Sport

People can't understand why a man runs. They don't see any sport in it. Argue it lacks the sight and thrill of body contact. Yet, the conflict is there, more raw and challenging than any man versus man competition. For in running it is man against himself, the cruelest of opponents. The other runners are not the real enemies. His adversary lies within him, in his ability, with brain and heart to master himself and his emotions.

Glenn Cunningham - American runner, Olympic Games medalist

Off Since Sunday

I stepped out the door today,
wondering how to explain my absence
thinking through excuses that might work
and I must admit I have a few good ones
loosening up, I realized I was being silly
a little space is good once in a while
and in an instant I felt the familiar again
walking down the drive
to the road where I have started hundreds of runs before
I put one foot in front of the other
and there I was
and it felt good
to be running again

Playin in the Mud

This past Saturday, a group of my running friends and I went and ran the Warrior Dash. If you haven't heard anything about it, the Warrior Dash is a 3.17 mile muddy race through 12 obstacles along the way. I was a little (okay, a lot) worried getting on the shuttle (a stinky school bus).

Jamie and me on the stinky school bus

When we arrived at the race, I was wondering what we had signed up for. Because of the wet weather that we've been having, there was no way around the mud, even off the course. You just have to embrace it.

The actual race was tough. It was a total body workout and the mud made every step harder...over cars, through tunnels, up steep muddy hills, across planks, through a swamp, over hurdles, up cargo nets, tires, rolling hills, over fire, under barbed wire. My least favorite part of the race was the swamp that smelled like manure (and it probably was). My favorite was the cargo net.

After I crossed the finish line holding the hand of my running buddy we waiting for the rest of us and walked to the "showers"...a tanker truck...which was almost as fun as the race.

If you don't mind getting a little dirty, you have got to try this race. It's definitely something I would love to do again!

The group after crossing the finish line...Don't we look like Warriors?!

*Results are in : I finished 102 out of 915 in my women's age group and averaged 9:44/mile! Pretty pleased with my time considering the obstacles and all the mud!!*

Clean Break

I really have no idea how this happened.

I went out for five miles last night with my marathon running buddy. When I went to put my head phones in, mind you they were all still in one piece, I had absolutely no sound. They have been sounding kinda fuzzy sounding for a few weeks, but as long as there was still sound, it didn't matter to me. I held on to them for the remainder of our run and tossed them in the passenger seat for the drive home. I got home, carried them in the house and felt something fall out of my hand. I looked down to see one of my ear pieces. I thought to myself, that can't be mine. Sure enough, it was. Clean break, just like that. Bummer. I was really attached to those head phones that have been so many places and so many races with me.

Rain

Running, lately, has been strictly for my enjoyment. The pressure is off. It's nice to go out for a run because I want to and not because I feel that I have to because that's what my training schedule says.

I haven't felt the need for a run in quite some time like I did today. I felt like if I didn't hurry up and get my running shoes on and bolt out the door that my head was going to explode.

I was in a mood and I know that running is one of those things that can pull me out.

The wind was strong today, but I was glutton for punishment. My first mile was a loop. My second mile, I headed out of my sub for a straight mile in to the wind. It was tough and I couldn't seem to get my mile under 9:45. The fight was exhilarating...it was like going up a hill for a whole mile. With my mood, I needed that...my body needed that.

My third mile, I turned around and went back. I had much better results running with the wind. My third mile I kept a 9:05 pace and it felt pretty effortless...it looked pretty good on my Garmin too.

It started to really blow and cloud up with I came back in to my sub. I really wanted to keep going. I was thirsty to run in the rain. I dropped my Garmin and my ipod back off at the house in anticipation and headed out for another 1.5 miles.

I hadn't even gotten 0.2 of a mile in to my last stretch that it started to sprinkle. I hoped it would rain even harder and I got my wish. It came down...sounded wonderful, felt refreshing, smelled incredible. It wasn't until that moment that I was able to smile.

It didn't last long, maybe about 5 minutes but it was all I needed to wash away my mood and leave me thirsty for another run in the rain.

Keep on running...

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.

Nike Running Poster

Garbage Day and Dogs

I love that the sun is rising earlier so I can run outside earlier in the morning.

I had an eventful run this morning.

There are two things that I hate when running: garbage day and dogs that are not on a chain or a leash. And today was my lucky day because not only was it garbage day, I got chased by a big black dog.

I had forgotten what day it was when I walked out my front door and then I saw all of the trash cans lined up down the street like little soldiers standing at attention. Luckily, it was early and not many people were driving around so, for the most part, I stayed toward the middle of the road. The truck had not been around our sub yet so most every can was overflowing...at least the sun wasn't beating down on it or it would have been a lot more foul smelling.

I made it out of our sub and headed down the road to a neighboring one. When I entered the sub, I heard a dog. Now, when I hear a dog, I am instantly on high alert...because that dog could be running free. And this one was... a big, black dog. Then, I saw that he was running out of his yard toward me barking. Not a good sign. I tried to speed up. He must have saw something he liked better in the yard next to me because he disappeared behind the house in to the back yard. It was then that I prayed he would be hit by a car before I had to loop back by him...oops.

After that little scare was over, I heard the garbage truck and knew we would be crossing paths on a road up ahead. The truck was heading straight and I was about to make a left hand turn right in it's path or behind it if I didn't hurry up. So, I sped up a little and managed to get in front of it. I think it was incentive to speed up because I heard him chucking the garbage in his truck faster than what it seemed like before. Nothing is worse than being behind the truck. Now, I have this truck on my tail (not really, but it sure did sound like it) and I was rounding the loop and heading back toward the house with the dog on the loose.

I was relieved to see that the police had been called by the neighbor whose yard he ran in to instead of chasing after me. They had the dog under control...looked like he was off to doggy jail because the people weren't coming to the door. At least he wasn't hit by a car. :)

So, that's the story of my eventful run...and wouldn't you know, this is the morning I picked to go without my ipod.