Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Weekend update in mainly pictures because it's MY blog and I don't feel like writing a race report quite yet:)


Not according to plan:) A 6 minute PW actually!! You can see by my splits I ran two evenly paced halves-bahahaha!


Not the worst course, but no denying that 20-23 is a bitch:) I was no longer in "race" mode by this point and I walked much of this hill so I really can't complain about it.

Not overly upset about this race and still glad I chose to run it although I certainly don't feel that super "accomplishment" feeling now. I knew I was taking a chance running it both physically and mentally (if I struggled physically.) Without a doubt, I had my struggles but I finished smiling big and thankful to have completed my 4th marathon! (Smiles fade and perspective changes a little as time passes. In reality, it sucks to run a "personally" rock bottom race no matter why-ha ha!) I still qualified for Boston 2013 with a 9 minute cushion (new standards) so if I decide to shack up with a "running buddy" and do it again in 2013, I likely could:)

Went to the gym tonight and saw this written on the white board.


This will be my motto for the next 6 months. I'm back to sitting on a bag of ice here but I'm anxious to HEAL and get STRONG and get READY to finally change that DAMN PR on my sidebar next April that will be 2 YEARS OLD!!!




This made me smile when I returned home. I had never received an email confirmation and although I "knew" I was in, it was fun to see it on paper.

A few more random pics from the weekend.

Olympian Carrie Tollefson warming up for the 5K which she won in 16 something. Effortless.

Reese finishing the 5K. She crossed the finish line smiling and not at ALL how I look when I'm finishing a 5K. So much left to tap in there! I love the innocence of youth and the PURE excitement without the nerves!! Her results have changed many times and I have no idea what is going on with the website. This morning she was 14th OA female out of 1137 and now she is 8th overall out of 996 females. Either way, not bad for 10 years old.

Big hug from Dad!!

AND to conclude-I will leave you with my favorite picture below. This little guy took off like a bat outta hell and is ahead of ALL the elites. There were a ton of finishers in the 15 minute range and the poor little dude didn't end up being one of them but for a minute he held the lead in style!!



A special and SINCERE thankyou to so many of you who have continually showered me in support through this blog or email. I am truly grateful! I have been extremely self absorbed lately obsessing about my ass and this race and there are MANY comments I have wanted to respond to that meant a great deal to me.....

And completed unrelated but my laugh for today. Reese asked if she could go to a bomb fire at a friends house on Friday. I said "What?" She said "a bomb fire". Pretty sure she meant bonfire.....

19 comments:

Jill said...

I'm first??? YAY!!!

I thought about you all morning, girl. ALL morning. I was out running with my neighbor and felt miserable and all I could think of was you out there with your sore ass and running at least 3x faster than I was and hurting yet sucking it up and how I had to be tougher, like you! I can only hope and pray that I can BQ next year so that maybe WE can be roomies in Boston in 2013. That'd make my whole year!!

I wanted to text you after and find out how it went, but I knew you'd be swarmed with family and friends and didn't want to upset you or anything. But please know you were high on my list of thoughts all day...and all week since.

Congrats to Reeseie, she is amazing - like her momma! And that pic of her and her daddy is priceless!! You have such an incredibly amazing family!!

Congrats on race #4. Yeah, I had a personal suck worst race in Boston when I met you...and it was hard to go to that party after with the beginning of what turned out to be a nightmare foot problem....but it sure helped to have friends around and it helped take the edge off a little. Glad you were there :). You will rest, rebuild, rebound, and ROCK Boston 2012!! And I can't wait to follow your journey! Love ya, girl!!

Christina @ The Athletarian said...

Who cares about not running a PR! You ran another marathon and that is AWESOME! You are super fast no matter what and you should be proud at the end of every race. You will get that PR eventually! Congrats on getting that letter! Always nice to see things on paper. I have a suggestion though - crop out your address (just in case...a lot of people were talking about Internet creeps on Twitter tonight so I would do it just to be careful).

Love the quote on the whiteboard :)

Allison said...

I was out of town last week, so I didn't get a chance to wish you good luck! I tried to from my iPhone but no dice. DAMN!

I'm sorry your ass was a pain in the ass... or something like that. Boo. But shit... A 3:31 is still a kick ass time with an injury. You are awesome.

Love the gym quote. Love it.

My coach ran Twin Cities (Joe Burgasser). He finished 2nd in his age group: 70-74. Ran it in 3:29. Holy Lord. He's 73. On one hand, that makes me feel like a loser. On the other, it's totally inspirational. We've got a lot of marathons ahead of us yet, girl!

Reese is so awesome. You must be incredibly proud.

Congrats to you both!!

Raina said...

Random comment:
"Better than a bong fire", says Jon. You betcha. :)

More later. I have many more wise things to say after I have had some sleep.
Love you friend. Even at your PW.

XLMIC said...

LOVE that quote.

