The Finish Line

When we last left off, Kiwi and I had just completed the Alien Half. Since then we've finished out The Year of Marathons!

3 more events have passed:

First, I went back and ran the Milestone Half that I first ran at the beginning of this blog. It was hot, it was humid, it was a much better time than last year. :)

Second, NEW PR! A few weeks ago, Tiffany and I were out running (okay, she was biking) and I beat my old 5k PR. Yeah! So I signed up for a 5K to get an official time on the books. Old PR: 28:06. New PR: 27:04. I was (am) VERY excited about this.

Third, Chase The Sun 6 Hour Ultra. I covered 12 laps in just over 6 hours for a 22.44 mile finish. The event itself was difficult (Hello, lack of training!), but it was one of the easiest recoveries I've had. It was also a great reminder of which distances are easy and enjoyable and which are not.

So having come full-circle with Milestone (the first event covered here), a new 5k PR, and another ultra, it is time to plan what to do next.

3 things:

First, my birthday event this year will celebrate 2 things. The beginning of a new age group (Goodbye 25-29!) and "Hello 30!" with a 10-20-30. 30 kilometers on the 20th of October. That's about 18.65 miles for those of you counting.

Second, I have 5 years to beat my old times in the following events: 5k, 10k, Half, Full, 50k, 6hr. I will NOT attempt all of these in the first year. I'll spread them out over the next age group.

Third, introducing Runs With Friends! A few people have expressed interest in training up to and running half marathons, and I'm going to run with them. Because I can, that's why. If you want in, let me know. Until then:

The 7th Inning Stretch & An Alien Invasion

July.

Hot, humid, icky.

On this, Kiwi and I agree.

So for our "race" we ran the equivalent of 3 marathons over the course of the month. The Firecracker Virtual allowed for this in their rules, so we used it! In 15 hours and 36 minutes, we covered 78.6 miles. Some were organized events such as the Watermelon Crawl (8 miles), many were runs with clients, and a few were on the treadmill. (Last 8 were on the treadmill 'cause you procrastinated, Kasha.) 

Not the point. We got it done. Here are pictures from the Watermelon Crawl and one post-long run with our favorite recovery items- water and fish.

So then it was August. Kiwi and I've been looking forward to the Area 13.1 in Roswell (Georgia!) for a while now. The weather was great, the race was at night, and we ran a 2:18:35.

I enjoyed the glow-in-the-dark accessories worn by other runners while Kiwi was looking for his idol, Gir of Invader Zim. I was also able to catch up for a quick second with Nicole and Joe, who drove up from Florida to run this event. Next up is the Milestone Half put on by FCA here in Savannah. That's this weekend and it was the first race Kiwi and I discussed on the blog last year. From there, we have our Chase The Sun Ultra in September and that's it! That will be the end of The Year Of Marathons. Stay tuned though- we've already come up with our next scheme.

Kasha & Kiwi Visit Their New Year's Resolutions

2013 is halfway finished!

We like halves!

'is not a race, Kiwi.

Oh. Okay. 

Yeah. So. 2013 is half done. We made resolutions. Well, I made them and put them on the To Do List. Kiwi made sure they stayed there. So here's our progress report:

1) Keep the blog going
Probably the closest we've come to failing. Some months we're way on top of things, but lately we leave town and race, only to make it back in time to fling ourselves back into life in Savannah. But the fact that this post is happening is proof that we're still in it!

2) Credit cards paid off- DONE
Yeah. That was really pretty easy, even with race fees and hotel costs, and we knocked it out in the first half of the year.

3) 24 pinterest projects completed
We've finished 20, and have 2 more set to go. A major part of this was "Craft Week With Kiwi."Kiwi moved a bunch of fun pinterest projects to one specific board and we tried to see how many we could accomplish in a week. So we're ahead of schedule. You can check out Craft Week With Kiwi here.

4) 3 items from 43 things completed- DONE
43 Things is a website that serves as my Someday/Maybe List. This predates bucket lists, but is the same concept. This year, I got a henna tattoo, ran a half marathon every weekend for a month, paid off the credit cards, and a few other things.

5) Finish 12 months, 12 races
There are 3 more races in The Year Of Marathons that began last October. If we stay on track, this goal will take care of itself.

6) 365 books in 2013
Sooooo not going to happen. But I've adjusted the original book-a-day goal into how-many-can-we-read-in-a-year. As of this posting, the total is 45. Not bad for 6 months.


So we're chipping away.
...anyone else still going strong?
Let us know in the comments!

Kasha's Race, Kiwi's Hangover

Place: Dawsonville, Ga
Characters: Kasha & Kiwi
Event: The Bootlegger Half

Dawsonville, Ga is north of Atlanta and the sight of our June race. Kiwi and I headed to "the racing capital of Georgia" on Friday night with the intention of making this a quick run and return to Savannah. Packet pick up was at the Racing Hall of Fame, aka City Hall.

I love multitasking... even in buildings

Check out those trophies!

From Savannah to pack pick up and then to Mel & Rob's place was over 9 hours. But that's okay! I was ready to run and Kiwi was determined to hang out at "base camp."

....yeah. I didn't know we had a base camp either. But a certain little iphone set himself up for the day here:

Yes. Kiwi Taper spent the morning talking distillery tactics and still cleaning methods with a bunch of somewhat-toothless men who were pretty upset that he had to leave at 10 in the morning. I think they were just getting going. I was only able to get him in the car because he was that far gone by then.

A Kiwi-sized site.

Oh. Yeah. And I ran a half marathon. Dawsonville was wonderful! The hills were challenging, but not the horrors of Atlanta. The aid stations were well-placed and the volunteers were thoroughly prepped. Police offices kept traffic running on one side of the road so we had a full lane to ourselves. The medals were fitting to the theme. But since returning home, Kiwi took mine; claiming I owed it to him since I dragged him away from his calling as a "'shiner" and I "only" ran a 2:26:08.

Kiwi stole this. I haven't seen it since.

All finished!

We left Dawsonville and headed South. I ached and tried to make it south of Atlanta before stopping. I'd changed clothes in the parking lot, but the crystallized salt and miles of driving & running wore me down. I knew I needed to stop, so I headed for Lyons & my parents' farm. I pulled up and unlocked the little house to take out my contacts and pass out on the couch. I slept in the heat for an hour before getting up to make it the rest of the way home. (Another 2 hours.)

So then this happened:

At races, future event notices are often left on cars. I found one for I Race Against Diabetes. Another virtual! You could choose your distance, 5, 10, half; and run the weekend of June 21. That Friday I set out to do a treadmill half at the gym. I made it to 8.5 and needed to leave. Things were going on and I needed to get out of the way. So I showered and went to sleep, getting up the next day to run the additional 4.6 miles for a combined time of 2:15:43. When I got back, this was waiting for me!:

Yeah medal! I love medals.

