Track Me In The Pig!

I'm doing a terrible job of posting about how little activity I've done this week, how much I've eaten to celebrate Pig Out Week (created by me), how many fingernails I've destroyed because I'm flipping nervous, and how incredibly freaked out and scared I am.

But, I'll get to that some more this weekend. I anticipate spending a great deal of time on the couch tomorrow and post-race Sunday. Enter blogging.

In the meantime, please sign up to receive email or text updates on my Flying Pig Marathon (half) progress on Sunday. You can sign up now here. Chose either email or text, and either "at the finish line" or "all available timing locations." I recommend at least a finish line alert so you can be sure I actually made it across the finish line.

Fernside Fundraising update: there was just over $60 in the piggy bank I kept at work. Thanks to my wonderful coworkers for making my fundraising effort so incredibly successful. Full count coming soon!

This Is What Prepared Looks Like

Okay, now I'm ready. Scared but ready.




Bring on the Flying Pig!


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White Legs, Purple Shoes

I know I haven't posted much lately about my regular runs. It's just that they've become so ordinarily that I don't think much of them, nor do I think them worthy of talking about. But really, the normal-ness of running PERIOD is a pretty extraordinary phenomenon in itself, isn't it? It's like I let this milestone kind of pass me by, the sneaky little devil.

I run two to three times a week and it's "no big deal." Wicked.

So let me give a little ordinary-ness update.

My Mizunos died. I think they were feeling pretty ill before the Rat Race 10K, and that sucker pretty much put the nail in the coffin. I tried to put them on for a run yesterday and they pretty much made my ankle roll out. No good. Especially considering my history with ankles. I think I need to stay away from overly-cushioned shoes from now on. I just beat them in too quickly and they become almost bad for me to wear, making my ankles turn and hurt.

I bought a new pair of shoes today at Nordstrom Rack. They were cheap, they're rather hard- and thin-soled, and they are a heinous shade of purple, which highlights the whiteness of my legs quite nicely, don't you think?




The bottoms of my feet burned a little on tonight's run, but not differently than any other time I've run in new shoes, so I think I'll give them some more tries. Hopefully they're broken in before the Pig.

I bought some running shorts. It's shorts season! (Yay white legs! See above.) I really wanted a running skirt, but they were $60 and the shorts were $20. Tough choice. Skirt later, maybe.

I just did a 3-mile workout following yesterday's 3-mile workout. Tonight I ran the first two miles without stopping, then added a few very short walk breaks to the third mile. Oh, and the best part? I totally ran a negative split from mile 1 to mile 2! Sweet! Here are my stats.




Going to try 6-ish miles this weekend then go cold-turkey pre-Pig. Well I'm going to walk and do some stretches, but that's it.

Have I mentioned I'm terrified of the Pig? I'm going to die, I know it. Please play "Running on Empty" at my post-Pig funeral. K, thanks.


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There Should Be An Award For Last Place

Unfortunately, Blogger has been a HUGE pain for the last two days and won't let me upload my photos (thus me posting this a day later than I promised). I thought I'd go ahead and post this without pictures and do a picture post later when I can actually get them loaded.

grumble grumble stupid technology grumble

There should be an award for last place.

I really do believe that. It takes a special person to finish last. It takes a special attitude to not quit in a last-ditch effort to avoid being last. "Oh, I didn't finish ... I just didn't feel right so I dropped out."

No, no, no ... a last place finisher deserves as much attention as a first place finisher. Yeah, maybe the last place finisher crosses that finish line when the awards ceremony is already halfway over, but that doesn't mean the whole crowd shouldn't turn around and applaud, and maybe--maybe they're chanting the last-place finisher's name.

Beckey!
Beckey!
Beckey!
Beckey!

"Ladies and gentlemen, please turn your attention away from Mr. Meb Keflezighi and toward the finish line. We are about to welcome the esteemed Ms. More-to-Love Beckey to our party. Let's cheer her on as she crosses the finish line at an astonishing 1:28:07 in 250th place out of 250 runners in today's 10K race."

(The crowd goes wild. Meb looks confused, but slowly joins in the clapping.)

I'm not going to say either way, but this scenario may or may not have been playing in my head for the last mile of Saturday's Rat Race 10K. So Meb wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure I was dying and I desperately needed something to keep me going. Granted, the fact that Caitlin told all the volunteers along the course for the final 3 miles to cheer me on did help a little, Okay, a lot. I still needed more. I was wiped out. My shin muscles wouldn't flex to bring my feet up off the ground, I was wet and cold and hot all at the same time, my lungs couldn't possibly take in any more air. The cheering crowd was all I had--er--I mean, all I might have had, had that daydream actually been playing in my head.

Yeah.

So, in case you haven't gathered by now, I finished this past Saturday's Rat Race 10K in ...

Wait for it ...

LAST PLACE

And frankly, I don't know that I've ever felt better about a finish. I've never felt like I left everything I had on the course. I never felt happier to cross the finish line after a run that didn't want to end. I never felt like I had just accomplished something truly not many people do.

I never wanted a hot dog more. Well, unless you count that time I was a vegetarian for 5 months... (photographic evidence forthcoming)

I had more individual attention in that race than I've ever had in a 10K, and not the creepy kind of attention. I'm talking about ...

• The volunteers who were happy to see me pass because it meant they could pack up and go
• The rest of the 10K runners who had already gotten to the turnaround and gave me words of encouragement when they discovered that they weren't last (something I kept reminding them of as they passed me:"Congrats! You're not last!")
  
• The idiots who were standing on the path or walking backwards through the finish archway who realized what they were doing when they saw me barreling (right...try trudging) toward them and when my mom yelled at them, "Ah, come on people!"
• My mom at the finish line with the camera
• And Caitlin, having crossed the line more than 2 minutes earlier, circling back around to watch me finish

(I like the last two best.)

