As the year closes

2014 is quickly drawing to a close, but I had one final running surprise: an award from the Atlanta Track Club.
I received the David Jordan Bunny Award for running all six Grand Prix races in 2014. I missed the awards ceremony (I had a race that morning and won in my age group!). So I emailed the track club, thinking what I was going to receive was a certificate and could they send it in a PDF so I could include it in my scrapbook.
Nope, I had to come pick it up because it was a physical award.

An award for being persistent and consistent

Nope, that definitely won't fit in the scrapbook, but it sure looks nice on my shelf!
This is likely the only year I will get this award. The award is for running all six Grand Prix races the track club sponsors, as I said, and next year there are 12! Not that I couldn't challenge myself to do all 12, but some of them fall on weekends when I plan to be racing in other states.
But what I really appreciate about this award is it's not for being the fastest, or the "best." It's for being YOUR best. Just showing up and running each race, and crossing the finish line, no matter what the time was on the finishing clock. It's for trying, and completing.
And that's what racing is now for me. I'll likely never win a track club race. It's so rare for me to even win in my age group. Remember, it has to be raining and only five people need show up! ha ha.
So I very much appreciate this award.
And, since it is nearing the end of the year, I counted up all my found money for 2014.
Remember him?

Found money pig

I collected $7.65 this year, but that was only because I found a $5 bill in the grocery store parking lot one day. I had far fewer coins collected this year. If you take the $5 out, I netted just $2.65. Maybe it's because I was busier this year pushing myself and not stopping for cash on the ground. :)
So, here's to filling the pig up in 2015, and working toward new running goals and awards.
Cheers!

Final 5K of 2014

I've run my final race of 2014 and am now taking a nice little two week break from running.
I hope that will help ease some of the running-related aches and pains I've been feeling lately.
I ran the Inman Frosty 5K last Saturday to finish out a great running year. This year's race was cold but dry, unlike last year when it was cool and rainy. The only thing that would have made this year's race better was if I could have run it with my friend Erin. Last year we ran a lot together, but this year, she and her husband have been vagabonds, traveling the world. They spent about six weeks in Central Europe and from the looks of her Facebook posts, I think they hit every Christmas market they could!
The end of the running year lets me reflect on my accomplishments, and I really had a great year.
Four more states were added to my bucket list (and I've done 16, rather than the 15 I thought I'd done. Don't know how I missed adding Nevada!)
I'm already signed up for two half marathon races in new states for 2015, Kansas and Washington state. Looking forward to both of those, especially the Kansas one, which is Wizard of Oz themed. I've already seen what my finishers for the Wicked Half Marathon will be: flying monkeys!!

Finishers medal for the Kansas race

I've seen the finisher's medal for the race in Seattle, too, and it looks sweet as well.
And I'll have a terrific place to display them when I cross those finish lines, thanks to a beautiful birthday gift from my brother this year:

Finisher's medal display

I ran races with friends in each new state, or made new friends, such as I did in Mississippi.
All in all, it was a great year. One I'll look back on very fondly.

Here's to a Fifty-One-derful Year

Well, my 51st year has certainly started out quite well!
I ran the One Love, One Heart 5K on Dec. 6 and came in first in my age group!
The weather in Atlanta that day was horrible. About an hour and a half before the start of the race, the sky opened up and it just poured down rain. I broke out the rain poncho and headed out.
I honestly did think that if I went to the race I might stand a chance of winning in my age group, simply because it's a small community race and the rain would keep some folks home.
But it really was a nice surprise that I actually DID win my age group, with a time of 36:11 no less.

First in age group!

And I was paid a very nice compliment, too. When I put my time slip in the proper age basket, I asked if I had won my age group because there were no other slips in the basket. The race director was nearby and said "Check her ID. She can't be 50!"
I hope that is a good omen for all of the races I have planned for the coming year. I hope it truly is a Fifty-One-derful year!

Last race at 50

What a wonderful running year this has been.
Yes, I know it's not quite New Year's Eve, when I will count up all my found money from my little running piggy. Remember him?

Found money piggy

He's been fed sporadically this year. I figure after I found that 5 dollar bill, he'd keep for a little longer. I didn't find any cash in Meridian, Miss., and I didn't find any cash during today's 5K, so maybe he's getting a little thin.
Today was the Lakeside Viking 5K and represents the last race before my birthday. It was a cool, crisp morning and I met my friends Carolyn and Susan for the race. They live near Lakeside High School, which sponsors the race.

Carolyn, me and Susan

Last year I forgot my iPod and it was drizzling. This year I remembered my tunes and it was clear. And what do you know? I was 2 one hundredths of a second FASTER! How about that? Clearly it was the rain and no musical motivation that slowed me down. Ha!
It really as been a great year of running. I've got just a couple more 5Ks before year's end.
I'll look back and know my 50th year was a great running year.