So Dawsonville was a win. Anyone notice a distinct lack of Kiwi in this post? He has spent the past month boomeranging from his backyard still to sleeping in a rocking chair and mumbling about getting back to "where he belongs in the hills."

...don't tell him we're going to Roswell in August. The excitement may just be too much.

The Fun, The Fast, The Far

Last weekend was full of running and races, but not for me.

Well, kinda. Lemme explain:

Friday night, gym-work hosted a Glow Run at Lake Mayer. Starting at 9:30 pm, this 2-lap fun-run was filled with glow-covered participants out enjoying the holiday weekend. Fast? Competitive? No. Just a good time.

That was The Fun.

Saturday morning, I went to watch Boston Runner race The Savannah Mile. Her daughter, my Pick Up Doll (age 6) wanted to run the family mile. The family mile is open for anyone. So, in matching pink and purple- off we went! The 3 of us headed down Drayton Street for her first competitive mile, hitting somewhere around a 11:18. ...and looking super cute in the process.

That was The Fast.

Saturday evening, I headed to Daffin Park where some of the other Ultra runners had been going at it since 8am and showed no signs of stopping. Local legends Dan, Dawn, Bren, Mary, Lara, Masumi, Mary Jo, Jamie, Ted, and Emily... I'm sure I'm forgetting someone... cranked out some serious miles. Lara killed it with 100 miles. A personal record and a smile the whole time. Masumi put up an impressive 67+, while Bren, Jamie, and Ted chase-raced each other for a beautifully painful 50+ miles. Me? I did this:

For 2 in depth recounts of the day (and night!) check out what Dan and Bren have to say.

...I feel honored to have made a mention in both of their recounts. (Below; Dan. I stole your paragraphs!!)

"The event began at 8:00, Saturday morning and ended shortly after Lara crossed the line 23 hours later.  Along the way, we had several ultra super stars stop by and offer assistance and encouragement.  Tim Waz, Karen Heitner, Chris Ramsey, Kasha Jones – all stopped by and helped out during the day.  Thank you guys for being there!  It was great to have you guys there!" -Running for a Great Cause.

...oh. Did I mention they did all this to raise money for The Challenged Athletes Foundation?

If you're judged by the company you keep, I'm golden. Because they're all pretty great people.

The Fast (and the cute).

Cadet Runs Flying Pig! Kiwi Edits! Kasha Drinks Coffee!

Hi. This is Editor Kiwi. One day Kasha wants to run Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati. Today's entry is about the Flying Pig Half, by our friend Cadet; who ran his first half marathon!!!! It covers his training and the race, and is a refreshing view of racing. Kasha races so much that details like packet pick up and car drop offs are often glazed over. Cadet presents these details with fresh eyes. Very worth the long read. Good job, Cadet! -LOVE KIWI

Hey everyone, I’m Cadet, and I’ve been invited to do a guest entry on the experience of a first time Half Marathon runner.

I’ve been running for around eight years now, but I’ve only run one organized race, the “Run Like Hell” 5k in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve always just run to, well, run. However, inspired by Kasha and her Month of Many Mini Marathons and my friend Eve’s 5K-A-Day project (http://5k-a-day.tumblr.com/), I decided it was finally time to try some real races.

Early in January I picked up on Eve’s 5K a day challenge and attempted run at least a 5K every day. I ran on a treadmill in my apartment complex’s gym, because it’s cold in Ohio.By February I had increased my daily mileage enough that I decided to try a half.  I woke up around 4am on a cold Saturday, and set off to the gym with a water bottle that was half Gatorade and half water and a package of chomps.

Two hours and ten minutes later, I had completed a half marathon distance on a treadmill. I felt a little guilty, that doing it on a treadmill was easier a real race. At that point I resolved to do a “real” Half Marathon. Accordingly, I picked up my training.

Mid March I completed a second half marathon distance on the treadmill and was steadily increasing my daily miles. I felt ready, so I took the plunge and registered for the Flying Pig Half-Marathon in Cincinnati, OH, along with Eve. They asked for an expected finish time, which I would later find out was how runners were sorted into their corrals.  Knowing Kasha’s PR was around 2:15, I went ahead and said 2:30 to be safe.

I kept training and before I knew it, it was race weekend. Eve and I headed to packet pick up. Packet pick up was at the P&G Health and Wellness Fair at the convention center. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to Disney World, but at Disney World almost every ride and attraction ends in a gift shop. Packet Pick Up reminded me of that.You got your Bib and a small goodie bag at the entrance to the Fair, but in order to get your Bib chip activated and get your free T-Shirt, poster, bag, and other assorted freebies you had to go all the way through the many aisles of the Fair to get to the “Check Out” at the end.

There were a lot of cool free samples and items for sale, but after a long day, we were both tired and ready to get our packets and get out and head back to my parents to crash.

We woke around 4 on Sunday morning.  It was mid fifties and overcast, with a chance of rain later in the morning.  Good running weather.  My parents had offered to drive Eve and I down and drop off us as close as they could get to the starting area and then they would find somewhere to park and walk to one of the Spectator areas. So, we hopped out of the car near the starting line and made our way down to the corrals.   As I said, the corrals were arranged by starting time, and apparently my guestimated time of 2:30 put me in one of the very last corrals.  We milled around and stretched out as the corral slowly filled up with people.  Eventually I made my way towards the back around the 2:30 pace runner. Volunteers from a local running store, and race sponsor, were running the race with large sticks displaying their pace time. A very cool service, and apparently they were also the leaders of group runs/training that you could do through the store. Figuring that was the time I wrote down, I might as well hang out by these people.

I saw a guy in a Batman costume walking along the corrals talking to people and wishing them good luck. I took this as good sign.

I checked my race gear.  I was running as light as I could, and made sure to run only in the same style gear I had run my half on the treadmill in, and only brought along the same brand of chomps I had used in my training half.  I had thought about a gear belt thing to hold my phone, in case I had difficulty meeting up with my parents at the end of the race, and chomps, but having not used one in training, I elected to just put the chomps, removed from the packaging and placed in a convenient zip-lock bag, in my pocket and to just stow my phone in the zippable back pocket of the basketball shorts.

This would prove to be a mistake.

A little more waiting, and the race officially started. It took almost fifteen minutes for our corral to make it to the front, and as we slowly made our way through the successive corrals, I got my first real surprise.

