Racing Redemption?

So I may have earned some racing redemption today. Scout and I entered the Panerathon 10K to Fight Hunger this morning. We ended up winning our age group (my age group, there was no doggie age group), and we were the 1st place Dog/Person team!

Nothin' Much

I don't have a lot to blog about now that I am officially "retired" from marathons. But, as you probably noticed, my blog posts have strayed a bit from their original form. I left the banter about pace, distance, and heart rate behind and gave you a bit more of a personal look at my life. Pretty boring for the most part, but sometimes things fall on your head in the middle of the night, and that's worth blogging about!

Over these past few weeks, I've had a lot of time to get used to me as a "non-marathoner". I feel much less restricted. My training plan is no longer running my life and taking over my weekends. I've been able to drink wine and eat cheese on any night of the week and not worry about the ill effects on my mandatory long run the next day. Because if I don't feel like running, I don't, and if I do, I do. And I now run as far and as fast (or slow) as I want to. Simple as that. I'm having fun with running again. But...I'm still not having fun with racing.

I said it in my last post, and I'll say it again - I'm a huge head case and do not race well. I have tried to look at it from many angles but cannot figure it out. Does anyone know a good Sports Psychologist? I would really like to get this figured out.

In the meantime, Scout and I will keep running. We have to keep our girlish figures, after all!

One piece of good news...Sargent returned from his cycling trip in Europe! He rode every single day and took some amazing pictures. Here is a link to his online photo album. ENJOY!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sargent86

No Guts, No Glory

Ok folks. There will be no Boston for me. There will be no more marathons, period, for this girl. They don't give any passes to people who can't finish the race. I'll make no excuses. The weather was perfect, I was well trained, and I had an awesome pace setter, Heather. But one bad mile around 15 was enough of a window to allow my big stupid fat head to get in the way. Yes, I am one of those...a head case. These are the folks you often hear about in the running circuit, the ones that have all of the potential, really show some promise, train really well, run some good races, but can't bring home the bacon when it really counts.

I definitely have a new found respect for those that run marathons and run them well. Perhaps I did not give the marathon the respect it deserved and in some way pissed off the marathon gods. This seems to be the case because the marathon has beat me down, and am humbly bowing out of this race.

I'm not turned off from running all together. Don't worry about that. I have a nifty little dog at home waiting for her next run. I will continue to run half-marathons and 10K's, but marathons are definitely not in the lineup. It looks like 26.2 miles is just not a good distance for me. I should have recognized this well before this point but hey, I gave it a shot. Sorry for letting all of you down. I know you were all wishing me the best for this race. At least I have some great pictures of the Seattle area!

Game on...

After logging over 350 miles these past twelve weeks, my training is complete. On Sunday I will run the Skagit Flats Marathon in Burlington, WA. I AM READY. I have been appropriately massaged, cracked (complements of chiropractor Steve), and stretched. My shoes are laced and my running clothes have been properly selected. The Garmin is charged. I have ordered up some super fantastic weather. Slight cloud cover, temps in the 60's, light breeze at 5mph. It should be a superior day. I have also enlisted the help of my BFF Heather to be my pace setter. (For those of you outside of the "text speak" world, BFF stands for "best friend forever").

To be honest, at this point I just want to get it over with. I have now been in training for 9 months. That is the longest amount of time I have focused on running since 1994. So, whatever the outcome of this race, I can be proud of sticking with a training program for as long as I have. After this race is over, I will sleep in on Saturday mornings. I will go hiking with Scout. And I will run when, where, how far, and however fast I want to just because I feel like it, not because my training plan dictates it. Most of all, I am looking forward to having time on the weekends and after work to ride the tandem with Sargent.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me through this journey. Your words of encouragement mean more than you know. If you recall, I began this blog and this training program in part as a tribute to my late coach, Rob Luecke. His spirit has truly been an inspiration to me over the miles of roads and trails. And so, on Sunday, I will not only have my BFF running along side me, but Coach Luecke as well (standing at intersections w/ a stop watch and yelling out splits, no doubt).

If you have not had a chance to contribute to the Rob Luecke Memorial Scholarship, there is a link on the main page of this blog. Yep, just over there to the right and up a little. Please be sure write "Rob Luecke Memorial Scholarship" in the comments area for the online donation or on the memo line of you check if you like to contribute the old fashioned way. Either way you choose, THANK YOU!

I will post an update after the race. Again, thank you all so much for your support!