Every time I register for a race as the time creeps closer I start to question my ability to finish said race. I am in that stage now. Since I am so slow I start to worry that I will be the last one. You know the one followed by the police car? I have been that person a few times and I hate it. In my heart I know that I shouldn't give a darn, I am out there running and I am not a spring chicken anymore, there are usually only a handful in my age group! But my darn head! Thoughts of " you know you are going to be last," " No matter how hard you run, you are still slow" I have tried all I know to try and think positive thoughts and they just don't come. So why do I keep doing this? Good question. Wish I had the answer. Up until 2008 I had never run further than a 10K. Then some enabling friends of mine ( you know who you are), started egging me to try a half. So I did. After the race I thought never again...yeah right! 2 weeks later I was signing up to run the Detroit Free Press Half ( a great race by the way), then the following year my one and only marathon. So here I am 6 years later still registering for these darn Halfs! No ones cares, except myself, how slow I am or that I bringing up the rear, but you know you hear those thoughts in your head " why is she even running, she might as well walk" I don't think people think this, but in my head they are thinking just that. I need these races though to keep myself motivated to keep on running. If I sign up you can be sure I will run that race, unless I am sick of course, and no matter how slow or how terrible I feel that day I will finish!
Okay, I am thinking way too negative here and I do not need that 2 days before my race. I use the word, race, loosely, since in my case it usually is not. There I go again, being negative. I need professional help! LOL! I have met wonderful friends during this journey. Friends, that I believe, I will have for a long time, because they are nuttier that I am!
So wish me luck Sunday as I run , I think, my 21st Half Marathon! That is an accomplishment, right?????
Ginny
Friday, June 27, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Summertime.....and the runnin' is easy...
Well not really easy, but a heck of a lot better than the winter!
Sorry that I have not posted in a few months. I get into a real funk in the wintertime and ours lasted forever this year. I did manage to train for and registered for the Cleveland Half Marathon in May. However.....the night before the race I was up all night with the stomach flu. No way was I going to make it to Cleveland, about an hour's drive, let alone run a Half Marathon. I was so disappointed, I have never registered for a race and then not been able to run it. Monday following the scheduled half I decided to run my own private Half just in my hometown. Strapped on my Garmin, loaded up with water and away I went. I didn't do as well as I hoped, but am thinking I probably would have done better had it been a race environment, at least I told myself that!
Since my running has gone pretty well. Did do a 5K in our downtown later in May, that was interesting also. At one point we were supposed to turn right, run around a marina and then get back on the main road. The woman ahead of me , either did not see the pointing sign, or chose to ignore it, I am not sure which, anyway she did not make the turn or run around the marina, but just kept going straight, I tried to yell at her that she missed the turn, but again, she either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Imagine my chagrin when as age group awards were announced she was in my age group and came in first! I was second! I was kind of ticked off because I knew she did not run the whole course. Did not say anything though, cause she really may have just missed the turn off. However, I did mention it to a friend, who told the race director. The next week as I was coming home there was a 1st place medal hanging on my back door...neat! Apparently I was not the only person who complained. I still don't know if she thinks she ran the whole thing or not. I have heard through the grapevine that she also did this in a neighboring town's 5K a few weeks later, but she was caught this time. So maybe she did know what she was doing after all.
I seem to have an awful lot of aches and pains these days, but they never seem to get any worse and do not prevent me from running, so I just keep going. My speed is still atrociously ( is that a word?) slow, but I think I have come to grips with it ( not really, I still try to improve) I am running a Half this Sunday in Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world! I better not get sick! I so want to come in under 3 hours! See I told you I am slow! The weather conditions are supposed to be hot and humid, but the race starts at 6:45, so hopefully it will not be too bad. If you have read any of my other blog posts you will know that I really got sick in Cleveland a couple of years ago when it was hot and humid, so I do not want to repeat that experience!
Wish me luck and I promise I will post a race report.
Right now I feel like I can keep running indefinitely!
ginny
Sorry that I have not posted in a few months. I get into a real funk in the wintertime and ours lasted forever this year. I did manage to train for and registered for the Cleveland Half Marathon in May. However.....the night before the race I was up all night with the stomach flu. No way was I going to make it to Cleveland, about an hour's drive, let alone run a Half Marathon. I was so disappointed, I have never registered for a race and then not been able to run it. Monday following the scheduled half I decided to run my own private Half just in my hometown. Strapped on my Garmin, loaded up with water and away I went. I didn't do as well as I hoped, but am thinking I probably would have done better had it been a race environment, at least I told myself that!