I was expecting a fair amount of excess trash to be generated by the race.  People tossing gu or chomp wrappers.  The obvious mess by the water/Gatorade stations. I was not expecting all the clothing that was tossed aside.All along the fences of the corrals were T-shirts, sweat shirts, hats, pants, and even some wind breakers.  I don’t think these people expected to get these clothes back, my parents even told they saw a girl who just took off her T-shirt while running and just drop it on the ground behind her and keep going.  I suppose many people plan on this, go to a place like Goodwill or another thrift shop and buy cheap clothes that they can then just ditch without thinking about it, but I wasn’t expecting it.

As I made my way to the starting line, I couldn’t help but wonder if someone told the homeless population or Goodwill about this so they could just stroll along the corrals and collect the items.  I’m sure they had.  After the fact, I have even heard of races were the leaving behind an item of clothing at the starting corral was an intended part of the charity aspect of the race. (Ed Kiwi confirms. Discarded "warm up clothes" are gathered and given to various charity groups by race clean up crews.)

Feet from the starting line, Cincinnati Police were escorting a nice man out of the road with a pair of shiny new handcuffs.I gave Eve a fist bump and told her I’d see her at the end. And then I was off.

After a stop at the first Porta Potty station.

Then I was really off.  The first bit of the Pig is a short jaunt through downtown Cincy then over the bridge into Newport, Kentucky for a fair portion of the race.  I saw my parents at the base of the bridge with “Run, Cadet, Run” and “Fly Goose” signs. I waved but they didn’t see me, and I headed over the bridge.

Signs and crowd participation are something the Pig is known for. The only time there wasn’t at least a small group of people cheering us on were when we were crossing over the bridges over the Ohio River. Everywhere else there was always a crowd, always someone cheering or waving a sign, always a kid wanting a high five or a fist bump.  It was a big boost to have people constantly cheering you on, even if after a while you began to see the same signs over and over again.

Large portions of the race are kind of a blur for me.  I decided to listen to a podcast rather than music for this race, in hopes of distracting me, and I picked the Red Vs Blue podcast, specifically episodes heavily featuring Joel the voice of my favorite character, Caboose.  A comedy podcast was a pretty good choice, as the humor and stream of funny stories did do a good job of distracting me from the run.  More than once I did burst out laughing, which I’m sure got me some weird looks from my fellow runners. (Ed Kiwi says that no one gets to make fun of what you listen to while you work out!)

I also got a crash course in running with other people, as I had always run by myself before.  It was a steep learning curve working around others, and I found myself along the sides the road many times passing large sections of people.

It was also a learning experience at my first water station.  I tried to drink from the cup while running, and ended up spilling water all down the front of my shirt. At that point I decided to slow to a brisk walk while drinking, which served me well for the rest of the race.

Back over the river and back into Cincinnati, and very shortly we were working our way up one of the many massive hills by Krohn Conservatory. Near the top of the hill, I noticed my basketball shorts were kind of…sagging a bit.  I pulled them up, tried to ignore it and pushed on.

At this point I was kind of wondering when the Full Marathon runners would split off, and a little part of my brain began to wonder if I had some how missed the split.  My thoughts began to waffle between pulling up my shorts and wondering when the full people would split off.

Finally somewhere around mile 10, the full did split off, and we headed back downtown for the homestretch.

Around this time, I forgot how long a half marathon goes....  My mind bounced between 12 and 14, like the floors in a Hotel, and somehow managed to skip over 13 for around a mile or so before I finally realized it. That and the fact that the drawstring had failed in my basketball shorts had me pushing for the end.

Around mile 11 we were well into downtown and I saw Batman again, talking to a Police Officer.  I made my way to the edge of the road and high fived him.  At this point some part of my brain finally decided that one of the biggest reasons my shorts were falling down was the weight of my phone.  I had never run with it back there, and I decided it must be the cause. So, for the last two miles, I ran with my phone in my hand. That fixed it, and I wasn’t pulling my shorts up as much that last bit.

As I passed the new Horseshoe Casino, I saw my parents again and I waved. This time they noticed me, just as I passed them. Right after that, the finish line came into sight.  I had thought about doing a big push and almost sprinting it out, but the crowd was too thick, and I was a little tired. I let the crowd carry me through the finish line. I slowed to a walk and made my way over to one of the workers with a stack of medals. I really wasn’t expecting them to give it to me right there at the end of the race, right off the finish line. I was pleasantly surprised.

That medal was heavy! I walked away from the nice medal lady and someone else gave me a mylar blanket, but only a short distance from where I got the blanket, there was a blanket recycling station.  I thought I had to give my blanket up, so I handed it to the guy standing by the bin. I then realized that I could have kept it.  I wandered into the recovery area and got a fruit cup, some string cheese, and a cup of soup and made my way out and to my parents.

My mom had signed up to receive time alerts on her phone for me and Eve. She told me that she had gotten an alert for my time as 2:01:58. Much better than I was expecting.  We waited around outside the recovery area for Eve to show up, and just as she made her way out around 2:30, the rain started.

We started to walk back towards the car, but the layout of the streets roads closures, it made the walk back almost twice as long as it should have. Eve and I stopped because her knee was bothering her, and my parents got the car and met us on the side of the road.

We drove back to my parents' house and took a shower, stretched out, and went out to breakfast.  After breakfast, we continued being stupid and went back downtown for Main Library’s Comic Con. Sore and tired, we still suited again, still wearing out medals, and hung out for a few hours until my knees and ankles were too sore to keep going.

Eve as Black Cat and Cadet as Spider-man, with a young fan. R is for Runner, right?

 

 

 

 

 We hope you enjoyed this fresh view on racing! You can check out more from Cadet at his site and check out his friend Eve and her 5K-a-day project. We look forward to hearing about their future running adventures!

Next time, Kasha will recap her weekend of not racing. 

LOVE KIWI

Virtual Insanity

May's race was my first virtual race. This means you complete your event where you are and turn in your time online.
I had 2 goals:
Finish the marathon distance again.
Finish it alone.

I planned to run the first Saturday in May. This was 6 days after the Diva Half. But I wanted it over with! I planned to meet up with a group of other runners at Rails to Trails, where we ran the ultra.

That didn't happen.

Saturday was pouring rain and windy.

No. Just, no.

I whined and slept all day.

Sunday was pouring rain and windy.

No. Just no again.

I drank coffee.

I listened to music.

I put on my running shoes.

....I took off.

Out the door and down every street I could use, I made 3 miles before I got to Boston Runner's house, which is only half a mile if you run it directly. It was still misty, but the clouds were holding off the heat. Hour one saw 5 miles done and the first water break.

