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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Odds & Ends

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Hmmm.... not enough going on in life to warrant a full blog post so I'll just hit a few highlights from this past week. Heard around the Harris household:

Me, circling my arms around Blair and burying my face in his chest: "Oh, you're so warm! Blair is back!"

Blair: "I guess so."

Me, pulling back. "Hey, wait a minute. Why are you so warm?? Damnit, have you been eating meat?!" 

(The guilty look said it all.)

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Under the "Would you say I'm too bossy?" category:

Blair was on the couch, looking at his wedding ring the other day. He took it off and was holding it up, squinting at it as if trying to read something on the interior of the ring. 

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The Day I Ate A Snickers

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I was talking to best friend Trisha yesterday and she asked me what was the best part of the 24-hour Crooked Road Ultra challenge. 

I thought about it for a moment. There was the feeling of pride that comes with facing a fear and meeting a goal. The accomplishment of running over 50 miles. The friendships that were formed or strengthened. The confidence that running such a race gave me overall as I move forward in life. But really, there was one highlight that stood out for me. 

"I got to eat a Snickers," I said. 

Seriously, when was the last time you let yourself eat a candy bar? It has to be at least 10-15 years for me. Sure, I'll eat mini-snickers all day long at Halloween but there was something different about holding a full-sized candy bar in my hand. I just simply never allow myself to go there. 

My friend Marty (who's run several Ironmen) brought me the Snickers when he showed up to run with me. I just kind of looked at it and then it hit me. I was going to eat this thing. Every. Last. Bite. 

It took me 2 miles to do it, but oh my God, best Snickers EVER. I couldn't get over the blatant hedonism of eating the whole thing myself, with no whining to girlfriends about, "Oh, I shouldn't," and "Oh, I hate myself now." Nuh-uh. I licked the wrapper, baby. 

Self-confidence and knocking down walls and exceeding goals is all good, but never underestimate the power of chocolate. 

Cheers,

Dena 

My First Ultra

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Time spent on course: 10.75 hours

Laps: 55

Miles covered: 53

Okay, so I didn't even come close to making the 24-hour mark, but I'm still super-proud to be able to call myself an ultra-runner! I ran 50 miles in just under 10 hours (as in, 9 hours and 58 minutes) and, for the most part, felt great. Here's a quick breakdown of how the day went:

How much stuff do 2 girls need to run an ultra?Pre-run

Sole Sister Cindy and her husband Dan were at my house by 6:30 am to drive me to the race. We felt intimidated as we unloaded our stuff onto a picnic table underneath a shelter as we'd brought so much stuff. However, we later learned other people had their cars there. Dan dropped us off and came back throughout the day, so we had to have everything out. 

Speaking of stuff, I waaaaay overpacked. (Shocking, I know). I bought $100 worth of food and didn't eat one bite of any of it. Not one. The race had plenty of food. I brought a bunch of clothes and didn't use half, although I will say if I had stayed the night, I would have used a lot more of what I brought. 

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