

Deep tissue massage?

Uhhh... 

A couple of weeks ago my quad started really bothering me, it was tiiiight, so tight, big knots. And for some reason none of the normal quad stretches would get it. I tried the foam roller too... to no avail. It was too deep. 

I thought I could massage it myself, what an ideal location to be able to really get in there, but I could never find it with my hands, only my elbow. I just couldn't find it to work on it! 

After my long run last Saturday I bought a "The Stick" which I looove, love. For real. But more on that on a slow day. That would work for short period of time but not for the long haul. So I took this week off of my two shorter runs. 

Back at it Saturday morning and I ran 9 miles of the course I am running on the 26th. Ouch! Still a problem, the entire run... and don't even think about stopping because starting again is one big joke! 

It just so happens that the girl I run with's sister-in-law is a masseuse and she works from her home. (And for a Chiro.) Can she squeeze me in? Oh please, oh please! 

Huzzah! 

Welcome to my first deep tissue massage. And HOLY OUCH! Really! Apparently it wasn't my quad but a muscle that runs UNDER my quad so you can imagine how fun it was for her to have to move my quad to the side and work on it! 

At one point I said "Oh mama!" and she actually said "your mama can't help you now!" and laughed maniacally. (Or maybe I made up the laughing part, but she definitely said that.) 

I think I expected to walk away and to be better but Saturday night I could barely walk! So I Google (what can I say, it's what I do...) and it's totally normal to be sore for 24-48 hours and to stick with it because it's worth it! 

limp, limp, limp

I would totally do it again though, I am a glutton! 

Ever had one? Care to share your thoughts?

The Slowest Generation

I don't think I had stopped glowing from the Electric Run when I saw this article come across my feed.

The Slowest Generation - Younger Athletes Are Racing With Less Concern About Time

Read it. It's good stuff. Some high lights include this photo caption "A lack of competitiveness among younger runners is turning some races into parades." and the linking to a blog post called "Dumbing Down, Slowing Down". Yep - You get the gist. This article is largely about how younger Americans are totally lazy and slow. "The lack of competitiveness in the newer generation should be concerning to us all!"

[enter more 'cry for action' type wordy words]

I, for one... am totally offended by this article! I mean, I know one CHOOSES to be offended and you can let it slide, but I CHOOSE to be offended! I have a few 'novelty races' under my belt now, none timed... all a BLAST! In addition, even my races I hadn't set a goal for, I just wanted to get out there and finish.

I didn't recruit my friend Sara to the half marathon by talking about how fast we were going to be... in fact, I warned her I was going to be sloooow. I said "imagine running down that street! Listening to our feet hitting the pavement next to the sound of the bubbling river! Seeing the leaves of the trees just starting to turn! Feel the crisp, almost fall, air in our lungs! It is going to be amazing!" I was not intending to go fast, or even see how fast I could go. I just wanted to run!

Heck, Traci and I didn't even time ourselves at Color Me Rad! (We regretted it, but whatever...) Come to think of it Matthew and I didn't even look at the time at Foam Fest either!

So, as far as the article goes? Guilty... so guilty. Does that mean you calling me lazy?

Lack of competitiveness! Everyone gets trophies! We all hold hands! We all win! It's a travesty, we are killing competitiveness!

And to that I say...
More people are participating in sporting events than ever before. Be them novelty races or Boston qualifiers. The numbers cannot be argued. People are now seeing runs like The Color Run and obstacles races like Tough Mudder as obtainable. They are setting their sights on these races because it feels like something they can do, and something that they can have fun doing! Race prices are reflecting that races are becoming big business because they are ever increasing and even small town, well run marathons are having to use a lottery system because demand is so high.

What is the harm in giving people an active goal that they can achieve? Crossing a finish line, no matter what pace? The more they do it, the faster they will naturally get anyway, and the healthier they will be. Who are other "athletes" to judge? Really who even cares?

As a newer runner the elitist attitude is embarrassing.

The whole reason I started running was to be able to not keel over and die while doing the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World. Is that going to be a competitive race for me? Nope. It's not about the race, it's an experience. It will be my first time at Disney World, I can't wait to see what new sights are around every corner. I need to take it all in, slowly.

I am the only person I am competing with, and even then... if I score a new PR? Good on me. If not? Meh.

Isn't it about feeling alive? It is for me.

The Electric Run!

Late to the game on this but a few weeks ago we did the Electric Run.

Shannon was interested in doing one of the "novelty races" and was looking at a Color Run in August and to that I said... "in August?!" I had been looking at the Electric Run all year and thought it would be fun so I suggested that instead and she totally agreed. We apparently were on the same page with the "in August?!" thinking! She also recruited one of her great friends, LeeAnn. Go team.