Hour 2 was 5 more miles and the next break. The sun was starting to come out. By mile 15 I hurt. Electrolyte imbalance again. I checked Kiwi, who had a message from my crew to call if I needed anything. It was 2 more miles to my next stop, so I ate a pepto bismol tab and hoped it had sodium in it. At the next stop, I ate a salt packet and refilled my water bottle. I called my mom who met me at the next stop with pedisure. We like pedisure. I stopped for a full ten minutes and whined. That helped! The sun was hurting, everything hurt. But if I could do this on my own, I'd be unstoppable in training for September's race. The next miles were choppy. I could run, but the ache in my legs and chest wouldn't quit. The miles left got smaller and smaller, so I kept moving. When I got to 2.5, I texted Boston Runner to whine some more. She texted back and I just, well, kept going. After that last 2.5, I cried. I've never cried after (or during) a race, as I'm usually too drained. I don't know where it came from or why. But as much as my legs hurt, my feet were fine! Such a relief after Atlanta!

I turned in my time to the directors and went home.

Another one done, leaving only 1/3 of The Year of Marathons to go!

I Thought You Said "Rum"

Usually, I'm the one yelling at Kiwi. Today it was turned around.

He tends to sit quietly while I do (or don't do) whatever I'm up to. But today he kinda lost it over my lack of updates. Allegedly, 3 classes, 10 client hours, 5 kids for 15 hours a week, running, and being in the paper don't cut it. For him, it is all about run-blog-run. So today, despite the fact that I've run 7 miles and worked out with clients, I am at the computer, unshowered, typing updates. Because Kiwi has a pretty mean glare.

So first, the Diva Half in April. This is a story best told in pictures.

First, Ultra Crew made tutus.


They were awesome!

For Kiwi, too.

Then we went to Myrtle Beach and got ready. I packed Gu and eyeliner. My sister packed wine. The packet pick up was horrible. The size medium shirt would have fit a teddy bear. And the "Diva Coach?" Some pretty boy who suggested runners not drink water. But back to the picture story...

That is SO a to-go cup at the start line!






At the start line, I lined up for the half marathon while Tiffany planned her 5k wine-walk. Off we go! I dodged divas and other tutus while Tiffany taunted the spectators with 3 miles of "Are you guys drinking coffee? ....I'm not!"

Even her walk pace had her finishing under an hour. I ran and enjoyed the scenery. In this case that was groups of daddies trying to corral their kids and homemade "Go Mommy!" signs, along with the single guys who set up Lemonade for Divas stands. A special shout out to the dad/uncle/next door neighbor who ran with the 15 year old girl in matching tutus and pink tech shirts while wearing a fuel belt for both. Sir, I do not know if you planned it from the beginning or were stepping up for someone who couldn't be there; but you win Male Role Model of the Year. ...you reminded me of my dad.

I finished with an unimpressive 2:21:35 and we went to find one of our friends who also ran (and PR'ed! GO NINA!!!!). From that point, it was back to the hotel to remove feather boas and tiaras. Oh yeah, Miss Walk'n'Wine? This was her at 10am:

....once she recovers, you can expect a guest post (Yeah!!!!!!) covering her race.

Kiwi Gets Angry

Kasha has certainly been ignoring her blogging duties lately, so I will fix things. Today, I will show you why she is slacking off.

She is busy being famous. She was in the newspaper again. Twice. See?

Here's the first one.

 
Kasha Being In The Paper. Again. 

Then she was in a whole other paper in a whole other state. 

Kasha in Bluffton Today 

Well, I would be happy, but this blog is not for newspapering. It is for RUNNING! And she has done that. There have been 2 (TWO!!!!!) races since she updated. That is bad. Very, very bad. But since she is off thinking she is a superstar, I will recap the races. So thanks for sticking around. In the meantime, go see her articles and videos and enjoy those.

....and when I say "enjoy" I mean make popcorn and laugh a lot. I sure did.

LOVE KIWI

KIWI Fixes The Broken Year.

Hi. 
Is Kiwi.

Last night, Kasha slept from 7pm to 5:30am. She has been very busy. For 2 weeks she was animal sitting (3 houses, 8 dogs, 4 cats, a bunny, and some fish) and for 2 weeks her gym-work started a new program for people to lose weight. Kasha is teaching 2 extra classes, has measured 40 people, and has her regular clients and regular kids. Today she burst into tears over a piece of mail. And it is not even taper week!

So I will do the blog.

Mine are better anyway. 

Last race was Georgia Marathon and it was really hard. Kasha struggled and was upset she couldn't find a May race and wanted to figure stuff out. So we did. We maked a plan.

We maked this:

Run, run run! We will run. We can do this. We just have to keep being creative. Running is not creative. So all of our brains can work on this. 

May Race. DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!

We're gonna do a virtual race. 

Jersey Rising is a concert benefiting the rebuilding of the Jersey shore after the hurricane. For The Love Of The Run (who Kasha found on Twitter) is organizing a virtual race to help. You sign up. You run before a certain date WHERE EVER YOU ARE! You turn in your time. You get your medal in the mail. Yeah! Kasha will run a marathon distance the first weekend of May. She has already printed out her bib and is very excited. She would run it right now, but needs it to be her May race. 

That is our May plan.

At the end of this month, me an' Kasha an' her sister Tiffany an' my cousin Nu Blu go to North Myrtle Beach. The Diva Half Marathon Series will take place there. Kasha will run the half marathon. Tiffany will walk the 5k. Tiffany does not run. Except away from rats. And to peanut butter cups. I bet she could run really fast if a rat was behind her and a peanut butter cup was in front of her! So at mile 2 for Tiff and 12 for Kasha there is a boa/tiara station. And at the finish line you get a medal and champagne from a firefighter. Kasha dated a firefighter. He couldn't keep up with her. But Tiffany figures she can kill the hour she has to wait for Kasha by accidentally spilling champagne on the firefighters. 

So that is April race.

We found races for June and August and will stay with Mel & Rob again. (We like it there.)

...so I fixed it. I fixed the broken year and now we can add Virtual Race and Women's Race to our year. So exciting! 

I am going to take a nap. Then I will work on July race and work on fixing Kasha. 

....it will be a long nap.

LOVE KIWI

Kasha and Kiwi Run The Georgia Marathon

Hi there. Kiwi and I survived the Georgia Marathon this past weekend and came out with very differing views on the experience. So we're going to write back and forth to let you know what we both thought. Remember, I (Kasha) type plainly. Kiwi gets the jazzed up italics.

