Sunday, January 25, 2009

Back in the Saddle

I finally picked up a cheap frame from Target a couple of days ago to frame the poster and medals from the Philadelphia Marathon. I try to pick up the race poster from every race I do (if they have one). Sometimes I frame them, sometimes I don't. But as far as the two full marathons I have done, those deserve a frame. Plus, it's a good way to showcase the medals.

Here is the newest addition to the collection.

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It goes with the poster from last years Columbus Marathon.

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Here is the shadowbox I made from Jeremy's very first Marathon , Miami/06.

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All leftover medals go here. I wish I could say all these are mine, but 65% are J's. The horse is an old medal from when I used to show horses when I was 14 :)

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All in all, it looks nice on the landing between the 3rd and 4th floor of our townhouse.

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The poster helped get me back into the right frame of mind. HA! FRAME of mind! LOL.

Anyway...it really did help a little. Sometimes, looking at the old medals brings back all the hard work and good memories of past races and gets you inspired to try it again.

So, Thursday after work I dragged my lazy butt outside for a 6.5 mile run up Main Street. The run was good and my legs felt great the whole time. I think my body (and mind) just needed a rest. Between getting sick and random stress at work, I just wasn't feeling it.

I think another problem is sheer boredom. Because of the lack of light when I come home after work, I just have one route I can run (and out and back on Main Street that I run twice for 6.5 miles), there is literally no where else that is safe to run. Sometimes when I am walking home from the train (the same route I have to run) I can't stand the thought of running back up there again. It's just something I have to get over.

So Saturday we had an 18 miler planned, but decided it would be better for me to just try and get out 16. J started a little earlier than me and ran a mile out and back to get an extra two miles in before meeting me at the start. The run felt pretty good for the most part. It was cold and really windy at the end again, but at least I stayed dry this time. The last two miles were really hard, but considering my recent lack of training, it wasn't as bad as I thought. We had planned on keeping it slow with a 9:30 pace, but as usual, we had a hard time keeping our pace in the cooler weather and ended up running a 9:20 pace overall. I guess that's better than the alternative, so overall I was really happy.

Thanks to all of you for all your kind words when I was feeling sorry for myself a few days ago. I'm going to try to catch up with all of you now, but it may take a few days. I know how much you all like to write ;)

After finishing 16 miles, I felt much more confidant about being able to do the marathon. I think I might even be getting a little excited again. It looks like I might need to make some extra room for another poster in my stairwell :)

Time to suck it up and get into some regular workouts routine again though. I'll never be able to run a marathon with these weekly stats:

Monday, 1/19 - off
Tuesday, 1/20 - off
Wednesday, 1/21 - off
Thursday, 1/22 - 6.5/58:38 - 9:01 pace
Friday, 1/23 - off
Saturday, 1/24 - 15.79/2:27:46 - 9:20 pace
Sunday, 1/25 - off

Total Weekly Mileage (8 days): 22.29 (RUN)

P.S. Congratulations to all my old friends in Miami who ran the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon today! I wish we could have been there!

34 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm inspired by what you've done with your medals...the ones on board with the elastic things...I need to do that.

Plus I love your marathon poster/shadow box arrangements. Food for thought if I ever do a full.

Oh yeah, and I'm glad that brought back your mojo enough to get you running again. :-)

Anonymous said...

LOVE what you did with the marathon stuff! I'm totally going to have to copy that.

Glad you had a nice run! You'll be ready for Suntrust National in no time. Let me know if you need any hotel or restaurant or whatever recommendations.

Sonia said...

You're so talented! I wish I would come up with cool stuff like that to put up in my future apartment!

I knew you only needed to feel better and get a good run to want to run the marathon again! Winter blues happen to everyone of us!!

I am so proud of my Dad, he ran the 5K in Miami in 41:05, a little faster than in Montreal and he had a bronchitis for 2 weeks! I cannot wait till the day he's going to say, let's run a marathon together =)

Marlene said...

Wow, I absolutely love your little display. What a great idea!

Glad to hear you got your groove back. Here's hoping it continues this week.

Unknown said...

That is amazing. So do you charge if I send you some of my stuff to frame up?

Heather said...

Those framed posters/shadow boxes are so cool! Way to get a great 16-miler in.

SuperDave said...

I absolutely love the displays! Girl you got talent and you are so damn sentimental, me too...
Makes me want to run 2 or 10 marathons for the hardware.
You are the only person that I know that has a tough last few miles and still improves their running time.. LOL

Amelia said...

