Pay Day 2017

It is once again my Running Pay Day, Peeps. This means that I need to do a bunch of math to figure out how much money I can put into my special running savings account.

The background to Running Pay Day is this:

I once read of a running blogger who pays herself for each mile she runs. Needing some motivation that doesn't involve food, I thought this was a wonderful idea. Of course, because I am complicated, I must have many rules about how to pay myself. So, here is how it works:

First, I calculate the number of miles total I have run in 2017. This is easy because I log my miles into DailyMile.com. This year I ran 1,694 miles. Not bad considering my goal was 1,500!

30 more miles would have taken me to Salt Lake City, UT!

Next, I subtract the number of racing miles I ran because I pay myself $1.00 for each racing mile. I love going over the races I ran this year because it brings back ALL THE FEELS for each race. Here are the races I ran this year (Click on the links to revisit my recaps):

Pro-Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon: 13.1
Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon: 26.2
Medina Half Marathon: 13.1
Green Jewel 2-person relay: 14
Burning River 8-person relay: 16.5
Leave No Trace Half Marathon: 13.1
Medina Race with Grace 5k: 3.1
Akron Marathon: 26.2
Run with Scissors Half Marathon: 13.1 (I actually ran 16.5 miles for this, but that is another story.)
Home Run for the Homeless: 4

I have a total of 142.4 racing miles. I'll round that down to 142. That means I've earned $142 in racing miles--but wait! There is more!

I subtract my racing miles from my total miles, and I pay myself $.50 per training mile:

1,694-142= 1,552 miles x $.50= $776 dollars.

Then I add that to the racing miles:
$776 + $142 = $918 dollars

Wow. That is a chunk of change! Unfortunately, that is not how much I get paid.

Now I have to deduct the amount of race fees I paid this year. Booooo. I didn't keep EXACT track of the racing fees (because it is painful), but I do have a good idea. One note: for two of these races, I paid more in order to donate to a race-affiliated charity, but I will not count that as a racing fee since it was voluntary.

The total for these races comes to about $446.  Honestly, not bad for ten running events that gave me hours of pleasure (WHAT????).

Ok, 918-446 = $472.   BUT WAIT!!!!

I award myself a $5.00 bonus for every PR, and I had two this year, soooooo. . .

$472 + $10 = $482

This is the most I've earned in a year. I am super-pleased with myself, particularly since the 300+ extra miles I've run this year have clearly made a difference in my paycheck.


Here is the thing:

I realize that I'm paying myself in my own money, but I am going to put that money into a savings account that I've had for years, and it will go toward my dream race: the Paris marathon. Normally, I wouldn't dream of spending any of that money on myself.  Too often women, especially mothers, refuse to reward themselves or put themselves first in any situation. I will not be a part of that. I worked damned hard this year, and I will reward myself with the promise of something that will be just for me.

Not only that, but the hard cash that I earned actually benefits me twice: All of those training miles helped me to build my endurance and (rarely) speed. I learned so much about what I'm capable of doing by training and racing, and even though there was some pain involved, I wouldn't change any of it. . . even getting lost in the woods during a trail race. I deserve to celebrate me.

How can you celebrate yourself, Peeps? What goals have you set for 2018? How can you reward them? It doesn't have to be as complicated as my system (Lord knows there are easier ways!), but you should find a way to fete your accomplishments and reward your work. It can make the difference between getting outside in the snow. . . or staying in bed and regretting that decision.

As for me, I have goals for 2018, and I am already getting started on them! This will be the best year. . . and the best ME yet!

This is clearly not the best me. . .but I'm working on it!

Whatever your goals and rewards are, I hope you run happy, Peeps!


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End of Year Running Review

I am typing this on the last day of 2017.  This is the moment where I review my running goals for the year. Let's get to it, shall we?

Goal #1: Run the Cleveland Marathon all by myself without freaking out.

Melissa, Rachel, and me at the Expo

The Ambassadors at the starting line

Mission Accomplished! I definitely had moments of insecurity at the VIP Dinner, but I ran that sucker all by myself like a boss. From this race, I learned that I don't necessarily need to rely on anything (like music) or anyone to run a marathon.

Goal #2: Run more trail races.

