Middle-of-the-Pack Girl

Today began the first of three races in the Wild Rover Series. They’re run 3 weeks in succession, and the distance increases every week. Week 1= 3 miles. Week 2 = 4 miles. Week 5 = 5 miles.

Week 1 = big f%&*S hill. Week 2 = HUGE F&*##(%# HILL.  Actually, correction, it’s a mini-mountain. One that was so steep last year, I just gave up and started walking because the walkers were passing me while I attempted to run up it.  Week  3= ?? because I was sick last year and didn’t run it. I’m looking forward to hearing the bagpiper play as he marches back and forth through the cemetery. Yes.  More on that in two weeks.

As the title of my post indicates, this was a PR.  A PR that almost didn’t happen. Because of Ruthie. She got out today from the back yard, through a post in our fence that was a bit loose, and with all the rain we got here, we think she just pushed against it and slipped out before she knew what was going on.  Then, it snapped back into place.  I’d just arrived home from the grocery store, and Bill greeted me outside with “I let Ruthie out to pee, and now I can’t find her!” Our backyard is not to large, and is totally fenced in, with really no place for her to hide. Plus, she usually comes running when we call her back in but this time, all he got in response was silence.

Luckily, we have tags on her with Bill’s cell number and because she’s so friendly, she’s a horrible fugitive, and was easily captured by a man wonderful enough to call us, as we were both out canvassing the neighborhoods and trying not to panick. She’d only gone about 1/4-1/2 mile.

 As you can see below, she’s just fine now.  Thank God, because I don’t know what we would do without her. She’s so much a part of our hearts, I was crying when I hugged her when we got her home, and begged her to never do that again.  Bill told me that when he arrived at the good samaritan’s home, she started wagging her tail and trying to get to him. She then jumped into the backseat of his Explorer in a jiffy.  Thank God, she wanted to come home! 

Ruthie, the fugitive, sleeps...

Anyway, Bill has put lots and lots of barriers in Ruthie’s way so that she can’t bolt free again. Phew.

Anyway, here are the stats for today’s race.  My friends Lis and Meg also ran it.

• 806 total runners
• 35/162  in F30-39 division
• 251/806 overall
• official time: 24:47
• overall pace: 8:19
• Mile 1: 8:32
• Mile 2: 8:11
• Mile 3: 811

Me, Meg, and Lis at the start (Gumps 3)

Thumbs up:

• Ran with friends! 
• Starting mat at beginning AND end (change from last year.)
•  Disposable timing chips.
• Technical long-sleeve shirts, male and female cuts, flourescent color!
• Warm enough to run in only 2 layers, with lighter gloves.

Thumbs down:

• Only 3 porta-potties outside, 2 stalls inside for women, 1 of which wasn’t working (same as last year, not enough!)
• Smallish size bar, with not enough bartenders working so crowds got crazy afterward inside (same from last year)

 My goal for today was to break 25 minutes.  So glad I did it, especially because that last mile was hard. Harder than the first because at least then I felt fresh.   The first mile is uphill for at least half of it.  Enough of a hill that I think a fair amount of people walk up it or portions of it. 

But, what goes up, must come down, as we all know. I concentrated on trying to make up speed.  I knew I was in alright shape though, because the Mile 1 clock said 8:29 when I ran by it (gun time, remember) and that’s what it said last year as well.   However, I didn’t remember the mini hills that followed.  (As Lis said, she and I have a good way of blocking out stuff we don’t like to remember. Yep, she ran it also, under 30 minutes. I think that’s an awesome time, especially because she’s not been able to run in at least 2 months due to shin splints, and the fact that she’s a CPA.)

Garmin wonder twin nerds, go!

Mile 2′s clock said 16:30 as I passed it. My brain was somehow able to calculate that I was running faster at this point, which made sense considering Mile 2 included the mini but not mammoth hills, and some downhills. I knew could just try to hang onto the pace I was doing and my goal was within reach.

