Olympic Trials Favorite Moments

Sorry I've been so quiet over here lately. I'm hoping to get things cranked back up in the blog world in the next few weeks, so, don't give up on me just yet!

Just a quick note on two of my favorite things from the Trials. (And to be fair, I didn't watch anywhere near ALL of the events, so, my favorite moments are ones that I did actually see).

Hillary Bor in the 3000 Men's Steeplechase.

Whoa. The steeplechase is one of my favorite races to watch, because, I honestly just think that it's such a ridiculous and yet awesome race. YOU HAVE TO JUMP OVER A HURDLE AND INTO/OVER A HOLE FULL OF WATER. What the fuck? How is that even a real thing?

Fox Hunt Scene from Mary Poppins

It always makes me think of a scene from my favorite childhood movie: Mary Poppins. I just love the weirdness of it and I can't ever imagine attempting it myself. 

Anyway, the finals turned into an amazing race and I loved watching Bor surge at the end and wind up with a ticket to Rio AND a personal best. Not a bad day.

And my other favorite:

Allyson Felix

Allyson Felix qualifying in the 400m. I can't really pinpoint why I like her so much, but I do. Always have. So, I was thrilled that she will be competing in Rio, as well.

Go Team USA!

Thanks

Of course I know the story. I've seen the pictures. And, I've been thankful. But, as I get older and run more, it just blows my mind that up until 1967 the idea that women could run long distances was unheard of. And even scarier to me, is that it was ANOTHER FIVE YEARS after Kathrine Switzer's historic running of the Boston Marathon before women were allowed in. W.T.F?

Damn. I take it for granted. I take it all for granted! (Don't worry. I'm sparing you from my women's rights rant).

I love that all she wanted to do was run!
She wasn't out to push some women's movement agenda. 
She simply wanted to run and prove that she could do it.

 

No big deal. Just paving the way for women in sports.

There's a new documentary out that aired on PBS this week... Makers: Women Who Make America. And the documentary starts with Kathrine Switzer's running of the Boston Marathon in 1967.

You can watch snippets of Kathrine's interviews here: Kathrine Switzer.

Thanks to her and the running boom of the 1970s and 1980s... I grew up being dragged to races on early Saturday mornings.

 I always got to hold the trophy.

And there was ALWAYS a trophy. 

(Also, disregard the date, this picture is actually a slide and I took

a picture of it on 12/14/2008. A SLIDE!).

My mom's wardrobe consisted of race tshirts and tight jeans (or too short shorts. It was the 80s).

This shirt courtesy of the Dogwood Run 10k.

What I wouldn't give to have all those tshirts. 

1980s graphics were the BEST.

 Ok, so my aunt is the one with the race shirt on this time.

And no race shirt in this photo (although strangely enough, my Aunt 

is now wearing the Pepsi shirt and rocking some major highlights).

But, I just threw this in, cause it's one of my fave pics of my mom.

I think she looks like a stone cold fox here.

(I would also like that USA shirt).

And as a kid, seeing the trophies and the tshirts and how happy being active and competing made my mom, made me want to become a runner one day. Sure... it took me about 25 years and I rarely get a fucking trophy. But, I'm here now and I thank Kathrine and all the women before and after her... including my mom (and my aunt. who was the one that got my mom into running. I feel like I need to graph this shit out. But, I won't. You get the idea).

Thanks Ladies. You are the original Run Bitches.

Bitch still wins.

 And her hair still looks fab after races.

Like a boss.

Edited to Add: The Pepsi shirt was a race shirt! Ha! 

Race Report: Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon

Disclaimer: I could lie to you all and say that this post is a spectator's race report. But, it's not. It's actually a post to brag about The KoB. I KNOW. It's gross. I've totally turned into THAT GIRL (at least this once). But, I can't help it, I'm proud of him and I had a total blast on Sunday, so... you've been warned. Gratuitous pics and heavy gushing to follow. 

There was a brief moment back in July in a pizzeria in Bozeman, MT that I looked across the table at The KoB and said... "Hey... what if I make the Monkey my goal race?" I continued to add bonuses: I knew the course, I could probably rope Steve into pacing me for a good chunk of it, and it would be fun to run a goal race with so many other friends running. So, for like a week, I thought I'd use the Monkey as my goal race this year, then I wised the fuck up and opted out.

I wasn't going to race it, but it was a goal race for The KoB. And I spent most of last week fretting about where I was going to be during the race and where I could spectate and still make it back in time for the finish. He runs too fast to make spectating on the course easy.

