Feeling Progressive ... and Social!

If you've read this blog before today, you may be noticing a new widget in the right sidebar there. (You may also notice that I changed from two sidebars to one, which was because I thought the widget looked weird if I forced it to be too skinny.)

And if you're extra sharp, you may have noticed that not only is the widget new, but this is also the first reference on this blog to DailyMile, which is yet another distance-tracking site.

"But wait!" I hear you cry. "Didn't you just post about how you use RunKeeper? Why on earth would you need more than one site?"

Well, dear theoretical reader, I joined DailyMile for a specific purpose: I'm already looking down the road (no pun intended) past the New London race next month, toward the Wipro San Francisco Marathon events on July 29. Now, before you get excited, I am not running any crazy marathon distance.

Or, that is to say, I am not running any crazy marathon distance all at once.

See, the SF Marathon has a 5K event, which was what I was planning to do for my California race. As I was looking up registration info, though, I noticed something cool called a "progressive marathon." All I have to do is keep track of the running I'm going to be doing, anyway, and pay an extra $5 registration fee. If I can log 23.1 miles before race day (which, given three months, running 3+ miles at least a few times a week, should be doable several times over), I just run the 5K event on the day, and I get a medal and get to feel all awesome for completing more than just that day's 5K! I say, sign me up!

Back to DailyMile, the reason I added that to my repertoire is that the SF Marathon organizers have set up a "Progressive Marathon Tracking Challenge"at that site, and that seems like the easiest way to keep track of my mileage leading up to July 29. For the moment, I'm planning to keep using RunKeeper to do the actual tracking of my runs, and then I'll just have to remember to log them on DailyMile.

And, speaking of social media, I've decided to start a dedicated twitter feed for my running activity. Because, you know, I do so much with my main twitter feed, I had to keep things separate. Okay, actually, it's just how my brain works. Ok?

So, if you'd like to see my RunKeeper and DailyMile updates, see notifications when I post here, etc., feel free to follow me @RunNenaRun.

See you again soon!

Runkeeper

I'm getting back into the swing of things, preparing to run the New London race in a couple of weeks. I could use the old "busy" excuse for not getting out to run, but really I wasn't finding the time. But, I did get out today, and managed most of a 5K at a much better pace than usual (a little under 10:00/mi, which is good for me).

I use Runkeeper (and, specifically, its iPhone app) to keep track of my runs. If anyone out there who's my Facebook friend or otherwise knows me would like to join my "street team" on Runkeeper and keep an eye on my there, feel free to check out my profile.

Next run will hopefully be tomorrow morning ... stay tuned!

Getting Ready for the 10% Mark!

Today, I registered for my next race. It will be another 5K, this time in New London, CT: the 5K River Run for the Fund. As with my previous race, I found it only by googling running races in a state I hadn't covered yet, so I can't take credit for choosing a good cause. Having chosen it, however, I can encourage anyone reading this to help out:

From what I'm finding on the website, the "Fund" in question is the James A. Greenleaf Memorial Scholarship Fund. Founded after the tragic death of James Greenleaf in 2001, the fund now provides "financial assistance to students attending St. Bernards High School as well as graduating seniors from Waterford High School, Fitch High School and New London High School towards their college tuition."

If you would like to contribute to the fund, please find instructions by following this link.

Meanwhile, I guess I'd better get out and run some more. I did ok in Portsmouth without much of any training, but I'd like to improve on that showing for this one.

Looking forward to finishing this one, and being 10% done! Hard to believe that's happening already!

4 down, 46 to go

The short version? I did it.

It was a very warm day in Portsmouth, NH, today. The high temperatures got to around 80°F, and running on pavement, some of which was new enough still to be pretty dark, got pretty steamy.

But before there was running, there was a really nice community hanging out in the parking lot of Martin's Point Healthcare in the Pease Tradeport area of Portsmouth. On this sunny Sunday afternoon, it was quiet in the largely industrial area, except for all the organizers, volunteers, families and runners who were making the event happen. Under a bright, blue sky, with just a few fluffy clouds floating through the sky, it was hard to focus on the clothesline of t-shirts drying in the breeze which displayed slogans in support of childhood sexual assault survivors and their families: a sobering reminder of the reason for the event, which was a fundraiser for SASS (Sexual Assault Support Services).

