Tag Archives: road race

52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 23: Runniversary to remember

Posted on May 31, 2012 | 33 comments

It occurred to me halfway through my five-miler at Boston’s Run to Remember on Sunday that it is my one-year runniversary. On May 28, 2011, I ran the Chick fil-A 5K in Newport News, Va., after Hubby signed me up on a whim (there were fuzzy cows involved). Prior to that, I hadn’t run since high school. My sports teacher would likely say I never “ran” at all.

I would like to think that this inaugural 5K sparked in me a deep love and passion for the sport and uncovered an innate athletic talent waiting to be nurtured …

It didn’t do that.

What it did do was plunge me into a brave new world of weekend runcations, early starts, thermal tights, bibs, T-shirts, medals, coconut water, run snobs, compression socks, hills, GPS watches, chia seeds, beer, and weird granola bars. It gave me a physical challenge greater than anything I could have envisioned. It also inspired me to write this blog.

Boston's Run to Remember

Boston’s Run to Remember from above on a glorious Memorial Day weekend. The half-marathoners are coming in on the right.

Running will always be a struggle for me, thanks to my loser asthmatic lungs, but I am getting better. A year ago I could barely run a block. Today I can do 10 kilometers. It’s not pretty, and sometimes (OK all the time) I scowl and swear, and occasionally I want to ditch the whole thing (my 5K to Couch program), but I can do it.

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 21: What? You mean running a 5K in under 30 minutes is not the most important thing in the world?

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 16 comments

I declared last week that perhaps running and I needed some space. Things were getting a bit rocky – and not the fist-pumping, Eye of the Tiger kind. You would think this realization would be reason enough for me to take a weekend off, use the time to decide what I really want out of the relationship. Running, maybe I’m just not that into you.

Instead, I decided to do two 5Ks.

Of course I did.

Brian K. Betts Foundation

The Washington Monument looks over West Potomac Park in Washington, DC, the setting for the Brian K. Betts Foundation 5K.

The first, the Brian K. Betts 5K, in Washington, DC, was one of those events, though, where the cause really transcended the run. One of the things I love about these smaller 5Ks is that sometimes they shed light on a person or a charity I never would otherwise have heard of. And while I love to make jokes about free beer and T-shirts and all the things that running gives me, I much prefer it when I know my entry fee is going somewhere truly worthwhile.

In this case it was the Brian K. Betts Foundation. Betts was the principal of a troubled Washington school, and by all accounts a “rising star” in the DC system. His mantra for students was “I will not let you be average,” which I love. He was fatally shot in his home in April 2010. The foundation in his name promotes academic excellence and educational enrichment for students and faculty.

Brian K. Betts Foundation

Lovely morning run along the Potomac.

This was clearly so much bigger than me and whether or not I ever manage to run a sub-30-minute 5K …

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 20: On the rocks

Posted on May 16, 2012 | 31 comments

My relationship with running is on shaky ground this week. We are just not moving forward as a couple. I mean, we are moving forward, but not moving forward, if you know what I mean.

As much as I’d like to blame running for this situation, I know it’s mostly my fault. If I’m not willing to put in real, sustained effort, how can I expect us to develop and grow? But surely running has to shoulder some of the responsibility. If it weren’t so difficult, and if it didn’t make my lungs so angry, and my legs so burny, and my face so red, perhaps I’d be more willing to spend more time sorting through our issues. I’m starting to think maybe we need a temporary separation. Or therapy …

In case you couldn’t tell, I had a bad run this weekend.

Margaritas 5K

Runners as far as the eye can see at the Margaritas 5K in Exeter, N.H.

Margaritas 5K

The aftermath.

It wasn’t my worst time. It wasn’t my hilliest race. But I just felt lousy. And when a run called Margaritas 5K doesn’t make me happy … well, all hope is lost. My first run with a hard-liquor theme, and look what happens.

This was part of the Loco Will Run for Beer series, so naturally the event was fabulous. (Thankfully, it didn’t reflect my lackluster performance.) The only hitch came as we were lining up for our gratis drink at the end and were informed we all needed ID. You could gauge my mood at that point by the fact that I wasn’t willing to schlep back to the car to get it. It takes a lot to make me give up on free booze.

The run itself went something like this: run/stop to tie shoelace/run/walk/run/walk/walk/run/curse/run/take inhaler/run/walk/water stop/run/walk/curse/run/walk/give death stare to hubby who came to run me in/walk/run across the finish line/grimace at photographer.

Not my finest half-hour.

It was exceptionally warm though, the warmest run of the season so far. It became clear that transitioning back to hotter weather is going to be tough. I am going to put my lack of skills down to that, and not to the fact that I am heading for a break-up. Because that would be sad.

Twenty runs down, 32 to go. It’s a long, exceptionally sweaty road ahead.

Margaritas 5KThe event: Margaritas 5K
The location: Exeter, N.H.
The date: May 13, 2012
My time: 33.58 (pace: 10.58)
Hubby’s time: 21.27 (pace: 6.55)
The cause: Exeter High School track and cross-country programs
The T-shirt: Blue cotton short-sleeved
The aftermath: Chicken burritos from Margaritas. Yum! There may have been other bits and pieces, but we were too focused on the burritos.

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 19: Strengthening the corps

Posted on May 7, 2012 | 16 comments

Last week, despite my race containing many, many hills (on which I will say no more), I somehow managed to get absurdly close to running a 5K in less than 30 minutes. I am partially convinced the race clock was wrong (seriously, if you had seen me trudging along, cursing the asphalt and the trees and the clouds and … well, everything, really … you’d be doubting the veracity of the timing instruments too). But the official results say I was three seconds away from this milestone, so who am I to argue?

Hell, I thought, If I can do that well in the presence of many, many hills, just think what I can do in their absence. In your face, 30 minutes! Next time you see me I’ll be relaxing with a cold one and basking in the post-race glow …

Which brings me to this week’s run, the Boston Marine Corps Honor Run 5K at Carson Beach, No. 19 in my 52 Weeks, 52 Runs challenge.

Boston Marine Corps Honor Run

Prepping the start.

This run had huge potential. The website said so:

“This is the flattest and fastest course you will find in the Boston area. Perfect for beginner runners or for experienced runners looking for a PR!”

Huge potential. I am not really a beginner, nor am I experienced. Rather, I like to consider myself an experienced beginner. And I was definitely looking for a PR. Perfect …

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52 Weeks, 52 Runs. No. 18: By George!

Posted on May 2, 2012 | 26 comments

Since I started running last year, I’ve packed in a lot of races. So many, in fact, that you’d think one thing would be painfully obvious to me by now: There. Will. Be. Hills. I figure the fact that hills continue to elicit from me such breathless rage either means I have some unresolved hill-related issues from my past or I really need to take an anger-management course.

Looking back through some of my recent posts, I’ve noticed a pervasive “hills = evil” theme. And while they are evil, all this complaining has made me concerned that I’m turning into Stride and Killjoy.

To that end, I have decided to issue a moratorium on hilly rants. Although, this doesn’t apply if a hill is a) unnaturally steep or b) occurs at a particularly inopportune place in a run, such as right at the freaking end. Which brings me to this week’s event, the Lake George Half Marathon and 5K, No. 18 in my 52 Weeks, 52 Runs challenge.

Lake George Half Marathon and 5K

Lovely Lake George on a chilly – but thankfully still – Sunday morning.

I love how the most idyllic settings have produced, for me, some of the most challenging runs. Salisbury Beach, MA; Riverside Park in NYC, the covered bridge in Henniker, NH, and, now, Lake George, NY.

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