Let me tell you one thing. It was expensive. As much as my half, with no heavy shiny medal and just a cotton tee to show for myself. (It's kind of an ugly tee too, ER people, can you work on that?)

Tracy came to the my door to get me and I was surprised to see him! He wasn't going... was he? He said he was going to take us and then come back here and then go pick us up again. Unless it was fun, and then he would stay. He recruited company for Charlotte in the form of Duncan and we were off. Duncan was so excited! An adventure!

I had purchased some blinky stuff for the Legacy Midnight Run tat Sara and I did and at the time I bought enough for this race too. LeeAnn also brought earrings and necklaces and some other fun glowy type items. It took us a while to get everything put together but it was worth it, we totally rocked the glow.

We lined up at the starting chute with the 100 billion other people and yelled and cheered and were happy for like... the first half hour. It drug on and on. They were late getting this thing started! You know why? Juan Pablo! That's why! They were filming The Bachelor and apparently he had a one-on-one date with some scarlet and they were surprise! Running the race. What a terrible date idea! Running? Not to mention we were now totally late and it was getting rather anticlimactic.

They tried, it was a great big rave with glowy things, people yelling, a DJ, a very excited announcer guy. It was the delay that was the stinker.

It was finally our turn and we were off. It was neat actually! Probably about 50% of the course was lit up and somehow decorated. It was pretty darn cool. Even the Color me Rad color stations only took up 5-10% of the race so this was why it was so pricey eh?

Shannon's heel was not wanting to play so we knew we were going to walk. Whatever, I am game. We certainly got more bang for our buck that way right? I mean average out the minutes and we did a lot better cost wise than the ones who booked it through. We tried to be polite and stay to the right for the runners but I am sure they were annoyed with all the walkers.

RockStar was a sponsor during the race they had a table set up with RockStars (yuck) and the new RockStar water. (Terrible!) I do not recommend them. Caffeinated water? Just say no.

There was a huge party after, there was dancing and yelling and rave-ish type things going on but we are old. When we got done the stage area was already jam packed! They kept saying the Bachelor would be out ANY MINUTE with his date but we saw how that worked for the race... any minute could mean sometime within the next 45 minutes! So we left. It was late enough.

We ate at Popeye's chicken which was okay... I guess. Tracy was really excited about it so I acted all excited but it's not crave worthy or anything. (Don't tell him I said that!) After almost hitting a deer we were on our way home.

Overall I would say that it was worth the money for a cheap skate like me. It was very pretty, fun and exciting. It was everything I expected the Legacy Midnight run to be and then more. The people were crazy, the music was loud and Duncan and Charlotte had a blast. They thought it was the best time ever. Win!

Rocking the glow - Me = short.

The starting chute. We were here for a long time. It was LOUD. 

I think this was the first 'attraction' - Umbrellas in trees! Probably prettier in person, it was very cool.

We will get to run through this in a minute.

Told you!

This is the finish line! 

Duncan and Charlotte kept themselves busy collecting discarded glow sticks! (Tracy sent me this picture mid-race to prove he hadn't lost them. 

Big Cottonwood Half

I liiiived! I lived! Woot woot, I lived! Holla!

I haven't updated my sweet little running blog for a few weeks, here is what you don't know.

I was on track to being so prepared for my first half marathon but then I hurt my foot which put me out of the game for a few weeks.

About four weeks ago I did a long run of 10.5 miles (little did I know, this would be the longest run I got before race day, training plans have you running up to 12, or some even 14). The night of that run I couldn't walk. My right foot was killing me. As near as Dr. Google could tell I had hurt an tendon that wraps down the outside of your ankle and attaches on the bottom of your foot. Where it attached was ANGRY at me.

And I was now angry at it! But that did no good. Sadz.

So I took a couple weeks off. I was going to run the half, even if it had to be slow. I was going to make it happen... might as well go about healing my foot the right way. I took Ibuprofen, iced it and did everything I could but I was super not happy about not getting my runs in.

The week before my half I wasn't 100%, but I was good enough for a run. I was scared that I was going to hurt it again! But only having run 10.5 miles 2.5 weeks prior wasn't exactly great prep for 13.1. Ugh. I went for a great downhill run with Sara down Emigration Canyon, it was longer than I had planned, ended up about 8 miles. It will have to do.

