A weekend of honor & celebration, 9/10 & 9/11

Ailarie · Sep 10, 2011

Howdy, all.
 
I'm heading out soon to my local 5k event. Not hoping for a PR or anything, as I have a LR tomorrow, and I know that a fast time today = a rough day tomorrow.

It's all good.
 
Obviously, everyone here knows the significance of this weekend. It will be one to honor and remember those lost on 9/11, but I also choose to use the weekend to celebrate life. Every day is a gift. I plan on making mine count.
 
(((((((((((((((((( Group hugs )))))))))))))))))))))) Just cuz.

runningINnyc · Sep 10, 2011

Mornin' all. Heading out towards Palmerton, PA in just a little bit for some Spartan Race action, looking forward to the drive and some coffee almost as much as the race, I love me some highway miles & a good playlist. 
 
Good luck Ailaire! And good luck to everyone running long today... we have lots of people approaching their last or near last 20 milers - KILL IT!!
 
I knew I forgot someone yesterday, big ups to Cindi on her recent 10K PR!!!
 
Big good luck vibes out to Lora, doing her first Half Ironman today!!!! 
 
Have a great weekend all!

bard73 · Sep 10, 2011

I'm just about to head out to go visit my family. This is my brother-in-law's last weekend home before he heads out on his 3rd deployment (he is Army National Guard). He'll spend 2-3 months in the US doing intensive training, then it's off to Afghanistan. First time in that country, previous deployments were Kuwait and Iraq.
 
My grandfather's chest x-ray didn't show any pneumonia or anything but he is still weak and getting short of breath on minimal activity even with supplemental oxygen. The other day he was having hallucinations upon waking up, but was otherwise has an intact mental status. Don't know if that is still happening but that is what probably worries me most. He has a doctor appt Monday, hopefully he doesn't get worse and need an ER trip this weekend. He's 88 and has COPD, and he just keeps gradually declining. I don't think he'll make it to his 90th birthday in 18 months. <img alt="sad.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/sad.gif"> 
 
Good luck to all racers this weekend, especially Solar!

gatorbob · Sep 10, 2011

Good luck to all the racers today!
 
And big hugs to everybody who needs 'em. And even those who don't... <img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;">
 
I just did 5 easy miles. One week until the next marathon, so this should be good enough for today...

Ailarie · Sep 10, 2011

Rehi all.
 
(((( Bard ))) Sending extra vibes to Gramps for you! Oh - on another note, I thought of you this morning at the race. Someone had a shirt that said "Team Bard" on the back.

Today's 5k was rather interesting. I set out to just finish in a respectable time - certainly not trying to push myself, with the LR tomorrow. The first part was clogged as usual with some people in front walking from the start! (/insert colorful metaphors). I also had a high school girl in front of me realize that in about 3 blocks, she had apparently outrun her buddies, and she completely stopped and turned around to go against the flow of traffic and find her friends. >< Goofy girl is lucky I didn't mow her over. (not on purpose, of course, but it almost happened anyway). 
Moving along.. la de da da.... passing some.. getting passed some too. It's all good.
 
About halfway through I see a guy ahead of me wearing a UGA cap (backwards). Since UGA is a football rival of Ga Tech (though they usually beat us anyway), I decided that UGA-dude needed to be reeled in. Reeled in, he did become! Muhahaha! Not too long after though, my proud moment was totally squashed when another guy passes me easily, while pushing a double stroller. #*#^@)(*#%^)!!*@$#. Ahh well.. at least UGA guy didn't pass me, and I still reeled in others here and there.
 
I was not trying to push it at any point on the course, until I got close enough to see the clock at the finish line. EH?! Go go go!
 
Ended up with a course AND overall PR (Garmin time - not official yet) at 29:13. Rawr baby, rawr!

Let's hope I don't pay for this on tomorrow's LR!!!!!

phdatc · Sep 10, 2011

PR!!!!! Way to go Ailarie!!!!
 
Luck and happy feet to Lora!!!

Runninlaw · Sep 10, 2011

<img alt="wav.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wav.gif" style="width:225px;height:33px;"> Ailarie! That rawks, baby RAWR!!! I look forward to giving you a big high 5 in "real life" in a few weeks.

