Category Archives: Humor

Shirts so good: part three

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 21 comments

It’s that time again, otherwise known as “I keep forgetting to take photos of all the race shirts, so now I have enough to make another gallery.” The collection keeps growing. I like the shirts from the Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon & 5K, the Stowe 8 Miler and the Providence Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon for an obvious reason: they fit! Also, the Marcia Lemkin 5K, even though it doesn’t look too flash, is a yellow fluorescent tee from Brooks; night running, here I come. Maybe.

But my absolute favorite from this stash, which could well turn out to be my all-time favorite, is the Shark Weekend tank top. Why don’t more summer runs give these out?

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Posted in Fitness, Humor, Running, The shirt collection

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 37: Rock ’n’ roll ’n’ run ’n’ relay

Posted on August 27, 2012 | 27 comments

Rock N Roll Half MarathonRelays, where have you been all my life? I can’t believe this hadn’t occurred to me before: I can get the T-shirt, the medal, and the beer, and I don’t have to run the whole way! Genius.

I experienced this fabulousness first-hand last weekend at the Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon in Providence, Rhode Island. I wasn’t keen on doing another half so soon after the SeaWheeze, so Hubby and I signed up to run the two-person relay. In keeping with the rock ’n’ roll theme, we declared that we would tackle this race in jorts.

Rock n Roll Providence Half-Marathon

Rock ‘n’ finish (uphill) in downtown Providence.

Yes, you read that right. Jorts. We had been looking for the perfect run to send some denim love the way of Jill at JoggingJeans.com, running blogger nonpareil, and this was clearly it. Also, we’re not very rock ’n’ roll, so we needed all the help we could get. The situation clearly called for cut-off jeans.

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Humor, Running, Sports

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 36: Too much fun to be a run

Posted on August 21, 2012 | 22 comments

I barely had time to recover from the SeaWheeze Half before being plunged back into the realm of teeny shorts, at Harborthon 5K on Boston’s Long Island. We frequented this event last year, but I was a mere spectator (which, granted, meant a lot more beer). This year, I was legitimate, although a part of me longed for the good old days of lawn slacking.

This run really has no business being called a run at all. It’s a massive outdoor party that happens to have a 5K in the middle of it.

Harborthon 5K

The scene: Boston’s Long Island.

Harborthon supports Camp Harbor View, which was created in 2007 by Boston’s mayor and a local businessman to provide an affordable summer camp for at-risk inner-city kids. It’s a remarkable setting, with great facilities, a beach, a baseball diamond, and gorgeous views of the city. The camp also offers year-round programming and social service support. All in all, an excellent reason for a run.

Harborthon 5K

The view!

There’s customarily no public access to Long Island, so the race organizers put together an elaborate system of buses and ferries to get us to where we needed to be. We chilled while the rest of the runners arrived in installments, soaking up the pre-entertainment, the lovely view, and the warm night air. All we needed was beer and food. But no, someone thought it was a good idea to make us run three miles for it. Geez.

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Fitness, Humor, Running

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 35: SeaWheeze recap, aka, does this half-marathon make my butt look big?

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 47 comments

It took no less than Lululemon to get me to run my first half-marathon. I guess I was going to have to do one eventually, but I probably would have put it off a while longer had the prospect of running among the Lulu faithful in lovely Vancouver not presented itself.

I forgot, however, that the “Lulu faithful” means predominantly 20-somethings with perfect yoga bodies. And this event brought them all together. Way to make a girl feel as though she doesn’t work out enough. Even though I, um, don’t work out enough. (This fact presented itself at mile 10, but more on that soon.) Oh, and speaking of girls, there were six of us for every guy at the SeaWheeze. Somehow, I don’t think the boys were troubled by it …

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half-Marathon

There were no bibs to sully all the fancy run wear. Instead, we had wristbands and a timing chip for our shoes. The chip featured a picture of Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon. We’re convinced he founded the company for this very reason.

This run was two things. It was a brilliantly organized event (and I’m not saying that because I am currently overwhelmed by brightly colored stretchy fabric), and it was physically the toughest thing I have ever done. It was also the 35th run in my 52 Weeks, 52 Runs challenge. OK, I guess that’s three things.

I wasn’t really sure how to approach the race. If I had been more consistent in my training I probably would have had a sense of how fast I could go out and how my stamina would hold up. But I had never run longer than eight miles, so I pretty much had to wing it. Next time, I’ll be better prepared.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half-Marathon

The start line was under a giant piece of watermelon. Sticky. How did I manage to capture two people not wearing Lululemon?

Thankfully, it started early (7.30), and Vancouver turned on a magnificent day for us. Sunny but not searing, with a lovely breeze along the water. After the past few months of insanely hot runs in New England, this was a rare treat. Or maybe I’m just – shock – getting used to it.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half-Marathon

Lots of sea exposure.

When you’ve gotta go …

I began quite slowly, hovering around 12 minutes per mile. I figured if I could keep up that pace for the full 13.1, I’d be very happy. (I walked the Mad Half at a 13.50.) Then at mile three, semi-disaster! I had to, er, go. There was a line-up, and it cost me a good four minutes. Four minutes!

Once I recovered from this unsettling diversion and got back on track, I felt decent. I got through the first 10K in about 1.18. Not bad for me. There were unexpected hills though, so I walked a chunk of it. But at least I wasn’t bothered by the heat. (There’s a first time for everything.)

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Posted in 52 Weeks, 52 Runs, Fitness, Humor, Running

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I’m about to run the SeaWheeze half-marathon. No, really …

Posted on August 10, 2012 | 13 comments

Don’t worry, it’s making me laugh too.

We arrived in Vancouver this morning for the SeaWheeze Lululemon half-marathon (my first half as a runner!) after a three-hour delay late last night in Boston followed by an early-morning delay in Toronto that involved us getting off one plane and on to another. Now I feel like I have jet lag, even though I don’t actually have jet lag. Not a good start.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half

Goodie bag.

Still, nothing like lovely, temperate (wooo) Vancouver and a Lululemon-themed race expo to cheer you up. I’m partially convinced that now the Lulu overlords have cleverly gathered all the fanatics in one place, they are going to round us up and transport us to a remote Canadian compound where we will be forced to power small countries by running on treadmills and performing hot yoga all day long.

Heaven help the person who shows up tomorrow not wearing Lululemon.

… and they were never heard from again …

Anyway, today we picked up our wristbands (instead of bibs), and lined up to get into the expo so we could buy stuff and line up some more to pay for it. We had received our training shorts in the mail a few months back – which of course I used many, many times* – so there wasn’t a SeaWheeze branded T-shirt. That made me a bit sad. I clearly don’t need a T-shirt, but still, sad.

We did, however, each get a pair of flip-flops by Native Shoes that are very cool.

SeaWheeze Lululemon Half flip-flops

Fish-flops!

The Lulus have clearly put a lot into this event. There was yoga going on outside the convention center, folks giving runners massages, and a dude giving a talk on race nutrition. Tomorrow, we’ll be fed brunch, and then entertained by fun., the band that’s so trendy it needs a period after its name and doesn’t believe in capital letters.

SeaWheeze

Getting ready for hot yoga.

SeaWheeze

Massages, and whale watching.

However, there is one thing hanging over all this festiveness.

It’s my fault, but I’m really not ready for this.

So with that in mind, my goals are simple: finish, and run as often as I can. If I do both of those things, I’ll be thrilled.

Wish me luck!

* May not have used them many, many times.

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