Since my running has gone pretty well. Did do a 5K in our downtown later in May, that was interesting also. At one point we were supposed to turn right, run around a marina and then get back on the main road. The woman ahead of me , either did not see the pointing sign, or chose to ignore it, I am not sure which, anyway she did not make the turn or run around the marina, but just kept going straight, I tried to yell at her that she missed the turn, but again, she either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Imagine my chagrin when as age group awards were announced she was in my age group and came in first! I was second! I was kind of ticked off because I knew she did not run the whole course. Did not say anything though, cause she really may have just missed the turn off. However, I did mention it to a friend, who told the race director. The next week as I was coming home there was a 1st place medal hanging on my back door...neat! Apparently I was not the only person who complained. I still don't know if she thinks she ran the whole thing or not. I have heard through the grapevine that she also did this in a neighboring town's 5K a few weeks later, but she was caught this time. So maybe she did know what she was doing after all.
I seem to have an awful lot of aches and pains these days, but they never seem to get any worse and do not prevent me from running, so I just keep going. My speed is still atrociously ( is that a word?) slow, but I think I have come to grips with it ( not really, I still try to improve) I am running a Half this Sunday in Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world! I better not get sick! I so want to come in under 3 hours! See I told you I am slow! The weather conditions are supposed to be hot and humid, but the race starts at 6:45, so hopefully it will not be too bad. If you have read any of my other blog posts you will know that I really got sick in Cleveland a couple of years ago when it was hot and humid, so I do not want to repeat that experience!
Wish me luck and I promise I will post a race report.
Right now I feel like I can keep running indefinitely!
ginny
Saturday, March 8, 2014
The winter that won't die!
I am beginning to believe that it will never stop snowing! Been snowing all day here again today. Not much accumulation, but I just don't even want to look at it anymore.
I have been forced to exercise indoors again all this week. Been doing the 5-mile walk/jog DVD's with Leslie Sansone. They are good and I feel I get a workout, but I have to build up my mileage. I am going to have to resort to the gym and the treadmill if the weather doesn't improve and it sure does not look like that is going to happen anytime soon. I know I shouldn't be, but I am embarrassed at the gym. I am so slow and I feel like people are thinking "for heaven's sake, why doesn't she just walk?" Anyway, I try to go super early in the morning when no one is there. I realize that this is probably all in my own stupid head, but that's how I feel. Silly, huh? I wish I could get over this speed thing and just be happy to be moving at all, but it really bugs me. It's like my legs just will not go any faster, I try. Maybe when the weather warms up.
On a brighter note, I have entered a few contests on FB this season and I have won 2 paid entries into races of my choice! So that means I am now registered for 3 half marathons, 2 of which are of no cost to me. So I am running Cleveland in May, Lake Erie in August, and Mighty Niagara in September. I should probably stop with those three, since I have been having all these darn aches and pains. Think I will just play it by ear and see how I feel once I start to get my mileage built up.
Well, I am going to run 6 miles in the morning, hopefully outside, but I have a feeling it may be the treadmill.
I will let you know how I do.
ginny
I have been forced to exercise indoors again all this week. Been doing the 5-mile walk/jog DVD's with Leslie Sansone. They are good and I feel I get a workout, but I have to build up my mileage. I am going to have to resort to the gym and the treadmill if the weather doesn't improve and it sure does not look like that is going to happen anytime soon. I know I shouldn't be, but I am embarrassed at the gym. I am so slow and I feel like people are thinking "for heaven's sake, why doesn't she just walk?" Anyway, I try to go super early in the morning when no one is there. I realize that this is probably all in my own stupid head, but that's how I feel. Silly, huh? I wish I could get over this speed thing and just be happy to be moving at all, but it really bugs me. It's like my legs just will not go any faster, I try. Maybe when the weather warms up.
On a brighter note, I have entered a few contests on FB this season and I have won 2 paid entries into races of my choice! So that means I am now registered for 3 half marathons, 2 of which are of no cost to me. So I am running Cleveland in May, Lake Erie in August, and Mighty Niagara in September. I should probably stop with those three, since I have been having all these darn aches and pains. Think I will just play it by ear and see how I feel once I start to get my mileage built up.
