Ooo, a peanut butter cup!

That would be the name of my team if I were running the inaugural Hershey Half-Marathon in lovely, chocolate-scented Hershey, PA. I just found out about this sweet race earlier this morning thanks to friend, fellow Flying Pig runner, fellow chocolate-lover and Pennsylvania resident, Gayle. And now I almost wish I didn't know about it, because the very thought of it is inducing uncontrollable bouts of drooling.

The course runs past the world's largest chocolate factory, and the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup factory, and there's even a chocolate aid station. That's right folks, AN AID STATION THAT SERVES CHOCOLATE!!! I realize this really isn't a new concept, as the Nike Women's Marathon includes a Chocolate Mile (and arguably serves better chocolate - Ghirardelli). But an entire half-marathon dedicated to chocolate sure beats a chocolate mile any day of the week, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, I don't think I'll actually be running this race, at least not this year. For one thing, it's one week before the Chicago Marathon. And for another thing, it's all the way in Pennsylvania. But I will definitely be putting this on my dream race list for the future. In the mean time, I will just have to bring some Hershey's Miniatures on my long runs with me.

In other news...

Summer/Fall FAST has gotten off to a great start. I think our new co-coach is starting to feel like a part of the team. I know this because she dropped an f-bomb at practice on Thursday. Yep, she's definitely one of us now. And this is a good thing because Coach Brad is on vacation this week, which means Coach Maggie will be completely in charge. I'm not sure whether or not to be afraid. She seems laid back and easygoing, but you just never really know what will happen to someone when they become drunk with power. She could unleash hell on us and have us begging for mercy. I will report back after tomorrow's workout. If I survive, that is...

Our workout last Thursday was a really good one and I just had to share it with y'all. It turns out there is a fun way to run hill repeats. That way is short and fast. The coaches had us do 10 x 20 second sprints up the Hill Of Death with lots of recovery between (enough time to get the heart rate back down). The goal was to engage those fast-twitch muscle fibers, which despite all evidence to the contrary, I do actually have. I may not have very many and most of the time they're asleep, but they're in there.


As you can see from the graph (where the sprints are highlighted in purple), I had to run up the Hill Of Death twice to get 10 sprints in. The faster members of our group had to run it more than that in order to get their 10 sprints in. Ha ha - sucks to be them! After the hill sprints, we did a 2 mile tempo run, and that was that. All in all, a pretty good workout. The Hill Of Death is not nearly so deadly when it's broken up into small chunks. Oh, don't get me wrong, it still hurts. It just hurts in short bursts instead of one long, continuous pain.

On Sunday morning, I had a lovely 10-mile run with the Stashies. Well, that is if you think stifling humidity is lovely. I don't, really. So actually, it was sort of a miserable run, although it was made better by two things (1) the fact that the Stashies are such a great group to run with and (2) the fact that eventually, it was over. I actually ran pretty well despite the oppressive humidity, and was able to run my characteristic negative splits (which for me, is always a sign of a good run).

Next Sunday's run with the Stashies will be 14 miles, which is starting to get into serious marathon-training territory. At this distance, I need to be concerned with fueling on the run, and getting enough carbs the day before. I better start stockpiling pasta, and making sure I have big enough supply of Sharkies. Oh, and Hershey's Miniatures! *commence drooling*

Peace. Love. Train.

Ooo, A Shiny Medal!

That's the name of my team for the Niagara Falls International Marathon 1812 Peace And Friendship Two-Person Marathon Relay. (Wow, that's a mouthful! Dare ya to say it three times fast!) This marathon, which is on October 24 this year, is the only marathon in the world that starts in one country and ends in another. Runners begin in Buffalo, NY and actually run across the international border... without having to wait in line for two hours at Customs and answer ridiculous questions like "What brings you to Canada?" (ummm, *pant pant pant* my running shoes?) and "Do you have anything to declare?" (ummm, well, I did just get this fancy race bib and timing chip...). The race, a point-to-point route, finishes at beautiful Niagara Falls in Ontario.

Team "Ooo, A Shiny Medal!" is comprised of me (duh) and my BFF, Shelley, who is Canadian. Now, I know what you're all thinking: "I bet she has a funny accent, eh!" She does, but that is really beside the point. Actually, I think her accent is cute, rather than funny... but again, it's beside the point. The point is that we are running as a team and it will be very symbolic because I, the American, will run the first leg, starting in the US and crossing over into Canada and then Shelley, the Canadian, will run the second leg entirely in Canada. It is symbolic of the friendly, peaceful, non-competitive relationship between the US and Canada. Although, I think each of us is secretly hoping to run faster than the other so we can claim bragging rights for our country.

Although, if you look at the elevation plot below, you'll see why I will have a pretty tough time running a faster half.


