Bartram 2009 recap

As I pulled into the parking lot what do I see but alot of cars already there. Last year it was a small turnout. Not this year. I think we had 88 runners this year compared to last year was about 40 something.
Mandie and I walked down to the pavilion to set up our chairs and bag. I brought 3 pairs of shoes and socks with me to change if I needed to during the race. I then walked over to Chef Kenny that had the coffee there waiting for me. I was great cause it was cold. I think it was 34 or 35 degrees. But thank God it was NOT raining this year. I then ran into Stef who was helping getting our race bags together. I looked at my watch and decided that I would start running at 7:30.
So Stef, myself, Deb 1 and Deb 2 would run as a group. We decided to run a ratio of 1:1 today. This was going to be a fun day cause I signed up for the 50K but Stef and myself decided to just run as far as we wanted too. The pressure was now gone. I knew I could stop at anytime if I felt bad.
Well we were off and running the new course this year. When we started, they did not have a barrel out and we missed the first turn. Oh well. We didn't know and kept going until we ran into Donna. She told us that we should be running with the blue flags on our right. We told her that we should stay to the right of the blue flags. Then we ran into more runners that we going the other way also. We stopped and just agreed that we would continue for the first lap and then turn around and go the right way on the other laps. Somehow we missed another turn and got back to the aid station and only had 1/2 lap logged in. We stopped and got a drink and turned around and went for more. We joked around and said we just did a 5K warm up for a 50K race. HaHaHaHa.
Lap 2 done and time for some food and drinks. I had gotten hungry and Chef Kenny was cooking some great grilled cheese sandwiches. We had sooo much food to munch on during the laps. This made it hard cause I wanted to just sit and eat. Not run. There were the sandwiches, home-made fudge, chips, soup and lots of other goodies.
Lap 3 down.
Lap 4 down
Lap 5, we decided to go backwards to see who was still on the course. This way we got to see everyone and say Hello and Goodbye. People were asking us if we went the wrong way and I told them it was a victory lap. When we got back to the aid station we had decided to go back the midway aid station and run back to get in our other lap that we missed on our first lap. Off we went. OMG that was a long 2 miles out. We kept looking at our watch to look at the time and distance. Stef had told me that her marathon PR was 6:45. We were 2 miles out and had 40 minutes to go. That was when it hit me. Stef went out with the intention to run a couple of laps to help pace me so that I could finish my 50K today. I did not have it in me to finish it today and I was ok with that. I was at least out running. I then thought if she was so nice to want to help me today, I would help her cause I was not going to run the entire 50K. I told her we need to continue our pace and she would have a new marathon PR today. I looked at my watch and the last 4 miles we had gotten faster. We hit the 1 mile mark to go and I could see/hear the finish line. We were playing Marco Polo with others on the course. We made the last turn and there it was, the finish line.
We turned and PROUDLY crossed the finish line. I had another marathon under my belt, Stef had a new marathon PR but most of all I was leaving happy and proud that I just ran many hours with my friends. We stayed around to watch the last runner cross the finish line and then packed up went for an early supper. MEXICAN FOOD AND BEER!!!!!! Why because I earned it. I think I burned a couple of calories today and I was HUNGRY.
I should have some pictures in the next couple of days and I will post them. Until then, have a great day.

In responce to my encryptic message...

I have been told that I left yall in suspense at one of my latest blogs. If I did, I apologize. I was watching TV and trying to write and think at the same time and it was not working.

For the last couple of months, I have not been running alot. I had fallen to the non-running bug. I started to feel sorry for myself. I was thinking I could not get any faster than I was. I thought I could not loose anymore weight. I thought I was going to be stuck in a life time rut.
Well, not anymore. I am tired of feeling sorry for myself. It is time to get off my lazy @ss and do something about it. Yes, I ran 2 marathons in the last 2 weeks but that is not enough. It is time to start doing a scheduled, maintained workout that I am able to see results on a weekly basis. I guess this is what I get for watching The Biggest Loser every week.

Four years ago, I had the opportunity to join in a biggest loser program locally at one of our hospital. We put $20.oo each in and got measured with our weight and body fat. We had 3 months to loose what ever we could. Well to make this short after 3 months of doing Atkins, I was able to lose 51 pounds. Since then, I have put back on about 15 pounds. It is like a yo-yo with a pound here and there going and coming.

Well no more. I have seen the awesome effects that my friends Kenny and Stef have made with their weight lose and activities and I am jealous. I applauded them for what they have done. I hope, no I mean WANT to be there in a couple of months.

Once again I am sorry for leaving you on a limb and not explaining myself. I just want to get back in exercise, diet and weight lost. Until then, have a great week. I will publish every week my weight gain/lost so that I will have to hold myself accountable for my actions.