I got to the race (BEFORE HE DID. LIKE 20 MINUTES BEFORE HE DID. THAT'S HOW NERVOUS I WAS) and met up with him when he got there. It was a chilly morning, bright and perfect. We talked to friends and the whole time I was looking at him like.... is he nervous? am I more nervous than him? is he actually going to trust me to have Gu for him at mile 18? OMG THE RESPONSIBILITY!

Finally the goddamn race started and I watched him fade into the distance with the other runners. After chit-chatting a bit with Coach and Cheryl, it was time to get my butt to my spectating point and get in a little easy run. I went to the park entrance and started to run up the backside of 9 mile hill. I knew I'd see The KoB and I could catch up with Liz and Melanie and run a few miles with them.

Apparently I still run with my eyes closed.

I started to catch up with the lead runners and was pretty pleased when I saw The KoB quietly lurking behind a big group of runners who had no business being in front of him. You could almost hear that Jaws soundtrack accompanying him as he ran... "da dum da dum da dum..."

You guys!!! We were meant for each other...
he runs with his eyes closed, too!

I screamed and yelled my head off for him when I saw him and I'm pretty sure he and everyone else was like... calm the fuck down, bitch. It's only mile 7. I kept going, cheering for the runners as they ran up 9 mile hill and stopped and waited for Melanie and Liz (I'm not a dumbass. I wasn't going to run all the way down 9 mile hill, just to turn around it and run back up it).

STILL WITH MY GODDAMN EYES CLOSED.

I caught up with them and ran with them for a few miles. But, honestly, the only thing I could think of was... "how much time do I have before The KoB comes through mile 18ish?" I was looking at my watch constantly.

I just fucking give up.

When I parted ways with Melanie and Liz I ran by someone who yelled 26.2! at me. And at first I was like.. yeah, that's how long you're running today. Have fun with that. But then I realized she was referring to my blog. So... Hi! Sorry, I'm a dumbass and can't remember the name of my own blog.

I got to the rendezvous point (the stone gates) and went to my car to grab a jacket, the Gu and my cheat sheet that had possible splits for The KoB at mile 18 and the finish, so I'd know how much time I had and how well he was doing.

I write with my eyes closed, as well.

Yes, I still have the cheat sheet. The thing about The KoB though, is that I knew not to worry if he was a few minutes off schedule. Unlike me... who prefers to go all out at the beginning and crash and burn, The KoB is a negative splitter. 

 Gratuitous.

I waited for about 25 minutes or so, my eyes peeled on the hill that the runners would be coming down. I saw the first guy fly through, then the second, then the third and the fourth. And then, I caught a glimpse of a white singlet and I got up and grabbed the Gu and yelled for him. I was so concerned with the Gu handoff that I didn't really pay too much attention to how he looked, but I had a good feeling. I immediately headed over to my car to drive to the finish line. 

Random shout-out to the Fleet Feet Nashville Store who had the water station at the Stone Gates. Y'all were cracking me up with the music and the microphone. The red convertible comment... killed me. Also thought the comment about The KoB was pretty funny, too. (Sorry readers, you just had to be there).

I got to the finish line and immediately hooked up with friends: Coach, Cheryl, Melissa, and Andrea. We stood around and discussed the runners and how they looked when we saw them at various points on the course.  Our eyes were glued to the distant hill where we would first glimpse the runners. We saw the first place guy finish with a course record 2:34:17. Which is a ridiculous time on that course, yo. Then we saw the 2nd and 3rd place guys battle it out. And that's when my stomach was really in knots. We stood around, looking at the course, I had a pretty good feeling that The KoB had taken the 4th place guy, but there was no way to know. 

Finally, Coach said... Hey, is that someone? And I said... DOES HE HAVE A WHITE SINGLET ON? And when we saw that he did, I immediately started yelling (all the while realizing that he was still too far away to hear my yells) and running towards the finish line. He got closer and I started looking at the clock and then looking back at him.

 

You might not can tell, but his eyes are closed. 

I knew he was going to come in under 3 hours. And I started yelling louder and harder and I think I dropped a couple of RUN MOTHER FUCKERS at him (which... come to find out later, his mom was actually at the finish line. CLASSY INTRODUCTION, AMY).

BOOM BITCHES! 2:57:33 A Monkey PR!

Uh. You can stop running now.

