Meet Megan and Sally

While I may not look like the typical runner, unless you think Clydesdales look faster than Thoroughbreds, I do have a runners body. This proclamation is based on strong legs with a weaker upper body. It’s hardly my fault, when you love to run you always want to run. To atone for this fitness error, I resolve to give Megan and Sally a little more heed over the next four months.

What?

Doesn’t everyone name their biceps?

THE BEFORE PICTURES
Let me introduce Megan. She’s 40 years old. Lives in Illinois and in her glory days was most well known for throwing a softball from right field. Her hobbies include holding ice cream cones and texting with one finger.

Next up is Sally. Sally is a bit pretentious. She thinks she looks good from all angles. (Hence the picture) She excels at manipulating Megan into executing all the hard work. She loves kids but will only hold the baby’s head thus sticking Megan with the smelly diapers. Most days, you’ll find Sally hanging out with her friends, the UP band and a large cup of McDonald’s Ice Tea. Unsweetened, of course.

Remind me to double check lighting next time to make sure my muscle definition shows up in the pictures because I swear there is some! Ok, not much which is the point of this post.

Have you named your guns yet?

Racing Goal

In addition to wanting a faster 5K time, running another half marathon, and maybe someday an Ultra, I’d really like to take a racing photo that’s good enough to want to buy.

I wish they’d put up a sign 50 yards before the photographer saying “Smile” or “Try to not look like you are dying.” Or better yet “DO. NOT. BLINK for 50 yards.”

Admittedly, it would help my picture if I didn’t approach the race as though I was going to end up a hot sweaty mess. I looked in the porta-potty plastic mirror prior to the race. I looked exactly like someone who’d been partying till 1 am, slept in her running clothes so she wouldn’t have to deal with it at 6 am, and who was as greasy as if she’d already run 3 miles. All true except I hadn’t run 3 miles, yet. Really, what kind of picture can I expect with that kind of starting point?

This is how a high school friend, who knows how to do it right AND beat me by 8 seconds, looked at the finish line only with sunglasses.

I know! She looked awesome. I’m so jealous, plus, she beat me!

For further proof on how far I have to go, this is me dressed up for the Kentucky derby party the day before the race.

Have you ever had a racing photo so good you had to buy it?

A Different Point Of View

My breath was coming out in short, loud huffs. I wanted to look at the runners next to me to see of they thought I was about to collapse but I was too busy focusing on not collapsing. My sister would later ask me how it went. My reply would be that the only thing I did right was show up. I didn’t train, wasn’t eating right, hadn’t gone to bed before midnight all week, de-hydrated, and still weighed 15 pounds more than my last racing weight.

With the huffs, the heavy knees, and questioning my choice of foot ware, it was time for a mantra…

Focus on what you can do.

Repeat.

Focus on what you can do.

(Cue the music)
What could I do?
What could I do?
I got all choked up and threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son
And I came away with a different point of view…

Yes, I started singing A Boy Named Sue, although, only in my head because singing out loud would have required precious and in short supply breathing.

I came away with a different point of view…

Instead of looking at how poorly I was doing I had to take a new view. Ok, I was in poor shape but I was running. As bad as it felt, it felt good.

Running. It gives me a different point of view, especially about myself. I think it’s true for so many that come into running a little later in life. They think they know themselves. Too lazy. Too fat. Too slow. Too old. I ran and found out that what I thought either wasn’t true or it didn’t matter. I could run.

2 – 5K races completed in 5 days. 30:50 and 29:51 (right in the middle of my age group)
11 days until the next one. Training goal- 5 runs. Time goal sub-29 minutes.

Barefoot Updated Confessions

I should have registered for 3 5K races over 2.5 weeks ages ago! Nothing like the threat of wasting perfectly good money (on something besides ice cream) to get you out the door at 5:40 am. If I had been running for ice cream I would have been out the door at 5 am.

About 2.9933 miles of actual running this morning. That should make up for 1 or 2 of the 12 cookies I ate yesterday….

Any who, another confession for you … I am the Barefoot Rose but I have not been running barefoot. I’ve been using one of my many pairs of Merrell minimalist shoes. Counter confession: I ran barefoot on the treadmill yesterday at the hotel.

I decided to give barefootedness a whirl during my cool down today. Whoa Nelly! I’ve got some toughening up to do. I expect all the races to be minimally shod.

My Bio

Next week, I am giving a presentation at a conference in Atlanta. They asked for my bio for the introduction including hobbies or amusing facts just for fun.

So, I wrote:

Stephanie Rose received a BS in Paper from WMU. …..an unimpressive comment on how she doesn’t do research and has zero patents….. She spent more time preparing for the annual runnabilty 5K run than she did this presentation.

They’ll think it’s funny till they see my presentation then they’ll know it’s 100% truth. It’s just sad how slow my 5K time will be.

7 days to my first 5K in 11 months. My objective is a sub-30.

I’m Not Registered For The Kalamazoo Races

A Latvian (Art Z?) once told me that Kalamazoo was the easiest place to move to and the hardest place to move away from. I replied, “Unless you grew up there.” However, as the mid-life crisis years fade away, I find the idea of moving back to Kalamazoo easier and easier. Kalamazoo is home even if I don’t live there.

Kalamazoo is also home to a collection of fantastic races, the Kalamazoo marathon, half marathon, and Borgess 5k. I’m very fond of this collection of races because it’s challenging but I’ve done well, 3rd place finish in the 5K and a PR’d in the half, and generally fell in love with running there. I love going home to this collection of races and I’ve been worsted whenever I’ve missed it.

The Kalamazoo / Borgess races are in 2.5 weeks however I am not registered yet.

I am literally staring at the registration page of the Borgess 5K website while periodically writing portions of this post. I should register for the Borgess 5K but I just can’t bring myself to log in. It’s not because I’m not ready to do it (I am completely ill prepared). It’s because I can’t bring myself to register for the 5K while I believe in my heart that I should be running the Kalamazoo Half Marathon.

A reality check here, I shouldn’t be running the half marathon on the grounds that I didn’t get provoked to run again until two days ago which is just three weeks afore the race. So, not only am I not prepared to run a half marathon, I’m not even ready to amble through a 5K.

I should totally be smart about this, right?

Not Me Or My Sport

When the tragedy at Sandy Hook happened, ever parent I know went home and held hugged their children close. Today, every runner I know is hugging their running shoes in one arm and their family in the other.

Then, just like in a challenging marathon, they are running in those shoes and saying you will not get the best of me or my sport.

Tuesday run: 2.6 miles.