Do we go that way......

Bartram recap coming soon but I had to say this cause this was how we started our run today. We had blue flags to follow but it did not work out that way on our first lap. We went out for about 3.5 miles before we were told we were going the wrong way.

Anyway today was suppose to be a 50K for me but my body was not up to it today so I ran just a marathon. And yes I can say that and not laugh. That was my saying after the race. I knew that I could finish the 50 but I was not going to put my body through it and pay for it for the next couple of days.

More to come later.

Changes coming soon

I have gone through alot mentally in the last coulple of months and it is time for a change. I have forgotten who I was and what I am capable of doing. Things are now going to change cause I am sick and tired of who I am or what I have become lately.

More to come later

Chick 2009 recap

The day before Mandie and I went up to Chickamauga to ride the course and have a fun day. We got to the motel before check-in time so we decided to ride up to Chat. Tenn and go shopping for some new filters for her camera. We found a camera store at the local Mall so we got it and headed back to the motel. We were able to go ahead and check in so we would not have to worry with that later on in the night. So we parked my truck and started getting our stuff out when I looked and

I COULD NOT FIND MY RUNNING BAG!!!!!!

By now I am seriously losing my mind. What am I going to do? I know I packed everything I needed. My shoes, my gels, my bib number belt, my shorts and shirt. Now what. I am going to have to go the store. OMG Not now I can not deal with this stress.

Then Mandie said "Why don't you call Tommy and see if he has left yet?" It is scary but she can be very smart sometimes. I called him and said ''"WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW". Luckily he was about 10 min from my house. I asked if he would go by and pick it up and he agreed so I called Mandie's g-mother and asked if she would get it out of our house and have it waiting for him to pick up. About 5 min. passed when she called back and said "I can't find it". Now I am totally losing my mind. Then Mandie goes and looks in the back of my truck under the clothes and low and behold what did she see but my bag. I hear her say "I found it, I did not look under the clothes". So all this panicking for nothing. By now I need a drink. I always try and put everything together before I go on a trip.

Now it is off to the course. We get there and the scenery was beautiful. We were riding the course to try and figure out which way it goes. I remembered some of it from last year. We even went up one of the monuments that was about 6 stories high and got some good photos. I will post them later when I find the card. The leaves were changing colors from rich reds to golden yellows. We even encountered some deer that were standing on the side of the road.

By now it was getting close to pick up time for the packets. So off went inside to pick up my stuff. There were 5 lines divided by the last name and I think 75% of every one's last name was between A-F. This gave me a chance to meet some new people. A man was standing in front of me saying this was his fist HM. He asked me if I was doing it and I told him I was doing the Marathon. At this point you could have pushed him over with a feather. He asked me if this was my first and I told him it was going to be my 6th which was funny because we were at the 6th cavalry museum. And no I did not plan it that way, it just happened. I love the expressions on someones face when they find out I run marathons. Yep 6'3" and 260 pounds. Pounding it out to the finish.

Now it was time to go to the next building to pick up our shirts. Why there were not in the packets was the big question. Then they did have enough people to help out so Mandie and myself help pass out shirts. It was pretty fun cause I got a chance to meet my fellow runners. It was now time to go the pasta dinner. We were in line with Kenny and Stef when were told that it was not all you could eat. And they were giving out SMALL portions. Were all kidding about going out and eating after dinner. At our table was Tommy, Mandie, Troy and Amy, Marcus and Teri, Kenny and Stef and FM. Everyone was discussing finishing times and I said all I want to do is get a Sub 6.

We left and headed back to the motel to sit in the lobby and have fun. FM, Kenny and Stef and myself sat around drinking coffee and eating all the cookies as quick as they would cook them. We were having fun telling jokes and watching other runners eat their pasta dinners. Some of them were smart and went to other places to get to-go orders. By now it was getting late so off to bed we went.

4:45 a.m. and it is time to get up. I already had place everything out so I would not have to think about it. We were checking out and stopped by the lobby for some goodies and out the door we went. We got to the race and parked and it was dark and cold. Priorities first, find the rest rooms. The stomach was now kicking into gear like normal. I kept asking Mandie what time it was cause I did not want to take my coat off until the last moment.