He pretty much ran through the finish chute and immediately dropped to his hands and knees. One of my favorite things about The KoB is his intensity. When he runs a race, he leaves it all out there on the course... which usually makes for a dramatic finish. (Last year he puked all over the place, that's why no one in that picture above is getting close to him). How many people do you see run a marathon (or any race) and end up on the ground immediately afterwards? I ran over to him and even though I was so fucking excited that my first reaction was to jump on top of him and give his sweaty, salty ass a big hug and kiss, I pretty much just had to stand over him and hover around like a mother hen. I didn't have to ask how he felt. I knew he felt like shit. He'd just PRed the fuck out of one of the hardest marathons around. He was in pain, not dying, but in pain. And I just kinda stood there and let him get his bearings and catch his breath. People kept coming over to me, asking me if he was okay. I was like... uhh... yeah... he's The KoB, of course he's okay. 

 Uh, wait... you ARE okay, right?

After about 5 minutes of him writhing around on the ground (still on his hands and knees) I got him some Gatorade and he started drinking. After about 10 minutes he finally rolled over and sat down on the grass. SUCCESS (even though all he could grumble about was that he didn't come in 3rd and win a crochet monkey). We stood around waiting for other friends and his brother to finish. It was a good day. So many of our friends did awesome on Sunday! I was bursting with pride and excitement for everyone! But mainly... I was just thirsty...

Kegs got tapped at noon and suddenly the day got EVEN BETTER.

And a little fuzzy.

I stood around and talked to people I knew, met people I didn't know and had about 8 beers. It was FANFUCKINGTASTIC. The KoB got his Monkey PR, some of our friends got marathon PRs (WHOA), and I got fucking wasted. A good day, indeed. Congrats to everyone that finished!

Book Review: Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

Or... Why Scott Jurek and I are meant to be BFFs.

When I found out that Scott Jurek had a book coming out, I preordered that shit as quickly as possible and FINALLY last week, I got it! And... it only took me 3 days to read it.

Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

by Scott Jurek with Steve Friedman

Before I read the book, I knew there were 3 things that I loved about Scott Jurek:

1. He likes to run. A lot.
2. He's a vegan.
3. He's friends with Dreamboat:

 I'd travel down the road and back again.

Those three things are good enough for me to be like... yeah, he'd be a cool dude to share a beer with.

But, after reading the book, I am now completely convinced that he and I were meant to be BFFs. Let me count thy ways:

1. He likes to run. A lot. - Me too. Most of the time.

2. He's vegan. - Me too. Most of the time.

3. He's friends with dreamboat. - I WANT to be friends with dreamboat.

4. He does yoga. - Me too. 

5. He meditates. - Me too.

6. He's into existentialism. Me too. When we stop talking about running, Dreamboat, and vegan burrito recipes, we can discuss authenticity and despair in my favorite book, The Moviegoer!

7. He's into Pranayama. - Me TOO! Nadi Shodhana 4ever!

8. He's into inspiring quotes (or at least there's one at the start of every chapter)- Me TOO! I've got them posted all over the place. There's even a Rumi quotation in the book. DUDE. I LOVE Rumi.

Scott, call me. Seriously.

My heart is true. I'd be a pal and a confidant.

Okay, I should probably give a REAL book review, instead of talk about how I became Scott's #1 Superfan after reading this book.

When I ordered the book, I was kind of afraid that it was going to be 200+ pages about how great a vegan diet is. And, while I'm very passionate about and interested in veganism, the idea of reading 200+ pages JUST ABOUT THAT sounded pretty terrible. And while yes, there is a vegan recipe at the end of every chapter, and he does discuss how he became a vegan and how it's affected him as an athlete, in general, the book isn't a diet book. (whew).

 And if you threw a party and invited everyone you knew...

You would see the biggest gift would be from me.

He starts the book talking about his family and home life as a kid growing up in Minnesota. His dad was a total hardass, his mom was awesome, but eventually got sick and Scott was kinda forced to grow up a little quicker than most kids. It sounded tough, and you definitely get a sense that the struggles in his childhood fuel him today.

The most enjoyable parts of the book for me were the "race recaps." Most of the chapters are about a particular race. And while yeah, a lot them are about races he wins and sets the course record in, he also talks about races he doesn't finish (DUDE! I've had a DNF, too!), so it's not entirely... hey look how awesome I am!

 

The book is really well written. Kudos to Scott for finding a good sportswriter, Steve Friedman, to actually write the book for him.

And the card attached would say...

Thank you for being a friend.

If you have any interest in trail running or ultra running, or hell... I'd say running in general, then I'd definitely pick this book up.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's inspiring... because, he's a way tougher guy than I could ever be and obviously has natural talent that I lack. But, it's like... we all know that one guy/girl in our running community (cough KoB cough), that has done a shit ton of cool races and works his/her ass off running and training... and all you want to do is sit down with them and pick the shit out of their brain. You want to ask them every detail about every race, how they trained, how they fucking gutted it out and finished, but you don't want to seem like a creepy stalker. So, you can read this book and while it's not the same as sitting down one on one with a badass... it's still a great read.