On Saturday, we left my parents' house at 8:45 am. Clearly not early enough. A quick stop at Starbucks and a stop outside of Macon for lunch were our only detours. Turning onto I-75, 40 miles outside of Atlanta, traffic STOPPED. Stopped! I was so upset! Packet pick up ended at 6pm, and I wasn't sure I was going to make it! Traffic eventually began to crawl toward Atlanta and around 3pm I was downtown. But guess what? Atlanta has a St Patrick's Day parade, too. It begins at noon. So I hit the crowds, blocked off streets, and overworked cops as I tried to get to the Georgia Congress Center, which is about as downtown as you can get. Also, the directions provided BY THE RACE ORGANIZERS did not account for the closed off streets. So unless you just happened to know Atlanta, and I don't, you were lost. Oh, you also got to pay to pick up your packet. $8 after the $2 discount.

Hi. 'Is Kiwi. Is not Kasha's fault Atlanta traffic is outside Atlanta. She left soooooo early! I was still sleepy! And her two breaks were good! She needed to stretch her legs! I do not think it was nice to pay for packet pick up parking when races already cost a lot. And she was in tears with the parade mess. It was already a bad day. :(

So I navigated packet pick up and headed to Mel & Rob's house. With the one-way street, I circled the building 3 times before I figured out how to get in. Visitor parking? They have it, but if it is full, you just have to go to a pay lot. It made more sense to me to wait and see if anyone left. Sure enough, someone did and I was able to take my things inside, already late for our 5pm dinner. We walked to Tin Lizzie's and waited about 20 minutes. The food was great, and I LOVED hearing what Mel & Rob have been up to. I haven't seen them since their wedding last year. A walk back home and early to bed (9ish) for me!

I'm glad she found visitor parking because walking down the street with all her stuff would have been bad for her legs. And Tin Lizzie's thought we would wait much longer with the crowd. That was good that we didn't. There was loud music, and that drained Kasha, but she had fun. Thank goodness she got to see her friends this weekend! They walked a lot because in Atlanta, you walk! That added up to not good for race day.

Sunday morning, around 4am, I could hear the mile 23 water station begin set up. It was right below the condo! I lay in bed until 5:30 then got ready to go. .75 miles to MARTA, and it took 2 machines before I figured out how to buy a pass! I got the pass and headed down to the train. Then to the start line, another .75 miles away, where it took a full 20 minutes to get to my corral. I found the pace group and settled in. My plan was to run the first half with the 5 hour pace group, then speed up for a negative split. The leaders said they "would run a steady pace." To me, that meant 11:25 miles. Easy, especially if someone else is measuring it. ...but that's not what they meant. They were Gallowalkers. Jeff Galloway is a coach who teaches run-walk-run. That gets a lot of people across the finish line. But if you haven't trained for it, run-walk-run ruins your stamina. Their "steady" was run three minutes, walk one minutes. I tried to do that. But pushing hard up hills and walking down hills was a waste of my energy and it destroyed my race mentally and physically. By mile 4, I was in bad shape.

Yeah. Sounds about right. Walking to MARTA and to the race were bad because she was using up her running energy! The start line was at Centennial Park. It was huge and she felt lost and hated it. Steady pace? No way. Kasha ALWAYS runs the first hour of a half marathon and the first 2 hours of a full marathon and this walk run walk was awful. She tried, because sticking with the pace group was her strategy, but it was wrong for her and bad for her race. At the mile 4 water station, she went off on her own. At mile 7.5 the 9,000 half marathoners split off from the 1,832 full marathoners and Kasha could think. She did not have music, because she planned to be with the group. So she ran. She walked when she hurt. And she ran a lot more. At the half point, she was at a 2:38. This wasn't terrible and she kept going.

But then my feet hurt. Like, really hurt. Not marathon hurt. Hurt injured hurt. So I walked. And I calculated. 7 hour time limit. ....can I finish if I walk? I divided the miles by the time. I would finish with a 6:50. So the new game became "how much under 7 hours can I finish."

Didja talk about the blood?

No.

I will!!

Kasha was sick. Just sinuses, but that meant lots of running noses. And runners blow snot out all the time. But being sick, it was so thick, it just clung to her. Her arms, her shirt and shorts, and her legs. It was bloody. So she had blood on her sleeves and shorts. The temperature was warm, but the high buildings made lots of shade. She never warmed up and had goosebumps most of the race. It was bad.

More miles, more pain, more blood, no tears. The tears were yesterday at packet pick up. Wait! Not quite! When people screamed, I cried. It hurt my ears and I didn't have anything to block them out with. It's not cute to yell "Almost there!" at mile 3 and it's not cute to scream at the top of your lungs to people in physical pain.

She hurt. She could have quit and it would have been reasonable. But she stress fractured her brain and kept going. We saw pretty stuff. But the weekend was sucking the fun out of marathons for Kasha. 

Past Georgia Tech, toward the finish line. This is Atlanta, there's no such thing as "one more hill." There is always another hill. I was pretty sure both feet were injured. Through the finish line, the medical tent was placed before medal. NO! NO NO NO! I. WANT. MY. MEDAL. AND I WANT IT NOWWWWWW!

She wanted her medal, and she wanted it now. 

I walked past medical, figuring I could ice my foot with my medal and that if I took my shoes off I might not get them back on. Medal, food tent, toward MARTA. Some nice local pointed me toward a hidden elevator that went directly down to MARTA where the sweet, sweet citizens of Atlanta moved to give me a seat by the door.

She's kinda on a roll, but I know we crossed the finish line at 6:07:02. Worst finish time ever. And she forgot to tell you she saw Rob & Mel at the mile 23 station. That helped her be happy.

I hobbled back to Mel & Rob's and took a shower. I lay down for a few minutes before driving home. Both feet were swollen. I expected stress fractures in both. I stopped at Cracker Barrel-

CRACKER BARREL!!!!!!

Yeah. Kiwi hadn't been. He clearly liked it. But we stopped there, where I looked VERY hung over getting to the door. But chicken and dumplings were enough to keep me going. Home to Savannah, sleep, work, sleep, repeat. Sunday night, I couldn't walk. I'm not exaggerating. I crawled. My feet couldn't hold my weight. Monday, the left one was fine. By Wednesday, the right one was fine. But then I had to deal with the brain stress fracture.



....as you can see, there are two views on this race. I thought it was horrible. I hated it. Kiwi thinks I did the best I could and adjusted as I had to. So then we started talking about the year of marathons. It is harder to find races in the summer months because of the heat. Sure, I can fly somewhere and pay a lot of money. That would keep up the Race A Month deal.

But. That's. Not. Fun. What is Rule #1?

....if you aren't having fun, you're doing it wrong.

So you gotta only run happy fun races. 

But I only need to fill May, June, and July!

Why fill them if they are icky? Run the June race you found the other day THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN, and don't worry about May and July.

But that's not a race a month! That's how we set this up! A race a month for a year!

Are you gonna quit running after The Year?

No.

Who wrote the rules?

Me.

Unwrite them.

