Filles de Fer

We’re all in this thing together

My fellow marathoners were great motivation, too. I had a “race buddy” - a total stranger who was pretty much on pace with me for the entire 26.2. Every time I slowed down and wanted to quit, she was there saying “Come on, you’re rocking this thing!” and every time she dropped back to walk, I’d jog back to where she was and tell her what a great job she was doing and to keep it up. I have no idea who she was, but she kept me running! Thanks, anonymous marathon girl.

Hooray for marathon spectators!

One thing I love about the Flying Pig is that the spectators are extra nice. I got a lot of high-fives, a lot of cheers, some orange slices, some candy, and of course, those two free beers. Even during the parts of the race where there shouldn’t have been spectators (such as the stretch of blocked-off highway we ran on for a bit), there were little clusters of people waving and cheering. So sweet.

Marathon in 5 days. I just remembered that the exact same situation happened at last year’s Flying Pig. I ran it with essentially no training. I underestimated the hills. I pretty much forgot about the race until 2 weeks beforehand.

Improvements for this year: I’ve done a marathon before. I’ve seen these hills before. I’m hydrating and eating well this week (even if I haven’t been running very much).

This race is my albatross. It’s likely that I will never ever train for it, but I’m probably going to keep running it for years.

I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They’re never going to run any record times, but they can always fulfill their own potential.
Bill Bowerman

Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time.
Greg LeMond

In other cycling news, I finally got my Twin Six jersey! Took long enough…

(I’ll model it soon, promise!)

Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There’s something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym.
Bill Nye, the Science Guy

Stadiums are for spectators. We runners have nature and that is much better.
Juha Väätäinen

Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.
William Faulkner

Who runs in circles never gets far.
Thornton W. Burgess

I’m getting sick of this winter weather! This week’s running goal is to find some way to break up the monotony of running on a 1/8 mile track. I might take a break from building my mileage and do some interval and speed training plus a bit of “hill” work on the stairmill.

Jogging is very beneficial. It’s good for your legs and your feet. It’s also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed.
Charles Schulz

I wish the ground wasn’t so icy and the air wasn’t so cold. I miss running outside.