My day was solid. Boys did IronKids Wisconsin this morning and rocked! Both of them are crappy swimmers. They don't do regular lessons and just aren't naturals at it. James went first and instead of 4 laps in the pooL (edited to add that L!!), it was 8!! I was literally shaking as I was watching him go. My recommended race strategy to him was: just relax, take long strides, keep kicking and don't freak out. He did it! First 2 laps were beautiful. Then I watched him stop and he looked like he was going to say eff this and get out of the pool. I stood up in the stands and yelled you are awesome James or something like that (he never heard me). He paused for a good 25 seconds, then started again. He stopped a couple times, regrouped and went on. I was so proud I could cry. The rest of the race (4 mile bike; 1 mile run) were a walk in the park for him and he was really happy during those portions. At the end, he told me how hard the swim was and I told him I knew. He should take more lessons. He agreed and talked about next year. *gush*
 
Jake also did great. First lap of the swim was awesome (although we were wondering if he was going to come up for a breath!). Second one, he panicked a little bit. (He too agreed swimming lessons would be good). Off he went on the bike and run and he finished with his trademark intensity (I can't catch him) and lots of pride. Yay. My little rock stars.
 <img alt="" class="spotlight" src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/313546_2290610983327_1190554559_2660197_1049545370_n.jpg" style="width:540px;height:720px;">
 
More pictures <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2291160357061.131550.1190554559&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.2291160357061.131550.1190554559&type=1" target="_blank">here</a>.
 
I had a decent 6 mile recovery run, but it was 83 degrees and I got freaked out by a weird guy on the trail, so I ran too fast and my HR got way too high at the end. Then I went to my friend's funeral which totally effing sucked on a million and one levels. 
 
But, we are ordering pizza to celebrate my triathletes and I am getting geared up for my 20 miler in the am.
 
QOD: (which we may want to continue next week) DO YOU LIKE ONE THREAD? I personally love it, but notice some peeps have checked out since we started doing it. We agreed we'd give it a shot and evaluate, so let's all chime in. I personally love it - big time saver for me to check just one. BUT, I miss our MIA 30s.

gatorbob · Sep 10, 2011

Congrats to Ailarie and RIL-kids!!
 
QOD: I'm fine with the one thread. We don't have too many posts each day, so it's very bearable. Heck, this is only the 8th post today. Would we really have needed two threads for that?

Ailarie · Sep 11, 2011

Qod; I actually like the 1 thread thing now. I think it's just coincidence that some folks aren't posting as much these days. 
 
RIL: Your kids are freaking amazing. Both with their athleticism as well as their focus (on their swims when they had some level of being uncomfortable.) After their swim lessons next year, they're going to be BEASTS on their tris!

duckgeek · Sep 11, 2011

Hey peeps! 
Congrats to the boys, Mindi! Many of the best pro runners started out as swimmers, so maybe that will be extra motivation for them. 
Nice pr, Ailarie! 
Go Lora! 
Hugs all around. 
Just back from the fb game. Oregon bounced back nicely. 
I decided today that I'm going to start every day with exercise, and if that makes me "late" to work then so be it. At least until someone complains. I'm there way too much for my compensation! 
QOD: it's fine for me.

Runninlaw · Sep 11, 2011

How did Lora do????! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wooot Lora ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mmoonptdeux · Sep 11, 2011

Hi all - first off, sweet PR Ailarie and way to knock it out of the park to Mindi's Ironkids! I hope Maria kicked some Spartan butt, and big time mojo to you Lora on your Half IM!
 
Birthday shindig was pretty fun yesterday - with four folks celebrating b'days, there was lots of food (mostly of the fattening kind, and I'm pretty sure I overate) and all the nieces and nephews around creating havoc. I kinda' realize how much older everyone's getting - my BiL was sporting a lot of gray, and my oldest nieces I'm betting will not be long for the walk down that aisle in the not too distant future.
 
Today was sort of get out and buy stuff day, most of it as a way to keep this back-to-running trend going. The main purchase has turned out to be a sweet one
 
<a class="H-lightbox-open" href="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/94149/width/350/height/700/flags/" target="_blank"><img alt="2011-09-10185939.jpg" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="17805" data-type="61" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/content/type/61/id/17805/width/350/height/263" style="; width: 350px; height: 263px"></a>
 
Ended up at the New Balance store, where I decided to jump in on the Baddeley 890s. Pretty darn light (less than 10 oz) and a shoe you can run in sockless if you really wanted (not wanting to tempt fate, I stuck with a very thin pair of socks). Was only going to stick to 3 mi for my break-in run, but ended up going 4.6 because I was enjoying it too much. Structurally, they felt a lot like my Brooks Glycerins, but just a whole lot lighter.
 
QOD: I like the new format myself. However, I'm all for keeping as many people interested as possible and if that's what's holding back some folks, I'd be happy to go back.

gatorbob · Sep 11, 2011

Wow, the end of that Michigan-Notre Dame game was really amazing. And best of all, Notre Dame lost! <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;">
 
Only two weeks in, and it's been a really exciting season so far...

katholeenie · Sep 11, 2011

WOHOOOO!!! For Ailarie and RILkids!
 
My goal for today is to get a load of pots glazed & into the kiln and the kiln going by noon. It's possible if I get a move on.
 
