It's Official

As of yesterday, it is official.  I am forty.  Do I feel any older?  Nope.  In fact, I feel pretty amazing, especially after a great weekend celebrating with so many dear friends.

I kicked things off on Friday evening by having an early dinner with Jeffrey then heading out to Hickory Alive for some live music from one of my favorite bands, Baby Black.  The cool thing about Hickory Alive is that it is like a mini-reunion, I get to see and catch up with folks I haven't seen in a while.

Saturday morning I went for my very first trail run to help prepare for my July race, which is the Xterra Harbison Half Marathon Trail Run.  It was just me, the squirrels (there were so many squirrels!), and two runners who were obviously not trail runners.  I chose Riverbend Park, which I for some reason had convinced myself was flat.  For the record, it is NOT flat.  Trail running is a whole different animal.  What have I gotten myself into this time?

After my tough & sweaty run, I rinsed off and headed to Britter's pool for the day.  I was much smarter about sunscreen application this week (still a bit red from LAST week's pool day) and wore a hat to protect my face.  We had a relaxing day floating around with some good tunes. 

While getting ready to hit the big H-Town, I found myself singing "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark", so I decided to turn on the radio.  Guess what song was just starting.  Yep – it was Fall Out Boy!  Do we really need any more evidence that I am Vader?  The force was strong in me this weekend. So, light ‘em up, up, up . . .

Britt and I settle into the back of Mumbai cab headed to dinner

Finally, it was time for the main event.  The Mumbai cab picked us up, and Jeff, Z, Britt, and I headed to Youssef 242 for appetizers and a pre-dinner drink.  We were then joined by a few dozen of my closest friends for a fantastic dinner.  The food and staff were amazing.  I cannot thank Youssef enough for being willing to accommodate our group.  If you have not been, you should definitely go.  Not from Hickory, well, it's not the end of the earth!  Come visit, yo!

After dinner, we stopped by Alessio as a way point before heading to the new dance club, Club Blū to get our dance dance on.  The club was ok, but there really aren't many options for dancing in Hickory.  The cool part was that I talked our way into the VIP area.  Told ya - Vader.  (Hand wave) You WILL provide us with the VIP section and a bouncer to keep away the riff raff.  BOOM!

After the super-active festivities of Saturday, I was ready to bring it down a notch on Sunday.  Anna & Britt came to pick me up and we headed to Rock Barn to enjoy a spa day.  We had lunch and pineapple mimosas and floated around the mineral pools until our massage appointments.  Then, we floated away the afternoon. 

I finished the day with trip to Sweet Frog with Anna-banana.  Now, I need to pull myself together and focus so that I can survive the remaining six half marathons for this year.

PS - If you are reading this, whether I got to see you in person or not, thanks for being part of my Fabulous Forty journey.  I am very fortunate to have so many great friends and family members spread out all over the world.  Thanks for being there.

Nashville Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon in Review

Fourth Stop:  Nashville, TN

This was our first visit to Nashville.  I’ll be honest, as someone with absolutely no love for country music, this has not been high up on my list of cities to visit.

Our first stop was to head downtown for the race Expo.  The downtown area was very much what I expected.  It was congested, touristy, and gaudy.  There were large neon honky-tonk signs everywhere.  It felt like gridlock of both auto and pedestrian traffic.  I did not find this appealing at all, but most of the people in our group found it thrilling and could not wait to come back the night after the race.

Ready to carb up Nashville style

Aside from the downtown honky-tonk zone, the other areas of Nashville that I witnessed during the run and near our hotel seemed very nice.  Jeff and I declined the boot-scootin’ excursion after the race, choosing instead a nice little Irish pub near our restaurant.  We enjoyed our time in Nashville, but I see no need to hurry back, unless it is to revisit the race itself.

Can you teach me how to boot scoot?

Race Review:  St. Jude Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon

I have to start with a disclaimer that our experience of this race was colored by the weather.  This was without a doubt the rainiest race experience in our running career.  It rained continuously, and most of the time heavily, from the time we were dropped off an hour before the first wave start until I crossed the finish line (when it suddenly stopped raining).