Unwrite them?

May is gonna be 7th inning stretch! 

Can we do that?

I'm a talking fone. 

....can do anything I feel like. Is your year. Can do anything you feel like.

Show them the picture of icing your foot with the medal, and let them offer ideas.

Ok. Here you go:

So readers, what do you think?? Should we hold the original course as Kasha says and keep at a race a month, or should we Kiwi the plan and see what happens? Let us know! 

Kasha AND KIWI.

The Best Bad Run

There are 2 kinds of bad runs.

The one where everything goes wrong (stomach problems, wrong clothes, bad weather, dogs, puddles, cars), and the one where nothing is wrong.

Confused yet?

The first one is great. A run with any of those problems teaches you how to handle those things. They're only an issue the first time. After that, old news. They aren't really the makings of a bad run, but the ingredients of a great runner.

But the second one....

Nothing goes wrong in this version. This is the best bad run there is. Let me explain...

On Sunday (7 days from now) I will run the Georgia Marathon in Atlanta. Excited? Yes. Prepared? About as prepared as Kiwi and I were for the Beach Bum Tri. In the beginning Kiwi pointed out that consistent training is not my strong point. He's right. I go for days, even weeks without a run. Then I feel guilty, a case of the Should Have Gone Runnings. (Also called "Think what you could do if you actually tried!") Remember Augusta? 16 days ago? That was my last run.

Yup. Really.

I'm running a marathon on Sunday.

Yup. Really.

So I just got back from a run. The Best Bad Run.

2.06 miles (3.32km). 19:32 minutes. 9:28 min/mi.

That's it. A bitty baby run.

I was winded. I was thirsty. I felt heavy. Because you can't fake a run. Once you're out there, the run will show you where you are. That can be the bad part. A lack of training will show. Better training will show. There's no hiding (or running) from a run. For 2 miles my brain would not shut off. My breathing was steady but hard. The humidity hung on me. There was nothing graceful in this, nothing record-breaking was achieved.

Stupid bad run...


...that was exactly what I needed.

It wasn't a race. There was no music. There were no spectators. I could hear how loud my thoughts were, drawing my attention inward and letting me know I needed more thinking time in the coming weeks. I could remember the early days of running. Wake, sleepily putting on running clothes, wake up by mile 2. It was an absolute in my schedule. I was a runner, no question. Then racing entered my world and I got caught up in the bright lights of that world. Brightly colored shirts! Shiny medals! Gu and unlimited coffee!

...whatever. I love racing and am very excited about this weekend's event. Will I run again before then? Probably. But not to prepare. I'll run because that bad run I just had reminded me that while I race, I am a Runner. I need the miles, I require the endorphin surge, and I am better for it. Racing events are just that. Events. The daily get-out-the-door is what makes a Runner. I got away from that until today, when my body overrode my brain and walked out the door and took off.

In the last blog post, there were some great responses to the question Why Do You Run? So I suppose this is mine. It is necessary. I run to keep my endorphins balanced. To feel healthy and to be strong.

I run because even the best bad run beats no run at all.

Why Do You Run?

Any runner can vouch:

You get brilliant ideas on the run.

These range from, "I'm gonna throw the best dog birthday ever!" and "This has GOT to be the best method for sock organization!" all the way to "Get the president on the phone! I've got the fiscal crisis solved!"

...it just happens.

So somewhere between miles 2-4 of the Augusta Half I began to ponder the following question.

Why Do I Run?

At the time (remember; miles 2-4 of a race) I came up with the following answers for why I run:

For the safety pins.

Because smelling this bad this frequently requires an excuse.

My toenails look better with bruises. Or just missing.

Driving 6 miles an hour upsets others on the road.

Because heroin is frowned upon.

Donald Trump changed his pin number. Again.

I consider cake pops a balanced breakfast.


As you can see, I went for the one line, quick answers, nothing deep. I'll leave that to you.


So readers, why do you run? And for those who don't; why not?

For the nonrunners, here's one of my favorites to get you started:

I might spill my drink.


Kiwi and I look forward to your reasons in the comment section. Humorous, serious, and in between all welcome!

13.1 Lessons From The Month of Many Mini Marathons

I decided to run a half or a full every month for a year. That's the story of this blog and for (my) year 29, it's been the story of me. But what started out as an addition to my world has morphed into becoming the whole of my world. My days and weeks revolve around my races. And that's fine, but February taught me a few things I didn't know about myself and confirmed some I had suspicions on.

13.1 Lessons From The Month of Many Mini Marathons

1) I can handle an infinitely detailed schedule. That wasn't always the case. I used to get stressed when I had more than 3 things a day. Now I can go weeks at a time with sleep as the only in-between and come out fine on the other end.

2) I can keep up with racing, traveling for races, training clients, writing articles for the newspaper, teaching classes, playing nanny to some really great kids, house and dog sitting, reading 2.5 books a week, and a blog all at once. I used to be able to put off a blog update for a month. ...I had until the next race. February taught me to get it done within days of an event, as 100 hits a day will fade if you aren't writing frequently enough.

3) I can check into a hotel by myself. Laugh if you want, but it's something I've always hated, along with finding my way through an unknown city. It wasn't being alone; hotels and cities were just such grown up things and I hated being the grown up. Now, no problem. To some extent I have Kiwi and Otto (my gps, get it? Auto... Otto...) to thank for this, but these fears are no longer an issue. I can get to packet pick ups and hotels and go site seeing and anything else. I may not be the most confident, but it's a huge improvement from just a few years ago.

4) I can run any race. Cold (Tybee), unexpected terrain (Hilton Head), a different style (Daytona), or coming back after feeling unnerved by an earlier hard race combined with difficult terrain (Augusta). It isn't hard to stretch "I can run any race" into "I can handle any unforeseen."

5) I can see past the immediate to the long term goal. Sitting in the car waiting to run Augusta and the long drive back from Daytona both gave me dangerous time to feel the physical and mental stress of what I was doing. The long miles running, the long miles driving, the extreme temperatures. These took a mental toll that came out as "I don't want to do this." But a littler voice, slightly Kiwi-like reminded me, "You're tired. You DO want to do this, and you can rest after... with your medals and new stories."

6) A perfect race is not limited to a PR. Tybee was a course PR. I've fought this course for 3 years now. That was a hard-earned victory. Hilton Head gave me a bridge when I didn't expect one. That sent me flying to my new overall PR. Daytona showed me I can race without competing, even with myself. That you have to enjoy the journey. And Augusta taught me I can finish anything I set out to accomplish. Just commit to see it through to the end. That whole "they don't move the finish line" thing.

