The Black Knight's Virtual race report

What a great Thanksgiving weekend; we had a wonderful turkey dinner with family, friends and all the trimmings and I got to run in two very fun events.

The Black Knight has sponsored a Virtual Race and announced to his faithful follows that they should enter and submit a report for consideration of an award and the honor (I hope) of being inducted into the INFAMOUS Black Knight's Army...I humbly submit TWO races for consideration of this prestigious award.

On Thanksgiving Day we headed out to gather with 1200 other faithfuls to participate in the Give and Gobble Turkey Trot; I choose the 10k option and here is photographic evidence of my participation.  This event was a fund raiser for one of the local Food Banks and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the spectacular day and helping those less fortunate.  I ran with my friend Mark and we took it really easy and just had fun; it was actually a pretty tough course with more than a few hills. 

I think the hat makes the entire outfit!

Saturday evening brought the Winter Wonderland 6 mile run; this was a great event and although there is no photographic evidence to support that I donned the appropriate clothing (which I did), there is evidence that I participated and took home 3rd Place in the Women's Masters category!  This event also offered 2 & 4 mile options; it included a kids bike parade and was held at Portland International Raceway.  The only bummer was for the 6 mile course I had to run three laps of the course.  The really cool thing was that they have a spectacular display of Christmas lights and I got to enjoy them on each lap.  When there aren't crazy runners on the course it is open to cars to drive through and enjoy the holiday light display!


1. Susan Hawkings Portland, OR 6259 F 49 00:41:54 00:06:59 1 / 20 10 / 201 2 / 142 00:43:08 00:07:12 00:01:14
2. Nicole Deering Portland, OR 6172 F 42 00:45:55 00:07:40 1 / 18 21 / 201 7 / 142 00:46:40 00:07:47 00:00:46
3. Kathleen Rafish Portland, OR 6032 F 49 00:49:23 00:08:14 2 / 20 33 / 201 12 / 142 00:50:00 00:08:20 00:00:37
4. Kristin Nagel Troutdale, OR 6052 F 42 00:49:29 00:08:15 2 / 18 35 / 201 13 / 142 00:49:48 00:08:18 00:00:20
5. Molly Williams Portland, OR 6083 F 43 00:50:09 00:08:22 3 / 18 43 / 201 18 / 142 00:52:20 00:08:44 00:02:11
6. Lisa Pronovost Milwaukie, OR 6022 F 48 00:50:25 00:08:25 3 / 20 48 / 201 21 / 142 00:50:44 00:08:28 00:00:20
7. Becky Owston Portland, OR 6120 F 44 00:51:02 00:08:31 4 / 18 52 / 201 22 / 142 00:51:50 00:08:39 00:00:49
8. Kathryn Crary Portland, OR 6234 F 42 00:51:04 00:08:31 5 / 18 55 / 201 24 / 142 00:52:00 00:08:40 00:00:56
9. Kimberly Bessette-Martinez Portland, OR 6096 F 46 00:52:42 00:08:47 4 / 20 61 / 201 28 / 142 00:52:54 00:08:49 00:00:13
10. Brenda Kerr Gresham, OR 6191 F 58 00:53:26 00:08:55 1 / 5 64 / 201 30 / 142 00:54:13 00:09:03 00:00:47

It was an honor to participate in these events and submit them for The Black Knights consideration.  I am no longer a "Virtual Race" virgin......

Have a great week!

Thankful

For the entire month of November I have been doing a daily Facebook status update starting with:

Today I am thankful for

I wish I could say it was an original idea, but alas I stole it from one of my Facebook friends.  It's been an interesting exercise and while I do know that I have many, many things to be thankful for it is surprising that sometimes I really need to think about it.  I want it to be somewhat meaningful, thought provoking and fun.  Amanda at Run to the Finish Daily does a daily Gratitude Journal, go check it out.  I know I need to spend more time expressing gratitude.