Learning to add

Perhaps I need to start watching "Sesame Street" again, or maybe I didn't watch enough of it.
As I was creating a "state's I've run in" map for Facebook, I counted the states, and I've run in 16 not 15!
I'm not sure which state was overlooked. I certainly didn't mean to overlook any of them. They have all been unique races, either because of the location, or the folks I was with, or the craziness of arrival (I'm looking at YOU, Alabama!)
Well, I'll do better next year. I'm planning on four more states, and 16 + 4 = 20. At least the last time I watched "Sesame Street" it did.

A run to remember

I've completed a race in my 15th state with the LEO Run to Remember Half Marathon in Meridian, Miss.
And it was a run to remember, but it certainly was a forgettable course.
I drove to Meridian, Miss., from Atlanta the day before the race, and met a couple of runners at the hotel where I stayed.
The race is only in its third year, and had a very small field, but it was very friendly.

New running friends Meiyhan and Bob

A little pre-race fun

Both Bob and MiHyang were staying in my hotel. I met Bob that morning in the breakfast area. He's from Pennsylvania and is running a marathon in all 50 states. He's 55, has a pacemaker and one lung. And he SMOKED me on the course! He ran his marathon in a little over 4 hours and it took me just under 3 hours to do that half!
MiHyang was also about 55 and says she started running when she was 48. It was great to meet them.
We hit the road and the first five miles was along a very long highway, which had absolutely nothing interesting to look at.

Along Highway 59

The one interesting part of the course was through the Poplar Springs Historic District, where older homes lined the winding road. Also along the course was one of the carousel horses that dot areas around Meridian.

One of Meridian's carousel horses

Meridian is home to a Dentzel Carousel and the community put replica horses all around. I think there are 36 of them. I meant to stop to see the carousel itself before I left for home, but I got all caught up in loading the car and checking out of the hotel and I didn't. Next time!
After the carousel horse, it was more winding roads and then through another subdivision before we were back toward the soccer complex where the race started and ended.

Along the route

Nearly finished!

At long last, I got to the finish line, at around 2:55, which is just three minutes off my Philadelphia half.

Finisher!

Finisher's medal

 When I got home, I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me. My brother sent a hand-made medals holder. I absolutely love it, and have needed one for a while!

Hand-made finisher's medal rack

I am happy I did the LEO Run to Remember. I will remember it more for the folks I met there, and for the fact is was state No. 15!

Let's go Uptown

This morning's 5K was the Uptown Rhodes Race, starting and ending at Rhodes Hall in Atlanta.
I've run this race before, and I knew it would be pretty hilly, but today's race had near perfect running weather. Cool, but not cold. No wind, and, best of all, my running buddy Erin at my side.
Erin and her husband have been world travelers this year, so I haven't seen her as much this year. Last year we ran many, many races together. So it was great that she was in town and could run this one with me.

Erin and Lisa before the race, in front of Rhodes Hall

At the ornate staircase

Lion's head staircase

Rhodes Hall is really a beautiful building, the former home of Amos G. Rhodes, of Rhodes Furniture fame. The furniture in the house, and even the wood details in the house, are beautiful. I learned today the home was one of the first that was built completely electrified in Atlanta.
Rhodes Hall is now home to The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
The course winds through Ansley Park in Atlanta and some of the trees in the neighborhoods were shouting out their fall colors.
Really a lovely day to go Uptown.

Let's do the time warp, again!

Like last year, I ran two different races this past weekend.
I ran the Strong Legs Run 10K on Saturday morning, then got up around midnight to run the Anything is Possible 5K.
After I did it last year, I swore I wouldn't do that again, yet there I was Nov. 1, lined up in the cold and stiff wind to run the Strong Legs Run 10K, knowing I'd be back out in the cold and wind about 16 hours later!
This year's Strong Legs Run really was pretty brutal. I called it the running hell trifecta -- hills, cold and wind. I think the wind gusts were up to 40 mph, and just for fun there was a little freezing rain that kept hitting me in the face.
I was very glad those six miles were over! I was about 2 minutes slower than last year, which was a bit disappointing. Oh well! It's done.
Then, just before the time changed to Standard Time here in the United States, I was up in the dark to meet my friends Sasha, Joy, and Kellie, and new friend Amanda, to run that crazy Anything is Possible 5K again.
The race starts at 1:50 a.m., just 10 minutes before the time "falls back" to Standard Time, meaning it suddenly becomes 1 a.m. and you end up finishing the race before you start.
It was still very cold and a bit breezy on this one, too. You can see how bundled up we are!

My crazy friends!

All of us trying to stay warm

We didn't stay too long after the race. We headed back to our homes and our warm beds!
The fun thing about this race, other than I have nutty friends willing to do this one with me, is instead of a T-shirt, we get flannel pajama bottoms instead. Those came in very handy this cold, cold weekend.