Me, Candice, Kristin. Burning River, Leg 5

Goddesses + Mother Runners. Leave No Trace Half Marathon

Marta, Me, Nicole, Spooky Ghost. Run with Scissors Half Marathon

Mission Accomplished! I had counted on running Burning River, but the other two trail half-marathons were kind of spur of the moment decisions.  I'm really glad that I ran them. From these races, I learned that I don't have to kill myself just to run a race. I can just enjoy it.

Goal #3: PR at the Akron Marathon.  This was a stretch goal, I admit. The weather on the day of the race was incredibly hot and humid, and I was tempted to drop to the half. I really freaked myself out. . .and then I got my shit together and got the job done. I told myself that I would just run easy because it was silly to believe that I could PR in that kind of weather. . .but I still wanted to meet that goal.

Still freaked out at Expo

PR, Baby!

Mission Accomplished! I PR'd by about 90 seconds, and I consider that an incredible accomplishment. I learned that I am much stronger than I think, and I think I'm pretty badass.

Goal #4: Run at least 1,500 miles.

Mission Accomplished! I learned that the best way for me to train is to put in lots of longer miles, one of which must be a midweek long run of 7-10 miles. This was the best way for me to run two marathons without getting injured. 

I finished my running year with eight miles on the Towpath with Marta. It was bitter cold, and the snow wasn't packed, so we got a great glute workout.

We look like we are about to rob a bank, but really we are gearing up for the run.

I have had a successful running year, and now I'm thinking about my new goals for 2018. I've got some ideas, but I will leave that for another post. For now, I'm going to bid you a Happy New Year. I hope you met your goals for the year, and I hope you have some challenging goals for next year. Whatever your goals, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

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Race Recap: Leave No Trace Half Marathon

After running 20 miles of the Blue Line last Saturday, it seemed like a good idea to sign up for a trail half marathon. I figured I could meander on the trails of Camp Manatoc, work some other muscles, and get in some miles at an easy pace.

Camp Manatoc is a Boy Scout camp, and once a year they open their trails for this race. It's a cool opportunity, and the trails are beautiful.

I had lots of friends at this race: both Goddesses and Mother Runners.

Goddesses: Marta made me take this picture 4 times because she thought her finger was too close to her nose.

We got a picture of all of us together:

Mother Runners + Goddesses = A Very Fun Race

It was a bit chilly; the weather app said 56 degrees, but it really felt like 46 degrees. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, and part of the race I was very glad I did, and the other part I was cursing my stupidity. It's sometimes difficult to find a happy medium.

We all started out together, and it was very cramped on the trails. Eventually the herd thinned as the speed demons passed us, and we started to hit our pace.  After a few miles, I felt like speeding up a bit, so I ran ahead to where I found Renee and Carrie at the bathroom stop, and we ran together.

The trails were awesome, and the fuel stops had ginger ale, so you know I was happy.  No GU on the trails for me--pretzels and ginger ale all the way.

At mile 11, I looked at my watch and half-turned to Renee and Carrie to announce, "We are probably going to beat 3 hours!" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I went down.  Boom.  I lay still for about 30 seconds while I decided whether I was hurt and scared or just scared. I decided that I would live, so I got up and started up again. Renee and Carrie were good enough to stay with me even though I had jinxed us.

My left elbow and my knees were feeling pretty banged up, but I didn't want to look at them because there was nothing I could do about that. We raced on and finished in 3:03.

The medal is hard-core; it weighs about a gazillion pounds.

I took a picture of my knees before I got them cleaned up at the aid station because Renee reminded me that trail-runners only have bragging rights if the wounds look bad:

Gross, right?

After the race there was a vendor village with HiHo Brewery inside the Boy Scout mess hall, but my teeth had started to chatter, and I knew that it was housecleaning day anyway, so I left the Goddesses and the Mother Runners to their beer while I returned home to scrub toilets.

I really enjoyed this race: the trails were gorgeous, the weather was perfect for running, I loved seeing so many of my friends.  This is a keeper for sure.

It is now three weeks to Akron Marathon time. I think I'm going to run at least 16 miles next weekend and then go for a proper taper.

Will I see you on the Blue Line? I hope I do. I especially hope that no matter where or how you run, you run happy, Peeps!

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