Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A Public Poll

People of the interwebs, I need your help!  Here is my problem.  I am signed up for a wee little run at the end of the month.  A 50 miler.  I can't recall quite what I was thinking when I hit "submit", but it was likely that I had either just finished a good run and was feeling full of myself, or I had just polished off a strong mug of homebrew.  And it's also likely that my free time was a bit larger in volume than it has been these last couple of months.  Given my average running pace and minimal training this summer, I'm pretty sure that I can't run the entire 50 miles within the 11 hour cutoff (barely over 13 min miles). However, I just knocked out a marathon and half marathon on back-to-back weekends with no injuries, almost as fast as my PRs, and feeling pretty fresh a couple days later. So internet, what should I do?  Don't be shy...

1) Stay with the 50 miler and see what I can do in 11 hours. Stop if I feel an injury. If by some miracle I can finish, I get a really awesome belt buckle and big bragging rights.

2) Stay with the 50 miler, but drop at 50k if it truly truly sucks. I will get a DNF, but I would still know that I did 50k.

3) Switch to the 50k, assuming they let me. No belt buckle, but still an awesome accomplishment.

4) Switch to the 10k.

5) Go pumpkin hunting. Consider my season officially over as of Sunday and get rested up for Ironman training, which starts Nov 29.

Girlfriends Half Marathon

This past weekend I did the coolest thing ever -- I ran a half marathon with my Mom!  The same Mom who just a year ago:
- weighed 45 pounds more than she does now.
- had never EVER ran more than a mile.
- called me to proudly announce that she had ran "5 WHOLE STRAIGHT MINUTES ON THE TREADMILL!!!"

Race Info:
10/17/2010
All women, all proceeds go towards a cure for breast cancer, and there are hot fireman/policemen handing out necklaces at the finish line.

Our final time?  2:28:14 for an 11:19 pace!  Seriously!  My 53 year old mother ran just 4 minutes shy of my PR.  I'm slow.  I know.  Get over it.

It was a gorgeous fall morning - cold, crisp, and sunny.  Red and orange leaves starting to cover the sidewalks.  Steam rising from the Columbia River and the tip of Mt. Hood peeking out above the clouds.  Perfect running weather.  A sea of pink ladies, with husbands/brothers/children lined up along the streets to cheer.  I love this event!

Some photos from the day: