We Came, We Ran, We Conquered...

After all the craziness that was finding 6 more people to run on our River to River relay team, we could not have found a better group. Jason aptly referred to us as the "team of last resort" due to the fact that the majority of our team committed to run the week of the relay.

Matt Steidl, a childhood friend of Jason's flew up from Texas. Angie Rathjen, a high school friend of Jason's drove over from St. Louis. My mom drove up from Fayetteville, TN, picking up Gary Harris and his daughter, Valerie Moore on the way. We all convened in Marion, IL where the packet pick-up was located.

The morning of the race, we all rose bright (or dark) and early. Jason, Matt and I met the others in Carbondale and picked up Angie on our way to the start line. We parted ways when we got close so that Matt and Angie could take Jason to the start line and Mom, Gary, and Valerie could get me to the second exchange zone where I would start my first leg of the relay.
Our start time was 7:45a.m. and even though I didn't see Jason start, I knew it wouldn't be long before I saw him flying around the corner to hand me the bright red baton our team would pass from runner to runner. Sure enough, nineteen minutes later there he was on the heels of the front runner for the 7:45 pack. He handed me the baton, and I took off for my first 3.6 mile leg.

It was a flat, easy leg with many scenic spots along the way. I ran hard with the excitement of starting the relay and fresh legs to carry me along. My goal was to run my first leg at a sub-8 minute pace and then to hold the rest under 9. I finished in 26:55, running a 7:31 pace for my first leg. I passed the baton to Valerie and off she went. One leg down, three to go.
With everyone running close to a 5k each time, it wasn't long before it was my turn again. Jason and I were splitting up the legs of our missing runner 8 and so he was doubling up on his second and third legs, giving him a little over a 10k each time.

As I waited at the next exchange zone, I thought I had more time and after visiting the port-a-potty station, I was headed back up to the car to put on a tank top when I heard, "JANE!" I turned to see Jason racing up the hill. I met him at the exchange zone and took off running once again.

I didn't remember until too late that I'd turned off the GPS function on my Garmin. I told myself I didn't need to know my pace...only to quickly decide otherwise. So while running as hard as I could, I messed with my watch until I had it giving me all the necessary information. Once I had it, I told myself to focus, and picked up the pace. It was hot by this time and I had more hills during this leg, but I only had 2.85 miles to go and it went by quickly. My watch said 20:33 for this one, but I added two more minutes for all the Garmin issues.
When we weren't running, we were munching on the goodies we'd brought, drinking water and gatorade, talking, laughing, and cheering on our current runner. A light rain showed up, but left shortly after leaving us to run in peace. The sun stayed hidden behind the clouds, however, and that was fine with us. It was chilly between sections, but perfect when running.
My third leg was my longest at 3.75 miles, and the hardest I'd encountered thus far in my race. With several steep hills to climb, I pushed, but not as hard as I had before. Weariness was beginning to set in and I needed to save some energy for my final leg, which was THE last leg of the relay. While running this third leg, I mistakenly thought it was 3.3 miles and so when asked by a fellow runner how much we had left, I told him less than half a mile...which was off by another half. Oops. As I passed another fellow runner on one of the steep hills, she said, "You go girl! Look at you go!" I meant to say, "Good job," or "you too" but I lost it somewhere in between and just said, "You...."

I decided after that, I should quit talking and just run. I finished that leg in 31:43, giving me something around an 8:30 pace. I'd hoped for better, but I'd take it. I had one last leg to go and I'd need all my reserves for that one.
As I waited to run the final leg of the relay, I watched my teammates run their final legs. Jason ran his last 6 miles like a wild man, as if it were the first time he'd run that day. Valerie conquered some of the meanest hills in the relay with gusto, despite the lack of time to prepare for them. Mom ran her strongest during her last leg, finishing with such strength that even the teammates of other teams were cheering for her. Gary flew down the last part of his final leg holding nothing back. Matt's final leg was the hardest leg of the entire relay and he conquered it in no time, facing some ugly hills head on. Angie's last leg finished with an uphill climb and she did not slow her pace as she ran to the exchange zone where I was waiting to take the baton on it's final leg.

In preparation I had put on my bright orange racing shoes and my running skirt for good measure. I'd stretched out the kinks and the muscles that had been slowly tightening throughout the day. This leg would be my most difficult, and I meant to run it as hard as I could, keeping in mind the amazing team that had run so well to get me there.

I took off up the rest of Angie's hill, with the cheers of my team spurring me on. I said out loud, "Let's do this. Let's DO this!" I climbed those Southern Illinois hills as fast as I could, racing down them with wild abandon. I knew from the map that once I turned on Hwy 146, it wouldn't be long before Main Street and the finish line. I heard the cheering before I saw the sign. I picked up my pace more and more drawing from any strength I could find.

Once I turned on Main Street, I could see the finish line. As I raced toward it, I heard my mom calling from behind. I began to slow in order to let my team catch up so we could cross the finish together, only to hear Jason say, "Don't you dare slow down!" I picked up my pace one final time and flew through the finish line. Our team, The Tortoises and Hares, finished in a little over 11 hours, and we were ecstatic.

