Off to Nashville to RnR

Although I’m not technically off the grid, but I’ve had a lot of stuff (do you like my descriptiveness right there?) going on lately so am off the WordPress grid I guess. I don’t want to be all like “I have a big announcement”, but I have some really big and good news to share, but I’m not quite ready to share it yet. It’s taken up a lot of my time and Three Buck Chuck money, but I’m so excited and am impatiently waiting for the right time to talk about it.

The “big announcement” work is being paired with, but not really associated with, a big event I’m coordinating at my son’s school for the Stride (elementary running group I coach) community service project that seemed to have taken on a life of its own. To make a long story short, here’s the gist:

1) UNC-W decided to shut down their running programs but gave the community a few months to dig up $250,000 to save it for a year. Crap.

2) I do not like #1. At all. And I wanted to do something about it. Because it’s crap.

NO! Do NOT eliminate running programs!!!!

3) I wanted the Stride kids to know that they are empowered and they CAN make a difference to someone by taking action. Sometimes when you don’t know what to do, you can always run.  And sometimes people give you money to run. Because we give a crap.

4) We are having a school running event to raise money and awareness about #1. Not just the Stride boys, not just Stride and Girls on the Run, no, the entire student body was invited to participate to raise money for our event, complete with an MC, the athletes and coaches from the affected programs, and possibly the school mascot himself, Sammie the Seahawk.  We will even be discussed in the local paper in a story about ways the community is coming together to save the running teams. Because cutting them is a bunch of crap.

5) It takes a lot to coordinate the above, especially when you are not a part of the school staff and you really have no idea how many people will be participating. No crap.

So many emails, phone calls, newsletters, and Costco trips to handle, but I’m loving it. Our event will be on May 4th and I’m hoping the kids have a great time, raise a lot of money, and inspire someone to give the remainder of the funds required. Ok, the last one is a pipe dream, but if you don’t ever dream it, chances are, it won’t happen, right?

And if any of you reader is so inspired to donate any amount, please comment with your email and I will be glad you send you the info. K? K. It’s tax deductible, too. Bonus.

Now that THAT is done, my IM training has been going really well. I feel like I’m sort of spinning my wheels a little (pun totally intended) since I don’t have a schedule of workouts to do, I just do what I can on the days that it works for me. Since swimming is my weakest event, I’ve gotten in the pool and swam 2000 yards twice in the past two weeks, which is almost half the distance in the IM event. I think it was a good sign that I was thinking of food instead of form during the swim.  I have many months to grow that distance, and open water season starts next week. I’m seriously ready to tackle the waterway, the ocean, and all the swimming I can in any condition. Well, maybe not the “bacteria warning” days. Speaking of crap….

Trails at Poplar Grove Plantation.

I had a nice 51 mile bike ride followed by a 5 mile run on Sunday. There were only two sub-20 mph bikers so at least I met someone really cool out of the deal. I was one of the sub-20 mph bikers, by the way. It felt good on the bike, but I was lacking for nutrition on the run. I pushed myself and finished up faster than when I started, so I was happy for that AND for seeing the little bitty snake in my path on the run. I didn’t even scream.

You’d think the thing was 12 feet long and two feet tall the way I walked around it.

I’ve been doing speed work and hills, so when I start back with my training group in June, I won’t get shin splints. My friend and I ran 800’s the other day, and it’s funny when you realize you’re faster than a few months ago. The first set of 800’s I did in January were at 3:30, and I pushed for those, and I was really super happy about it. Fast forward to this week, we ran them in 3:21, and I think we could’ve gone faster. Probably 5 seconds faster. That’s progress. I guess when you’re running mile repeats in 7:00 over the course of marathon training, your 800’s should be quite a bit faster, right?  Of course, my thought process turns toward the run in my Ironman. I dream of having a 4:00 race (the running part). I know that’s probably insane, but hey, why not make that a goal? That means I have a TON of biking to do and a TON of running to do. But it’s doable, and I want to make my way back to Boston. I already have my next race planned.

Nashville, here we come!!

This weekend, I’m doing something that I’ve never done. I’m taking a trip with a bunch of ladies and we are going to par-tay this weekend in Nashville. I’m running* the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon on Saturday, which will be interesting since I’ve only done one run of any substantial distance since the marathon. Oh well, my friend is going to run with me, so it should be fun. I hope, anyway. We are celebrating the friendships and going out on the town in Nashville, a city I have never visited. I’m super excited and may come back with a truck load of stories to tell. Wish me luck on the race. We have an open water swim planned for Sunday, so hopefully the weather will cooperate for the race and swim. If not, I’m sure we’ll deal with it just fine. I really enjoy the RnR races and I’m sure this one will not disappoint!

Have you been on a ladies/gentlemen trip before? Do you like Rock ‘n’ Roll races?

*I am running the race but MY name will not show up in the results, if you know what I mean.