That’s a Big Needle

May 10, 2012 By 12 Comments

Have I mentioned I’ve been having some hip pain since I got back from England? I’ve been kinda quiet about it because, you know, if you don’t mention pain and especially if you ignore it then maybe it will just go away…yeah, right. After running for 2.5 hrs in Great Falls Saturday (by the way, spectacular place to run), I had to admit that I definitely had a problem. I iced the heck out of the hip for the next couple of days and tried to run on Tuesday, made it a mile and the searing pain made me turn back home. Bummer.

I did some googling and diagnosed myself with bursitis. Always a good idea to diagnose injuries yourself…NOT. Good news was it didn’t seem to be a stress fracture, the thought of which was freaking me out. So I called my trusty orthopedist Dr. Pete. Dr Pete is a runner AND triathlete…he’s even done an Ironman and said it was “fun.”  Runners and triathletes like docs who are also runners and triathletes because 1) they don’t look at us like we’re crazy when we mention that we ran in pain for oh, 13 miles; b) we can chit-chat about races and not sound like obsessed freaks; c) we’ll believe them if they say we should stop running…which they rarely do. Case in point: one time about 15 years ago I went to my husband’s orthopedist (shoulder-specialist, not a runner) who took one look at my hip x-ray and told me I must stop running immediately…something to do with wearing away my joints. Yeah, right. After that I found Dr. Pete.

Anyway, Dr. Pete did some functional/strength testing, which I passed with flying colors (yay for strength training and my PT exercises which of course I’m doing diligently)  and concurred with my diagnosis of bursitis. Then he did a hip x-ray just in case. The x-ray showed that I do indeed have hips and a ball and socket joint although the socket’s a bit shallow and that scary arthritis word was mentioned…shhhh…if I don’t say it, maybe it will never happen.

Then Dr. Pete laid out my options. 1. Surgery – not considered necessary. 2. Don’t do activity that hurts it (running) and it will eventually heal. Hmmm….didn’t like that one…reminded him I have a 50K in 3 weeks. What was behind door #3, I asked?

Of course, that would be the cortisone injection. Having never had one of these before (or even been offered one!) I was intrigued. Could this really fix my problem? I decided I was willing to find out, especially as I didn’t like the other options. I also thought it would be useful to know what a cortisone shot really feels like so I can report candidly.

Once I told Dr. Pete I was going with door #3 he wasted no time grabbing the needle and was back in a flash…wonder if he thought I might have second thoughts if he hesitated? Anyway, he found the painful spot after some poking and me realizing it would help if I said “ow, that’s where it hurts” rather than trying to be my usual stoic self. I tend not to mention something’s painful unless it’s really killing me, so I forget that it can be helpful in such instances to let the professionals know where the pain is.

Anyway, I kinda glanced over and noticed that the needle was very long. And I’m not gonna lie – it hurt. But only for a second so no need to freak out or practice the special yoga breathing, which I tend to resort to if something hurts. To be honest, what hurt more was the drive home – 30 mins with increasingly worsening hip/butt pain. Note to self – if I have to do this again take an ice pack with me…or ask for one before I leave. Once I got home I grabbed the big ice pack from the freezer and laid down with that on my hip for a while. Almost 12 hrs later, it just aches, although I’ve been told day 2 can be worse. Day 3 better not be bad because I have a race. Dr. Pete told me that was ok. ;)

Have you ever had a cortisone shot? How did it go? If not, would you get one if recommended? Is your doctor a runner/triathlete? 

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Back in Business

May 6, 2012 By 15 Comments

Not sure if anyone noticed but Racingtales was off the air for a few days last week. One minute I was happily (and I guess a bit recklessly) updating plugins, the next I was faced with the horror of the blank screen. Seems a plugin was incompatible with WordPress and caused a major train wreck. Thankfully my knight in shining WordPress armor rescued me (huge thanks to Lisa for loaning him out for a few hours amidst the stress of trying to sell a house and prepare to move across the country…) and got everything working again. Obviously I’m still in the process of reinstating everything but at least I’m up and running again.

