The Brookings Marathon

This was not my day.  It was not my race.  But it was a nice day.  And it was a nice race.  Just not my race. 

 

I have lots of excuses.  Sick.  Tired.  Windy.  Blah blah blah.

 

The race was small.  The day was nice.  Except for the wind.  The wind was vicious.  Horrifying. 

I started the race at goal pace.  I needed to hold 8:11 minutes per mile to get to my BQ time of 3:35.  I felt good!  My lungs were a little sketchy, and I had an ugly cough every now and again.  But I thought maybe that made me look tough and scary and maybe intimidated the other runners.  Probably it just grossed them out. 

 

At mile 13 I was holding strong at 8:12.  I felt good, but tired.  I tried to keep a positive mental state, and was doing a pretty good job... until the wind.

The wind picked up a couple of hours into the race and I couldn't believe it.  It was the craziest thing I've ever run in.  The race twisted and turned a lot.  So when I was running with the wind, I was all like "OMG I'm awesome!  I could run this fast all day!"  And then when I'd turn into the wind and be all, "F this.  I want to quit.  I hate today.  Why the hell do I run?"

By mile 16 my time had fallen to 8:18 and I absolutely knew I couldn't hold my pace.  I was miserable.  And I was having a terrible time.  So I made a decision.

I decided that I would rather enjoy myself and the race than push myself and be miserable and not even qualify.  So I completely let my pace go.  I didn't worry about running fast.  I just kept moving.  If I wanted to walk, I walked.  I walked a lot.  Especially into the wind.  That wind was mean.

 

 

I got passed, a lot.  It wasn't a great feeling.  But there wasn't much I could do about it.  I was tired, but I did my best to enjoy myself those last few miles.  I enjoyed the sunshine.  And thanks to all your lovely suggestions I had lots of new songs to rock out to. 

I don't know why I look like I'm yelling at Drew in all of these photos.  I promise I'm not an angry runner.  I should mention that I maybe possibly might have given Drew bronchitis.  Oops!

But he still let me drag him all the way to South Dakota.  And he was there to cheer me on even though he would have rather been in bed.  He's pretty freakin' great.

So, I finished.  My time was somewhere around 4 hours and 7 minutes.  It was the worst I'd had in a few years.  But I'm not mad.  I'm humbled.  I know that I'm not as tough as I'd sometimes like to think.  The marathon is a beast.  I've got tons of excuses for why I didn't do well.  But in the end, I just didn't have what it takes.  It wasn't my day.  I hope next time will be better.

Road Trip!

We did a little road trippin' this weekend.  All the way to South Dakota!  Every time I tell someone this, they get all excited and ask if we went to Mt. Rushmore.  We did not.  We were on the opposite side of the state. 

 

Waaa Waaa.

 

Drew and I are pretty good road trippers.  We enjoy long car rides together, which is good.  Because if I'm going to drag him all over the dang country to watch me run marathons, we'd better enjoy some time in the car. 

 

In order to make a road trip more enjoyable, I've come up with a list of essential items for car ride success.  Note: most of these are food.  A hungry Jamie is a grumpy Jamie.  So snacks make up the majority of this list. 

 

1.  GPS.  Duh.  How did people get by when they had to use maps?  Can you imagine consulting an atlas?  That would not go over well in our car.

 

2.  Audio Books.  Okay, if you think I'm crazy and audio books are boring, then you obviously haven't listened to an audio book lately.  They are awesome!  It's like a movie, but the picture is in your head!  The reader is more of an actor, not just some monotone boring dude reading.

 

For this trip we chose Silver Linings Playbook and it was a sensation!  We were so entertained the whole way.  Unfortunately it wasn't long enough to get us home and we were stuck having to actually talk to each other.  Blech. 

 

Seriously, listening to a book is a great way to pass the time... and keep you from actually having to converse with your spouse.

3.  Wet Wipes.  Hi, remember when we talked about me being slightly OCD about hand washing?  There is absolutely no way I could make it through a long car trip (or any car trip) without my wet wipes.

4.  WATER!  Okay, this might be more important if you are road tripping to a race and very concerned about hydration, but I happen to think bringing your own water is always a smart idea.  I buy the large bottles of water at the grocery store before leaving and refill my Camel Bac along the way.  Drew does not like it when I do it while we're driving.

5.  Coffee.  Coffee + Car Ride = Bliss. 

Plus, how else would you stay awake to share all your feelings with your husband?

6.  Stuff TO GO.  I love travel size anything, but these peanut butters are my fave!  Before we left I sliced up an apple and as soon as my tummy started rumbling, I dug into my favorite snack without having to dig into a huge jar of peanut butter.  I love these little guys!

7. Lunch.  The lunching choices along the highway are abysmal.  And not the good kind of abysmal like Monica's soup.  You've usually got your choice of a Sub Way every 10 miles or a McDonald's, Wendy's, or BK at every other exit.  Eating out, especially fast food makes me feel gross.  So I at least like to pack one homemade meal.  A veggie wrap & fruit always beats a Big Mac & fries.  But even a quick pb&j would do the trick.

8.  Crunchy Snacks.  Having something salty and crunchy is always nice when you're snacking out of boredom.  These BBQ potato poppers from TJ's were delish.  We ate the entire bag in like 10 minutes.  And then washed our hands with Wet Wipes.

9.  Bars.  Bringing an assortment of bars is essential.  They make a quick easy snack in between restaurant meals when you are traveling.  They can also serve as a breakfast replacement if you don't want to stop somewhere and shell out the money for even more fast food.  We love Lara Bars, Cliff Bars, and KIND bars.  Yum yum yum.

 

  

10.  A good travel buddy.  Seriously, the reason our road trips tend to be so much fun is because Drew is not only an excellent planner, but also a whole lot of fun to be around.  He has a great sense of humor and is laid back enough to brush it off when things don't go as planned.  Dumb stuff happens to us a lot.  Rather than getting worked up about a missed exit, botched food order, or case of shared bronchitis, we just laugh it off and add it to our stock of ridiculous stories.  I'm so grateful to have for that guy and all he does for me.  I'm quite a lucky gal.

 

And can you believe I'm so freakin' vain that I didn't take one picture of him over the weekend?  Not one.  He took like 50 of me.  I'm such a jerk.

Phoning It In

You knew this day would come.  I'm sure you're surprised I made it all the way until May.  But alas, I'm breaking the Tuesday streak... just this week.  I promise!

I'm sick.  I have Bronchitis.  And in case you missed it, I've got a marathon on Saturday.  It's not just any marathon.  It's a marathon which I have trained hard for.  I've been told the weather & course are ideal for a PR race.  For me, I was imagining crossing the finish line with a solid BQ and crying out of sheer happiness that I'd finally reached this 7-year-long goal. 

That could still happen.  My lungs could miraculously heal themselves in the next 5 days.  I could wake up tomorrow full of energy and feeling good.  Did I mention I haven't run in 2 weeks?

So, I've got all the excuses in the world.  But honestly, I'm just sitting around pouting and feeling sorry for myself and not writing a Top 10 Tuesday list. 

So, since I can't entertain you with a list, please enjoy this You Tube video.  My students shared it with me and I laughed pretty hard.