I am an athlete

Dictionary.com defines an athlete as "a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

I am not gifted in exercises of contests. I'm not very fast. I'm not coordinated at all. Heck, I've been known to trip over cracks in the sidewalk. I'm not very strong. I have to have my husband open jars for me on a regular basis. I am not very agile, as is evidenced by the fact that I refuse to take a step aerobics class at my gym because the first two times I went, I fell flat on my face. I get out of breath while I run or climb up and down the stairs a lot.

Even with all these facts showing that I am in fact not an athlete, I will argue that I am. 


I train. I train hard. I run 6 miles on days when all I really want to do is to take a nap. I drag myself out of bed and run in the dark with a headlamp and reflective vest. I am a Floridian who hates the cold, but I run when it's 25 degrees and windy. I run 3 to 5 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day, depending on for which event I am training. 
I have injuries. Last spring, I switched types of shoes and hurt my knees. This fall, I switched back to a type of shoe I prefer, and injured my IT band two weeks before my race. I have had shin splints. During a race, I hurt my foot and finished the race running, but could barely walk for the next week and had to take a couple of weeks off from running. 


I participate in races. It isn't very often because I'm on a limited racing budget, but I have run a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, a half marathon, and an overnight relay race. I am scheduled to run in the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in April. I am hoping to run my first full marathon in the fall, with the Marine Corps Marathon as the goal. I'm trying to improve my speed and get some new personal records. Running these distance races requires a lot of stamina. Most people can't just roll out of bed and run 10 miles. I did 6 this past weekend and and I was zonked and sore. 


I may not be thin. I may not be fast. I may not be agile, strong, or gifted physically, but I am an athlete. 

Bad sleeping patterns and not training

So, between the boys and myself, my sleep patterns have been all over the place. I'm having a tough time working in my training plans. I did great all summer training for Ragnar 4 days a week, but 3 days is killing me, now. I can't seem to get up to run in the morning and I hate running in the evenings. Some nights, I go to bed WAY too late to get up at 5am to run. I hate running in the dark. I haven't been able to go to the gym because Milk Dud has a yucky nose and I'm the good parent who doesn't take their sick kid to the childcare area.

What are your solutions for training when you can't get out the door early?

DC Ragnar -- It's OVER!

So, as y'all know, I ran in the DC Ragnar last weekend. I had a total of 15.1 miles in the 197-mile relay race that started at Rocky Gap State Park near Cumberland, MD and ended at National Harbor.

My first leg was crazy! We are talking about 1076-feet of elevation increase and 804-feet of decrease over 7.9 miles. It was hot, dusty, winding, and they're was a lot of gravel on the road.

Before starting my first leg

Here comes the runner before me

Off I go!

Handed off to the next runner

Checking off the box

My second leg was 5 miles in the middle of the night. It was very eerie. I enjoyed the country part of it, but when I was in a neighborhood, I kept expecting someone to come outside and yell at me.

My third leg was short and I took off like a bat out of Hades. I was so ready to be done, but I worried that the next runner wouldn't be there yet. I'm not sure how soon before I got there that she arrived, but I'm sure it wasn't but a couple of minutes.

All done!

We all crossed the finish line together and I now own my first race medal :)

Me and my medal

Our team

Jen and me. She's the reason I agreed to run up a mountain in the first place :)

Anyways... On to the next challenge... I'm going to run in the TCS Annapolis Half Marathon for my first half marathon this December. Wish me luck!

7 days until Ragnar / Night running

So, last night I met up with two of my teammates for a night run. For those of you who aren't familiar with this kind of relay race, You start at a set time (6:30am for my team) and you don't stop running as a team (everyone has 3 set legs) until you reach the finish line. This means we will be running through the night. Don't worry. It's pretty safe. We are required to wear a reflective vest, a headlamp, and a tail light.

It takes a little getting used to the headlamp and running when there isn't much ambient light. I bought a vest that has additional lights on it and I have reflective bands to wear on my ankles. It also helps to wear light-colored or bright clothing. Our shirts for Ragnar ar hot pink :)

We started our run in a well-lit neighborhood. That wasn't bad at all... Just like a normal, daytime run with a little lower visibility and a little more equipment. Then, we went on a trail with almost no ambient light. The good news was that we could see each other well. The bad news was it was DARK. You have to pay more attention to your footing and that can slow you down a bit. I've run the trail we were on dozens of times and it still freaked me out a bit at first. I'm glad my night leg looks like it will be on some major roads and isn't unassisted.

Do you think you could run at length in the dark?