Last Long Run of the Year

Only time for a quick blog entry. It's 6:33 am on Sunday and I'm getting ready to leave the house to do my LAST long run (10 miles) of the year before next weekend's marathon. Whoo-hoo!

My neighbor and I have been doing cold, dark morning runs and both of us agree -- this is the last December marathon, ever. I'll still run this winter, but I've about had my fill of dragging my butt out of bed for a freezing cold run that has to be done. The thought of some short, quick noontime runs is sounding lovely.

That being said, I am SO excited about the marathon. And nervous. I alternate between "I'm going to knock this sucker out of the park" and "Oh my God, what have I done?" thinking. So far, the weather forecast for next weekend in Kiawah is perfect - starting in mid-30's and getting up to high 50's. That's some prime running weather.

In other news, this blog will soon convert to a new "Decorating Diaries" series. Blair and I decided for no apparent reason that the 3 weeks before the holiday season would be the best time for us to rip down the duck wallpaper in the exercise room and do some painting. So now my front bedroom is filled with all the books and furniture from the exercise room and the cats are beside themselves in a panic, wondering what's behind the closed door.  It just wouldn't be the holidays without some major demolition work occurring in the Harris household.

Off to run. Have a lovely Sunday morning.

I’m A Runner & All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt…

Upon accessing the somewhat hidden world of running, I’ve made surprising discoveries about myself—and others—along the way. One or two of these unearthings came to me early this morning as I sat in the bathroom, clipping my toenails to a brutally short length in preparation for this morning’s speed workout on the treadmill. As I watched polished toenail clippings fly, I meditated on the seldom mentioned aspects of running and thought I would use my blog time this morning to share these thoughts with you.

So, without further adieu, here is

Dena’s Top 10 List of Things Your Mama Never Told You About Running

1. Don’t become too attached to your toenails as life quickly becomes a battle of keeping them cut painfully short, watching them blacken, or losing them entirely.
2. Be prepared to listen—and participate in—discussions about bowel movements and how to help ensure a healthy bowel movement occurs on schedule before a race.
3. Watch out for bleeding nipples. (Thankfully, this primarily seems to hit men.)
4. You will have intense discussions with fellow runners on technical materials and which wicking shirt is best at moving sweat and stench away from the body.
5. You will start to enjoy math. I’ve never liked or been good with numbers, but I now spend endless hours calculating speed and times in the form of those word problems that used to bring me to tears as a child. (If Sally Runner runs 21 miles in 3 hours and 11 minutes, what is her pace per mile? If Sally were to run 10 seconds faster for 5 miles and 5 seconds faster for 10 miles, then what would her pace be? Be sure to factor in four 8-second water stops along the way…)
6. That men are eager to discuss fashion (as long as it involves wicking material) and where to find the best shopping bargains on runner’s clothes.
7. That you will closely follow etiquette questions in a runner’s magazines on how to blow your nose or pass gas while in the presence of a fellow runner.
8. You will become obsessed with tracking, down to the tenth of a mile, the mileage on your shoes.
9. That you would ever pay upwards of $8 for a single pair of socks.
10. That you will never again be able to walk, bike, or drive a single road without judging whether it would make for a good run and the reasons why or why not.

Obsessive? A bit. Gross? For sure. Something any runner would ever willing give up? Never.

Happy pre-Thanksgiving.

Dena

Stand Up Comedy

Last night's speech to about twenty women went very well. Two comments in particular delighted me and I thought I'd share them with you. The first was from a women who came up after my speech and said, "Have you ever thought of doing stand-up comedy? You are so funny."

I love that. I love laughing and having a good time during my speeches and it's rewarding to know I'm not up there laughing by myself (always a possibility...) So I appreciated her saying that.

The other comment had nothing to do with my speech but is cherished, nonetheless. As I was walking down the aisle toward the door, a woman stopped me and said, "This may sound like an odd question, but are you by any chance a runner?"

My surprise must have showed on my face. "I am," I said.

She nodded. "I used to do a little bit of running and I was looking at you during your speech and I just thought you look like someone who has a runner's body."

Oh people... how happy am I? NO ONE has ever said I have a runner's body. In fact, NO ONE has ever told me I have any form of athletic shape whatsoever in my entire life. I thanked her, we chatted about running for a few minutes and then I floated on air out the door. Happy, happy camper.

On a slightly sour note, I managed to leave my flip chart stand behind. That usually wouldn't be a big deal except that I must have it for a presentation I'm giving tomorrow. So I resigned myself to driving 45 minutes into GSO and back to pick the thing up only... the library can't find it. I can't blame them. It's my fault for leaving it behind. I think they're conducting a half-hearted search of the premises, but looks like I'm going to have to send Blair out on a Office Depot run for a new portable chart holder.

Freaked Out Felines, Wine, & More...

I'm scaring the cats. I'm rehearsing the speech I'm giving tonight at the Women Connecting With Women Business Showcase. My speech begins with a rather rowdy exercise that involves the audience and I'm acting out the part of the audience so that I may time my speech and know where I fall. But all the yelling and applauding is freaking out the felines...

I've decided to drink more. Alcohol, that is. At my friend Kay's birthday dinner last night I had a full, lovely glass of red wine and then had a kick-ass run this morning in the rain. It's not the first time I've mixed wine and running. We met friends once to celebrate their anniversary and I drank probably close to a 1/2 bottle of wine that night, knowing I had a 14-mile run the next day. I expected to struggle and instead breezed through the miles. So I think the message here is... wine makes running easier.

I leave you with this thought that I have hanging on my bulletin board...

Be Weird Whenever You Have The Chance