While I was staring at the blank screen, a few things happened. First, this came in the mail:

Yeah, I know it looks really boring but I was so excited when I saw the envelope that I ripped it open and tore the corner off my confirmation note…

So I am now an official entrant in the 50th Annual JFK 50 mile. Kinda cool. And very scary.

I also remembered that I have a triathlon coming up….my first of the season. I’ll be doing TriRock Annapolis on Saturday. It’s just a sprint but I feel woefully unprepared as I’ve been so focused on The North Face 50K which I’m running June 2nd. Still, I always feel unprepared for my first tri of the season. It’s also my first tri in a new age group. USATriathlon rules mandate that you race the age you’ll be at the end of the year, and, since I turn 40 in October, I’m aging up!

In other events, I watched the DSYS kids I coach run the mile on the track, in the rain. They looked awesome. They’ve really heeded the advice we’ve given them every week to start slow and gradually increase their pace, and I didn’t see any blowups out there. There were some untied shoelaces and lots of grimacing, but they gave it their all and I was really proud of them! I didn’t realize how rewarding that could be.

And I also got to see this guy, my youngest, play a couple of baseball games:

A couple of years old but still one of my favorite pictures

This picture must be two years old – he now plays single A in little league and is pretty good!

And today my oldest and I spent some rare time together at the rock climbing wall (he climbs, I belay):

Another 2 year old picture!

I also just got certified as an RRCA Running Coach…something I’ve been meaning to do for a while but needed to commit to the time requirement. I’m very glad I did it as I learned a lot and I definitely recommend the course if you’re thinking about it.

Have you ever had a site crash? Do you go into races feeling totally unprepared? Does life seem to be speeding past at an alarming rate? Yeah, best not to think about that one.

 

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JFK 50 Mile – Because I Said So

May 1, 2012 By 13 Comments

I just put my entry for the John F Kennedy (JFK) 50 mile race in the mail (they are old school, no electronic sign-up):

There was a moment’s hesitation before I mailed it. Do I really want to do this? Or am I just doing it because I said I would? You see, many moons ago I used to run regularly with Reston Runners. Because I loved trails, I did many trail runs with them, some lasting over 4 hours, and so Anna Bradford, who was the president of the club at the time as well as the JFK coordinator (which she still is), asked me when I was going to run JFK. “When I’m 40,” was my reply. I was in my 20s at the time so 40 was waaaay off and I didn’t have to think about it much. Note that I hadn’t even run a marathon at this point and had no intention of running 50 miles. That was just crazy.

Over the years I’d think about JFK and it just seemed too far, too difficult, too much. And then gradually the idea started growing on me. Of course, I had to start with a 50K  first. That went exceptionally well, so well in fact that I immediately wanted to do more ultras. Around the same time, I realized that my promise of doing JFK when I turned 40 coincided with the race’s 50th anniversary. And that made me think it was meant to be.

So November 17th, 2012 I plan to toe the line at the 50th annual JFK 50 mile. My only goal (as it should be) is to finish. I know it will be hard. I’ve heard the stories. I’m running the race because I really, really want to do it. And…because I said I would. :)

Are you running JFK 50? Have you ever run an Ultra? If not, is ultrarunning on your bucket list? Do you think I’m crazy? Don’t answer that. ;)

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Friday Feelings – Please Rate My Emotive Abilities

April 27, 2012 By 11 Comments

I will admit I’m not very good at expressing my feelings. In fact, I’m a bit of a clam when it comes to emotions, touchy feely stuff, and such. My running partner Run Wiki is the opposite. When she blogged today about how I can’t stand that she’s mushy…well, I can stand it but I don’t know how she does it. How she can say the things she does with sincerity. I will sometimes say mushy things but I make jokes to desensitize them. Or I turn a possible mushy moment into something else. Example…I might say to her, “I liked your post/picture” (yes, that’s me being touchy feely) and she will say “you’re going to make me cry” to which, rather than saying “there there” or whatever is appropriate in such a situation, I will say “stop blubbering, we have to run.” Yes, so emotive, I know…