7) Anything becomes normal when you do it enough. 3 years ago I was running 5ks every weekend. This month it was 13.1 miles. But my body adjusted. Some weeks I ran in between, others I didn't; just the same as before. And you know what? Every weekend, my legs just kind of got it. "Today is long day." It became my normal.

8) I can live out of a suitcase. When I left Saturday morning for Daytona, I wasn't home again until the Sunday after Augusta. It has been a long time since I've kept pace with life while living out of a suitcase.

9) The fastest runners in the world run exactly the same as the slowest. One foot in front of the other. And on race day, those two groups cover the same distance. They are exactly the same. ...there's a moral in there, but for now; we'll leave it with those poetic undertones.

10) I can To-Do List like no one else. If it's on paper, I can make it happen. Period. If I have coffee and Kiwi, it happens even quicker.

11) Completing 4 half marathons in 23 days makes me eligible for membership in the Half Fanatics at Jupiter (4 moon) Level, & I have already received an invitation. It also makes me (and Kiwi) eligible for our once a month Treat. ...we haven't decided what the Treat will be, but we earned it!

12) That while I would opt out of social media, I can manage Twitter (@TheKashaShow) and even a facebook fan page and keep them up-to-date with a-race-a-week and fitness tips and Kiwi commentary.

13) I can run 13.1 miles on Sunday, drive 3-4 hours, and teach a fully interactive kettle bell strength training class on Monday with no one able to tell I'm already at my physical limit. Because by the second week; my body had adjusted.

.1) 6 half marathons, 1 full marathon, 1 ultra, and we've just finished month 5. Originally; I would have raced 235.8 miles this year. But we're already at 135.8. That leaves 4 fulls and 3 halves to go, assuming we stick to the plan.

Finish Chute) Why stick to the plan when we can keep making it better?

So We Went To Augusta

This past Saturday, Kiwi and I headed to Augusta, Ga. About 3 hours north of Savannah; Georgia Regents University and American Family Insurance were hosting the Augusta Half and 10k. My friend Erin is finishing up her last weeks (!!!!) of medical school and we needed a race. Perfect timing!

A rainy, but uneventful drive got us to Augusta and packet pick up. It was cold, but the organizers were friendly. They made sure I knew where to park the following day and how to get there with street closings. Goody bags? Oh yes! Long sleeve gray (I LOVE gray!) tech shirt, reusable bag, hot/cold gel packs, hand sanitizer, Starbucks coffee, sunglasses, and a collapsible water bottle were included. Way to welcome your runners!

Course set up room...
no one sees this part of the crazy.









Kiwi and I navigated through the expo then headed to Erin's house. We spent the evening catching up, watching tv, and making sure her dog's bones smelled like us for when he was scheduled to return on Wednesday.

Early Sunday (6 am) I got up and headed for the race start. No problem finding it. But I didn't realize until then what a toll the cold had taken on me from Daytona. I was tired. I was stiff. And I was in awe that this month had flown by.

...but that's another post....

I headed to the start line, hoping for a short bathroom line. No luck there, but next to the lines were a group of way-too-cheerful-for-the-weather men asking, "hot cocoa or coffee?" American Family Insurance sent its friendliest faces out with a coffee truck! Wow! Free coffee while in porta potty line? ...what a huge happy runner thing!

After that I headed to the corral. I knew there was a wheelchair division, but only one racer entered. I found him and walked up. I have plans to race with a friend who uses a chair soon, and this young man and his mother were more than happy to offer suggestions and information on doing just that.

Brain and tummy full, we started the race. 2 miles into downtown Augusta the chalk scribbles and kids with signs began;

"If it was easy, it would be called your mom."
"You've trained for this longer than Kim Kardashian was married."
"Worst. Parade. Ever."
"Just Keep Swimming!"
"Run like you stole something!"

...the just keep swimming sign was accompanied by kids blowing bubbles.

I love this stuff!

Onward!!!

Walton... one of the l-o-n-g streets we ran down, we ran up, we whined about. Walton had hills that went straight up, curved around corners and kept going. I'm not making this up. It felt like mountains. I was simultaneously glad to have a 3 week break before the Georgia Marathon and to have a refresher on hills. Up and down we went, then out to the river. It was beautiful and the volunteers were in great moods. That always helps.

At mile 11 I was a little sad. This was the end of the race and the end of The Month of Many Mini Marathons. There wouldn't be a PR today, but no reason to quit. I ran with what I had left and made it across the finish line.

2:18:39

Not bad. I hadn't raced the hills since Athens in October and that was a 2:17. The medals were great and the after-party was well stocked with plenty of space to sit down and get out of my compression sleeves.

Back to Erin's house! I slept for a bit before we headed out to lunch to catch up some more and plan some future races. She has finished a 5k, is up to 6 miles, and looking toward a half in April. It is just a matter of picking the one to do...

Then we headed home.

Are you sure?

Um, yes. We've been home since Sunday night, Kiwi. We're in Savannah. That's home last I checked.

Is not. 

You're gonna have to explain. I don't understand.

Savannah's where we keep our stuff. Start lines are home. Finish lines are home. And you're not racing for 3 weeks. So you're by your stuff. But you raced all the weekends of a month and now you aren't gonna race for almost a month. That doesn't sound like home to me. That sounds like bad.

So not racing after lots of racing is like not being at home?

Yeah. But you'll figure it out. You will find little bitty baby race homes before the next big race. Or...

Or what?

Or we just put you in a crazy home. Cause that would happen.



....so then we headed home.

Kasha and Kiwi Attend Speedweeks at Daytona

"Hey there, pretty lady. You here for the races?"
"Yeah. I'm in one of them."

-In the hotel, Saturday.



So when we left off, I was finishing up the race. After playing around on the track for a while, we wandered over to the finishers' area where the race officials had quite a spread out for us. Water, beer, bananas, bagels, donuts, chicken, bbq, pizza, and more. I watched Nicole's friend get his age group award then headed for the hotel. I had under 10 minutes to shower and check out, but they comped me a late departure. I packed up and planned to head for Savannah. Time trials didn't start for 2 hours.

...but I found myself navigating back onto Williamson, back toward Gate 40...

Re-entering the speedway, the two gentlemen checking tickets exclaimed, "Oh! You're one of the runners! Let me tell you what your ticket includes!"

Yes, I was one of the runners. And Daytona Half made sure we were included! I headed back down the tunnel...

Again, infield parking and a 3 minute walk to the Sprint fan zone where I watched crew and drivers lineup for inspections.




















Then I headed back to Gatorade Victory Lane for more photos.

 And decided to head out toward the grand stands that you see in the back of the next photo.

I caught the tram out and found a great seat in time to watch Danica Patrick win the pole. The fans spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for someone to beat her. I spent the afternoon watching each car pull out of pit road, make two laps and head back in. I could see everything!