The morning of the race I got up at 3:30 to feed Grey and get him back off to sleep. I was meeting Sara at 4:30. I was not anticipating the traffic! It was terrible! She called me to see where I was and said there were plenty of spots around her, after we hung up she said it was only about two-minutes when she looked up and there were no spots! I should have been on time, that's what she gets for talking me in to a later time! I was requesting 4:15! Too early though.

We rode a school bus up the mountain where they dropped us off into the freezing cold. You could see your breath! I was prepared, I had a sweatshirt I was planning on tucking into my drop bag at the last minute but my Canadian buddy had no ides what the American 40* equated to! I gave her my space blanket so she had hers around her legs and mine around her shoulders.

At about 6:25 we followed a truck a little way down the road to the start point. Pretty much ran with the crowd to drop off the drop bag and it was time to go! People had peeled off their clothes to reveal tank tops! Sara and I gasped! Cold! But not two miles into the race we knew we totally could have gotten away without our running jackets. We were fine, it wasn't terrible... but I could have been cooler.

The count down, and we were off. I had originally planned to find the 2 hour pacer and just stay with them until I lost them ahead of us but when it was go time we were close to the front so we just went with it. Here we go! Sailing, SAILING down the hill. There were a couple of points where I looked at my Garmin and told Sara we should likely back off the 8:15 pace that we were doing. We honestly couldn't help it, gravity was on our side... She was probably already holding back as her normal pace is about 8:45. We kept going... I knew this was going to hurt me.

Nothing like running down a big hill... BIG big hill...

There is a great S curve that we hit and I told Sara I had nothing left to look forward too. Along the way though I kept finding fun points that were familiar from us having driven the road so it really kept things moving along.

People keep asking about my knees. The only time that my knees started to bother me is when there were tight turns and I was fighting the road to not drift to the side. Otherwise, it was the usual annoying stuff. The impact of the down hill didn't bother me but I had been doing quite a bit of Plyo to prepare my joints, I think that helped.

We hit the end of the canyon and WOW, I could feel it! The first mile out wasn't so bad. Still downhill mind you... just not at the rate it was falling before! We stopped at a rest stop and I had a banana while Sara used the restroom I know she wasn't happy abut having to stop but you do what you have to do.

Three more miles to go. (The full marathoners had 9 miles left out of the canyon!)

We saw Sara's friend/sister-in-law, husband and kids at this point. They had all made cute signs to cheer her on. They packed up and drove along the road and yelled for a minute and then parked and cheered again. Every time she saw them she got re-energized and I had to tell her that my family wasn't there so she needed to chill out and slow down again. (For the record, Matthew was upset Bert was there, he said "I wasn't even invited!")

Then, I really couldn't keep running. My legs were beat up from going downhill (it's harder than you think... you just don't know it until it's too late) and now I was forcing them to push my body along. I needed to take a break and walk here and there and I was really holding Sara back at this point. I kept telling her to go along but she isn't obedient at all. (It cost her a sub 2 hour half!)

She said "maybe I will sprint the last mile..." So finally, at the 12 mile mark I convinced her to go. She went ahead a little and looked back and said "I am torn!" I was like,"GO, GO!" (Far less dramatic than it sounds....). I put my other earphone in and she was off like a light. My dear friend finished her 13th mile with an 8 minute mile! After 12 miles! Sheesh.

I went and went, I needed the alone time anyway and I got the job done. She stayed at the end to wait for me and cheer me in. She hugged me and said "you did it!!" how sweet of her... My first words to her were "where's my medal?" Haha! Get me out of here!!!

Official Times:
Sara: 2:03:04 (148 in our age group of 321)
Me: 2:06:11 (162)

Let's look at my splits shall we? This is really funny because it's CLEAR that mile 10 was the first out of the canyon, and don't forget the potty break. 10:15 is more the pace I was planning on running so overall the last four miles weren't too slow. They were just painful. I forgot to stop my watch, our average pace was about 9:30 min miles.

And my speed chart. That first big dip was when I had to get my knee back on track, it hurt and just needed a break for a second. The first dip is the potty break and after that the three times I walked in the last three miles. 

I had a GREAT time, I am super pleased don't get me wrong, but I told Matthew that I don't want to be fast, I just want it not to be so difficult! I wanted to be more prepared, like I was on track to be. But you can't plan for injuries. Next time? What wait? Did I say next time?

I had some chaffing from my bra in the front bottom on both sides. It didn't bother me at all during the race. I didn't even know until I got in the shower and I had a few spots that were on fire. Yeouch. Duly noted for the future.

I also got a HUGE blister on my right toe and a smaller one on my left toe. Ouch. The one on my left was fine but the one on the right bothered me all night long and I just drained it in the morning (the glamorous side of running eh?)