I'll end the review with my favorite quotation from the book:

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. 

-Ernest Hemingway.

 Oops. How'd Dreamboat get on here again?

Legendary Coach Dr. Joe Vigil

Last night, I had an awesome opportunity to listen to famous running coach, Dr. Joe Vigil. It was sort of a last minute thing...I received an email about it on Monday and quickly RSVP'd that I'd be there. So glad I jumped when I did because the room only held about 30-40 people and it was packed. Half the attendees were running coaches (both collegiate and high school levels) and the rest of the crowd consisted of members of the Memphis Runners Club. The best part about the whole thing is that he's here in Memphis to design a world class cross country course for Shelby Farms Park. Holla!

First let me say that Dr. Vigil is a very accomplished running coach. In his 50+ years of coaching:

*He coached at Adams State University in Alamosa, Co for 28 years.

*While at Adams State his teams won 18 national championships and his runners earned an astonishing 350 All-American honors.

*On 17 different occasions Coach Vigil served as U.S. international coach, including several Olympic teams.

*Coach Vigil has been inducted to 5 different Hall of Fames.

*He helps coach Team USA and Deena Drossin-Kastor. Coach Vigil is most known for helping Deana win the Bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

*He was named as National Coach of the Year on 14 different occasions.

He aint playin, yall.

The other big thing about Coach Vigil is that he is a scientist. I won't get into all of the mathematical and scientific details because I don't want it to be over your heads. (Because I TOTALLY understand all of it. You believe that, right?) He combines systems of training, sport science and motivation towards having his athletes achieve at the highest levels. Throughout all his years of coaching, Vigil has used the information provided by human performance data to develop specific training stimuli for each athlete. He's got a formula which will calculate the times runners are capable of reaching on specific distances. (And he's been eerily accurate) This is based on VO2 max.

Here are the main things I took away from his lecture:

*Basically its all about building your Max VO2 uptake. Wikipedia can explain this better than I can: the maximum capacity of an individuals body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual.

*Most distance runners have an iron deficiency and that especially goes for women.

*Gotta make sure that your HR is between 150 and 180 when doing workouts. (Side note here about heart rates...Deena Kastor's resting heart rate is 25!!!)

*Run more miles (his athletes run about 140 per week...but it is their job!)

*Do more speed workouts. It's the only way to improve.

*Kenyans are fast and getting faster. Americans are slow and getting slower. He showed us charts for a 2:20 marathon time-from the 1970s til today. More Kenyans can run this time for a marathon every passing year, yet fewer and fewer Americans are able to achieve this. The year that the most Americans were able to achieve this time was sometime in the 80's.

All in all it was a really cool experience to have this opportunity. I loved hearing all the stories about the famous athletes he coaches...most definitely inspirational! Mostly I've been reflecting on the theory that more miles are better. I think I'm in a good spot right now with the mileage I'm doing. I'm steadily building my mileage and getting stronger after injuries and I know that its the way I need to train for the St. Jude Marathon. But after that, I have a feeling that I'm going to try and bump that mileage up.

Book Review: Born to Run

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and The Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. By Christopher McDougall

The whole review should just be: GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK, OR CHECK IT OUT AT THE LIBRARY, NOW. But, I feel like some of you might need some persuading, because honestly... the book title and image didn't really do it for me initially, either.

A couple of months ago, Vandy-Montana told me he was reading a book about running and that it was really good. I was intrigued... until I started to get e-mails and phone calls from him wherein he discussed such things as...

--Some kind of funky ass tribe down in Mexico
--Barefoot Running
--Vegetarianism/Veganism and how it can pertain to running.

Do what? Are you freaking kidding me? What a snooze and hippie-fest, I thought. When he told me that I had to read it myself and that he would let me borrow it when I got to Montana, I was less than thrilled.

He handed me the book and I went in with LOW expectations. I expected to be totally bored (a tribe in Mexico?? Not my thing to read about) and totally skeptical (barefoot running? come on). But, from the minute I started the book, I was hooked. It reads like a novel and is one of the most fascinating books I've ever read.

First of all, this might be a little incoherent as a book review, but it's only because the book is so good that it's hard to really condense it down into something easily understandable (and I'm just so damn excited about it, that I have a hard time getting my thoughts lined up). Now, this review should be taken with a wee bit of salt (or, if you're like me and apparently have high blood pressure now, take some Ms. Dash with the review), because at the time of reading it...