So, in an attempt to be more expressive about my feelings, I am going to start a “Friday Feelings” (for no better reason than it’s Friday today and hey, the alliteration helps) post where I talk about feelings. Now, I need to get comfortable with this so I am going to start with an easy one. For this week I have put some touchy feely (for me) words on a picture. Perhaps you would be so kind as to give me a score out of 10 depending on how you think I’m doing on the feelings front. Or not. Whatever. It’s not like I care.

Are you touchy feely or emotion-free like me? Do you express your feelings or keep them to yourself? Feel free to share but please no crying. I can’t stand it.

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(Almost) Famous

April 26, 2012 By 8 Comments

It all started in March. I was standing at the start of the Shamrock 8K in Virginia Beach, trying not to look conspicuous in my Potomac River Running race team singlet, when I heard “Hey Alison Gittelman! Brenda Barrera, Washington Running Report!” I turned around and there was the familiar face that I’ve seen inside the cover of every Washington Running Report. Of course everyone else turned around to look, too. I felt a bit like a celebrity. Brenda and I chatted for a minute about whether there were other =PR= team members racing – I told her I didn’t think so – and the fact that it was too hot for arm warmers, although Brenda suggested I keep hold of them to wipe off the sweat – very glad I heeded her advice.

And then last month my good friend Lisa decided I should model some running clothes for her blog…despite the fact that I’m 5′ 1″ and clearly don’t have model proportions. And again, I almost felt famous.

But the icing on the cake has to be the Shenandoah County Parks and Rec Spring 2012 Program Guide! My friend and training partner Lester sent me an image of the cover via facebook, saying I was on it. I looked long and hard at the runners featured and didn’t see myself. Then I looked further up the page and realized that was me dismounting my bike at last year’s Strasburg Duathlon (at which I won the women’s division)!

You may need binoculars to see properly but that's me next to "Spring 2012"

What has all this taught me? Absolutely nothing. Except maybe make sure you look good when racing…

When/where were you (almost) famous? How do you make sure you look good at races? I really didn’t care until now, but I guess I might start brushing my hair. 

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Running in England

April 24, 2012 By 7 Comments

I am reliving the 10 glorious days I just spent with my family – near and extended – in England. While I usually visit England for 3 or more weeks at a time, 10 days was the longest we could take the boys out of school. Funny thing is, we did more in 10 days than we usually do in 21. When you have limited time you spend it wisely. I find I’m like that in my training, too. Give me all day to get it done and I mess around wasting time and putting it off, but if I have a small window of time I’m much more productive.

In England I ran (almost) every day. The mornings were chilly but mostly rain-free. I didn’t stress about pace or mileage, I just set off and ran, comfortably at first and then picking up the pace when I had warmed up. I ran from 3 – 7 miles but really didn’t worry about distance. I ran up hills and through mud with my sister (the first time we’ve ever run together!) in the pouring rain. I stopped to take pictures and enjoy the beautiful countryside of England. The countryside I grew up in but have only come to appreciate in recent years.

At the beginning of my run I pass through this graveyard. The church, Old St. Peters, is from the 12th Century and is no longer in use. It has been replaced by a much newer church…built in 1866.

Shortly after passing the church I turn down a country lane with just a couple of houses on it.

One of the houses is the magnificent Marsh Court, which is at the end of this long driveway. Last time I was in England there were rumors that Johnny Depp had bought the house. I made sure I ran past plenty of times. ;) The rumors turned out to be untrue, but I wonder if the posts, which weren’t there before, had to be added because of curious people driving up the driveway to get a closer look…

I have to stay alert on this run. Not just because of the giant potholes along the side but because the speed limit is 60mph (standard for English country roads except when they pass through a village where the speed limit is 30mph) and I have to be prepared to jump to the side if a car comes along. Thankfully on most of my runs I saw one car at most. The busiest day by far was Sunday when the bikers and cars were competing for space!

