Archive for the ‘Torture’ Category

If you’re interested in seeing race pictures from Saturday’s Lady Track Shack 5K, the pictures are here.

In the Start Line group, you can find me in pictures 402 and 405. I’m wearing a white, long sleeved Disney Half Marathon shirt (so, yellow and blue design with Donald Duck).

(this shirt: )

In the Finish Line sets, I am in group 40-45 minutes, pictures 833, 841, 845, 849, 853, 856, 857, 858, and in group 45-50 minutes, pictures 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 20.

Some of them are decent. I might look into purchasing them.

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You may notice my little runner avatar is finally off her butt and moving again. I got a new sensor for my Nike + iPod so my runs can “count” and get her moving. It is not yet calibrated, and is way off on mileage counting, but I’ll calibrate it soon. It thinks I did almost 4 miles this morning when I only did just over 3.

I participated in the Lady Track Shack 5K. It was a women only race, which was kind of nice, and it supported cancer research. That picture was taken at the start line… sort of. The actual start line was around the corner to the left, but that’s where I started, back behind the 10 minute mile pace sign. No, I don’t do 10 minute miles, but that was the last pace card they had for starting position, except for the next pace card for walkers with baby strollers.

It was a great race. I really enjoyed it. You know, but for that running thing. It took me around 42 minutes… wait, Track Shack has just updated their site (seriously, 2 minutes ago, results were not yet posted), so I can give you my official results.

2,077 women ran this race.
Place: 1,391
Division Place: 213
Clock Time: 45:03
Chip Time: 42:17
Average Pace: 13:36.4

I think that’s fantastic! Look, I’m never going to be a fast runner. But at least I’m consistent!

And I cannot even begin to properly express to you just how proud I am of myself that I get out there and do races. I have come so far from that scared girl who ran her first 5K in February 2007.

This marked my eighth race, but I only have seven race bibs to show for it, as the race in PCB cheated me out of having a number and a shirt.

I still hate running, I do. But the enormous sense of pride I get from doing this is amazing. It boosts my self-esteem and self-confidence. And, frankly, even though I now have tons of friends/acquaintances who are all runners that I see at all the races, not many people in my real life run, and this is something I do for myself, for my health, to balance out my unhealthy eating/drinking, and to help battle my depression.

Also, it’s pretty frakking cool to tell people I’m doing a race, or I just did a race.

I am a runner.

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Regarding the Seasons 52 5.2K race I participated in on Saturday:

Clock Time: 45:34
Chip Time: 43:50
5K Time: 42:19
Pace: 13:33.8 (wow! that’s pretty good for me!)
Gender Place: 1,290
Overall Place: 2,360
Division Place: 203 (not sure what that means)

I feel really good about these results! Go me! I Rawk!

(5.2K = 3.23 miles)

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One of the things we gave my MIL for Christmas was the autobiography of Andy Williams. I have always loved Andy Williams’ voice, and enjoy reading biographies of people who became celebrities when celebrities first became celebrities, so I wanted to read it. The book was okay; I had thought about writing a decent book review but chose not to. But one thing I took away from the book was that Branson Missouri has become the Las Vegas of the — what area of the country is that? And Andy Williams built a resort there where he is known to be a regular performer. So if I ever plan a Branson vacation, I will definitely get a ticket to his show. That would be the kind of vacation I think vacations should be: fun and slightly relaxing.

Instead, I am planning a trip to Los Angeles in September to, get this, run the Disneyland half marathon. Really? Shouldn’t I plan a vacation that does not include months of training before hand and actual physical exertion? What is wrong with me?

Cue a facebook message from my good friend Rob. Rob’s coming to Orlando for my birthday! WOO HOO! To… run the Disney Princess half marathon. What is wrong with him? He came down in October 09 to run the final Tower of Terror 13K. He came down in January 09 to run the Disney full marathon. What kind of freak hops on a plane to go run an endurance race?

So here I sit, trying to figure out how to explain to my husband that I want to spend $120 to do a half marathon in March plus another $120 to do a half marathon in September (plus airfare). I had traded doing the Princess half when he agreed to let me do the Disneyland half. And now I want to do both. (And, the Disneyland half is non-negotiable. If I run it in the same calendar year I ran the Disneyworld half or full, I get an additional Coast-to-coast medal. And since this is the 5 year anniversary of the coast-to-coast challenge, the medal will be really cool, as they go overboard on medals in anniversary years.)

