The end of the craziness

I'd like to say I've been so traumatized by the marathon that I can only now write about it...but that would only be to cover up what a horrible blogger I am :)
We did run (some of) and finished the Chicago Marathon in October. Managed to come in 29,500 and some odd (can you tell I wasn't to crazy about memorizing my place) out of 31,000 some odd finishers. Brian and I were together almost all of the time and crossed the finish line together. It got really hot towards the end...but perhaps that's because our time stretched out to 6 hours and 15 minutes..oh boy. We ran the first 14 miles, walked the next, ran about another mile, and mostly walked the rest. My left leg, knee, and hip kept cramping up whenever I'd try to run very much. We did make a good show and ran the last 1/4 mile :)
The WORST part was crossing the finish line and then having to walk yet ANOTHER mile to get to the meeting place, and then walk almost 2 miles back to the place we stayed. Yeah, I know, it was good for us to keep going....
So it's over. I'd hoped to do a little better...coming in 29 thousand and some doesn't do much for the ego :) But we did finish! Can't say we'll do it again.
Next summer we're contemplating hiking a fourteener (mountain that is over 14,000 feet high) and maybe hiking some of the continental divide trail.

10K Kelly Carter Scholarship Run

Well, I survived my first official run. I think I like running by myself better than with a bunch of people. (not that I was with a bunch of people for long) That should make the Chicago Marathon interesting :)
It was hot and humid, but thankfully the sun wasn't out. My goal was not to be the last person to finish, and I made it - just barely. I think I was 3rd to last. However I did get a silver medal for my age group... Spiffy, huh? yeah, until you realize there was no bronze medal given out, hence there were only 2 people in my age group... :) Oh well. Not even sure what my time was. 64: something. Not bad for me.
Certainly makes one rethink a marathon though... What WAS I thinking?

7 miles of hills

This past Saturday (my birthday) was our first 7 mile run. Remember this is as far as I've ever run... I let Brian pick our route, 'cause he wanted to do something "different". Well, we did something DIFFERENT all right. We took a "lovely" route through the Irish Hills, of which I think we found a few of the biggest hills in SE Michigan. On top of that, Map My Run, told us a road went through when it was actually a dead end. Ended up only adding .5 miles, but it seemed like an extra 2 miles at least! All I've got to say, is I'm sure glad Chicago is flat!

Running on the beach

has got to be my all time favorite run so far! Brian and I ran on the beach at Cape May, NJ, around 7:30 am Saturday. The morning was cool, the tide was out, and the sky was blue. What a gorgeous morning. We ran about 4 miles, mostly down by the water where the sand was packed. The beach was mostly empty except for a few fisherman (fishing for Sharks, one told me - and we saw the proof up on the beach) and a few walkers.
Oh yeah, did I mention we ran barefoot! ? Those who know me know this is my preferred foot attire... around the house, around the yard, around the office... It was awesome! I felt better after that run than I had for a couple of weeks.

Training - Week 9

In case you can't believe it, I'm still training for the Chicago Marathon! (it's now only 5 months away) I'm in week 9 of the training program. The furtherest I've run at one time so far is 5 miles, which is a long way from 26.2 miles, but a lot further than I've ever run before. And I'm running so far...no walking. I'm not going to be breaking any speed records, though! Next week will be my last runs in the two mile range. From there on it only goes up. When June hits the mileage starts to pick up faster... Stay tuned :)

Temporary Insanity, Peer Pressure, or Completely lost my Mind

I won't be at Crossroads on October 12. I won't be in Adrian on October 12. I won't even be in Michigan on October 12.

I will be in Chicago on October 12...doing a....marathon.

Yep, I caved in to the marathon bug that's subtly going around Crossroads. I'm not entirely sure WHY I did. It was something I never had any desire to do. Actually I pretty much told Brian he was not very intelligent for considering it. And now I'm doing it too. However the key word here is "doing" not "running". I'll probably run some and walk some. I have started on Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme training, though. We'll see how it goes.