I get to run over that elevation spike known as the Peace Bridge, which is essentially a really big man-made hill. Although it is not nearly as steep as that graph would make it appear, it's still a fairly long climb. Here's the Peace Bridge in daylight, which is how it will look when I run across it:


What many people don't realize is that by day, it's The Peace Bridge, but by night, it's...


...Disco Bridge! (Yes, this is really what the bridge looks like at night - it's lit by colorful LEDs.) I really think they should have a race across it at night - how fun would that be?

Shelley, however, gets to run almost entirely downhill for her leg of the race and cross the finish line at Niagara Falls. I could insert some comment here about how Canadians have it so easy with their uber-polite citizens, plentiful moose meat, low crime rates and flat race routes, but in the spirit of peaceful international relations, I'll refrain. Besides, they also have Celine Dion, so it's not like everything in Canada is milk and honey.

The truth is, I really get the best part of the race, because there is a duty-free shop at the base of the Peace Bridge and you can bet I am going to stop in and get myself some tax-free wine, liquor and perfume. I rarely wear perfume or consume liquor, but I sure can't pass up a good deal when I'm running right past it! I'll have to make sure to wear running gear with lots of big pockets, because I sure can't run with armfuls of glass bottles - that would be completely impractical. But if I can stuff them into, say, the kangaroo pocket of a hoodie, and those nifty iPod pockets some running shorts and tops have, then I should be good to go. Yes, there will be a bit of banging and clanging as the glass bottles bounce around in my pockets while I run... but I'll be listening to my iPod, so the noise won't bother me. Besides, I'm sure lots of other runners will have the same idea and it will be one big parade of runners with shorts full of duty-free goods. And yes, I realize what I just wrote. I did it on purpose. You may proceed with your "haha, you said duty!" and "*snort* shorts full of duty!" comments - we are never too old for toilet humor. Or, as they say in Canada, humour de toilette.

When I finally pass the proverbial baton to Shelley at Mile 13.1, I imagine I will be transported to the finish line so I can actually see her finish. She wants to run a PR, and I am acting as her running coach to help her get that PR. I have no doubt she can do it, especially if she follows my custom training plan which involves being chased uphill by a faster runner carrying a boom box blasting Shania Twain music. (Hey, I didn't say I was a nice coach!)

Once Shelley and I finally get our shiny medals (oooo!), we will pop open a bottle of duty-free wine from my shorts (there I go with the humour de toilette again!) and celebrate our international victory.

Peace. Love. Train.

The Passing of the Puke Crown

It was a momentous day at the first FAST team run of the summer/fall season.

First of all, we welcomed a new co-coach, Maggie, who despite being a University of Illinois grad (boooo! hisssssss! Go Purdue!), is actually pretty cool. I guess all of those things they say about U of I grads aren't true after all.

I'm kidding!

Really!

Mostly!

*begs* Coach Maggie, please don't punish me with extra core work next week. Do you like cookies? I can bake you some cookies!

Anyway, Coach Maggie will most certainly make us work hard. She nearly had us crying during the core work today. I am pretty sure we will all have ripped abs by the time this season of FAST is over. I think Coach Bekah (who has left us to move to New Hampshire - so rude!) would be pleased to know that her legacy of really tough core work is being continued. We are even carrying on Bekah's crazy form drills and dynamic warmups, and Coach Maggie has thrown some new moves into the mix. So the torture is the same... yet different.

Today was also momentous because the FAST Puke Crown was passed on from Becky to Niki, in a very formal ceremony which involved Becky giving the crown to Niki in a paper bag and Niki placing the crown on her head to wear during the core workout.


That says "Royal Puker", in case you can't see it. Niki earned the crown through her awesome display of reverse peristalsis at the Steamboat Classic 4 Mile race back in June. I think the crown looks stunning on her, but she seems pretty eager to give it up. Who will be the next puking FASTie? Only time will tell. I just hope it's not me.

As for tonight's run... it was a toughie. The heat and humidity made the warmup feel like a sprint. I am sure we have run in hotter weather, but today the humidity was particularly high and there was very little breeze. The coaches had us do 3 x 1 mile repeats in the cemetery (which is, thankfully, mostly shady) with a couple minutes rest between. The goal was to run them consistently, so that the last mile would be as fast as the first one.

Yeah, I totally failed. Epic fail.


My mile times were 8:48, 9:00 and 9:18. To be fair, the coaches did say it was an effort-based workout, not a pace-based one. And I can assure you that the 9:18 pace of the 3rd mile sure seemed like the same effort as the 8:48 of the first mile. But I don't think this is quite what Coach Brad had in mind. Nevertheless, it was a very good workout despite my poor attempt at consistent pacing.

I fear what Thursday's workout will bring. I am sure it will be something involving hills. My old friend, The Hill Of Death, is calling my name. "Emilyyyyyy... come run up my steep slope.... I miss youuuuu..." I am pretty sure it just wants me to earn the Puke Crown, though.

Peace. Love. Train.