Despite the rain, there was great course support from the race organizers and the spectators.  I would like to go back and try it again without the rain to get the true experience of this race.

This was the second stop in the Rock & Roll Race Series using our 2013 Tour Pass.  As I’ve previously mentioned, these are some really well-managed races.  Some of the usual perks played out a little differently because  of the rain; there was recorded music playing rather than the bands whose equipment would be ruined and the finish-line was less of a party atmosphere because who wants to party in the rain?  Of course there was the usual awesome expo, really nice race shirts and the true wave start.  The true wave start that I love so much . . . slightly less fun when waiting for almost an hour in a torrential downpour.  Again, not something the race organizers can control.

The good:

• Great course – we went through some really neighborhoods and I was left with an appreciation for Nashville that I otherwise would not have
• AWESOME spectators & community involvement – some of us paid money to spend several hours in the rain, others chose to join us on the sidelines with never wavering support and encouragement.  I can only imagine what it would be like if it had not been such an awful day.  Way to show your hometown pride Nashville!
• Fresh towels – shout out to the woman around 6.5 who had her SUV backed up to the road and the big sign that said “Fresh towels,” it felt SO good to be able to dry off my face for little while
• Hot coffee – I have also have to give props to that non-race group who set up a station to offer hot coffee to all of the runners
• The parties – so many homes had what looked like their annual marathon party going on in their front lawn.  Those with canopies partied on through the rain, and shared their joy with us as we went past
• Race staff – I stopped mid-way and got some Biofreeze and Tylenol at a med station.  This is my first med stop during a race.  I don’t know if they are always so nice and committed to getting runners what they needed, but these folks were awesome, right down to opening some bottle water to help me wash the Biofreeze off my hands after application.
• Magic Massage – ok, this has little to do with the race itself, but I discovered them at the Expo.  I had thrown my back out that morning, and this little device made it possible to finish the race.  Were it not for the awesome Expo, they would not have been there.

 

I may be becoming a bit of a race bling whore

The not-so-good:

• The rain – no fault of the organizers, but it was pretty darn miserable.  I did the whole race in a plastic rain poncho. 

As you can see, I really couldn’t find much to criticize about this race that was not related to the rain.  I will repeat – if the race experience was this good WITH the rain, I can only imagine how ridiculously awesome it would be under normal circumstances.

The Home Game

A couple of weeks ago, I completed half marathon #6 of 2013, the Charity Chase Half Marathon.  This is a challenging race, hot & hilly (it IS June in Hickory, NC), but it is our hometown race, so I didn’t want to miss it.  So, I decided to suck it up and just walk the race, despite my poor bruised tailbone.

I am not going to lie.  This was a very tough race.  There was not a time I did not feel my tailbone.  It’s amazing how that works.  You can go your whole life knowing the tailbone is there, but in reality unaware of it until BAM!  You fall several thousand feet and land on it. 

I was worried that I might not finish in the allotted time of four hours.  Luckily, I know most of the race committee and one of them who is a very good friend told me she’d save me a medal and be there at the finish for me no matter how long it took.  Gayle is the same friend who during my very first half marathon ran back out to me with a mile to go and helped encourage me up that last never-ending hill to the finish.  This was after she had completed the entire 31.1 miles herself earlier that morning.  It was also during this same race, the first year of the Charity Chase Half Marathon.

The Charity Chase will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons.  It was not just my first half marathon, as previously mentioned.  It was also the first race in which I was involved in planning.  It started out as The Hickory Jaycees Charity Chase Half Marathon, and I was on the inaugural committee.  In fact, have you seen that cute little logo for the race?  I designed it.  That first year, the race raised money for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, then the fund raising was expanded to include local charitable groups.  The race was spun-off into its own non-profit to give it room to grow, and it has.  I have continued my involvement whether as a volunteer and/or participant every year of the race except for one, when I was in New Orleans for a convention.  This was the 8^th year of The Charity Chase.

