Feet Move Forward

Remember this post about my goals? Goal number two was to place in a race and guess what? I DID! The course for this run was essentially two loops around the lower portion of Henderson, meaning it was relatively flat. There were maybe 50 or so runners and another 50 walkers/mom's with strollers. I lined up a few rows behind the starting line (all the boys) and tried to size up my competition for the girls. There were some girls that looked pretty fast (long, lean, young) and I was watching them warm up, envisioning myself getting dominated. To start the race, there was no gun, no horn, just some guy yelling "GO!" And off we went. My first mile was definitely too fast but I wanted to keep an eye on the girls that took off out of the gate. Soon enough they burned out and I passed them, trying to keep my pace as even as possible. It was extra incentive being the female front runner to keep my pace up. I didn't want to get passed by another girl or anyone. And I ...

What: Grandma's Marathon Where: Duluth, MN When: Saturday, June 19, 2010 The Expo I know that some people aren't huge fans of the expo but I love them! Free food. Free gifts. What more can you ask for? It's also a great place to pick up some fun running stuff, like this shirt by Sistas Shirts . I thought it was pretty applicable. It's also a great opportunity to learn about new organizations. Before I left for Duluth, I saw on the Grandma's Marathon Facebook page that Medals 4 Mettle would be at the expo. This organization collects medals from races and gives them to people fighting serious illnesses or that have debilitating handicaps. Their mission is really personal to me because of what my family experienced with Joel so I donated all of my medals from past races. The highlight of the expo by far was hearing Kara Goucher speak. She is my favorite runner and I've been following her for quite a while. She was just as down to earth as I had ho...

Just in case you thought I do all of this without rhyme or reason, here are some running/fitness goals I've set for myself for the summer. Sharing them makes me accountable and accountability is good. You can all shame me mercilessly if I don't reach them. 1. PR in Grandma's Marathon :  Ultimately I'd like to run anything under 3:50 (but secretly am wishing for something under 3:45). I finished the Twin Cities Marathon last year with a time of 3:55:46. 2. Place in a race : Small towns, here I come! Here's the thing that makes this one completely doable: A week after Grandma's, there is a local 5k race for Henderson's annual Sauerkraut Days  where the female course record is 22:23. A few weeks ago I ran a 5k route during a training run in 22:43. How awesome would it be to not only win the race (for girls) but hold the female course record?! I think I have this one in the bag as long as 1. The marathon doesn't kill me; 2. The fast girls do...