July 22, 2010: Last 5K

October 17, 2010: Last race.

August 1, 2011: Last pregnant run…err waddle. Come on folks, let me call it a run.

August 2, 2011: Give birth. They bribe me by placing a giant piece of chocolate cake on the tray at the end of the bed. (Tuesday is free dessert day at Winchester Hospital, if anyone is wondering). I tell myself that each contraction is shorter than a 400. Mr. Triage offers to make me up a Fernando-type work out card with a bunch of 400s on it.  One of the nurses asks me if the marathons that I’ve run were the 26 mile ones. She’s awesome so I let it slide.

August 30, 2011: Cleared to run by my doctor in exchange for my promise that I’ll take my comeback slow and won’t run any marathons in the immediate future.

September 11, 2011: Mr. Triage runs a 10K. I get the itch to race. My sister-in-law convinces me to run a 5K with her and my other sister-in-law. We decide the men in our lives (husbands, boyfriend, son/nephew) can be our cheering squad. We all sign up for the Superhero 5K in Cambridge on October 30.

October 29, 2011:

9 p.m. Dust off my running bag and pack my race gear.

10 p.m. Giant crash outside. Branch falls on my car, blocking our driveway.

10:10 p.m. We lose electricity.

10:30 p.m. Mr. Triage and I get to work sawing wood and dragging branches out of the driveway. Mr. Triage can’t figure out how to get the generator to work. He’s an engineer.

October 30, 2011:

6:30 a.m. We clear the snow from the driveway and pack up the dog and the kid in case we need to spend the night somewhere.

8:30 a.m. We finally load up the car. We look like we’re going somewhere for a week. Most of the stuff in the car belongs to our kid and our dog.

8:31 a.m. We remember that our dog has car anxiety. I squish in the backseat with her and the kid so as to make sure she doesn’t trample the kid.

9:00 a.m. Inform my driver (Mr. Triage) that I could really use some breakfast. He complies and we make a pit stop for food.

9:15 a.m. Arrive at the race. Mr. Triage takes the dog for a walk. Gets distracted by a dog park and is gone for a long time. I feed the kid.

9:45 a.m. 15 minutes to race time. Kid fed and in giant snowsuit. Shoes on. Still need to find my sisters-in-law who were kind enough to pick up my race number the day before.

9:47 a.m. I lose the car keys. Excellent.

9:50 a.m. Still no keys. I leave Mr. Triage to figure it out. He’s smart. He can do it.

9:52 a.m. Get my race number. Warm up consists of a run to the porta potty line. Reflect on how much has changed since August. Now I’m happy if I have time to pee.  Seems to be a metaphor for my life at the moment.

9:57 a.m. Find my sisters-in-law.

10:00 a.m. Gun goes off. My return to racing has commenced! It’s cold and I have no feeling in my feet, but wearing my big G and I’m racing!

10:07:06 Hit the first mile marker. A little fast, but not “Oh Sh**” fast, so it’s ok. Start doing the math to figure out how slow I can run the last two miles and still get under my goal of 24 minutes.

10:10 Spot one sister-in-law after I hit the turnaround. She’s running well. Can’t find my other sister-in-law, but she’s in costume, so it’s not totally my fault.

10:14:53: Hit the second mile marker. Do some more math.

10:16. See Mr. Triage, kid, dog and the rest of our cheering squad.

10:20ish. Wonder if the bagel I ate at 9:00 a.m. was a good idea. Remember that I really hate to puke and soldier on.

10:21 a.m. Decide the finish line seems far away and start cursing the darn headwind (again).

10:22:30. Cross the finish line. Very happy.

10:25 a.m. Find Mr. Triage and kid. Dog is not in sight. Did my husband lose one half of our dependents in a 30 minute period? Nope, she’s still watching the race with the rest of the cheering squad. Apparently the fact that I feed her and take her running is not enough to convince her to come to the finish line to find me.  Seems that loyalty is overrated these days.

10:30 a.m. Get some post-race snacks. Find my sisters-in-law. Both ran very well and are also very pleased. Make the guys take pictures of us in all our glory. Decide that my first race as a mom can be called a success.

12:00 p.m. Sisters-in-law convince me to sign up for a Turkey Trot. We decide we’ll let the boys run this one. We’re nice like that.

Two weeks post my worst marathon in years (the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon was a big disappointment in result but a big win in terms of knowledge for my future marathons) I was positioned mentally and physically to throw my hat back into the racing ring. This time I wasn’t to tackle 26.2 miles but simply 3.1.

Saturday morning Brewski and OCG picked me up and we headed up rt 495 to North Andover High School. The Knights on the Run 5k was to be a test to see where my leg turnover was, and if I still had any semblance of speed in my legs 2 weeks post-marathon.

After a quick registration process, visual size up of my 30-39 age group competition and a 2.5 mile warm up we started to walk to the start line. While strolling down the hill we came across Hill-check-her-out man (not wearing his “big G” singlet btw, WTF Hillman?).

Standing around stress-free while chatting with Hillman about cycling and running and before I know it, in good Goon fashion while in mid-sentence, the gun went off. CRAP! Off I jetted and within less than ¼ mile I was greeted by a wall of black North Andover high football player jerseys. The football team felt it would be a good idea to wall off everyone at the starting line and lead out the race…yeah smooth move guys, I just wish you had a plan for after you all ran out of gas and blocked the rest of the field.

Anyways, up a little hill and though more race traffic, I finally settled into my rhythm. Quickly I realized I was running 6th overall and feeling good. Through the first mile split @ 6:08, okay a bit to fast but this was a 5k, I’m good. Over a few more uphills (oddly enough with no downhills in return at this point) I crossed the second mile split @ 6:13, a tad slower but still okay as it’s been mostly up, up, up to this point. A smooth downhill lead to a nasty 110 degree hard left hand turn back towards the school with .5 miles to go. Never really seeing a 3rd mile marker I hit my split button when Garmin chimed at me for 3 miles (6:21 mile 3). Up a dirt trail and left into an astro-turf like practice field where we got to see the official clock for the first time. When I hit the field I saw 19:29, 19:30 click by on the clock…I put everything I had left into my final sprint, thought my carotid artery was going to pop out of my neck, and crossed the finish line. Good for a 19:38 time, 2nd in my 30-39 age group (second btw to Brewski, man when will that guy get out of my age group?) and an 11 second 5k PR – a nice recover race!

OCG, Brewski and I were then lead out on a 5 mile recovery run around North Andover by GTD mate Rich Conrad (The Professor prescribed a 90 minute day and race or not I was going to get my 90 minutes in).  It was a good day. On to the next.

The last week of August Thundergod (Thor Kirleis) and myself (Brewski) took on the challenge of running 120 miles and approximately 25,000 feet of climbing through the heart of the Colorado Rockies.

I have created a blog of the entire adventure, including photo and video.  Enjoy!

Click here to read all about it.

Click here for Thundergod's ever changing blog.