My first time to wear red socks
Whenever I run, I like to be as incognito as possible. We’re talking border-line ninja. I think my goal is to blend in as much as possible so nobody will notice the super-slow girl bringing up the rear. So my running attire for races is pretty standard: black shirt, black pants, white socks. No crazy socks. No tutus. No funny hats. If nobody notices me, I’ve accomplished my mission.
So pulling on long, bright red socks Sunday morning felt pretty weird.
Granted, I wasn’t exactly running a marathon yesterday. I wasn’t even running the half or 5k. I was heading out with my husband and 3-year-old daughter for the Oklahoma City Memorial Kids Marathon. I did my last half – my fourth one – back in March so I would be able to participate with my little girl in her big race. For the Kids Marathon, runners put in 25 miles on their own and then finish the last 1.2 miles at the race. (If you don’t think that sounds far, try putting in that kind of distance when you’re legs are, like, 12 inches long.)
I read in the Landrunners Oklahoma City Running Club newsletter that people were encouraged to wear red socks in honor of those affected by the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this month. After some digging, we were able to rustle up some red socks for all of us. (That’s us in the photo above before the run.)
Granted, a 3-year-old really doesn’t have a preference on her socks on any given day, so it’s not like we really explained to her the reason she was sporting brand new ones. But we wanted her to be a part of it, even if she didn’t know why. At the expo, some children handed out bracelets braided with red, white and blue yarn. We tied one around our daughter’s wrist the morning of the race, and she asked what it was for. All we could really explain was that it was to remember some people who were hurt. It was to help them feel better.
I saw a lot of red socks during the kids event, and we spotted plenty of race finishers wearing them as they staggered away from the finish line. Lots of people wore shirts in support of Boston, including my next-door-neighbors. As we walked back to the car after the fun and celebration, we passed the Oklahoma City National Memorial. My mom overheard a dad explaining to his daughter, “This is a very special place.”
Life is full of hurts. Terrorism is one that frightens us, whether it’s in our city or hundreds of miles away. I can’t stop terrorism, but I can do small acts of love, even if it’s only socks.
The “nice little dirt path”
OK, so my friend Megan is a liar.
She’s the one who talked me into running in the first place, and I’m so, so, so glad she did. As I’m getting back into the swing of running, I’ve been looking to Megan again for help and inspiration. We were going to run with the Landrunners this Saturday but decided to do a shorter, easier run to really kick-start our training. We’ll do something easy, Megan says. We’ll do something short, Megan says. We’ll go run on this “nice little dirt path” she knows about, Megan says.
Well, the nice little dirt path we took off on was the Bluff Creek Trial. It’s a 3 1/2-mile bike trail in northwest Oklahoma City that’s maintained by the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship.
This was my first outing in the Oklahoma heat, and my longest run since starting back up. Let me just say, I was wholly unprepared for the heat, and I was 100 percent unprepared for the trail. Somewhere around mile 2 I thought, “I’m going to die out here. I’m going to literally sweat to death, and some cyclist is going to have to pick me up and move me out of the way so people can ride past my body.”
Well, luckily that did not happen. But it was seriously a close call. Afterwards, Megan said that it was a little more of a technical run than she remembered. So maybe she isn’t a liar – just a mis-remember-er.
This is how the Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship describes it:
Tight and Twisty = Not so easy
Mickey Mouse roller-coaster type trail. Very tight singletrack with lots of turns, trees, drop-ins adn climbs.
Mickey Mouse roller-coaster? I nearly died. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much fun I had. It had lots of challenges and problems to solve that you don’t find on a treadmill, that’s for sure. It was fantastic. I’m going to sneak back out there some morning again. Hopefully the heat will break so I can have another shot at taking on Bluff Creek.
Marathon Training – Week 13
Week 14 – 20 Miles
Marathon Starting Line
NW 5th & Harvey
Sunday, April 10th
Announcements 6:25a.m.
Start Running 6:30 a.m.
We had another great turnout this past Sunday (this is getting redundant!). It was a warm and windy morning with the temperature near 70 and the wind gusting above 30 mph. But, I didn’t see anyone blew away and the runners were in good spirits. There was also quite an array of goodies on the table after the run. Thanks to everyone who brought something to share.
Runners, you have come a very long way in the past 13 weeks. You have completed 170 of the scheduled 210 miles of weekend long runs (81%). This weekend’s 20 miler is the last big hurdle before we start our taper to race day. Congratulations, you are almost there. The effort will be worth it when you cross the finish line on May 1st.
Our water stops sponsor this week will be the Red Coyote. They will have water stops every three miles. They will also have something VERY special for everyone who completes the training run on Sunday. You don’t want to miss this. It will be well worth getting up for.
Course – The 20 mile course will begin at the official marathon starting line and follow the regular course to Waverly and Carlisle where we will turn left on Carlisle and go west to Penn. At Penn, turn south (left) and go to Grand. At Grand turn east (left) and you are back on the course. Follow the course from there back to our usual finishing point at NW 5th & Broadway. The following link illustrates the course.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=871213825318
Mark Bravo’s Tips – As you’re well into your longer efforts for the OKC Memorial Half or Full Marathon, it’s time to establish a ‘game plan’ for the pivotal aspects of your big day:
1) Nutrition: Simulate how you’ll hydrate and take in sustenance, in terms of timing and how much. Familiarity breeds CONFIDENCE!
2) Set the stage for how you want the race to play out; realistically create game plan for midway through-whatever distance-and 3/4 through, so you’re prepared for whatever ‘intangibles’ may arise.
