So Much Fun at Night!

When I approach the end of the semester, my stress heightens, and I find myself looking for ways to blow off steam so I don't punch someone in the throat. This is where the night runs came in this week.

On Tuesday I ran the annual Christmas Lights Run. It's a 4-mile run to Stan Hywet Hall from Lock 3, a walk through the lit up gardens with lots of photo-opps, and then a 4-mile run back to Lock 3, where we finished with holiday cheer. There were at least three big clubs joining this run, and I belong to all of them: Phillips Phlyers, the Canal Rats, and the Crooked River Trail Runners. Over 100 runners showed up, decked out in Christmas Lights and elf and Santa running gear.

Lock 3 before we left. I'm standing on a chair in the back, but of course I turned my head to the side at the wrong time.

The weather was perfect--in the 40's--and the traffic wasn't too bad, so we had a safe and fun run to Stan Hywet Hall following the Blue Line. I had a great time talking to everyone on the way there (when I wasn't sucking wind).

When we got there, we took lots of photos. The grounds at Stan Hywet were all sparkly with holiday lights. So beautiful!

Crooked River Trail Runners. I am wearing the Santa outfit on the right.

Phillips Phlyers in front of the mansion

Katrina and I passed the time by taking selfies, and of course, Doc Craino had to get in on the action:

Before shot: The Pretty Picture of Katrina and me

I feel like someone is behind us. CRAIN????

 We ran back to Lock 3, with Katrina and Crew trying to kill me by running 9-minute miles (which, for them, is like a stroll in the park). All three clubs were meeting in different bars for our holiday cheer, so I was a bit torn on what to do. I went to 69 Taps to see the Crooked River Trail Runners, but without my glasses, I couldn't see anyone I knew with my quick peek, so I headed to Barley House and ate burgers with Phillips Phlyers.

Post-Run Shenanigans with Joey Phillips

This was an incredible night; 8 miles is exactly what I needed to relieve some end-of-semester stress, and it was so fun to hang with such kind and fun-loving people.

But!

The week's celebrations were not over!

Thursday night was the Crooked River Trail Runners group run and White Elephant Gift Exchange. I knew I would show up for the run, but I didn't intend to participate in the celebration after because it was for 2017 members, and I only just joined for 2018.  I ran 3 miles through the woods and then through Lock 29 with the elves and Santas for the Polar Express. It was a bit surreal to pass about 20 Santas cheering us on.

We arrived at the clubhouse, and I ordered a beer and sat back to watch the exchange around the table. Right away, my new friends encouraged me to join them at the table, even if I didn't participate. This meant that I got some great pics:

Cari got the hot-ticket item of the night. There was a lot of fighting over the onesie.

Kelleigh seems to be VERY SERIOUS about the rules of the game. Was she negotiating for the onesie? Marta seems ready to step in if necessary, and Ken is too busy looking at his own gifts to care if there might be a cage-match going down.

Highlight of the Night: As I'm drinking a Christmas Ale and waiting for everyone to set up the exchange, a young man approaches me. No, it's not what you might think:

Young Man: Mrs. Itibrout? Are you still teaching at Medina?

Me: sigh. Hi, Darian! It's good to see you! Wow--you are an adult now!

I'm like a gazillion years old.

Today, Christmas Eve, I ran 7 miles of Boston Run with Marta. We decided to do our photo opp with a little help from a friend:

Can you guess where we are?

Marta and I focus on the important parts of the statue.

This week was all that I could want in de-stress running. I look forward to running what I like, when I like for the next week or so. In the meantime, I will be calculating my running paycheck next week. What's that? You don't know what a running paycheck is? Check me out next week, and I'll explain it.

Have a wonderful holiday, Peeps, and don't forget to run happy!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Oh, Those Trails!

I am directionally challenged. When you are with me, don't use words like "north" or "east" to tell me where to go. Tell me to turn left at the McDonald's or drive straight for twenty minutes.

Knowing this, Marta still told me that I could run the Brandywine loop from the Boston Store. Oh, she also ran the loop once with me before she left. She has such faith in me.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I tell Marta, "Oh yeah, I got this."  Yeah.

So, I left the Boston Store, turned onto the trail to Brandywine. .  .and I made it there.  Great! Now all I needed to do was complete the loop, and THAT IS WHERE IT ALL FELL APART.  I couldn't find the turn-off to go back toward the Towpath, so I ended up running a mile-long loop back to the falls.  Then I did it again.  On the third lap, people started actively mocking me, even though I told them I MEANT to do that.

I started texting Marta (what did I think she was going to do???), I guess because it would make her laugh.  On my next lap, I turned off the trail onto an unmarked section, and I found the way back.  Whew. Now I know--lesson learned.

