Santa, or possibly some External Deliverer, will be leaving me a GPS for christmas! It's the Garmin Forerunner 305. I don't know too much about it , but it was evidently just released over the summer and is an adaptation of their Forerunner design, popular among cyclists, for runners. I opted for the 305 over the 205 because it includes a heart rate monitor. You can also buy a bike mount for it. I'm extremely excited to try it out!



I am considering (Mom, don't freak out!) doing Bike & Build this summer. Basically, Bike & Build is a program that organizes groups to bike across America, stopping over in towns once or twice a week for 'building days' when the group contributes to the construction of affordable housing. Each biker must raise $4000 for the trip to support these affordable housing projects.

My friend Tracy did it in the summer of 2005 after graduating from Rutgers; at the time, she asked me if I was interested in applying as well. I was intrigued by the idea.. however, due to an irrational fear of biking grounded in flipping over the handlebars when I was eight, I dismissed it and planned a trip to Greece with Brandy (yay!).

As I consider the future, I am at a juncture in my life where I can take a summer off for this program. Plus, how many people do you know that have biked across the US? Depending how the job search goes and when I'll be starting work, this is quite possibly my only opportunity to participate in the program. As Tracy pointed out, if I get a job that starts before the end of summer, then I made a donation toward a very worthy cause (the application fee is nonrefundable.) My top choices are the Providence to Seattle, Providence to San Francisco, and Northern US route.

Back to work!

Labels: bike and build

Something that I've become cognizant of in my writing after taking Meteo 580 (I did learn something in that class): I overuse the words very, rather, quite, etc. Dr. Shirer suggested that we replace these words with damn. As an example, let's look at one of the sentences in my Philly marathon recap.

"It was really quite motivating to see all of the runners coming back toward the start with smiles on their faces!"

becomes

"It was damn damn motivating to see all of the runners coming back toward the start with smiles on their faces!"

My writing needs fixed. (shout out to my fellow Pittsburgh readers)

I signed up for the Musselman Triathlon in Geneva, NY. A few of the PSU triathlon club members are doing this triathlon, and Brandy is planning to do it as well.

I need to get back on my bike: I have not done a single bike ride since the Steelman Tri in August. How bad is that?! The Blue Streak has become solely a commuter bike... I dislike riding my bike in the winter because the wind is brutal, far more brutal on a bike because a 15 mph wind translates to 30+ mph if you're biking into it. As with running, you are always biking INTO the wind. Maybe I will look into a trainer, or I could (finally) go to some spinning classes.

I'm also going to do USAT Collegiate Nationals with the tri club, although I'm not officially signed up yet. It's an olympic distance triathlon that's hosted in Tuscaloosa, AL, in March. Should be interesting.

I got an email about Reach the Beach 2008 sign-ups. I hope to do this race again in 2008!

The Nittany Valley half marathon was yesterday. I am somewhat sad that I have not run this race in the three years that I have lived in State College. I feel like I need to commit to doing it next year even if I am not living in State College (which is highly likely). This might not be possible if I end up with a job out West... we'll see.

Activity: The Marathon
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 4:24:05
Average: 10:04.5
Splits: 2:13:59 half marathon split
Weather: Overcast with some light drizzle, low 40s, winds 10-15mph

SUNDAY (RACE DAY!!!):

First off, because I'm a weather weenie, the NWS forecast for the day of the marathon was quite hilarious! Seriously though, Jon and I were a little bit nervous about the weather because we couldn't plan what to wear if we didn't know if it was going to rain. We both dressed for colder weather in case it did rain. Although I could have worn shorts and a lighter top, I was very happy in my UnderArmour.

I LOVED the Philly marathon course. It began and ended at the Art Museum (da da da, da da da!) and then headed east through Old Town Philly. We followed the Delaware River on Columbus for a little way before looping back toward downtown. Around this time, Jon and I took a pee break. I was very excited to run on South Street. As expected, it was a party :) My parents were positioned near the beginning of the marathon where they could walk over to about mile 6 to see us run by again. I was very thankful that they were there to cheer us on; it's a little adrenaline rush every time that you see someone you know! Plus they were able to drop us off very close to the start.

The next portion of the race continued to head west, crossing over the Schuylkill River, through the Drexel campus. We ran by a few frat houses, and there were a bunch of college students out to cheer us on. It was exciting. Some guy wearing a Giants jersey got booed by the frat boys. Jon and I bet over-under five on how many times we would hear the E-A-G-L-E-S cheer. We agreed that it would be over five if we ran near anyone with an Eagles jersey on, else it would be under.

At this point Jon was a little antsy to start running faster. I had to tell him to slow down. Basically, I was trying to think of this run as a 20 mile warm-up with a 10K run at the end, and there were still so many miles to run!

I hadn't memorized the route this time around, so I was constantly trying to figure out where we were. This was the one area of the race course that I wasn't familiar with, and there were a couple of hills. They didn't compare to the hill on Park Hills Ave though! We ended up taking our GU break a little later, between miles 9 and 10, than we'd planned because of water station locations. I was definitely ready for a sugar burst!

We passed mile 10 and got to run along the Schuylkill for a few miles. My parents were right around halfway, and my mom was able to get a picture after we flagged her down. I guess that my mom was easier to see in her orange poncho than we were amdist the pack of runners! That and we had an idea of where they'd be standing.

The last part of the race was an out-and-back along the east side of the Schuylkill. Often out-and-backs can be a little boring, but I enjoyed this part of the race very much because we were able to see the leading runners coming in! It was really quite motivating to see all of the runners coming back toward the start with smiles on their faces!

At the 20 mile turnaround in Manayunk, we were feeling pretty good. I was feeling better than I had during my 20 mile runs; this was how I was anticipating to feel in my first marathon, and it was awesome! Actually, I got a little bit too excited and almost wanted to sprint back to the finish. Jon thankfully kept me on pace: 6.2 miles is no short distance to sprint!

We maintained aa steady sub-10 minute pace for the last half of the race and actually had negative splits (minus the mile where we took another pee break)! Running the marathon with a partner was amazing and a much better experience than running alone with a sore tummy! I don't know if, when, or where I'll be running another marathon; however, I'd definitely recommend Philly to anyone that's looking for a well-organized race and would even consider running it again myself!

Thanks to my parents for coming out and supporting me and Jon! I love you!

Jon, you're the best.

mood: i almost took 30 minutes off of my previous time!
health: you know, of course my muscles and knees were sore, but i could walk the next day... no stress fractures!

Labels: race report