We took pictures, congratulated each other, and quickly made our way to a well deserved dinner. We celebrated with 17th Street BBQ, talking and reliving our favorite relay moments. We parted ways after that, all of us pleasantly exhausted and longing for showers.

The week before the relay, I had no idea if we'd even be able to run it. But close friends and family stepped in, regardless of the short notice, and they gave their all. It was wonderful to meet some of Jason's friends and to see his old stomping grounds. He is from Murphysboro, IL, which is very close to Marion, and I got to see his house, his church, and many of his old running routes.

The relay turned out better than any of us had dared to hope and as we parted ways, I can say for a fact that all of us had plans for next year's relay dancing around in our heads...

The Contest

I do not enter many contests. Either I don't think there is a chance I'll win anything, or I'm simply not interested or qualified in the subject matter. I don't really consider races to be contests because I'm mostly racing against myself, and I always get a t-shirt whether I beat myself or not.

Even so, at the beginning of the year, I entered a contest. My company had two contests, and I chose the one I thought perfect for me. The first one is called "Beat the Astronaut." In this contest one has to lose more weight than Jan Davis, who was an astronaut and is now the VP of our company. The second contest, and the one I chose to enter, is called "Outwork the Boss". In this contest one has to exercise more minutes than Randy Lycans, who is the President of our company.

There are two parts to this contest, however. The first is to, of course, beat the boss in minutes of exercise from January 9th to June 9th. The second is to be the one person with the MOST MINUTES.

I wanted to be that person.

I couldn't wait to get started. As soon as January 9th rolled around, I opened an Excel spreadsheet and started my exercise log. My first column showed the date of the activity. My second column showed how many minutes the activity lasted, and the third column gave a brief description of the activity (just in case anyone wondered what I did for 3 or 4 hours one day, they could see the miles or the race).

When the contest started, I was in the midst of my training for the Snickers Marathon Bar Marathon, which would be March 7. This was perfect. Not only would I be logging in some serious minutes with all the running, the contest would spur me on to do others kinds of exercise, like weights, Pilates, and afternoon walks with Jason and Chance, which would in turn make me a better runner.

I worked out with gusto. I ran in the mornings and went to the gym in the afternoons. As a coach for the No Boundaries program, that guaranteed more running on Monday nights and Friday mornings. Monday exercise minutes became quite impressive with a morning run, a lunch time Pilates class, and an evening of No Boundaries.

I was a little surprised at the end of January when I was in third place, but I didn't sweat it. Or actually, I did. I sweated a lot. By the end of February I was in second place. I wondered what in the world these other contestants were doing, because I knew I was working my tail off (quite literally), and I couldn't understand how a normal person (non-Olympic athlete, triathlete, etc.) could fit in any more minutes.

March brought the completion of a wonderful marathon, but after that I needed rest. I tried to fit in some sort of exercise every day, but battled back pain and plain out fatigue. This body was tired!

At the end of March I checked and checked the company website, but no updates were posted. Finally, with a tad bit of chagrin, I e-mailed the lady in charge of keeping up with the minutes to "make sure I was looking in the right place." She wrote back and said that I was, but that Randy had asked her to wait until after the company picnic to post them. He was planning to recognize all of the contestants who had currently worked out more minutes than he had.

The picnic was April 15, and I was antsy as I sat at a picnic table eating my lunch with some coworkers. Finally, he got up to make his announcement. We were to stand when our name was called, and I thought that was a great idea so I could scope out my competition. He called the name in first place. It was not mine. I looked and looked, but could not see her anywhere in the crowd. He called the name in second place. It also was not mine. A girl stood up near me and I recognized her from my Pilates class.

Then my name was called. In third place. My coworkers clapped for me and my team lead said, "Go Jane." I smiled and sat back down...confused. I knew I'd rested some in March, but HOW could I be third? Another concern was the minutes. With each name, Randy called out the minutes, and it sounded to me like I was at least 600 minutes behind the contestant in 1st place! That is 10 hours!

This morning, the current numbers were posted. I am, in fact, 1000 minutes behind the contestant in 1st place. That is over 16 hours! That means, in the last 3 months, she has worked out 16 hours more than I have. This would not be so shocking if I didn't know how much I'd worked myself. I certainly don't think I'm the queen of exercise but...I exercise a lot! I could understand someone being ahead of me, but 16 hours?

I won't give up, of course. I'll keep running, attending pilates, walking the dog, lifting weights, and anything else I can think to do. But I do not know how to make up 16 hours by June 9. I'm going to have to quit my job, become an aerobics instructor and teach 5 classes a day. I'm going to have to run a marathon every weekend. I'm going to have to start triatholon training, ride my bike to work, hire a personal trainer...

All for what...a t-shirt? I really have lost my mind.

