A Tale of Two Legs

How can 1 body feel like 2 different people....what I mean is my right leg has disassociated with my left leg and I'm in a tizzy trying to mend the fences (or the space between).  I have been keeping detailed exercise logs (which is new to me) and there is still no rhyme or reason as to the source of all my angst.  My piriformis likes to rear its ugly head these days without warning me.  I can be going along fine and then WHAMMO!  out of nowhere I succumb to limping with electrical currents coursing down my leg. The currents all ball together in my heel making me feel like there is a stone lodged under my skin.  I can be running, sitting, stretching or doing just about anything when it hits.  Sometimes I tune into what's going on when I'm running trying to find that magic moment when the zingers start.  This is a sneaky syndrome!

Let's recap since I ran Diva half marathon.  I took 3 days off to rest and recover because my leg was a little twingy (is that a word?) on the way home from North Myrtle.  When I say I took 3 days off of running, that does not imply that I was simply sitting on the couch eating bon-bons and watching tv.  No.  I took a break from running and taught 4 Les Mills BodyPump classes, 1 Silver Sneakers Cardio class, 1 Yoga class, and 1 Pilates class.  Yes.  I took it easy. :)

I ran 6 miles with Catherine (affectionately Cac) on half trail, half crushed gravel at 7:34 avg mile.  Felt great.  Did 10 sets of stadium steps that night at our youngest son's Lacrosse game during half time to stay warm.  Felt great.  I actually LOVE doing stairs & hills.  I am not so keen on flat, where you can see for miles and miles knowing you have to get there at some point.  Ran a recovery run with Christie (one of my Sole Sisters) for 4 miles and ended the week with an 11 miler on the greenway at a 7:58 avg. mile.  I limped a little Saturday afternoon so I decided that from now on I will just not sit down (except to type blogs!) unless I'm watching a movie.  I think people would be afraid if I stood up in a movie theater and just stood there the whole time.  Besides, people think runners are pretty weird interesting anyway.  That ended a nice, sweet week with a little aggravation, but not much.

On Monday I ventured to the track.  I love the track.  I think I have finally figured out why I love the track so much (I'm 47 now, so I'll let you do the math).  I don't mind that "out of breath" feeling on the oval.  Wanna know why?  Even if I have to stop, bend over and try not to throw up, I'm right there. I'm not a million miles from home/car.  Okay, a million is an exaggeration, but you get my point.  Somehow my brain has decided that it is okay to work yourself to death on the track, but not okay out on the open road.  Maybe I need to find a treadmill race and I'd be 'all over it'?  I might have something there....new trend sweeping the country......treadmill races!  That would be pretty boring, but it might just happen.  Back to the track:  1 mile warm-up, 12 quarters, 1 mile cool-down.  I picked a ridiculously humid day.  I was all by myself.  Fun times, although I think I usually run a little faster if there are people around/with me.  Anyway, I was just excited to get them done: 

Warm-up mile:  8:10
First 4 laps (30 seconds rest in between each lap)  mile 1:  6:27 (conservative so that I could assess the sneaky piriformis)...took a minute break after 4 th.
Second 4 laps (30 seconds in between each lap)  mile 2:  5:49 (opened up even more and felt pretty good.....took a minute 10 seconds break after 8th
Third 4 laps (35 seconds in between each lap)  mile 3:  5:43 (hung on and gutted it out, sweat flying)
Cool Down mile: 8:00

I am grateful I was only doing 12 400M because the skies opened up just as I was walking to my car.  Some rain would have felt good but the torrential downpour would have been messy.  I feel like my speed is coming back and I feel like I'm ready to be in the 5:20's again in the mile.  My left leg is ready for it, my right one still has not committed.  Ran great on Tuesday and Wednesday and did a recovery run on Thursday. 

Friday I did zero. nada.  It felt great.  It was a fabulous day because we got to spend it with Danielle (our daughter) at her graduation from UNCW (Wilmington).  She graduated from the Teaching Education Department and we are very, very proud of her.  She is currently job hunting.....so if you know of any elementary schools hiring, send me a note!

