Aah...Summer

To say that I love the laziness of summer would be a gross understatement.  Since I no longer have a girl playing softball - we put in our years at the ball field and am thrilled that Addison has no interest - we really have few obligations in early summer.  I always have a laundry list of projects to be completed, like cleaning out cabinets, going through clothes, cleaning carpets, cleaning windows, and thoroughly cleaning every room in the house.  I don't mind working on these tasks, and rather enjoy staying home to work, and only venturing to town when we need food or to run.  I have enjoyed spending time writing, sitting on the deck, and reading.  One of my goals is to read as much as I can fit in. 

As you can imagine, I love to read about running.  I have read a couple of books by Kristen Armstrong (Lance's ex).  I want her job!  She is a writer, and usually writes about running, so her running routine is necessary for her job.  That would be fabulous - not to mention it would keep me motivated to run.  Yesterday I received my Women's Running magazine in the mail.  I was engrossed in the book Rebirth, which was written by a friend of mine, so I had laid the mail aside, and continued reading my book.  About 11:00 pm, I picked up my magazine and thumbed through it.  I stopped at an article about reasons women run.  As I perused the list of reasons, there it was!  My reason - my name!  I was quoted in a national running magazine!  Woo Hoo!  Here is what I read:

I am expecting my first grandchild in October. I can't wait until the day that she or he tells friends, "My grandma can run 13 miles.  Can yours?"  --Joyce Stath, 44, third grade teacher from Indiana who loves to hear shouts of "Hi, Mrs. Stath!" as she run in her hometown.

How great is that?  Since my goal is to eventually be a published writer, I figured this is a start.  On the Women's Running Facebook page, they had asked readers to submit reasons for running to an email address.  I did, and in return was asked more questions by the editor.  I really didn't know if anything would be published.

Running...I am running several days a week, unfortunately, many runs are in the rain.  This summer has been so wet.  About a week and a half ago, Jackie, Kassi, and I were out on our sacred Wednesday night run.  It was sunny when we started out, but after about 3 1/2 miles, clouds began to roll in.  Fast.  We decided that we should head back toward Kassi's house, and just as we went that direction, the heavens opened up.  Jackie wanted to go into the lobby of post office, which was about a block away, but Kassi and I wanted to get to a phone.  I knew that my husband would be frantic if he didn't know where I was.  I told them the I would run ahead to the hair salon where I used to work, and call for a ride, but they followed.  About that time the wind kicked in, and it was blasting the rain into our exposed legs and faces.  I turned toward our minister's house (what minister wouldn't provide shelter to three drenched women?).  He wasn't home, but the door to the church was ajar.  We went in - safe at last!  I called my daughter for a ride, but in the mean time my husband and Kassi's and Jackie's dad also showed up.  We made it back to Kassi's and dried off.  Jackie then told us that as she was running behind us, she was screaming at us to wait for her, and we didn't.  I was sprinting trying to get to safety - I knew they would make it.  We had a good laugh about our adventure, and knew it would go  down as one of our more memorable runs.  Jackie has described it as running through hurricane-force winds.  What athletes we are!  Jackie, Kassi, and I grew up together in the same neighborhood, so their parents are like my second set of parents.  I ran in their mom in the grocery store the next day, and she said, "You girls really need to do a better job at checking the weather before you go out to run."  We are all in our forties, so the fact that our parents still have to worry about us doing something stupid is really kind of funny!

When the weather is hot, running in the rain is actually quite refreshing on occasion.  This summer it is getting old.  The Saturday following our run in the downpour, we three once again hit the streets.  About a mile in, the rain began.  We debated continuing, and decided to keep running.  We were tired of being drenched while running, but all needed to get a run in.  We ventured on.  As opposed to our previous run, it was not windy, and the rain was not hard.  We all felt good on this day.  Usually one of us is kind of whiny, but the other two are not, so we can all get through the run together.  On this particular rainy Saturday, we had a good 6-mile run.  On top of that, Kassi had her fastest long run ever!  Maybe running in the rain is good for her - dodging those puddles and the raindrops gives incentive to go faster. 

Since it is almost 4:00 in the afternoon, and I am still in my pajamas, I suppose that I should wrap this up and check another task off of my list.  Thanks for reading!