Love the framed race memorabilia. I have all my race numbers up on my wall, but I really like how you've made your passion into decoration for your home!

Aron said...

YAY glad you are feeling better! its amazing what some miles will do for the attitude.

i LOVE your shadow boxes!!!! i want to do those now too :)

My Life said...

THANK YOU for giving me an idea on what to do with my race poster. It's just been crammed in my bookshelf between running books... love what you did. (and the included race pics, that you've done both with J - that is so special Laurel!!! we've got some good guys!)

Also, while scrolling down your page I saw your "new obsession" pic. Are you biking now? Did I miss that while I was in my mourning hole? Yay - let's talk biking!

Casey said...

Great job! Those frames look fantastic! Good luck!

Rookie on the Run said...

I love these ideas! I'm going to do that for my first marathon and any I do after that! Thanks for sharing.

Run Mommy said...

I love it! I am going to do something with my new Disney stuff. I feel inspired to craft. :) Thanks!

Denise said...

I love what you did w/ the poster. Where did you get that?

As for Saturday, nope, that wasn't me. I started at 6:15am. Ugh.

Denise said...

You definitely should run a lap with me! I have so many people who said they will (hope that really happens) that I may end up doing more than 50 miles! Yikes!

Kristin said...

your poster frames are so cool! I just taped mine up along my stair way.. should get a frame... Congrats for getting out there. I'm hearing you about being tired of the same running route... i have been running on the treadmill for a change how odd is that! Not sure if I said it but I'm definitely in if you do the 20 in 24!

BOBBI McCORMICK said...

I love the idea of putting all my metals in a shadow box, yours look awesome!!!

Anonymous said...

I love how you put the medals and posters in the picture frames. It looks so nice!

Great job on the 16. I hear you with not have much variety in the routes due to the daylight issue.

Unknown said...

great ideas for the medals and such. Your time are fast. Can't wait until I get there -if ever. Awesome job.

Marcy said...

Oooooo Laurel you did a great job with those!! Look at you guys looking like professionals with all the bling ;-)

billdowis said...

seeing all those medals and posters must inspire you every day... I have already been daydreaming about what my shadow box will look like when I finish my first marathon this year!

Great stuff.

joyRuN said...

What a great great idea! Ditto :)

Chic Runner said...

What a great idea and how great they turned out! You should make these, there is nothing like that out there!

Jess said...

Your displays look great! I could use your talents to do something with mine. The medals are just hanging from a hook in my office and all the other race stuff I collect and keep from races is piled into a box. I always have the intention of doing something cool with it all, but so far, nothing has been accomplished.

BeachRunner said...

Doood! That is the best way to display your bling and memories. I love it. Nice job.

So glad to hear you are feeling better and back in the groove.

teacherwoman said...

Love the shadow boxes! What a great way to display all that you guys have done... talk about self motivation!

N.D. said...

These are GREAT - nice job!!! I did something like that for mine and they hang behind my treadmill on the wall and are inspiring!! : )

Great job on getting in 16 after being in a funk. That's a big accomplishment! Glad you are back!

Abby said...

I love the framed posters (And I was a huge fan of the Kick Asphalt slogan this year)!

Michelle said...

I love what you've done with the medals!! I only have two race medals so far out of 15 races I've completed. That's what I get for running small races, I guess. LOL!!

Hope the new year is treating you well so far, Laurel!

Bert said...

Great job on framing the posters - you are so creative! Must be very inspiring to walk by the medals every day; I should so something like that here!

Unknown said...

You and J definitely need to set up a Bling Room ! Awesome !!! I should do the same thing. I do keep pictures and bibs in my scrapbook.

You and J should come to Long Branch, NJ for the NJM Training Run on the same course this Sunday.

Check it out in Facebook and the keyword is NJM Training.

Runner Leana said...

The frames look fantastic! I need to get off my duff and do something with my medals too.

Congrats on your 16 miler too!

P.O.M. said...

Wow, your frames look great. I bought a shadow box to do that for my first marathon (uhm 2 years ago) and it's still sitting there. Empty. I suck at that stuff.

You're doing WAY better than me by getting out there. I think I'm at a total of 9 miles for the entire year. WTF?

Ali said...

What a great idea, I love the framed posters and medals, they look great.

My medals hang on door knobs and jiggle and clink when I open the door.

 
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