Vacation Here I Come...

In 27 minutes I'll be off for the next ten days.  We are headed to Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina, where we will be staying here:

We are loading up our kids, both my sisters and their families, my in-laws and my sister's in-laws and traveling out I-40 and where ever we go after that.  We'll stay tomorrow night in Nashville and be on the beach on Saturday.

I only wish I could take my bike with me.  Rode almost 20 miles worth of hills last night and had a blast.  I still didn't manage to get up the Papa Bear hill without almost falling off the road and having to push my bike up.  It is very humbling.  I'll get it next time.

So no bike next week, but I'm taking my running shoes with me.  It's so nice to feel like I have my running legs back this week.  It had been a long few weeks since the marathon, and I didn't think I'd ever run and feel good about it again.

Vacation here I come!  21 minutes to go.

Can Someone Please Get Motivated...

It has been seven weeks since the Memorial Marathon.  What have I done since then?  Compared to my pre marathon training I could say I have done almost nothing.  I have not been running.  After the 10K last Sunday, which I won by the way, I didn't run at all last week.  I did get on my bike and did two rides of about 14 and 15 miles, but no running.

It kinda makes me sad because I love running.  Kendra and Rochelle and I ran three on the track at the Y yesterday morning, dang Oklahoma wind!, and in a word it was HORRIBLE.  I felt like I had never run before.  I so have to get back into it.  While all my running friends are just relaxing and mostly without motivation (registering for a race=motivation) I have at least two events on the horizon.

First of all, in my quest to get better on my bike (and ultimately to do Hotter Than Hell) the Norman Conquest is in about four weeks.

I am hoping to do the 46 mile race, because the 22 mile race just seems too short.  I might regret that, but the race is only $25, which by running events is dirt cheap.  Plus I hear that they have great food at the cycling events.

Then I have the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Chicago.

I am going to support my wonder friend, Jana.  She is going to be running her first half, and I plan to be with her the whole way.  But in order to be there to support her in this I need to get my shoes on and get out there and pound the pavement.  I would sure hate to have her carry me.

So here's to me, getting motivated.  I am going to do it, I am.  I am starting tonight with a 20 mile ride with Jerry and Choon and Bob.  Jerry and Choon promised that they don't leave a man, or woman, behind.  I just hope that after tonight they will invite me back for another ride.

On Sunday when I rode with Kendra and Rochelle, we decided that we needed to start our own bicycle gang.  I am so going to do that.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part...

I managed to survive the weekend.  The 2011 Corporate Challenge is done, all that there is left to do is to wait for the results.  Why do I have to participate in one of the three events that it seems to take days to get results for?  They have yet to post the 10k/5k/5k cycle results and I am dying to know how I did.

I ran the women's mile on Friday night, and did tons better than I ever expected.  I ran a 7:21 mile and finished 5th in my age group, first in my division, which is where the points are.  After we were delayed for about an hour for weather we finally got underway.  The weather was thunder and lightening that moved into north OKC, but it never actually rained.  After the first lap and a half my lungs were on fire.  I have never experience that on a run before.  I think if it had actually rained it would have gotten whatever was in the air out of the air, but since it didn't it all managed to end up in my lungs.  The rest of the night and part of Saturday I sounded like I had asthma and a dry hacking cough.  Not pretty.  But for first place, I'll take it.

Saturday was the 55 meter dash, what a joke.  I am not even going to post my time here.  I managed to squeak in third place because a girl in my heat fell right before the finish line and I managed to get across before she did.  I felt bad that she fell, but there were people falling all over in those heats.  Glad I just made it through without any more scrapes and bruises.

Sunday morning was the 10k, and I was determined to do better than I did last year's 1:05 time.  I was hoping for better weather, and I knew that there would for sure be water stops so I was ready to go.  I think I went out a little fast, I checked my Garmin at the one mile mark and it said 7:39, WAY too fast.  I backed off a little at that point.  In the next mile I saw my friend Patti pass me.  I aspire to be a runner like her, so I kept her in my sights the first lap.  I can say that I was so glad she wasn't running the 10k and that I could hang a little behind her for the first half of my race.  She told me after that she saw me and wanted to get in front of me.  Nothing like a little friendly competition.

