June Bug Running

[Veronica]

I picked up Marathon Woman after Oak wrote about it. What an awesome book! Thanks for telling me about it.

Sue, you always amaze me.

We ran 5.5 miles on Sunday in Maine, the last mile in pouring rain. My feet were so wet, I didn't even notice I was running in puddles until Thom told me to get out of them. It wasn't cold, so it was a fun adventure. We're in Boston now and thinking about where to run to tomorrow, maybe Bunker Hill, maybe towards the Tea Party ships. We've walked that way and the sidewalk is pretty smooth, unlike other places we've walked to.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Ran to Bunker Hill and back - 3.5 miles. It's kind of foggy in Boston this morning. It's strange to be in a place that actually has weather in the summer. It was too early for the Monument to be open this morning, but it was easy to imagine how much you'd be able to see from the hill before there were all the buildings.

Veronica

[skhill]

Second crappy run in a row today. Yesterday was warm and humid and I hadn't slept well, so it was understandable. Today's weather was much better and I got enough sleep, but it felt like I was running through oatmeal. I gave up at about 6.5 miles, half of what I had intended. So it was unintentional tapering for Thursday's 10k.

[TrekDianna]

After thinking about it, and deciding to break the "I will never run again" vow I made after retiring from the Army, I signed up for a 5k and ran it on June 30th. My goal was not to come in last in my age group and I didn't! I was right in the middle. I'm not so much interested in racing against other people as I am in bettering my own times. I suppose that's sort of strange to enter a race with no intention of racing!

[OakLeaf]

Good job TrekDianna! In my book it's still racing if you're racing against the clock. And you ARE competing against other people too, if your goal is not to come last! C'mon, if the only people who entered races were the ones with a shot at the overall win, there'd be ten people in each race and they'd call it the Olympics. If you're lining up with the intention of running harder than you would or even could in a solo training run, then AFAIC you have every right to race and call it racing.

That's just me, who will never have a shot at an overall win of anything unless I'm the only one who shows up. But even elite runners have goal races, and then races that they compete in as tune-ups for their goal races.

I'm doing a 5-miler tomorrow. Never done that distance before. It's the 40th running of this race and it claims to be the oldest continuous foot race in the area. Should be fun. And if it pours down rain, that helps with the law of averages when it comes time for my next long race, right?

[TrekDianna]

Good job TrekDianna! In my book it's still racing if you're racing against the clock. And you ARE competing against other people too, if your goal is not to come last! C'mon, if the only people who entered races were the ones with a shot at the overall win, there'd be ten people in each race and they'd call it the Olympics. If you're lining up with the intention of running harder than you would or even could in a solo training run, then AFAIC you have every right to race and call it racing.

That's just me, who will never have a shot at an overall win of anything unless I'm the only one who shows up. But even elite runners have goal races, and then races that they compete in as tune-ups for their goal races.

I'm doing a 5-miler tomorrow. Never done that distance before. It's the 40th running of this race and it claims to be the oldest continuous foot race in the area. Should be fun. And if it pours down rain, that helps with the law of averages when it comes time for my next long race, right?

Well, ok but I think it's fun to beat my own time. I did get a compliment from an older gentleman who was running near me most of the course. He commented when we were done that he tried to pace himself with me, but I ran faster uphill and that it pushed him to do so also.

I was impressed that there was a woman in her 80s and it was her first 5k.

I love running in the rain and I prefer the trails to the road.

Good luck with your 5 miler. I am interested to hear how it was. I signed up for an 8k at the end of next month.

[skhill]

Good job TrekDianna!

It's looking like rain for our big 10k tomorrow morning, and I'm kinda glad. My PR in the half-marathon and 5k both came in downpours. I don't really LIKE running in rain, and that's what helps. I remember late in both races speeding up so I could get to the finish and somewhere dry. Best finishing kicks ever!

This will be my 5th time doing this race and I'd really really like to knock 10 minutes of my original time. That'd mean 50:59. Not impossible; that's around an 8:10 pace and I expect to do 5ks faster than that these days. But it's more than a minute faster than my current best 10k. So we'll see. It'll be fun no mater what!

The 91 year old woman who has been the oldest competitor at this race for much of the past decade isn't running this year. Not because she's ill or injured; she's been too busy as an Alzheimer's advocate and organizer to train the way she'd like the last few months. She's promising to be back next year! Oh, and she's never been the last finisher overall. An amazing lady!