Tag: friends

#TinkRuns2024, hustle, inspire

Feeling 26.2

2chicksandapen

The alarm came very early. 4:30am to be exact. An early breakfast. Salmon with rice and a banana. Then off to fun parking by 6:00 am.  Parking lot to start line was about a half mile walk. Even got to visit the pink porta-potty along the way. The day was already an adventure and I didn’t even have coffee nor did the sun rise yet.

The start was full of nerves, positivity and lots of glitter. People watching was so fun. Also traded glitter for bracelets with a fun lady at the start line. Off we went just after 7am. Six girls. 6 different paces. 6 different strategies to complete the marathon. Ages 35-52, and I was the token old chick. I was planning to be last as the oldest but fate had me finish in the the #4 spot for us girls.  I was so content with last but it’s ok I’m not sad about 4th.

The first bridge was awesome! Not the climb but the four women revving their motorcycles and giving high fives to start the race off with a little engine rev. It was so bad ass and the smell of gas fumes was prominently floating in the air. So unexpected but cool.

The next several miles I just jammed to some music and muddled through the miles. There might have even been the scent of weed in some of the parks we shuffled through. I barely looked at my phone during this time so I could conserve battery life. I did take in the scenery. I talked to many people. I cheered on some folks. I watched a few runners with disabilities maneuver the course with their guides. Another cool thing to take in. I was just in awe as a kept on trucking.

We ran through parks. We ran on a college campus and its track. We ran the city streets with cobblestone. We had a drum line play for us. Even got tunes from a Louisiana-style music group. We had acrobats doing a show on the course. I got water from a princess. I swapped high fives with strangers on the down-and-back portion of the course. Just so many amazing memories before the half way point. I almost forgot I was mid-race.

Mile 14.9 I met my friends for pit stop. The roadie crew had a wagon full of items for each runner to replenish. This is where I got my caffeine zap from an Alani drink and a spray down of bio freeze on my calves and butt. It was a recharge station for sure. Conveniently located at the Savannah Bananas stadium so we even had cheerleaders in baseball gear chick was so fun. The nana bananas!

Forrest Gump was on scene to say run, run, run. So many people outside their houses cheering and giving snacks. My favorite was a sweet guy with a bucket of Starbursts for back of the course sugar boost. So thoughtful. I even had a Girl Scout cookie from the sweetest troop of cheerleaders. I almost forgot I ran on the highway. Seemed like it took forever and the pavement was gross. All the little pebbles got in your shoes and it was direct sun beating down on you for what seemed like forever. A first and only time but definitely one to remember.

The highway leg was the scenery for the hardest part of the marathon like miles 18-21 when many participants hit a wall. Funny thing was I felt good. I decided to make that my spirit time. I cheered on those puking over the guard rail. Those taking a break that need that verbal motivation to go another step. It seemed like my purpose work and it definitely made the yucky miles tolerable. I might have slowed my pace some but at this point I knew I was finishing so why not help others feel that same joy.

I came out of this highway from hell experience feeling pretty good about being a few miles from finishing. I went through a water sprinkler to cool off. I saw an enormous pet pig on a leash. Yes, that’s for real. I heard a teen jamming to girls run this world on her DJ table in her front hard while her dad was on the lawn chair cheering. It was awesome to see. I felt like the perfect jam as I ran by. At this point the earlier finishers are walking past you as they return to their cars or homes. The encouragement was so uplifting.

Then the whispers from the sidelines. The guys along the way that almost whisper in your ear. You’re doing something special keep going. You are amazing and strong. Believe in yourself. Think about what you are doing. Many can’t. Celebrate this moment. So many comments like this.

Then the funny signs. The girl with the “I heard it’s long and hard”.:…and her boyfriend’s complementary sign of what she said. Punny! And then there was the “Trump is a rapist” sign. Odd placement but I guess it had an audience. The protestors with signs saying the race sponsor (Milk) was exploiting cows and women! I really enjoyed the funny and motivational ones like “be the runner your dogs believe you are.”