I could go on and on about how awesome your time is despite not hitting what you wanted and how much it blows to be injured. Instead I'll say this... first, GO, REESE!!!! Congrats to your speedy girl! and second...you DO totally ROCK!!! and third... now that the weather is getting colder you know what's right around the corner, right?

Hotdish.

xxxooo

Amanda@runninghood said...

Hey girl. Since we've chatted recently my comment won't be as long but you know what I think...I think you are freaking amazing!! And no joke about the hillllllls! What? With an injury that allow you to run on a FLAT course but when it comes to hills, you feel pain....um, this whole course is full of "pain" for you! Sheesh, and you still BQ with your PW. But I know what you mean....and you'll get that at Boston. This picture of the little guy sprinting at the start is so funny! Really great quote at the gym. Again, congrat to Reese. And congrats to you too Jenn...for finishing a hard course . Your time doesn't define you. What defines you is that you went out there and gave it your all and challenged yourself despite this PITA...you didn't quit and for that you should be proud. Take from it what will make you stronger and leave the rest. Love you girl! So stinking thankful for you!

middleagedrunner said...

WOW!
I know, I know it wasn't your personal best or most comfortable race but seriously- YOU KICK ASS!
That hill looked like a monster too- egads...
Congrats to your beautiful and speedy daughter- she is one hot ticket! She'll be running boston before you know it...

Ana-Maria RunTriLive said...

Nah, you will not use this time for your Boston 2013 (that friend is very exited to shack up with you!!!); you will use your Boston 2012 time, which will be a sub 3:10! We are going to train our a$$es off and we will be injury free. You'll get to make friends with the course before April when you come to shack up with me (I told Chris I am having an affair one weekend before Boston and he needs to take Petru to his mom's; he said "no problem").
OK, you know my thoughts on this. I would frame this as an exercise in mental toughness - running when you missed your goal at mile 10 of a marathon is rough!, and as money banked for Boston 2012! ANd Reese=rockstar! I can't wait for her next race! And, can she o a guest post on her amazing running form! That leaned from the ankles is beautiful!

C2Iowa said...

Congrats! Nasty hill for sure.

Christie said...

What a great race while having such a pain in your ass and still a great time. I hope all the icing helps and it goes away. What are you thinking it is?

That gym quote is wonderful. I just wrote it down to add to my collection around my computer screen:)

You have an amazing daughter as well... she most def. takes after you!!

Denae said...

Great Job Jenn running through the pain! Love the pics too.

Lindsay said...

Gee thanks for the reminder. My marathon PR is two years old in ~3 weeks!! Gah has it been that long already?!? Why am I still living in those "glory" days... Lol. May was well become an armchair-marathoner I guess. (me, not you)

Well I'm glad you finished bc my stalker text updates stopped at 13.1. According to them you must still be running.

ajh said...

Laughed at your ending. And wow is your daughter fast.
I always think you are amazingly fast but you know what is fast for you.

Caroline said...

holly Hills! that is a killer. and that time with those hills and an injury...wow.
I love that picture of Reese!
My kids are asking to run a 5K already...they are just 5 and 7...so far they only ran 1 mile races. I am happy they want to do it but we'll wait a bit for 5k!!!
I hope you derriere gets better soon! You will be back to great for that little race in April..I am sure of it!

Anonymous said...

STRAND! I was trying to think of your last name and I knew I'd seen it before. Blech.

I'm sorry you didnt' get the results you were looking for. It sucks plain and simple. That motto is a great take away.

And holy smokes! Whether it's 14th or 8th - that girls got it going on!

Walt said...

Great job. I hope to someday get a marathon time of 3:31. For now it's the 4 hour mark I need to bust.

GoBigGreen said...

You did great. AndUmmmmmm...dont forget in your self deprecation, which you do NOT deserve in my opinion, that the spike in pace correlates to an increase in elevation so uphill it was~!
I hope you enjoyed the day:) I want to sign up every year we dont have rain and 40 degrees:)

Britt @ Chicago Runner Girl said...

I have been trying to get here for days and my stupid iphone wont let me comment so I had to wait until I had a moment at my computer, lame technology.

Last fall I had a terrible marathon as well, and now when I look back on it I'm actually glad that things went so terrible. Okay this may be a bit early in the game for you to be feeling grateful for months of hard work going down the drain, but 1st you finished and 2nd there is no where to go but up from here. Sometimes it really sucks but we have to have poopy races to make us appreciate the abilities that we do have. Girl Boston is going to be your race, I just know it.

I have been chasing down a marathon PR for YEARS and haven't lost faith that I'll get there one day...and you are already on your way to reaching yours. Maybe I'll see you in 2013 at Boston.

Hope that your healing is going well!

Happy Feet 26.2 said...

nothing like a disappointing race to get your motivation going through the roof. Let your bootay heal, and then get ready to train. Even though it wasn't what you wanted, the injury on hills is rough. You still ran an awesome race. It amazes me how EASY it is for you to BQ. Just WOW! so much talent!

Also, keep in mind, you are still new and fresh in the marathoning world. You have MANY, MANY PRs ahead. I look forward to reading about each one.