This week I started part of the Run with Scissors course with Tracy, Ken, and Nicole. Three miles in Tracy fell on the stairs, which were really slippery with leaves. She grabbed her wrist and said she was hurt. This reminded me of the time I broke my foot on a run; I immediately stopped and said, "I'm hurt.  I'm really hurt." I knew the difference between being scared and superficially hurt and scared and truly injured. I took off my FlipBelt and used it to prop her arm against her chest. Looks like all that Girl Scout training paid off--thanks, Mrs. Mejia! Then we walked her back to the nearest parking lot, where a fellow runner picked her and Ken up so she could go to the emergency room. Poor Tracy now has a sprained wrist.

Nicole and I powered on by running the Ledges, the Octagon, and Boston Run to get a total of ten miles. She and I had a nice long-run talk, and I managed to burn off some crazy. Thanks, Nicole!

This is EXACTLY how I look when I have just burned off some crazy. 

So, lessons learned from the trails:

1. Don't get lost. Pay attention. (Honestly, I don't know if I can follow this rule.)
2. Don't get injured. Be particularly careful around steps. (I'm already afraid of going down steps, so I will continue to be cautious.)

Are you enjoying some beautiful trails right now? Regardless of where you run, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

Speedwork

Here is the deal:

I have 53 seconds to cut off my Akron Half Marathon PR, and it's time to do the hard stuff.

ARGH!! Those 53 seconds have to go!

You may or may not know that Akron is my big PR race of the year.  It was the reason why I started running in the first place.  I wrote all last summer about my desire to run a sub-2 hour half marathon, and I came SO CLOSE.  This year I will nail that sucker.

Time to get serious, Peeps.

On Wednesday I started up my track workouts.  I wasn't looking forward to this, but I know that a concerted effort at speed work really pays off during the race.  Unfortunately, my coach isn't offering a training program this year, so I have to figure out something that works.  Right now I'm just winging it.  I started with ladder drills: 400, 800, 1200, 800, 400.  I warmed up for about 1.5 miles, gossiping with my peeps, and then I got to work.  

One of my biggest problems is going out too fast in a race, and it shows in my speed work.  I was shooting for an 8:20 pace, but I started at 8:00 or less.  Not good.  I made sure to slow down, and that helped.  I am extremely proud that my last 400 was faster than my first 400, with a pace of 8:08.  

What makes me happiest, though, is that my daughter came with me to the track, and she did her own workout.  For a few years now I have been asking her to run with me, and she has turned me down almost every time.  At one point she told me, "You are going to have to deal with the fact that I will not be your runner.  Work on Ben."  

When I casually asked her if she wanted to come to the track with me, I expected a withering, "No, Mom," but she actually said, "Sure.  That sounds like fun."  And it was.

This is EXACTLY how we look when we are finished with speed work.

Then Friday was my first attempt at a tempo run.  First, I got all pinked up:

On Fridays we wear pink.

Then I set out for my run on Sand Run at 2:00 pm, which was stupid on so many levels.

Mile 1:  Warmup 10:11 Mile 2: 9:03 
Mile 3: 9:11 
Mile 4: 9:57--This is where I fell apart. It was all uphill, though.  
Mile 5: Cooldown 11:18

Lessons learned: 1. Tempo runs need to be on flat paths.  Sand Run is a a three mile path full of hills.  As you can see from my times, Miles 2 and 3 were downhill.  2. Miles 2 and 3 were too fast and they were not steady (Did I mention they were downhill?).  I tried to control my pace, but there were some points that I was running at 8:15 or less.  Not cool.   3. Tempo runs should never be at 2:00 in the afternoon in the summer.  I was so. freaking. hot.

Can I call this a win in speed work since it was extremely hilly?

I did call it a win, and I rewarded my daughter and myself with a trip to Stan Hywet Hall to see the Ohio Shakespeare Festival's production of Much Ado about Nothing.  

This is EXACTLY how I look when I am watching Shakespeare.  My friend Shelly is on the  left.

It was fabulous, Peeps; I highly recommend you see this comedy or Henry V, which starts July 30.

Today I ran three loops of the Boston Run Trail in Peninsula for a total of 9-something miles.  I thought I did pretty well.  I got through the third loop by telling myself I could walk any hill I liked, and I walked most of them.  Don't judge; I didn't walk any of them in the first two loops.

Anyway, this is my new committment to speed work.  I'm going to go to the track every Wednesday, and I'm going to fit in a tempo run each week.  

Akron won't know what hit it when I cross that finish line.

Like what you read?  Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!