Let the Music Play

Let's just say that I'm never doing another summer race.

The Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon was a race I enjoyed and hated at the same time. I woke up for the race at about 4:30 after a night of not sleeping well. But that's not unusual. I opened the door to the hotel and the air just kind of hit me in the face. It was 800% humidity out there. Great.

After getting ready, we headed over to the start. Our hotel was just a block away, so at least getting to the start wasn't stressful. I was pretty excited once we got to the start. I just love the atmosphere at race starts. You can feel all the emotions, it's great.

At about 6:45, John left to go to his watching point along the course. I did a short warm up and headed over to my start corral. As I get there, I see a familiar face: Maddie! Maddie and I worked together at Fleet Feet. We caught up for a little while and then got ready to start.

The race started at 7:00 and it was about 7:10 or so by the time we started. I felt pretty good at the start. But by mile 2 I started feeling really sick. I was feeling dizzy and light headed and thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't believe this was happening again! I vowed then and there not to do another summer race. I was seriously considering going to the next medical stop.

I managed to get through the dizzy spell and keep going. But at this point I knew I wasn't going to have the race I wanted and it was really all about getting through and finishing. It was so hot and humid, I was soaked and feeling awful. And I wasn't the only one. There were tons of people dropping like flies. When I started seeing people that you could just tell were fast and used to doing really well, stopping and looking they were going to puke, I didn't feel so bad that I was having a bad race too.

The course was really flat, which was nice. There was a bridge to cross, and it was a little steep, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other bridges I've run over. The only real gripe I have with the course is that we ran through Camp Pendelton military base and I couldn't really figure out why. Regardless, there was no shade and we just winded through the base. It was silly.

Anyway, once we got to the beach area, the crowds started picking up and that is always helpful. We made our way onto the boardwalk and that was fun. Actually, the whole course was fun with the bands and cheerleading squads along the course. Spectators were really everywhere and there was hardly a moment where you felt alone.

Finishing was great. I thought it would never come. This was a really hard race and not because of the course, but the weather just killed me. When it's that humid I can almost feel my life and energy just seeped out of me. Like air being let out of a balloon. It sucked. But I can't blame the race for that. It was a really fun, well-organized race and I had fun. I just wish it was held in October.

After the race, we got cleaned up and went to breakfast. A woman there was stranded and couldn't get in touch with her husband. So we gave her a ride home. She was really nice. She only just started running this past June and now she has a half marathon under her belt. That's awesome. I love hearing stories like that.

We headed back to Williamsburg and hung out there for a while. We had a yummy dinner and then headed home. And now we have today off from work and school. Yeah, three-day weekends!

Invisible Sun

I'm stealing this title from Lynne, who is also a music junkie. She sends out the lyrics to a song that the day reminds her of to all us. Anyway, it has been raining here for the last 24 hours straigh (at least!) and, while we need the rain, it's put us all into a mood.



In fact, all of the people in my office are wearing pretty much the same outfit: a black (or similiarly hued) top and jeans. There is one rogue colleague who is wearing pink. Damn her! She's ruining the mood.



Speaking of the rain, John told me that on the way to school this morning, Keller said, "The rain is killing me." You and me both, dude.



I am so glad it's Friday. I feel like this week has been dragging. And it's a long weekend to boot! We are going to VA Beach. I'm doing the Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm kind of excited about it though with my race experience so far this year being lackluster, I'm not setting my sights too high. I just hope to get through it in a decent time.



Happy Labor Day!

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I've updated my blog. I guess with not being at work all week, I just didn't have the time to post. Ha ha!

Overall, the week was good. But it flew by. My parents came into town Tuesday afternoon, so that was nice to have them all week.

The main objective was to get Keller familiar with his new school. And I definitely think we accomplished that. We went every morning and he met his new teachers and they really liked him. I tried to talk everyone up as much as possible outside of school so he would start remembering everyone's names and stuff. I think that helped too. When we brought him this morning, his first full day, he wanted to play. I was happy that he wasn't clinging to either one of us. Hopefully that will continue.

Having my parents here this week allowed for me and John to have some adult time. We went out to dinner with Eric and Isabel Friday night and then Saturday night was Mary's 30th birthday party. And there's no reason to feel guilty because my parents had so much time with Keller all week. When they left on Sunday, he was really upset. So we went out with friends to distract him. We really had a great weekend of time with friends. Sunday morning we went out for brunch with the Gies and Silberman families, then we met Chad, Tamrya and Preston (the Porter family) for dinner. I absolutely love having weekends loaded with friend time.

And now I'm back at work. I have a lot to catch up on. Should be a fun week! But this weekend is Labor Day weekend and we're heading down to VA Beach for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. I'm actually looking forward to it. Mainly because I get a mini-taper and only have to run 13 miles this weekend instead of 20! Yay!