My whole body ached, my back and shoulders were stiff, my right problem foot was so sore and my entire left leg ached. Going DOWN the stairs was torture for two days. (That's down hill running for you!) but it actually wore off faster than our 8.5 mile down hill run the week prior. Good thing we did that run! I felt nearly 100% again Tuesday.

Race review -
This was a big race! There were a lot of people, I think this s the second year? And they let so many more in this year. It was fun being in that environment, there were a ton of people.

The course was beautiful! The canyon road did not disappoint. Jessica is holding me personally responsible for mucking up the traffic on the East side though, she had a hair appointment and the detours made her get lost. The downhill was awesome! Gravity did the speed work until the end but it make the end a bit more difficult than it needed to be. (If you don't want such a huge drop, the Utah Valley Half would be worth considering it's a gradual decline the entire way. It's in June, and I am definitely looking at doing it. This was the 10k I did this year.)

It was really well run. There were a lot of buses to take people to the starting line and that went very smoothly in the morning, very smoothly. Though it did make for a really early morning (You had to be there by 5, the race started at 6:50). Parking could have been a challenge if I were there any later.

The metal is LEGIT. It is big, and heavvvvy. I love it.

I upgraded to a long sleeve race shirt and it's so nice!

Everyone liked the food at the end but the line was too long to get any! So that part wasn't that great. I just grabbed a water, they should have more tables doing that and forgo the sandwiches. I would have settled for a banana and a chocolate milk.

The official finalist photo

My heavy medal. Not sure what to do with it yet, the kids love it.

This was near the end, I was totally faking it. (Maybe mile 11?) So, yea. 

I was in the air for most of my pictures!

I'm flyyyying!

Running with friends

One of my imaginary/became real life friends, Valorie introduced me to a small group of runners online. A new set of imaginary friends! (Really, that's all I need right? Haha! At least these are local!)

This online group tracks their daily workouts together and I have seen them get together for different races and some fun runs on the weekends but, newsflash, I don't get out of the house much. So I would just watch it all happen every weekend. I want a running buddy!! They go fun places too! On trails! New scenery! Someday I will be able to run with them and it's okay, until I can I am good with my little once a week, outside, weekend run. It's a good little quiet vacation.

But last week they were coming by ME to run! Like, right by me! So I told them I was good to meet them about half way through their run to run my 9 miles... (yes, half way, one of them had to run 14!) They told me they were going about my speed which is about 10:30 min mile or so. (I am new... I am slow, what can I say?). So we were all set but then the one gal that was planning it by me had to drop out... the run was moved but I stuck with it. I planned on meeting the one that was left. Heidi, around 7:00 (Hot! And it's been so humid to boot!) at another place about 10 minutes away. It's all good.

Except the slower runner was the one that dropped out... this didn't really occur to me until after the run though. Haha!

About 3/4 of the way there it dawned on me, I forgot my Garmin watch that tells me how fast we are going. Sucker! Naked! I am naked!

I get there and Heidi and her friend, had already been running for a little while doing speed work. They picked me up and we set off. And I was dying, slowly. Ha! We got about three miles out and turned around... this was about the time that they started asking me about me and my kids... and Dylan. So now, not only am I dying, but I am talking while I am running and I started dying even faster! You know I love talking about Dylan... it's a weakness, or not.

A few times I told them to go ahead and they said they were fine and we would walk for a minute or two. Heidi runs with her son who is like... 10 or 11? Maybe? So she is used to managing her speed for other people which is good, but they really could have gone on even though I liked the company. We walked, we ran, we walked, we ran and we were done. At the end she tells me the first three miles were at about a 9:30 pace (!!!) and that sometimes it is good to forget your watch! I think she was trying to kill me!!

We did those six miles in about 1:02. I did the DOWNHILL 10k race at this same pace, 10:00 (and was dying, if you recall...).

I was done! (Or was I?)

I got in the car and they got in theirs and I  sat for a minute. I only did 6 miles! I was planning on 9! So what that Grey only let me have 4 hours of sleep that night (just say no to caffeine, I may never learn...) and I had some crazy bowel issues (TMI)... that can't stop me! No excuses! If you are going to run you have to RUN!

So I got back out of the car and ran an additional three miles at a bit slower of a pace, the 10:30 I was planning on!) I did it! I did my longest run ever! 9 miles!

It was so SO much fun running with friends, I am sure I will get the chance to do it again. I would like to not be the one that slows everyone down but I am still pretty new at this and it seems my speed picks up every single week so I will get there. Thank goodness they were patient with me. I loved meeting my new non-imaginary friend Heidi, she is a great coach, and it really helped to inspire me to do more/faster/better.