I will get back to running now so I can end this blogpost with one last personal story.  Pretty uneventful week after returning from the coast.  Then I decided to run a local 8k on the greenway (the same greenway that houses the majority of my long runs).  Everything started out so well.  Saw lots of friends and learned a few things about racing locally.  First and foremost:  an 8k is equivalent to 4.96 miles.  After conferring with several friends afterwards, the race was 5.34 miles.  But, it was for a good cause, so all is right with the world unless you were dealing with an angry piriformis.  Here are my splits:
Mile 1   6:39 - about 3/4 mile into the race, my piriformis said hello and I was in pain trying to push that right leg alongside the left.  I pulled back in my comfort zone and proceeded to smile and wave because I knew it was not a day for opening up. I had so many zingers I actually jumped 3x.
Mile 2   6:54- great chatting along the course because it was 2 out and backs.
Mile 3   7:01- trying not lament that my half marathon splits are faster than what was happening
Mile 4  7:11- well...no excuses here. I thought they forgot to put the turn around people out there because I knew we were going well beyond where we were supposed to go because I know every quarter mile marker on the greenway.  I kept slowing down until I finally saw the leaders coming towards me because I kept thinking they were lost.
Mile 5 6:57- well....at least I picked up the pace because there was a nice steady uphill during that mile. 
.34  mile 1:28- 36:12 Official Time (2nd Female overall)

Evidently I didn't look all rosy coming up the hill to the finish

                        I wore one of my favorite Lululemon tops with some comfy Adidas shorts


I have taken some time off of running this week to cool down my leg a little.  I taught 3 yoga/pilates classes this week which has helped.  For my next race, I'm going to KT tape my piriformis even if it is feeling great.  I will not trust that right leg for a while.  I will continue to stretch, ice and roll (SIR) and be glad that the pressure of having a bad race is now over.  I will not let this define me.  I know I have lots left to do in the running world.  I'm looking at my track meet schedule and looking at my entries into 2 - 24 hour ultra races this year.  Hinson Lake in September and Crooked Road in November.  I'm ready !!

On a personal note, my daughter, Mandi, just got engaged last night to her boyfriend (Jordan) of almost 4 years and we couldn't be happier and prouder of her.  She continues to be a shining light in my life and we are incredibly happy.  I hope she doesn't mind that I posted this photo of her teary eyed but extremely happy!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

GET REAL. GET MOVING!

DIVAS Half Marathon in North Myrtle Beach

It's already Wednesday, but Sunday's race is still VERY fresh in my mind.  It's another Sole Sister invasion of Myrtle Beach.  We stayed in Myrtle Beach but raced close by in North Myrtle.  This is a picture of us getting ready to depart from my house.  I travelled with half of my Sole Sisters on Saturday morning.  The race was on Sunday morning.  If I didn't have Christie telling me what day we were leaving, what day/time the race was, and what day we were coming home, I'd be lost.  The devil is in the details and she's the detail girl and I'm on the fun committee.

 

Sole Sisters (from left to right) Christie, Sarah, Christine, Kristen & Cindy                               

My first seeded race in years....I'm Bib #5!
 

We were DIVAS!


 

Christine got us to the expo safely and we picked up our packets and our shirts.  We took quite a few photos, but here is a sampling: 

There was a slight issue with the shirts.  Well....I'm thinking it was a major issue.  The shirts looked like they were Child Sizes and not Women's sizes.  The volunteers at the Expo looked a little dumbfounded and really thought they were Women's Sizes.  I beg to differ.  I felt like a rolled sausage. 

When you travel with the Sole Sisters, you are most certainly are guaranteed fun and a good time.  We can find humor in just about everything.  They ground me and help soothe my nerves before a race.   Aside from someone setting off fireworks at 11pm Saturday night, we actually got a good night's sleep.  It was a 7am start.  I made my way to the starting line in the Elite section.  Usually I am situated right BEHIND the elite section.  I was actually feeling pretty good at the starting line and then this happened........ZOLA BUDD!  I am standing next to an Olympic Athlete!  She is only a few months younger than me.  She was in the 1984 Olympics!  She is famous for racing barefoot and more famous for allegedly tripping Mary Decker Slaney in the 3000 meter finals. Notice I wrote, "allegedly".  She is in the White Newton Shirt (#31) wearing SHOES!

All opinions aside, I started shaking with nerves.  Many of the young athletes around us probably had NO idea who she was.  I tried to be as cool as possible and shook her hand and wished her and everyone around me, "Good Luck".  I love talking to other runners around me.  After running over 35 years, I still find runners fascinating.  Then again, my running friends in Greensboro hear me talk all the time on the greenway. 