• I was embarking on my biggest running feat yet, the back to back marathons (in case I haven't bragged about that enough yet)
• I was also noticing that my feet (which are usually the only thing that give me any trouble these days) were feeling mighty awesome lately despite high mileage weeks and over 800 miles on my shoes
• I have been constantly running into really fast runners who were vegetarians, vegans, or raw foodies... so much so, that I had started cutting back a little on meat and incorporating a few raw meals into my diet a week, just to see if I could tell any difference in my running (easy to do in the summer with all the summer veggies available).
  

I don't really want to reveal a whole lot about the book, because I want you to read it and go into with a clean slate... but I'd like to talk a little bit about my favorite things about the book...

• I loved the sections about ultrarunning and the Leadville 100. I had no prior knowledge of that race or of it's participants like the amazing Ann Trason. I was fascinated reading through those sections of the book and it made me dream of ONE day, maybe doing something LIKE the Leadville 100.
  
• Speaking of ultras and trail running and amazing people... all the characters in the book (do you call real people like, Scott Jurek, a character when they're in a book?) are so interesting and so talented and so inspiring. Although, I must admit... I feel a little more akin to Jenn Shelton (an amazing ultrarunner) who seems to exist on this lifestyle of partying hard and running hard. She can drink all night and pop up the next day ready to tackle miles and miles of trails. I heart Jenn Shelton and I want to be just like her when I grow up. (Well, I won't be as fast as her, plus, I'm not really the fighting drunk type).
  
• "If it feels like work, you're working too hard." So. Freaking. True. One of the main themes in the book is that running should be enjoyed. If you're running just to burn off calories or just to PR in a race, then you're not really tapping into what running really can be. If you're running because it makes you happy, and you find yourself grinning from ear to ear randomly after running 15 miles (this happens to me around mile 15 of just about every marathon), if you're truly enjoying yourself, then that's when running is magical. I mean, you have to admit... we're all guilty of going out for a run on a rest day, because we feel fat. And think about it... are those runs EVER enjoyable? No. (My runs like that ALWAYS suck total ass).
• Shoes. I don't really want to get into a whole big thing here about shoes... but, as a runner wearing a pair of shoes that are getting ready to break the 1000 mile mark, I am a true believer in the idea that for most of us... shoes should be basic and neutral. I was guilty of spending $125 bucks on a new pair of shoes every 400 miles... super cushioned ones, too. But, through my last training period, I seriously had the least amount of aches and pains that I had ever had. Why wouldn't shoe companies want you to change shoes more often than you should? They definitely make more money that way. And the runners back in the 70s and 80s had very little shoe options, and way less injuries (sure, more people are running now...). There are arguments for both sides, but just read the book and make up your own mind. I'm not saying I'm going to go all barefoot all the time or anything. But, I am going to do some experimenting with barefoot running and I'm going to stick with my old pairs of shoes, and then when they're too hole-y, I'll move onto some cheap, neutral shoes.
  
• Animal vs. Man. Why humans really are born to run... and born to run long distances... Soooo fascinating. Really, I know it sounds totally boring. But, it's not.
• Diet. This book talks some about diet and running. From the Tarahumara tribe and their brewed alcoholic beverages and corn-based diets, to the vegetarians and vegans who eat a big salad for breakfast. But it's never done in a preachy way. It's more just weaved into the story (for the most part. Now, the author/narrator does touch a little on his own diet changes, but still... not in a preachy, holier-than-thou way).
  

This book really has helped to change my perspective on running. It's made me realize that the end of the run or race isn't the goal. Running isn't just about burning calories and winning races. The ends are not better than the means. Running itself is what makes me happy. Particularly when I'm not stressing myself out to run faster or harder.

Now I find myself boring people talking about vegetarianism and performance, barefoot running, and a crazy- awesome- fast running tribe in Mexico. And you will be too, after you read this book. (Btw, this book would make an excellent movie. Reads just like one).

Spectator Race Report: Firecracker 5k

April and I go way back. We've known each other since the 3rd grade. She's the friend that will bail you out of jail at 3am and not tell anyone; she'll get drunk with you on a Tuesday night when you need to get wasted because some stupid boy did something stupid; she'll go in the bathroom stall with you at Flying Saucer when you are drunker than shit and make sure you don't puke all over yourself or die (all of these are just hypothetical situations, of course); she'll even run a freaking marathon with you.

We're tight, to say the least.

So, when she told me she was making her racing comeback, I wanted to be there for her. She was there for me when I ran the Memphis Marathon. She got up early to drop me off at the start line, she and Greg (her husband) camped out at the 20 mile mark with homemade signs and took pictures of me. It was awesome.