Oh, and you know that trouble area on your hips? Like, the saddle bags? Yea, those muscles still hurt on Monday from that great run.

Alright, alright, the faster pace was good for me! I said it okay? I said it! It was good for me to be challenged!

Dylan's present from her rummer Heather!

Dylan's runner went to Chicago to do the Rock & Roll half and did great! She wanted to send Dylan a little something from their first race "together" so she shipped us off a package that we got on Saturday.

There was a shirt from the race and this adorable TEENY puppy that... appropriately... is wearing a little jogging suit! Look how CUTE!

 

She shoots...

She scores!!

You would think a photo op would prompt her mother to do her hair or something but... well... no. Good thing she is so cute she can get away with messy hair! 

Be still my heart

After my Legacy run I decided to send the medal off to Jack. He got it! Fast too, way faster than I expected since it traveled across the country. His mom Bridget posted pictures of him with it this morning and, oh my word, they are so adorable!

I love this program and I love running for Jack! I have a special connection with TWO HPE kiddos now, and that's priceless! 

Dylan's runner, Heather, traveled to run the Rock & Roll Half in Chicago last weekend and she did great! She had an excellent time. During the training process she actually broke a bone in her foot though (yes, she ran a half with a broken bone in her foot...) so she is stuck in one of those silly boots for a little while until it heals. 

"10k" number 2!

Why is 10k in quotes? Well, let me get to that...

After my last 10k one of my friends told me to find another 10k and she will run it with me. I warned her that I would take her up on that so she better be serious! She was... and I found one. The Midnight Glow Stick Run. We registered and started making sure we were ready.

Mind you, I am working on talking her into running the half with me in September. She has been training but hasn't quite made the commitment yet... Still working on that. Though now I am not so sure it's a good idea. She is fast! She ran the SL half last year and even though she hates it she has been doing it a lot longer than I have!

The night started innocently enough. We met at about 8:30 knowing we had a half hour drive to get to the starting line. We were told to get there 45 minutes to an hour early so that's what we were planning on. We were too early, there was no need to be there 45 minutes early! But she is good company so that's no big deal.

It was 94' when we met. Ughhh, gonna be a hot one folks! More humid than usual too actually. Not terribly humid to other people but I do live in a so called desert, so humid for us anyway.

We parked and got all glow sticked out. We knew the glow sticks were going to annoy us... and they totally did. Not sure what I was thinking with the necklaces but we looked good anyway. Flashy rings, flashy necklaces, glow sticks. Awesomeness.

The race started and we went... and went, and went, and went. It was an out and back course which I wasn't terribly excited about but I was even less thrilled about when I realized they were turning the 5kers around at about the 2 mile mark... whatever. We ran and soon ran past what you would think would be the half way point for 6.2 miles and kept running. Finally the 4 mile water station and the turn around point! Wait... what? 4 miles? we have to run four miles back? Well that is further than 6.2 miles. And not a little further either!

I think we just kept hoping that they moved the finish up while we were out or maybe there was a different route back that was a little bit shorter? Sara is a sprint to finish kind of gal and she kept thinking it was the end and then it wasn't. At one point I told her she was going to have to slow down because according to the start we had 2 miles left and I didn't have a faster pace in me for TWO MORE MILES. She cut me a break and slowed a little. Mind you, she just slowed to our normal pace from a sprint but that was all I really needed to not keel over.

We were wondering what in the world was going on but there were finally musings here and there so we at least knew we weren't alone in thinking something was off. We started passing all the 5k walkers, and there were a lot of them. It was pretty crowded on the way back (5k walkers!) and were working hard to dodge and pass runners.

Finally we hear cheering and we are in the last little stretch. Aaaaannd, it was over. Where are our shiney sparkly necklaces? What? We have to wait for the awards? Newsflash, unless you know someone getting an award you normally don't stick around for the award ceremony, especially if it's midnight! They were holding our sparkly necklaces hostage so they had an audience. Terrible!

We grabbed our banana, orange slice and five cups of water/gatorade, cooled off and waited. We checked FaceBook, Instagram, uploaded a picture or two of me with a bright red face. Okay, that's done, now we are BORED people. It's 12:15, finally the awards are in full force. Enough people have complained about not getting medals that they started handing them out to the people finishing the half at the finish line. Good enough for us. We went over, grabbed two and left.

