The Obligatory Things I'm Thankful For Post

It's that time, that day, when it seems everybody everywhere is making a public declaration of what they're thankful for.  It's Thanksgiving, it's what you do.  Personally, I'm thankful for a whole lot of things every day of the year, but my thanks giving is usually silent, private, and personal - a prayer here, a thought there.  Or it may come in the form of a smile or a nod, a pat on the back, a hug, a wave.

Here's a list in no particular order of some of the things I'm thankful for this day and every day:

• a roof over my head
• warm fuzzy blankets to curl up on the couch under
• a good pair of running shoes
• books and the written word
• a loving family
• my husband and all the little ways he shows he loves me (McD's sweet tea in the fridge when I get home from work being just one of the many)
• my furry four-legged "child" - my fuzzy shadow,  my constant companion
• my best friends
• all the people in this world who do all of the not-so-little things we often take for granted - those who grow and raise the food we eat, who make our clothes, who keep us entertained, who keep us safe from harm, who heal our hurts and calm our fears. For those who teach, and those who lead.  For those who work to keep our lights on, to keep our homes warm, to keep our roads safe.
• And for the countless others I've forgotten

Cherishing the Memories - St. Paul Lutheran Church 1892-2013

As I sit here tonight, I have a lifetime of memories of my childhood church swirling around in my head:

• Moving through the ranks of the Christmas program as I got older - from an angel, to a shepherd, to a wise man, and then finally, finally being old enough to be Mary.  (and there was one year when I was the star of the show. Literally - I was the star of Bethlehem)
• Climbing the forbidden ladder to the bell tower to see if there was a bell. (Answer: No; weren't any bats either)
• The beauty of the Christmas Eve candlelight service and the awe I felt as the candlelight spread through the sanctuary as we sang Silent Night. (and then there was year when an usher backed into the candles in the window and set his coat on fire...)
• The older gentleman who was always a word behind during the prayers, the creed, etc.
• Lib Slater "stepping" on my foot with her cane every Sunday.
• Hugs from Harry Young.
• My brother getting his finger stuck in the end of his shepherd's crook during one of the Christmas play rehearsals.
• The way the purple choir robes clashed with the red carpet in the sanctuary
• Emelie Knudson singing "Were You There" during lenten services.
• Mrs. Casto's nursery school - with the yellow chair you sat in when you were bad and the old-fashioned bathtub full of pillows that you could lay in during nap-time if you were good. (and to this day, I still follow her instructions and don't stack blocks higher than I am tall)
• Flo Williams and her magical sauce that was spaghetti sauce one day and hot dog chili the next (and sometimes it was "Sloppy joes" too)
• Drinking orange kool-aid from the big red & yellow McDonald's coolers
• Seeing my Dad preach one Sunday and proudly and loudly announcing "That's my Daddy" as he stepped into the pulpit.
• The pride and wonder I felt the first time my brother presided over communion and led a service as a Pastor  (didn't make any announcements that time, but felt it just the same)
• Brennan Dettinger, who was maybe 3 at the time, drawing a picture of a skeleton to put on the Sunday School Christmas tree. When asked why a skeleton, he responded, "that's the Holy Ghost"
• Andrew Weirick carrying a pumpkin that was as big as he was and saying "heavy..." in a deep dramatically strained voice
• Christine Weirick drawing me pictures on the bulletin pages (note to self - find those!)
• Taking Christine to Mrs. Casto's nursery school and telling her I went there too. She looked at me and in four-year-old wonder asked "was she old then too?"
• Eating cheerios and drawing my own pictures on the paper my dad kept in his suit pocket to keep me occupied throughout the service.
• Straining to catch a glimpse of my mom as she processed (prosessed??) in and out with the choir (I may have even waved as she passed by our pew)

Until this morning, I hadn't been to church in.... well, in so long that I can't remember how long it's been. I may not have gone to services but the church, St Paul Lutheran, I knew, was always there, waiting for me to come to my senses, return to my roots, and come back home. Until today.

Today was the last service. St. Paul as a separate unique entity has officially closed. The building will be sold; the congregation merging with another. While I know I should be celebrating a new beginning and be looking forward to the church opening new doors and windows now that the old ones are closed, it's hard. It's not always easy to celebrate a new beginning when your heart is breaking from the ending.

