Is This Thing On?

I joined Team Z. I am all IN for Eagleman. IN!

I joined (and went to first workout!) the Montgomery County Road Runners Speed Development Clinic, which I also did last year. It's a b***-buster, but it works.

I signed up for (and went to class #1) on "Writing the Personal Essay."

So. Is this what mania feels like??

(And just for the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, involved with the gentleman below. He's just some arm candy, people. It is entirely possible, however, that there is a crush going on in my life. I am too much of a lady to say more.)

I am also IN TRAINING to meet Runner Susan on Jan. 30 (not so much in training for the half-mary we're doing.) Training for the RS event mainly involves drinking lots of wine, which I have well under control. I am also in training for the sidetrip to Austin to see Little Miss Runnerpants. I'm not sure what I should be doing for that. Brushing up on my karaoke skills??

Blogland is a wonderful place!

I am off to New York City for the weekend.

Things are looking up.

I am in love with this song. I want to marry it.

Then She Ran the Firebirds Mile

The people spoke.

Poll Results:
Firebirds Mile: 57.9%
Regular workout: 38.6
And 5.3 percent of you wanted me on the couch watching "Housewives"?? WTF?!

So I listened. (And I still got home in time for "Housewives." Sweet!)

The Firebirds Mile, held 4/14, is a joint effort of the Gaithersburg Firebirds Youth Track Club and the Montgomery Country Road Runners.

As usual, after battling D.C. traffic all the way to God's little acre, I was in a foul mood. My stomach was doing flipflops, and I was resigned to an 11 min mile. Plus, it was, yet again, raining, cold, and windy. Perfect.

My coach had sent directions about how to prepare: One mile warmup, 800m of strides (something like "run hard on the straights and jog the turns").

My legs felt encased in cement as I warmed up, and I just knew this was gonna suck. Afterwards, I got off the track to watch the 1/4 mile fun run, and my warmed-up muscles evaporated in the cold.

If you are ever in a bad mood, please, go cheer for a bunch of toddlers as they participate in a fun run. Hiiiilarious! They skip, race, walk, stop, turn around, ask to be carried, run, whatever. As one little guy approached the chute, he stopped to fiddle with his shoe.

You know, kind of the way I run a half-mary!

There weren't that many adults there, at least not that many adults my age. That meant there was the wild possibility that I might win my AG.

We were sent out in heats (or COLDS, as I prefer to call them), slowest to fastest. Heat one was for expected finish times greater than 10:00. I considered this, because hello, that's kinda my speed. But when I saw the competition, I just couldn't bear the thought of having my butt kicked by these guys:



(Heat One, 10 minutes and slower)

Heat two was for expected finish times greater than 9:00 up to 10:00

(Heat two. I so wanted to get in front of these kids, it took all my self-restraint. That, plus the derision of others. I'm wearing a white hat, looking down.)

(Those kids had a totally unfair advantage. I'm still in the back, checking my watch.)

I started conservatively. I really wanted to do this in 9:something. I'd been doing 800s in 4:30ish, so I figured this was a possibility.

I passed a few kids, and said "Great job!," cuz I'm nice like that.

At the first lap, I was behind a line of grownups. We were running in formation:



Then, suddenly, I made my move, by swinging wiiiiiide outside:


Slowly but surely, Mr. Run for the Roses was going DOWN:


I passed all of the grown ups, except the Roses guy!

Oh, honey, I know exactly how you feel:
Her coach came out and ran with her, and she recovered nicely. Well done!)

But I passed her too.

And then in a surprise come-from-behind, I passed Mr. Roses. Here I am flying into the chute, after having tossed my hat off during lap three, cuz it was cramping my style:
(For the record? I am at my skinniest EVER, and I totally deny looking like this. White is ever-so-NOT-slimming.)

Final time:
8:56.63
3/5
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to tell you, there is no greater feeling on earth than starting behind and passing a pile of people. I don't care if they are 3 feet tall, or a bunch of old geezers like me, it was AWESOME!

I finally got a mile that starts with an "8"!

I can't wait to do that again.

PR! PR! PR! PR!

Montgomery Country Road Runners Jan. 1, 2008 5K:
30:15 (pace: 9:46 min. mile)
(UPDATE: I can't stand it!!! You'll just have to bear with me.)
5/12 Jeanne McCann 50 Bethesda MD MCRRC 30:22 9:47 )

FIVE OUT OF 12!!! Not 11/12!!! Not 12/12!!!

Same race last year:
33:01 (10:38 min. mile)

My all-time 5K PR: GW Parkway Classic, April 23, 2006, a FLAT COURSE:
31:13 (10:03 min. miles)

To recap:

Today, Jan. 1, 2008, I ran a race where my average pace started with the number NINE.

9:46 min. miles

LET'S JUST ALL LET THAT NUMBER SINK IN FOR A WHILE.

This is the first time EVER I have EVER run a race where my pace started with something other than 10!!! I mean usually it's 11! If not 12!! I'm in the single digits people!!!

This race is small and free to club members. It's a double loop course. There's a pretty nice big long downhill in it, which you get to go down twice. Of course what goes down must go up.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and forget about conserving my energy and all that nonsense. I was gonna go out fast, and see what happened.

Mile 1: 9:23 (I KNOW! Don't ask me! I have no idea!!!)

Mile 2: 9:33 (Ditto!!)

Mile 3.11: 11:18 (Now we're back in more familiar territory.)

Notes:

This is the club that is RABID about no headphones, although of COURSE there were people running who were wearing headphones. $#@~!

This is the race where last year I barely kept up with an 8-year-old and his dad who was carrying a cup of coffee throughout the race.

This year, there was a 7-year-old girl dressed as tinkerbell. I had my eye on her, believe me.

This year I ran beforehand for 10 minutes to warm up. I was so hepped up by the time we got going, you would have thought I'd been doped.

Old School Runner was there, volunteering, taking photos, and cheering. It's so nice to hear your name called. I sped up whenever I saw him, funnily. Stick a camera on me and apparently I snap to.

This year, I felt stronger. I think that spinning and swimming have helped.

Of course it's not a race unless there is drama: As I was cruising toward the finish, not believing that the clock said 30:xx, I heard a man behind me yell, "Catch her! Catch her!", obviously not talking to me. I crossed the finish and as I did there was a girl at my elbow. Then she passed me in the chute, saying "You're hard to catch."

There are no chips at this race; instead you are given a card with the number on it as you exit in order of finish. So this girl got 175 and I got 176. Even though the reverse was the TRUE ORDER. Let the record reflect.

Thanks to Old School for coming out, volunteering, cheering and most of all, taking my picture!


I do believe that BOTH FEET are off the pavement! (Squinting will help you see this.)





And the obligatory butt shot.