Why Am I Doing This?

...or  "A Post About Running"

If you are a stranger to these parts (first off, welcome.welcome.) let me start by saying, sleep is not happening in this house. If Clare is having a miracle stretch of sleep for longer than 2 hours, then Damian is waking up. If Damian is sleeping like the good boy he used to be, then Clare is all like HELLNO will I sleep.

It's a mess. I suggest you buy stock in Starbucks.

What does this have to do about running??

Well I may have signed up for my 4th marathon. In December. (That's in 4 months for those of you not counting down to Christmas. What? Only me?)

If you've ever been active before, and by active I mean "Do you chew your food??" you know how important sleep is.

Part of me is very excited to tackle the marathon yet again. Every time I've run a marathon, I've been injured or sick. I would love to get out there healthy and well-trained and see what I can do.

However, part of me is very worry this won't happen because I haven't been running as much as I would like and that's mostly because I can't seem to find the time or energy. I'm hoping as it gets cooler I will be able to take the kids with me more (never thought I'd say that.) Now that's I've actually signed up though I'm feeling more motivated. Sooo shall we say the runner in me is back?? Let's hope! (Otherwise it's going to be a long 26.2 miles...)

If anyone else is interested... You should sign up for the Kiawah marathon and come run with me! There's also a half marathon too.

Get Over It--The Bridge That Is

Growing up in Charleston, there's one thing that has always been the iconic image of this city in my mind and that's the Cooper River Bridge. While most of my childhood there were two bridges, one of which still gives me nightmares about driving over it, the Charleston skyline is nothing without it/them. Somehow I have never done the popular Cooper River Bridge Run, so it seemed fitting that now that I'm back in my beloved city I would celebrate by crossing the CRBR off my bucket list. And to make it more fun, I got 7 of my closest friends to come run it with me.

Everyone got in late Friday evening, and we spent the night loading up on carbs, carbs, and more carbs (I may have had wayyyyy too much food) and catching up. Before we knew it, we had only 5 hours before we had to be up and getting out the door to get to the race. Don't get me wrong, I love races, but I really hate how early they require you to function.

Fast forward a few hours and a trip on a bus, and we were in our corral and ready to go. The weather was perfect. We did have to sit for about 2 hours waiting for the race to start so I'm glad I had the crew with me. 

Finally at 8:45 it was our turn to cross the start line and off we went.

I'm not sure this was my race. (Here is where I start to whine just a bit.) The 10k distance is not my favorite because I've 1. not run enough of them and 2. I can't seem to figure out my pacing for them. This one also includes one large hass bridge in the middle of it. 

 

After having to wait for so long before starting, I was STARVING by the time the race began. Within half a mile, I was already cramping. Boo Hiss Blah. Thankfully, my never fail breathing technique to get rid of cramps worked and I carried on, but still... not a good way to go out the gate. 

Then there were the woggers. Now I have nothing against run-walkers at all. I often am one. However, they were everywhere. EVERYWHERERERREEE. I spent the whole race weaving in and out and around and through walkers 5+ wide. (I told you I was going to whine...) It's one thing if you want to walk some or all of the race, but I've never been around so many people who clearly have never heard of race etiquette. #endrant 

I love my city. I love that bridge. And the race course was really cool. All and all, it was what it was. Still have mixed feelings about it. Maybe if I do it again, I'll do it without any goal in mind other than just to finish it and enjoy the view. 

The rest of the weekend was spent eating, hanging out, eating, hanging out, and eating. Can't complain about that!