Where has time gone????

Sooo….. wow where has the time gone? 

It’s been a few months since my last post.  I have not had one single free minute since I don’t know when…. Well, I guess it was the day before Thanksgiving.   My entire life has been quite the world wind adventure since then… work is INSANE, boot camp life in instructorville has been awesome, and unfortunately running has died down quite a bit.

The Atlanta Thanksgiving half marathon was awesome!  I broke my PR by about 30 minutes!!!!  It was the best half marathons that I’ve ever run. I loved this race because of the hometown feel.  It’s awesome to run the streets that your drive everyday.  You get to slow down and take it all in.  There are so many places that I never took the time to notice.  It was great to run through downtown Atlanta and actually see all those great restaurants that I’ve heard so many people talk about.

It was a little weird to go to my first race by myself.  I usually have friends running with me or family there to cheer for me along the way.  But, if I intend to keep up with this many runs, I’ll have to get used to doing it alone.  Luckily, it was Thanksgiving and I could go home and all my family and friends there followed by an amazing feast and award winning nap!

That’s why I run…. To eat and sleep better J

My next race after the Thanksgiving Half Marathon was a full marathon in Jacksonville, FL.  The race was on a Sunday so I was able to sleep in a get plenty of rest Friday night.  So, about that going to races alone… yeah definitely not my thing.  Six hour drive from Atlanta to Jacksonville was horribly boring.  Luckily I have friends who live in Fernandina Beach, which is pretty close, so I didn’t have to spend money on a hotel. But unfortunately they were out of town this weekend and I was staying at their condo alone.  I love the opportunity to travel, but spending that many hours alone in silence was nearly painful!  Thankfully I had their dogs Callie and Roxy to talk to and entertain myself.

I knew Sunday was going to be a long day so I had to get dinner and get to bed early.  Fernandina Beach has a great little downtown area so I drove there and found Kelly’s, a little courtyard restaurant, to have dinner.  So here I am at 7pm, eating dinner and having a glass of wine alone, not like table for one, but like no one else in the restaurant alone.  Sure my dinner was good, but I was too embarrassed to really take the time to enjoy it.  I scarfed that plate down as fast as I could and got out of there in a flash! 

I got in bed early but had the hardest time falling asleep.  I guess it was being in a new place, pre-race jitters, and the expectations of 4:30am alarm.  Luckily I had the cozy company of Callie and Roxy….

Up bright and early, well not so bright because the sun wasn’t rising for another few hours but definitely early….  I quickly got dressed, walked and fed the pups and hit the road.  Ready to rock another race. 

As I approached the starting area I noticed people were already parking on the streets and walking, so I decided to do the same thing.  I parked in a little side neighborhood and joined all the other runners gathering in the school gym and around the starting line.  I really enjoy watching how runners prepare for their races.  Some zone out with music or appear to be meditating alone…. Others get rowdy and goof off with all their friends… Others look sickened by fear.  Me?  I just take it all in.  I don’t really have any prerace superstitions…. Just gotta make sure to ear and drink a little bit of water.

This event included a 5k, half marathon, and full marathon.  It was pretty small so there were no starting corrals.  Just a starting line and a man with a bullhorn.  The most important thing for me to keep in mind was to run my own race.  I couldn’t look around me and see people flying by because I didn’t know how far they were running.  Who cares if they pass me now?  They’re only running 3 or 13 miles.  I knew I was in it for the long haul and had at least 13 or 23 more miles to run than they did.  Well that whole philosophy lasted about 5 minutes…. Pretty soon I realized I was running an 8-minute pace…. I tried to slow down a little bit but I was feeling good, keeping with a good pack of runners and decided to ride it out. 

Truthfully, this course was pretty boring.  It started with a stretch down a main city road and then turned off into some neighborhoods.  There weren’t many fans on the roads and there weren’t any great sites to be seen.  Just me, some pavement, and my running shoes.  What really ticked me off was the fact that they didn’t close the roads.  Some of the major roads blocked off one lane for runners but many of the roads were open for cars to come and go and get in the way of runners.  As if running 26.2 wasn’t hard enough, now imagine doing it with impatient drivers zigging and zagging all around you. 

It was a flat course and could possibly be a very fast run if you’re fully prepared.  Due to the time change and a little complacency, I wasn’t able to continue my daily training runs after work.  It was getting dark before I left the office and I relied on morning boot camp work outs to help me maintain my endurance.  Probably not the best training method for marathons. 

The best part of this race was the family that set up a table for runners at mile 25.  The young girls were handing out lemonade for some runners, and the parents were offering mimosas for other crazy runners who needed a little boast to get through the last mile.  I opted for the mimosas.  After stopping to chat with the nice family, I thanked them and continued along my way to finish the race.

I made it to the finish line and accepted my medal.  I grabbed some water, Powerade and a banana and crashed on the football field.  I laid down and tried to take inventory on the damage I had just done to my body.  I was hurting.  My legs were aching and my knees were hurting.  I didn’t have a lot of time to recover.  After a few minutes of recouperating, I hobbled back another half mile to my car.  Drove back to my friends’ house for a shower and quick lunch, then I was back on the road…. About six hours til I got back home to Atlanta.

Two down, 28 to go.