3) Complete a few “fine-tuning” workouts; heighten leg turnover for short periods or TEMPO runs once/week.
All of these lead to your heading to the starting line on top of your game, mentally and physically, the key to making May 1st a day you’ll always remember! Runnning Coach Mark Bravo Questions? Find me at runbravo@yahoo.com.
Pothole Update – We need to give the marathon folks a pothole report asap so they can fix them before May 1st. If you know of any potholes on the course please send me an email and I will get them reported.
Registration/Membership – The training group is a free open service to anyone wanting to train for any aspect of the OKC Memorial Marathon or just wanting to get some physical activity. We would love to have any interested runners/walkers join the OKC Running Club as well but it is not required. Annual memberships are $20. You can also join through a new link on our web site www.okcrunning.org. Click on Join The Team!
Marathon Training – Week 13
Week 13 – 12 Miles
Mitch Park – Edmond
Covell Rd. – Between Santa Fe and Kelly
Sunday, April 3rd – 6:30 a.m.
NEW START TIME – 6:30 a.m.
Did you notice the new start time!!!! We’re heading into the home stretch of our marathon training . . . just four more weeks. After last week’s 20 miler it’s time to cut back again and recover. It’s also time to sync our bodies with the actual race time of 6:30 a.m. The remaining training runs will be at 6:30 a.m.
The TRI-OKC club came to our aid again this past weekend supplying course marshals to help direct traffic and keep us safe. We really appreciate you guys being out there with us in the damp cold. The Edmond New Balance store handled the water stops and did another great job. There’s nothing better than warm PowerAde to keep us going on a chilly sub-freezing morning.
Course – We’re going to take another step back in mileage this week and take on the Mitch Park hills again. We’ll be making two laps around the 5 mile course and then a modified half lap to get 2 more miles. The modified half lap is shown on the following link:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=307129831160650895
Dr. Tom Needs Some Help – Dr. Tom is doing some research and has asked that we survey our running group on some of their eating habits. Please help him out by completing the survey at the following link:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRLRmNsNG96ZUZEUGs5bkVUSGNPbWc6MQ
Registration/Membership – The training group is a free open service to anyone wanting to train for any aspect of the OKC Memorial Marathon or just wanting to get some physical activity. We would love to have any interested runners/walkers join the OKC Running Club as well but it is not required. Annual memberships are $20. You can also join through a new link on our web site www.okcrunning.org. Click on Join The Team!
Bill Snipes
For the OKC Running Club
Marathon Training Committee
Marathon Training – Week 12
If you haven’t had the chance to run with the Land Runners, you should give it a shot. It’s great to get out with a group. Plus, you get a chance to run along the beginning of the memorial route. The marathon folks are doing a 20-mile run. The half-marathoners are doing 10. I plan to go out this weekend, and it will be my longest run ever! Fingers crossed that I survive. Here’s their weekly email:
Week 12 – 20 Miles
Marathon Starting Line
NW 5th and Harvey
Sunday, March 26th – 7:00 a.m.
A2A – We had a great trip to the A2A event last weekend. Two bus loads of runners made the trip and all I heard about the later bus was that “whatever happens on the A2A trip stays on the A2A trip.” The runners faced fierce head winds of about 30 mph but managed well despite the conditions. The folks in Ardmore put on another wonderful race and I think most everyone looks forward to going back next year. Our thanks go out to Lindie Slater for organizing the trip.
This week were back on the course with a 20 mile run for the full marathoners and 10 miles for the half marathoners. We will begin our run at the new starting line of the marathon, NW 5th & Harvey. The starting line has been moved to the west side of the memorial due to road construction on Robinson. We look forward to seeing everyone there.
Course – The 20 mile course will begin at the official marathon starting line and follow the regular course to Waverly and Carlisle where we will turn left on Carlisle and go west to Penn. At Penn, turn south (left) and go to Grand. At Grand turn east (left) and you are back on the course. Follow the course from there back to our usual finishing point at NW 5th & Broadway. The following link illustrates the course.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=871213825318
Course Marshals – We are going to be short one or two of our regular bike riders on Sunday so if you have a spouse or friend who would like to help out we would love to have them. Just have them show up Sunday morning and coordinate with Bob Loving.
Mark Bravo’s Training Tip – If you’ve placed more than 3 straight weeks of LONG RUNS into your repertoire, maybe it’s time to refresh the legs by shortening your long effort, in the meanwhile stepping up your leg turnover. Maybe a mid-long goal-pace effort (8-10 for the Half; 12-16 for the Full) unless you raced long last weekend. If that’s the case, a succession of “tempo” half-mile repeats, performed at 5K-8K race pace, recovering with easy running only half the duration of time the repeats take. No more than 4-6 are needed, unless you’re advanced. The short recovery, and running easier but not walking, builds out your “comfort zone”, and with it, your confidence!
Dr. Tom Needs Some Help – Dr. Tom is doing some research and has asked that we survey our running group on some of their eating habits. Please help him out by completing the survey at the following link:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRLRmNsNG96ZUZEUGs5bkVUSGNPbWc6MQ
Registration/Membership – The training group is a free open service to anyone wanting to train for any aspect of the OKC Memorial Marathon or just wanting to get some physical activity. We would love to have any interested runners/walkers join the OKC Running Club as well but it is not required. Annual memberships are $20. You can also join through a new link on our web site www.okcrunning.org. Click on Join The Team!