Also, my brain had already breathed a sigh of relief at not having to do a half in March. And here I am telling it maybe a half is back on the plate.

Not to mention, I have to make this decision immediately as the Princess race is 93% full already.

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My Nike + iPod sensor is dead, so don’t expect that little avatar girl to start running any time soon.

Pity, because this morning’s race would’ve perked her right up!

It was a 5.2K race and it took me just over 45 minutes.

At the 5K mark, I was just under 44 minutes, so it was a bit slow for me, as I tend to do a 5K in 42, while always shooting for the elusive 38.

Running on brick roads sucks. You have to really pay attention to where you’re feet land so you don’t hit a bad brick.

My left leg, which was feeling good since I had not run since my 1/2 marathon, is angry at me again/still. Dammit.

Next race: Feb 6. I’ll have a new Nike + sensor before then.

Saw a number of my TNT teammates out there this morning. And, truth be told, but for the running, this was a really fun morning for me!

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I’m running the Seasons 52 5.2K race next weekend.

I just registered for the Lady Track Shack 5K for the first weekend in February.

The goal: to keep myself motivated to run so I don’t fall back into my slothful ways.

In other news, I’m shocked that I had an email this morning with a link to the professional photos taken during my half marathon on Saturday. That was quick! I’ll have to scroll through all their photos to make sure they didn’t miss any (because my race number was probably obscurred a lot due to my fashionable garbage bag) before I place my order. I’m not in all of the finish line pics they have in that link, so I imagine they just threw all photos from that general time period into my folder just in case I’m in there. I realize this is only exciting to me, but my blog, so, it’s all about me!

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I opted not to stay at my Disney hotel last night, preferring to sleep with my warm husband in my sleep number bed. I was so cold after that wet, frigid run, that I needed my space-heater-husband to keep me cozy. But, I had team mates and my CIL to cheer on this morning for the full marathon, so I was back up at 330a and on the road to Disney at 4a. For a change, my gift for getting lost enabled me to find the perfect route to get to Epcot, and I missed all the traffic! Fortune smiled upon me, then, as I ended up like the 7th space from the exit of the Family Reunion area (where the runners reunite with family after the race). That’s also where the runners congregate before heading through bag check for the mile long walk to the start line. As I was pulling layers of jackets on, my cousin, to whom I had texted my location, knocked on my car window and let me know where their friends were collected.

Bunch of crazy runners sporting the fashionable garbage bags

The crazy girl in the ears ran the 5K on Saturday, and did Goofy. That means she ran (3.1 + 13.1 + 26.2) 42.4 miles this weekend. Nutter!

I haven’t checked the weather all weekend, but I’m pretty sure it was colder this morning than it was yesterday. But dry. Thank god it was dry.

There was much dancing and jumping around to try to get warm.

After the runners went through baggage check, my cousin and I headed over to the viewing area to see the start. Turns out the start line was way far away, but we stayed until some runners passed before heading to the monorail tracks to watch the runners. We saw CIL at that point, and then hiked up to wait in line to get to the transportation station.

By this time, I imagine we had been standing outside for an hour and a half or more. And, we were cold. The wind was biting. I wore my long sleeve 13.1 race shirt, a sweatshirt over that, a zipper fleece over that, a button fleece with hood over that, and my husband’s fabulous winter coat over that, with a scarf wound around my head/ears/nose. And gloves. It was cold. I wish I had more than one pair of jeans on. My cousin was, I think, trying to text message with gloves on, which is impossible, and she was complaining about how much her fingers hurt from the cold. It was cold.

Over at the Magic Kingdom, I managed not to get CIL’s picture as he came up Main Street, due to my gloved hands being securely placed in my warm pockets. But here’s my cousin watching for her husband to come through the castle.

And, just over 11 miles, my CIL was kind enough to veer off course to come in closer for a picture. I hollered to him, “You’re going the wrong way!”

The girl in pink with the ears is the aforementioned nut who did 42.4 miles this weekend. I have so much respect for her. She’s done something like 13 ironmen competitions. Amazing woman.

And then I got the text update about my running buddy from last year crossing ten miles and ran to the other side just in time to catch her taking a picture of the castle.

