Does it count as a PR* if no one saw you do it?

aka, Operation Jack Satellite Run recap:

Inspired by Krissy's half marathon PR* on Saturday, I decided to give a half PR a shot during my 16 miles on Sunday. You know. Just for fun?

Easy 1.9 warm up, 2:09:09 13.1, easy 1 cool down.

Yeah. That's right. 2:09:09. That's. 2:21 pr over my last half (which was PCRF in May).

Splits:
10:21, 10:10, 10:10, 10:01, 9:59, 9:50, 10:03, 9:48, 9:47, 9:48, 9:38, 9:36, 8:45, 8:45.

Heeeeeey, negative splits.

I don't have any half marathons on my radar (besides runDisney events, which totally don't count), so this was an interesting exercise. It certainly didn't feel as hard as I would have expected - just like normal tempo run tough, not like 5k-I-will-puke-momentarily tough.

I also had pretty tired legs - 8 kinda hilly miles the day before had me feeling a bit fatigued. Weird, since the 10/20 last weekend was so great. Eh. I also had a blister from the 8 miles (which is new, and I'm not entirely sure how it happened, because it's never happened before?) that I forgot to take care of. Kind of annoying, until it popped a few miles in and then it was just... Icky.

Anyway.

This is what a virtual run PR* looks like, I guess.

Three Things Thursday , plus one...

I pushed my schedule back a day, took Tuesday as a rest day, and ran last night - was scheduled for 6, but I only left myself time for 5 before I had to meet someone for dinner. 5 miles, 54:55, 10:58 avg pace - aka, speedy fast for my slow self. I'm pleased.

1. Jill at Run with Jill organized a rad blogger gift exchange for Christmas! I love Secret Santa's. My gift arrived last week, and man... I'm a little in love.

I was seriously JUST telling the H that we needed a calendar!

Thanks, Running with Whit!!

2. Ohhhh, leukemia. You think you're sooooooo tricky. Lulling me into a false sense of security that we tricked the pukies, only to have a kid puking on my bed at 5am this morning.

That's not effing cute, leukemia.

3. Let's discuss bullies. A few weeks ago, we were at the mall, shopping in some anime store for #1. Gabby coughed. I'm not normally super concerned about a cough, but I always check with her, because (see above for reference), leukemia is shady. But it was simple, and quick, just... "Gab, you okay?". And she was. But some obnoxious girls, probably #1's age (12 (almost 13), fyi), thought it was fucking hysterical. "baby, are you okay?? COUGH COUGH". Really? Really?? That's funny? Um. Okay, then. They shut up FAST when they realized I walked up DIRECTLY behind them, and started to walk off, but not before mumbling something about the girl with little boy hair.

Admittedly, her hair is.... challenged.

But, really. How fucking lame that the best plans you have for the day are making fun of a kid undergoing chemotherapy.

And it wasn't something I was even going to blog about, but another situation with bullies caught my attention, and then I got all types of heated....

4. I'm straight lifting some of this from Sarah OUaL's post, because she said it well, and I couldn't have improved upon it.

If you don't already know, the OJ Marathon raised about $40,000 to fight autism the day after Christmas. It would have raised about $500 more if not for two Grinches residing in the Longhorn State.

On the same day as the race in Southern California, runners across the country participated in Satellite runs that contribute to the cause. From a group of girlfriends running off their Christmas cookie binge with a 10K to a hardcore athlete going out to tackle 26.2, participants completed the run at a location and time of their choice and received a bib, shirt, and medal, for their efforts.

John Strohmeyer offered to coordinate a satellite run in Houston, guessing he’d have about 10 people. With at least five starters and three finishers, it would be an official marathon according to Marathon Maniacs.

So in theory 10 people show up, run 9 laps around a three-mile loop in a park, one guy sits at a table pouring water and Gatorade and money gets raised for charity. Perfect, right? Yeah, so much so that 29 people signed up! Basically, a fun run that counted as an official race and raised more than $1,500 — everybody's happy!

Well, everybody except Michelle Wolpert and Ron Morgan of Houston Area Road Runners Association — Mrs. and Mr. Grinch.

Michelle and Ron caught wind of the charity event and got pissed. If they weren’t allowed to host a big race in the park, well damnit neither can this grassroots foundation raising money for a good cause! 30 people running laps around the park? Absolutely unacceptable. Nuh uh, not fair.

And...

They went to the park director and got the event shut down. PERFECT! Congratulations, throwing sand in the sandbox and tattling can still get you what you want as adults.

Except shutting down the event wasn’t enough. Shortly after, Ron sent out an email blast to every running club member in Houston planting seeds of doubt about all the good Operation Jack does.

