Why not sign up for a 5k? If I hadn't pre-reg'd would have skipped it. awful outside. Cold, 20mph winds off the water. blech... 2nd 5k since running again after injury. 20:06, 1oa. I'll take that.

I'm going to Boston!!!!

Chicagoland Spring Marathon

26.2

Finished in 3:05:50 something

27 minute PR

BQ -15

Where the fek is the Dance of Joy emoticon

Today, for the second time in my life and in two weeks I covered the distance of a marathon. Some of you may recall that I was happy with the finish in Nashville, but felt I was capable of more. Today's race was very different. I was humbled by Nashville, so I made no predictions. The weather was way in my favor, There was a wind out of the north, but since we ran most of teh race in the woods, there was a good deal of cover. The last two miles was fully exposed and the wind (20-30 mph) was on our nose. As you might guess they were the two slowest miles of the race. I let the race come to me. I went out faster than I wanted, but we had that 20-30 mph wind at our backs for the first 2 miles. I was very cognizant and kept trying to slow down. At 6 miles I took my first Stinger; I became a fan of honey today. At 10 miles I was well ahead of pace, but felt great. At 12.5 I met a neat guy he was 54. At this point we were probably 8th and 9th. At the turn around we got the wind on our back for 1.5 miles and I was just going with it. Fred F. was cheering at the half and marked my time 1:32:48. I was scared as this was a couple minutes faster than I should have been. At 14ish, @[1708292882:Francesca Roth] handed me another Stinger to replace what I was consuming and I took one at that point too. Miles 15-18 just came and went and there were some zippy ones in there 6:45s (oops). At 18 I had the first signs of tightness in my quads, but I told my body, "Hey, the head's in charge today and you won't fail me this time. I found picking up the pace eased the discomfort. I went through 20 and was still throwing in a lot of sub 7:00s. I took another Stinger here. Francesa, had a banana for me there. As we headed back south again I kept reminding myself that Boston is in reach and the only way to get there is FORWARD. The tightness would reappear from time to time, but I was willing to suffer and the mind won. At 24 we go over a ped bridge and I just took it real easy heading up that brideg and turned onto the final stretch. I was in 7th place. This stretch was hell. The wind was just standing me up. I saw the next 4 runners ahead of me and just kept trying to press on. I would take over two of them before we finished. So I finished in 3:05:50 something. I was 5th OA and AG winner. I felt so much better than 2 weeks ago in Nashville. My race management was infinitely better and the weather felt great. Again lot's of thanks. Francesca, for running support for me. Mike & Jessica for making me a better distance runner, the big dogs fo making me a faster distance runner. Today was great because so many in my club were pacing so I saw Karen L. (4:00 pacer) with here usual smile and she gave me a shout out as we passed. The remaining Girls in Pink, Sherry and Debbe (4:15 pacers) gave me a shout out too. Beth, Robert and Jerry (fresh off yesterday's Ice Age 50M) (4:30 pacers) gave me a shout out. It felt great. I'm on top of the world right now because of what I was able to do today with the guidance and encouragement from so many. I may be a marathoner

Pittsburgh Marathon, Sunday.

 

Goals: The new fatter dnephin hopes to hover around 3:10, but will consider it a win if he does not have to walk and, considering the 7 a.m. start, will be utterly thrilled if he is able to void his bowels before race time. As always, drink beer.

Fail. 3:14:12 194/4,270.

The fail is mainly because I walked twice, about 100 or so yards total. Just needed to regroup. I had a wonderful bowel movement beforehand. Unfortunately, I had to stop to pee during the race. 43 and I can't figure how to drink water? Also: went out too fast for my condition (not trained, 10+ pounds heavy.)

Still, I had a blast.

Currently drinking beer.

The RA men represented well at Ice Age. DB, Corland and Flatfooter all rocked the course, putting down fantastic times and hanging around to put down fantastic beers.

Giant fail.  The 'new flatter' course was them being ironic.  They made it 3 times as hilly. 

2:14:01   but I did win 3rd place in my age group.

Heh, that's funny. Also, congratulations.

Sunday, Goodlife Marathon, Toronto, 3:40 Pace Bunny, Goal 3:49:59

 

This should be easy-doable but pulled back muscle and nasty cold is going to make the 26.2 feel like ... 26.2

Spot on with 3:39:56 - and many happy followers. A tough 3:40 for me all things considered. Had to htfu in order to keep the pace over the last few uphill, cold windy, wet miles.

Obviously pacing duties don't make for a race of the week but it was the race of the week for me and my peeps.

MTA: If you've never done this (pacing) , I highly recommend it.

I'm going to Boston!!!!

 

Chicagoland Spring Marathon

26.2

Finished in 3:05:50 something

27 minute PR

BQ -15

Where the fek is the Dance of Joy emoticon