The race itself went.....well, it went pretty well.  I had only brief arguments with my piriformis and after looking at my splits, I stayed relatively consistent.  It was a warm, humid day.  It was supposed to rain, but luckily it didn't.  Here were my splits for the race:

Mile 1   6:57
Mile 2   6:56
Mile 3   6:56
Mile 4   7:01
Mile 5   6:55
Mile 6   7:03
Mile 7   6:56
Mile 8   7:13
Mile 9   7:00
Mile 10 7:01
Mile 11 7:04
Mile 12 6:52
Mile 13 6:51
Finish Time:  1:31:33

They give you a tiara and a boa near the 13 mile marker.  My tiara dropped and I was certainly not going to stop to retrieve it.  I was so relieved to be done!  There either wasn't a 13 mile marker, or I missed it.  I didn't realize I was so close to finishing when I made that turn.  We were told at the start of the race that the awards was placed on gun time and not chip time, so I didn't kick it in like I would have because I didn't see anyone behind me.  This is probably why I am SMILING.  My Lululemon outfit didn't even look that sweaty.  I can assure you I was sweating a ton. Which brings me back to the finish....there is a young woman who's chip time was 1 second slower than mine.  Yikes!  I guess I was very lucky to get third! Glad I decided against stopping to retrieve my tiara!

Back to my splits....my hiccup was during mile 8.  I started to feel the heat.  I was very, very alone from mile 3 on, so I didn't have people to focus on around me.  My piriformis acted up a little, but I could control it by changing my gait.  I felt a little nauseous, but didn't think about it and whammo!  Right after I crossed the finish line I took 2 steps and (how do I put this delicately) heaved a little.  I don't recall ever getting sick after a race and I was completely fine afterwards.  I did, however, profusely apologize to all the spectators lined up to cheer for their loved ones.  Then the partying began. 

One of my Sole Sisters, Sarah, PR'd by over 4 minutes!  We had fun dancing in the streets to DJ Loquacious.  Here are a few more photos from DIVAS....and then I will put away my tiara and boa and start working on gaining speed!

Couldn't quite get the leg thing right!

Sole Sister Rock Stars!

                                       DJ Loquacious just told the crowd I was 47.  Gulp.







Boston: One Week Later

It has been a whirlwind since that fateful Monday afternoon where 2 young men (let's hope that is all) took lives and injured many along the streets of Boston.  Running Boston is like participating in the SuperBowl of football.  It is an honor and a privilege to be able to participate in the sacred event.  Many runners will never qualify for this prestigious event.  Most runners who participate in Boston know they are part of something magical. 

I watched every minute of the Universal Sports Network (Channel 625 on DirectTv) coverage of the marathon.  I got butterflies in my stomach before the start of the race.  I got goose bumps while watching the runners do what they do best; run.  I emailed my husband at some point while watching and wrote, "I think I want to go back to Boston".  He first emailed me a response saying yes, let's go back.  And then he asked me, to run?"  I responded with an emphatic "Yes".

.....and then the explosions occurred.  I know I said I was retired from marathons (but not half-marathons or ultra marathons) but I don't think I am done.  I am a very proud American.  No one is going to make me cower.  What transpired INSPIRED me...

It was really nice getting facebook messages, emails, texts, etc. from friends far and wide making sure I was not there this year.  I am part of a fantastic community that cares.  It was nice hearing from teammates from my Hood to Coast, Bourbon Chase,  and American Odyssey Relay. Most runners I know have hearts so much bigger than their physical counterpart. 

My heart is saddened by all the tragedy and my soul is determined more than ever.  I have a wonderful family and the best friends anyone could ask for.  I know they understand.  Am I still having some piriformis issues?  Yes.  Does that matter? NO! 

Hug those close to you a little harder and pray for peace.

Piriformis What? As Sweet Brown would say, "Ain't nobody got time for that"!

I finally have the diagnosis to my excruciating leg/foot pain......Piriformis Syndrome.  Here is what WebMD says about this condition and then I'll add my 2 cents worth of what I'm feeling:

Piriformis syndrome is an uncommon neuromuscular disorder that is caused when the piriformis muscle compresses the sciatic nerve. The piriformis muscle is a flat, band-like muscle located in the buttocks near the top of the hip joint. This muscle is important in lower body movement because it stabilizes the hip joint and lifts and rotates the thigh away from the body. This enables us to walk, shift our weight from one foot to another, and maintain balance. It is also used in sports that involve lifting and rotating the thighs -- in short, in almost every motion of the hips and legs.

