last run of 2010

I wanted my last run of 2010 to be an enjoyable one. So I returned to Sope Creek for an easy trail run. I ran some... hiked some... walked some... talked some... enjoyed exploring new-to-me trails and chatting with a cute mountain biker :-)  I wondered if one of the runners that passed me, saying hi, was Spurgeon. We've tweeted back and forth for at least a year, I know he runs here regularly, and the guy that I crossed paths with looked similar to his twitter photo. After the fact, I found out that it was him!

I walked the last few miles reflecting on the past twelve months and thinking about goals for 2011. Totally happy! I decided to not set any New Year's Resolutions other than to laugh more (and maybe run a few more miles too). So... here's a toast to you, my friends! May you run happy in 2011.

true love

although my longest running streak, 15 days, came to an end today... their love will last a lifetime... Daisy LOVES Riley!

white Christmas

And we were blessed with a white Christmas! I went for a short run at 4 p.m. after passing off the kiddo to her dad. Slushy rain fell lightly as I ran. And as luck would have it, within minutes of finishing my run, the slush turned into snow. This photo was taken many hours later, after returning home from celebrating Christmas dinner with close friends. Wow!

Daily Mile Secret Santa

After my 7.85 mile run, I stopped at my mailbox before coming inside. Woohoo! I found my Daily Mile Secret Santa gift in the mailbox. Smartwool socks!!! Can't wait to wear them on my next run! THANK YOU Secret Santa!!! (Jim D.)

coincidence?

Warning... this post isn't running related. My daughter and I went to visit my sister and her family today to help celebrate my nephew and niece's upcoming 8th birthday. My sister keeps a magazine basket by the toilet. I swear this wasn't staged... My niece's book was on top of my sister's magazine. I stared in amazement at the resemblance on the two covers. Are Barbie and Christina related?

Life is like a box of chocolates

Life is like a box of chocolates... I felt low on energy earlier than expected in my 14 mile run, but pinapple coconut juice was exactly what I needed. I felt much better after drinking it earlier than I had planned. Started out with run 1 mile, walk 0.05 mile ratio, and later decreased to run 0.5 mi/walk 0.025 mi; and even later switched to taking a 0.025 mi walk break every quarter mile. I could have easily gone longer, but have too much to do today and 14 LSD was what was on my schedule. I listened to several podcasts, but the last thing I listened to was Phidippidations episode 257: The Mojo Loco. AMAZING!  I laughed in the beginning and middle, reliving those conversations. Tears came to my eyes later regarding the amazing bonding that occurred at Mojo Loco. That was THE MOST AWESOME running event that I've ever participated in. 13 people arrived on 12/11/10 as virtual friends and left as family. The podcast came to a close as I approached mile 12 of my planned 14. I contemplated starting another podcast or listening to music, but I just couldn't. I needed silence. Time for reflection. Steve's podcast brought back so many emotions. I laughed so hard at the Mojo Loco; smiled more than I think I have all year; and hated for that day to end. Epic adventure!

the morning after

I woke just before sunrise this morning. I sat on the balcony of our hotel room and watched the sun rise over the ocean while Maddy and Susan still slept. GORGEOUS! What a beautiful way to start off the morning after a most memorable day!

I then hit the beach for an easy 4.27 miles in my VFF's. I only ran 9 miles yesterday, thanks to being in the last leg that was only 1.11 mile. I wanted to get in a total of 13 for the weekend to equal the number of runners that participated in the MOJO LOCO. (Yes, I'm weird like that.)  I love running on the beach and part of me wanted to keep going, but I knew that Maddy and Susan needed to leave mid-morning and joining them for breakfast was more important to me than extending the run.

After breakfast and saying goodbye to Maddy and Susan, I found Elf Edward on the balcony in my souvenier glass, not wanting to leave... neither did I. I wished I could stay longer... but I have to work tomorrow and didn't want to get home too late.

When I left Daytona, the temperature was in the upper 60s. I drove with the top down for about a half hour until the rain clouds started to sputter. As I drove north, the temperature began to plummet. By the time I arrived home, it was 27 degrees and SNOWING! See the white specks on the windshield? What a drastic change!

MOJO LOCO

It is difficult to put into words a description of this most amazing running event. Adam Tinkoff (aka Zen Runner) and Maddy Hubbard were geniuses to create this life-altering event!  Marathon Chris said, we arrived as friends and left as family.

