Peer pressured to run Lawrence

Remember how I said I was going to get caught up on posting? Hmmmm ... ok, I really am trying. The problem is, and I'm sure many of you can empathize here, when I have a chance to blog, it's usually at night. And, then? Well, I usually just want to go to sleep. Oh well, no complaining, just writing.

So, after finishing the Heartland 39.3 series last year, I really didn't have any intention of doing it again this year. But, I still wanted to do Rock the Parkway, and I LOVED the medal for this year's Running with the Cows, so I signed up for that one. But, that was only 2 out of 3.

Then, the Kansas Half announced that they'd changed the course this year. Part of the reason I didn't want to do the Kansas Half this year was because I hated the course. And, that's saying a lot because it is in Lawrence, Kansas, which is home to my alma mater, KU. I have many fond memories of time spent in Lawrence, but the course for this race was not one of them.

So, when they announced that they'd changed the course, I started considering it. But, only vaguely. Then, Kelli said that she was thinking about it because she was going to be in Lawrence that morning anyway after attending her sister-in-law's wedding the night before. Well, that's pretty much all the convincing that it took for Anne and I to sign up, too.

Apparently, we're pretty easily swayed by peer pressure when it comes to races. I never went through a DARE program to teach me how to say no to a friend trying to convince me to sign up for a race.

Then, literally hours after I signed up for the race, I heard about Boston. As a runner, it hit me hard. I felt like all of my friends were attacked. And, the only thing I wanted to do was get out and run. So, actually, I'm really glad that we signed up for the race, because it gave us something to "do" to show our support, solidarity and spirit as runners.

Anne found bibs for us to proclaim our support for Boston. Loved them.

Since none of us had really planned on doing the race, we decided to just run it for fun as a training run. That meant, we got to stick together. In helping with that decision? The fact that Kelli had been attending a wedding the night before, and I had been attending a neighborhood wine party the night before. Yeah, that makes you not want to push it too hard.

Rocking it through the dog door

I know I've been behind on posts. I can only blame the fact that I had a race every weekend of April (including two out-of-town ones). No, excuse, really. But, I'm going to use it anyway. I'm going to try to catch up here. Again. No really. This time, I'm really going to catch up. I swear. 

Rock the Parkway was the second weekend of April. And, my second race of April. Last year, I ran Rock the Parkway for the first time. I did it as part of the Heartland 39.3 series. (A series of 3 races in less than 6 weeks.) But, Rock the Parkway was my goal race of the three.

A lot of people (non-runner friends and my husband) think I'm crazy for running so many half marathons. But, to me, a half is the perfect distance. It's enough to feel like I've really accomplished something, but I can keep trained up for them without a whole lot of change in my normal running routine. I love them. But, the key is, I don't "race" all the races I run. Meaning, most of them, I just run for fun. Or, I run with friends. Or, I don't push too hard.

Not saying that it's not an challenge to run each 13.1 miles, just that I don't push myself to absolute exhaustion at every race.

Just to keep a tally, here are the big races of my Spring 2013 Race Calendar:

• Chocolate Rush Half Marathon
• St. Louis Marathon Relay (2 legs)
• Rock the Parkway
• Kansas Half Marathon
• Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon
• Running with the Cows Half Marathon
• Hospital Hill Half Marathon

Have I mentioned that I love races?  Some people only run one or two races a year and really race them hard. That's cool if that's how they run. But, this is how I run. Lots of races, with only a few "raced."

Ok, all that being said, Rock the Parkway is a race I race. Last year, it was also my goal race. And, despite the humid and warm temps, I managed to PR. I was so happy to see my time of 1:53:34. It was 4 minutes under my previous PR. Now, I had yet to fully learn the importance of eating after a race, and I was sick for the rest of the day. This year, I knew my body even more, and I've been training and cross-training even harder.

I wanted to PR again. I was going to race Rock the Parkway.

This year, the temps were SO MUCH more favorable than last year. They started in the high 30s with no wind. I was stressing out beforehand trying to figure out what to wear, but it ended up being absolutely perfect for running. (Just so you know, I wore capris, a long sleeved shirt, and a light jacket shirt with ear warmers and gloves).

