Fist Bump to All You Great People Out There

We're on our way to Boston and I just want to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you. Training for and running a marathon can become all absorbing and I want to take  a moment to acknowledge that I would not be running if it weren't for the wonderfully encouraging and supportive people in my life. Every word of encouragement has helped. Every comment with accompanying smiley face has lifted my spirits. Every wave at fellow runners on the Greenway has made me happy to be a part of this cult group of magnificent people. The biggest benefit of running for me has been the friends made along the way. I sometimes stop and take a 3rd person view of my life and am overwhelmed at how much love and support I'm surrounded by. 

Thank you and much love to my family, who are my biggest cheerleaders. 

Thank you to The Blueliners, my Saturday morning running group, for all the laughs and advice and for always scoping out the spot with the best bagels and coffee.

Thanks to Lisa, who turns 50 on the day of the Boston Marathon, and who put it in my mind last summer that I needed to qualify for Boston so we could run the race together on her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thanks to my best friend Trisha who--although she has been around long enough to know better--believes I am capable of anything.

Thank you to the many friends in my life--you know who you are, we have coffee together on a regular basis--who keep me grounded and laughing. 

Fist bumps to running pals Michael, Thad, Amy, Kay, Christine, Keith, Nathan, Iris, Josh, Royce, Marshall, Jack, Wayne, John, Pam, Lisa, Blueliners, and the MadMayo Running Club.

A shout-out to virtual training partner Katie, who found my blog and e-mailed months ago to say she was my age, running Boston, and using the same Furman FIRST training plan. We've been e-mailing almost daily and I haven't stopped laughing. We're planning on meeting the morning of the race outside my hotel. Sample Katie post:

What an idiot I’ll look like when my back woods bludgeoning by two strangers (one posing as a Boston marathon participant) details comes out in national news.  What?!?—she met them on the INTERNET?!?  And she just willingly followed them into the woods and didn’t ask any questions—there was NO sign of a struggle?

And finally, a huge thank you to Blair, the most patient and loving man on the planet. There aren't enough lifetimes to repay all you've given to me in this one. 

Cheers!

The Last 20 Mile Training Run

Sometimes when I'm running I compose blog posts in my head. I spent a couple of hours doing that yesterday. I was running for almost three hours as I completed the LAST (pause for trumpets blaring and crowd cheering) twenty-mile run of the training! Although my friend Michael and his daughter were running twenty as well, they were well over a mile ahead of me so I spent the three hours on my own.

Me being me, most of the material I'm mentally composing is sarcastic/funny. Jokes about the body falling apart, mental fatigue, the twenty bucks I offered the woman with the baby stroller to let me climb in with her toddler and push me up the hill, etc.

However, around mile 17, as I was jogging up yet another hill in Battleground Park, it occurred to me that even though I was aiming for funny, a lot of what I'd been thinking about that morning and what I'd been planning to write was, well... negative. So I asked myself, what's been good about this run? And the answers flowed in: 

• It was perfect running weather. Sunny, 40's, and everything has started turning green
• I got to pet a Great Dane
• People were in great moods, smiling, nodding, and saying hello
• As I jogged by a darling little girl and her dad he said, "Say hi to the runner," and she waved and whispered, "Hi."
• I saw a poodle make a mad dash for freedom before her owner caught up to her and scooped her up, scolding her with kisses.
• I felt like walking on several hills but pushed myself not to quit and I made it up and over without taking a break
• I got to quickly see several friends out doing their runs as well
• An orangish-red bird, very small, stayed with me for about a quarter mile, flitting from branch to branch just ahead of me
• The sun on the lakes was beautiful

And finally, I ran yesterday's 20 miles at the same pace I ran the Chicago marathon and yesterday's run had a lot more hills than Chicago. I find this encouraging and hope it bodes well for my performance at Boston.

So sorry, no humor today. Just gratitude for a healthy body and a lifestyle that allows me to fit in running. I hope all of you reading found things to be grateful for in your weekend as well.

Cheers,

Dena

A Really Good Run

Finally! A run I can be proud of. Conditions were perfect yesterday for a long run - 40 degrees, overcast, no wind. For all that, I still wasn't looking forward to my designated 17 miles. Mainly because I knew I'd be doing most of them alone. Poor lonely runner...

I showed up at the tennis courts, the popular starting point in Greensboro for most runners as it has a huge parking lot and leads directly to the Greenway. I ran a quick 3 miles before the formal Blueliner takeoff time of 7:30. Then I ran four miles out with the group. The majority of the group turns back at that point, but I was lucky enough to bump into a runner I'd seen before, but didn't really know. Dave overheard me say I was running 17 and he volunteered that he was going 18 and, like me, had already started the day off with an early 3 miles. Better yet, we ran an identical pace. WHAT A GIFT. The group turned back and Dave I carried on, running together for another hour and a half and chatting along the way. 

Time passes much faster for me when I'm with another runner, even if we're not talking. It's the steady beat of our feet hitting the pavement, listening to our rhythmic breathing, and knowing that even through I'm tired I can carry on a bit further, because the person running alongside me expects me to. 

During the first 4 miles of the group run, Thad, Lisa and me were talking about how, in general, most runners are really good people. If you want to get to know someone, run 15 miles with them. Hard exercise breaks down barriers and you get a quick sense if someone has a sense of humor, is driven, what motivates them, are they a whiner, are they generous... The joke is that around mile 10, everyone starts spilling their relationship and personal and work problems. You can't help it. It's something in the sweat...

So today's blog is a thank-you to Dave, for making Saturday's long run seem so very short indeed. And we pushed each other. Both of our training schedules called for a 9:20 pace but we completed our run with an average per mile pace of 8:50. Sweet.

Dena