I wanted to throw my support to her, for once. This wasn't my first race to be a spectator, but it was my first race to watch her. And though I didn't have any signs made up, I wanted to be on the course to root her on. Greg had other ideas, he wanted to watch her start, head to the bar next door, pound a beer, and then head to the finish. Even though that was a mighty tempting offer, I convinced Greg to study the map with me and pick out our cheer spot.

As it turns out... I am an awful cheerleader.

Though I was enthusiastic in trying to find the perfect spot to root her on, when the moment actually happened... I almost missed her entirely. You see... Greg and I were occupied with spending our time heckling the runners who were cheating by cutting the corner and taking the sidewalk. Tsk Tsk. You know who you are. So, when Greg yelled... "there she is!" She was literally RIGHT THERE. Like running past us. "Oh Shit! My camera!" I started to try to jog down the sidewalk and turn my camera on... but, it was too late. I had missed her and the opportunity to take a picture of her as she ran past. Not only that... in all the hub-bub, I didn't even offer up any encouragement. No... "Looking good" or "Great job." Just frenzied expletives.

Greg and I decided that we should be able to see her again right before the finish if we hustled. So we found a perfect spot and awaited her. This time... we had a plan. Greg was going to take the camera (because he was going to take a knee to get a better angle) and it was my job to be the spotter. I came through with my spotting duties. I found her and alerted Greg. He, however, was not used to my camera and as April whizzed by us, we were left yelling at each other...
"did you get a picture?"
"No! Your stupid camera isn't working."
"You gotta hold the button down."
"I was holding the button down."
Arg!!!!! No pictures.

Turns out though... I did do one nice thing for her...

Being the awesome friend that I am... I took one for the team and posed for a shit-tay pre-race picture. All to make her look even cooler than she already is. Only for you, April. Only for you will I forgo the sunglasses that I must have forgotten were conveniently on top of my head and squint directly into the sun for a picture.

You're welcome.

Not only is April a better race cheerleader... but she's a better racer, too. Unlike me in Memphis, she didn't burst into tears and puke after the race. And yeah... she's probably a better friend than I am, too. sonofabitch.

Race Report: Beer Mile

Prior to the first posting of the Beer Mile on the Nashville Striders message board, I had never heard of a Beer Mile. How could I, at the wise age of 29, have gone this long in life without knowing of the beer mile? Especially when it includes two of my favorite things? I live a sheltered life, indeed.

So, when I checked out the website and realized that it was a race that included running and drinking beer, I knew I had to sign up.

Now, if you're not familiar with the beer mile, there are a shit ton of specifics. But what you basically need to know is this: The gun goes off... you pound a beer. You run 400 meters. You pound another beer. You run 400 meters. Repeat until you've ran a mile and drank 4 beers. The beers have their own set of rules... each beer has to be 12 oz, and have at least 5% alcohol. They cannot be pre-opened (as, the flatter they get, the easier they are to drink).

My beer of choice?

The King of Beers**, baby. I showed up at the race after a long day. (Hell, a long weekend, actually, but I'll spare you Saturday's list of activities). Sunday morning, I woke up at 5, ran 6 miles, played 18 holes of golf and just had enough time to change clothes and eat a little something before getting to the Beer Mile race at 2:45.

Upon arrival, I was saying... "oh shit" to myself. Looking around, all I saw was a sea of extremely in shape, fast-looking people. I immediately realized that I was going to get smoked at this race. I seriously had about 20 pounds on all the girls (and umm... all the guys, too, probably. ugh) I put my bib on, signed my waiver and got my beers lined up in my transition area. I was ready and frankly a little scared. If you know me... you know that an iron stomach, is not something that I have. And if you puke during the race, you not only suffer the effects of puking during a race (gross, painful, and humiliating), but you also have to run a penalty lap. Not good.

When the race started, I cracked open my bud and started chugging. I got it down pretty quick and started my first lap. I realized that I was the first girl done with the beer (yay!), but as soon as I realized that I got passed by a girl on the course (boo!). And so the beat down begins, I thought to myself.

But by the time I finished my second beer, some of the girls were having problems with their beers. And as I started my second lap running, I realized: Dude. I don't have to be able to run fast. I just have to be able to drink fast. And I can drink some beer. Fast. Chugging beers is something I've been doing for a long time... for much longer than I've been running. And I seriously don't know any girl that could drink me under the table***. By the time I chugged my 3rd beer, I was super confident. How could I have ever doubted my drinking ability? All that time in college that I spent doing keg stands, funneling... it was all finally paying off (I told you so, Mom. I knew it would one day). And the fact that I did have 20 pounds on these other girls helped me in the end.