The weather was much better than last year, but it was pretty windy on the very flat and very boring loop, that I had to run twice.  The water stops were much appreciated, although they were handing out bottles of water.  Not very convenient if you are just wanting a small drink.  I felt like handing mine back to the volunteers to have them put my name on it so I could get it the next time around.  I hate that I wasted three bottles of water in one 6 mile race, but I sure didn't want to carry it with me.

It was a good race.  I finished in 54 minutes, I haven't seen my official time since it's not posted yet, but I took about eleven minutes off my time from last year.  I guess better conditions, no knee brace and being in much better shape makes a big difference.

My last event was the 400 meter leg of the women's 800 meter relay.  It was not pretty.  We were in lane 4 for the men's and women's relays and we finished 4th in both.  Most of the weekend we were a fourth place team.  We did win volleyball, we beat the Thunder team twice which was nice.  The weekend wrapped up with exhibition dodgeball.  Very entertaining.  Who knew that there were so many rules for dodgeball!  Turns out we have a dodgeball star in our accounting department. 

No working out yesterday, a hi low cardio class this morning, piyo in the morning and out to Draper to get some miles on my bike tomorrow night.  Here's hoping I don't have a repeat of last week's fall.  Really, if you are turning to the left you probably shouldn't unclip your right foot.  On the plus side I have some pretty awesome bruises and the fall wasn't as far as I imagined it would be.

Get On Your Bike!

So I bought a bike from a friend earlier this year.  And it's a good bike this time, no more straight handle bars for me.  I have a little secret, I suck on the bike.  I am not trying to be modest, I really suck at it.  I have this fear of falling, and my previous bike was not a very good one.  My solution?  Get a better bike, and train for a 100 mile bike ride. 

It has been a little slow going, with the marathon training and all.  But now I have no excuse, I have a great bike, I have pedals, and I have shoes that have clips that should affix to my pedals.  And thanks to the guys at Schlegel's, which happens to be right across the street from my work, I have the $2 fix so that I can actually air up my tires.  I might just throw up now.

I was never a kid that could ride their bike without their hands, or jump things with my bike, or do anything other than keep my hands on the handle bars and ride.  Now I have a bike, with who knows how many gears, two bottle holders (TWO!  Not that I would ever take my hands off my handle bars to drink those bottles of water.), shoes and clips, and I will be borrowing a real pair of bike shorts.  Biking is not cheap, I have learned.  Now I just have to face my fears and get on it and learn how to do it correctly. 

Running really seems so simple, just me and a pair of shoes.    Well I do have to have special socks, and I do have a tendency to loose toenails.  But other than that it's simple.  At least I have friends that are good at biking and won't laugh at me too much as I learn.  My philosophy is that if you want to get better at something then train with someone that is better than you.  This has worked for my running, now it just has to work for my biking.

First up though is the OU Medicine Corporate Challenge.  This is our second year competing and I am very excited about it.  I am pretty nervous about my events though.  I've got the women's mile on Friday night.  I thought a 5k was a sprint, what does that make a mile?  I hope I don't embarrass myself too bad.  Then on Saturday it's the 55 meter dash.  Really?  55 meters is not a far enough distance for me to get up to any kind of speed, and trust me I am not known for my speediness.  Endurance, insanity, and missing toenails mostly.  Then the 10k on Sunday morning, which since the marathon I have run 5.5 miles once, and I can probably count on my two hands how many times I have run since then.  Finally, the women's relay on Sunday afternoon.  What are the chances I get to run one of the 100 meter legs?  Probably slim to none.

It's my birthday on Saturday, so I'll be a year older and wiser, maybe.  Here's to hoping that as a 37-year-old, I'll become known for my biking.