The ORRRC (Ohio River Road Runner’s Club) marathon is cheap ($20 early reg.), close (30 minute drive), and well-organized (chip-timing, mile markers, regular hydration stations). What’s not to like? I got up this morning and went through my usual pre-race routine: 1. had water, coffee, oatmeal, banana 2. put gels and 2 tylenol in a baggie into my spibelt 3. put 2 layers of Skin Shield (liquid bandage) on my toes (blister hot-spots) 4. cut the feet off a pair of DD’s soccer socks for a snuggly pair of arm warmers. Outfit: black Nike skirt, hot pink short-sleeved tech shirt, yellow Marathon Maniacs singlet, and lime-green arm warmers – think they’ll see me coming? This is a sort of out-and-back along bike trails and country roads, mostly flat with some rolling hills. The forecast was for 42-54°, partly cloudy, with winds 11-15 mph. It turned out to be brilliantly sunny, 45-65°, and at times the winds felt much stronger than 15mph. In fact, from mile #9 through mile #14, the wind was head-on and downright BRUTAL, and I feared that the effort of keeping pace against it was robbing me of energy I might need later. However, we finally turned after that and the wind lessened, mostly coming at an angle for the rest of the run, and I found that having that cross-breeze was quite pleasant as the temperature increased into the 60’s. I’ll bore you with my splits: 8:41 8:47 8:42 8:43 8:41 8:45 8:48 8:45 8:49 8:51 9:00 8:56 9:08 9:18 8:58 9:03 9:00 9:15 9:11 9:15 9:09 9:37 (doubling back against the wind here) 9:21 9:21 9:18 8:52 (8:30) for the last .2 Goals: 1. Finish without injury – done 2. 4:00 or better – done 3. 3:50 or better – not this time Results: 3:57:16 BQ! 42/126 OA 6/36 Female 3/5 AG Dg told me last week that she had a remote buzzer and would zap me if I slowed to a walk, and more than once, when I was tempted to walk, I envisioned her bent over her crystal ball, thumb on the button. (thanks Dg) I really didn’t know what to expect today, and I’m very happy with this result. Maybe my PR marathon wasn’t just a fluke after all. My work over the summer will be to better this time in the fall. One additional thing – I promised myself that if I BQ’d here, I’d sign up for a local 50K trail run in August… Tomorrow’s forecast: rain turning to snow, high winds, and temps in the 30’s – I am SO glad that wasn’t the weather I had today. What a difference a day makes! Thanks to all of you for your wisdom, encouragement, and friendship. You folks here at RA continue to inspire me to push harder than I think I can. You kept me running today when I was tired, and I felt you cheering me on the whole way - I don't think I have done this without you. An acquaintance who was taking pictures at the race caught me in one and e-mailed it to me. My DS says I look "scary" in it (typical of most of my race photos). You can see I was concentrating very carefully on grabbing a water cup, probably knocking small children out of my way at the same time. Notice the lime green socks in my other hand? I pulled those off early on, and then mopped my brow with them for the rest of the race.

Holly, You're simply an awesome force of sproinkiness. We'd like a picture of you in your outfit. It sounds like a crime fighting get up. Thanks for the sweet RR and your personality SteveP

Now that Denise broke the ice, I can jump in. WTG Holly--what a lovely set of splits you had, my dear. Very consistent. And a BQ. Very nice. And an AG award to top it all off. Icing on the cake. I'll look forward to seeing you in Boston next year. Now that you've gotten the practice one out of the way last year, you'll be all set to smoke the next!! Kevin

Whoooo hooooooooo! I'm sooooo excited for you! NICE BQ! Somethings are good about turning 45, eh? (I'm right there with you...) Well done on the AG too! You, my woman, are an inspiration!

Impressive splits and awesome job, Holly. You have to be thrilled with your effort! I hope you're rewarding yourself with a glass of wine, nice dinner (hopefully fixed by your DH) and dessert. We're so proud of you - you did it! Just looked at your picture - where exactly do you need to lose weight, woman?

Great race. Disappointed about the colors! Nice going. Why not postpone that promise about the ultra? You are not anywhere near your potential in racing. Light walk and stretch tomorrow? Spareribs

WTG Holly You did RA Masters and the 40/40 group proud. Your hard work and dedication are an inspiriation to us all. Your split times were really consistant in spite of the wind. One thing I don't ever want to hear from you again is that a PR was a fluke! You are a very talented runner and your BQ proves it. YOU ARE THE WOMAN!!! Well done my friend, Bruce P.S. OK, now that you have had your moment in the sun, get back to work on this week's 40/40 thread.

A couple of my Seattle friends were at this race... the guy of the couple (and they are a couple) came in 8th overall. Woohoo for the BQ!