Now that's a good looking race logo :)

So, back to this year’s race experience.  As I expected, I started off and maintained a position at the back of the pack, like back with the tail end police cruiser.  This did not bother me, I’ve been there before.  I made some new friends with some ladies from Fayetteville who were doing their first half marathon.  About three miles in, I was unable to keep up with their pace, so I was the lone person in the back.  The edge of the road was banked, so I moved to the sidewalk to provide more stability for my lower back and tailbone.  I don’t know why, but the tail-end officer took this as a sign of surrender (Ha!  He obviously does not know me.)  So, I was kind of on my own for a while, but still on pace to finish in time. 

Fortunately, the course loops back to the finish area, where I let the race staff know that I was still at it and I was going to finish.  This proved to be unnecessary, as I caught back up to the tail end at about the mid-way point.  This time, the ladies could not keep up with me, so I no longer had to worry about being the lone gunman on the course.  This was not because I was moving fast, far from it.  The day was hot, I was in pain, but I was determined to finish.  I actually passed another couple of people around mile 9.  Woot!  (I don’t know why passing someone makes me feel good, but it does.) 

On the last mile, there is one last killer hill before turning to the home stretch.  A young volunteer decided to join me as I plodded up the hill, he kept telling me that I could do it and to keep going.  Finally, I cleared that %$#(*& hill and turned the final corner where I could see someone approaching me from the direction of the finish line.  As I got closer, wouldn’t you know it?  It was my friend Gayle, once again sensing my struggle, who came out to bring me home.  It was not a heroic finish.  I was sagging, dragging, and hobbling to the finish, but I did it and within the time limit.  Oh, and I beat five other people.

I was not the only one to struggle that day.  Jeff and Z also had rough days, but that is their story to tell.  On the positive side, one of our Jaycee friends, Salil set a PR that day.  Also, a new Jaycee friend, Alison finished her very first half marathon.  Way to go, Alison!

That'll do, Pig . . . Pork Chop, Jeffrey the Ham, and Alison, the first-timer

Next month, I will be taking yet another new turn.  My July race will be my first trail run.  I am a bit nervous that this clumsy chick might trip and break her neck.  We’ll see.  Hopefully my still sore tailbone will cooperate.

Lexington Run the Bluegrass - In Review

Third Stop:  Lexington, KY

This was my first trip to Lexington.  My impression is this - they LOVE their horses and bourbon in Kentucky!  Horses & bourbon seemed to be the theme everywhere we went.  My other impression was TRAFFIC!

Again, a quick race weekend does not give much time to make an impression, especially considering our post-race exhaustion due to the brutal nature of the course.  We did, however, find this really cool place to carb up Friday night before the race.  It was a place called Joe Bologna's where they had converted a church into a restaurant, resulting in a pretty cool atmosphere.  

The only other place we really got to experience was Keenland, the location of the race start/finish.  Other than the construction mess getting to Keenland, it was absolutely beautiful.  I am not a horse race fan, but it might be a nice place to visit someday if I am up that way for another reason.

Race Review:  Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon

I originally chose this race as part of the Rock & Roll race series to work toward earning the Rock Legend Heavy Medal.  Sometime after we signed up for the 2013 Tour Pass and registered for the race, the decision was made that this race was better kept as a locally managed event.  They still kept some of the elements of a Rock & Roll Series race (bands on the course, female shirts, etc.), but it definitely was not an R&R event.

They weren't kidding when they said Bluegrass

Here's the skinny . . . 

The good:

"Little" pink houses for you and me

• Peaceful rolling hills through Lexington's farmland - the course was full of beautiful scenery and no traffic.
• Well-managed Expo - big enough to be interesting, but not overwhelming
• Female cut race shirts - they went with a really nice quality Nike tech shirt whose cut is not a fitted as typical women's race shirts
• The band around mile 6 - they were rocking out (not all Bluegrass, yay!) just when I needed a boost
• The most interesting spectators I've ever experienced - where might some horses trot along beside you as you pass their pasture?
• True wave start - the took this straight from the R&R handbook
• Fully closed course - I love the safety!
• Willingness to adjust - there were some traffic/fog issues, so they delayed the start.  I think this was a good call.