John (OJ Houston) worked with the parks department and eventually did find a new location for the race. Four days before the event. A lot of runners ran at the new location, but a lot of them didn't. The debacle ended up costing the charity about $500 in refunds.

Bullies are LAME.

Michelle can be reached at michelle_wolpert@hotmail.com and Ron would love to hear from you at ronmorgan9@yahoo.com.

Sam, the founder of Operation Jack, has worked countless hours to raise funds for Autism research, in the name of his son who won't even know. Michelle and Ron there, they just reached over and took $500 straight out of the pockets of Operation Jack.

I would stab someone over $500.

Or, you know, spread their contact information all over the internets and recommend that you email them, let them know what you think. Spread the word, tweet, facebook, smoke signal, whatever.

Because bullies, they don't really like it when you call them on their crappy behavior.

In case you missed it, Michelle can be reached at michelle_wolpert@hotmail.com and Ron would love to hear from you at ronmorgan9@yahoo.com.

Operation Jack Marathon/Half VOLUNTEERING, and PFTW

Last year, I registered for the OJ Half Marathon on a whim, then backed out when I realized my longest run prior would only have been 7 miles. I'm impulsive, not stupid. So instead, I volunteered at an aid station, made a new friend, and had a great time.

This year, I registered for the half (again), and dropped out due to Jerk Shin. So I volunteered.

After doing that twice, I think, next year, I'll skip the registering part and go straight to the volunteering part.

If you don't know what Operation Jack is, click here to learn about this great cause.

This year, #1 wanted to volunteer with me! We had about an hour drive, and had to be setting up our station by 6am, so that meant it was still very, very dark.

I picked the most obnoxious outfit I could put together...

(the Team Sparkle skirt is new, Merry Christmas to meeeee! thanks, H!)

The race is run on the beach path, and the course? It's beautiful. I mean, if you're into this sort of thing.

We filled a million teeny cups...

I swear I'll be dreaming of yelling "Water! WATER!" for days.

Speaking of water...

No hydrant water here, VEGAS RNR...

All told, we got there at 6am, and left when we were told the last runners were through, around 12:45. We passed out a jillion cups of water or electroyltes, a ton of GU, and saw Sarah and ChaCha kicking ass.

What 6.75 hours of playing in sand looks like, on the fourth round of dumping...

And what the 12 year old looks like on the way home...

Anyway, a quick news clip about the event, including the tiniest 9 year old boy ever - and seriously, that kid was FAST. And AMAZING. He looked like he was definitely hurting when we saw him (we were at 2.5mi on the way out, 10.5 on the way in), but wow. I have some opinions about little kids running an event of this distance, but I don't want to minimize what the day was about. All told, the event raised about $40,000, benefiting the Operation Jack Autism Foundation and Train 4 Autism.

I said it last year, and I'll say it again. If you've never volunteered, DO IT. It's worth every second.

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Quick Plan for the Week

Last week recap, Monday nothing, Tuesday 5 miles slow, Wednesday nothing, Thursday 5 miles less slow but still pretty slow, Friday/Saturday nothing, Sunday 7 miles easy, followed by 6 hours (literally, on my feet in the kitchen, 6 hours) cooking. Then Monday 6 hours handing out water. My legs by Monday evening were tired. But almost entirely pain free. Which makes me pretty optimistic.

This week...
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5 miles (with a little speed?!.....)
Friday: yoga? (hahahaha)
Saturday: 8 miles, slow

Why I Run

Hey!

I'm featured on Another Mother Runner today, talking about Why I Run... Click here to read all about it!

#1 and I just got back from volunteering at the Operation Jack Marathon this morning... recap tomorrow

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, Happy Chanukah, mellow weekend, whatever.

Plan for the Week, and a quick race recap

Last week...
Monday - 5 mile walk/jog down Balboa Peninsula. Holy CRAP my legs were tired after a crappy 10 miles the day before. But, I felt fantastic after the shake-out.
Wednesday - Intended to do 6x400; hit 2x400, had an asthma attack, and couldn't get my breathing under control. Called it a day after 1.75 miles. The only good thing about this was it was the first time trying speed work outside (aside from the Random 10K), and both times I hit my goal time dead on, while struggling. So that was good to know, I guess.
Friday - Best concert I've ever been to (recap here, if you're into that type of thing)
Sunday - Richard Leary 6 Hour Challenge. 13.11 run, 1.09 walk.

