Racing Vicariously: How to *PR at Your Half Marathon

Rachie and I enjoying post-race celebrations at the Oktoberfest Half Marathon 2007

One of my Seattle BFFs dating back to the Days of Yorn recently ran the Capitol City Half Marathon in Olympia, Washington and agreed to share her story with us. Rachie's recently decided to open her blog, party for one, to the public. It is a riot. My fellow Aquarian has caused me to spit coffee through my nose on more than one occassion :) Enjoy, and be inspired! :)

How to *PR at Your Half Marathon

Step 1: Two weeks before your half marathon spend the entire weekend boozing, sneaking cigarettes, staying up all night acting like a drunk, slutty bridesmaid at your cousin’s wedding.

Exhibit #1: Drunky McDrunkerson Bridesmaid - it’s to be expected.

Step 2: Get a horrible chest cold immediately following the wedding weekend due extreme exhaustion and liver/lung abuse. Please note, this step is very important and is made easier if you’ve been sneaking occasional cigarettes and boozing for the better part of your adult life.

Step 3: Stop running and eat lots of comfort foods so you gain a couple of pounds. A little extra chub goes a long way!

Step 4: The night before the race, share a hotel room in Tumwater, WA with a wild animal of a 2 year old nephew and a crazed older sister who drives you to drink red wine and eat greasy pizza as “carbo loading.”

Exhibit #2: Wild Animal Nephew - Don’t let the smile fool you.

Step 5: Wake up with a mild hangover and a case of the runs from aforementioned greasy pizza carbo load . . . and yes, still coughing your lungs out.

Step 6: Run your PR!! WOOOT!

So . . . I always like to keep a half marathon on the calendar to keep me focused on my runs. I opted to sign up for the Capitol City Half because I heard it was a lovely course, my pal Kris was running it, and my sister was supposed to run it as well, and . . . frankly, I felt the need to redeem myself after a disappointing Mercer Island Half in March (disappointing in this case = 2:17). I had fully expected to PR - the good kind of PR - on Mercer Island. I didn’t, however, expect or train for the abundance of hills on the course . . . which is pretty dumb considering it’s my eff’ing hometown. Duh.

As is obvious by my step by step guide presented above, redeem myself I did not. It was my worst time EVER. I haven’t received the official results yet, but the clock said 2:28 when I shuffled my hacking lungs across the finish line. (UPDATE: official results are 2:28:16) I’m not sure why I care about a decent time. It’s not like I’m fast in any sense of the word . . .well, okay, maybe one sense. . . but I digress. Then I realized what it was: thanks to the internets our race times are forever immortalized in google searches and sites like athlinks.com. I am vain and I care what people think of me in an intense sort of way. I don’t want anyone to search for me and see a horrible race time. Silly, right? No one else cares. I know this in my head . . . but still. Not to mention, it’s also vain to assume anyone is stalking me online – but hey, it’s the era we live in and I’m realistic like that.

On the flip side, it was a beautiful course. The word on the street was true. My misery was somewhat mitigated by the harbor, boats, mountains, trees, stately homes and buildings, and most of all, the awesome residents of Olympia who came out in droves to cheer. My favorite being a middle aged dude in a bandana supplying the runners tunes via his awesome synthesizer. The weather also cooperated and was absolutely the best I could have asked for . . . Cool, slightly overcast, no rain, no wind. Simply perfect. I have to admit, even though it’s my state’s capitol, I haven’t seen much of the city nor spent any time there since I was a Page in the House at the tender age of 16. I loved getting to see it all from the perspective a runner – taking in each and every street and corner for 13.1 miles. I’ll do this race again for sure (and not just to redeem my time and bruised ego). Olympia pretty much rules.

Exhibit #3: Olympia is so lovely!

*the term PR, commonly referred to as your best time, was in this case, my worst.
OH and PS: BEST RACE SHIRT EVER!!

The Inspiration of Stewardship

Kayaking is just as much fun as running together, something I have missed since we got back from New England. The gentle rocking motion of being on the water and being able to put my hands in the kelp beds or look up at the sky was very soothing and meditative.

My delicious and very badass husband planned our entire one-year anniversary weekend to Avalon on the island of Catalina last weekend, to detailed perfection. We kayaked, ate, toured the botanical gardens to learn more about Catalina Island endemic plants, visited local art galleries, and ate some more! Overall, we were pretty low-key compared to the usual weekend getaway trips that combine running and drinking copious bottles of wine with competitive cribbage tournaments and soaking in information on every plant and local historical tidbit we can uncover. There were no all-day hikes or museum marathons on this trip. Instead, there were several visits to the candy shop just down the street from our bed and breakfast, and a lot of chillaxin’.

 Commemorative anniversary onesie. We both agree on red being the only good unisex color.

