8 of Best Things I've Seen at a Race

I've run a lot of races and they are all memorable, not just for my own experiences but for what I've seen during the race. I've been passed by lots of superheroes and costumed runners. I saw Dr Dribble, a guy known for dribbling a basketball for entire marathons. I always push the power button on those signs and I high five all the little kids. These spectacles and sightings help keep things light and take my mind off my own misery, especially during a marathon.

Since a marathon is 26.2 miles, runners have plenty of time to take in the sights. If you've never run a big city marathon, it's an experience unlike any other. Besides the running, the entire experience is entertaining. I've run all the distances, but for some reason, it's my marathon experiences that stay with me the most.

Today I'm sharing some of the best things I've seen while running races. Thanks to Tuesdays on the Run for this great writing prompt that gave me a fun ride down memory lane.

A Roll of the Dice

Disclaimer: I received a case of YQ by Yoplait yogurt in exchange for my honest review.

This week really was up for grabs. Nothing went as planned, but it was a great week. Sometimes that's just the way it goes. I'm not much of a gambler, but a runner's gotta just roll with it. Which is what I did...

Friday Fartlek

Happy FriYAY!

I didn't have a topic for today's post, in fact, I'm in kind of a blogging slump lately. I have a few drafts in the folder but I'm just not feeling those posts right now. I always have stuff on my mind, though. In the spirit of the Friday Five and keeping it brief, I thought I'd do a post of 5 random things.

So here's what's on my mind...

Run Is All You Need

What a tough week--at least off the road, it was. I'm just so disheartened by current events. Mocking and lying seem to pass for acceptable conduct these days. If it weren't for this blog, I'd be inactivating my Facebook account. Instead of seeing running posts and posts about family, my feed this week was filled with contentious political posts and memes--from both sides.

What's a runner to do?

Shut it down. Log off. Get outside. Go for a run. Repeat.

It's all you need.

Coffee Talk

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The temperatures have dropped, rain is falling, and it's the perfect morning to catch up over coffee. We could run, but running in the cold rain isn't much fun, right? How do you want your coffee? I've got half and half and GLG Collagen Hydrolysate to spoon in--do you want to try it?

Before we pour our coffee, I'm going to put it out there...I'm beside myself with is happening in Washington. Actually, I'm sick over it. I don't want to ruin our coffee date with negativity and I won't say any more than that. I think most of you know me and where I stand. All I can say is make sure you vote this November. It really does make a difference.

Ok, moving on. Tell me what's new in your world?

Thank you to Holly for this fun mug! 

There Goes My Dream of Running Boston..

Unless you weren't paying attention, you know that last week the Boston Athletic Association announced new Boston Marathon Qualifier Acceptances (BQs) for the 2020 Boston Marathon. Runners are getting faster, applications to run the Boston Marathon have increased, and the gap between the qualifying marathon times and the finish times that were accepted grew to 4:52 minutes.

We all knew this was coming. The number of running friends who "BQ'd" but didn't make the cut increased every year. The new standards should help runners training for a BQ have a better chance of being accepted. The previous BQ times have been adjusted down by 5 minutes. I wonder how long this standard will hold? And will it prevent or encourage cheaters?

The new standards make my Boston Qualifying time 4 hours 5 minutes. Since I'm no longer running marathons, it's kind of a non-issue. But the new qualifying times got me thinking again. I always said that if I was going to run another marathon, it would be Boston.

Running from Hot to Cold

After taking a complete week off to recover from my half marathon, this week I returned to running and CrossFit. I rarely take time off to recover after a race--in fact, the only time I can recall taking time off from working out is after my marathons. This time I really needed the break. I'm glad I did it because I was actually looking forward to running again. As the weather became more temperate, I had some really nice confidence boosting runs.

What a difference a 40 degree drop in temperatures makes! But wouldn't it be nice if it could be cold in the mornings for our runs and then warm up nicely for the rest of the day?