Easing back into a routine

I did it! I loaded those teeny speakers with AAA batteries, grabbed the iPod and did a half-hour weight-training routine yesterday morning. Without motivational quotes. Just think how much more fun it will be when I get some posters made! Heh.

Three sets, 15 reps, six moves with eight-pound dumbbells, plus a couple more exercises on the bench, which has an extension for working hamstrings and quads. I could only do one set for the hammies. Plus 50 crunches. Plus a mile-and-a-half walk to the post office and back.

I just about broke my arm patting myself on the back.

Mary asked yesterday, rhetorically I'm sure, how many other 56-year-old women were out there running on Sunday. There were only 22 in my age group. We rocked! [Can you all tell I'm feeling a little better today?] My age-group winner came in in less than two hours. I doubt if I'll ever run even one mile at 6.5mph, let alone 13, so I feel pretty good landing in the middle of that pack.

M@rla, the turbulence workout you do sounds like a great alternative to my bench and dumbbell work. I know it's good to switch off every so often, so I've bookmarked it and will try to remember it when my enthusiasm lags. 'Cause you know it will. Also? It looks like I need to build up some muscle before trying it! M@rla also tagged me – that will have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks, Miss M! I won't have to think of anything to write about in the morning!

My son sent a few photos from race day. He mostly shot video, so no action images, but here I am at the finish, after a snack, contemplating the long, long walk back to the car.

Finally, you'll notice a new link if you scroll down the sidebar to the just plain "Links" section. It's called Free Rice, and it's a fun little word game that provides, um, free rice for the United Nations to distribute to help end world hunger. For those of us who could stand being a little hungry once in a while, this seems like good karma. Thanks to Kia for the heads-up!

City of Oaks stories/photos

The News and Observer has some good coverage of the race here and here and here, and lots of photos here. SofSK will be sending me the shots he took later this week … I'll get something up next week probably.

Done. But not well-done.

Hello again! Looks like I'll be here [at home] now for a few weeks anyway. Back to normal, whatever that is.

I can't say I'm very happy with how I did in yesterday's City of Oaks Half Marathon, but I'm very happy I finished. I'd hoped to shave at least a couple minutes off my Country Music Half time, but it wasn't meant to be. Here are my stats:
Conditions were perfect – starting time temperature was 40°, no rain, light winds. Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the moooooorning. Heh.

But the hills – oh, the hills. The course was hilly. And did I mention there were hills?

Son of Shrinking Knitter [SoSK] knows the city of Raleigh inside-out, so he and Mr. Shrinking Knitter [Mr. SK] drove through all the back alleyways and side streets to catch up with me [with a camera] throughout the course. At one point, cresting a very steep hill, I asked SoSK if that was the worst of the hills. He kindly told me it was, but on the mini-video he played for me later, he can be heard telling Mr. SK, "I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't the worst."

All together now: Awwwwwwwww.

There also was [is] a blister. The first I've ever developed, unless you count the ones I got as a little girl when I couldn't bear to take off my new black patent-leather dress-up shoes. This one is in the center of the ball of my left foot. At about the eighth mile, I stopped to see if there was a pebble in my shoe; there wasn't, so I re-laced and kept going. The 'pebble' was the core of the blister. Five. More. Miles.

Needless to say, I walked a lot.

I must give huge kudos to the organizers of this race. No one ran out of water and sports drink, fuel stops were placed every two miles, there were people cheering us on almost all the way and there was plenty of water, bananas, oranges, pizza, sandwiches and beer for everyone at the finish. [I was soooo not hungry at the end.] They had volunteers to remove the ankle-strap timing chips – I doubt if I could have bent down to do that on my own – and they offered blankets right after we picked up our finishing medals.

And the runners were so friendly. I never had to run alone. I started off with someone I'd met at the Army Ten-Miler, then hooked up with a younger woman who was trying to start off slow – her slow was probably too fast for me to start out, but it's so hard to go slow in the beginning. We did the first three miles in 34 minutes, before she moved on. I also met a young family practitioner and a couple people who knew SoSK. The woman from the ATM crossed the finish line shortly after I did, so we met up with her again.

The entire weekend was great; my new granddaughter is now four months old and smiles and giggles all the time. She rarely cries and is a very happy baby. I was so happy to see her and her parents, and am so grateful for their hospitality and support in doing this race. They both work and they have a new baby and they put this weekend on hold just for me. Many thanks to both of them.

And thanks again to all of you who are my virtual cheerleaders. What would any of us do without you? You make running these races more fun than I could ever have imagined.

Even when I think I could have done better. Thanks!

The spooky season

Halloween is approaching. The stores around here replaced the aisles of school supplies with aisles of candy before Labor Day. Anything that lasts that long without getting stale can't be good for you, right?

I spend the week before Halloween with my older grandchildren. When they were younger, I got to pass out the candy so both parents could have the fun of walking with them. Last year my granddaughter trick-or-treated with a friend; I'm not sure if she's even going out begging this year. The little guy will, I'm sure.

The difference between them is that he loves sweets. Free candy! As much as he wants! You bet he'll be trick-or-treating. She, on the other hand, had a cavity filled a couple years ago and hasn't eaten much sugar since.

If only I could be as disciplined and motivated as that. Anyone can be an example of how to be – or not be – at any age.

If you're in the mood to make – but not eat – spooky sweets, here's something guaranteed to turn your stomach. Take this to the office potluck or neighborhood party and see how many people dig in! Looks like a lot of work to me. I'm only willing to invest that kind of time and energy cooking or baking when I know I'm actually going to be eating it.

Trick-or-treat night is Wednesday this year; I'll be up bright and early the next morning to come home before leaving Friday for North Carolina. City of Oaks is 20 days away. I got a call yesterday from someone I met in DC who got her CofO confirmation. She likes to do inaugural races, and is looking for one that she can do every year for the next 10 years. She's sixty and is planning to run races until she can't run any more.

I like her attitude. And I guess the way you keep on running is, well, to keep on running.

My long run yesterday went very well. I was supposed to do nine miles; I ended up doing more than 10 at exactly the prescribed pace of 13:08. I don't think I've hit my pace yet in this round of training. Cooler weather makes such a difference. I ran in shorts and a short-sleeved tee, and was sweating by the second mile.

Congratulations to Mary on her finish in cold, wet, miserable conditions. Sounds like she had a lot of fun in spite of the blisters.