Masters Running

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40s 50s 60s + On the Run - w/e 3/7 (Read 1348 times)

    "My country did not send me 5000 miles to start a race, my country sent me 5000 miles to finish the race" -- John Stephen Akhwari, Tanzanian runner in the 1968 Mexico City olympics who fell earlier in the race, and finished last.

    http://www.youtube.com./watch?v=Hq3rOMnLGBk&feature=related

     

    Hope everyone had a great weekend with all their travels, family time, and running!

     

    Cowtown 1/2 was awesome, and I'll write more later about that, but wanted to take a turn starting off the week. 

    Progress Trumps Pefection


    Queen of 3rd Place

      Great news, Carol! Thanks for the vid - that really is what it's all about.

       

      About to get out for a 12-er...

      Ex runner

        Glad you enjoyed Cowtown.  Can't wait to hear more.
        Quit being so damn serious! When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. "Ya just gotta let it go." OM


        jfa

          Good for you Carol! Looking forward to hearing the details. Thanks for the vid and starting us up.

           

          Dank, dark, cold gray day today for my 16. Enjoyed every minute of it.

           

          Not normally a hockey fan, but this game for the Gold has been incredible. It's tied now, going to OT. Go USA !!

           

           

           

           

           

           

            Not into hockey either, but what a match that was!  Congrats to the Canadians.....and to USA for that matter.

             

            Long run felt good....slow, but good.

             

            enjoy the week folks!

            Quit being so damn serious! When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. "Ya just gotta let it go." OM

              Hi Carol - Glad you had a great time at Cowtown.  Waiting for details.

               

              Hi to everyone else.  I'm too tired to go any further with that.  I need to take a shower and hit my head to MY pillow in MY bed and (hopefully) sleep the sleep of the dead. It's been a long, but fun . . . but long . . . 3 days.

               

              Nite -

              Leslie
              Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain
              -------------

              Trail Runner Nation

              Sally McCrae-Choose Strong

              Bare Performance

               

                Hi guys,

                 

                Looks like Arla, Ev and Joe have started off the week with some big running miles!  And Leslie has started hers off with some big miles just getting home.

                 

                Tales from the Back of the Pack at the Cowtown 1/2 Marathon (2/27/10)

                 

                Started the day at 4:00 am to eat breakfast and get a handle on the blood sugar trend.  Kerry and I picked up my friend at 5:15, and we arrived downtown about 5:45 to ZERO traffic.  Headed to the police station, where my friend's hubby had arranged for us to park and hang out until race time.  It was really nice to be able to chill out there, and we got to chat w/ a couple of other folks doing same.

                 

                About 2 minutes to race time, we started walking towards the start.  The gun went off, and we sang along with the star spangled banner as we walked that way.  It was about 35 degrees, so kinda chilly for the additional 20 minutes before we could even move enough to get onto the street where the race started.  I could see the 2:40 pace sign, so figured we were in about the right place.

                 

                Just after the start, we came down a big hill behind the courthouse, and had a great view of the sea of runners and the river.  First few miles were nice, although I needed to pee almost immediately, even though I had just gone before we left the station.  Passed up the first stop, but couldn't pass up the one at mile 3.  The line was SLOW, so that little detour appears to have cost us about 8 minutes.  From there, we continued on, and shifted to our modified run/walk strategy....walking the big uphills and running as much as we could of the rest.  We played cat and mouse with the 2:40 pace guy, and he encouraged us with shouts of "accountants rock".  We were both wearing bright yellow/green shirts with "Accountants In Motion" on the back, and apparently there were a few more of us bean counters out there who liked those.  Enjoyed slapping hands someone dressed as a cow, and making mooing sounds because....well....the sign told us to. 

                 

                Mile 10 is a big downhill, and was our fastest mile (probably a mistake in retrospect).  Then about mile 11, I heard someone behind me saying "hey Carol!".  It was an old friend and volleyball teammate from high school.  I've seen her all of once in the last 25 years, but had caught up with her on Facebook.  So we chatted a bit, and followed her rule of "must run across all bridges". The fastest of the full marathoners started passing us by this time, which is one of my favorite parts....watching them float by and look so effortless.  But by that point, the wheels had started to fall off for me, and my right knee was not cooperating.  Pain with every step.  So lots of walking/limping in the last couple of miles. I tried to get my friend to go on ahead, but she hung with me.  My old HS buddy went on ahead a bit.  As we neared the finish, we saw my hubby snapping pictures, and managed to be shuffling/jogging as we crossed the finish, and claimed our pretty purple finisher's medals and finishers shirts.  Grabbed some snacks, and 1/2 a light beer in the beer line.

                 

                All in all a very good day with really ideal weather, good friends, awesome support from our hubbies and good times.  Finish time was 2:47, which is pretty close to my guesstimate of 2:45, and about as good as I could hope for based on starting with virtually no base 6 weeks ago, and lingering in the port-a-potty line at mile 3.  I can still feel the knee, but I don't think it's going to be a long term thing, which makes me feel like a total wimp for limping through those last couple miles.  Guessing the big faster downhill in mile 10 is what did me in on that.  

                 

                The true miracle of the day was that my blood sugar was ROCK STEADY throughout.  I tested along the way about 4 times, the readings were all within 5 points of each other, and I didn't have consume anything other than water the whole time.  That has NEVER happened.  Usually things are very unpredictable for me on race days due to the adrenaline/excitement.  But having friends praying and wishing me the best, chilling out inside before the start, and just not taking anything too seriously really helped with that this year.  Thanks to all of you for your support.  Your words of encouragement were playing through my head the whole way!