Race report - Marshall University Half Marathon

2 years ago, in November 2011 (for those you who are math impaired, like me ;-) ) this race was my first half marathon.  Today, it was my 6th.  It was the race that started the "half madness" so I like to go back and do it again (this was the 3rd time I've run it; did it in 2012 too).  It's a nice flat little race at a beautiful time of year.

Although this morning, it didn't feel like it was going to be a beautiful race.  A 7:00am start time means an early wake-up call. 5:00 is way too early for this sleep-loving, evening running gal.  My plan was to leave the house by 6, thinking that would give me plenty of time for the drive, to park, and to get to the start line.

I seriously miscalculated that one.  The drive seemed to take forever and then to make matters worse, I couldn't find a parking place.  At 6:50, I was fighting back tears as I searched in vain for a space.  I asked a couple of race volunteer intersection watchers if they knew where I could park.  They pointed me to the Pizza Hut lot and said a lot of people seem to be parking there.  I pulled into the lot and got the last spot. It was now 6:55 and I was frantically getting ready, pinning my bib on as I walked/ran/busted my butt to get the start area.

I made it in time, but my head was not in a good place. I was frustrated and slightly panicked.  Running the first few miles I was just unhappy and not feeling good at all.  I thought about giving up at the 3 mile point.  But I didn't.  I pushed on and roughed it out.  Hit the 5 mile mark and checked my overall time, and was surprised to see where I was. I thought "hmm, I may be able to make this a decent race after all."  I was slower than I needed to be for my "ultimate OMG it would be totally awesome if I could finish in this time" goal, but I was right where I needed to be for my more realistic "this is what I know I can do" goal.

So I pulled myself together, put the rubber to the road, and got serious.  Miles 5 to 10, usually the hard part of this race for me, felt strong and almost easy.  At mile 10, I checked my time again, I was under 2 hours.  Still on track for that goal.  But miles 11, 12 and 13 were hard.  I struggled a bit, but made myself run the full run interval and only walk when the watch told me to.  I knew I wouldn't make the "OMG this is awesome" goal, but a PR could have been a possibility.   And if not a PR then a faster time than last year.  And I knew I couldn't do either if I walked more than I was scheduled to.

At PR time, I was passing my mom at the corner outside the stadium.  At least year's time, I was crossing the finish line.  Yep I finished in almost exactly the same time (almost to the second) as I did last year.  What can i say,  I'm consistent. :-) 

I did meet that "this is what I know I can do" goal, because it's what I know I can do.  It's what I trained for; what I worked so hard to achieve.  I had some doubts at the start and for the first few miles, but I put the saying "never judge a run by the first few miles" to the test and proved it right. I adjusted my attitude, got my head in the right place, and ran the race I knew I could run if I just put my mind to it, quieted the doubts, and did it.  There's a great satisfaction in that.

Race Stats:
Marshall University Half Marathon
November 10, 2013
13.1 miles
Finish time: 2:29:42 (garmin); 2:29:53 (official)
Pace: 11:24 mpm (garmin); 11:27mpm (official)
Place: 833 of 1,099 overall;422 of 624 women;76 of 110 age group

Race Report - Rock 'n' Roll Cleveland Half Marathon

Half marathon number 5.  Yep, the girl who swore she was never meant to be a runner has now run in and completed 5 half marathons.  It's crazy.

My friends and I are always on the look out for races that look like fun and have cool medals (yes, sometimes, it is all about the bling), and we found this one way back in the spring.  Becca and I signed up for the half marathon, and when they announced that there would be a mini-marathon, Jen signed up for it.  After I registered, I told myself I would train my little butt off so I could run a PR.

As training progressed and as I gauged my fitness level, I pushed the PR goal back to my November race and switched my focus to just beating the time from last year's Marshall half.  I was optimistic that I could do it, but I knew it was going to be tough.  I also knew that conditions would have to be 100% perfect on race day for it to be a possibility. 