The sciatic nerve is a thick and long nerve in the body. It passes alongside or goes through the piriformis muscle, goes down the back of the leg, and eventually branches off into smaller nerves that end in the feet. Nerve compression can be caused by spasm of the piriformis muscle.

 

Okay...so, there was your short lesson in this uncommon neuromuscular disorder.  Here is what I was feeling:  Getting out of bed in the morning I feel great until my right foot touched the floor.  Then, I couldn't walk to the bathroom, I was hobbling and stumbling.  After some brief stretching, I was able to walk almost normally.  I was walking as if there was a large stone under my heel (not the arch, the heel).  The muscles of my lower leg would tighten and tense.  The muscles in my upper leg would feel as if they were being pulled into my hip socket.  My inner thigh muscle, part of the adductor group would periodically spasm and cramp.  I kept a good secret for days (although my hubby knew I was hurt) because I was so excited to be racing in the Wrightsville Beach half marathon.  My leg would actually feel better periodically throughout the day and felt great once I was warm.  Hence why I didn't see anyone about it.

 

This wasn't an overnight thing.  There was no defining moment.  There have been moments for the last 3 months that I have ignored.  I think I thought if I just pampered my leg all would be good.  I hung upside down on my inversion table. I rolled my leg & butt with my foam roller. I used my marathon stick on it.  I have been teaching yoga consistently at least once a week.  Why am I telling you this?  Because at 47, I thought I was better at listening to my body but now I realize I need to be not only better at listening but also obeying my body.  My livelihood has depended upon me being in relatively good shape.  I am not in my 20's or 30's anymore.  Am I still trying to be faster than women in those age brackets?  Yes.  Do I need to do more than the average runner to stay healthy?  Yes.  I tend to overload my schedule with teaching classes, running, and tennis.  No more.   I am mortal (although it pains me to say it) so I have started to scale back a little (notice I said little.  Hey, at least I'm trying!)

 

There is a reason I have been running for 35 years now.  I have always taken care of myself.  I have been blessed with virtually no ailments (solid knees and good hips).  This is a short term setback to my training, but a long term wake up call to be a better steward to my body.

 

Dr. Jeremy Phillips has not only fixed my leg, but I feel pretty confident I could audition for the Rockettes.  Just kidding.  He has helped tremendously and a week and a half later I am now running a little each day.  Yesterday I ran 2 miles.  Today 3.  I'm going for the big 5-6 tomorrow.  I have a little over a month till my Diva Half Marathon in Myrtle Beach.  I realize I may not be able to PR (1:27), but I feel good about flirting with 1:30:00 again. 

 

So....I'm excited to unveil my new slogan:

 

Get Real.

Get Moving.

 

I can't wait to blog about my new adventures in the making!

Stay healthy!

Recap of Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon

Here it is already Tuesday and I've already fallen behind in my race recap!  Wow...what a whirlwind.  Let me try and find some chronological order to my chaotic thoughts!  Kind of like A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".  Charles Dickens had no clue that I would define my whole weekend by his opening sentence.  As many of you who know me, I'm not one to make excuses.....ever......so, I'm not going to start now.  I did not do what I set out to do.  Period.  I was not trying to PR, I was merely trying to drop below 1:30:00.  I did a 1:30:42 at Richmond without much effort.  I was ready for effort this time.  I had a plan.  I deviated from the plan.  As usual, let me back up and start from the relative beginning.

One of my dearest friends, Trish, and I left Friday morning from Greensboro.  It was a beautiful day, albeit still rather chilly.  Actually, Friday would have been perfect racing conditions.  Warm with a breeze.  We drove to Wilmington to stay at Josie Whitmore's gorgeous home in Landfall.  How great it was to be staying in a house where several miles of the race was in her neighborhood.  When we arrived around lunchtime, we all went to Dockside in Wrightsville Beach for lunch.  Here is the gang:

From left, we have Trish, Patty, Chris, Josie and me.  I know these girls from my tennis life.  Many of you don't know that I took up tennis a while back.  Anyway, what a pleasant Friday afternoon eating, shopping, picking up our race packets, etc.