Last water stop. A little time with some pals I ended up meeting at the end of their race. For me it was a solo finish. I pushed on ahead to cross the line alone. A rite of passage so to speak: my race: my pace. My story: my journey. One hundred percent me. I won the day. I’m giving you a glimpse in this recap.

I beat the physical odds.

I overcame mental odds.

I ran tired.

I ran thirsty.

I ran with the biggest blister on the ball of my foot for about three miles. That counts for pain and an awkward gait which just throws off your mojo. I just kept moving. Crossing that finish line was rewarding. A celebration of so much experience. My Rocky triumph shadow photo with .2 miles to go. I still have gas in my tank. Surprise, surprise.

I am now in the 1% club. I completed a marathon. A grueling 26.2 miles on various road textures. Many will never try. Some may try and fail. Others may sign up and never show up. It’s a thing. I heard 1500 didn’t show today. Just crazy to think about.

Going to bed.

Exhausted.

Fulfilled.

Triumphant.

Proud.

I was meant to do this race. 

I was called to tell the world about it.

Wonder what’s next on my bucket list?

#TinkRuns2024

My 2nd Half Marathon

2chicksandapen

November is here. It’s been such a long journey to this point in 2024. A 5-year stint after my first half marathon. A few of the same friends participating. A few new friends added this go around. A few friends even turned into spectators but still are a part of the journey.

I took a few minutes to look back on photos from 5 years ago when I did my first 1/2 marathon. It was a wild weekend. I almost forgot we signed up for a 5k the next day to get an extra medal. To think about doing that now is just mind boggling. I guess I get a little more wiser with age!

I didn’t know what to expect my first half and really I don’t know what to expect this go around either: I’m packing more stuff this time. I’m wearing a vest. I feel like I have a plan, but no plan at the same time. Such a quandary in my mind. Hoping to avoid a long potty break. Hoping to avoid chafing of any kind. Time will tell.

So many ups and downs on this journey. 10 months of training was planned. Injuries took a toll on that timeline in a big way. 3 friends followed the training plan to T and their performance will reflect that effort. Another friend trained solo on a run-walk segment that worked for them keeping up with many races along the way. Although different training, the consistency will yield results.

Then there is me. The one person plagued with injuries. The one who took off almost three months from running. In that time my mobility has suffered. My stamina has diminished. My weight has gone up. The list could go on and on. The reality is still the same. I will put on my race bib and lace up my shoes no different than any other racer that day. My race may look different. It may feel different. My mental preparation will undoubtedly be different, but we all cross the same finish line. A finish line many will never attempt to cross, ever. For that reason I will feel successful no matter what time is recorded:

My effort.

My outcome.

My race.

My pace.

100 percent my effort to start and finish. Talk about a feeling of exhilaration. How powerful is my body, my mind and my spirit? I’m about to see. On race day so many conversations were had with myself. Some to pass the time. Some to reflect. Some just ramblings of being tired I guess. I enjoyed the solitude of my race day for the most part.

The day arrived. 4am wake up. A little travel time. A time change. A little morning drizzle. On the road as the sun rose. The portapotty adventure. The hills. Whomever designed this course was a bit demonic. It started with the hill and ended with a continuous hill that lurked around multiple corners. The finishing mile was a grueling mile to say the least. One of the fun parts of being slow was reading all the chalk messages written along the way. A pleasant surprise and fun way to have cheerleaders where there were no actual cheerleaders on the course.

Speaking of cheerleaders, there was a high school drum line playing on this course. Such a fun experience along the way. The drum beats definitely gave me a little pump up as I passed by. Great to see kids supporting the community as well.

Met some new faces at this race. Passed some folks. Got passed by some folks. Walked a little. Ran out of water for 2 miles when a watering station ran out. All in all I survived to tell about it. I was slower than 5 years ago but I am older and don’t move as well as I did back then, but I did it. I was one of 6 strong friends who adventured out for the half marathon. All of which completed the task. The same six will meet once again but for a full marathon. Double the distance. Double the challenge!