Well, I am going to run 6 miles in the morning, hopefully outside, but I have a feeling it may be the treadmill.
I will let you know how I do.
ginny
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
It's been a long, long winter!
I am so sorry that I have not posted in months! My running has been so sporadic since October. Back in November I started working with a personal trainer, which was great, but somehow I did something to my lower back which put me out of commission for over a month! My back still isn't right. Needless to say, between the weather and my back my running has suffered considerably. Just over the past month I have been trying to get there more.
Our winter has been brutal. If it isn't snowing and blowing , the temperature has been near or below zero with the chill factor. Heading into March and I think the temperature might reach 15 today if we are lucky and we had a little more snow last night! Winter is not a good time of year for me, I think I may have a touch of depression in winter. I am definitely a warm weather, sunshine kind of lady.
I ran outside this past Sunday with no snow on the street! It was wonderful. The past few Sundays I have gone out it has been with my Yaktrax plowing through 3 to 6 inches of snow.
Aches and pains galore this year too. Not sure if it is just because of my age or what. But up until this year I have almost never had any pain anywhere. Now it seems like something always hurts, my hip, my back, hamstring...always something. Maybe the extra mileage that I have been doing the past 5 years? Just not sure what is going on, but I don't like it. I won't stop running, but just wondering if maybe I should not do so many Half marathons this year. I am already registered for two. The Cleveland Half in May and The Mighty Niagara in September.
Anyway, I hope this hasn't been a downer, because I will not give up my running and I so enjoy the half marathons, so I will just keep running and hope my little aches and pains disappear with the winter.
If anyone does read this blog and has been experiencing any thing that I have, I would love for you to comment. Like I said, just not sure if it just my age and my years of running catching up with me or what.
Ginny
Our winter has been brutal. If it isn't snowing and blowing , the temperature has been near or below zero with the chill factor. Heading into March and I think the temperature might reach 15 today if we are lucky and we had a little more snow last night! Winter is not a good time of year for me, I think I may have a touch of depression in winter. I am definitely a warm weather, sunshine kind of lady.
I ran outside this past Sunday with no snow on the street! It was wonderful. The past few Sundays I have gone out it has been with my Yaktrax plowing through 3 to 6 inches of snow.
Aches and pains galore this year too. Not sure if it is just because of my age or what. But up until this year I have almost never had any pain anywhere. Now it seems like something always hurts, my hip, my back, hamstring...always something. Maybe the extra mileage that I have been doing the past 5 years? Just not sure what is going on, but I don't like it. I won't stop running, but just wondering if maybe I should not do so many Half marathons this year. I am already registered for two. The Cleveland Half in May and The Mighty Niagara in September.
Anyway, I hope this hasn't been a downer, because I will not give up my running and I so enjoy the half marathons, so I will just keep running and hope my little aches and pains disappear with the winter.
If anyone does read this blog and has been experiencing any thing that I have, I would love for you to comment. Like I said, just not sure if it just my age and my years of running catching up with me or what.
Ginny
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Lake Erie Shores and Islands Half Marathon...