Saturday morning I got up and ran a few miles to loosen the legs.  I've been having some issues with my right leg from my hip to my heel and it remains happy when I am constantly moving and stretching it.  More on that later.  We played tennis and did a little more shopping.  We ended up having dinner in downtown Wilmington Saturday night and walked around the city a little bit.  Here are our Saturday night dancing shoes (there was no dancing, we had a half marathon very early the next day!)

I will let you decide who's foot belongs to whom.  Anyway, we tried to go to bed early, but sleep didn't happen till after midnight.  The 4:30 alarm went off and we all rose and scampered around in a hurry.  Here is what we were wearing for our race:

I guess my shoe is easy to spot because I had my "Sole Sister" charm from Christie on my shoe.  We walked outside to 61 degree little after 5:30am morning.  It was a great morning even though the temperature was 10 degrees warmer than predicted. 

We made it to the starting line with ease and didn't freeze waiting for the gun to go off.  Here is where I should point out that there were 3 waves and they put the slowest wave first.  Besides a 24 hour relay, I have never seen this done before.  I actually liked it because it gave you people to look for.  I had some friends that were great about cheering me on.  They didn't realize how important that was to me during this race because I was trying to ignore the pain I felt in my right leg.  I will go over split times at the end, but suffice it to say.....they energized me to spring forward :)

The pain I've been feeling has been a tightness that occasionally throbs, occasionally feels like a zinger, and occasionally feels like I'm running on a rock on my right heel.  It appears to be a piriformis issue that travels down my IT band which makes my soleus super tight which tugs at my plantar region.  The good news is that I'm done trying to diagnose myself and I am ready to admit that after 35 years of racing, I'm going to see a qualified professional for the first time.  Literally, tomorrow.  I'm still hobbling until I get everything 'loose and lubed' as they say. 

Back to the race.  I finished with a 1:32:30.  Although I didn't do want I had anticipated, it is still a respectable time.  I realize that.  I think the sadness I felt afterwards was more because I couldn't turn my mind off during the race.  I felt every blessed mile.  Most races there are miles where I have no recollection of running.  You have to love it when you have one of those type races!  I tried not to look at my watch too often because I had my Garmin set for my 6:55 average mile pace to get me there in 1:30:00.  I heard the mile beeps on my watch at every mile.  I tried to dig deep because I'm the motivator.  I'm the life coach.  How do you motivate the motivator?  Quite frankly I think I told myself to shush several times.  Well....maybe it was a little more harsh than shush.  I'll never tell.

After finishing, I practically ran to the massage part of the tent and 2 very, very nice people tried to work on me as I was in a love/hate relationship with my leg.  I think I catapulted off the table several times and swatted the table with my hand (which I think I bruised a little).  They got me moving and grooving again.  Luckily I had friends that I ran into after the race while waiting for my house buddies:  I ran into Melanie who I paced in the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon for a PR.  Well.  She PR'd again!  I was so thrilled for her success, it was hard to not be totally happy! 



I also ran into one of my sole sisters, Lori.  Tiffany and Lori were smart enough to wear a hat with the sun blinding us.  I know I was not feeling great on my right leg, but I looked absolutely pained in this picture!


The cotton tank I wore during the race was a "one and done" for me.  I wanted to give my brother-in-law's bar a shout out because we basically ran right by Fibber's.  I, however, did not realize how hot cotton is to run in.  I was beyond sweaty!  Luckily, my runningskirts.com skirt and my fellowflowers.com flower kept me looking cool!

So....back to my Dicken's quote.  It was the best of times because of all the great fun.  It was the worst of times because I did not accomplish my goal.  One of the lucky things for me about racing is that I am cognizant of competitors around me, but I am truly out there for myself.  I was lucky to earn some $$$ for my efforts and I am more determined to heal and then train for DIVA half marathon the end of next month!

Here is a photo of my tennis girls who all PR'd.  I couldn't be prouder of ALL of them.