Two of the six have completed a marathon before. 4 are new to the challenge. All with different paces. All with different stories of their why. For me it’s why not. Why not give it a go. See if I can be one of the 1% to complete a marathon.

As 2025 approaches I will be setting out to balance my half marathon series. I will be completing my third half marathon in February 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A travel race. A few days of the same friends embarking on the trek. This will most likely end my marathon series, but will allow me to have another time stamp to wrap up my trifecta experience. Looking forward to a few cold training days between now and then. Hopefully no injuries as well. Maybe I can clock a better time in a couple of months, too.

Officially old.

Officially slow.

Learning to embrace the back of the pack at these races. Each and every time I show up. Back of the pack isn’t so bad. Plenty of time to observe the surroundings, chat along the way and really enjoy the event.

I also vlogged this race which gave me a great memory reel to view in the years ahead!

fitness and nutrition

Chilly and Chocolate

2chicksandapen

One of my goals for 2024 is a chip-timed race of 10k or longer each month. Six need to be half marathons. I’ve written about my first half marathon in Little Rock, which was amazing. But that was in March. I thought I’d share a quick recap of my January and February races as well.

You may be wondering why I skipped them to begin with. To be honest, my year of running started with pain. And walking. I’m not exactly sure why, but in December 2024 I had some lower back pain that was difficult to work through. Running seemed to be one of the things that made it flare. So, even as I set a goal to complete races, I started 2024 by learning to walk as fast as I could for longer distances.

You may think walking is easy. You may also think it is just running in slow motion. Neither of these things are true. Maintaining a decent pace (under 15 minutes) is tough for multiple miles. And walking, in my experience, actually fatigues very different muscles than running. So they may seem similar, but the physical and mental efforts required are different.

I showed up to the Chilly Willy 10k EXTREMELY nervous. It was a small local race. Would my back flare up? Would I be pulled off the course for being too slow? What would people think of a walker? Can I actually do this? I was an honest-to-goodness wreck. I was quiet, evasive, withdrawn, generally flustered…those who know me well can see this happening. My heart rate was super high even before we started. Maybe 100 of us were there to participate. Thankfully I had a couple of my running buddies joining me. There were 5k, 10k, and half marathon racers all starting together. After a quick wait at the start line, away we went.

And, as I watched most of the other racers take off running, I walked at a quick clip. There were maybe a dozen of us walking. The first mile was almost all downhill, which meant (as an out and back course), the end would be a trudge. It was extremely cold at the start…there were patches of ice on the concrete path. But in the sun it was not so bad. Once I found my groove, playlist in my ears, I was just moving right along with a smile on my face.

It didn’t take long for the first 5k participants to come racing back. Focused, quick, intense, they floated by. I cheered for them. I finally made it to the 5k turnaround / water station. And as everyone else I was pacing with turned back for the 5k finish, I continued onward on the 10k course.

From that point on, I was alone. I had no idea if anyone was behind me. Once in a while, another 10k participant would breeze by in the opposite direction and we shared smiles. At this point, I was just grooving along. Nothing hurt. I was making decent time. I really couldn’t ask for anything more. I saw my friends flying by after their turnaround. Both were looking strong. I continued to move right along, dodging icy patches before I turned around.

There weren’t many people behind me. Once in a while I’d see a half marathoner (a double out-and-back course) coming by. I held my pace fairly well until the end. My friends had been texting for updates. I knew they were waiting for me. I walked myself all the way in to the finish, feeling pretty good. I know I was smiling as I finished and got hugs from my friends.

I was so happy to have finished and grateful that I felt fairly good physically. It wasn’t until later that I learned I actually got 3rd place in my age group in the 10k. I laughed. Ok, it wasn’t a huge pool of people but you can bet I requested my medal and displayed it happily.