I have been running this road for at least 15 years and I swear this is the same horse that was there the first time I ran it. He/she always trots over to say hello.

It’s hard to show the perspective of this giant hill. It goes on and on forever, but the view from the top is worth it every time:

From here I turn right to make my run a loop. I run down a hill and can then choose from three different routes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The center route is my favorite because I get to cross the river. The top and bottom routes are part of the Test Way, a footpath that travels through Hampshire. If I turn left, it’s a 7 mile run. Straight is 6.5 miles, and right is 5.5 miles. So I select depending on how much time I have.

There are two certainties, whichever route I pick; 1. It will be beautiful. 2. My shoes will be covered in mud, even when it hasn’t rained for weeks and apparently there is a “drought.”

It isn’t until I go back that I realize how much I miss running in England. My England. :)

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Pace Per Mile – Are You Listening?

April 11, 2012 By 4 Comments

Remember when I mentioned in this post how I learned that Olympic Marathon Trials winner Meb Keflezighi ran the race in Skechers? I learned it from Pace Per Mile Endurance Radio. I don’t recall how or when I discovered Pace Per Mile (PPM), but I’ve been an avid listener ever since I came across the site. While I subscribe to several (ok, just checked the magazine basket in the bathroom) a lot of athletic magazines, including Trail Runner, Running Times, Triathlon, Triathlete, to name just a few (!), it’s hard to read an article while foam rolling or doing PT exercises or strength training, which is what I was doing when I tuned in to the latest show. I like multitasking so I find it great that I can listen to the show while getting things done…including my all time favorite activity, folding laundry.

The information in the PPM shows is diverse but always presented by an expert. The current show features a great gear review on trail shoes while a show on sport’s injuries explains how to find the right doctor. Previous shows have featured Hal Higdon, Greg McMillan, and Dick Beardsley (who started following me on twitter a couple of weeks ago…I generously followed him back.)

Chris Nicholas’ Run Across America

Have you seen this guy? ;)

At this very moment, as I type, PPM co-host Chris Nicholas is running across the country to raise funds for The Children’s Miracle Network. He’s running 40 miles per day. WOW. He started in Washington, D.C. on March 24th and reached Indiana yesterday. (On the PPM Facebook page you can see some pictures he took of the devastation from the tornadoes, along with some more uplifting pictures of horses and his breakfast…) He’s got some sponsors and has attracted some media – he threw out the opening pitch at the Cincinnati Reds game April 9th – but it’s a far cry from the much-publicized, much-televized Run Across America undertaken by Dean Karnazes last year.

Dean Karnazes OR what Chris will look like at the end of his Run Across America

Don’t get me wrong, I think Dean’s great (although I could have done without the Regis and Kelly element of his endeavor) and has motivated and inspired a lot of people, but there’s something about the way Chris is doing his run that seems more humble, even more genuine. Chris pushes his belongings in a jog stroller and doesn’t have a camera crew following him in trucks and Regis and Kelly checking in on his progress every day. (Of course Dean Karnazes can’t do it this way, he’d get mobbed or kidnapped for scientific experiments on his amazing physique…)

Chris, I don't think this is how you get a Karnazes physique. Also, hope you packed your lactose pills.

Chris’ goal is to raise $5000, which really isn’t very much, considering how far he’s running (3,000 miles) and for how long (73 days originally, now predicted at 90 because of the severe weather he’s experienced). But he’s  a long way from that goal. So please take a moment to visit his site, Run and Finish, and make a donation. 100% of your donation goes to The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

PPM State Reporter

As if you need another reason to check out Pace Per Mile, I happen to be the site’s state reporter for Virginia. I’ve been doing the job for a couple of months now and am slowly getting the hang of recording my reports, which feature races in my state. I’m getting better at it – although I still hate the sound of my own voice…

As a state reporter, my job is to highlight upcoming races in my state. The first thing this made me realize is that VA is a BIG state with a LOT of great races! I try to feature races that are inexpensive, in keeping with my mantra that racers need to vote with their feet if they don’t like paying the high race fees associated with some of the more prominent races. Before I feature a race, I first check out the cost. If I wouldn’t pay the entry fee, I won’t feature it. Take a moment and check out my reports. You can even subscribe to an RSS feed! And of course I’d LOVE your feedback.

