{"id":515,"date":"2011-02-06T02:56:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T02:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/02\/the-runner-girl-returneth.html"},"modified":"2011-02-06T02:56:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-06T02:56:00","slug":"the-runner-girl-returneth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/02\/the-runner-girl-returneth\/","title":{"rendered":"The Runner Girl Returneth!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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I’d like to thank the kind young Marine pilot candidate for taking this nice picture.  I gave him my 3 beer coupons in return.  Like the bling?  They were handing out Mardi Gras beads near one of the water stations.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Today was the 15K race I’d mentioned last month<\/a>.  I was feeling pretty discouraged going into it this morning.  I don’t know why — perhaps I just started doubting myself or something. Perhaps I was bummed from awakening at 4:45am.  I trained appropriately, I wasn’t in (much) pain, I brought enough the appropriate clothing for the weather.  Seeing everyone else suffering in 15-20 knot north winds, 45 degree temperatures, on the waterfront brought some comfort that we were all in this together.<\/p>\n

My goal was to complete this race in less than 90 minutes and I’m so proud that I was able to meet my goal! Just under 86 minutes!<\/p>\n

My Twitter and Facebook friends saw an obscure status early this morning about worrying about my bladder more than whether I could finish the race.  Would I drink too much and have to go to the bathroom every mile?  (Or worse yet, would I drink too much and die*?)<\/a>  Would I not drink enough and really slow down due to dehydration?  What’s that perfect balance?  Luckily, I was able to go about 2 minutes before the Star Spangled Banner, and made it out the starting gate with a nice empty bladder!  I did fine, I was able to have water along the route, along with these nifty “Extreme Sport Beans” by Jelly Belly<\/a>.  A gal I was standing near waiting to start offered me a couple.  I ate one before each of the two bridges…I can’t say if they worked any wonders, but they were yummy just the same.  I might have to pick up a pack for upcoming long runs.<\/p>\n

*<\/i>Note: It takes an inordinate amount of water for it to kill you, I was semi-joking there.<\/i><\/p>\n

I made it just fine without even thinking about finding a bathroom.  Phew!<\/p>\n

But I did notice a guy hit a Circle K restroom at mile 2 (really?  after just TWO miles?), and a few women were in line at an Exxon station restroom at about mile 6.  There were a couple port-a-potties scattered along the route, but I think they were actually designated for construction sites, not for us runners.<\/p>\n

Next up?  I got to see what the medals for the Gulf Coast Half Marathon<\/a> look like, and I think I want one!  Click the link<\/a>, scroll down and look closely. They’re bottle openers, how cool is that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’d like to thank the kind young Marine pilot candidate for taking this nice picture.  I gave him my 3 beer coupons in return.  Like the bling?  They were handing out Mardi Gras beads near one of the water stations. Today was the 15K race I’d mentioned last month.  I was feeling pretty discouraged going … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[97,21],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-florida","tag-running"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t