Not sure if the 10K finishers were supposed to get the light up medals but whatever. Give us SOMETHING and we left. (We weren't but the apology email said they had enough for the 5&10kers and to go pick one up! So we didn't steal! And now we don't have to go pick one up!)

Phew! Long night, never going to do THAT one again!

Our little slip of paper said we ran 13:47 minut miles. But, that was dividing our time for a 6.2 mile run! Thankfully the online results made the proper adjustment! Kind of proper, my Garmin had the run at 8.31 miles (10:19 min miles) but the results have it at 8.2 miles. Not only that but the follow up email said 8.4! Let's go with the Garmin since they obviously have no idea what they are doing anyway. 

We were 29/30 of the women in all groups and 4/5 of women in our age category 35-39.

Lessons:

• Those people with the clip on hat lights were the smart ones. I could have landed on my knees... or face, a couple of times very easily, especially because the first and last maybe .2 were on an uneven gravel road. There were NO lights. (Even though they said they added lights and mile markers this year...)
• The midnight race doesn't start at midnight. It was a balmy 77' at midnight, not so much when the race started at 10:00.
• I am much slower in the evenings/heat/humidity. 
• Don't eat three corn dogs for dinner right before you race 6(8) miles. Boo to that.
• People don't much care who is behind them and slower runners/walkers do not stay to the right. Boo to this.
• Sara is faster than me, and more competitive. Apparently when I run I lose my normal competitiveness. Can't we just stop and smell the roses?
• Telling tired runners near the finish line to run faster and hurry up sucks. Tell them they can do it and they are almost there. Not to run faster, I was close to dropping dead. Note taken for future reference.
• Running at night is as boring as the treadmill, maybe worse. You can't see anything! Maybe if it were lit and cooler but this was 8+ miles of borrrrrring.
• Glow sticks around your neck are annoying, arms, not so bad. 

Awwwe, Sara is cute.

Who do you run for?

I am not sure how I heard of a group called "I Run for Michael" but as soon as I found them, I was in love!

This group pairs runners (and exercisers...) with special needs kids. The runners run in the child's honor. Dedicating their runs to the child, learning more about them and their special needs and posting pictures and notes to their parent.

It. Is. Awesome.

A lot of people have heard of the term "I run for those who can't". Runners who realize that the ability to run is a gift. After all, not everyone can do it, not only is their the typical special needs community like my Dylan but you also have adults with crippling illnesses that prevent them from running and doing things they want to do. Often runners keep them in mind to inspire them to do more, run further, run faster. Those who can't hold you up, and those who can hold up those who can't.

Last year a man named Tim posted on FaceBook that he needs to run for those who can't and an adult man with Down Syndrome who he had friended a while back because of his art said "You can run for me any time!"Meet Michael. And this was the spark that lit a little movement in the running community. A wild fire.

When I joined there were members of around 600, that was a week ago and now the group is pushing 1200!

The group is full of inspirational messages to children, there are pictures of bibs with names on them... personalized "I run for..." t-shirts. The messages get more specific to the children as the friendship goes on, runners congratulating children on recent developments, telling them they saw flowers that were their favorite colors, letting them know that there were many prayers said for them on their morning run.

Members of the special needs community are understandably cautious. As such, there are runners, a lot of them, waiting to be paired with a special needs child. Hopefully parents will see the value of this closed, private group and it will continue to grow. The potential to spread awareness and foster unity is outstanding.

When I joined I joined as a parent and as a runner. Dylan's runner is a great woman named Heather whose adventures make her a bit of an inspiration herself.

I run for Jack, who do you run for?

Rolling Hills!

Well kind of. With some treadmill trickery I am able to start preparing for my down hill run in September. Matthew cut me a couple 2x8s to prop under the end of the treadmill to raises it up. I am able to get a significant downhill going as well as a little bit of uphill.

Nice when you can't leave the house and honestly ideal for preparing for a run that is straight down!

I had a four mile run this morning and I did a bit of rolling hills, up to a 4% incline and down to a 5% decline. You aren't supposed to add more than a mile of down hill at a time so that's about what I did.  It was the easiest four miles I have ever run in my life. Maybe I am getting the hang of this?! I really could have kept going! I think I am just used to me running on an 2 ir 3% incline so level, or even down hill, was crazy easy!

I did four miles in 43 minutes and that included my slower than normal first .25. Not too shabby, especially for me... I stuck it out at about 10:30 miles and just kicked it up to under 10 for my last .25 to finish with a bang.

Downhill running is harder on the quads so we will see if my legs thank me or hate me later!