In addition to our joyous weekend, BAH gave me a a subscription to the most wonderful cooking magazine ever, Cook's Illustrated, in keeping with the tradition of the first anniversary gift being paper. In one of the special issues, there is a "make ahead" section, so this past week we have enjoyed eating some hearty yet healthful comfort meals, all of which have been really fun to create. I am still experiencing serious food aversions in the evenings, have been known to devour an entire pineapple to myself in one day, and can smell things that no human being should ever be able to smell, but unlike in previous weeks, it has not kept me out of the creative realm of the kitchen this last week. It is comforting to be back and inspired!

Inspiration is really what this first year of marriage has been about, for me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would meet and marry a man whose very presence inspired me to take more risks, to assume greatness in all goal-setting, and to adhere even more strongly to my personal values. I had no idea when I married this man, that he wasn't just my sweet and badass husband, but a truly empowering and uplifting individual in a society that could use more of those types of people, and especially more of those types of men, of military leaders, and fathers. I think, in our first year of marriage and having gone through 2 deployments (and coming up on our 3rd), I have truly learned that this person does not belong to me, but to the world and to the people who need him. But for what it's worth, during whatever time it is that we have together on earth, we are true stewards of one another. The power that you have as a steward is a pretty great and tender responsibility, and it is ours, regardless of our physical proximity or of my scoffing at the mere suggestion of getting a tandem kayak :) 

Racing Vicariously: The Family That Runs Together

Since I will experience running in races vicariously over the next 9 months, I thought it would be fun and motivating to delight in the race events of others from time to time! One of my favorite bloggers, Pure Gold Lady, recently ran in a marathon as a relay with her mom and sisters. A big congratulations to her and her cutie-patooty teammates! She agreed to share her sweet race story with us. Enjoy, and be inspired!

The Family That Runs Together

I'm not quite sure how to finish that line but I can say that there is always excitement in running with your family.

What do you get when you throw together four sisters and their mother? A heck of a marathon relay team!We had the sister who is a recent new mom, the physical trainer sister, the noncommittal baby sister, our menopausal mother and then me. All of us decided to join together and run the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon on April 25th. We would be running under the banner of the medical clinic my mom started. In addition, each of us would run in honor of a person who died in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

I'm the one in the blue shorts & shades

I'd be lying if I said it was all flowers and running through the fields full of loving feelings. It was not. To begin with, "Baby Sis" had difficulty committing. One week she was running, the next week she was not. On a beautiful and sunny evening in early March, "Baby Sis" and "Sister L" met me for a four mile run. We headed to a track and began to run. Baby Sis stopped before she completed a lap -- not good! Fortunately, she was able to commit a few weeks before the race and we finally registered and ordered our shirts.

Once we found out that we were not all running the same lengths, Sister L (the recent mom) and Baby Sis were assigned the shortest distances (a little over 3 miles each). The rest of us would tackle the 6-7 mile legs. In general, we all did not train together and I actually stopped running because of the severity of my allergies. The only activity I did for two weeks prior to the race was swim a few times. My mom was the most prepared as she does 8-10 mile runs on a weekly basis.

The morning of the race, we were all up early (I was up at at 4:30am) to meet at my mom's house and drive down together for the race. My stomach protests whenever I eat early but I forced down a boiled egg and a few bites of oatmeal. I was running the first leg and my anxiety level was elevated by the time we left the house late (thanks, mom!). I literally ran to the starting line and arrived as the countdown began. When I knelt to perform my pre-race ritual of untying and retying my laces, I made a mental note to never run a group race again (hehe). I like to show up at races at least 30 minutes before the start time and I had no time to mentally prep myself.

Despite the harried start, the rest of the relay race went smoothly (except the part where my mom could not find Sister L to give her the timer-thingy to start her leg). I enjoyed running through the city, which is still new to me and discovered beautiful old homes and parks. In addition, I had fun chatting with a few people as we ran together. After our legs, Baby Sis and I found each other at a bus depot and went to the finish line to wait for everyone else and Physical Trainer Sis who was finishing the race. When we finally saw her, we ran into the street to finish the race with her. Post-race we scarfed down burgers and enjoyed complaining about how sore we were (except for my mom who laughed at us because "that was nothing!").

The experience was great for me because I believe you learn a lot about people by how they compete. The relay race provided me with some more insight into my siblings and all the drama was worth it at the end. My sisters and mom all did a great job and we plan to run together again.

Surprise! The New Finish Line

Many of you already know this, but apparently, in the human species, kissing makes babies.