Great day for a race! Left the house this morning about 6:15, race started at 7. Sometimes it is really nice to have a local race, no worrying about time and where you are going to stay, traffic etc. Still kind of dark when we arrived and fog. This is the 3rd year they have held this race and I have done all three. Very few people running today though, apparently there was a triathalon in the next town over today too, so I think that ....took some of the usual runners. As I was looking around and saw so few people I thought to myself, oh no, so few people I will be dead last,,,they will probably send out the local police to look for me. I really get nervous before races. I one point I said to my husband, why do I do this???? He said "because you love it"...yeah he is right, even as slow as I am I do love it and I love competing, even if it is against myself most of the time. So anyway, played the National Anthem and away we went! The course was a little different this year, past years we went about 1/4 mile and then ran on a kind of trail for a couple of miles. This trail has never been well maintained, it is single file and does have some really low spots and holes that aren't readily seen when you are running, but I kind of like that part of the run myself. But today we stayed on the highway instead, not a lot of room on the shoulder to run, but they did have the orange cones, making a sort of running lane. Traffic at that time of the morning was not bad though. It is pretty scenic, some beautiful homes along lake Erie, the first mile went really fast for me. I was wearing my Garmin, but I decided to just use it today to help remind me of my Walk/run ratio. I have been doing the Walk/run for my past few halfs and it has worked for me. I did not want to know how fast Iwas going...I get too caught up in that and I think I think about it too much, so it was hard, but I did not look. I did however check at each mile to see what my pace was. I didn't let it get to me though, just looked. This stretch of highway was about 3 miles I think and then we entered the small town of Huron, running through the neighborhood, then out on a highway again.....I think it gets a little hilly here, but probably most people would not think that it is....not a lot of room again and more traffic. Got a little dicey when the lead runners were heading back and we were still running to the turn around. My son and grandson live in a subdivision along this highway and they were standing on their corner to cheer grandme on! This year I crossed the street and gave grandson and son a hug, never did that before, but seemed the thing to do today. Continued to the turn around, which I thought would never come, but I still felt pretty good. The way back is more downhill so I tried to kick up the pace a little......back into town, and my feet start cramping a little, they always do this and as long as I keep running they usually calm down. By now we are in mile 9 and going pretty well. The sun is up now and getting a little warm, but not bad. At this point I did pass 2 ladies that had been ahead of me the whole way. Out of the town and back out on the highway...mile 11 I started getting a twinge in my right calf and I keep saying, please don't cramp up now, please don't, I think I am going pretty well. Kept twinging and more cramps in the foot....mile 12 twinges are getting worse, but keep moving Ginny, keep moving.....10-20 feet from the finish my right calf grabbed me so bad I had to stop, nothing else I could do......I am alone, staring at the finish line, the photographer is there and I had grabbing my calf at a dead stop! My husband saw me and came to me, so I leaned on him, we are both rubbing that dang calf....it finally let up enough for me to cross the finish line.....but I was so disappointed. Really???? 10 feet in front of the finish? BUT I still had a personal best! I couldn't believe it....for whatever reason they had the sign that showed your time turned off, so I figured I must be way over 3 hours and they just turned it off...but Ken said you had a really good time...I said I did? I looked at my Garmin at it said 2:46. I know to you runners this is not that good of a time but it is the best Ihave ever done, so I was thrilled!! Ken said when he saw me approaching the finish he thought Wow she is doing good! So even with my calf I did well and I am just so happy! Bring on the next one in September!!!
Ginny
Ginny
Monday, July 29, 2013
What Happened to Summer???????
I mean this morning and last night I was wearing my winter robe and socks! In July! This just isn't right! We have approximately 6-8 months of winter here in northern Ohio, I need a couple paltry months of summer please before we are plunged back into cold and dreary.
My running has been going pretty well though. I guess this weather is conducive to that anyway. Ran 11 miles yesterday morning and felt really great. I am running another half marathon on August 18th so I need to get in some longish runs. Up until this past week my running has been sub par, feeling really sluggish. Don't know what causes this. One day you feel like you cannot put one foot in front of the other and a few days later you can be running like the wind! Well I never run like the wind, but you get my gist. Very perplexing as I know most runners experience this phenomena. I have tried to keep track of my runs and figure out if there is a common thread when I have these terrible runs, but I have not been able to find one, it just seems to happen. Maybe the stars aren't aligned right or something, who knows? As long as I don't stay in a running funk I guess I can handle a few bad runs.
Ran a local 5 K over the 4th of July and did pretty well for me. Ran it in 36:22 and placed 2nd in my age group. Not bad and it was fun. Always fun to place, which never happened when I was younger. Perseverance pays off I guess.
Completely off topic from my running, I became the proud grandmother of twin girls almost 2 weeks ago now!
They are too cute aren't they??? What a blessing.
These two little angels are grandchildren number 9 and 10!
Ginny
My running has been going pretty well though. I guess this weather is conducive to that anyway. Ran 11 miles yesterday morning and felt really great. I am running another half marathon on August 18th so I need to get in some longish runs. Up until this past week my running has been sub par, feeling really sluggish. Don't know what causes this. One day you feel like you cannot put one foot in front of the other and a few days later you can be running like the wind! Well I never run like the wind, but you get my gist. Very perplexing as I know most runners experience this phenomena. I have tried to keep track of my runs and figure out if there is a common thread when I have these terrible runs, but I have not been able to find one, it just seems to happen. Maybe the stars aren't aligned right or something, who knows? As long as I don't stay in a running funk I guess I can handle a few bad runs.