In the meantime, we drove down the canyon where my race will be and it is going to be AWESOME. So fun to be able to slow down and take in that scenery! I just sat in the passenger seat and envisioned my feet hitting that pavement. I can do this!!

There is still over a three mile run once you get to the mouth of the canyon... not so sure about that part. Haha!

First 5k Evah!

Fresh off the heels of my first 10k I ran my first 5k! I had to have the 10k for corral placement at the princess, so any race I do other than that one is just for fun!

So fun I didn't even time it... Like, I didn't even start my phone. What? What was I thinking? I am curious how well we did because, well, we totally rocked it. FAIL.

Traci and I set out for BOTH of our first 5k, only it's also her first race ever. Color Me Rad! A very colorful, very messy, fun run.

Matthew was off playing poker the night before and the party baby was not cooperating. I finally made him fuss it out at midnight (midnight!) and he was up a short two hours after that. Ugh! When Matthew came home in the wee hours of the morning he found me on my side and Greyson sitting up next to me, both of us sleeping probably very restlessly. He picked him up and tried to put him in bed which didn't work. Suffice it to say, he was a naughty baby that night! He knew how badly I wanted him to sleep!

Then at 5:00 Asher came down to my side of the bed, got a snuggle from me and then, as I was taking him back to bed, I realized his pants were soaked (fun bath last night?) and so I had to change him and send him off. Shortly after that he came down to Matthew's side of the bed (Matthew doesn't take him back to his room!) only Matthew can't hear him so I have to get up and get Matthew up. Ugh! My best sleep of the night was from whatever time that was until I shot out of bed at 5:52 thinking I was late when my alarm was actually set for 5:55. Booooo!

Traci was early (!!) to my house, I ran out and hopped in her car and off we were to public transport. We weren't alone! Lots of white T's in the house. On the train we did our sleeves, and our tattoos and we were READY.

When we got there is was a PARTY. There was Zumba (which was totally fun...) and yelling and happy and crowds and colors. It was good times. We were all in the mix of things getting our groove on until we were supposed to head to the start. We were off.

And we ran and ran and ran and it was no big deal. Traci and I kept a great pace and talked the whole time. She was worried about me having to slow down but I don't feel I had to, and she didn't seem to have a hard time with the pace so we were good to go. So good, it didn't feel like it was three miles. To where we were planning to look it up when we got home! Later, my body told me it was indeed 3 miles, not sore... just feel like I did a little something that day. Perfect!

After the run we got our picture taken again and went into the mix of partiers for more messy fun. We stayed for a couple of powder throwing good times (they were doing it every ten minutes for the new finishers and I am pretty sure we were in the first one.) We snuck out and I said "Alright, let's get out of here!" and I was busted! One of the guys doing the MC-ing turned around and said "No!" and tossed two more color bombs at us. Well, if you insist... and back in we went.

We rode the train back home which went SUPER fast, we walked to a different station than most of the other people were walking to! (Holla!) So we killed off those extra calories at McD's. People stared.

When I got home Duncan was fascinated but Ian wouldn't come anywhere near me. He told me I wasn't "Booful anymore." Awwwwe shucks. He and Matthew started the shower for me and he made it up to me with kisses post-shower. I asked him "I wasn't beautiful?" and he said "Nooo... but then you washed and were booful again!" Cute boy.

I think Traci has the race bug... more on that to come. She needs to be my co-blogger, she got me into this!

I also did the first run for my half training yesterday. My half is exactly 12 weeks from last Saturday. here we go!

Flat Shannon on the left, flat Traci on the right

Before

After

No, I have no idea what we are doing in all of these crazy pictures. Just being a bunch of odd balls. 

Uhhh, yea.

What? Another Half?

I bit the bullet and sign up for a half marathon - ANOTHER half marathon. I kind of wanted something to train for in between now and the princess in February, something to keep me pushing and going. I had been eying this downhill canyon run for a couple of weeks. Do I do it? Do I not do it? What do I do? Because it is straight down hill they say to run it with a friend to help you pace yourself so you don't hit it too hard coming out of the gates and crash later. Can I talk someone in to doing it with me?

The other morning I had a bout of insomnia after Grey ate and was up for a couple of hours successfully talking myself into registering. I was just going to go for it and worry about a friend later, if at all. Commit! Well, I should have gotten up and done it because by the time I woke I was back to needing to be talked into it!

Matthew walked up to me staring at the web page for it (again. Still?) and I was talking to him about it and I said "we know I am going to do it right?". At which point he walked over, put his wallet in front of me and said to get it over with! When I told this to April (one of my princess running partners) she said "Dude, in that case #runalltheraces!"

