a letter.....

Jess says I need to write myself a letter..... she's pretty wise.  She's probably right.  My letters are freaktastic...

Ok.  So what do I know about me... because that's usually how I start a letter.  I think about what I know about the runner I'm writing for...  and so knowing me, what would I tell me?

Dear Galactically BadA** gf,


“At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.”
― Paulo Coelho


Paulo is my favorite.  Probably because he's pretty much a genius.  And he rocks.  And ~ yeah ~ he gets it.

GBA_gf....  You freaking rock.   You rock like Paulo.

You'd rather epically fail trying for excellence than fully succeed at mediocrity.  No. Problem.  Mediocrity is so not your thing anyway.

And you KNOW that about you.  So capitalize on that knowledge.  Set the bar high and FREAKING reach for it.  

It's time to do this like a NIKE ad.

...but still, it's always a plan to review a few key points... no time for a power point presentation here...  We're just going to have to wing it.

Galactically Bada** is not just a catch phrase. It's a state of being.

You did not train for twenty weeks not to bring it on race day.

The only thing you have to fear, is fear itself... and chaffing.

Don't tackle the Red Shirts, chick them like you mean it.

Believe in yourself under all circumstances.

Run the race you've trained to run.

Make that bridge your bitch.

You do this cos it's hard.

Respect the distance.

This is your season.

Be in the moment.

Try not to suck.

Savor the run.

Always epic.

Cowbell.

regards,

gba gf

I am two women

“I am two women: one wants to have all the joy, passion and adventure that life can give me. The other wants to be a slave to routine, to family life, to the things that can be planned and achieved. I'm a housewife and a prostitute, both of us living in the same body and doing battle with each other.” 

― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

And I'm thinking, is there anything that I have ever read that comes close to summing up my life as a runner more than this?   I really don't think so.  No wonder I'm so exhausted when I fall into bed at night.

meddling kids

In 1969 Hanna-Barbera premiered what would become one of my all time favorite TV shows, Scooby Doo.


I idolized the characters, loving how smart they were, and as a small child, was always impressed at how the BIG REVEAL went down at the conclusion of every show.  And I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids.  My phases of adoration went through the series characters, from Scooby, of course, to Daphne because of her awesome clothing choices, and onto Velma because she was so super smart...  I was never a fan of Fred and Shaggy until the live action film made in 2002.

running a marathon feels a lot like this...

Some of my favorite episodes still air once in a while on Boomarang and Cartoon Network, and it's funny (sick) how often I see the show and remember exactly what/how it ends.  One thing that always got me was the color choices on the clothing for the characters.  Those colors were....fab.


I always feel, when I'm out running, that I'm a bit like Velma.  I mean, seriously, look at her.  


And then, look at me.


Every year our clothing choice for MTT is made for us.  We wear a matching Team Uniform.  It's technical fabric, light weight, and printed with the Sports Backers Marathon Training Team logo on the front.  1200 of us run in these identical shirts so that the 100 coaches (give or take) who line the course on race day will recognize us and help us out as needed.  


The shirts are always bright.  The one year they chose a "normal" primary color (blue) apparently it was a ~fail~.  Since then The Man has always selected horrific wonderful unique colors like:


Virginia Tech is better than the other one Orange - Listen, all I'm saying is that if you look at the orange, it's more Hokie than Hoo.


Sea Foam (or is that Sea Sick?) Green - an odd minty shade that definitely had a touch of sea-foam mixed with a bit of "under the weather" and a touch of SNOT.


It's all Sunshine and Daisies Here Yellow - Your'in good company with yellow (this was the color last year, it was great, I actually didn't hate it).


and this year,


CREST TOOTHPASTE GREEN... a color that isn't made in nature.


As soon as I saw it I thought... if Daphne ever raced a marathon, this would be her color choice.... but what would she wear with it....?  Duh, purple.  And then Velma would argue the merits of wearing Tall Socks, and Daphne would agree.... and the next thing you know, Daphne's race day marathon outfit would look exactly like mine.


Toothpaste & Berries.


I didn't like the way the top fit, so I altered it with a small gather in the bust.


The skirt is Lululemon - there's another story with that, but I'll tell you about it after the race.


The tall socks are Running Skirts "Run Love" compression socks, because let's face it....  I love socks almost as much as I love my run.

So there you go.  


I am channeling Daphne from Scooby Doo.


well, either that, or I'm channeling the Mystery Machine.  


