... does the Galloway together!

Hello everyone!

So I have been absent from the blog the last few weeks so here is a summary of what we've been up to:

July 11th Paul White Memorial Race, North Falmouth, MA

The PWM was held on a beautiful day. Our Team All Ears teammate and friend, Amanda, came down with her lovely family to enjoy the day with us. The course was hilly and it was a hot day compared to what we'd been experiencing this summer so it was a challenge. However, the course was pretty, there were lots of great spectators with hoses spraying to cool us off, so we had a great time. Amanda and family came back to Monument Beach with us after the race and the kids frolicked in the sun and surf while we chilled out and relaxed.  Unfortunately, Nik - Amanda's husband - lost his watch in the sand on the beach.  Talk about the proverbial needle in a hay stack...

After this race I sort of fell into a bit of a summer slump. I still added one mile to my long runs each week, but had been having a hard time getting out there for the training runs. I am now out of this slump thanks to a refreshing race this week that has motivated me again. Hooray!!!

July 28th Yankee Homecoming 10 mile race, Newburyport, MA

So much to say about this event!

First off it was a BIG race compared to the little ones we've been doing recently. There were 1,500 runners in EACH the 3 mile and the 10 mile. As a result we didn't get a chance to connect with Amanda before the start :( Next time I will remember my cell phone so we can find one another!!! However, we found all the runners and spectators to create a lot of excitement and ambiance. What fun! 

Although we have been doing Galloway run 4/walk 1 for all our training runs we have never raced using the method. Well, lets just say it takes a LOT of discipline. Here we are, all pumped up, excitement is tangible, the race starts, mid pack moves ahead and we are plugging along with the back of the packers, warming up, trying to find our rhythm, when...

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! BEEEEP! 

Time to walk already? Are you kidding? We just got started! There is still adrenaline and excitement! Walk? Do we have to? Can't we skip just this one walk interval?

Well, we did walk. We knew we could do 9 miles doing the Galloway and could do 10 even though we hadn't gone that far yet, but what if we tried to run the whole time? How would we feel? So we walked. We found ourselves being passed by almost the entire remainder of the runners. People around us wondering "What's up with those two? They haven't gone half a mile and they are walking already? They'll never make it 10 miles!"  

Well, we did make it 10 miles. The first 3 miles were tough. High 80's and REALLY humid. The scenery was great, beautiful houses, water views, but they were a long 3. Again, there were lots of spectators and hoses to help cool us off. I really appreciated that and it is always good to wave at the spectators to encourage them to cheer you on. I've found every time I give  a little wave I get a cheer. Every little bit helps! We also had the benefit of running near Mr. Moss, who apparently taught in the Newburyport school system for a long time so everyone knew him. It was fun hearing all those cheers - "Go Mr. Moss!" - even though they weren't for us :) 

Then between mile 3 and 4 we went through downtown Newburyport. Along with the race, there were other Yankee Homecoming events so downtown was packed with spectators and vendors - mmmmm - do I smell kettle corn? Whoo Hoo! What fun. All that cheering and clapping, plus the sun going down gave us an extra kick in our step. We were SO glad our watches weren't telling us to walk as we went through downtown. We will have to try and synchronize that for the WDW marathon so we are running, not walking, through the parks!

From there on out we hit our stride. We went through a more rural area - cows even - yipee! I love cows.  There were some hills in this section as well, but we were fine. At mile 8 it was pretty flat and we were feeling great so we kicked it up a notch and ended up passing 50-75 runners that had passed us in the first 5 minutes of the race. It was exciting to be feeling strong at the end instead of wiped out. Thanks Galloway!!! 

Then at around mile 9 who did we see running as fast as he could along the sidewalk heading towards us, but Gabe Gonzales - Amanda's son! Followed closely behind by the rest of his family of course. So I made a quick detour to hand off Nik's watch - which was found on the beach the day after it was lost - in a relay performance worthy of an olympic medal ... or at least youtube!  Those guys are great! This new boost of adrenaline carried us to - ugh! - a hill - up to the football field and across the finish line. Whoo Hoo! We made it! 1hr 48min and 20 seconds placing 1,233 and 1,234 out of 1,352. Our split was 2 1/2 minutes faster for the second half then the first. Thanks again Galloway and also to the sun for going down and making it cooler for us! 

So now I am pumped for training again and ready to pound some pavement. WDW Marathon 2010 HERE WE COME!!!!