Relaying

My husband and I enjoy a good running adventure. Whether it is happening upon a 5k amidst a short trip somewhere, or planning a marathon in a faraway place, we love it. Last year we experienced a brand new running adventure, which was the relay. We ran the Blue Ridge Relay with four friends, and while it was one of the hardest things I think I've ever done, it was one of the best.

After Blue Ridge, Jason told me of a relay he'd always wanted to do that was near his home town. He wanted to run the River to River Relay, which consists of 80 miles between the Mississippi River and the Ohio River in Illinois. One has to register the day registration opens and still may not get a spot on the relay roster. I was game for another relay, and so Jason sat poised to register our team as soon as he was able.

Sure enough, our team made the cut. We were so excited! The next step was finding 6 other people to go on this adventure with us. Each runner would run about three 5ks, averaging about 10 miles each. We thought it would be easy to come up with six running friends, especially here in Huntsville with such a big running community.

WRONG! I don't suppose it helps that the relay falls on the day of the Boston Marathon, or that two smaller races are taking place here in Huntsville...but finding runners turned out to be much harder than we'd thought. We asked friends and family. We asked people far and wide. Everyone had other races, other plans, no money, no time, no training...things weren't looking good.

As the relay drew nearer, we started to get a little worried. We needed 8 runners, and we'd only had 4 commit (two of which were ourselves). Jason posted an ad on the Miss Lonely Feet page of the relay, and two runners responded. Bob and Julie were subs for another team and with the relay so close, they didn't think they'd be needed. We happily accepted them, bringing our team to 6 runners.

Jason and I figured we could make this work. The two of us would double up, running as two runners each instead of 1. We assigned all of the runner placements, everyone agreed, and we were ready to run!

With a week and a half before the race, Bob and Julie backed out. The team they were subbing for had some injured members who could not run. Bob wrote Jason, apologized, and wished us luck.

We were back to four runners. We did indeed need some luck! I began to reach out to everyone I could think of who had ever run a step. Jason did the same. It was very short notice though, and many already had plans. We decided to ask my mom and Gary Harris, a family friend. Mom had a marathon the very next weekend, but she said yes. Gary also said yes, and we began to feel better about things.

Alas, it was too soon to get comfortable. One of our original four backed out...and we were back to five. But wait! Gary's daughter, Valerie has joined our team! We are back to six once again.

That brings me to today, the Tuesday before the race on Saturday, and six committed runners. We have one more who might be interested, but with such short notice, I can't blame her for saying no. We were told there are often runners hanging around packet pick-up looking for teams to join, and if that is the case we will gladly snap them up!

Either way, Jason and I are willing to double up if needed, and we believe we can finish our 80 miles with the team we have.

After the fiasco that was finding and holding teammates, I am hoping for a wonderful experience. I am grateful to Matt, who is willing to fly from Texas to run with us. I am grateful to Mom, Gary, and Valerie for being willing to just pick up and go on such short notice. I love that I get to share this experience with my husband, my mom, and some good friends.

Borrowing from our Blue Ridge Relay team name, we are the Tortoises and Hares. There is no telling if we will run with our current six or if things will change again, but I'm excited, hopeful, and ready to run all the same.

I love spring

When summer begins to come to a close, and the weather starts to cool off, I am so ready. I am usually tired of the oppressive heat, ready to run in cooler temps, ready for mittens, scarves, and hats.

When winter comes to a close, and the temperatures start to slowly rise, I am equally as ready. I am ready for my skin to breathe in the fresh morning air. I am ready to feel the sun on my shoulders. I am ready for tank tops, flip flops, and dinner on the back porch.

Right now I am in that moment. It seems the last vestiges of winter are holding on with both hands as we enjoy a warm Sunday afternoon and then a frigid Monday morning. But even so, flowers are beginning to bloom. Trees are turning green. The sound of lawn mowers fills the air in the afternoons, and more people are seen walking dogs, pushing strollers, and jogging down our neighborhood streets.

I absolutely love spring. It isn't just that I can shed those thick winter sweaters, and all the layers I wear when running. It is that, plus the feeling of waking up. The feeling of breathing a little deeper. The feeling of life starting all over again. Maybe that's how they came up with spring cleaning. Opening windows, airing out the closed-in spaces. Putting extra blankets away for the summer. Planting flowers, cutting back shrubs. It gives me this brand new feeling, making me want to have everything around me as fresh, clean, and new as the breeze outside.

With the coming of spring, comes Easter as well. Another day of renewing, awakening, life. Maybe it was the divine plan that we would celebrate the day our Savior rose from the dead, with the time of year eggs are hatching, flowers are blooming, and everything seems to be coming to life once more. It sure makes sense to me, and it only strengthens the love I have for the season.

So while the day outside is gray, cold, and rainy, I know it will not last. I know spring is coming and no matter how the winds may blow, I know the flowers, green leaves, baby birds, and sunshine will be there when it subsides. Just like I know when things get hard and life seems to be no good at all, I can remember that a man came to this earth and overcame all that was bad, even death.

And that helps me enjoy spring all the more.