It's Mik...Post Marathon Run...1/2 Marathon Training...and I GOT TAGGED

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I mean, I started this humble little blog back in January...mostly due to the unfortunate iPhone incident...(just think, in about a month I would have been able to replace the, shall we say soiled, iPhone with a brand new iPhone G3 for less than it cost me to replace it with iPoo2...but I digress...) and now I've run a marathon, am going to run 2 more 1/2 marathons in less than 4 months and most recently...this little blog has gone and gotten tagged...which is so cool I can hardly stand it!

Anyway, first onto this first part of this post...

Naming Mik
Well...it's official, we have named the runner formerly known as ... (you won't find her name in this blog anymore...I changed all references) ... to (wait for it, wait for it)

Mik.

Yes, after a fair amount of negotiation, some excellent suggestions, and a well reasoned plea, we now have Mik...our Irish Cow...and a male cow-name to keep Clarence company...here she is crossing the finish line.

We will be welcoming Mik tomorrow after the Tuesday night track-club workout, so she'd better be there!

First Post Marathon Run
Betty and I ran about 3.5 miles on Sunday at Mission Bay. I was worried that I'd run all of the run out of me in completing a marathon. Seriously, I was a little concerned that maybe I wouldn't have any more steps left in me...that maybe running was a finite process...that maybe I could only run so many strides in my lifetime, and if this is so, I'd certainly hit my limit at about Mile 22 during the marathon (the rest was just overkill). So I was a little nervous about the first post-marathon run. The first mile was a sorta painful. My pace and breathing were off, my legs felt like lead...but then, just as in many of my long runs, after I warmed up (at about mile 3) I felt pretty good and was ready for more running...just the oddest thing ever. I'll be at Balboa Park tomorrow night for a different track club workout, one that does not involve running around in circles on the track.

1/2 Marathon Training
Speaking of the track club, there's some information on the club website about the 1/2 marathon summer training program. Betty and I talked about doing it and I emailed Steve to see if we could still sign up. It costs $55 and for that we'd get a HalfMad technical T shirt, a can of Vitalite (Gookinade), and some $10.00 gift certificates (probably for Movin' Shoes and Road Runner Sports, but can't verify)...and the 10 week training schedule for the AFC 1/2 in August.

The main bonus of the training is the aid station support on Saturday long runs, as we can download what I assume is the 1/2 marathon training program from the SDTC website. Although the HalfMad t-shirts are cool too...

Is it worth it?

I Got Tagged!
Tagging is one way that bloggers connect with each other and each other's blogs and I'm such a big-time blogger now (NOT) that Reluctant Runner...who finished her 1st marathon in Ottawa Canada (how cool is that?) a week before the Rock and Roll Marathon... tagged me today! My first tagging incident...Betty & Madge have to promise to not suspend me...

So, here are the rules of tagging:

Tagging is easy. Just copy the following onto your post. The rules of the game are posted at the start of your blog post. In this case, I'm asking you 5 questions about running. Each player answers the 5 questions on their own blog. At the end of your post you tag 5 other people and post their names. Go to their blogs and leave a comment on their blogs telling them they've been tagged and to look at your blog for details. When they've answered the questions on their own blog, they come back to yours to tell you. Got that?

So here goes:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Ha ha...me? run? 10 years ago? 10 years ago, I was nursing a brand new baby boy (Turbo-boy), chasing around a 2 year old (Drama Girl) and trying to figure out how I was going to juggle children... and teaching...and cookies... I used to make the joke that I'd start running if I ever saw anyone smile as they ran...

This probably explains why I always smile when I see a camera during a race (or training run) now.

2. What is your best/worst running experience?
My best running experience has been running with my friends. You always read in magazines that it's important to have buddies to exercise with to keep you motivated. I always sorta sneered about that idea figuring I was strong enough to do it on my own (which I clearly wasn't...see #1 above).

The worst running experience? I gotta say the day at Torrey Pines. The heat, the hills, the sand, the heat, my shoes that didn't fit...that I felt completely defeated afterward...all of it was pretty bad and I still haven't gotten over it.

3. Why do you run?
In the beginning I ran because it was social. It was a great excuse to hang out with my friends and have breakfast afterward. Now I think I run because it gives me little piece of time that's entirely about me. I know that may sound selfish, but it's true.

4. What is the best or worst piece of running advice that you've been given about running?
The best advice came from Paul, our SDTC Marathon Training Coach, who repeatedly told us to slow down. I wish I had listened to him earlier in my training. I think I wasted some training time by running too fast (even though my fast is other runners slow). When I slowed down, I discovered that I was actually running faster than I thought I was, and I had better endurance.

The worst advice usually comes from myself and has to do with eating (or not eating) before running, or tells me that it's OK to skip a run (when it's not) or tells me to run when I should rest...yep, all the bad advice comes from me.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

When I dream about me running (and I do), I can run fast and forever...

Now, here is who I am tagging...

1. I'm tagging Irene at Magazine Smiles because she blogs every day and also because I ran with her husband throughout the SDTC training season, and had been reading her blog, but didn't figure out they were related until after the marathon.
2. I'm tagging Denise at Why Cows Don't Jog - who is training for her first 5K, which is what I was doing three years ago...and look where it lead me. I just discovered her blog a few days ago, and can't believe that I've found another bovine-themed running blog.
3. I'm also tagging Al at You Run? No, Really, you run? and
4. Kelly at Road to Nowhere because they're east coast and midwest bloggers where it's hotter and more humid than hades right now...and they need something to do to take their mind off if it... (this may not be the ticket) that and I also really like reading their blogs too.
5. And I'm tagging Tammy at Am I Really a Runner, because I ask myself that very same question all the time now!

And finally, I'm tagging all Heffers who run (including BBJ)...you need to post your answers in response here...that or start your own blog and post them there!