=)

Anyway, it wasn't a bad run. It was freezing and raining the whole time, we didn't have time to warm up, we were amongst a group of rather serious runners (all the casual runners were smart enough to do the 5K), and my shins froze up almost immediately. But we did have gummy bears in our pockets for mid-race energy boosts (seemed to work for me!), and I clocked a 14:17/mile pace and beat the time of last year's last place finisher.

While it was definitely difficult and painful, I'm definitely glad I did it and I can see myself trying maybe 1 of these each year ... though now I'm considering the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race (a 10K). (If I continue to consider that 10K, please make sure I remember the discomfort I felt the evening after the Rat Race, along with the day after that and the terrible post-race run the Monday following. Thanks.)

Extra special thank you's to Caitlin for picking this run out for us and for doing such a kick-ass job (this girl and her super strong finishes is meant for marathons, folks) and, of course, to my mom; she had the option of going or not, but despite the cold and rain, she put on my pink rain tarp (jacket) and played photographer for us. Thank you!

Up next, smushing some runs in before the Flying Pig (Half) Marathon on May 1. I'm pretty sure that one is going to kill me.

Oh, and some news ... I had planned on beginning Cincinnati Adventure Fitness Bootcamp for Women this coming Monday. Thanks to flexibility from the ABC folks and the advice of some wise friends, I've decided to delay camp for a month to make way for the Pig.

******

Fernside fundraising update: $531

Whoa! A Fernside Fundraising Update

Consider me blown away.

I've just completed my second bake sale at work to benefit Fernside in my Flying Pig (Half) Marathon fundraising efforts and I'm happy to report ...

I broke another goal!

My generous family and coworkers have helped me to raise $506 for Fernside!

Amazing!

The best part is there's still time to donate if you'd like to. I'll be collecting until Friday, April 29. I can take cash and checks (made out to Fernside). Please let me know if you would like to contribute and I'll let you know where to mail or drop off the money.

Links:
Fernside: A Center for Grieving Children
Flying Pig Marathon
My original blog post about Fernside Fundraising

*******************

Hey folks, sorry for the delay in posting an update about the Rat Race 10K. I'll post tomorrow. (I'd give you a spoiler, but, well, that'd spoil it!)

This Is What Freaking Out Looks Like

Hi.

Hello.

I'm running a 10K in two days.

I'm running ... a 10K ... in two days.

TWO DAYS! 10K!

Oh ... oh yeah ...

And then 15 days after that ...

I'm running a FREAKING half marathon!

AAAAAaaaHHHHhhhhHHHHhhhhHHH!!!


Thank you for your time.
Please check back for more freaking out over the next two weeks.


FERNSIDE REMINDER!
I'm still collecting donations for Team Fernside. I'm hoping to bring in at LEAST $100 more this Monday when I sell my red velvet cupcakes at work.

Links:
10K = 10th annual Cincinnati Rat Race
Half marathon = Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon
Fernside = Link to Fernside's website
Team Fernside Fundraising = read about my fundraising here
(though I don't need as much personal contact info as I mentioned in that post)

Blog Update From The Road

I had every intention of giving you all a brief update on my ride to Chicago yesterday, but it turns out my car-sickness is just as prominent as it's always been and I knew I'd be miserable if I tried to type something on my trusty iPhone.

So yes, I'm Chicago for my friend Anne's bachelorette party. I had considered bringing my running gear for a Saturday morning run (considering I'm almost always the first to wake up in a strange place), but I opted out.

I opted wrong.

Turns out Anne and one of her maids of honor were planning a 4-mile jaunt this morning. Granted, there's no way I would have been able to keep up with them since I'm such a penguin (slow runner). But I could have taken my own route. It's overcast and slightly cool here today and my legs feel like they're spring-loaded after the long car ride yesterday.

I'm going to play the blame game and pin this one on my BBW nature; if I didn't have to use very specific, heavy-duty equipment to strap my "girls" down, I could have improvised and hit the pavement.

Alas, no go. I probably could still take a walk...hmmm...

Anyway, I got 1.5 runs in this week. Caitlin and I cut the first one short because of a bit of a knee mishap for Caitlin. It's all good though, because I ran a really nice mile without stopping and clocked something like 13:40. That's not exactly fast, but it included a shoelace stop and something similar to a sand trap. (I had to bulldoze my way through a herd of soccer parents who decided it was a brilliant idea to block the ENTIRE pathway. Genius.)

Anyway, I went out the next day and had a bit of a rough time. My legs were stiff and generally not cooperative. Boooo!

And now I'm entering the days of increasing panic as we get closer to the Pig. I'm terrified. I'm even scared of the Rat Race 10k this coming weekend. Ugh...

Anyway, fundraising update...

I sold my carrot cake cupcakes at work to raise funds for Fernside (and awareness) and pulled in some serious dough. I've smashed my $300 goal by about $30. Woohoo! So I think I need to up my goal, or just see what I can do.

Would you like to donate? Let me know! I don't need all your contact info like I initially said I do. Just contact me and I'll let you know how you can give. Thanks!


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30 Miles in 30 Days: COMPLETE!

Yay! I did it! After running 4 miles with Caitlin this morning on the Five Mile Trail, I completed 30 miles within 30 days, the Spring Into Fitness Run Challenge through MapMyRun.com.

Good run today. Took us 58 minutes and includes some grueling hills, but we did great. Caitlin finished stronger than I did and kicked the final hill's butt, big time. Good job, Caitlin!

Now, on to training for the 10K and half Pig. No biggie ...