Race day came and as it turns out, conditions were not 100% perfect (are they ever?)  6:30 in the morning and it was already 72 degrees and muggy. (I believe my words as we left the house were "holy humidity batman!")  And as it was "that time of the month" I was feeling a little sluggish and achy.  But it was a race!  I was with my best friends!  I was happy! (really I was)

how can you not be happy and having a good time when you get to do things like this at the race expo:

Or when you wear fun socks, arm warmers, and a sparkly skirt like this:

You can't!  Especially if you're running with friends (with equally fun sparkly skirts):

Jen ran the mini

Becca and I ran the half

I started in corral 8 with Becca so we could give each other moral support as we waited for the start.  She tried to get me to start in my correct corral, but I was sticking with her to help eliminate the pre-race jitters I always get when I'm by myself at a start line (mission accomplished!)  Once the gun/air-horn went off and it was our turn to run, I stuck with her for little while.  We got separated about a quarter mile in due to the crowds and my faster pace (don't worry I didn't ditch her - it was our plan all along to run our own races).

A little past the mile 1 marker I saw another familiar racer running strong on the opposite side of the course.  I dodged and wove (weaved?) my way across the runners to give Jen a pat on the back and was off on my journey.

To be quite honest, I don't remember much about the race other than I was hot, tired, achy, and starting to get hungry.  I was so focused on just putting one foot in front of the other and getting to the finish line that most everything else faded into the background. 

What I do remember:

• I ditched my time goal after mile 5 because I knew it wasn't going to happen. 
• I  made sure to grab a water and/or gatorade at every aid station to stay hydrated (and the gatorade tasted much better if I poured the water into it). 
• I took a strawberry banana Gu at an aid station to try to stave off the hunger - it was a bad flavor choice, but the little bit that I did swallow made me feel better and more energized (note to self - check out other flavors.)
• I walked way more than I wanted to
• I  kept looking for Jerry (the amazing guy from the Komen 3-day who would pop up at various points on the course to shout encouragement to the walkers).  He wasn't there, but there was a different guy providing encouragement and reminding us that we were strong and could do this.
• I had a race angel: I was struggling at mile 13 and walking toward the finish line, when another runner (who had already finished) ran up beside me and said "you don't want to finish this walking; it's only a tenth of a mile. Come on let's run. you're strong; you can do this!"  I responded, "yes I can.  I can do this!"  As I ran away from her I heard her say "Yes you can! Go for it!"

And I did.  I finished running.  It wasn't a strong run or a fast sprint, but it was a run:

As I crossed the line, I heard a "GO MELISSA!"  from the crowd - My friends were there waiting for me!  Such an awesome feeling - my very own cheering section! (such a small thing, but when you're used to being at races on your own, it's a nice change).

I got my medal, a bottle of water, a bottle of gatorade, and a chocolate milk (i'm not normally a fan of milk, but that was the best tasting ever), and joined the girls on the sidelines to wait for Becca to finish.   She too finished strong and had her own race angels to get her through the day.   And Jen finished her 3.5 mile mini with a new found (or maybe re-found) confidence in herself.

So all in all, it was a good, but tough, day for all of us.

Happy finishers

Race Stats:



2013 Inaugural Cleveland Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

October 6, 2013
Time:  2:52:43 (Garmin); 2:52:41 (official)
Pace: 13:03 mpm (Garmin);
Place: 4305 of 5044 overall; 2566 of 3140 women

 

Addendum to Color Vibe Race Report

More Pictures!!! 

Being rebellious - Touching the "Do Not Touch" sign
I'm out of control...

Covered with color

Race Report - Color Vibe 5k

Way back in April, one of the girls in my office had the idea of a group of us doing this race together. So we gathered a group of about 20 of us and for 5 months, while we waited for race day to finally arrive, we plotted and planned how Team Commercial could make a big colorful splash at the race:

before

Team t-shirts in Commercial Insurance orange logo- check
Orange sparkle skirts from Sparkle Athletic - check
Colorful sunglasses, socks, bandanas, and other accents - check

We were ready to go!

A group of us met at the office and walked over to Magic Island to join the thousands - Yes thousands; it was insane the number of people (reminded me of the Princess Half with all the tutus and costumes in the corral) - of runners, walkers, and color lovers.

I could have run this race and been by myself (alone in the sea of thousands) the whole way, but what fun is a group event if you leave the group behind? So I walked with most everyone else (the guys decided they would run); even though we tried to stay together, we did end up getting split up. Two or three of us here, three or four of us there, we ended up spread out pretty equally along the route.

But the need to run overtook me at about 2.5 miles in and I ran the rest of the way, crossed the finish line, and headed back along the course to find the group and finish again (not really, but almost).


after

So why was this race called the Color Vibe?  Because they shower you with purple, pink, yellow, green, and blue colored powder at color stations along the course and while waiting for the start and after you finish and walking back to your car (even if you have to run to beat the street sweepers to get a little extra green).



