Snow!

I think it is safe to say that today is the first official "snow storm" of the season. It is beautiful yet treacherous out. Beautiful when one is sitting safely in her living room staring out at the lovely whiteness. Treacherous when one contemplates driving (or having a loved one drive) in it. I got my AWD Subaru just in time. Make me proud, Cricket.

I ran with Matty this morning. He ran to work (10.5 miles) and I turned around at the six mile mark which totaled a 12-mile long run today. I got in minutes before the snow started. Not sure how Matty will get home tonight. Maybe his Grand Cherokee is at the store and he can drive home. If not, I hope he gets a ride or calls me.

Could this little red-head have exercise-induced asthma. Coughing and wheezing have been a slight problem upon finishing runs. It used to occur occasionally during the warmer months but now happens regularly. It also is happening during random times during the day, especially when the white-trash smoker lights up inside the condo below us (he's too wimpy to go outside now that it is cold out) and the smell permeates our walls. I really hate this condo. I love Lake Orion, but I would give most anything for a house! Sharing walls with people who have no concept of common courtesy is driving me to madness.

Gault Screwed Up

Matty did what I should have done - he emailed Gault Race Mgt., the company in charge of race timing at the Turkey Trot, and asked them if they did a chip start or a gun start. Apparently they meant to do a chip start but one of the start mats was malfunctioning. They said they'd adjust our times if we told them how far back we started. Matt told them our own watch times and they actually did what they said they'd do. It made a HUGE difference in our placement. I'm glad they adjusted the time, but what really annoys me is they did not place any kind of disclaimer on the result listing. So they only adjusted times for people who thought to write them and complain. C'mon, people, take responsibility! Anyway, my new time is 43:27 which I'm so thrilled about!!

Turkey Trot - New 10K PR!!

The Turkey Trot went great!! I got a new PR. The official results are not online yet, so I'll have to update this post a little later. My watch has me at 43:31, which is nearly 3 minutes faster than my previous best. Yay!! I know I was top 100 (women) because I got a Turkey Trot fleece scarf at the finish line. Matt is jealous. hah!!

I went out really fast and with about 2 miles to go, I started wondering if I went out too fast. But I tried mind-over-body and told myself that pain is temporary - the race will be over in a matter of minutes. That worked. So much of running is mental.

Some poor guy did push too hard. With the finish line literally in sight, I saw him veer off to the side, put his hands on his knees, and just as I was passing him, I heard him lose his stomach contents! Thank god I didn't see it actually happen. Hearing it was bad enough! Poor dude.

Oh, and I actually saw Mark (see Nov 23 post) at the race! He passed me at about the halfway point and recognized me. What are the chances??

When you run a Turkey Trot, you can stuff your face at dinner and not feel guilty about it. It's a win-win situation.

Edit: Well, not sure why, but my official chip time is much slower than my watch time. The only way that could have happened is if they didn't have a chip start. But they did have a mat! *shrug* My time: 44:07 (7:07 pace)

Random Stuff

Registration for the Bayshore Marathon begins in 5 days!!! Then it will be official!!

Turkey Trot tomorrow! Woo!

We had all of ONE appointment at our clinic this afternoon, so instead of working my typical 11.5 hour Wednesday, I got the entire afternoon off. That's good and bad. Good that I got the afternoon to bake my chocolate pecan pie and chocolate chunk cookies (mmmmmmmm.....) for T-Day tomorrow instead of doing it late tonight. Bad because that means our clinic is still slooooowww. C'mon people, bring your kitties to their vets! They need preventative care! :-)

Will the Lions be 0-12 tomorrow??

Cricket now has his new homelink, auto-dimming mirror with compass. While it was being installed on Tuesday, they lent me a brand new silver Outback with black leather seats and wood grain accents with all the works. I didn't want to trade it back for my Impreza! Oops, did I say that? Sorry, Cricket, don't take it personally. It's just that Outbacks are WAY cool. After only a week, I do love the Cricket. Driving it is so much more fun than the crummy Jeep!

Honey Stingers - Bad, Motivation - Good

Honey Stingers = YUCK!!! So much for that idea. Now what!? Maybe I'll try Swedish Fish. hehe!

Had a motivating thought today. I'm not so much the type that needs fluffy stuff like this, but here it is anyway... I ran into this guy (Mark) on the Paint Creek Trail today who was running at about my pace. We started chatting and it turns out he is running the Turkey Trot this Thursday as well. He mentioned he'd run it in the past so I asked how many people usually participate. His staggering response was 10,000!!!! YEEESH! This'll be the biggest 10K I've done. I told him I was hoping to get a PR in the race, so he said to try to get as close to the front as I dare, even moving up past my expected pace or I could kiss my PR goodbye. That got me wondering if I'd be disappointed if I didn't PR in the race and I realized that I wouldn't. The reason is that I can still vividly remember when it was terribly difficult to run a mere 3 miles at one time!!! This was less than 2 years ago! Now I can do 15 (and probably more) with little trouble. Anything I accomplish in a race at this point is amazing considering how far I have come!!

Just run...