I lasted until about 2:30, seeing 36 drivers attempt qualifying times. There were about 10 more to go, but it was time to head home. Kiwi and I were both exhausted. We stopped for barbecue and a milk shake somewhere just over the Georgia/Florida line.

Did we run fast? No... 2:25:10

Did we have fun? YES!

This race was the first of its kind for us. Running and enjoying the history, the photo ops, and meeting other runners.

We loved it!

Yeah. Now she wants to go run in Charlotte, North Carolina on that race track and Churchill Downs so she can say she raced there too. 

Yes, Kiwi. Yes I do. Because we need more pictures like this.

Kasha and Kiwi Run Daytona

This month, our Month of Many Mini Marathons stunt has been something else! Tybee was the usual cold weather hometown half. Hilton Head was an unexpected PR. And Daytona, well Daytona. Wow!

Kiwi and I packed up and headed south last Saturday. We arrived in the midst of Budweiser Speedweeks, 8 days of preliminary racing before the Daytona 500. The whole city was packed! We found our way to packet pick up and our hotel. Everything was pretty uneventful.

Except the weather!

Except the weather. Packing to race in Florida, at the beach; I had my usual running clothes packed.

Bad idea....

I woke up on race morning at 4:45. We had a 6:30 start scheduled and I had to get inside the speedway and park. The weather when I left the hotel was 37F/2C with a 12 mph wind. Yuck. I was wearing shoes, socks, compression leg sleeves (first time), the usual shorts, long sleeve shirt, and a headband. I had a throw-away t-shirt with me. My gloves? ...still with Lily from Tybee! I was not prepared for this and it wore on me a little bit.

Also, I still hadn't decided "how" to run this race. Clearly, there were a lot of photo ops, and I was looking forward to those. But I've only really ever raced for time. Would today be different? My indecision was definitely taking a toll. I left my beachfront hotel and headed for the speedway. At 5:30 I passed the turnoff to Starbucks. I wanted to go, but Kiwi told me not to and I'm glad I listened. As I made the turn toward Gate 40, traffic stopped. 3 lanes crawled into one gate, with one person checking tickets for 1400 runners, their guests, and any speedweek tailgaters who happened to be coming in at that hour. I'd been to the speedway once before but never got my bearings. Or so I thought. Once I was inside, about 30 minutes later, I had no problem navigating the tunnel, infield, and parking. I really tried to ignore the cold and headed for Pit Road. Kiwi was on one arm and my handheld on the other.

I wasn't the only one feeling the cold. Those around me were huddling to stay warm. I pulled my tshirt over my race shirt and thought back to the bridge I'd crossed getting to the beach a few times. ...with the wind what it was supposed to be; I couldn't run with just the race clothes. I moved my bib to the tshirt and it became my new uniform.

At 6:30, officials were clearing the roads and getting the last few runners to the line. At 6:45, BOOM!!! Fireworks! 6:45 on a Sunday morning in what may have been the current fullest campground in the state! But the sleeping race fans continued to snore. Off we went! As I crossed the start line, I still wasn't sure how to run this. I was cold, it was early, there would be wind, I just pr'ed, it wasn't going to happen again so soon. I watched our pace car (We had a pace car! How very NASCAR! Loved it!) leave Pit Road and head onto the track. For about a quarter mile I was so happy! I'd wanted to do this! To race at Daytona! And here I was, on the speedway, racing!!!

Other runners began to fly up the steep turns to take pictures. Some got stuck and crab walked back down. I tried to take a self photo, still unsure if I should be focusing on racing faster. Then I heard "I'll take yours if you'll take mine!" I yelled "sure!" and swapped phones with another runner.

Enter Nicole.

We took each other's photos. Mine really captures how I felt to be there! Then we started running and talking. Nicole told me she was on week 5 of 6 (5 half marathons, 6 weekends of races in a row) and I told her this was my 3 of 4. Thus, she was trying to stay slow. Her slow was my usual pace. We started off again, wandering between 10-11 minute miles. Nicole is from Florida and runs. (In case you missed that.) She blogs. She can run and talk at the same time! She told me about Half Fanatics, Detroit Marathon, her work as a pastry chef, her blog TheSweetMile, her half pr (she's right in front of me with a very low 2 hour!) and how she was planning on breaking a 5 hour marathon soon.

I told her about my year of marathons, my blog, and Kiwi. We raced together toward the huge bridge separating Daytona from the beach. Her friend was looking to break a 1:30 and we passed him at the one hour mark. He had 4 miles to go and plenty of time. Plus, he was about 5th from the front. Enter the bridge! I tend to walk up, power down. Nicole uses the opposite approach. So here we split up, and I caught her again about 1.5 miles ahead, on the beach. The beach was lined with race flags, race cars, and a retired driver or two.

How. Cool. Is. That!!!

A quick history lesson:

NASCAR stands for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. Back during prohibition, guys would take cars to the beach, sand them down, lighten them, remove everything they could, and try to make them faster. Why? To outrun the feds with a load of liquor. The original speed tests were on the beach. The fastest cars and the drivers with nerves of steel then headed north. Once prohibition was over, the need for fast cars was gone, but the desire was too deep to toss. Thus, NASCAR was born. They moved from the beach to the speedway and have been racing there ever since.

So here we are, running from the speedway to the beach and back. To know this meant to know you were racing through history.

On the beach, I got a great photo and we headed onward.

Back toward town, we turned off of International into one of the most beautiful parks I've seen. Everything was so lush and green. What a sight! Back onto the Boulevard and toward the speedway. A few more great pictures, and toward the finish line.










 Nascar Dr with the Daytona Beach Sign





 

 We made it!








Our finish line? The actual checkered black and white line on the track. So cool!

So we tracked down Nicole's friend who not only beat his desired PR time and placed in his age group, he beat driver Jimmie Johnson by seconds, keeping him from placing in the top 3 of his group. We pointed out that he beat Jimmie Johnson at Daytona and not many people can say that!

Side note- 4 NASCAR drivers and one sportscaster raced with us. And they all posted great times. Sure, driving is a skill, arguably not a sport, but your body cannot handle the stress of 200 mph for 3 1/2 hours if it is not in excellent shape. All 5 proved themselves athletes by any standard that morning.

Kasha, I'm bored. 

What? Why, Kiwi?

You've been talking for a hundred thousand years. 

Well, it was a really good day. And we still have more to tell.

But I wanna play app. Can we tell it later? PLLLEEEAAASEEEE? 

Okay. I suppose it is a long story. Wanna put up the last two photos from the morning?

Sure. 

KIWI UPLOADS:  

... I suppose we'll finish this later.