My dad was running the race this year, too. And, my little brother was in town from Maine, so he came out to the race to be a support system for us.

Isn't he a sweet little brother?!? 

I also ran into all my girls pre-race. And, as they are all well aware, I forced them to take a picture.

Marsha, Kelli, Anne and me.

Getting my kicks ...

A few months ago, I saw something come across my news feed on Facebook. It was advertising for the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I ran the marathon of this in 2010, but, I was not up to running a marathon this year. What I was up for was the special edition Half Fanatic medal the race was offering.

Look at that!

That's right, bling specifically designated for Half Fanatics. Now, if you remember, I earned my spot in the Half Fanatics back in April. But, other than knowing that I was a Half Fanatic, nothing really changed in terms of my running.

Until now. I was so excited about this. Back when I ran the race in 2010, it was a really well-run, well-organized race. I know, you're probably thinking, Tulsa? Really? But, I had a good time (despite dealing with sick children all weekend) when I did it. So, I put the word out to see if anyone would want to come to Tulsa with the goal of getting the Half Fanatic medal. I knew I could count on Anne and Kelli to agree to a girls' trip with the sole goal of this medal.

We had one small problem, though. Kelli had already signed up to run a 50K on Saturday (Route 66 was on Sunday). 50K, in case you're wondering, is 31 miles. Yes, I did not miss a decimal point. It is thirty-one miles. But, she still wanted to run for the Half Fanatic medal.

The logistics got a little tricky because of this. We had to get to the expo by 6pm on Saturday night to pick up our packets, but there was no way Kelli could finish her run and meet us to drive down to Tulsa and make it by 6pm.

So, Anne and I left in the morning with plans to pick up Kelli's packet for her while Kelli hopped a flight after she finished running her 50K. I know, I was also surprised that you could fly from KC to Tulsa. Although, you do apparently have to go through Dallas/Ft. Worth to do it.

To get the weekend off on the right foot (the caffeinated one), we started the road trip with a trip to Starbucks. The drive to Tulsa is not exactly exciting, if you can imagine, so we needed all the help we could get to make it.

Thanks to our delicious drinks, Anne and I did make it to Tulsa by noon. Turned out to be perfect timing for a lunch trip to my favorite place: McAlister's Deli. Yum.

Running the hills: I do it for the bling

Whew. I've checked the last half marathon off my list!

Rock the Parkway - April 14

Kansas Half - April 22

Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon - April 29

Running with the Cows - May 12

Hospital Hill - June 

When I first looked at my list all written out, I didn't think I'd ever get to crossing off the last half marathon. But, I did. And, most importantly, I had a blast doing it!

It's kind of appropriate that I finished up my crazy streak with Hospital Hill, because Hospital Hill was actually my first half marathon six years ago (in 2006). I was stupid back then and ran a full marathon in April, then tried my hand at the half distance in June. Apparently I didn't understand the building up of races of different distances.

And, back then, race directors hadn't discovered how much people (ahem, me) enjoy cool medals (bling) and race swag. My first Hospital Hill, instead of shirts, they gave out unisex running shorts. Really think about that. Unisex running shorts. Yeah ... they didn't work. At least for me. Maybe some people liked them. But they were too long for me and too short when I tried to give them to Cory. I'm not sure whatever happened to those shorts. I'm sure we donated them, so maybe there was a really tall girl or really short guy shopping at Goodwill who appreciated them.

Anyway, in the past six years, races have majorly upped their medal and swag game. For this year's Hospital Hill, we got technical t-shirts, running socks and finisher flip-flops. Way better! Plus, next year is Hospital Hill's 40th anniversary. The race is known as the Grandfather of Kansas City Road Races. In honor of the 40th anniversary, the race is doing a three-part medal, where all the medals from 2011, 2012 and 2013 fit together. It's a great marketing tool, because it's truly the reason I signed up to run this year.

One more left ... (And, no, I don't actually have the  wooden plaque yet. We'll see if we can convince Cory it's worth buying next year!)

You can see for yourself how much cooler the medals have been the last two years versus in 2006. (I obviously don't have pictures of the infamous shorts, or I would share those, too.)

2011 and 2012 are WAY cooler. I just can't wait for next year's!