I'm sitting here tonight eating croutons out of the bag, making turkey soup from the carcass of the turkey I cooked for today's office potluck, trying to rebuild one of the kids laptops, reading blogs and stalking people on Facebook - what an exciting Friday night!  My husband has been out of town all week and he flies in later tonight so I will be trekking to the airport in a few hours.

I have 13-14 miles on tap for tomorrow morning; it is predicted to be about 38 degrees and raining tomorrow morning; oh boy!  But, it gets better; we'll be heading to Corvallis (about 80 miles South) for the Oregon State versus USC Football game, which starts at 5:00 p.m. another cold and wet outdoor activity. 

On Wednesday evening I was fortunate to get the opportunity to hear Dean Karnazes speak; wow, what an inspiring individual and pretty much a total freak of nature in terms of what his body allows him to do.  The next two items on his agenda are:

1.  Running across the entire US on trails
2.  Running a race (I forget if it was a marathon) in all 204 (two hundred and four) COUNTRIES

Can you believe it?  I read his Ultramaraton Man book quite some time ago and would highly recommend it.  Now I'm not quite a cool as Beth who actually got to run with Dean in Colorado, but I thoroughly enjoyed the evening anyway :-)  If he comes to your area take the time and listen to him speak; he really is remarkable.

Have a great weekend!

Check out the Black Night Army's virtual race

I'm so excited.....I'm going to participate in my first virtual race and it's INTERNATIONAL.....

If you don't already follow The Black Night go check Stefano out now; I am really loving his Italian escapades.

Here are the details:

1. Wear something black (shoes, socks, pants, shirt or whatever you want);
2. Run 10 km in the period Nov. 8 – Nov. 28 (the 10 km can be part of a longer distance);
3. Let Stefano know I sent you before Nov. 29th if you ran and if you wore something of black or if you mentioned it on your blog;
He will announce the winners in his Friday post (December 3rd) and will mail the gifts as soon as possible. The awards are 2 black long sleeves shirts random and 1 shirt for the less fast time.

My pity party is over

After I pissed and moaned a while about my lack of motivation and the loss of my running mojo, I changed my clothes and went out for a run!  I had an hour to kill before yoga on Monday so I took a nice 5.5 mile loop around the area I work; got back in time for yoga and felt like a million bucks - yeah for me!  This was the first evening where it really felt like winter was on the way; thank heavens I had left a jacket and pair of gloves in my trunk (probably from last winter).

For the past week I ended up with 30.5 miles, two yoga sessions & two boot camp sessions and I feel so much better.  We all know it can be difficult to get out the door for a run or to hit the gym, but we never regret it once we're pumping some iron or hitting the streets.  Since we all know how good we feel when we exercise why is it ever a problem to get out there and do it?

I'm working on my 2011 race calendar and trying to pull together a Boston training schedule; I can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

I will leave you with this silly picture of my kids - have an awesome weekend!

Where has my motivation gone?

I'm having a heck of a time getting back into a solid running routine, it's been more than a month since St. George but my mileage is virtually non-existent.  I'm getting in maybe two runs per week and that is only if I can find someone to run with; I haven't been out by myself in weeks.

Am I still recovering?
Is the weather getting to me (RAIN)?
Do I just need a break?
Do I need to sign up for something?

I have some fun events coming up, a Turkey Trot and a Holiday Lights run between now and the end of the month.  I know I will have a blast at these events and I can do the distance in my sleep; read between the lines UNTRAINED.

I'm signed up for a half in the middle of December; I hope I find my motivation by then.

I think I need a virtual "kick in the butt" or some kind, thoughtful words of motivation.......

You know, I never regret the run (or workout) once I am out the door; it is just so hard sometimes to get out the door - does anyone else ever feel like this?

It must be Monday :-)

Happy Friday

Yeah, I love Fridays and I love fun, innovative ideas to stay fit!  Go check out the latest challenge that Amanda has put together; I'm signed up - care to join me?

That's all for now; enjoy the weekend.