Spectators watching those crazy bipeds

The not-so-good:

Welcome to the hill show

• Peaceful rolling hills through Lexington's farmland - OMG!  I don't think there was a flat stretch, ever.  This was a REALLY challenging course.  I would definitely not recommend it for beginners.  And the quiet rural course meant no spectators to cheer you up that hill just when you need it.
• Poor planning for traffic - there was construction on the main road to get to Keenland which resulted in a traffic mess.  We gave ourselves plenty of time, but still would have missed the start if we had not created our own detour.  It seems like race management could have coordinated with the local planning authorities a little better.  Even with the delayed start, there were people who missed the start.  This also created a traffic nightmare to leave the race.  Even for late finishers like me.  Hopefully this was a one-year challenge.
• Finish line management - I did not witness this, but Jeff expressed frustration at the non-race traffic that kept crossing the course in front of runners near the finish.  He said there was no attempt to curtail it at all.  This is a pet peeve of both of ours.

They nailed it

Next review location:  Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon, Nashville, TN

Tomorrow - we hit the Charity Chase!

Twue Wuv

Have you ever had anyone love you so much they paid to have someone push you out of an airplane?

Let me back up.  If you haven't picked up on it, I really like celebrating my birthday.  Last year, I got this crazy idea to celebrate by being active and trying to push my personal boundaries.  Mission accomplished.

Getting to the top of tower was enough of a challenge . . . zip-lining off?  CRAZY!

A group of us went to the National White Water Center where they had many opportunities for me to encounter and attempt to overcome some of my crazy irrational fears (heights, natural bodies of water, heights, white water rapids, and, oh, did I mention heights?).  I am seriously afraid of heights.  I am known for not being able to make it to the top of the look-out towers when we go hiking.  So, how did we start off the day?  We climbed up the tallest tower there and zip lined over the white water course.  We followed that up with some white water rafting, canoeing in the river, another smaller zip line, and what one of our members called "the wienie" ropes course.  I may have freaked out a bit on the wienie course.  It was a great experience, but by the end of the day, my boundaries were pushed out.

Nothing but net.  And harnesses.  And fear.  Lots and lots of fear.

Somewhere during that day a conversation began about sky diving.  I think I may have said something along the lines of, "I'd totally do it as long as I had someone to push me out of the plane!"  Be careful what you say, people. 

Fast forward to almost a year later.  This past weekend, Jeff and I loaded up our car to head to Ohio to visit family and attend a wine festival.  At least I THOUGHT the purpose of our trip was a wine festival.  It turned out there was some conspiring going on.  Nearing midnight on Friday we were discussing our itinerary for the next day when my sister April declares that we need to get up around  6:30am and on the run road no later than 7:30.  What?!?  Knowing that mornings are like Kryptonite to me, Jeff decided to 'fess up that we had an 8:30am appointment to jump out of an airplane.  Apparently, he loves me so much; he had been holding on to that little conversation and plotting to make me put my money where my mouth is.    I thought, "Cool?"  I was too tired to freak out too much at that point. 

I spent most of the morning trying not to think about my impending fall from the sky.  I had plenty of other things to occupy my thoughts, like not losing my breakfast from nerves.  My anxiety level tweaked when I saw the very small, very old-looking plane that would take us to our doom, er, glory?  The plane could only take 2 jumpers and 2 tandem instructors at a time.  After signing away our lives and first born children, going through a very brief orientation, and being strapped into prison jump suits and harnesses, we were ready to fly.  Literally.

This is the face of anxiety.  Just a hop, skip, and a straight jacket away from full blown panic attack.

Oh, hey, did I mention that I am also claustrophobic?  (Why yes, I DO have a lot of issues.  Thanks for noticing.)  Fitting a pilot and four adults into this plane was like trying to contain a womp biscuit after the package has been popped.  Originally, I had thought that it would be better to go first.  Less time to fret.  Less closed in.  However, the instructor decided that I would go second.  This might have been due to my resounding "YES" in reply to his half-joking question, "Now, once we are up there, if you tell me you don't want to do it, do you want me to make you go anyway?"  Going second proved to be a good call, since I would only have to dangle my legs out of the moving plane rather than try to maneuver them out onto this little platform.  (Because dangling your legs out of an open airplane seems SO reasonable).