Even though it was a girls' weekend, my hubby came down and watched me receive my award.  He means the world to me.  I was thrilled he was there.  Well....there's the recap...here's the splits, according to my Garmin:

Mile 1  7:07 (I started my watch when the timer started...)
Mile 2  6:59.98
Mile 3  6:59.17
Mile 4  6:52.02
Mile 5  6:54.26
Mile 6  6:50.79
Mile 7  6:52.51
Mile 8  7:02.35
Mile 9  7:05.97
Mile 10 7:03.48
Mile 11 7:09.11
Mile 12 7:00.81
Mile 13  7:07:05
Mile 13.21  (My Garmin had me at .21)  1:21:16
Total:  13.21  1:32:26    7:00 avg/mile

For not looking at my watch, I was happy with my consistency...even with discomfort.  Hope all of you who raced this weekend had a great experience.

Thank you, Josie for a great weekend!

Dasani Myrtle Beach Half Marathon Race/Pace Recap

I found a new calling.  Who knew I could have this much fun pacing?!  I had one of the most rewarding experiences of my life this past weekend.  It was a weekend of firsts for me.  First, 10 women can absolutely be drama free and all get along swimmingly in a condo.  It was fun because some of the Sole Sisters (Christie, Christine, Sarah, Amy, and myself) teamed up with some of the Woo Hoo Crew (Melanie, Katie, Carole, Kathy) and one from the Streakers (Amanda).  We had an oceanfront condo in Myrtle Beach a few miles away from the start/finish line to the race.

First things first, Christie Strupe (one of the Sole Sisters) bought me the cutest charm for my shoe for the race.

It may be hard to see but it is a sneaker charm from BeeCausecharms.com.  It says Sole Sister. I decided to give my Nike Free shoes a whirl for my pacing debut.  They are super comfortable.  We get to the expo and I am excited to meet some fellow pacers there.  No one was there, but I got my pacer shirt:

Yes, I look happy.  Yes, I stayed this happy for most of the weekend.  I was so excited for my pacing duties that I barely slept on Friday night.  I have to say it was weird being at the Expo and not having any butterflies in my stomach.  I tend to get a little nervous before a race. We got settled in early for the night, and I taught yoga to everyone in the condo for almost 45 minutes.  Very, very relaxing.

The alarm went off at 4:35am and I shot out of bed and directly into my clothes.  None of my condo mates were able to accompany me to the starting line because I had to be there by 5:45am.  The race started at 6:30am.  I was there practically jumping up and down not only from excitement but from also trying to keep warm.  We got very lucky....it was 42 degrees at the start and warmed up as the race went along.  Rain and then snow didn't start till late afternoon on Saturday.  The beach actually had a dusting of snow when we woke up on Sunday morning.  Back to the race.

I saw several friends I knew and met quite a few people who were in my pace group.  I continually stressed to them that I was NOT going to start out fast and that I had 2 Garmin watches on.  One was set for the 9:05 minute mile and the other one had my overall pace, in the moment pace, and time posted.  I even recounted the Richmond Half Marathon pacing story, so I appeased them greatly.  It also helped to allay their fears when I mentioned I have several sub 1:30 half marathons under my belt.

We didn't hear the elephant (yes, a real elephant was supposed to roar, or whatever  sound  emits from their trunk is) for the start, but we saw all the runners ahead starting to run so we started my one watch for gun time (close to it) and the other watch I started on the starting line for the chip time.  I talked incessantly at the beginning to coax the participants not to go out too fast.  We stayed very steady.  I told lots of stories.  I warned them all......you are either going to love me or hate me.  There would be no in between.  I bopped around and chatted up with everyone during the run.  It was a beautiful morning.  I kept telling them that the key to success is to relax and enjoy the run.

I looked at my watches quite often, but I think the biggest smile I had on my face was when we hit the 6 mile marker and my pacer watch had a bunch of zeros across it.  That was a GOOD thing.  It meant that we were nailing our pace and that we were not ahead or behind our goal. 

I really focused on getting them to ignore their mind and let their legs just keep turning over.  I discussed ways to get the core involved to give the legs a break, but mainly I just kept pointing out things along the run to amuse them and make them smile.  I even got bystanders involved during the run.  I would yell, "When I say Myrtle, you say beach, Myrtle...Beach".  Everyone joined in and encouraged my group.  I didn't care if they thought I was nuts or not because I was going to get them to that finish line if I had to pull, drag or carry them.  Luckily, I didn't have to!  Here is a photo from the race almost 3/4 of the way into it:

