Valentine's Day Massacre Marathon & Relay

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After completing a brutal yet satisfying 14-mile run at a 7:40 pace yesterday with Sole Sister Cindy Barbour, I was on such a high (or so mentally and physically broken) that when she suggested we partner together to run the Valentine's Day Massacre Marathon & Relay this coming Sunday, it never occurred to me to say no. 

Never occurred to me even though: 

The course through Country ParkI think it comes down to the hoodie. The Massacre has the best hooded sweatshirts for participants of any race I've ever been in, hands down. I'm willing to put myself in pain for one of those. 

The race is held over a 1.6 mile loop. Runners alternate running loops, 8 apiece. I think I remember that 2-person teams were permitted to run two loops at a time before switching out. I hope so. The hardest part of this race isn't the distance. It's cooling off after each of your laps then having to go back out on the course with tight muscles. 

The best part of this race though is the down times. It's a great chance to talk and catch up with fellow runners who are between laps and people treat the event like one big tailgating party. There'll be tents and lawn chairs and plenty of food and drink.

The key word for this week is easy. Go easy on the legs. Easy on the workouts. Eat well. Drink lots and lots of lots of water. A little bit of prayer probably wouldn't hurt--especially given the team name we picked.

On Sunday, be sure to root for TEAM SOLE SISTERS: HOT FAST WOMEN.

Cheers,

Dena

Vitamin D Deficiency

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I'm terrible about going to the doctor. I'm much more of a wait-it-out-and-maybe-it-will-go-away-on-its-own type girl, especially when it comes to colds, flu's, or injuries. It's even harder to drag me to the doctor for a "yearly" physical, especially when I'm feeling healthy. 

However, as it's been almost 5 years since my last general physical, I decided it couldn't hurt to be checked out. Turns out an annual physical these days pretty much involves going to the doctor's office, sitting around for 25 minutes, filling out a form, confirming your answers on the form verbally with a nurse practitioner, having your weight, height and blood pressure (90/55 - yo, yo, yo, wass 'up runners?) taken, and having blood drawn. All for a total of about 15 minutes in the doctor's office. Then they shoo you away and say they'll call you when the blood work comes in. 

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Lucky Moment On The Piedmont Trail

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Wooden steps on trail. Photo from Line of Cedars blogI went for a trail run this morning. LOVED IT. Trail running is so different from road running. It's a completely different kind of tired at the end of it. There's something raw and gritty and base about finishing a run with your ankles spattered in mud and scratches on your legs and arms from vines and low-hanging branches, and new muscles aching because you don't usually use them on road runs.

I always let someone know when I run a trail alone, just in case anything should happen.

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Smug Marrieds: Running Club

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Last week, Blair forwarded me an e-mail from his office about some sort of running group there. Apparently there's a friendly competition about who can win the most races (with age-adjusted times) or run the most miles in a year. The competition is open to the spouses and family of employees. 

"I got your e-mail about the running group," I told him. "But I'm not clear on exactly how it works."

"I'm not sure either," said Blair. "I think it's just something fun all the runners do."

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