I hollered to her, and she came up to give me a big hug and thanked me so much for being there to cheer her on. She finished the race in 6:57 and change, I think, which is faster than my time last year. Go her!

I then had the text update that one of my teammates had crossed 20 miles. Since I had his tickets to tonight’s victory party, it was very important that I catch him at the finish line. My cousin and I parted ways (she was still tracking her hubby, as she should), and I stood in a ridiculous monorail line to get back to Epcot. And even though I stood with a view of the finish line, I missed his crossing. He’s pictured here with the mom and step-dad of the little boy, Alex, who died December 8th. My teammate had also run all three races this weekend, for 42.4 miles. And he PR’d today by 2 hours over his last best marathon time. I think he did 4:32 and change. Amazing man. He raised a ton of money for LLS, too. Go team!

I missed my CIL crossing the line, but I watched him get his medal. He did it in five hours and some seconds. Amazing! Well done, CIL! I am so proud of you!

This is when he was telling me the first 20 were easy, but that last 6 nearly killed him. Funny, the full 26 nearly killed me last year!

I couldn’t find my cousin and CIL in Family Reunion, but my cousin texted that they were on their way to my car. Poor CIL was starting to show the pain.

He asked me to please drive them to their car, and I had to apologize for how high off the ground my Element is. You never realize it until your legs are screaming and you try to climb up!

Tired CIL. And that’s dried Cliff Shot on his face. Sticky stuff, that.

I am so proud!

Don’t be fooled by the sun being out; it was still wicked cold, and I remained bundled up until I got to my car and cranked the heat.

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The Disney site reveals my race results:

Chip Time: 3:25:15
Clock Time: 3:55:59
Ovarall Rank: 15,572
Sex Position: 8,530
Division Place: 1,308 (what does that mean?)
Age Grade: 32.2%

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Last night, on the way to and at the TNT Inspiration dinner:

Teammate and his mom

My fabulous mentor from last year who, let’s face it, was my mentor again this year, too.

we were on that bus for far too long waiting to get to the dinner last night

Walking into the inspiration dinner. Coaches line both sides and cheer as we enter. Quite a cacophony!

my running buddy from last year

My Osceola coach cheering for us

My Orlando coach from last year who, you may recall, got me through my final two miles last year.

my other Orlando coach from last year (the blonde)

one of my mentees

my running buddy from last year

John “The Penguin” Bingham is famous in the running world. He spoke last year, and I was looking forward to hearing him again this year. And, since I’m a stalker, after the dinner, I beelined for his table:

Me: Mr. Bingham, would it be terribly rude of me to ask for your autograph?
He: Not at all.
Me: (pulling a book out of my purse) Because I have a few of your books with me… (pulled three out)

He had a handler type with him who then took my camera from me:

my teammate/mentee J, who is pictured above with his mom, followed me over and also had his picture taken with The Penguin.

This morning, our coaches let us sleep in. Of course, my roommie and I did not sleep at all last night. She had a 3a lobby call, but my coaches gave us a 330a call. This is me and my mentee on the bus:

The UP! balloon.

Port-o-let city in the Epcot parking lot. Let me tell you how unpleasant it is to drop trou in a port-o-let in 20 degree “heat”!

The other side of port-o-let city.

As we walked the mile from port-o-let city to the starting corrals, it began snowing! This picture was supposed to catch the snow in the light, and failed. Dammit.

my mentee modeling the most popular running accessory: a garbage bag.

Snow became sleet became rain. Never have I been so happy to have a trash bag!

You’d be amazed how warm a plastic bag can keep you. It keeps your body heat in and the moisture out.

At 540a, the race started… for those in the front of the pack. I was in corral G, so my race started a good thirty minutes later. I was in the fourth and final start. They did fireworks for each start wave, which was nice.

approaching my start, finally. It was so cold just standing around waiting for the start. Remember, I had been at the start since about 420a. So I was quite cold by the time I had my start, after 6a.

My start!

This picture does not capture the beauty of these huge illuminated balloons that they had marking the road.

As I approached the rear of the castle, I asked some random runner to take my picture. FAIL. Too bad, too, because it looks like I was rawking that black trash bag! I took the bag off for professional pics, or anytime I wanted a good picture.