QOD: I don't mind the one thread format, mostly I just forget to post everything in the one thread.
 
Doesn't help that I've had a number of big projects come to a head in the last couple weeks; they've been demanding enough that by the end of the day I have a hard time forming a coherent sentence. So I haven't posted as much. That's just coincidence on the timing.

solarpowered · Sep 11, 2011

Morning! 
 
I tried to post last night but I still can't do so from my BB. In regards to the QOD: I am in the not-posting-a-lot crew, but one of the main reasons is because I haven't been spending much time on the computer, and since I can't post from my BB, I end up checking in here to see what's happening, but not being able to post. A single thread is fine for now for me. 
 
Yesterday was great. I didn't really tell many people I was doing this race, so it was fun to see so many cheers and good wishes here and on FB. Thanks! It was a fun race, and something I really didn't think I'd ever do. The bike course was long -- over 57 miles -- and the run was HOT (and sunny, and humid -- which you all know by now is how most of my "A" races end up, and that SUCKS for me!) -- but overall my time was 6:21:35 and I'm pleased with that. Short report is: 1.2 mi swim was 34:47 (best part of my day! 34th fastest swim!), 57.5ish mi bike was 3:21xx by my bike, but 3:23 in the results, and the 13.1 run was 2:15 by my garmin (which registered a slightly short course) and 2:16xx by the results. I knew going into the day that I'd have to walk a bit in the run (mentally frustrating, but the smart thing to finish feeling ok). My only goals were to have lots of fun and finish with a smile on my face, and to hopefully finish under 7 hours. Accomplished both. Whee! 
 
I still need to go back and catch up on the happenings on the past couple days, but I think big congrats go out to Mindi (and her peeps) and Maria and Ailarie for great races as well this weekend!

praecipua · Sep 11, 2011

Way to go, Lora! Dus and Tris are something that I don't think I'll ever do, and I'm so amazed by those of you who do them and do them well!
 
Awesome PR, Ailarie!
Way to go, IronKids!
Glad you had an awesome time at the race, Maria!
(((( Clare )))) I hope you get some rest and relaxation soon!
 
I have a ton of stuff to accomplish today, and I'm under-motivated to do it. I'm learning about myself that I'm good under stress, but if I'm afraid of failing in a spectacular way, I shut down. Now that I recognize that, I'm being more successful about pushing through, but it's still hard.
 
I volunteered at Mizzou's XC invitational that included high school and college racers. I, of course, had the most boring job imaginable. I sat on the course at a turn and made sure that the runners didn't cheat the turn. Given that there were 8 races over the course of 4 hours, there was a lot of nothing to do. I'm usually at the start line for races, where it's always busy, so I didn't bring a book or chair or anything. Thankfully, they gave me a chair, but I was bored, bored, bored. I was also asked to help at a local half and 10k, but I had already committed to this. I'm really sorry that I didn't do the bigger race instead. Oh, well. Every volunteering gig can't be super fun.
 
Love you all!

gatorbob · Sep 11, 2011

Great job, Lora! That's awesome! I wish I had the guts to try something like that...

gatorbob · Sep 11, 2011

Hey MN folks... If any of you have no life and have nothing to do a week from today...
 
I fly out to Utah for my next marathon on Friday. I have a nonstop flight from Newark to Salt Lake City on Friday, but on the way back on Sunday I have a layover at MSP. For 3 hours and 15 minutes. Ugh. I'll be there from 10:35am to 1:50pm, local time. So like I say, if any of you guys have absolutely nothing to do next Sunday and want to meet for lunch at the airport, let me know... <img alt="cool.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/cool.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;">

Runninlaw · Sep 11, 2011

Lora - you are awesome! Congrats! It is IronMan weekend here and it is wicked hot today. I would hate running a marathon in 85 degee weather and full sun (after swimming and biking a crazy number of miles).
 
Speaking of heat, my long run was hard. Woot, but I got 20 miles in. Which brings me to 80 miles this week! Woot! Definitely a mileage PR for me. I certainly earned my rest day tomorrow.

70 miles until taper time!

Brandy · Sep 11, 2011

Lora - great job on your first half iron man - simply amazing. One day I'll do one...NEVER EVER a full though...those people are kkeerrazzee
 
Mindi - nice week sistah!! It was a warmer one today wasn't it? Lots of sun around these parts too. I did 20 as well but only did high 50s for mileage. My run went pretty good and ended up being my fastest 20 ever...so I'll take it.
 
Lifting at 6. that's going to be hard
 
Bob - Shawn and I are actually flying back from GA that day else we would set something up. too bad

And just an FYI: all food places are past security @ MSP so you'll need to go out of the airport for a lunch with any 30s peep. Lots of places near though.

A weekend of honor & celebration, 9/10 & 9/11

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