Ran a local 5 K over the 4th of July and did pretty well for me. Ran it in 36:22 and placed 2nd in my age group. Not bad and it was fun. Always fun to place, which never happened when I was younger. Perseverance pays off I guess.
Completely off topic from my running, I became the proud grandmother of twin girls almost 2 weeks ago now!
They are too cute aren't they??? What a blessing.
These two little angels are grandchildren number 9 and 10!
Ginny
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Running into Relatives!
With my genealogy-obsessed coworker I have digging into my past for the past several years. Recently we discovered that my father's cousin lived less than an hour away! This was quite a find, since most all of the relatives are in the Scranton, Pa., Philadelphia Pa. area. So this cousin's father and my grandfather were brothers! I had the pleasure of meeting Jack last summer and again just last week , with an added bonus! His sisters were there visiting, so I got to meet more cousins. We had a wonderful time and I loved hearing stories that I had never heard before. We figure we may have met up sometime in Philadelphia when we were very small children. Below is a picture of my grandparent's Emma and Ambrose Murray.
They both died when I was in my teens, but I do remember them of course. I was born in Philadelphia, so I remember them being babysitters when my mom and dad would go out. One night I remember that it was snowing and my parent's specifically asking me and telling my grandparents not to let me go out in the snow! I have no idea why they would have said this, maybe I had a cold or something, I just remember that my grandparents completely ignored these instructions and we went out and played in the snow! Once we moved to NY, my grandparents would frequently visit and we would visit Philadelphia. However, I do not remember much about any other relatives. I have no idea why we were not involved with other aunts and uncles, maybe my parents were and I just don't remember. It was quite exciting then to meet my grandfather's brother's son! Below is a picture of a my grandfather, Ambrose on the right, Emma (grandmother) then Kay and Jerome ( Ambroses' brother) at my grandparents home.
Added bonus, when I met with Jack and his sisters, Peg had brought a picture of Ambrose's mother. I have never seen a picture of her. She was born In Ireland in 1863 to James Fleming and Bridget O'Hara. Her first husband was a James McCann, he died very young. It was with her 2nd husband John T Murray that she had 4 sons, Walter, Joseph, Ambrose, Jerome. You can see them listed here in the 1900 census in Scanton, Penna. Also listed are 4 other children of which we really cannot figure out the connection.
They both died when I was in my teens, but I do remember them of course. I was born in Philadelphia, so I remember them being babysitters when my mom and dad would go out. One night I remember that it was snowing and my parent's specifically asking me and telling my grandparents not to let me go out in the snow! I have no idea why they would have said this, maybe I had a cold or something, I just remember that my grandparents completely ignored these instructions and we went out and played in the snow! Once we moved to NY, my grandparents would frequently visit and we would visit Philadelphia. However, I do not remember much about any other relatives. I have no idea why we were not involved with other aunts and uncles, maybe my parents were and I just don't remember. It was quite exciting then to meet my grandfather's brother's son! Below is a picture of a my grandfather, Ambrose on the right, Emma (grandmother) then Kay and Jerome ( Ambroses' brother) at my grandparents home.
Added bonus, when I met with Jack and his sisters, Peg had brought a picture of Ambrose's mother. I have never seen a picture of her. She was born In Ireland in 1863 to James Fleming and Bridget O'Hara. Her first husband was a James McCann, he died very young. It was with her 2nd husband John T Murray that she had 4 sons, Walter, Joseph, Ambrose, Jerome. You can see them listed here in the 1900 census in Scanton, Penna. Also listed are 4 other children of which we really cannot figure out the connection.
Below is the picture of my great-grandmother, Mary, with 3 of her grandchildren and a neighbor. According to my cousins, Kay and Peg, she was quite stern and you learned to mind Grandmother Murray!
Sadly, I did not connect with Jack Murray until after my father passed away. My Dad would have been so excited to meet up with one of his relatives, that I am sure he knew when he was young. They would have had so much fun talking about the past! My Dad was proud of what I had found out already, but this really would have put him over the top.
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