So I did it! It's in September, exactly a 12 week training plan from this Saturday. I can do this! Right?

Downhill is harder on your muscles so I plan to prop up the back of the treadmill and slowly work downhill into my running. I can do this!

Meanwhile I am trying to get to a point where I am comfortable running around 5 miles twice during the week to prepare for a long run on Saturdays. I am not doing so hot at it though! It's the comfortable part that is tricky...

I got a pretty new pair of shoes to try that I am really excited about. Matthew and I both went and got fitted at a running store. I am a late gait overpronater, good to know. No cushy shoes for me!

Saturday Traci and I have a color fun run, our first! It's going to be fun!

First race ever! (repost 6-10-13)

Well, I did it... I registered for my first Half Marathon, otherwise known as a massive girl's trip! I am running 13 miles to take a vacation. I guess that tells you the value of the trip right? It's in Disney World! I am officially going to Disney World for the first time next February and to get there I am participating in the Glass Slipper Challenge which is a 10k on one day and a half the next. Should be easy right? No? I guess we will see.

This was the commitment that I made to my friends two months ago when I decided that I better start running or else I was going to be in trouble come February. More over, you have to have a 10k under your belt as proof of time to help where they line you up at the gates. I decided to run my 10k the same day my sister in law went for her first half, last Saturday. It's done, whew!

Even though it was about 45 minutes away we didn't drive together because her LAST bus left at 4:30 and my FIRST bus left at 5:45. I am not that good of a friend. I planned to leave my house around 4:50. Grey woke up for his middle of the night feeding at 3:30, which was fine. I fed him, put him down and got ready for my big day.

Before the race I got to chat with a few different gals who were very nice, one was 31 weeks pregnant and another 8. Egads.  They were planning to take it a little easy than me so when it was time to go, it was time and I was off.

After just a short distance the 10k group met up with the half marathoners that were coming down the hill. These were the fastest of them and I was getting passed left and right! Literally. I was being passed the ENTIRE race. I assumed traffic laws, slower people stay right, but no one else did so I more stayed right-ish so they could go around on whichever side was convenient. I passed far few people than passed me that's for sure! I kept looking at my watch to check my pace, I couldn't possibly be going that slow could I? Ugh. My inner dialogue had a lot of "They have been doing this for longer than 4 weeks..." type chit-chat.

At about 2 miles I was pretty sure it would get easier at the half way mark. At about 3.5 miles I remember being pretty unsure of whether I ever wanted to do something like this again. Definitely rethinking my recent Princess registration! About 4 miles I got a knot in my shoulder blade. Ouch! one foot in front of the other.

During the sixth mile I saw the 2:00 pacer for the half and I knew that was Eden's goal time so I just kept watching for her to pass me. Watching, watching. (Mind you, she was also running on a broken-ish toe, so this goal time may have been slightly unreasonable given the circumstances...).

Finally, the finish was in sight. And.... it was far away. Really far. and it just didn't really seem to be getting any closer at all. That was torture. I would almost like to round a corner and have it be there like "Aha! You're done!"  During the last quarter of a mile there were people there cheering and I sprinted to the end. Aaaaand DONE.

I am a runner.

After texting Eden we met up in the crowd of people to get her checked in bag, get our times, and ride the bus back to the cars. She wasn't terribly pleased with her time which was, yea, I will say it... ridiculous! She is too fast for her own good apparently! She did pretty awesome and if I could finish a half in the time she did at some point I would be pleased as punch!

And not that time really matters in the whole scheme of -this is my first race- -I have only been running a couple months- -okay, it was kind of fun-, but I finished in 1:02 which is great! I ran a 10:00 min mile where I expected to come in more around 11, maybe 10:45 with adrenaline on my side. I guess maybe those people passing helped? I ended up with my fastest mile at about 9:51 and my fastest 5k at 30:25. Because we were there and it was fast, we got the official print out of our times and I finished 10th in my division of (kind of) older ladies. I know what you are going to ask... and yes, there were more than 10 of us! There were 37! Holla.

And yes, now that it is a couple days back, I am wondering when I can do it again. Crazy! No! What am I thinking?

The Disney races are more for fun than competition so I don't anticipate being particularly speedy there. There are Disney character photo opportunities along the route, you dress up, you have a great time. But I should at least be able to move my legs in a fashion that will get me across the finish line so I guess I am not done anyway... plus, I kind of like it a little. Don't tell anyone.

Eden and I - Her medal is like... twice as big as mine but she ran twice as long so it's all good. 

Random stranger who runs faster than me. We met on the bus!

The bling

Yea - I totally still have this...