The last lap, I gotta admit... I wasn't feeling spectacular, I asked for clarification on the puking rule... "can I puke once I finish?" I was assured that once I cross the finish line, I can do whatever I want. At that moment, I knew I was home free. I coasted to the finish line and ended up with a time of 12:25. And, I'm not sure whether or not to be proud or embarrassed... but, I wasn't even buzzed at the end of the race. I'll let you decide whether thats good or bad.

Dude. I FREAKING WON A RACE!!!!!!!!! I was the first overall female to cross the finish line. I was psyched! I may be a slow mofo on the track, but I can school some bitches at drinking. (My alma mater would be so proud, I'm considering submitting this feat to the alumni newsletter. Hey, I may not be getting married, having a baby, or getting an advanced degree, but by damn I just won a freaking race!).

Not only did I just get bragging rights (which for me... will last my entire life. I will now include "and I've been the first female finisher in a race before" everytime I introduce myself to someone), but I also got some sweet, sweet prizes. Check it out:

Small picture, I apologize. Let me take another few minutes to gloat and describe in detail everything that I won when I was the first overall female.

- $10 gift card to Fleet Feet Nashville
- Really cute tshirt with running shoes on the back that says, "reduce your carbon footprint."
- Cool black tech tee
- Tech socks
- Fancy Dancy Shoe laces
- Water Bottle
- Tons of Gu
- Some hammer gel
- A Fleet Feet Bag

I mean, thats a sick amount of free shit! All for winning a race. I could get used to this winning business.

The shitty thing is I had to leave about an hour or so after the race because I had to get back to my parents house to celebrate fathers day and my brothers birthday. So, it's not like I got all the attention like I deserved. Ugh. Of course, my family has to steal my thunder on my once-in-a-lifetime day. I was so excited though. I don't think I stopped smiling all afternoon (course, maybe that was just after effects of the beer... and the wine at dinner).

Big thanks to my fellow Bourbon Chase teammate, Bill (yeah, I'm pulling rank and saying that you're totally getting whatever legs you want for the relay) who organized the race and the people who volunteered. I'll be back next year. I've already booked a sub 12:00 finish for next year.

The only bad thing about the race? Now I crave beer after a run. Seriously, this morning, I actually pulled a beer out of the fridge after my run. I held it for about 10 seconds contemplating if it was really a good idea to drink a beer at 7am on a workday. I ended up putting it back, but I can't guarantee I'll have that resolve everyday. (I mean, in theory, shouldnt I have gotten sick of beer after pounding 4 in 12 minutes? Yeah, this could be a problem).

Anyway, a big thanks to the local running stores that donated the awesome prizes that I won because I was the overall female winner (in case you hadn't heard).
Fleet Feet
Acme Multi-Sports
Team Nashville

** Because it was the only canned 6 pack of beer that the gas station had that was 5% alcohol.
*** So, co-blogger, April (who, by the way, I believe is about to make a blogging comeback), could give me a fair fight, I know. But, in the end, I think I could take her.

Blast from the past

Here is a pic of me after my first marathon... My Aunt is on the left, me in the middle (obviously) and my mom is on the right. This was April 2007.

I think it's crazy that about 23-24 years earlier this picture was taken of the three of us...

And not to take away from that big ass trophy my aunt is carrying... but, my mom had a second place ribbon that is pinned next to her bib number... if my brother hadn't interrupted the Kodak moment, she'd probably be displaying it...

One thing is certain... no matter how often I PR, no matter how many trophies and medals I win, I'll never be able to do so while keeping my hair as perfectly coiffed as they did. I mean, did they even break a sweat, for chrissakes?

Olympic Fever

Are you just loving the 2008 summer Olympics? Because I totally am. I've been hooked since the opening ceremony, which was awesome. Awesome, yet a tiny bit scary. Is it just me or did the Chinese government seem to be sending a message to the world....like Hey world, look at us. We have a bazillion citizens who will and must do ANYTHING we tell them to. Yes, and they will do exactly as we tell them-all perfectly in sync. You are now being hypnotized by our symbolic and peaceful movements. You will now do anything we say... Ok, whoa. Gotta snap out of it. Moving on...


How about that Michael Phelps! Did I even know who he was before that Phelps Phan AT&T cell phone commercial? No! But who cares?! Phelps is awesome and I don't think I've ever been so excited and into any kind of Olympic event than I was a couple of days ago when the American relay team beat out those Frenchies. Even better that the Frenchies were trash talking prior to the Olympics. Eat it, France. Ok, ok so that's not very Olympic-ish of me. I am very proud of all of the athletes from all over the world. GO USA!
Aaaaand Michael Phelps just won his 5th gold so far-yet another world record.