It was a really fun way to spend a morning, and if a color race comes to your town, do it.  It's awesome.

The Color Dance Party

Race Stats
(Officially, this was an untimed race, but being me, I had to wear the Garmin anyway, so here are the details, for the record, if you care.)

Color Vibe 5k, September 28, 2013
Distance: 3.04 miles
Finish Time: 54:29 (17:57 mpm)

Part of the team (That's me w/ the scarf & orange sunglasses)

 




Part of Team Commercial

 

Race Report - CDR 5k

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't at all sure how this day would go.  Coming off of a week with some not so great training runs (didn't get all the miles in that I had hoped for and the miles that I did get in were hot and hard).  A while back I had set a goal pace and finish time, but was feeling really optimistic when I did it.  I didn't think I could hit either.  I've run this race that last 2 years, and both of those race days were hot and humid, which made for some pretty miserable runs.  I've always finished, but it's always been a struggle. With the tough week I had and the anticipation of the heat/humidity run killer, my expectations were not at all high.

First thing I did when I got up was check the temperature and humidity, so I could decide if I wanted to wear a t-shirt or a tank top.  I chose the tank.  Orange tank, blue sparkly skirt, green cap, and I was dressed and ready to go in my Goofy-inspired attire.

I got to the parking lot, pinned on my bib, performed my car door lock ritual (for some reason I have to keep checking to make sure my extra car key will in fact unlock the car), and got my ipod situated.  I started to walk away from the car and realized I had lost one of the pins holding on the bib.  Not good. I looked on the ground; didn't find it.  I looked in the car; didn't find it or another one from a different race.  So I rearranged the remaining three pins so the loose corner would be in a less annoying spot.  Before heading to the start, I thought I'd check around the car again.  Guess the light was better this time, because there it was.  Bib repinned on all four corners and I was ready to run.

I lined up near the back of the middle of the 5k-ers, and took off nice and slow when the cannon went off.  I wasn't in a hurry, and I didn't fall victim to my usual race day rush to keep up with everybody else.   I took it easy and slow.  It felt great.  At the one mile point, my pace was a little slower than my goal, but I didn't obsess about it and just ran.  As the crowd thinned out I started to speed up a bit.  Still felt really good - no heat/humidity issues, no stamina/endurance issues.  I was cruising along to a negative split at mile 2. Awesome!  Haven't done that in ages.  Since I was still feeling good, I sped up a little more for mile 3.  Easy peasy run to another negative split. Wow!  Entered Laidley Field with plenty of energy for a nice speedy lap around the track to the finish line (only a tenth of a mile, but it was a negative split too). OMG! I met my goal finish time, pretty much down to the second. Score!

If I had had a plan (other than a time goal), it would have looked a lot like what I ran - starting slow, keeping it easy, getting faster as I went, and feeling awesome at the finish.   It's been a long time since I've had a 5k feel easy; if I've ever had one feel easy.  This wasn't anywhere close to PR time-wise, but I'm still putting it into the Personal Best category*
*aside - I'm such a West Virginian that I spelled that phonetically as "catergory", before proofreading. ;-)

Race Stats
Finish Time: 32:34 (Garmin); 32:32 (official)
Pace per mile: 10:25

(in case you're curious, my goal was a pace of 10:30 per mile, with a finish time of 32:30)


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Definitely feeling the runner's high today, and I have high hopes that my goals for my fall half marathons might not be quite so far fetched after all.   Running this year has been a struggle but lately, during the month of August, I've been having some really good runs and running is finally starting to feel fun again.  My mindset is changing back to "I get to run x miles tonight" instead of "I have to run x miles tonight."  And that's a good thing.

What made the change? I think part of it is I got new shoes.  And by new shoes, I don't mean a new pair of the same model shoe in some new exciting color (the new ones are a kind of boring grey). I went to a running store, talked with a run shoe expert and I switched to a totally different shoe.  I went from the neutral Nike Pegasus (which unknown to me) caused my feet to tilt inward, to the Nike LunarGlide.  It's a stability shoe that keeps my foot flatter.  I get more power when I push off every step, which means less leg fatigue and just an all 'round better feel.