Ten miles of uphill

Oh, Atlanta. The city where once you finish running uphill and turn to go the other way, you are still going uphill.
That's pretty much how I felt for the Atlanta Track Club's 10 Miler on Oct. 26.
I ran the 10 Miler last year, but last year it was part of ATC's fall marathon, which the club discontinued this year. So instead of starting at mile 16 and finishing the course along the marathon route, this year was changed, to start and finish at Atlantic Station.
And I think the course director managed to put every hill in Atlanta long this route! I have called this the seemingly unending uphill race.
I ran this one with my friend Kellie. Here we are pre-race.

Up before daylight

The race route this year was also along part of the Peachtree Road Race 10K's route, and included the worst part of PRR -- Cardiac Hill. Thankfully, we had some great support along that hill.

Bagpipers!

I was very glad to be finished with the course, and pleasantly surprised to find I finished it two minutes faster. And this was a much more challenging course!

Finishers!

A little dark, but still a finisher

This year's finishers medal was really cool. I thought the Philadelphia half marathon's finisher's medal was going to be my favorite, but this one looks like a sun catcher and looks really cool.

Finisher's medal

Finisher's badge

I felt like this was a hard fought 10 miles, a lot of it uphill.

Rising Up to Run

I've had such a good weekend and it's only half way done!
Spent Friday night watching my nephew Clay play football on senior night. It was so wonderful to see him honored before the game and walk down the 50-yard line with my sister Kris.
Unfortunately, his team was defeated in the football game, but it was a great effort. I got home pretty late, which would have been fine, but I had a 5K race this morning that started early.
It was the Rise Up & Run 5K, held down at the Georgia Dome, home of the Atlanta Falcons. The race finished on the 50-yard line and the finishers could see themselves on the Jumbotron. It was really fun!
The not so fun part was getting up at 5:30 a.m. after getting home so late. Here I am at the start, still pretty dark out. But notice the eye black. ha! Didn't need it in the dark!

Ready to run. Got my eye black on!

 Because this was sort of a themed run, the race bibs were in the shape of footballs, and the Atlanta Track Club handed out little eye black stickers with their logo on them.
The course was not bad. Not too hilly. I've run portions of this course in other downtown races, so I knew what to expect.

Finished inside the Georgia Dome

It really was fun. And it's fun to be on the field, when mostly you only get to see it on television. This is a race I'll likely rise up and run again next year.

Bringing home baby

Oct. 4 was a busy day!
Not only did I run the Cartersville 10K in a fast time for me, but I took part in the Mizzou Atlanta day of service at PAWS Atlanta.
And as I expected, I came home with a new pet.
Meet, Josie!

completely out of focus on me, but she's in focus!

You can tell she's my cat, she wants to sample my red wine. :)

Someone found a warm sunny spot

She's named for the Steely Dan song, Josie, not Josie and the Pussycats, although I have great memories of watching that cartoon show as a kid.
She's settling in pretty well in the house, although initially Felix was not amused.
I knew it would take some time for him to get used to another cat, but I was sure he was missing Pollock and I didn't want to go too long without another companion for him, and for me!
Josie is really tiny. She's probably five months old, if that. Really younger than I wanted, but then, Felix was a lot younger than I wanted and I wouldn't give him up for the world!
So, we are all learning to adjust. Me to having a very energetic kitten who doesn't quite know the rules of the house (no being on the table or kitchen countertops. No scratching the furniture!)
Felix to having a very energetic playmate. Pollock was so old she just didn't move around a lot, and certainly didn't play, no matter how much he wanted her to. He tried to play with Minnie, but Minnie would hiss and run off.
Felix and Josie are just now starting to get along and chase each other in play. Just a few more days, I think, and it will be as if we've always had each other.
I did catch them cuddled on the couch a couple of nights ago, so we are getting there!

Cheers to bringing home baby.

Cartersville 10K

I took a short break after the Philadelphia Half in late September, but only a very short one.
See, I signed up to run another half marathon in Mississippi in mid November!
I decided I should try to get in four states this year in my quest to run a race in all 50 states, and I can drive to Mississippi fairly easily.
So I'm still running my long runs on Sundays, except last Saturday I decided to run the Atlanta Track Club's Cartersville 10K, making Saturday my long run day instead.
I'm glad I did!
I had a great race and improved my "best" 10K time in 2013 by three minutes! Whoo hoo!
The course itself was really flat and had some very rural scenery along the way. Cartersville is pretty far north of metro Atlanta, and you can see it was likely a lot of horse farm and regular farm kind of territory. I saw hay bales in fields as I ran.

You can see it was a pretty flat course, which meant it was a fast course! I think this is one I will do again next year. And see if I can drop a few more minutes.