Well 10 minutes to go and I am ready. I went for a quick warm-up and stretched. Everyone was in line and BOOM, the canon was fired. Off we go. I was running with Stef at first until we had to split off. There were 3 different places were the HM and M split on the course. We were having fun at first, saw some deer walking around, saw a Marathon Maniac at one of the aid stations we ran with at MIBM race, and talked and had fun. Then it was off by myself. About 1 minute passed and I heard someone whistling. It was Kenny. He came up behind me and I told him he was about 1 minute in front of Stef. This was Kenny's first HM. I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was having some calf problems. I reminded him to have fun today and not go crazy. We ran back and forth for a couple of miles before we split off and then the lonely road hit. I was by myself with no one to talk to. Just me and the MP3. It was lonely. I came up on the half way at the clock said 2:40:45 and I was happy. I said I could run it in 5:30 with little training and I was ok with that for today was just a fun run day. At mile 17, a bomb went off. My right foot was bleeding from my toe nails rubbing the skin, my right knee was hurting and my left quad was cramping so I started to walk. I noticed a man about 1/4 mile in front of me so I decided that he was going to be my target. I kept seeing that white shirt, black shorts and white undershorts. I was not going to let him out of my site. I then saw a deer run in front of us. It was a 6 pointer with a broken time so that only 5 were showing. Lots of squirrels to talk to along the way.

Mile 18-22 LONG and PAINFUL. Lots of walking and stretching. I was craving a COKE and I asked the people at the water stops and they just kept saying "Water and Poweraide" At least one of them had a small bag of chips for me so I could get some salt. There were several people riding bikes with back packs helping us out with drinks and cracker/cookies. This was a first for me to see but it helped and I was thankful for it.

Mile 23 I met several people that wanted to talk. Debbie was running with me and she then took and off and said I am sure I will see ya again. I ran with another lady that told me that people don't talk to strangers but runners will tell other runners everything about there lives between mile markers. I laughed and agreed. So we talked for about a mile and then I met a man at mile 24 that was out pacing his 15 y/o son and his wife that were running their first marathons when he had calf problems. We walked for a few moments together when he told me that there was man he was trying to catch and pointed him out to me.

IT WAS THE SAME MAN I WAS TRYING TO CATCH

At mile 25 I asked him if he had anything left in him and he said no. I told him that I was going to try and catch him for the both of us. And I did it. Mile 25.5 I caught him and told him I was chasing him for 10 miles. I talked with him for a few minutes when I looked up and saw Debbie again. I thought I have to turn it on if I wanted to break a sub6 so I left my compition and never looked back. I came up on Debbie and she said that we had about 10 minutes to go and .3 miles to run. So off I went, crying from my legs cramping, my foot bleeding and my stomach about to blow up. I topped the hill to see Kenny cheering me on and Stef doing her victory dance in the road. I tried to dance too but I was catching more cramps. Down the home stretch and I turned around to see that the man was not running. I was going to beat him. YES another SUCKA in the books. Finish line in sight and it was now over with. The pain was worth it. It was not my best time on the books but I got a chance to see what the race was like from the back side of the event.

I found out that even though I was not in the front pack, I was still a Marathoner. It might not have been pretty but I FINISHED and that was all I wanted to do.

Home and resting

I am going to bed to hopefully get some rest. My legs and feet are swollen and cramping from todays marathon. I had a finishing time of 5:49:11 which is now my worst time. I will try and work on my report tomorrow.

Good night everyone

Heading out to go have fun

Yes I said it, I am going to have fun. I have been missing just going out to run and have fun. I put so much into running and forgot to have fun with it. Well no more. I am not going to push myself to a breaking point. I have about 6 marathons that I am going to do between now and April and I am going to run them with the intention of mental and physical health to be the most important victory in the races.

Oh did I mention that a friend of mine called me and asked if I would run a 50 mile race with her in Florida in Feb. and the crazy thing about it is, I might do it. I have a marathon the next weekend in Jacksonville but I think I might be just crazy enough to try it out.

That is why I became a Marathon Maniac. #1317


Next post should be a post race report.

Last week before Chick

I have not been running much lately. I have been working on letting my body heal up and take a rest. I am looking at a long winter schedule with at least 6 marathons between now and April. I have been looking back over the last year of running and I have seen some good thing and some bad things. I want to make some changes and better myself and hopefully help someone else in the process.

I have been spending alot of time of my bike lately and I love it. I love to cross train in different sports so that things don't get into a rut. I hate it when I start to get back into a training schedule and it seems that things are going on a traditional schedule. I like to live life with a change.

Looking back I have made some bad changes in my running routine. I am going to get back into running and remember why I did it and that is for my health. I have so much to look forward to in the future and I want to be able to be there to see it.

I have not trained properly for the Chick marathon but I know I will be able to finish. I am going to run Galloway style but I am not sure what ratio I am going to do. This is going to be my first marathon that I do Galloway style so I am kind of curious how it is going to be at the end. I am not nervous about finishing but how I am going to feel the next day. Normally it would take me several days after a marathon before I even thought about running again. Well I have a 50K race coming up in 3 weeks so I need to continue running and not take a break after Chick.