Bellingham Bay half marathon

Race Day: Bellingham Bay half II

Races, Running, Uncategorized

So. Where were we? Right, the race itself… When I signed up for this race, I essentially considered it an at-home race. Bellingham is about an hour away, without the border lineup, and over the years I’ve been there countless times. But mostly only for Costco runs or other such cross-border shopping. No exploring. And so, when we arrived at the start in downtown Bellingham, I was immediately taken in by the cuteness of this town; its history, unique eateries, gathering spaces, beauty. And the course itself, while it had all the beauties of B.C., there was still an element of mystery for me to feel like I was exploring new territory. We ran past Little House on the Prairie style houses, along romantic, tree-canopied trails, around the bay jostling for position against the forceful breeze coming up off the water,  past clusters of enthusiastic cheerleaders; one a girl about […]

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Race Day: Bellingham Bay half I

Races, Running, Uncategorized

UNDER 2 HOURS!!! < 2 HOURS!!! SUB 2 HOURS!!! But wait…breathe…calm. First thing’s first: There was rain. There was pain. There was even a train. And oh yes, there was an evil, little brain. When I woke up at 5 a.m. Sunday morning and heard the monsoon crashing at my window, the last thing I wanted was to get up and run a half marathon. And so, when Big Ring commented that his throat was feeling a little tickly, I offered to forgo the run in the name of his health. And when both my shoulders were feeling a little sickly, I suggested maybe it wasn’t wise to put them through 21.1 km. And when the border line up was more like 40 minutes and not the advertised 10, I proposed we opt not to face the sure-to-be prickly border guard and hightail it quickly back home. The fierce jitters

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Battles of a sick taper

Races, Running

Sigh. This weekend marked the start of taper week for me with the Bellingham Bay half marathon set for next Sunday, which, given that I’ve been pretty much in taper mode the last month and a half with that stupid, vexing injury of mine, didn’t really mean much. In fact, I was more worried about not running a significant distance than about cooling my running heels. But because Big Ring and I had plans for an afternoon belated celebration of our 4-year wedding anniversary – NO LITTLE RING!  – I thought I’d be able to get through this weekend no problem. Out of sight out of mind right 😀 09•12•09 But then, I got sick. A stupid, freaking, jerk-face cold. And then, Little Ring got sick. And then, our afternoon date was cancelled due to said sickness. And then, we were stuck at home. And then, the rain came. And

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On your marks, get set…

Diabetes, Races, Running, Uncategorized

It’s funny, when I compare my MEC 10 km race from last week to my BMO 8 km race in May, it’s like night and day. MEC had me satisfied. BMO had me shattered. And yet, looking at the straight stats, I was faster for BMO… just an average of 4 seconds faster, mind you, but faster nonetheless. However, I went into BMO – my first race back post pregnancy – expecting brilliance. I wanted my pace to be unwavering. I wanted my focus to be sharp. I wanted a perfect race. But when my pace started to drop, my focus waned, my heart sunk, my legs slowed. And that devil on my shoulder kept beating me down, telling me there was no way I could fix it, no way I could crank up the speed in my legs, no way I could make my goal. Honestly, I felt like

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