2012 in Review

I seriously slacked on blog-posting for the latter half of 2012.  Fortunately, I did not slack on my miles.  I had set a goal of 1800 miles for 2012 and I was very excited to run the total at the end of the year and see that I had in fact exceeded my goal with 2,024 miles for the year.

Here are some fun facts about what I was doing with those miles:

2 Marathons - the Mercedes Marathon in February and the Rocket City Marathon (#5!!!) in December.  The good news about Rocket City is that I had a really nice PR!  The bad news is that it was probably the hardest marathon (mentally) that I have run.  For one thing, they are real sticklers about the no iPod rule.  Every race will advise you not to wear headphones, but this race will sho-nuff disqualify you.  I ran Marine Corps Marathon without an iPod (not by choice) but at least during that race I had good friends to run with, 20,000 other runners and ginormous crowd support.  This was a much smaller race in a much smaller town, and I was worried about keeping myself entertained.  The other big challenge was the weather.  I definitely prefer to run in cooler temperatures, and in the days leading up to the race I watched the forecast creep from a low in the 30s to a low in the 50s.  It made me sick to my stomach.  The temperature stayed right around 60 degrees the entire race.  At every water stop I probably poured as much water on myself as I actually drank to keep cool and hydrated.  I also ran with a pace group for the first time and I definitely think it helped.  Weather aside, it was a great race and great PR!

6 Half Marathons - First Light Half, Gulf Coast Half in Gulf Shores, Princess Half, Gulf Coast Half in Pensacola, Jazz Half and Soldier Half.  The Jazz Half is possibly my favorite half and one I don't mind doing year after year.  The only downside to the race this year was they had to cut the course short due to some road construction.  The Soldier Half was a also a great race and I would like to do the full someday.

2 (Very Different) Relays - In May, I did the Memphis to Mobile relay to benefit St. Jude Children's Hospital.  Then in October, I did the Southern Odyssey relay which began in Rome, Georgia and ended in Kennesaw, Georgia.

5 Pairs of Shoes.  Not 5 whole pairs, as I started out the year with one pair, went through 3 pairs and I am using the 5th pair into the new year.

As far as goals for 2013... I can't decide if I want to leave my mileage goal at 1800 or bump it up to 2000.  I am already registered for the Albany (Snickers) Marathon in March.  I am leaning towards an Ultra (50K) in the fall, and maybe another marathon.

Everything You Do Matters

Last night I went to Andalusia for my youngest cousin's high school graduation.  First of all I am just going to say what everyone else is thinking which is graduations are quite boring. Except for the 30 seconds that your loved one is walking across the stage, it is quite miserable.  However, for that 30 seconds we got to stand up and everyone knew that was our kid walking across the stage and it was pretty awesome.

I was quite bothered about something I witnessed during the ceremony. The audience stood up while the graduates walked in, and then several people sat down.  Which would not be a problem except that was the part of the program where we all said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the Star Spangled Banner.  What is wrong with our society when people are too lazy to stand for our pledge and our national anthem?  Of course I have my own thoughts and opinions on the subject but I am going to keep them to myself. But it definitely speaks volumes about the lack respect some people have for our country and how we got here and the people who have worked so hard to make our country great.  And that makes me sad.

The principal, of course, said a few words during the ceremony and I really hope what he said sunk in to some people there (students and adults).  He told them that "Everything you do matters." Not just to you, but to someone else.  And they should consider that when they are making decisions. I think a lot of times people make decisions and choose their actions based solely on themselves and don't ever think about how that might affect someone else.  What would it be like if everyone stopped to think about how their actions are going to matter to someone else - good or bad?  Would we be nicer, help others more?  Would we work a little harder? 

Only I Would Do This...

Seek out a bakery to start and end my run. 

I think I may have nightmares about this...

So I'm browsing on Amazon because I'm almost out of Gu and I am trying to decide if it would be easier/cheaper to order it online versus driving all the way out to Academy and I find this:

I almost barfed on my keyboard.  If you know me, you know I *hate* bananas and have done so for the last 30 years.  Oh my.

**By the way, because I know you're dying to know, I think I'm going to continue purchasing my Gu at Academy.  None of the variety boxes on Amazon really appeal to me and I just don't think I can commit to an entire box of one flavor.  Ideally they would have a 24 pack with 10 Chocolate / 10 Vanilla / 4 Espresso Love.  Or maybe 10 / 6 / 8.

Out Like a Lion

I am super excited to have gotten in 153.07 miles in March!  I started the month off kinda slow but had a  couple good weeks and I am back on track for my goal for the year.  I am absolutely loving Daylight Savings Time.  It makes it easier to get extra miles during the week.  Of course, it is already July-hot out there.  But hey, the more humidity the better, right?  Sure...

I can't believe Easter is this weekend!  Last weekend was the Easter Egg Hunt at church.  It was so much fun!  I am sad that I will be missing Easter services at my church this weekend, but I am really excited to be going to Enterprise to visit my Sissy & Q!!!  After church on Sunday we're going to Andalusia to see our family.  It will be a good weekend and thankfully I have a pretty good book to listen to since I'll have a lot of time in the car.

Tomorrow is my first fundraiser for the St. Jude Memphis to Mobile Relay.  So go out and eat some Old Dutch ice cream tomorrow!  I'm also excited because one of my favorite blogging runners (or running bloggers?) plugged my fundraiser in her post today!  It's like I'm almost famous.  ;)

It's Time to Stop Talking and Start Doing

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who are all talk with no action behind it.  Lately, I have been guilty of that because I have been saying for months (literally) that I need to start my fundraising for M2M3.  I am egregiously behind, but that all ends today.  I have updated my online fundraising page and I'm open for business!

When a friend first told me that he was doing this relay and asked if I wanted to join, I thought he was crazy.  4 days on an RV with a bunch of strangers sounded awful.  But then I saw the runners coming back into Mobile and I heard their stories and I thought "well... maybe."  Then I signed up for last year's run, and I thought that it would be a cool thing to do but really only thought of it as a one-time thing.  I was only into the first day of the relay when I realized there was no way that I wasn't coming back.  I was hooked.  I will admit that there have been more than just a few times over the last few months where I considered not doing it again this year because "fundraising is a pain" and "4 days is a long time to take off work."  But then I realized that would be taking the easy way out, and I remembered the kids at St. Jude's who don't have an easy way out.

So here I am, officially kicking off my fundraising.  I've looked back over the pictures from last year, and remembered the hospital tour, the sleep deprivation and the crazy roadside dance parties (which were probably a direct result of the sleep deprivation) - and I'm ready to do it all again!  Our legs save lives!

Daylight Savings has kicked my butt

Note to self:  Maybe signing up for a race the first morning of daylight savings is not the best idea, especially one that's 45 minutes away.  This morning Heather & I rode over to Robertsdale to do the Leprechaun Chase 10k.  It was a fun race and a lot of good company.  :)  The course was a little hilly and challenging, especially with the headwind on the way back.  Afterwards we ran an extra 4 miles so this counted as a long run too.  Tomorrow night I will be loving the DST when there is still daylight for me to run after work.

However, early wake up - 1 hr of sleep + 10 mile run + 100 loads of laundry = Long Day.  I'm just going to finish watching GCB and then I'm crashing out!