It dawned on me that this great group of people were all going to make it.  I was so thrilled.  I knew that we had quite a difference in gun/chip time so I didn't tell them that we were going to come in under 2 hours.  With a half mile to go, I encouraged anyone who was feeling good to listen for the crowds, empty the mind, and focus on the finish line.  Several took off.  I still had a good number left with me and when we made the final turn towards the finish line, I ran sideways, backwards and encouraged them as loudly as I could.  The crowds were helpful.  I think the louder I yelled for them, the louder the crowds were :)  Here is a photo of me running sideways to coax them to the finish line:

I crossed the finish line at exactly 2:00:01.  However, my chip time ended up being 1:58:18.  I would never have finished this early if my group wasn't all with me.  We lost 2 people that I know of because of being injured and not feeling well.  If we lost any others, I was not aware of them.  Here is me going across the finish line overjoyed for my group:

Had I known the red Powerade stained my tongue, I probably would have kept my mouth closed, but I was too happy to even care how I looked.  Yes, my race bib says Cindyloohoo.  Why not.

I got to hang out with lots of friends afterwards and we took several photos.  Most of my friends PR'd on Saturday and I couldn't have been more pleased.  I knew I did the right thing by pacing when several runners and their families came up to me in the post-race area and thanked me.  I also got several hugs from family members for getting their loved ones in under 2 hours.  I turned to several girls in my group and smiled ear to ear.  I felt like I needed to run some more miles and I knew Mark, a friend of the Sole Sisters, was trying to qualify for Boston.  I ran to the 23 mile marker and ran with Mark to help him to the finish line.  He was having some leg issues.  He was battling hard to finish in 3:25.  I could see the pain on his face but I knew he was close to his goal so I ran and tried to keep his mind off of running until his wife Samantha joined us.  I veered off so she could help him the finish line.  He missed it by less than 2 minutes.  He WILL qualify soon.  I just know it!  I got back to our group and we took more photos.
Here is our pyramid attempt:

All in all, I     l  o  v  e  d    being a pacer.  I would do it every weekend if I could.  I also enjoyed getting over 19 miles in for the day. After eating, showering and napping, we headed to the after-after party at the House of Blues.  I think I danced for almost an hour.  Talk about fun!  But now my focus will be on the Wrightsville half marathon next month on St. Patrick's Day.  I will be RACING, not pacing.  I better get off this chair and go for a run.......

The Power of a Solo Run

All week I wasn't sure what my running plans for the weekend were going to bring.  I leave for Myrtle Beach this weekend, so I wanted to give my husband the wheel on what we were going to do this past weekend.  We ended up having a low key Friday night, so I thought I would run Saturday morning with some of the Sole Sisters who had planned an 8am run from Panera.  Hot coffee, bagels and great conversation....who could ask for more?  Well....evidently I didn't ask enough because I messed up.

I got to Panera early so I could do 2 miles before meeting with the group because they were only running 8.  I didn't plan very well and took an Ipod in my mitten because sometimes I like to listen to music when running alone.  It was a cold morning in the low 30's; I needed music.  My shuffle, my pink nano and my other pink older nano all needed charging, so the Ipod touch would be perfect for the 2 miles.  A mile and a quarter into the run as I was making my way back to the Panera parking lot, I realized the group had decided to run on SUNDAY morning, not Saturday. 

I laughed at my blonde hair and decided that maybe this was some sort of divine intervention.  I needed more hills in my workouts these days, so I was determined to keep running.  I turned toward one of the longest hills in Greensboro with a smile on my face.  I was not only going to run a hill, I was going to see airplanes.  I was very comfortable running and told myself I didn't care about time, etc., as long as I logged 10 miles.  I can sometimes become a slave to my Garmin watch; pace, avg pace, etc.  I really, really enjoyed this run.  I'm thinking it is because I didn't analyze my watch.  I'm thinking I was running with just myself so if I needed to slow down on the hill, I could slow down.  I didn't have to worry whether or not I could keep up with anyone or not.

I sang out loud a couple of times and stayed warm thanks to 'hot hands'....what would my Reynaud fingers do without them?  I was actually smiling when I finished.  I then looked down at my watch and realized I averaged a 7:39 mile and smiled even bigger.  My new slogan, "Hills:  It's What for Breakfast"!   I grabbed some bagels and coffee for Dan and myself and went home.

The lesson I learned?  Running with friends is great, but running solo can be empowering.  Every single day is/can be an adventure....enjoy the ride!