I continued to walk until the February race, the Hot Chocolate Atlanta 15k. This is a much bigger race with lots of fanfare and fun. My plan for this race was to walk the first 7 miles and then try running until the end. I was feeling physically good. I was happy to be running with my daughter (ok, she’s much faster than me, but we did participate together) and a group of friends. So I went along with my plan and hoped for the best.

The race itself felt sort of unremarkable. I had done the course before. It’s not my favorite. After seven miles of walking, I held my breath and ran. I figured at that point, if pain came up, I could just go back to walking and still manage to finish.

Gratefully, there wasn’t any pain, and I got to celebrate with my friends and daughter at the finish line. Time for a new training plan and hitting the road for racecations.

I learned patience in this time of pain and frustration. I worked around my injury and still continued to move every day. Sometimes progress isn’t linear. Sometimes it doesn’t look like we hope it will. I can take pride in not giving up and just keeping my head up. Forward is a pace is my new mantra.

#TinkRuns2024, challenges, fitness and nutrition

Running Fever April 2024

2chicksandapen

Still going. 

Month four.

Moving that mileage marker up each day or most days when not sidelined with injuries or ailments!

I couldn’t be more excited to have healthy legs back underneath me running. It was 4/4/24 when I really felt pain free on my runs. Almost a month after my injury. Glad to have that injury behind me for now.

I ran in Jamaica. First out-of-country run. I was excited about running internationally. The weather. The views. The overall ambiance. Island time is just a lot different than my daily norm. Stepping out to see what’s around the world is something I value. It fuels me. My runs were short but I ran by the ocean. It was a beautiful way to start the day. I ran on vacation. This may be a new normal these days. The pavement was an uneven stone when I ran. My knees didn’t like it so much but it’s not as bad as running on cobblestones. No matter the terrain, running along side the ocean is blissful. All the shades of blue in the water. The birds flying around you. All of the scenery is beautiful.

Crumbl Cookie 5k mid month. I survived. I also worked extra hard on recovery and stretching to prepare for my CrossFit competition. Happy to say the comp was completed. Still not exactly 100% physically. I guess that comes with aging, but not giving up on competing. Never resting long enough to heal all the aches so just plugging along to see what my body allows.

Now while running I need to shift my cross training mindset a bit. Tennis playoffs is the first week in May. The date is approaching fast. Yes that’s right. Paddle sports is also my jam. Tennis includes a different kind of running. Linking hand eye coordination with what your arms and legs do. Many cognitive skill sets firing on all cylinders. Short running spurts. Pivots. Strong legs are needed to plant and avoid injury. This is crazy considering my past several weeks of recuperating. Will my tennis performance lag due to my other training? I’ll let you know next month. Stay tuned.

10k prep is underway. Not as many miles of recent or that I had planned out, but I’m going to stay positive. I read to break the race up into 3 segments trying not to go out too hard. Staying consistent and leaving room at the end to finish strong. I’ve never really had a game plan for a 10k so this is going to be interesting to see how it works out for me. Maybe I’ll try this method on this race and intervals on the next 10k for comparison.

I squeezed in the Crumbl cookie 5k as mentioned above.  The allure of this race was a Crumbl cookie waiting for me at the end! I wanted to ensure I didn’t drop my cookie since last race I dropped my cupcake getting my time verified!  No joke the cookie was a big part of signing up with a few pals so not dropping my reward is important. This race was gross. It was full of hills and slanted pavement. Two of my least favorite elements when running. My first mile was slower than usual. In the race I was a little mad about it. Into mile two I found my stride and settled in. That led to a faster mile. I finished strong despite the hill climb to the finish. Fun with friends is always an added benefit to races.

April mileage wasn’t noteworthy.

Just over 120 miles logged this year to date thanks to a few setbacks.

1st international run in Jamaica.

1 mile pace now seems irrelevant as I build mileage and do other things. However my best 5k is 36:54 this year which I am excited about. A big improvement from 1 year ago.

I have a little bit of running fever. Am I good at it yet? Nope. Am I learning to enjoy my solo time running? Yes. Am I motivating others along the way? I believe so.