...I really think it could go either way.


And seriously, no matter how you look at it, I should be visible in race day... which will make stalking me easier.


Or, if you're stalking online, it won't matter what I'm wearing.... my race # is 2297.  

Nervousness & Marathoning

So I guess... yeah, all my nervousness is totally gone.

I was UBER nervous on Tuesday/Wednesday...  probably for a few reasons.  

The main one being because a lot of people know my race goal, which means if I don’t achieve it, there will be a lot of people who are aware of my failure.  

One reason I told some of these people is because I want support on the course, and I might need someone to say, “Hey, you’re running XYZ/mile pace right now, but you need to be running XZY MINUS 10 seconds/mile to reach your goal”. 

My goal is pretty aggressive feeling, but then again, I’m a go big or go home kind of girl.  Still, the chills I was getting last week at the thought of the goal, are just... not there anymore.

I’m also really FIT, and I should trust that my training has gotten me fit enough to pull this off.

My 8K PR, which I ran on Oct 1 “projects out” to a Marathon Race Time that is 11 minutes FASTER than my goal.  So why would I question my goal anyway?

My goal is realistic.

My goals ARE realistic.

My plan is solid.

A Letter to my Running Wife

Dear T,

Once upon a time there was an overweight insecure mom with a crummy jogging stroller who wondered every single day how she was going to make it till 5pm…

…and then what happened? 

Well.  I met you.

In the years that we’ve known each other we have traveled thousands of miles by foot, flight and Beige Mini-van. 

We’ve slept together. 

We’ve contemplated Rooster-cide.

We've eaten cliff bars together all over the world.

We’ve honeymooned on a yacht (yeah, it doesn't suck to be us, True?).  

We’ve met Bart Yasso. 
We've run PR's.
We've run PU's.
We've run the last miles of each other's marathons.

We’ve hung out with my BFF Bart Yasso. (~ahem~ about that view) 

We’ve eaten vegan donuts with some bada**/freaktastic runners in SF.

We've won races.  Can I say that again.
We've FREAKING won races.  yeah, I know, seriously? We rock. 
And in all that you’ve shown me so much… too many things to count.

 

My favorite lessons from you are:

When someone tells you that you can’t, you DO IT ANYWAY.  And if that someone has a red shirt, you DO IT BETTER THAN THEM.  It’s an ideal that I love to embrace.

When things seem tough in the moment, you remind me to REMEMBER THE BIG PICTURE.  The big picture is bigger than Boston, Brooks or Lululemon… though, lulu…

You show us all to be PROUD of ourselves, and to REFLECT on the accomplishments we have achieved.  So congrats again on that 5K WIN… I love that you called me that day.

 You’ve shown me that it’s okay TO LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE, that you’ll never make someone else happy by living the way they want you to live, even if it means ignoring the people who scoff at how “crazy” we are.  Getting up at 4:30 in the morning to meet your running wife on a dark street is worth it, every time.

I love that you LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – and believe that what it tells you is possible.

So listen to your heart now.  Trust yourself as much as I trust you.

You are my running wife.

And if I had to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing, Red Shirts and all. 

love you,

g. 





Taper Island Day #10... and I'm not
even Jealous at all that T's out of  
here in ~like~ 3 days... 
b*tch.  
OH, is this thing on?

g'inspiration

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.

Henry David Thoreau

~savor the run~

And that's how I know that B'nut is gifted

Just so you all know, B'nut is probably gifted.

I'm not saying this just because she spells her name Bribget, and recognizes most of the letters of the alphabet.

"What else starts with H?"  

"PUMPKIN!"

"or... Halloween?"

"Or Pumpkin."

But the main reason I believe she is gifted is because of the conversation I had with her the other day.

We were in the beige mini van driving to school.

Well, she was riding.

I was sadistically trying to run down the squirrel that refused to get out of the middle of the road.  Seriously, suicide squirrel...

AND B'nut says, "Look mom, the Baby Girl Squirrel grew up to be a Mommy Squirrel."

And I said, "Yes B'nut.  Baby Girl Squirrels grow up to be Mommy Squirrels."

AND THEN I quickly added, 


"Baby girl squirrels can also grow up to be scientists squirrels, or Dr squirrels or the President of the United Squirrels of America...."

"Or runner squirrels?"

"Yes, B'nut.  Or Runner Squirrels".

I love that Runner falls on the "scale" right up there with Md. and President.

Taper Island, Day 8