Just a Bunch of Random Ramblings

I think it's against blog policy to post today without at least mentioning BOSTON.  Wow, what amazing finishes for the elites.  Seriously inspired by the ladies... Desiree crushing her own PR and making the winner really work for it, and Kara also PR'ing 7 months after giving birth... what?  Wow.  Even more inspiring are all the amazing bloggers out there who took on this race!!!

EMZ who did Boston as a "training run" for her upcoming 24-hour treadmill run for charity.  Freakin' amazing.  (Go. Donate. Now.)

SUAR who finished 26.2 after months off from a hip stress fracture and only getting to a 15-mile long run before the race.

Tall Mom who ran this one for her dad, and I'm positive he was smiling down.

Marathon Maiden who is basically just a cool chick with the most amazing runner legs (hello, 9th place female at White Rock Marathon).  Also fighting back from some injury issues, but crossed that finish line.

SkinnyRunner who ran Gansett and two days later ran Boston... both in under 3:30... and she follows no training plan... just runs when she feels like it.  Seriously... can we say natural gift?

But my heart today goes to Katye... who tore a calf muscle at mile 11, was put on the bus at mile 18, signed her life away so they'd let her off, and pushed her way to the finish.  That's all heart!

Also congrats to Lizzy, one of my fav foodie runners!

And many many more that I'm sure I missed.



On a separate note... last week I moved my 18-miler to Thursday so that I could get it in before my uber-busy weekend... It was torture.  Not necessarily on my body.  It was the first time I had run totally alone for the whole distance in a long time.  The wind was brutal, yet again.  There were times I felt like I was standing still.  I'm tellin' ya, if I ever get a windless long run, I should be able to fly through it.  OK, maybe not, but it's a nice thought that if I'm going to battle that wind that it's somehow making my legs stronger.  But anyway, I just got really bored during the run, which usually doesn't happen.  I spent most of the run calculating what fraction of the way I had finished.  Silliness.  I made it through the 18 and wasn't too sore the next day until the evening.  Gotta love DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). 

The reason I got my run in early this week is because I had an art show Friday-Sunday.  It's been awhile since racing takes up most weekends, but it was time to get out there and sell some of my stuff again.  I design and create chainmaille jewelry... here's a photo of my booth:

It was a rough show... Friday there were heavy winds.  Gusts came through at over 60mph.  It flipped my tables completely upside-down.  My jewelry hit the ground multiple times.  After several times of setting it up any way I could think to make it work and closing my tent sides to just leave a tiny opening, the tables flipped yet again, and I had to give up.  Saturday, fortunately, was beautiful.  Sunday, was windy again... not as bad as Friday, but I still ended up chasing pieces and picking them up off the ground when a giant gust would come through.  It was stressful.

I didn't get any runs in on Friday or Saturday... Friday just due to exhaustion and Saturday because I left the hotel at 8am and didn't get back until 10pm.  Sunday morning, though, I got in my 6 miles.  Eating during a show is a whole different issue... For instance on both Saturday and Sunday, I had a bagel for breakfast... absolutely no lunch, just a couple snacks like cheez-its or pecans or cheetos or goldfish - real health food... and then wasn't able to eat until dinner.  Saturday that wasn't until 9:30pm.  Fortunately, Sunday I got to eat at 7pm.  Woo-hoo.  Anyhow, I'm all out of whack from the weekend.

This was helped, of course, by the fact that I already had an appointment with Dr. Magic Hands for this morning.  I warned him that I now had other non-running issues.  Happy to report the foot is 95% and the pain is negligible... although I'm still noticing a reduction in flexibility in the left ankle.  Ugh.  Not good.  But my shoulders were in so much pain... I think from the tension that the wind caused at the show.  I even noticed during my hotel treadmill run on Sunday that my shoulders were curving forward... as soon as I mentioned it to Dr. Magic Hands, he got to work.  Oh my goodness.  It hurt.  Yes, HURT.  It was really painful (well, on the left side... the right side didn't hurt at all)... but I felt a ton better afterward.  I am just a work in progress.    Getting old sucks!

I did take this photo of myself on Saturday in the hotel bathroom (yeah, I know, super classy)... just to prove that I'm not always in running gear!!!

See?  I don't always have to be a sweaty mess... although I am currently a mental mess preparing for my littlest (and last) one's birthday... I have a friend that promises to make her day extra special:

Have a great week of running!!!