Philly Fourteen

Just a little over two weeks ago, I completed the Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on Sept. 21, and completed a race in my 14th state.
My mantra leading up to the race was to complete "Philly 14."

Welcome to Philadelphia, runners!

View down Arch Street, toward my hotel

I've been to Philadelphia twice before, but I must say this trip was simply wonderful. Great weather, great food, great friends, and a chance to vacation solo and with friends and family.
I arrived Thursday, Sept. 18, by myself. I spent the first two days alone, but not really.
I stayed in City Center and walked all over, stumbling upon Chinatown, which was just two blocks from my hotel, and visiting the Franklin Institute.
But first things, first.
I picked up my race number and racing gear on Friday, directly across the street from my hotel, at the Philadelphia convention center. I had a little fun there, too.

Almost also directly across the street, was Redding Terminal Market, this vast reconfiguring of the old Redding rail terminal that is now an enclosed, but vast market stall area.
I stood in line for about 45 minutes at Carmen's to get a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. It was fun chatting up the local in front of me and the tourist, like me, behind me. And the sandwich was yummy, but I was glad I ate it on Friday, two days before the race!
Then I wandered over to the Franklin Institute, around 3:30 pm, after all the schools were out. I saw lots of school kids, many in school uniforms and nearly all of them toting a backpack of some sort, as I made my way there.
Turns out, since I got there after school was out, I had the science museum very nearly to myself! I walked up to everything I wanted to see or do. No lines, no waiting. Very few people.
 The museum closed at 5 pm, and that was the sorry part. Just as I got to the area of the locomotives, and then the space part, it was time to close. I kind of had to rush through those things. And I didn't get to go into the planetarium and see the exhibits and films there. I'll have to go back!
I met my friend Nancy for dinner Friday night. We went to Vedge, a vegan restaurant she wanted to try. It was really, really good.
What I find maddening was I didn't get a photo of me and Nancy together! It's been nearly six years since I've seen her and I forget to get a photo!
Nancy and I know one another because of breast cancer. We are both survivors. But I'd like to think we'd have been friends without cancer, too.
Saturday my sister Jody arrived from New York. We had lunch back over at the Redding Terminal Market, this time at a Greek restaurant stand. It was really yummy. I could have had just about every meal in that market!
We also wandered over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you know the museum made famous by the Rocky movie. The one with all those steps! There really are a lot of steps. We got there late in the afternoon, and again, the museum closed at 5 pm, but we got to see much of the impressionists, post-impressionists and some of the modern artists.

From the top of the steps

What I didn't know, was that Alexander Calder, the sculptor who worked with big kinetic mobile sculpture, was the son of  the artist who made Swan Fountain, and the grandson of the artist who sculpted the William Penn that sits atop City Hall in Philadelphia.
Jody and I had dinner in Chinatown Saturday evening. We tried to get into Maggiano's for some pasta, but it was so crowded we couldn't get in. Our choice of just picking some restaurant at random in Chinatown was better.
It was a Malaysian restaurant, and I had the pad Thai. Jody had the chicken mango, and I think hers was better, although I really enjoyed mine.
My high school friend Peggy arrived Saturday evening, and we both were up early Sunday morning to run the half marathon.

At the start

When Peggy and I first started running together about 15 years ago, I was the stronger runner. The tides have turned and she is now the stronger runner. She pushed me on this race. Pushed me beyond my comfort zone at times.
So many people think running is all physical, but I can tell you it is not. As I was being pushed physically, I had to fight mentally not to slow down, not to give in to negative thoughts that I couldn't do it.
I did injure my right arch during the race, and it's still bothering me. It had me limp the last four miles. I wasn't doing too badly on the race until then, but once the pain in my foot started, it was hard to fight against that.
Still, we finished the race in 2:52, a full eight minutes better than my Portland half marathon time!
I was very pleased.
The course itself was lovely, and flat! The morning was warmer than I expected. I wished I had brought a tank top, rather than the T-shirt I wore. But it was OK.

Peggy and I making our way to the start

In the frame

waiting to go

Getting close!

Along the river

Peggy on pace

Selfie time!

We started very near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and traveled toward City Hall on Ben Franklin Parkway. We rounded Love Plaza, with the iconic LOVE statue, twice. We ran toward Chinatown, passing the Liberty Bell, although you could not see if from the street, and eventually back down Arch Street, passing my hotel. We came back toward the museum and on along the Schuylkill River, which was lovely. We even saw some crewmen rowing that morning.

Beautiful course

In the rock tunnel

My only regret was I finished the race and had to hurry up and rush back to the airport. I made a mistake and booked a flight way too early. I couldn't have my celebratory glass of wine with Peggy after the race!

Finishers!

Finisher!

Race medal, one of my favorites

But I take away great memories from Philadelphia, a city I'd love to visit again.