The Anti-Running Runner

My First Big Sports Injury Have you ever been injured? Me, too. Back in 6th Grade during gymnastics, one of my attempts at a full twist left me with a broken thumb after a bad landing. And it hurt. (I'm in the third row far right) With a cast and a promise of healing within six weeks (and learning to write left-handed in school), I discovered that I was ready to move on to other sports. Gymnastics was fun, but I wanted to do track and volleyball (which meant quitting gym), so the time of reflection helped firm up my decision. It's one I've never regretted. Centralia High School Track Freshman Year 4X100 Relay (Me, Molly Parker, Sarah Hahn, April Schilt) St. Pete High School Varsity Volleyball Senior Year (me front and center) I've had no major injuries since then. Little things here and there, but I've always bounced back pretty quickly. That time I ran into sliding glass door and most likely broke my nose stands out because it was really...

I've been MIA on this blog for a while. My focus has been writing and editing my fiction efforts, but I promised to share my first marathon adventure, so I'm finally going to do it. AIR: My First Marathon Disney January 2009. It was the week before my wedding. No lie. Seven days after running my first marathon, I walked down the aisle and married my best friend. I DO NOT recommend this to anyone. Wedding time frame part, not the marrying best friend part. That I highly recommend. In my defense, I signed up for the marathon prior to getting engaged. The wedding date worked out best for whatever reasons. I can't even remember why now. The six months leading up to the marathon/wedding were probably the most stressful of my entire life. Marathon training takes so much time and energy. So does wedding planning. On a positive side, most of my family came to cheer my marathon finish because they were already in town for the wedding. That was a huge blessing. My dearest...

After my rare and delightful runner's high, I pretty much expected a runner's low. The twelve-miler was a week and three days prior to the Rock N Roll Half Marathon, so I decided to rest until the race. I ran one stair jog, but that was it. The half marathon was tons of fun, especially while running and chatting with my dear cousin, Alyssa. Like last year, they had bands every mile. Music helps mentally boost me. Catching up with Alyssa for 2:21:47 (our chip time) feeds my soul.  Lyssi and I having a ball. Thanks, Jeremy Carlson, for taking pictures! Our good friend, J.J., spotted us on the course, so we got to have some of the race documented. I don't like carrying things, such as phone/camera, so it's really nice to have friends taking photos. This was not a low after all, but nothing close to the high either. Around mile nine or ten, I felt the normal challenges of a half marathon. Legs hurting, my right glute started going numb, making it diffi...

I'm very behind on blogging. That is to say, I haven't blogged for a while, and that makes me feel like I'm behind. I am running. Slowly. I've done a couple of 10 milers and one 12 that involved a lot of walking. I ran a little in Minnesota but mostly relaxed while visiting my wonderful in-laws and enjoying fall colors. I have the FWA conference this coming weekend. I'm not sure how much running I'll get done this week. My next race is Oct. 28th at Ft. Desoto. My dear cousin, Alyssa, is running the Halloween Halfathon with me. We're dressing up, too. She ran a marathon in Minneapolis a couple of weekends ago. We JUST missed seeing each other. I'm so proud of her because she beat her PR and almost broke 4 hours. My Uncle Gabe and Aunt Marita ran the 10K. Uncle Dave and Aunt Elena (Alyssa's parents) cheered everybody on. I love having a running family. Slow motion. That's how I feel when I run. I've come to accept that's just the...

As promised, another tale of my past running adventures. I had to share the story of my first half marathon because it will forever stand out in my mind. Disclaimer: I do not condone "rogue running" or whatever it's called when you race without a number. But these were extreme circumstances. So I do not apologize for what happened in the following story. And neither do my heroes: Alyssa and Jenni. In 2008, I was signed up to run the Disney Half Marathon. I had run a 15K before, so I felt confident that I could make it, especially because my dear cousin, Alyssa, would be running with me. Alone meant possible failure. With her, I could do anything. My dad drove us to the race, and Alyssa's best friend, Jenni, joined us. This is the same Alyssa and Jenni who ran the Miami Marathon, and I ran the half and blogged about that crazy adventure earlier this year. In fact, Alyssa and Jenni just moved into a house together. Hubby and I went to help them with some pr...

I've been wanting to write some of my past running stories. In particular, events or things that happened before I started the blog. I have fond memories of my first half marathon, Hood 2 Coast, some not-so-fond memories of my first marathon, and other running tales I could share. To get the ball rolling, I wanted to explain what happened to me on my run today. On Tuesday, I finally managed to run five miles with the Vibrams. Yay! It was a humid day, but cloudy. Not so much blazing hot sun beating down. But for some reason every gnat in Florida was out for an evening...stroll flight?....on my running route to the St. Pete Pier. I have a bug phobia, so that wasn't fun, but I was glad that my toes didn't hurt. Today, I left work intending to run the same route. It was sunny and hot at first, but I noticed some dark clouds in the distance. They moved in and I had that glorious sensation of cooler air for about a mile before the rain began. It felt so good. I was loving i...

I continue to build mileage with the Vibrams, but it's going much slower than I anticipated. I ran four miles in Georgia, and that is the farthest distance I have gone. Love, love, love running around my sister's neighborhood in Georgia After that, I felt a little tenderness on the bottom of my feet, but not terrible. The next time I ran, one of my big toes blistered on the bottom and ripped. That hurt. A lot. So I took a break. A week later, after only running once in my Saucony's, I ran again with the Vibram's. The other toe felt like it was blistering. It hurt, though not as bad as the other one. Sigh...I think it's still a matter of building up callouses, but it's just taking a lot of time. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to run the half marathon in October with the Vibrams, though I'd like to. If not, I'll be searching for some new Saucony's as my old favs were discontinued. Sunday, my dear friend, Hea, let me watch the O...

After doing two half marathons two weeks apart, I’m reminded of why I’m not eager to do another marathon quite yet. The time it takes to train, the pain, the agony, the misery, the crying… Anyway, I’m happy to report that the St. Pete Inaugural Rock N Roll Half Marathon was a blast. Team Hea and Bria ran together with my college roommate, Brenna. We stayed together and enjoyed the great route and the scenery. Even though we started in different corrals, somehow Hea found us in the crowd of 10,000! She knew which corral we were in, so that probably helped. The one downside: the temp was 40 degrees! That’s right, it was 70-some degrees on Saturday and on Monday, but a freakish low temp swooped in Sunday and stayed for the length of the race. My layers: dri-fit short-sleeved shirt, dri-fit long-sleeved shirt, cotton hoodie, black tights, shorts with pockets over the tights, and gloves. I carried some Ibuprofen in the pocket, but nothing else. No iTouch this time. I expec...