Mile 3 was when I felt like I was running much slower. I didn’t feel as strong during mile 3 this year as I did last year. But, the good thing was that I knew some landmarks this time around, and that, combined with my Garmin, helped me to know when I could really sprint at the end.  Plus, I said a silent plea to any angels who might be around and listening, to please help if they could, and they answered.  I looked down at my watch close to the end, saw 2.91 on the mileage, and an overall time that started with “24″ and just ran as hard as I could. I’m really trying to improve on my times this year.

At the start, think I'm stretching and trying to keep warm (didn't know Bill was taking it)

Some good news – a lady that has run indoor track with me for part of this winter, who I’ve mentioned on the blog, Lynn, ran it also. She’s 56, and afterward told me she’d just be happy to have come in within the top ten of her division. I checked her out on Cool Running, and she WON her age group, with a time of 23:48.  (I said to Lis that inside I can beat her on the track but get us running further than a 1/4 mile and she kicks my ass!)

Anyway, I now have the center of this year’s 3-part medal. (If you run all 3, they fit together like the pic below.)  Yay!

Wild Rover Series medals

Jim at the Philly Marathon finish, a Boston Qualifier again!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, odds are you’ve heard me talk (write) about my brother in the past. If you’re new to my blog, let me tell you a few things. 

First, his name is Jim Saint-Amour (I call him Jamie but I’m one of the only people in the world that calls him that.)  Second, he’s my younger brother. The baby of the family.  According to my husband, he has two moms, me and our real Mom.  I admit it, I will always worry about him but that’s because I’m older and we’re close in age, only 15 months separate us. Mom always said that, growing up, I’d be the first to get in a fight-to-the-death with him, but I’d also be the first one to stick up for and defend him against anyone outside of our family.  Third, he helped me to finish a marathon back in 2007. When he found out I was going to do it, he offered to run it with me, at my pace, which, believe me, was a LOT slower than his!  He also carried a sign during the entire race, which he’d put over my head whenever we saw crowds, which said “Run Happy:My Sister’s First Marathon” to get people to cheer for me.  I think you need to read this post of mine about that experience, to really see what I’m talking about.  Did I mention he also carried an extra camelbak on his back, just for me, the entire 26.2 miles?  He did. 

While he’s younger, I can tell you that in at least one aspect of his life, I’ve always envied him and looked up to him.  That aspect is his positive, just go-with-the-flow attitude. I’ve always been the one that needs to have things planned out. He’s the one that’s been able to go backpacking across Europe and move cross-country, without having a job lined up, only to have a job on an Australian cruise ship land in his lap 4 days later. (Ah, the life.) 

So, over the past two years, while he was pursuing a job as a middle/high school special ed teacher in inner city NY, I could tell something was off. He was usually very stressed, and he sighed. A lot. So much so that when I visited him last year, I commented on how often I heard him sigh.  Without knowing I’d said something, that same weekend, his friends noted the same thing. 

Well, he decided to follow his heart and leave that job, to pursue a job working in the running/coaching industry full time.  He now works for Urban Athletics in NYC. He works in the store and is also part of their coaching program.  He is RRCA certified.  He does one-on-one training, is the speed-and-form coach at their downtown location, online training, and yes, he does also work with beginners!   

If you read his bio,  you’ll hear about his first coaching experience a few years ago, when he worked with individuals who had never run before.  I met a few of the folks from that program at the Philly expo last November.  Three of them were planning on running the half-marathon the following day. It was clear that they still looked up to him, and he’d helped them to nurture a true love of running, as I discovered at dinner that evening. 

Here’s what I am really happy about. Every time I talk to him now, even if he’s tired, there’s a lift in his voice that’s been back. I know it’s because he’s doing something he truly loves.  I can’t tell you how positive and knowledgeable he is, and how generous he is with that knowledge.  He won’t judge you. He’ll work with you, and you will accomplish your goals, and probably a whole lot more than you thought possible.   

If you’d like his contact information, just drop me a note in the comments and I can give you his personal email address.  Or, of course, you can contact him at the store (I’ m not great with knowing where things are in NY, but I believe this is their downtown location.)

2 World Financial Center
in The Winter Garden
New York, NY 10281
Phone: 212/267-2247

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the photo above is from the 2009 Philly Marathon, where, again, he qualified for Boston in 3:07 and some change.  And he was smiling.