                Progress Trumps Pefection


                Queen of 3rd Place

                  Carol - that was an AWESOME race for you! So funny about the mooing - bet it boosted your spirits to see your HS friend, too. Interesting how your mood/excitement level may have affected the blood sugar. Also, I know what you mean about the downhill messing with the knees - I think that's a quadriceps strength issue.

                   

                  Leslie - our favorite ultra runner and ultra TRAVEL gal! Hope you're recovering well today. 

                   

                  Ev - nice long run.

                   

                  Woke up this am to a cute pair of mallards in the pool. Snapped some pics then shooed them off, they're cute but I really don't want duck poop everywhere, and I assume the chlorine isn't great for them.

                   

                  Big week this week, 20-miler before LA marathon. C'mon, legs!

                   

                  Arla

                  Ex runner

                    Carol - Congratulations on both the race and your blood sugars staying in line.  Way to go!  Sorry 'bout the knee, but hopefully it'll straight up and fly right from this point on.

                     

                    Arla - Don't forget to post pics of the mallards.   And good luck with your 20-miler this weekend.

                     

                    Had what has to be one of my top 3 fastest 5 miles this a.m., if not the fastest - 47:36.  And I felt really good the whole time.  Schedule said to just run (no speed work, hills), and that's what I did.  There was an equal amount inclines and declines (nothing really major), so it wasn't that I had a lot of downhill to run.

                     

                    Okay - Gotta get back to work.  Lunch time is over!

                    Leslie
                    Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain
                    -------------

                    Trail Runner Nation

                    Sally McCrae-Choose Strong

                    Bare Performance

                     

                      Carol, great race report. You have the best attitude and giving personality of anyone I know.......you're so sweet, heck and I've never even met you. Congrats to you on your race AND your blood sugar!

                       

                      Fingers crossed your legs do fine for your 20 miler Arla, when is the L.A. marathon?

                       

                      Darn Leslie, that is pretty smokin' fast, really! Nice.....

                       

                      What a $hitty day at work today, I get an email from one of my bosses and he tells me that if I plan on staying after 5 p.m. on any given day that I should be doing something productive that produces revenue and to save my regular work for work hours (9-5). What the hell is wrong with him? Really ticked me off......I immediately emailed him back and said, "well then, I guess I'll be leaving promptly at 5 then." The email was from Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Guess he was bored at home and decided to send me an email. Odd I tell ya, very odd!

                       

                      Jewels

                      But in the end, I'm more afraid of not trying, than failing. JJJessee


                      jfa

                        Carol- Nice Race! Good for you that you had a fine time. After all ,that's what we're in this for.

                         

                        Arla- where's the 20 taking place, Death Valley? I'm sure you will nail it.

                         

                        Nice LR Ev. You're looking real good for your upcoming race.

                         

                        Fast 5 Leslie. Sometimes things just all come together and click nicely.

                         

                        Jewels- sounds like a frustrated or whacked boss there. I wish you well with that.

                         

                        Kind of missing watching the Olympics now, but the upside is I'll get to bed earlier. All the way up to mid 40"s this week so spring is in the air !

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                        stumpy77


                        Trails are hard!

                          just discovered carol's RR on the way to bed.  Sorry, but 5:30 elliptical has precedence  more tomorrow

                           

                          night all

                          Need a fast half for late fall.  Then I need to actually train for it.

                           

                            Jewels - What the heck does that mean??  I love it though - leave promptly at 5:00, see ya later, I'm gone.

                             

                            Bought "Born to Run" this weekend and read about half it in the airport and on airplanes yesterday.  Made me itchy for another trail run.  However, the author's description of the American River 50-Mile Endurance Run had me clenching my butt cheeks a bit.  Keeping my fingers crossed he was exaggerating a little bit.

                            Leslie
                            Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain
                            -------------

                            Trail Runner Nation

                            Sally McCrae-Choose Strong

                            Bare Performance

                             

                                Enjoyed slapping hands someone dressed as a cow, and making mooing sounds because....well....the sign told us to.   

                               

                              Well....it is Cowtown, after all. 

                               

                              Congratulations Carol!

                              Quit being so damn serious! When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. "Ya just gotta let it go." OM

                                Thanks for your kind words everyone! 

                                 

                                Arla, you doing your 20 this weekend or just between classes Wink?  You are right on about the weak quads.  Quads and knee were the only things that have been sore after the race.

                                 

                                Leslie, nice fast 5 miler for you!  You need to do a 10K sometime.  Betting you might be able to pick up an AG award. 

                                 

                                Jewels, what IS up with that boss?!  What a carpy way to address something like that.  I don't think people realize how demotivating an e-mail like that can be.  Makes me want to come down there and show him just how not nice I can be  

                                 

                                Joe, what's on your and Buddy's agenda these days?

                                 

                                Stumpy, I totally understand.  If you don't stick to a schedule, life will happen all over your workouts!

                                 

                                Ev, I just knew you would understand about the mooing Smile

                                 

                                Did Jim head for the mountains or is he already off to palm springs?

                                 

                                Hey Cindy, hope your having a good week!   

                                 

                                I'm considering taking one more semi-rest day.  Did a round of yard work on Sunday, nothing (but work) yesterday, and now it's all sunshiny outside, so thinking of ditching my planned swim in favor of trimming the crepe myrtles, which will be a workout in itself. 

                                Progress Trumps Pefection
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