Right now I am watching women's gymnastics. Minimum age for this sport is 16. Now tell me the truth...does these girls look 16 to you? I might have thought the second one was much younger, but I dunno...she's wearing some pretty serious blue eyeshadow and she can't possibly be under 16 if she's wearing that kind of eyeshadow, right?
And I really can't wait for the marathons. Women's is on the 17th and men's is on the 24th, the last day. So to close this post, let us learn a little marathon history and pay homage to Spyridon Louis of Greece, who won the first modern day marathon in the 1896 Olympics. Wikipedia says that his race fuel was this: beer, milk, wine, orange juice and an egg. Hmmmm...maybe he's got something there. Maybe that's the secret to winning a marathon...Perhaps I'll try it on my long run this weekend. Here he is, looking like the stud he was:

UltraMarathon Man

Who's that? That mid-week eye candy would be Dean Karnazes, who ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days! We've all seen his books, interviews and articles...and now he has a movie about the experience. I just got my tickets for the July 31st world premiere showing. You can find a theater showing this flick near you HERE.
His blog is also very cool, which you can get to through the above link. Here are some of his stats :

Number of shoes: 5 pair
Number of socks: 18 pair
Number of lost toenails: 3
Number of blisters: 2
Number of calories per day: 5,000 to 6,000
Number of trail marathons: 5
Hottest temperature: 104 degrees, Arizona
Coldest temperature: 38 degrees, Alaska
Faster time: 3:00:30 - NYC Marathon, #50
Slowest time: 4:45:21 - Tecumseh Trail Marathon, #39
Longest drive: 11 ½ hours
Shortest drive: 55 minutes
Average hours of sleep: 4 ½
Starting weight: 154
Finish weight: 153

Only 2 blisters? That's pretty impressive.

Anyway, I'm excited about the movie...Running films pump me up!!

Spirit of the Marathon

Last week, I got the chance to see a screening of a really cool documentary called Spirit of the Marathon. The filmmakers chose 6 runners who signed up for the 2005 Chicago Marathon and followed their training all the way through race day. The thing that made this film so unique was the fact that each person was on a different level of running. They also focused on the different inspirations of the runners.

Two of the athletes were first-time marathoners. Another guy had several marathons under his belt, but was now ready to try and qualify for Boston. The fourth man was 70 years old and had run a handful of marathons, but this time around he was training with his daughter, who would run her first. And then there were two elite runners-Deena Kastor and Daniel Njenga, who comes from Kenya, but lives and trains in Japan.

In addition to following the training of these six, many other famous runners and coaches were featured as well-even Coach Hal! I learned more about the history of the marathon, races and runners that helped to pave the way and more specifically—the history of women’s running.

I don’t want to go too much into detail and spoil the movie for you, but there is just one thing that I learned that I’d like to share. Maybe I’ve been in the dark, but I didn’t know anything about Katherine Switzer before this movie.

Switzer was the first woman to run Boston. It was a commonly held belief that women did not have the endurance or strength to run at any length close to 26.2 miles. But in 1967, Katherine Switzer entered the race as K.V. Switzer and therefore went unnoticed as a woman. She was now officially entered with a number. Once the media picked up on the fact that she was running, the race director learned of this and became furious. The nutjob actually ran onto the course and tried to rip off her number! He physically tried to force her to stop running. That’s crazy!! Look how angry he is:

But then thankfully-- big, strong boyfriend had enough of this jerk pushing his lady around and saved the day…

Katherine Switzer is my new hero!!!

I’m kind of an emotional girl when it comes to running. I get teary-eyed and a lump in my throat at the start of races, at the end of important races or really just anytime I get a feeling of runner camaraderie or self-achievement. I’m just a sap like that, I guess, but the reason I’m telling you is because I had a lump in my throat for almost the entire movie.

Maybe it was watching the joys and heartache experienced by the athletes on the big screen. Or maybe it was the sense of pride, sitting in that theater with my fellow runners. We could understand how the runners in the movie felt. We’d all been there. Even though I didn’t know them personally, we had so much in common. We know what it’s like to run through pain, sacrifice time with loved ones or fall short of a goal. But we also know how it feels to finally cross that finish line or set that new PR and that is often what makes it all worth it.

One final comment on something in the movie that had never really crossed my mind before...One runner was talking about how unique the marathon is...what other sport can an everyday, average Joe run in the same exact event as the greats? We literally run in the footsteps of the elite. That's pretty amazing.