Edit: Just registered for the Martian Half-Marathon in Dearborn in April. It's about 6 weeks before Bayshore so it should be a good gauge for what to expect for the "Big One"!! Plus the race shirt is so ridiculous, I just had to participate. Ha! To see it for yourself, visit the race's website: Martian Marathon

Brutus Mauled by Zoo Wolverines

I saw this today in the Oakland Press, our local newspaper, and thought it hilarious. I'm not even a big college football fan, though I'll put the game on if I'm at home on Saturday and bored, which doesn't happen often. There was a little blurb about the wolverines at the Detroit Zoo. They got to tear apart a piñata shaped like the OSU mascot, Brutus. The piñata was filled with meaty treats. It was a very symbolic moment set up the day before the Michigan/OSU game. GO BLUE!!

Bronze Award!

You've won the following award(s):
President's Champions - Bronze 11/21/2008

I'm so proud. :-)

The Cricket Arrives...

My new Subaru is safe at home. I've named him Cricket. Perhaps I will get some photos up soon, but it is after dark right now!

Speaking of after dark... Matty and I went for a night run tonight. Matt got a spiffy new super-bright headlamp from REI today and we tried it out on the Paint Creek Trail tonight. It worked great! We did a really quick 4 miles. Felt great!

I hope I don't regret not picking up those Brooks Adrenalines from REI today. They were on sale for $65. They usually sell for $95.

Matty's Gift!

I got Matty's Christmas gift today! He's going to LOVE it!!! Too bad I can't post about it cuz I know he reads my blog. Haha! Nice try, Bear! But believe me, it is WAY cool!

I am very close to winning my Bronze Award in the Presidential Champions program. If you're unfamiliar with the program, see my list of links on the right side of the webpage about halfway down (President's Challenge). It's a great program that I wish they promoted more! I just happened across it one day online and decided to check it out.

Another awesomely awesome long run today. A new distance record for the redster - 15 miles! Woo! I did it in 2:05. Not too shabby! If I can keep up that pace, I'll end up with a Boston Qualifier at my first marathon. Now, that'd be cool! I still absolutely refuse to make that an "official" goal for my first marathon. Too much pressure. I just wanna have fun!

Registration for the Bayshore Marathon starts December 1st. My credit card is ready!

My New Subaru Has Arrived!!!!

It's in!! WOOO!!! Now I have to wait until Tuesday before I can pick it up. Tick...tock...tick...

Great Long Run Today!

Awesome long run today! I ran later in the day than usual since we stayed the night at my mom's last night due to too much wine on hubby's part! :-) I took my water bottle (w/ hand strap) with me filled about halfway. I also took a package of Luna Moons (yum!) and had them at about mile 7. I felt SO much better on this long run than I did last week when I stupidly didn't take any water or fuel. That water bottle does tend to bug my shoulder after about 8-9 miles, so I'd still like to try a fuel belt especially as my long runs get loooonger.

My Luna Moons got very cold and extra chewy by the time I ate them! It was about 38 degrees and snowing just slightly today. The temperature was perfect, except when it came to my poor moons. It took too long to chew them. I absolutely can't stand Clif or Power Gels. Someone mentioned Honey Stingers which I may try. I love honey. If they taste anything like honey, they may be workable. Really a gel would be more practical during a race, so I hope the Honey Stingers work.

Subaru News!

Scott from Subaru called today! Though my Subaru has not arrived yet, he called to say thanks for being patient and gave us an extra $500 rebate. Cool! He is hoping on Monday as an arrival date. I cleaned all my personal stuff out of the crummy Jeep yesterday in an attempt to be optimistic.

This evening Matt and I visited my mom and made dinner for her in her own home - Creamy Potato Pork Chop Bake with green beans. Mmmm... Cheesecake for dessert - not homemade, but still yummy. Matty got drunk on wine. Goofball. So now we're staying the night because I don't have my glasses and driving at night without them is not a good idea. Poor kitties won't get dinner! They'll survive.

stuff

Poor Matty. Still injured. Poor Paula. Still no Subaru. (Grrrr!!!)

Matt has finally realized he will NOT be running an ultra trail marathon in December. Our final race this year will be the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving! My goal will be under 45 minutes!

Freep Certificate

Here's my nifty Detroit Freep Half Marathon Finishers Certificate. I got one for the Brooksie Way too but they screwed up the number of total finishers, so I'm not posting it. Bozos.

Edit: Brooksie Way people sent corrected certificates. That's much better, boys.

Election 2008

I voted!!

No Subaru

Still no Subaru. **sigh**

New York Marathon - go Paula!

Just finished watching Paula Radcliffe win her 3rd New York City Marathon. Go women named Paula!! :-) What an inspiration. And not just because she has a cool name. She has suffered recently from numerous injuries including a broken leg, a stress fracture, an Olympic letdown and giving birth to her daughter, yet she comes back from all that and kicks butt in New York!

We just won't mention that 2005 London incident.

Today I did my longest, long-run yet at 14 miles. It took over 2 hours! (just) It got really hard after about 11 miles. Considering I've done 2 half-marathons recently and didn't get tired during either one, it seems strange that I would start getting tired during a training run after just 11 miles. I know there are good days and bad days, but still... Probably a healthy dose of adrenaline helped in the competitions. Also, I do need to get a fuel belt to try out during long runs since my hand-strap bottle just gets annoying after about 8 or so miles and I need to drink during these longer runs. I'm sure that played a part in my fatigue too.

Anyway, now that the long run is over and I'm stretched and showered I feel great!