In addition, if you’re interested in becoming a reporter for your state, e-mail sara@pacepermile.com – PPM is recruiting!

2XU Compression Deal

Finally, a reward for those who are still reading: 2XU Compression is running a promo to help Chris raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. They’re offering 20% of ALL compression products from now until June 24. 10% of the proceeds from purchases using this code will be donated back to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals at the end of his journey! The Promo Code is: RUNFIT12

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Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race Recap

April 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

I mentioned in this post that I last ran Cherry Blossom 10 Mile 13 years ago. So before I begin my race recap, I thought I’d share my comparisons between CB 2012 and CB 1999.

Thoughts on Cherry Blossom 2012 versus Cherry Blossom 1999

The course: I like the old course better. Sure, this one’s flatter and faster, but I prefer Rock Creek Parkway to Hains Point, and one of the things that made Cherry Blossom such a treat was seeing the elites tearing down Rock Creek Parkway toward the finish as we made our way up. Old course trumps new course.

The start location: The start, on 15th street right by the Washington Monument, is much more accessible than the old start on Ohio Drive. New start location wins.

The start itself: The wave system alleviates some of the congestion I associated with the old Cherry Blossom, where you would remain tightly packed and boxed in for much of the race. Now, racers are divided into six color coded corrals according to the predicted finish times they submitted, and each corral starts 3 -5 minutes apart. (Elite women start 10 minutes early.) While the corral system is as good as racers’ predictions of their times (i.e., not great), the wave start is a definite improvement over the old mass start. New start wins.

The expo: The old expo was in the Doubletree in Crystal City. Parking wasn’t easy but it was possible, and getting to and from the venue was a cinch. The new expo is in the stunningly beautiful National Building Museum, but parking around the museum is almost impossible, forcing people to metro. Result: A wash. Metro is possible to both locations while parking at both is a hassle.

Cherry Blossom 2012

Pulling off a race with 15,000 runners in Washington, DC is no mean feat. By now most of us are well versed in the Hot Chocolate debacle. The thing is, the organizers of The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile know how to do this. This was the 40th running of this annual event, and it seemed (to me) to go off without a hitch. Since I was driving, I knew to get down early for a primo parking spot; I had no problem getting a spot a block north of Constitution and just off 15th st. From there it was a quick walk to our (my) first stop – the portapotties. At 6:15am there was no wait, so this was a good time to go. Only problem – it was still dark, which made navigating inside the portapot a bit tricky. I’ll have to remember to bring my headlamp for such occasions. Using my phone for light is not an option – I’m too afraid I’ll drop it in the hole. ;)

It was a chilly morning so I kept on my two throwaway layers until almost race time. The lovely RunWiki insisted on taking this picture of me in all my layers:

I don't mind the Washington Monument coming out of my head as much as the awful sweater being photographed

Underneath all this bulk I was slightly better dressed in my Potomac River Running race team singlet, Brooks Infiniti bra, Brooks Epiphany boy short, 2XU Elite Compression race socks, and Brooks Racer ST 5s.

Thanks to Dash for taking this and many other pictures. She took about a billion photos of the race! Far better than the official pics. And, I think my form has improved since the last time I ran this race:

Nice heel strike and short shorts

Getting into the corral for a race this size is always an adventure; I don’t like to be trapped in all those bodies for too long, plus I always have my last minute portapotty visit to make, so by the time I squeezed through the fence for the yellow corral, it was wall-to-wall people. I was actually feeling a little claustrophobic when a volunteer yelled for all the runners with yellow bibs to follow him; they were putting up the temporary fence that would divide the yellow corral from the red corral (corrals are sent off in waves 3 -5 minutes apart to ease congestion) and we were about to end up behind it. When we moved forward I noticed a huge empty space over to my left, away from where runners were entering the corrals, and so I headed over to that area where I could breathe.

