Sandy Runs

This is probably my longest blog post ever, because there is so much to tell about this race, and so many pictures to share. Scot and I just returned from finishing our first marathon in New Mexico. We chose a very special event for this state, the Bataan Memorial Death March , held at White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces. This march memorializes the survivors and those who were lost at the Bataan Death March during WWII in the Philippines. There are fewer survivors each year, and we wanted the opportunity to do this event when we could still meet and shake hands with these brave men who served our country so long ago and endured harsh conditions, much more harsh than we would encounter during our New Mexico "race". You can learn more about the historic death march from the US Army's history site  and an Army article on this year's event . The Bataan Memorial Death March includes military and civilian divisions, can be an individual or a team event, and "...

Saturday was a busy day of races. Yes…"races"…plural! The big event in town was the Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon & Half Marathon . I chose not to run the full or half this year, but instead to run the inaugural 5K that was part of this event. And then, I was challenged to run another race the same morning! The Rock 'n' Roll 5K started at 7:30 AM at RFK Stadium in DC. After my finish, I would hop on the Metro to Arlington to run the Four Courts Four Miler at 9:00 AM. In theory, this was possible, but required all of the following: the 5K had to start on time, I had to run at a decent pace, and the Metro had to be running on schedule. Scot looked up the Metro times for me in advance. I had to make the 8:20 AM Orange Line train from Stadium-Armory station and then arrive at Courthouse Station at 8:50. If I missed this train, I'd be late for the second race. Things worked out well, and I finished both races! My swag from the two races - really love the ...

Week 6 of consecutive race weekends. I have run a race on 8 of 10 weekends so far in 2014, and I’m not letting up until it has been at least 13 out of 15. Heck, I can take this streak well into May if I can just find a race of some distance Easter weekend. Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day 8K was a little windy, but otherwise a nice race in downtown Washington DC. I’d done this one before, so I was familiar with the course that starts at Freedom Plaza, runs down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol, then cuts over to Union Station, snakes around some of the streets near the Capitol and Smithsonian museums, before heading back up to Freedom Plaza. It’s a popular home base for several races of similar distance. These girls wished us all the luck o' the Irish as we finished our final mile Running to Union Station, then turning around and heading back I met up with friends from Shirlington Running Club and with Karen, a fellow Marathon Maniac and teammate from the 2012 Rag...

I ran the Reston 10 Miler on 3/2/14, my first of five weekends in a row of March races. Actually, my one-a-weekend race streak began on 2/2/14 and should continue through 4/13/14; that will make 11 weekends in a row of races of varying distances. I'm crazy. Anyway, I had never run the Reston 10 Miler, but it seemed like a good option for this weekend. It is local to me, is part of the Potomac River Running Race Series , and some friends from Shirlington Running Club were going to be there. Pre-start with Pam and Megan The weather was much better than my last several weekend races. It was in the 40s, dry, with little wind. Pretty good race conditions. And we were lucky, because less than 24 hours later, there would be a snowstorm. The race started and ended at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA, the same location as the Runners Marathon of Reston (last year Scot and I spectated at that one). There were several hundred people, and the race st...

February races = DONE. I ran a race every Sunday in February (5K, 5K, 10K, half marathon). The goal of these races was just to get my butt outside and run. Now that my injury isn’t so bad, I’m able to run more, but it’s been tough to motivate myself to do it, after running only on race days for so many months. It’s even harder to get out there in the winter, and this winter has been cold. Scot and I traveled to Columbus OH to visit my friends and family, and to run Last Chance for Boston . Two years ago, this half marathon was my qualifying race for Half Fanatics . This year, I repeated that distance, and Scot ran the full marathon to maintain his streak of one marathon per month since September 2012.  Early marathon starters: Andrea, Scot, Jennifer, Bill, Pascal At the half marathon start: Jeff, Tammy, Me, Jenn Last Chance for Boston doesn’t have an interesting course; it’s one-mile loops through a suburban office park. But it is a well-managed event for the mid-winter ...

Well, I'm one more short, local race into February. Before the month is up, I will have run a race on every Sunday of February. This last one was the George Washington Birthday Classic 10K , billed as "Ye Oldest Race in Alexandria", VA. It was the third Pacers race of the year, and so far I'm a streaker of the 2014 Pacers races (that will change in March).  It was the coldest race of the year, so I was quite bundled up...maybe a little too much; I had to tie my jacket around my waist after half a mile. My extremities were adequately covered, but I've noticed that my body never completely warms up on these really cold days. I have less energy than I think I should. My muscles rebel against the cold temps. And that surprises me, as I trained for my very first marathon (the 2005 Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans) during the winter, and often ran in the cold and with snow on the ground. But these days, I just can't seem to warm up and run efficiently....