Not much wiggle room and we still had one more tandem instructor to add to this happy little plane

The airplane ride up was fraught with anxiety.  Did I mention that the plane was really small and really old?  And that it was a really tight fit?  It did not feel very stable.  I kept repeating the orientation instructions in my head to try to focus.  Soon enough, the door opened and I watched as Jeff and his tandem instructor left the plane.  I have to admit, the whole open-door-at-9000ish-feet thing gave me a major case of the wiggins. 

Have you ever seen the cartoon Ugly Americans?  Does this remind you of anyone?

I am not sure that I could have moved over the door if it weren't for the nice gentlemen strapped to my back pushing me toward it.  And then we were out of the plane and flying.  It was amazing!  You would think that my naturally obsessive brain would be worried about the whether or not the chute would open.  Nope.  In fact, I forgot all about it.  I was lost in the moment and the thrill of soaring through the sky.  All too soon, our momentum was jerked to an abrupt slow-down as the parachute deployed just as it was designed to do.  While not quite as exhilarating as the free fall, the slow glide back down to earth was wonderful, until I came crashing back down to earth. 

Snap back to reality, oh there goes gravity

At least, that is how it felt.  Apparently, there was a bit of a wind issue that caught us as we were landing, which resulted in a really hard landing directly upon my tailbone followed by my tandem instructor landing on me.  As I witnessed, this type of landing is not typical.  I'm just lucky, I guess.  At least it was not a Peggy Hill experience.  (Not a Kind of the Hill fan?  Google it.)

Twue Wuv?  Or a failed attempt to get an insurance payout?  Hmmm.

So, I was right.  I totally jumped out of that plane, even if it took having someone strapped on my back to push me out!  So, maybe I do have a bruised tailbone and I have to sit on a dorky little donut pillow at work.  What of it?  I freakin' flew! 

Now, I just have this tiny little challenge of surviving the Charity Chase Half Marathon on Saturday with a bruised tailbone and limited training this month (thanks to a lovely little respiratory infection that settled in my chest).

Flashing Back

Over the past few months, I've not been so good about updating my blog.  Ok, let me frank - I have not been that good at all, despite my best intentions.  The last three races have been a struggle, earning me three of my worst finishes ever.  I am not at all confident about my ability to finish my June race.  On the dietary front, I will get on track for about five minutes and then cave to temptation.  Maybe if I did a better job of blogging, I would do a better job of being more accountable to myself?  Hmmm.  Time will tell.  For now, let's play catch-up.

In March we did the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, KY.  When we originally signed on for this race, it was going to be part of the Rock & Roll race series.  For whatever reason, the decision was made that it would be best to keep it a locally managed race.  Since we had not yet done a race in Kentucky, we decided to go for it!  Kentucky is HILLY.  I mean REALLY HILLY.  I don't know that there was a flat section on the course.  Plus, the grades were pretty steep.  I felt great until about mile 9, when I took a potty break.  That brief pause convinced my body that it was done, and my performance reflected my body's decision for the remainder of the race.  

April seemed to be coming along with a much brighter outlook.  After recovering from Kentucky, my training was on track.  I was excited about heading to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon, despite the IQ points that I was sure to lose from the music.  The day before the race, I turned the wrong way and threw my back out.  Riding in the car to Nashville did not help.  At one point, I could not even stoop down to get a PowerAde from the bottom shelf.  Good thing the Rock & Roll series races have big Expos.  At the Expo, there was a booth that featured a device that uses electrical impulses for massage therapy.  I was skeptical, but after about three minutes, my mobility was significantly improved.  I purchased a Magic Massage unit (I heartily endorse this product!) and used it the night before the race and the morning of.  It was enough to reduce my pain so that I could walk the race.  Considering that this was the start of back to back half marathon weekends, I decided not to push things and kept it to a walk. It was a long, wet, walk in continuous a downpour.  There was so much rain that I almost think I should get credit for a biathlon.  Regardless, my time was not too bad, considering.