Vendors and sponsors from around Portsmouth and beyond had chipped in to provide breakfast, lunch, trash removal (there were composting bins for my banana peel!) and funding for the sound system, race timing, etc.

It's not cool to post photos of other people's small children, so I won't, but trust me, the children's "fun run" was about the cutest thing I've ever seen. Some of the entrants can't have been much more than 2 years old, and churned their chubby little legs across the lawn hand-in-hand with parents and older siblings to the cheers of all. The bigger kids were faster, and ran twice as far, but the little ones were the real stars.

And then it was time for us ...

As I said earlier, it was hot. And I hadn't really trained for this one. I think I'd gone running about three times in the previous few weeks, which were my first actual runs since November. I'd run 5 km each time, comfortably and in reasonable time, so I hadn't worried about it too much. Given the hot weather, though, I found myself wishing I'd done some more preparation and especially some more hydration.

Still, I made it to the finish line, and finished near the middle of the pack: 90th out of 163, 31:15.27.

There was free lunch being provided by a local restaurant, but as a gluten-free vegetarian (more about that at my other blog), there wasn't much there I could eat. Instead, my cheering section (aka my parents) and I headed downtown to Flatbread Company for some well-earned pizza and a little spiked lemonade ...

All in all, a satisfactory day! Many thanks to my generous parents for the company, transportation, photography (all photos by Helen Young, aka Mom) and lunch.

See you next month for the 5K River Run in New London, CT. (And perhaps some training commentary sooner.)

Sunday is Number Four

This Sunday, April 15, I will be running the "5th Annual 5K Race to Keep Kids Safe." The race is planned to benefit SASS (Sexual Assault Support Services), an organization which apparently gives support and counseling to children who have been victims of child sexual abuse, and their families. This is an incredibly good cause, but before I take too much credit for participating in this laudable event, I should admit that SASS is not the reason I'm running this race. The reason I'm running this race, is that it's in Portsmouth, NH.

NH makes four.

Slightly over a year ago, I ran more than a mile successfully for probably the first time in my life. The previous fall, I was still getting so winded around the half-mile mark that I'd have to stop and walk. But somehow, after a winter of doing my Wii Fit Plus's "free run" (running in place in front of the TV) for 30 minutes a day, I found that I could run 2 1/2 miles quite easily.

Me being me, next thing I did was to sign up for my first 5K.

On June 11, 2011, I ran the Gaspee 5K in Pawtuxet Village (Cranston/Warwick), RI, finishing my first race in 26:59.4, which was good enough for 397th place out of 918 overall, 54th out of 205 in my class. I was thrilled: I honestly had just wanted to run the whole thing, and finish preferably not last. I could really do this running thing! Never going to be an olympian or anything, but I could walk tall and say, "yeah, I'm a runner."

I must have, as they say, gotten the bug or something. Because when my mom presented me about a week later with a registration form for a race in my hometown in Massachusetts, I only hesitated slightly before signing up. Sure, 5 miles is 60% longer than 5 km, but I could do it, right?

Right. July 2, 2011: 46:29, 42nd out of 64, 2nd out of 4 in my class. (There was a 1 mile event, too, which tended to limit the 5 mile event to the more serious runners. And, you know, me.)

Me being me, I decided two races in two states needed to be the beginning of a bigger trend. I remembered my godmother mentioning a 10K race in South Freeport, ME, and thought I'd check it out. Turns out it was two days later, and that was slightly short notice for adding another 1.2 miles to my endurance.

But, there was another one coming up in November! You guessed it: the 30th Annual Great Osprey 10K, Saturday, November 5, 2011. 1:00:31, 211th out of 291 overall (never found out my place in my class, although I suppose I could count if I were really determined).

Well, at that point, as the Starks say, winter was coming. And now as spring approaches again, even in fits and starts as it is choosing to do this year, it's time to pick up where I left off: 3 states down, 47 to go.

I've completed official races in three states: RI, MA and ME. Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, I hope to be in good enough health to run for many years to come. That's plenty of time to knock off the rest.

This Sunday? I'm making it 4 down, 46 to go.

Also on the docket for 2012: CT, CA, OR, VT and TN. In that order. But don't let me get ahead of myself. I'll tell you all about those races as they get closer.