This week...
Monday - Recovery walk posing as Trick or Treating
Tuesday - I'd like to say hills. But I am leaning towards re-doing my 400's. I like 400's more than hills.
Thursday - Mother effing tempo run. 5 miles. Hate tempo so much.
Saturday - a billion miles....
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Richard Leary 6 Hour Challenge - Recap

Full disclosure: I woke up and almost didn't go. I was crampy (yep, that crampy), just tired, I think I'm getting a cold, it was freezing outside, etc etc etc. Then I saw ChaCha's tweet that she was on her way up from a billion miles away, and I decided I would have like a giant loser if I didn't get over to the race that was 3 minutes away from my house. Loooooser. So I did.

But I wasn't pleasant about it. Sorry, ChaCha and Sarah. It was cold.

The race was a 1.09 mile loop through Mason Regional Park, and you just run until you quit. Or time runs out, if you're way more hardcore than me. Even though this park is only a few miles from my house, and it's GIANT, and beautiful, I've only ever been here once before - this was the scene of the giant PCRF meltdown back in May.

But it is pretty.

There were a LOT of birds.

A LOT. And I am not a fan of water fowl.

I think I posted previously that I was planning on 15-ish. I told The H Saturday night I wanted to get in at least 12-13. I knew I was tired, crampy, and just wanted to take it slow and easy.

In other words, this was not a race. And I wasn't going to race it.

4 minutes run, 1 minute walk, repeat times a million. 2:35 later, 13.11 miles complete.

Of note: I had to stop for a restroom break a few times (annoying). I stopped and chatted with Sam's wife in mile 12 (If you don't know about Operation Jack, click HERE and read their story). I had some weird, new-to-me dead leg feeling in my left quad around mile 10 and walked an extra walk break. It cramped up briefly, but cleared up. My stomach was all wonky, the whole time, so I didn't end up taking as many GU as I normally would.

All of that, and only 5 minutes slower than Long Beach.

Something is seriously wrong with my brain when I put on a timing chip. I don't know what happens to me, but I suddenly develop amnesia and forget that I know how to run just fine. Someday, it will sink in, and I'll race like a human being and not a zombie.

I really liked the 1 mile looped course. It sounds like it would get easy to get bored, but I didn't feel like I got bored at all - in fact, I almost quit sometime in the mile 9.5-10 range, but talked myself into "just one more" lap... and by then I was so close to a half, I had to finish it. It's just short enough that it's pretty much nothing - I can do anything for a mile, right? For me, it was a rad distance.

The weather and the course ended up being perfect - it was lovely and cool in the shade. The sun was definitely warm, but there was plenty of shade to balance that.

After I checked in, and collected my rad medal...

I walked another lap to cool down (not counted in my official mileage), and ran into ChaCha, who was finishing her laps. We hung out, watched the rest of the runners come in, and had a grand time stretching and being lazy in the sun. Also, I was told I had the best outfit of the day. So there's that.

If my brain had been working, I would have realized how close I was to 15, and just lapped a few more times. But it's like my brain shuts off, and I cannot process coherant thoughts while I'm running. Oh well. Maybe next weekend. No hurry, right?

Team So Much Cooler Online had a good showing... (stolen from Sarah)

(Normal People Kat and ChaCha, The Flamingo, The Giant

....and then.... this happened.

Bam.

Race redemption... it IS coming.

My race-day meltdown at mile 10.5 hasn't settled well with me.

I have ALWAYS had negative splits in my training runs. Always.

I've done the 13.1 distance 3 times already. I had two 11 mile runs in training, and two 10 milers.

There is no good reason I couldn't push through that nonsense.

Except for me just sabotaging myself all on my own.

I'm scratching my current training plan completely. Well, not COMPLETELY, completely. But I'm certainly changing things up.

Part of that changing is modifying my racing goals through the end of the year.

Tomorrow, I'm running the Chapman 5K with Team Sparkle, and all 3 of my kids. I know, I'm a crazy person. #1 is actually racing (I think), but #2, #3, and I will be run/walking for fun.

On October 30th, I'm running the Richard Leary 6-Hour Challenge, benefitting Tragedy Assistance Program for and Train 4 Autism. This is a 1 mile loop, and you just run until you... don't feel like it, I guess. I'll run whatever distance is on my training plan for the day, slow and easy. Just the way I like my runs. And my men. Just Kidding. Really.

November 6th, I am running Athleta Iron Girl 5K with #1. This one... I am planning on racing this one, hard. I haven't done speed work in a few weeks (one week off for The Shin, and another week for taper... and this week), so I don't know how much I can eek out, but we'll see. It will be a good gauge to see where I stand.

