#rfrc

[genuinekcsa]

#Repost @foord.r ・・・ Ricky Wilson #kaiserchiefs meets #sundayallstars The end of another lovely #trailrun was topped when we almost literally bumped into Ricky outside #vivarypark getting ready for his gig tonight. #rfrc

[brendaruns]

Great time seeing friends and running the #WillimanticClassic #halfmarathon #rfrc #resultsstarthere #bibchat #buff #eaglecreek #optoutside #nerunner (at Jilson Square Park)

[brendaruns]

Pre #marathon @runrocknroll #rnrdc #rnrdc2017 #bibchat #run #rundc #runchat #running #runhappydc #vhtrc #dcrunners #rfrc #optoutside #outdoortherapy #resultsstarthere #ultrachat #runchat #buff @buff_usa (at Vashington, DC)

[kimrunsamarathon]

New Year, New Run: Au Marathon Louisiane

Happy New Year!  I suspect that anyone who reads blogs regularly is tired of reading New Years posts, and I am ten days late to the game. I'll just jump straight into what I'm doing at this point in the year: next weekend, I am taking back the marathon distance. Rendevous Baton Rouge will take place from January 16-18, 2015, with a 5K and quarter marathon on January 17 and a half and full marathon on January 18. For the extra crazy people, there's the Déjà Vu Award. What is the Déjà Vu Award, you ask? Well, here's what the race organizers have to say about it:

The phrase déjà vu is a French term that literally means “already seen.” The phenomenon of déjà vu is to have the sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has been experienced in the past, when in fact it hasn’t. 

For this reason, we have created the Déjà Vu Award for those runners who see the finish line two days in a row.

Winners of the Déjà Vu Award receive a special Marathon de Louisiane Crawfish Plate, which I was all about when I signed up for the quarter and full marathons back in July 2014. I figured I would stay in my version of marathon shape for several straight months, so two races in one weekend was no big deal. Plus, I could eat so. much. crawfish. on that swanky plate. Although I was super motivated to train hard, run fast, and not skip workouts after the Marine Corps Marathon, everything fell apart in December. I quit training, then I got sick and didn't want to train, then it was Christmas Break. I resumed running right after Christmas and even did a 10K last weekend, but I will definitely be going into the Louisiana Marathon much differently than I did the Marine Corps Marathon. My goal for the race is to finish and feel good when I do. In addition to focusing on carb loading this week, I am going to get myself pumped up with positive self talk so I don't go into the race freaked out and questioning myself like I did with the Marine Corps Marathon. Fortunately for me, this is a much smaller race, and I don't think they even have buses. I looked at the course map, and there are 22 opportunities for water stations. I think I am going to break the race down into water stops as I go. Several members of the Red Felt Running Club will be running on Sunday, and I am excited to share the course with many of them. We are also going meet up for dinner on Saturday, which is a welcome outing for me since RWD won't be with me, and I was going to eat by myself or overpay for the race's Pastalaya Dinner. Here's to proving myself to myself!

[kimrunsamarathon]

Marine Corps Marathon Part 2 of 4: Beating the Bridge

Behind the cut: more marathon recap

When we last left off, I had just seen the police cars and straggler buses. Read (or re-read) part 1 here.

RWD and I had planned a few places where he would try to meet me, and mile 10 was the next one. Moving slowly, I finally found RWD and his cowbell waiting patiently for me. I gave him this awesome photo opportunity. Thanks to him, you can all now see my belly.

Also, this pose looks remarkably like one I did around mile 17 in Chicago last year, so I guess it's marathon tradition now. There was definitely more belly this year, though.

I ran into RWD's arms, gave him a big hug, and didn't let go. I didn't care that he needed to leave to go get our team's pizzas so they could eat when they finished the race. Even though I knew it wouldn't help the problem, I wanted to curl up in a ball right there in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

"I saw the buses, and now I'm scared. I'm so tired. If I beat the bridge, I'm going to walk the last 6 miles."

Knowing I had been nervous about the race for several days, including waking up just before 2 am and reading all of the #runwiththemarines tweets from people who were also freaking out in the middle of the night, RWD knew he had to say just the right thing to me. He went with, "Then you have to keep going."

So I did.

Shortly after I left him, I started to play with my run/walk intervals. I switched to 2:00/1:30, then 1:30/2:00, and finally I settled for 0:20/1:00. I was desperate, and running for 20 seconds isn't that hard, especially with one minute in between. I had to keep moving, and if this was the only way...well okay.

One of my favorite parts of the race was the wear blue Mile, which is put on by an organization called wear blue: run to remember that honors the American military--the fallen, the fighting, and the families. On the wear blue Mile, the course is lined with photos of fallen soldiers, and later, volunteers hold flags representing a soldier. I feel horrible saying that I don't remember which mile this was, but what I can say is that I felt renewed as I ran/walked the wear blue Mile. What a privilege it is to honor these men and women; how could I do anything but keep going?

With my spirit renewed, I soon made it to the halfway point of the race. A spectator told me I was starting to tilt--never heard that one before--and reminded me to hydrate, so I started drinking much more water. Even with my small running intervals, I was keeping up with a group of other runners in my section of the race. Before I knew it, the sign for mile 14 was in the distance, and a group of boys (young men?) holding up a Notre Dame flag were screaming and cheering for me. (I was really glad I painted my name on my shirt in big white letters.) Feeling inspired and motivated, I ran more than 20 seconds for that interval and crossed into 14 mile territory.

The next few miles are unclear in my memory. The buses must not have been too close, because I am sure I turned around, but I don't remember seeing them again until around mile 17. I had been hanging pretty closely with a woman in an American flag skirt, and I turned around to see the buses. "Oh no," I said. "I know. We just have to keep moving," flag skirt lady told me.

For reference, here's where I was. I know what it looks like, as did the woman with a poster that had a printout of this section and said "JUST THE TIP!"

At the mile 18 sign, I stopped and asked a Marine if I'd be able to take to the sidewalk if the bus came to pass me. She wasn't sure, so instead, she told me there were only two miles to the bridge, and I could make it if I kept moving. (I was sensing a trend here...)

After the "tip," I could see the buses across the way meandering down toward mile 18. At water point 9, just after the 19 mile mark, the volunteers were folding up tables and preparing to go do something else. I watched a Marine dump out what was left of a gallon of water, and I slow-mo lunged at him, screaming "NOOOOOOOO!" like an action movie scene. Maybe it was nothing like that, but that's how I felt. Recognizing my distress, the Marine asked if I wanted some water, he broke out a brand new gallon, and topped off my water bottle. Phew. I was almost to the bridge, and the 0:20/1:00 intervals were working.  I wasn't going to make the bridge by 1:15 pm, but I was definitely going to beat the bus to the bridge. The spectators knew what was happening and were urging the runners, "You're almost there!" 

At last, I heard the drums urging the runners forward. I ran more than 20 seconds this time too. In fact, I ran all the way to a table of amazing people that I now know are members of the Red Felt Running Club [more on that later]. Some lady (saint) asked me "What do you need?" and I had my pick of Gatorade, pretzels, water, oranges, and more. I decided on oranges. 

"Did I make it? Did I beat the bridge? Am I safe??" I asked hysterically.

They told me I did. I celebrated briefly and headed toward the bridge, doing exactly what I said I would do ten miles earlier: I started walking.

[amourlecoupdefoudre]

Waking up from a dream that was my perfect reality is really throwing off my day