It wasn’t long before the gun sounded and we were off. The first mile of big races like this is a dodgefest; I focused on relaxing and trying to stay comfortable, not getting boxed into the curb, and not wasting too much energy. It was very similar to the Army Ten Miler, which I ran last October. The negative of these races is that you have to do a lot of dodging and weaving, but the positive is that you are, in some ways, “carried” by everyone around you, making the effort easier. Mile 1 went by in 7:15 which was perfect as I was aiming for an overall time under 1:13.

For most races I look at a map of the course ahead of time and have that map in my head when I’m running. I like to know where I am and what’s coming up. I knew we would be running Hains Point in the second half of the race and so when we came up on Ohio drive I thought we’d be running all the way down East Potomac Park, but then I saw runners coming back the other way and realized it was a turnaround. Because I was distracted I missed the 4 mile water and so didn’t take my Roctane GU. I didn’t have an exact plan for taking my GU, but knew I only needed 1; at ATM I made the mistake of taking a 2nd GU late in the race that really bothered my stomach. So this time I waited until mile 5.5 and then started taking the GU, knowing there would be water at mile 6 to wash it down. The first cup I grabbed had about 2 drops of water in it, so I had to grab another to make sure I had enough.

When you’ve got this many people around you there are lots of distractions. There are slogans on shirts to read, noisy runners (footslappers, heavy breathers, gaspers, groaners), and those with such bad form you wonder how they’re running at all. One particular lady whom I ran alongside for a while was heelstriking and leaning back so far I wanted to suggest she look into Evolution Running, but she was wearing headphones, plus I figured that during a race wasn’t the best time for a discussion on form. Still, you see everything at these races…it really is very interesting.

Around mile 7 we entered Hains Point. This was a tough part of the course for me because I knew I needed to start picking up the pace if I wanted to stay under 1:13, but I found it mentally challenging. I’ve run Hains Point on much windier days with no-one around me, but for some reason I hit a low point here. The footslappers and heavy breathers really started to irritate me more than usual, and I found that I had to focus hard just to stay on pace. I felt much better once we made the turnaround, and as we exited Hains Point there were some drummers who were excellent, which really helped. When I hit mile 9 I decided I’d run the last mile as hard as I could. I kept my eyes fixed on the guy with the shirt that said “Cherry Tart” who must have been friends with “Eat my Cherry” and “Cherry Garcia” who were also running. I started passing people (including Cherry Tart) and looked at my Garmin to see I was running in the 6′s, so I decided I’d try to keep the final mile under 7:00. I was doing great until I hit the hill at the end (I also had the elevation in my head and knew it was coming) and started feeling as if I was about to puke. I pushed up the hill as hard as I could and then there was a short dip to the finish. My last mile: 7:00. My final time: 1:12:43.

Splits:

Mile 1 – 7:15
Mile 2 – 7:09
Mile 3 – 7:04
Mile 4 – 7:14
Mile 5 – 7:16
Mile 6 – 7:16
Mile 7 – 7:11
Mile 8 – 7:14
Mile 9 – 7:12
Mile 10 – 7:00

Did you run Cherry Blossom? Have you run it in the past? Do you prefer the old course? Do you plan to run it in the future?  