This is MAY??? (Erin, Jeff, & Valsicle)

The very next weekend (I know - TOTALLY crazy, right?), we did our May 4th race, The New River Marathon & Half Marathon in Todd, NC.  During the week between races, I pampered my back with my Magic Massage, and it felt significantly better to start the race.  This was a small race in the foothills of Western North Carolina.  There were only three hills of any significance; however, they were of great significance (those three hills comprised close to half of the race).  As our friend Erin put it, they were mountain goat grade hills, meaning they were pretty steep going both up and down.  It was an unseasonably cold day.  Again, I started off well.  About mid-way through, the second major hill took the wind out of my sails.  I was just starting to recover when I got to the final hill.  Not sure if it was a protest to my Billy goat gruff impression or to the second race in a week, but my back decided it had had enough.  Oh, and at that point, it started RAINING!  Let me just say I am SO done with cold & rain this year.  Thank goodness that there were several walkers behind me.  If the sag wagon had caught up to me during those last couple of painful miles, I just may have hopped on.  

Bigfoot sighting near the finish

The Monday after the race, I woke to a lovely surprise in the form of a sore throat that quickly turned into some sort of respiratory infection that settled in my chest, which came with a heaping side of fatigue!  The running rule of thumb is above the neck, its okay to run, below the neck, take time off to recover.  Grrr!  I think I finally have the infection out of my system, but I still have little bit of a lingering cough and tightness in the chest.  The two workouts that I have been able to do have been slow and my energy wanes quickly.  
I have just under two weeks left until the Charity Chase on June 1st.  It is not looking good.  I may end up walking yet another race.  I may not be able to keep up with the pace requirement.  It's okay.  I know the way to the finish line.  The official finish line may be gone by the time I get there, but get there, I will.  

**Stay tuned for race reviews for:  Run the Bluegrass, Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon, & New River Marathon & Half Marathon**

Beyond the Barricade - A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Britters who moved far, far away to be close to her cousin.  In this far away land, she made some very strange friends:  Pork Chop, Banana, Vader, and Old Man Winter. 

Her cousin and friends had a curious habit called running.  Britters did not like this “running.”  She would often say, “Meh.  You won’t catch me running.  I’ll do some Zumba, thanks.”

Eventually, Cousin Erin met her true love, Navy.  One day Navy said, “Look at our friends, Britters.  They are having so much fun.  I think we should give this running a try.”  Britters replied, “Meh!  Ok, fine.”

To her surprise, Britters started to enjoy this curious running habit.  Before she knew it, she had finished several half marathons.  She enjoyed it so much, that she and Navy decided to train for their FULL marathon together.

Smart girl that she is, Britters enlisted her friends Pork Chop and Old Man Winter to aid her on her quest.  They ran and ran and ran.  Old Man Winter was so impressed with her efforts that he declared, “Fair Britters, I will journey to Atlanta with you and marathon by your side!”  Pork Chop had long since declared his intent to do the same.

Old Man Winter joins 1st Timers Navy & Britters on the epic journey

 Inspired by her friend, Britters, Vader declared, “Dearest Britters, I cannot marathon, but I shall journey with you as well and provide race support!  I will offer Vaseline, band aids, and pain spray.  I will carry spare garments, just in case.  I will chronicle this even with my digital camera.  And I will certainly cheer the loudest!”

And so it happened that Vader attended the marathon, beyond the barricade with Nick and Ninja Linh, cheering for their friends Britters, Cousin Erin, Navy, Old Man Winter, and Pork Chop as they raced the 26.2 miles to finish the quest.

Their legacy will live on forever in the race results of Georgia Marathon, but the story of their legendary race support will remain a mystery for bards.

 

Britters and Cousin Erin complete their quest

 
Congratulations to Britters and Jason on your first full marathon.  Kudos to Jeff, Erin, and Z on finishing yet another.  You all rock!  Glad that I could be there for moral support.

Congratulations to our curious little group of friends

Now, on to the next race!

Next stop:  Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, KY this weekend!