Same parking lot, different people

I just realized you haven't seen my 10-miler shirt from the race last weekend. The front helpfully spells out how far I ran...

...while the back provides some advice on form as Quincy looks on. (Also, Hermes is the company that runs the race, and Hermes was the Greek god of athletics--ergo the exhortation to run like a god.)

I got the most wonderful compliment this morning. I had just finished my pre-run breakfast at Bob Evans (gotta have my protein!) and went to the cashier to pay. She was a skinny college-age woman, and when she saw my shirt, her eyes went wide and she said in awe, "You ran TEN MILES?! I tried to run a 5K once, but I had to stop, like, halfway through and walk the rest." My joy at this compliment cannot be textually rendered!!

As you may recall, I decided to run with the Summer Team this morning to get my 8 miles out of the way before the weather turned ugly. Every Summer Team person there was training for a full marathon, with most running 12 miles and some doing 14. Janet also decided to switch days and teams, but even she was running 10 miles, making me the short-distance person today.

Coach Kim was very nice and launched us pretty promptly. She also seemed well organized. Even her water stops had inspirational messages on them...

I started off running with a girl named Shelly who, as it turns out, lives less than two miles from my house. Crazy, huh? I clued her in on Eddy's Bike Shop as a good source of Hammer gels. She was going all the way to Legacy Village to buy them before!

I also ran for a while with Coach Kim and her daughter Amy. Amy was trying to come back from pretty bad tendonitis in her ankle, but seemed to be running just fine. Kim wants to get a dog to run with and wanted advice on what kind of dog to get. I recommended a pointer or setter or lab.

After the first water stop, I ran the next stretch with three lovely ladies whose names completely escape me, although I can remember that one of them was a linguist (a Farsi speaker, no less, rare as hen's teeth!) and one was a computer programmer. (I am so terrible with names! And it just gets worse when I run. As Shelly put it, I have "runner's brain.") The linguist kept saying she wasn't a runner, but heck, she looked great and ran fast.

Between the conversation about dog breeds and the one about translation with the Farsi speaker, mile 4 came up before I knew it, and I had to turn around and bid everyone farewell. I had planned to take my gel at mile 4, but there was no water stop there, so I just had to continue back to the one we'd hit on the way out.

The temperature was not bad, but I could feel the humidity rising, and by mile 5, I felt sticky and sweaty. When I reached the water stop, I decided to try some Gatorade instead of my usual water and a gel to replace sodium and electrolytes. It tasted fine and didn't mess with my innards, but I didn't get much of a kick out of it. I probably would have been better off with the gel.

I felt like I was dragging on the last two miles, but still came in at a very respectable 1:27:22 for a 10:55 pace per mile. It looks like 11-minute miles have become my new conversational pace!

I passed this car as I was leaving and was so boggled by the sticker I had to come back and take a picture. For those of you who don't know, this is how the Great Hierarchy of Oval Running Stickers goes:

• 13.1 - half marathon (yes, I will be at the bottom of the distance running totem pole)
• 26.2 - full marathon (maybe someday)
• 50K - ultrarunner/insane trail runner ("ultrarunner" is used for anyone who runs a race longer than 26.2 miles)
• 70.3 - a half-Ironman triathlon. This race requires you to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then run 13.1 miles, all back-to-back-to-back. It is hard to believe that people who can do this are mortal.
• 140.6 - Ironman triathlon competitor. An Ironman requires you to swim 2.4 miles in open water, ride your bike 112 miles (yes, 112--that is not a typo!) and then run 26.2 miles, all one after the other. Anyone who can do this is so incredibly badass that their badassed-ness is off the charts. It's a wonder I was allowed to park in the same parking lot as this seriously badass individual.
  

I stopped at the running store on the way home to get my inserts fixed, and of course I had to "pick up a few more things" (translation: melt the credit card) before the race. My 15% Team in Training discount expires on race day and they are too far away for another trip before then, so I figured I'd go for broke. I am very excited about the hat. I have a visor, but if it is really pouring down rain on race day, I need head coverage. Also, the hat is purple and made for women so it actually fits me! The socks and gels are your basic stock-up sort of purchase, but I also decided I just couldn't wait for the expo to make my final race-gear purchase: a pair of badass runner sunglasses. I wanted them to be so badass that just putting them on would make people say, "Whoa, you must be a runner!"

How'd I do?

(This post brought to you by the word "badass" and by the numbers 8 and 13.1.)