New Turf

As you may have noticed, spring is an incredibly busy time for the Stath family.  Addison plays tennis on the jr high team, and she throws for the track team, so our time at home and my time to blog is rather limited.  Now that it is summer vacation, I hope to have time to write more.

This weekend, Gary, Addison, and I are in Virginia Beach visiting Gary's daughter and her family.  It has been a fabulous vacation.  We spent our first day hanging out by their pool; Friday we spent at the beach, and then at the Boardwalk browsing and eating.  Today we were registered to run a 5K.  We hadn't run a race since the half marathon in Louisville at the end of April.  I hadn't run a 5K in over a year.  Because it had turned so hot and humid so quickly, my running has been awful.  I have been slow and whiny for the past month.  We decided to run this race despite all of that, so Gary sent in our entries.

This morning, Gary, Tamara, Addison, and I took off for Virginia Wesleyen College.  Tamara had not been to a race, so we were excited for her to be there.  She and Addison hung out while we were out sweating.  The weather was actually pretty decent.  It was hot, but not unbearable.  As we were pulling into the university, a slight panic attack set in.  What was the cause of my anxiety?  We realized that we would be running on grass.  We had never run on grass.  Racing on an unfamiliar surface was not on my agenda for the day.  Would I twist an ankle on an uneven spot?  Slip on the dew-covered grass?  Run slower?  My heart was pounding and my stomach churning.  Why the heck did we sign up for this race?  In Indiana we run on streets.  One would assume that would be the norm.  One would be mistaken.

As is the norm for me, we arrived well ahead of the start time.  There were over 300 runners registered, so there was quite a crowd forming as we drove in.  I truly had no idea what to expect at this race, but I knew that all goals were no longer applicable.  This was new territory.  As we lined up, I just decided to go with the flow, and see what would happen.  I gave Gary a good-luck kiss, and lined up toward the front.  Why start out behind?  The Geico gecko got the runners to their marks (really), and we were off.  I took off fast, and as I do in most races, decided just to go hard as long as I could.  Who knew what was going to happen on the grass?  I might crash and burn before the end of the first mile.

Once I got into a groove, I found that I really didn't mind the green stuff.  It was rather cushiony for these middle-aged legs.  The course wound around the college campus, and was very peaceful.  I found that I was indeed able to maintain a decent pace.  As I was approaching the chute, there was a little boy, probably about eight or nine years old, ahead of me.  Now, sometimes my ego can get the best of me.  Did I really want this little kid to beat me?  Ugh.  I chose to be a grown-up, and when I saw him slow down at the end, I said, "Finish strong!  Keep pushing!"  He took off, and he finished just before I did.  As I neared the chute, I saw the timer, and I knew that my time was going to be respectable.  Heck, it was going to be good!  I heard Tamara and Addison yelling for me, and I pushed forward (although I really felt like puking).  My time was 27:01 - about a 8:42 pace, which is awesome for me.  And it was on a new turf, so it was super awesome!  I ended up placing 5th out of 29 in my age group.  Aah...a good day.

Gary had set a goal of running the race in 38 minutes.  He rocked too!  His time was 36:41 - well below his goal!  He ran under a 12 minute pace, which is great!

Not only did we run well, Gary also won 3 prizes in the raffle, one of which was a $50 gift card to a great restaurant/bakery.  Guess what we did after the race?  We used up that gift card!  We also made a second trip to the running store, and I treated myself to a new running skirt. 

So now that our race is over, we can continue vacationing.  This evening we went to Norfolk for the HarborFest, which was great.  We saw some really cool ships, had some treats, and watched an Indigo Girls concert.  Tomorrow we have a family cookout, and Monday we might head back to the beach.  I love the beach.  I don't really like getting in the ocean; I hate the taste of saltwater, and I don't really like tumbling in the waves.  I do, however, love lying on the beach, listening to the sound of the water, and reading a good book.  Oh, and I will be running the next two days, too.  It is really fun to run in new places.  Tamara lives in a beautiful neighborhood, so I can occupy my mind by looking at the gorgeous homes and meticulous lawns.  And I can dream about winning the lottery and purchasing a second home here in Virginia Beach.  One on the ocean.  In Sandbridge.  That's really large and has a pool.  A girl can dream, can't she?  Might as well dream big!

Thanks for reading...now get out and run!