Sunday, March 11, 2012

A Lone Pink Shirt in a Sea of Green

This past week was Vanderbilt's "spring break." (I put spring break in scare quotes because really it was an extended work week.) In any case, I did manage to fit a few vacation-like activities in--Dropkick Murphy's concert where I ended up onstage (!), a two-day adventure to Savannah, Georgia, and a long run at Shelby Bottoms today.

On Friday, I had been doing some solo exploration of the lovely Savannah:






When I started to walk back to the hotel, I randomly came across a booth for the March of Dimes which looked like it was registering people for something.

Me: "What is this event?"
Lady: "A Shamrock 5k, would you like to register?"
Me: "I hadn't planned on doing something like this but I do have my gear at the hotel..."
Lady: "Better go get your shoes on."

And so, I did. Unfortunately, I only had a bright pink shirt when the dress code was obviously green only. I am pretty sure I looked like the poster child for the Susan G. Komen foundation. It was kind of humid and rainy, and I had maybe had one-too-many Scorpion drinks the night before, but I still killed it! I think it was actually a PR, but I'll know for sure when I get the results back. The race was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad I did it, even though it was unplanned.

Fast forward to today's 18-miler at Shelby Bottoms. I had the same issue where I somehow missed dinner last night, so I ate some toast with peanut butter beforehand and actually felt a lot better. Plus, I just got a new running backpack which I LOVE. It makes me sweat a whole lot more, but having the option of drinking 2 liters of water instead of one small water bottle is priceless.



Shelby Bottoms is a MUCH better running venue. There are no cars, it's entirely flat, there's no wind, and there's plenty to look at! I did two 8-mile loops and then a quick 2-mile out-and-back. I think I need to start bringing more to eat during the runs if I'm going to eat sparsely before the runs. I had about 8 of these:



They are tasty, but under 100 calories, which really doesn't sustain me for burning over 2500 calories (according to my counter).

In any case, my run today was amazing. I had been doubting myself since my last couple of long runs had been so awful. Today's run was one of the most difficult mental challenges, and I'm proud to say that I destroyed it. The only downside is my very new, very prominent farmer's tan--maybe that will be "in" this year?

1 comment:

  1. I can't believe you and your random running events! How do you find these things? Haha. I love it. You rock!

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