Raffle to Remember

For the second year in a row, Rachel and I will be dedicating 16 hours of continuous activity on the longest day of the year -  June 21st - to raise awareness and money for the fight against Alzhiemer's disease.

We will be running on a local high school track, switching off - one hour on, one hour off, from 5am til 9pm.  Last year was so incredible - we can't wait to see what this year brings.

   

 

We need YOUR help!

Please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer's Association by visiting our fundraising page. Every little bit helps, and you'll be rewarded for your generosity with a chance to win some AWESOME prizes. 

Here's how it works:

 

For every $5 you you donate, you'll get one entry into the raffle. 

Additionally, for every $25 you donate, you'll get three bonus entries.

And here are some additional ways to earn entries once you've donated:

Spread the word on your blog = +1 entry

Share on Twitter = +1 entry

Share on Facebook = +1 entry

(We also offered everyone who donated prior to this post one bonus entry)

So! Here are some examples:

  You donate $20, and link this post on your facebook, you get

 5 entries! (4 + 1)

You donate $30, and tweet about the raffle, you get 12 entries!  (6 + 5 + 1)

The raffle will be open til Sunday, June 23rd, and we'll announce the winners on Tuesday, June 27th.


And one more thing! Please let us know if there is someone that you love that fought or is fighting this terrible disease, and we'd be honored to carry their name around the track with us on June 21st. 


So, to recap:



1. DONATE!  The "donate to team" link is a tiny little thing under the scrolling purple box. 

2. Share on your blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

3. Leave me a comment to let me know what you did so I can tally your entries.

4. Leave me a comment to let me know if you'd like to honor someone specifically,
and we'll make it happen.


*Any questions? Sent me an email at twinlane@live.com, or leave me a comment!*

Here's a still-growing list of our donated items (check back often for new prizes!):

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Marathon Weekend. Crap.

So, looks like I have to run a marathon this weekend.

Sort of crept up on me.  It's not like I didn't know about it - Rachel and I signed up a few months ago with the intent of using it as a training run for The Longest Day.

But then I sort of forgot to train for it.  My longest run has been 14 miles.  I haven't been getting in good weekly mileage for at least a month, and while I just PR'd a half, my longer distance runs have been completely non-existent.

How my half marathon went:

Nailed it.

How this marathon will go:

Equal parts stupidity, poor execution, and being covered in bodily fluids.  Should be great.

So there's that. 

Be sure to tune in Monday to see how this thing goes.

Give me something to think about during the race that will make me forget about how much running a marathon untrained sucks.... annnnd... go!

Wisconsin Half Marathon Recap

Top of the morning to you lovelies.

So, last Saturday a bunch of us runners had big plans to run the Wisconsin Half Marathon, billed as "The Cheesiest Marathon".  We ran it last year, and had a freaking blast.

This year, I didn't feel super well trained going in.  In fact, I had such small expectations that I didn't even right the requisite pre-race blog post can I/can't I/goals A-Z post.  The horror.

On the 2.5 hour drive to Kenosha on the day before the race, I was feeling anxious.  Super anxious to be away from home, to not be working, to do this great thing I had so looked forward to for months.  Nine runner buds were all meeting and staying in a hotel together, and I couldn't get out of my own damn head enough to appreciate the days ahead.

Eventually, with the help of a Sea Dog and a walk in a driving rainstorm along a glorious and violently crashing Lake Michigan, I finally felt ready to enjoy the weekend. 

After an early night, we woke up on Saturday morning to picturesque running conditions.  Fifty degrees, barely a breeze, and a glorious lakefront course.  Splendid.

As we lined up at the start, I knew I could PR (1:55:30, an 8:48 pace), but I was hoping to just squeak by with miles in the 8:30s or 8:40s.

Mile 1-3 - 8:27, 8:10, 8:05
Rough, rough, rough.  I wasn't looking at my Garmin, so I didn't know my pace was a bit ahead of where I wanted to be, but these miles felt slllloooowww.  I felt like it was a damn eternity between mile markers, and I even convinced myself I had missed the mile two marker.... until I saw it five minutes later.  Ugh.

Miles 4-6 7:58, 7:46,7:57
I ate a little something something (Black Cherry Shotblok, just one) at 3.5 because I was dying for something to make this shitty race feel easier.  I popped in my headphones, jammed out to a little Rage Against the Machine, and miraculously, my pace increased and my effort level decreased.  A lot.  All praise be to sugar and rap metal. 

I glanced at my Garmin just once I think during these miles, saw a 7:20 real-time pace, and decided that was the end of my Garmin looking, because that shit was terrifying.  That's my 5k, verge-of-hurling, gaspy pace.  But it felt OK.  I was going to run by feel, and that was that.

I remember running up a little incline, feeling strong, feeling awesome, when I made the decision to follow Plan Fuck-The-Garmin, and I thought, "This is going to make an interesting blog post." I wasn't sure if I would blow up in a mile or PR like a madman, but sometimes bad decisions make good stories.... which also happens to be my personal motto.  When I'm drunk.

Miles 7-13 7:47, 7:46, 7:43, 7:53, 7:44, 7:46, 7:55
I won't even make this suspenseful guys.  My pace was ridiculously fast for me, and it was strong and steady.  It was a great, great race.

I finished with a 1:44:09.  And that feels crazy.

                               
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Wisconsin Half Marathon

F25-29

 

*** 1:44:09***

7:57 pace

 

Overall: 245/2272

Div: 9/217

Sex: 52/1402

          
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Post-race, we enjoyed brats, and beer, cheering in my super awesome runner buds, and general silliness at a brewery and then a craft beer bar. 

Sub 2s all around.



Sarah, Lish, Kathy, Rachel, me, Matt, Joan, Amy



Our love is majestic.  And a little creepy.



So proud of my mom... half marathon #3!!!



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Something that I did completely differently for this race was fueling.  Normally, I'll take three shot bloks over a five or so minute period at about 4 miles, 8 miles, and maaayyybe 10.5-11 if I'm dying. 

On Saturday, I took one ShotBlok (1/3 serving) at 3.5ish... and then I kept eating.  I pretty much popped one in my mouth each and every time I felt a big laggy.  I went through six, so I'm guessing I took one every 10-15 minutes, and it was awesome

Have you ever screwed around with your fueling strategy?  How'd that work out for you?