Our little cupcake is officially in the oven, and as sweet as can be! Because we did not expect this to happen for us so soon, the news came as a great and wonderful surprise, especially with some of the other stuff that had been going on inside this body prior to finding out. I look forward to the day when we can throw our little darlin’ in one of those baby backpacks and show them all of God’s amazing creations and evolutionary masterpieces as we hike, run, and explore this world with the newness of a child’s eyes. Welcome to our new life as we focus on how to raise our child without fear in their heart, but with joy, curiosity, and adventure in its place.

BAH is a good, good man. In the first 3 months, I definitely started to learn what it means to make requests of your lover, something I have not always been the greatest at doing. It is a marriage and long-term relationship essential to do this because it keeps the other person from having to guess your needs, and it keeps you from being passively upset because they didn’t guess them. Communication during any time in one’s life when you are not comfortable in your body is a fine art, to be sure, especially when you have night sickness instead of morning sickness and all that sounds good are oranges and anything you don’t have to cook, an activity you normally live and breathe for. I never thought I would see the day when my husband actually told me I needed to be eating more vegetables. That being said, I can’t say he was THAT upset about reverting to his bachelorhood days of eating queso and chips and beer for dinner a couple of nights a week as I dipped crackers in vegetable soup :)

The first 3 months of youngling production have definitely been humbling and trying in terms of staying vigilant to do everything that a person can to produce a healthy little life while also staying a healthful and drama-free momma. I had all of these phenomenal plans not to skip a beat in running while pregnant. I have skipped more than a few beats, to say the least. Walking is my new favorite sport. As long as you get those arms moving, it can actually be a pretty good workout. Prenatal yoga, another activity that I thought was going to be my forte, still makes me pretty queasy, with the exception of hip openers. Basically any bending whatsoever, and I am done. I don’t know why this is the case because it’s supposed to be wonderful. Additional first trimester joy was my brain, which temporarily switched from being very focused to a much more A.D.D. state. I decided to just roll with it and get all of the brainstorming and ideas, research and planning done that I could. The focused, being able to sit and stare at plant and insect parts for hours or get so caught up in what I am writing that I forget to eat self seems to have gone on sabbatical. All part of the preparation, I am sure, for the early years of parenthood.

Now that I am starting to feel a little better, I am thinking that I might join a walking group one night a week, at least through the summer. Though I’ve never really been one for exercising in groups, I think it might be a fun and safe activity to put in place of training for and running races. In addition, the chocolate lover in me has come out in full force. While this is probably a result of cutting out coffee and tea, I have fallen in love with the BBC’s Get Cooking segment, which started as a curiosity until I discovered the video segments describing technique and food chemistry in a precise and non-dramatic, yet fun and simple way. Some people like cooking and baking for the art aspect of it. I think it took me a while to realize that what I really love about cooking, besides the eating and social part of it, is the science of it, and now that I am feeling better, I figure I might as well take advantage of this crazy increased sense of smell to hone in on my inner chef and produce shopper.

As summer approaches, I look forward to my second trimester, farmers markets, rose gardens, baseball games, and preparing to raise a child with the most wonderful man I have ever known. You won’t be seeing many belly pics on this site, and reports on racing and training will be temporarily put on hold for obvious reasons, but my hope is that if you read this blog, you can expect to experience joy, adventure, humor, and a nurturing outlook on life as we train to cross our new Finish Line.  

The Art of Discretion

Sisters in law and I Loving our Momma on Orcas Island, WA

My badass husband and I were recently talking about the funny little things you learn to value from your parents. While you may be nothing like them personality wise, you take certain mementos of them when you grow up, even if it is that you never really grow up ;) I have definitely learned a few important things from my Mother over the years, and in honor of Mother’s Day, I would like to discuss one of them in particular, the art of discretion.

There was a time when people cared about their own privacy and therefore had the discretion to keep yours. We had respect for ourselves and, for the most part, for others. The art of knowing when to speak and when to keep quiet is no longer valued. We now live in a Facebook-Twitter society where people post their every thought on a minute to minute basis. Long gone is the day where you can even set up a coffee date with someone without 250 people reading your conversation. If you tell friends and family something deeply personal, you now need to follow up with, “please don’t Facebook this.” It seems we as a society are so addicted to approval that we need to have it injected and pumped into our veins on a minute-by-minute basis.

My Mom is one of those naturally tall, slender people who considers killing slugs and weeding her garden a cardio workout, eats real butter for every meal, and has every episode (ever made) of Star Trek memorized. She is an artist who loves to laugh, drink beer, and who owns a library of books on Ireland, Masons, and Medieval Europe. This skinny closet Trekkie had 5 children, who she raised with my Dad in a fun and loving tiny little house that smelled like paint and pancakes and strawberry jam. True, I don't know her every waking thought about the birds outside her window, and I am unaware of her favorite quotes and of what she looks like from day to day. What I do know is that she will be discreet.