Oops I did it again...

... and unlike Britney it didn't involve shaving my head but shaving some time off my personal best for a half marathon. I have gone from 2:58 (Virginia Beach) to 2:23 (Philadelphia) to 2:20. Whoo hoo! It was a great day -- good course, lots of friends and family to cheer me on, cool weather (though I couldn't done without the soaking at about 6:15 before the race start) and a good run. The marathon course ran through all four quadrants of DC and the half marathoners hit three of the four quadrants. I believe we were a bit a sight to behold on Minnesota Ave SE for miles 10-11as I am not sure the neighbors quite understood why we were running. The small crowd was fun -- Minnesota Ave has some rolling hills -- there were some pre-teen girls telling us "no walking up the hill!" which I thought was sweet. I followed their "instructions", ran a piece of mile 11 with Coach John and trudged on to East Capitol Street to run back to RFK. Coach Anita was there for the last tenth of a mile (up another darn hill) lightly jogging beside me and goading me... you can't pass me ... to which I am thinking "you had hip surgery three weeks ago - damn straight I better pass you!" and I chugged on in to the finish line. A post run omelet at the Royal Restaurant and a chocolate donut... it doesn't get any better than this!

Ready to run

Hmm, maybe a subject line about running away from the altar isn't the best choice?!? If there is a country song about everything I can't think of the one that says I am ready to pound my joints for 13.1 miles through the streets of Washington DC because I think it's a fun challenge.

It has been an eventful season... I trained for most of February on my own, endured cold mornings, icy sidewalks and a nose that wanted to run too. HA. We discovered the second most popular thing at water stops was the box of tissues!

Saturday marks 1/2 marathon number 3. The first time I was worried about finishing, the second time about running alone, and this time, well I am worried that I am not worried. (aka overconfidence). Every time gets easier but because it's me the worrying never stops. I have a time goal in mind, but all I will say here is that I'd like for it to be the same as Philly (2:23). Wish me luck!

In the groove

Yesterday I found myself in a nice sweet spot as a runner... I ran the St Patrick's Day 8K -- as I am tapering for National 1/2 Marathon I told myself I'd run to put the miles on my legs, not for time. I even had a running partner with a slightly shorter stride and some lingering knee problems to try to take it easy. And all of you who know me well are shaking your heads and saying "Yeah right Kate..."

And you would be correct -- I went out and found myself a new personal best at 8K - I shaved a minute off my splits from the Fair Lakes 8K back in September 2006 and felt great afterwards. I did not however beat his honor Mayor Adrian Fenty. The new mayor of DC is a force to be reckoned with on the race course -- Fenty ran 6:47 splits and finished 9th in his age bracket. Not too shabby...

A fellow runner from Fall season mailed me this article about running and writing. As a tardy blogger I thought it was kind of fun.

The link between Running and Writing

I've been AWOL

Well a month has gone by and I haven't managed to post anything but I have certainly been on the trails and keeping busy.

TNT managed to convince me I'd be a great "training" captain in addition to my team captain duties. One of the primary things I do is coordinate volunteers for our water stops along the route. Now getting someone to be out on a trail at 0800 on a Saturday is challenging enough but add in our several week spell of 20 degree mornings and some days it feels impossible. Our runners have the benefit of motion to keep them warm (they say that after you get moving it will feel 20 degrees warmer) but our volunteers must don the long johns and extra layers to keep us hydrated. Our normal operating procedure is to pour water into cups for runners to grab -- but it's starting to freeze on the surface! Because of the sugar/salt combination Powerade doesn't freeze as quickly!

Running in this weather has been a challenge - two Saturdays ago I ran 8 miles for the first time in about 3 months into a "refreshing" head wind for the first 4 miles. I couldn't wait to turn around and have the wind at my back. Family matters called me away this past Saturday but I did sneak a run in -- however I wasn't so lucky with the wind this time. I ran the route below twice -- first time clockwise and the second time counter clockwise. I was secretly hoping that the second loop would put the wind in my favor on Ocean Avenue -- but mother nature was having fun with me and shifted the wind.

Run at the Shore

Proving that TNT participation is a contagious thing my friend Sarah has started her own TNT journey -- to complete her first ever triathalon. Her blog is linked to the right... it's a fun read.

Happy New Year

Well I made it through the holidays with a minimum of skipped runs, no added pounds and all of my sanity.

So far the spring season TNT'ers have had the welcome breakfast (Dec 2nd), a group run in Bethesda (Dec 9th) and a pace run (Dec 16th). December 9th presented a special treat because the Jolly Fat Man run was sharing the Capital Crescent Trail. You know that parking in Bethesda (which shouldn't be an issue at 0800 on a Saturday morning) is going to be fun when the first thing you see rounding the corner is the DC-101 promotional vehicle parked. I parked a block away and nearly croaked when I heard the race announcer say they had 700 runners. Did I mention the Crescent Trail isn't that wide? Oh and that it was 25 degrees that morning?!? Hello only crazy TNT fools should be on the trail in those conditions. No harm no foul, the race went off and we waited about half an hour and were able to run with no problem.

On the random front, over a decade in Maryland seems to have seeped in.

How Maryland Are You? Your Result: You're 100% Maryland You have erected a shrine to Ray Lewis in your living room, complete with a "BELIVE 'HON" bumper sticker on your car. You can name every county in the state and refer to Howard County as "Ho Co." The second you step over the stae line, you feel weird, and need a Natty Bo.
You're 80% Maryland
You're 60% Maryland
You're 20% Maryland
You're 40% Maryland
How Maryland Are You?

Now I don't know about shrines to Ray Lewis but rooting for the Ravens is usually a less sad exercise than being a Redskins fan. But when it comes to lacrosse I bleed black and blue not red. And it you are a Marylander you know what I mean.