Chris Russell's blog post, A Convocation of Souls, was the best I have read. Steve Runner's podcast, Phedipidations #257, brought tears of happy memories as I listened to our voices from the day again.

Steve Chopper did an equally excellent podcast about the event as well, A Mile with Me #047. But the most anticipated podcast, 4 Feet Running, was a special treat! They were one of the first podcasts that I ever listened to, as well as one of my favorites.

The Crazy Runner wasn't nearly as crazy as I had expected. Unless you call running four instead of three legs insane. Susan was just as sweet as you would expect her to be from listening to her contributions on The Extra Mile podcast. But Eddie Marathon, who co-hosts the Slow Runners Club podcast, was the most genuinely sweet and welcoming guy I've ever met.

And last, but not least, it was a true pleasure to meet Norm, (we share a birthday), and his lovely family.

Eleven of us met at Starbucks in Daytona Beach at 7 a.m. and then carpooled to St. Augustine Beach where we met up with Nik and Dan at the lighthouse. Steve Chopper was our surprise guest, officiator, and fellow runner. We were assigned numbers: I was 8, infinity. Steve drew three poker chips out of a bag selecting three people to run the first leg: Adam, Maddy and Dan. After they crossed the starting line, the rest of us drove down the road, about four miles, and waited for them to find us.

When they arrived, they selected a chip. Next up would be Steve Chopper, Susan and me. And the cycle continued...  Everyone ran at least three legs of approximately 4 miles. The pace was set by the slowest person, with absolutely no complaints.

Many hours were spent in laughter. No one wanted the day to end. After completing approximately 50 miles from St. Augustine to Daytona, we celebrated at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  I've had many memorable runs over the years, and this one is definitely one of my top 5. What a unique bonding/running experience!

Twas the day before the Mojo Loco

Twas the day before the Mojo Loco and all through the house... not a creature was stirring, not even the moose.  Well as you can tell the magical elves and reindeer wanted to join in on the fun that would soon be had. They plopped theirselves into the bag that was intended to go in the car (and ultimately to the funnest kennel on the planet). Elf Kendall and Reindeer Moki somehow escaped... knowing that a little girl would be sad if they didn't appear the next day. Elf Edward clung strong until the pups were dropped off... then he magically reappeared in the car for the long drive to Daytona Beach, FL.  Needless to say, I was happy for the company... He tucked himself into the handle on the passenger-side dash, and bopped to the music and podcasts that were blared for hours on end.

I finally arrived and was greeted with hugs from Maddy and Susan at the hotel we would share. The three of us met Chris Russell at Carrabba's Italian Grill for carbo-loading pre-MojoLoco. We shared happy running conversation as well as a good meal. We laughed over sausages and got to know each other better thanks to Susan's interviewing skills. Then Chris entertained us by showing Susan how to stretch her problem area in the foyer of the restaurant. Anticipation lingered as we awaited the next day...

some days are better than others

I had planned to run a long run yesterday, but didn't feel well.  Made up for it today. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and modify the plan. I felt much better today than I did yesterday! My original thought was 8 miles, but still had juice left in water bottle and felt good, so added 2 more miles. Yay!  This is my highest mileage week since June and two 20+ mile weeks in a row = Progress!

And note... the magical elves and reindeer had fun cruising the the top down! Elf Edward loves the sunglasses that I bought at the Chicago marathon Expo in 2009!

best mile of the year

At my daughter's middle school, they take PE for two of the four quarters. She gets it the last half of the school year. She's learned from her friends that in order to make an "A", you have to be able to run a mile in under 8 minutes. So yesterday she said that she wants to start running a mile with me every day. I was ecstatic!!! I've forever been jealous of people whose children like to run with them. She hasn't run in quite a while, so before we even left the driveway, I told her that we should start slow, take as many walk breaks as she needed, and just use this as a baseline. We didn't get very far down the street before she wanted to walk. She begged me to turn around and go back home. This was HARD. I insisted that we keep moving forward and told her that we were going to go a mile, but we could walk as much as she wanted. She slooowwwllllyyy moved foward. I cracked silly jokes and we kept putting one foot in front of the other. I let her set the pace. We walked more than we ran, but we had fun and laughed and knew that the next time we run a mile, it will be faster.

I bought a pair of Newton running shoes at the Atlanta half marathon race Expo. The representative told me to start with one mile, every other day, and slowly add to it. So I used today's run with Kyra for my first mile in these shoes. Since we walked more than ran, I can't really give the shoes a review, but they are definitely different from my typical running shoes and I loved the bounce.