I got the next set of shoes In the rotation. Same Brooks for running, just a different color. Maybe one more pair for the fall. Time will tell. I did find a slight flaw in my last pair. After getting them wet in a puddle the inner big toe piece because an nuisance when running. Good thing for the next pair in rotation. Also second pair of Nike free metcons for in gym runs and short distances when cross training. Sticking with the black theme as well. I also prefer to use feetures brand socks. Not too thick but definitely the ones that cover my heel so I don’t get blisters. These socks are worth the premium I pay for them, but they have good sales throughout the year which also helps.

Equipment tidbit: this one has a safety focus. Light up vests for my running group. Many run in the dark at 5am. One runs in the woods when it’s dark. Neon lights help pave the way for our group keeping us safe. So excited we all have them. They look cool, too. I had fun lighting up myself for a little night jog this month. Light weight is also key.

Oh the end of month came and I was teeter tottering on getting my knees checked. My left knee was just a bit wonky after my competition. I bit the bullet and went to see the doctor. I needed a cortisone shot in my left knee. Not what I wanted or expected but I rolled with it. A few more forced days off. A few tweaks in the coming months to reduce risk while I heal and still allow for running. Wish me luck. You can see the battle wound that was hidden behind the bandaid for the day. I should mention getting old sucks. Your body needs to be handled with care at times over fifty. Be aware of signs your body gives you. Don’t wait until you are 100% out of commission before seeking help. Rehabilitation is part of being an athlete and so is mentally overcoming shortcomings.

Biggest accomplishment so far:

Signing up for a marathon 

Biggest fear so far:

Completing the marathon.

Mental mountain: learning to adapt to limitations that appear despite wanting to go the extra 10 miles.

What I want to improve on in next three months:

My distance or time out for a run in one swoop. Can I go for 3 hours or more? How far can I go? Can my legs hold out? 

Questions I need to keep asking Is my nutrition dialed in? For now the answer is I’ve slacked a little as of late. Not off the rails but not dialed in. Need to make this a priority before summer’s end to be in peak nutrition state for fall.

Is it better to run one mile or none at all?

 My last bit of business for the month was mapping out my next 12 week training plan. The real start to marathon training. Putting running at the top of the priority list to make sure I’m ready on the actual day of the marathon. My first time ever planning this much for a race. Let’s see how it goes. To this point I just practiced.

adventure, travel

Travel Time

2chicksandapen

Took a quick trip this month in the RV solo.

Last minute decision to dust off the RV for its first season use. A bold decision. Spontaneous of course. Off I went throwing caution to the wind. A parking lot to some. An adventure to me. An opportunity to change things up a bit. Just a couple hours from home but a viable option for accommodations in a rural area with overpriced hotels with subpar conditions.

Day one with friends. Day two solo. Both provided different experiences but both provided memorable takeaways. I wasn’t nervous about sleeping alone in my RV yet my pals thought it was a bit scary. I got questions about what would I do if somebody knocked on the door at night? Well I wouldn’t answer it. What if somebody was lurking outside? I have cameras. I wasn’t paranoid. I slept great. I had hot coffee and a warm nutritious breakfast in the morning. I loved the peace and quiet of the solo adventure.

A night with friends’ giggles. One packed light and ready to camp like a pro. One packed the entire house not knowing what was needed. Oh the irony of both. Other friends were curious but not bold enough to try out the RV overnight. Too boujee I suppose. Curious minds wanted a tour of my RV setup by day.  In the security of daylight. Some wanted feedback for the pals who spent the night. Confirmation of scary or cool. Curiosity amidst the group of friends added to my cool adventure.

Setting up the site was easy. I felt confident and experienced. A little adjustment was needed for the but I worked it out. I dealt with rain but no wind so that was good. I packed plenty of food and had just what I needed for a few days away.

Sleep was good. Memories were made. Fun was had. A good reminder for me to just take off and enjoy because I can. Next adventure is soon to be loading.