 

 

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Cherry Blossom 13 Years Later

March 29, 2012 By 7 Comments

So I’m running Cherry Blossom 10 mile (#CUCB) on Sunday. The last time I ran this race was in 1999. I was 26 years old and 6 months away from getting married. I ran a PR – 1:15 – which I actually held until last year, when I ran 1:11 at Army Ten Miler (#ATM)! Here I am in the final mile…this was back in the day when heel striking was good for you. ;)

Nice heel strike and short shorts

I don’t have huge aspirations of besting my ATM time, since I’ve had a little glute and hammy trouble lately, but I really hope I run faster than 1:15. :)

Why haven’t I run CUCB in 13 years? I actually ran it 3 years in a row, and each year it seemed to get more crowded and more difficult to get to. I decided I was done with crowds and big races for a while. But since then, the start has moved from Ohio Drive to a more accessible location near the Mall and wave starts (6 starts of 2,500 runners, 3 – 5 minutes apart) have been implemented. Back when I ran the race there weren’t even corrals. So I’m hoping for a better experience, although I realize it will still be crowded. Mind you, I had an awesome ATM experience last October and I think there were 20,000 runners there.

I was just reading the race instructions and thought I should point out that “There will be 180 porta-johns throughout the staging area. Please do not urinate anywhere else. We are guests in a National Park. Several years ago runners “relieved themselves” on the FDR Memorial which was an embarrassment to the race organizers and nearly caused our permit to be revoked.” That is an outrage! I really can’t believe that they only have 180 porta-johns for 15,000 runners!  One advantage of the old start was that you could just “go” along the Potomac, although one time I realized I was right under a bridge and all the people on the bridge were looking down at me…

OK, moving on swiftly…

This will be my first time running Cherry Blossom as a member of Potomac River Running’s Racing Team, although I’ve been a team member for just over a year. I was in VA Beach for Shamrock Marathon last year when I got an e-mail from Cathy Pugsley (Thanks to Ecris Williams, who recommended me) inviting me to join the team. At first I thought it was a mistake and responded that I wasn’t sure I was PR race team caliber, but Cathy asked to see my PRs and told me I was good enough to join the Age Group Team! I was on cloud nine and ran a PR in the marathon that weekend!

Potomac River Running is an incredibly supportive and generous sponsor, and asks for little in return. In addition, they’re a great supporter of races in our community. In fact, there will be an offer from PRR on the back of the Cherry Blossom bib, so if you’re running the race, check your bib. (While you’re there, fill out the medical information. You wouldn’t believe how few people complete this, and how critically important it can be.)

I’m very proud to wear the =PR= singlet! (Apologies to PRR for sometimes looking like a dork in it…at least I don’t heel strike any more!)

With Claudia Centeno and =PR= Coach Tracy Endo

 

Are you running Cherry Blossom? First timer? Multiple-timer?

What do you love/hate about this race?

What do you think about the porta-potty situation? 

 

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Boston 2013…A Pacing Story

March 20, 2012 By 4 Comments

My good friend and partner in trail running crime, Lisa AKA RunWiki, just qualified for the Boston Marathon!

I don’t want to tell her race story because I want to leave that to her. This is simply a pacing story. I had the honor of pacing her for the second half of her qualifying race at Shamrock Marathon. Pacing – and being paced – is a real test of the bond of friendship. I discovered Sunday that it’s much more than one person relying on the other. You might think that Lisa was just relying on me, but I was relying on her just as much. Just as she relied on me to pull her, I relied on her to dig deep, listen to me, push away the demons, and believe in herself.

It wasn’t easy. I wish I could have shouldered more of the burden. I knew exactly what she was going through, because I’ve been there five times myself, but I couldn’t make it go away. At times I felt like a broken record: “just give me a little bit more, just a little faster, dig a little deeper” over and over. I handed her water, Pringles, reminded her to take GU, peeled a banana and joked that it was like being with your kids, but I couldn’t take away the pain nor could I run the race for her. That, she had to do all by herself.

A couple of times, I thought she had given up. When she stopped to walk I told her she had to choose whether to let it go or keep fighting. Walking meant letting go of the dream of a PR and BQ. And that was OK. But she had to choose. She started jogging. She kept fighting. And she prevailed. And she also did it in style.

So RunWiki is going to Boston. Hopefully I will be going with her….now I have to requalify!

 

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