Followed immediately by Mission Inn Half on November 13th. You know that one, that I am pretty sure will kill me because it's sooooooo hilly?? (Chacha, that's for you). This one is strictly a training run. Slow and steady. No PR's will be set on this day.

Holiday Half 5K. This race is put on by the same folks that do Long Beach, so I'm anticipating a stellar race. This is my goal 5K. Speed work and hill repeats will be a strong part of my new training plan in the coming weeks, so I expect great things to happen. If they don't, I might just quit. (that's a lie, I'm too cheap to waste the registrations I've already paid for). The H and #1 are running this with me, along with my Internet BFF and her husband. (Of note, I need to find a baby sitter for #2 and #3 this day.... I don't know what I'm going to do with them while the rest of us are running. Poor logistics, there, me).

Operation Jack Half Marathon, December 26th. I'm toying with the idea of trying to PR here... it's a super flat course, and weather should be faavorable.... We'll see.

The only additional possibility in here is a trail race that I'm considering - 17K on December 11th. I've been itching to get into trail running, and this course is on my favorite hiking trail... hard to pass up. We'll see.

One of these... one of these has to be my magic race.

2012 is the Year of the Full Marathon. True story... that's happening. Multiple times. You can blame this girl for the Crazy.

March Rewind, and a whine

I'm a poet, you see how I made that rhyme?

So, March was interesting. I took a "rest" week following the Princess Half, and took another 10 days off due to The Ankle. Despite missing half of the month (!!), I ended up with 44 miles run, out of 71 scheduled.

But, the last two weeks of runs have been GOOD. I've felt great, and strong, and am getting a handle on this pacing business. I added some speed work and hill training, and rocked both. So, I'll take it.

I'm scheduled for 66.5 in April, which includes a week of taper before the PCRF Cinco De Mayo half on May 1.

Suck Less Program was AWESOME. I test out on Saturday, so I'll have an update next week on my progress, but... It's significant. :D Jess at Blonde Ponytail/ suggested a Suck Less Challenge - any takers? I'll organize for April starting Monday if there's interest!

Scheduled for 11 Suck Less Program workouts in March, and hit all 11.

*****

Anyone in OC or LA not already registered for the PCRF Cinco De Mayo half/5K, there's a fab deal on Plum District for half off of the 5K registration! Link HERE.

******

And, anyone in OC/San Diego free this weekend, check out this run for a great cause... Operation Jack/Autism Awareness Day at the ACT! Today for Military Families 5k/10k. If you can't participate, consider donating! Link HERE.

**warning. whining ahead**

I posted earlier this week about my spring break plans. Or lack of. I checked with our case manager at the hospital to see what she thought of our plans (basically if they were approved), or if she had any suggestions.

And the list of things that she DENIED was like... never ending.

No beach. No ocean. No camping. No Yosemite. No Sequoia. No boats. No Catalina.

Our basic rule of thumb is, we have to stay close, for hospital access.

I don't know why that didn't even occur to me. I mean, what would I even do if Gab had a fever and we're hanging out in the middle of the giant trees?

Then I felt like the crappiest parent EVER. I mean, we were sent home with a BOOK on how to care for her, what to watch for. There's a list of things that we need to be aware of, that lead to immediate hospitalization. As much as I might like to, I can't just treck off with them to the middle of the woods for a weekend.

It's like I forgot what is happening.

She has leukemia. She doesn't have a cold. It's not going to get better because she had a couple of treatments. It's... leukemia.

And that point was drilled home yesterday following her clinic visit.

Her treatments this cycle were going to be progressively increased at each visit - provided her counts were high enough. And she's responded really well to everything so far.

Except this visit. This visit, her counts are a little low. She couldn't get the upped dosage. Her ANC (link HERE for explanation of what that is) went down, significantly.

I've been very careful to NOT compare her to other kids, to not freak out about what if's. I suppose that's very easy to do, when comparatively, her treatment has been smooth sailing, and she's responded astoundingly well to all of it. And it still mostly is, there's nothing super alarming going on, but... that tiny bump.

We're not out of the woods. We can't do whatever we want. Life's not... normal.

So. Looks like San Diego Zoo. As a day trip, 'cause... I refuse to pay full price for a hotel and don't want to risk Hotwiring something we can't use "in case".

Le Sigh.

Unless you change how you are,you will always have what you've got.

Psssst...... Do you know what this is?


That'd be my half marathon training plan, with Day 1 crossed off.

And, do you know what this is?



That'd be my phone confirming that I have, in fact completed Couch to 5K, and that I can, in fact, run 30 minutes anywhere, any time.


And, do you know what THIS is?!

Okay, so it's teeny, but... that'd be my first half marathon registration, DONE.

I call today, a success.