Month: November 2011

No, this isn’t one of those random numbers on LOST. The title of this post is MY BIB NUMBER for the RnR Las Vegas Marathon!

This means:

* I legitimately signed up for and will be running this marathon. I registered so long ago that I’ve been intermittently afraid that something might have gone wrong and I wouldn’t be in the system.

* There are a shit ton of people running this race. Approximately.

One of those people, I’ll have you know, is Kate Gosselin. Bart Yasso informed me of this fact via The Twitter.

Obviously I have to beat her. I have no idea how fast she runs, but that’s my new A+ goal. Heh.

Update: A comment on this Kate Gosselin article says, “I heard she is running with the 4 hr pace group!” And her blog suggests that she clicks off 8:30 miles like it ain’t no thang. NOOOOOOOOOO!

In other news, last night I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at a 9:30 pace. It was slow and boring, but I’m well aware that I need to go easy on my legs this week and just get the miles in.

I’ve read that I should go into the marathon feeling like a caged animal, so I just kept thinking during this run, “Caged animal. Caged animal. Caged animal.”

RAWR.

This is my favorite part of the morning commute: The sun rising behind the Aurora Bridge, as seen from the Fremont Bridge.

Anywho. Check out Marathon Training: Week 18 on Answering Oliver.

Week 18 was my last full week of training. That means the marathon is less than a week away!

I’ll just be over here trying not to completely lose my shit.

The cold. The rain. The wind. I salute all of you who braved it (and are still currently braving it)!

Carly (far right) ran with her friend Daniel and her sister Anna for Anna’s first half (Carly’s fifth — she ran the Labor Day Half with me). Their speedy little cross-country star brother Conner ran the half in some ridiculous time. And I was cold and wet just watching them!

I would’ve loved to stay and watch Meg and Vicki finish the marathon, but I’m so paranoid about getting sick before Las Vegas. It would have been several more hours before I saw either of them finish, I was already wet and cold and Carly’s dad kindly offered me a ride home… hope you ladies will forgive me, and I can’t wait to hear/read about how you did!

I can’t imagine running 26.2 in this weather, so, seriously, my hat’s off to everyone out there today.

And next year… go to Vegas instead!!

My LAST long run before the marathon is DONE!

It was a little cold and drizzly. Vegas, give us dry, temperate weather. Thank you.

Now back to the Seattle Marathon expo!

Running is my liiiiiiife.

Look who I found… Vicki!

Actually, she found me, and I almost didn’t recognize her because I’m used to seeing her in a swimsuit and cap. Homegirl is running her first marathon on Sunday — be sure to wish her luck and follow along to see how she does! Hint: She’ll crush it.

I spent a few hours at the DetermiNation booth today chatting with people about the program, giving away cowbells and encouraging folks to make cheer signs for their runners.

It was so sweet to watch kids make signs for their parents. They wrote things like, “My daddy is running this race!” and “Go, Mommy, go!” LOVE IT.

I made a classic one: “Your legs hurt because you’re kicking BUTT!” It’s true, you know.

I loved going downtown for the expo today because I got a taste of Black Friday — tons of people outside of Westlake Center, Christmas music and excitement pumping through the streets — without having to shop. I’m not a big shopper. I am, however, a connoisseur of free samples at race expos.

Back at it tomorrow from 1-4. If you happen to be there, I’ll be the crazy girl dancing to the sweet jams pumpin’ from the cycling booth next door. Oh yeah.

In past years on Black Friday, I’ve been a slave to the machine of American commerce and worked at a retail store, which is also known on that day as The Deepest Depths of Hell.

This year, I’ll be manning (womanning?) the American Cancer Society booth at the Seattle Marathon expo! I’d say recruiting folks to run and raise money to fight a disease that kills millions and millions of people is a much better use of my time.

If, like first-time marathoner Vicki and pacer-extraordinaire Meg, you’ll be crushing the full or half marathon this weekend, or if you just want to stop by the expo and give me a high-five, I’ll be at the expo:

* Friday, Nov. 25 – 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
* Saturday, Nov. 26 – 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

Spectators: We’ll have a fun sign-making station for y’all to create gems of motivation for your courageous runners! I’ll be busy making signs with honey badger quotes and “that’s what she said” jokes, obviously.

All the expo details are here. Yayyy for Seattle Marathon weekend!!!