Time to Donate My Hair

Back in January, Caitlyn cut an 11" pony tail off and donated it to Locks of Love.  I said then I was planning on donating mine also but I wanted to wait until after Donna so that I could run with it in a pony tail.

Well, I finally made the appointment to get it cut.  I was not super excited to cut it off because I was afraid of how short it would be.  Mark & Caitlyn were not happy either, they liked my long hair. 

I contemplated backing out and not donating it but thinking of what a bad example that would be, I knew I had to follow through.  I don't want to be the type of example to my kids that says I am going to do something and then I back out for selfish reasons.

I had Caitlyn take a "before" picture.

I had 10" cut off.  Caitlyn took an "after" picture also.

I'm happy I waited as long as I did.  I can still put it in a small pony tail and considering I have a race in 2 weeks, that's a good thing.

I'm happy with the way it turned out but I'm also planning on growing it long again.

Another Half in Three Weeks

A couple months ago, I signed up for The Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon in Springfield, IL.  I know enough people heading there to run it and it is close enough to drive so it wasn't too hard to make the decision.

I'm not too sure how this one is going to go though.  I haven't run all that much since Donna and this is a hilly course.  I do not do well with hills.  It's all I can do to run on a flat surface.  Wuss, I know.

I'm heading down there solo on this one.  I was hoping Mark would come down and run and I even figured the kids could come and stay in the hotel while we run.  Mark arrives home from a trip to Denmark just hours before I am supposed to leave to drive down there.  He is not even remotely interested in hopping in the car and driving 3 hours after sitting on an airplane.  The kids have no interest in riding in the car for 3 hours only to sit in the hotel while I run a race.  I see their point so I guess I am on my own.  I'm not used to time alone so it feels somewhat strange. 

I'm excited to be running the race though.  Running past historical sites and through Lincoln's Cemetery sounds pretty cool.  I even have a book I want to read before I run.  It comes highly recommended and is a fictional account of the true story of the plot to steal Lincoln's body.

Besides, who wouldn't want to earn this medal?

3 weeks to go.  Guess I should try to run to get ready, huh?

Well Said...

I follow many types of blogs.  Some are running friends, some are food related, some advocate for different causes.  One of my favorite blogs is No Greater Joy Mom.  I have written about her blog before.  She very passionately advocates for adoption, more prominently, special needs adoptions.  She and her husband have 9 children.  3 that were born to them and 6 who they adopted who have a variety of special needs.

Anyway, she wrote a post today that was just what I needed to read.  I wouldn't do it justice to even try to summarize it so I'll just post a link.

Well said Adeye, thank you for sharing your heart.

26.2 With Donna - The Half Marathon

Wow, I cannot believe that it has already been two weeks since we ran this race!

Let me begin by stating that this may well be one of my favorite race weekends EVER!

I LOVED being with Mark all weekend!  He has been traveling so much lately that I really miss him.  It was nice to be a couple again.

I loved the hotel on the beach!  We were so busy that we didn't sit on the balcony as much as I hoped we would and we only went for 2 walks on the beach but even just the sound of the ocean was so wonderful.

Walking on the beach the first day

We had meals, laughs and lots of fun with our running friends.  Thinking back on all of the banter and laughter, I can't help but smile.

The "old folks" stopping for treats in St. Augustine.

Next stop on the tour of St. Augustine

Lunch the day of the expo.  The young'uns finally joined us!

Pre-race dinner at Cheesecake Factory

The race itself went great!  Mark & I woke up, got ourselves ready and hopped in the car.  We left early this year to try to avoid the traffic mess that happened last year that caused the start to be delayed.  We drove to the hotel next door and picked up Alison.  Note:  Alison flew all the way from the UK to play with everyone and run this race.  We also had the pleasure of celebrating her birthday breakfast with her at Disney!

Had to get a picture of her with her flag on our tour of St. Augustine

Anyway, we arrived quite early as the traffic jam didn't materialize this year so we sat in the car staying warm and relaxing for just over an hour.

Finally, it was time to join friends.  We hit the port-o-potties and met up with the peeps we could find.  We never did have everyone in one spot at the same time but we were able to snap this picture with a good number of us.

They changed the start area and where we gathered for the corrals this year.  I did not like the new arrangement.  The warming tent and tents with pre-race treats were off limits to us before the race and once we were heading to the start line, everyone was so intent on getting to where they needed to be, they didn't take the time to enjoy the treats.  We even tried to "sneak" in but were sent back to the corrals by volunteers.  I did have time to grab a Munchkin from the table before we went back though.  I was pretty excited about that Munchkin.

Another dislike of the new corrals was that we missed all of the start activities.  No prayer, no national anthem, nothing.  By the time we were moved up to the start line, the first corral was on its way.  That was disappointing to me.

I did have a chance to snap a "selfie" of Mark & I walking to the start line.  I took several pictures but this one is my favorite because we were photobombed by Cath.  Love it!

I don't think I mentioned it here but Mark got my sickies (probably bronchitis) days before we left.  Since he was undertrained for the race and not feeling his best, he decided to stick with me for the race.  I'm so slow that my slow pace is easy for him.  Yeah, I'm not proud of that.  He was well aware that my goal was to PR (had to beat 2:54) and my super-secret goal was to break 2:45 and he wanted to "help" me get there.