See my trash bag on Mickey’s shoulder? Yea, I pulled if off for the picture, and immediately put it back on! It was raining steadily for miles, and my arms and gloves were wet. So thankful for whomever gave me that garbage bag this morning. It kept my torso dry. I considered tossing it around mile 2, which is around when I tossed the blanket I had been wrapped up in. So glad I kept the bag. (this was around mile 9)

So this is around mile 11, approaching Epcot. I was so relieved to see so many people behind me. No worries about the sweeper bus!

The final big hill.

This particular stretch was really slippery for me. I was concentrating hard on not falling.

Mile 12ish

Subtract 30 minutes or so from that time, since that’s clock time, which started when the first person crossed the start line, some thirty minutes before I crossed the line.

My CIL, who is running the full marathon tomorrow, and my cousin, were at the finish line. CIL took this picture of me. I had removed my garbage bag just before crossing the finish line so I could hopefully have a good finish line photo. But boy, did I miss my bag after the race, when it continued to be super cold, and began raining even harder. This was also when I realized I had not yet turned off my iPod. So my iPod time is not quite right. I’ll have to go online and see what my chip time was for this race.

My iPod says it took me 3:27′40″. I’d shave a couple minutes off that since I forgot to stop the iPod. Average pace: 15′50/mile. Slow, but it was so cold and wet, and several stops for either pics or port-o-lets.

Overall, it was a good race for me. I like running in the cold. But it was so wet, that the cold ended up being brutal.

UPDATED: I forgot to post the pic of who I was running for:

My cousin hopefully took a pic of the ribbons on my shirt when I saw them at the transportation center. In the weird weather, I failed to get a pic of the ribbons fastened to my shirt.

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This morning, I met my team at 6a. They were running 20 miles because they’re doing the full marathon; I was running 13 because I’m only doing the half marathon. The girl I’ve run with the most has been sick with the flu for something like three weeks, and was not there again this morning. And, for a change, Coach didn’t run with me past the first half mile. So I was alone for probably twelve of my thirteen miles. I’m fine with that. The location of the run feels very safe to me, and I run with pepper spray anyway.

I started out trying to keep pace with the real runners, but they were going so much faster than I can manage, and so I fizzled out at not quite half a mile. Normally, I try to run the entire first mile, sometimes a mile and a quarter, but I couldn’t even pull off a full half a mile this morning.

Let me provide some background information for a moment.

This season, I have learned that my first three miles suck. Sometimes it’s a little more than three, sometimes less, but for approximately three miles, my run will suck. After that, I start to find my groove and settle into a run. I start to not notice the pain as much. I start to enjoy a run, in as much as I am able to enjoy a run. It is running, after all.

Thursday was a bad day for me. Friday was a freaking nightmare. Friday’s nightmare has not ended, nor do I see an end that ends any way other than holy fucking god I’m screwed. I have been crying out some of my stress. My husband assures me everything will be all right, but I can’t find a way to believe him. And so, I stress.

Back to my run, then.

Since my run was already falling apart before I even hit half a mile, I tried to settle into a run/walk ratio. I had it in my head that I would shoot for a three hour fifteen minute run, and hopefully a three hour run, which is what I’m shooting for on race day next month. By mile four, I was just over an hour, maybe even up to an hour and ten minutes. That’s not a great pace. I was frustrated. I needed to be right at an hour, and even faster than that for four miles. Last year, I could do five miles in an hour and five minutes. I’m running much slower this year, and I’m okay with that because, honestly, I’m not training as hard this year.

So, mile four, and I was starting to notice that my run was stressing me out. The last thing I needed today was to add to my stress level. And so, I did something out of character for me: I put my iPod in a pocket so that I would stop watching the clock. (I use my iPod to maintain my run/walk ratio since I don’t have a watch.) For the remaining nine miles, I ran for joy. I ran for myself. I ran for a catharsis. If I felt like running, I ran. If I didn’t, I walked. I took pictures of scenery. I took pictures of my teammates as they lapped me. And, I enjoyed my run. I felt (very achey) great after my run — emotionally. I hurt, in new places, but I felt great.

And, I ran it in three hours, twenty-nine minutes. One minute under the pace required to do Disney. Considering how much I walked and how little I ran, I’m pretty content. I know I can run it faster on a better day emotionally. But for today, for my sanity, I’m pleased with my time and I feel good.

It was nice to run for the joy of it. It reminded me that running can be joyful. This season, running has been stressful for me.

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