There was a mess-up with his bib and somehow he was put in the last corral and I was in the corral in front of him.  I went back a corral to start with him.  No biggie and it turned out we got to start with Mindy & Cath.  Jenny, Carrie & Kimberly were also with us in the corral but we lost them on the way to the start. 

We started the race pretty strong and stuck to the 2:1 interval that I trained with.  A couple miles in, we were in our first beach neighborhood where we started to partake of some of the treats being offered.  We had cookies, croissants, cornbread and I can't remember what else over the next few miles.  What I didn't bank on was that it would bother my stomach so much.  I got a really acid like feeling in my stomach that stuck with me until a while after the finish.  Not a good thing.  I didn't feel like drinking anything with flavor so I stuck with water at almost all of the water stops.

I was very intentional about not looking at my Garmin.  I wanted to run my race at my intervals and not get caught up in the math.  I did get irritated with Mark a couple times because he kept checking his Garmin and trying to tell me what pace we were at.  He was really pushing my pace which also irritated me.  See a theme here?  I finally asked him (in a somewhat snarky manner) to quit it.  Poor guy, he was just trying to help.

My breathing was another issue I was dealing with.  I went through spasms where I was wheezing and coughing.  I needed a couple of puffs of my inhaler a couple of times during the race.  Mark used it for a couple of puffs also.  It helped him tremendously.  I think it was at its worst on the beach.  Salt air maybe?  That was between miles 6 & 7.

Speaking of the beach, it was much better than last year for me.  No stiff, bitterly cold wind at my face.  The weather was actually perfect for me.  It was in the upper 50's at the start, 60's when I finished and overcast.  Perfect.

We ran into Joan & Janice just past mile 6 on the beach.  Always fun to come across friends on the course!

About mile 7 was the chEAR squad.  Chris, Mark & Rachel were there cheering us all on.  We didn't really stop, just paused to yell a quick hello.  Joey & Matt were there also.  I think they took a little race break and cheered with them until everyone passed, then continued on with their race.

I think it was Rachel who snapped this of us passing by

Other than the coughing and acid stomach, the race was going well.  I didn't look at my Garmin until mile 10.  I knew I could push that last 5k if I were on pace to meet my goals, even though I was really fatigued at that point.  Imagine my surprise when I passed the 10 mile mark at 2:04.  I had 40 minutes to finish the 5k.  Piece of cake, or so I thought.  The end of this race is the most difficult part.  A clover-leaf with a nasty camber to it leading into a causeway.  Lots of uphill when you are the most exhausted.

Mark was feeling pretty good at this point and decided he wanted to run it in so I urged him to go on.  I kept plugging along.  Right about mile 11, I got a cramp in my left hamstring like I've never had since I started running.  It brought me to an abrupt halt and I had to stop and stretch.  While I was at the side of the road stretching, I watched a woman trip and fall a few feet away from me.  She gashed her chin really bad.  I ran over and a few others stopped and had her laying down while we waited for medics.  Fortunately, we were very close to an aid station and someone was there in what felt like seconds.  I think the distraction was good for me because I was able to start running again and although it felt like my hamstring was on the verge of cramping, it didn't.  I reduced my intervals to 30:30 on the uphill portion and imagine my surprise when I reached the top of the causeway and Mark was there waiting for me.  He did not want to cross the finish line without me.  He was actually shocked I wasn't further behind him.  We ran the downhill portion and rounded the corner.  I needed one more walk break and then we ran it in.  When we crossed the finish line, my Garmin read 2:44:02.  I did it.  I made that super secret goal!  Even better, when I checked the official results, they showed me finishing in 2:43:56.  I couldn't be more pleased with that.

We weren't able to hang around to wait for friends to finish, we had very little time until we had to be out of the hotel room.  They gave us a late checkout but by the time we caught the bus back to the start and drove back to the hotel and showered and packed up, we were actually a few minutes past our time.

The weather also started to turn southward just as we were boarding the bus back to the start.  First the rain, then the lightening and thunder.  Unfortunately, this caused them to close the course and load everyone who was still out there on to busses.  All of our friends running the half were able to finish.  Alison and Jill were running the full together and were able to finish by the skin of their teeth, Joan and Janice were pulled off the course at about mile 22.  I felt so bad for them but I wouldn't have wanted them on that causeway with lightening in the area either. 

After we left the hotel, we headed towards Orlando to spend a couple nights at Disney.  We were famished so we stopped about half-way for a burger at Wendy's to tide us over.  Weather was rainy and stormy and the traffic was heavy.  We even drove through a tornado warning area.  No, we didn't see any tornados but the clouds were green.

What can I say about our time at Disney?  It was fun and relaxing and everything we wanted it to be.  I'm not known for remembering to take pictures at Disney.  I get too swept up in the magic and just enjoy myself.

I did capture the "Goofy" side of Mark

Alison's birthday breakfast at Kona Cafe

Enjoy myself I did.  Can't wait to go back!

As far as the Donna Half?  I already have rooms booked for next year.

**Note:  Some of the pictures used here were "borrowed" from others.  Mainly Rachel, Joan & Joey.  Many thanks to them even though I didn't ask their permission in advance.  Oops!