this is some of my favorite recent work. my 'glow' series.
http://500px.com/LoriLPoole/stories/34914/glow
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
In Preparation For My Next Half Marathon
I will be running my second half marathon on Saturday, May 5, 2012. It is the Indianapolis Mini and it is an extremely huge event! I haven't done all of my training for it this time, but will try to walk/run the full distance. My next real half marathon I am truly excited about training for and really pushing myself is the Indianapolis Monumental. This was my first half marathon in November 2011. I had hoped to run it the full distance. I HAD done all of my training and was ready, but just about a week or two before the race I pulled my achilles tendon and ended up walking/running the distance, so I am really anxious to redeem myself this November!
In celebration and preparation of my race May 5th, I thought I would share my 'note' from after my first race. It is pretty long, but I enjoyed reading and reliving it again, I was deeply touched by the little man and the gloves and I still feel an ache in the pit of my gut when I think about him.
I hope you will enjoy the read. It reminds me, yes I was nervous, there were times when I was just sure it would never end, but I not only survived, I thrived on this experience.
In celebration and preparation of my race May 5th, I thought I would share my 'note' from after my first race. It is pretty long, but I enjoyed reading and reliving it again, I was deeply touched by the little man and the gloves and I still feel an ache in the pit of my gut when I think about him.
I hope you will enjoy the read. It reminds me, yes I was nervous, there were times when I was just sure it would never end, but I not only survived, I thrived on this experience.
My first half marathon – Indianapolis Monumental November 5, 2011
I was all nerves and excitement Friday night and found myself waking up and staying up throughout the night for a grand total of about 3 hours of sleep! OUCH! But, I knew it was going to be cool in the morning and we were going to have a beautiful sunny day for our run and thought I’d be fine once I started running. Had some issues with the Achilles and ankle on my right leg so had only run 1 mile the previous Monday and then nothing since then. I was hoping it would be okay by race day.
Met with some friends before the run and collected a lot of warming hugs!!
It was a very cold start, but Indianapolis has the nicest people and so while standing and waiting to start the run, I met a lot of really fun and nice runners and before we knew it we were off and running! WOO-HOO! And jumping…over lots and lots of discarded clothing, this went on for the entire route. These people weren’t first timers and a lot of them specifically bought clothes they knew they wouldn’t mind tossing out. At 1 point around my 2nd mile, I saw a little elderly man rather stooped and struggling out to the street to bend over and pick up a pair of little gloves. Wow! The emotions that all hit when I saw this little homeless man, I thought and heard myself saying ‘aaaww’ and then a big smile, my heart both hurt and felt warm inside. Such a treasure for this little man, I remember thinking all the way around the route how I hoped all these clothes found their way into someone’s hands that needed them equally as bad and that they didn’t just get thrown out. (It reminded me of that first Warrior Dash with hundreds and hundreds of discarded running shoes, piles of them everywhere, and they were donated, I loved it!) And then again later on the back stretch of the route in the park across from the library they were having this big giveaway for the homeless and needy as well. I think this must have been what Rose was talking about donating soap and shampoo, etc. to. Very cool!
I was cold, but once I started running, I felt just perfect. Tired, yes and a little concerned about the leg, but thought at the first few miles I felt really good and I had a good pace, I could do this! I had trained, I was ready, don’t look ahead, just concentrate on making these steps good steps. My awesome buddy Beth Lindsay lives downtown and was going to be watching for me around mile 4, so I looked for her and didn’t find her and figured the route just didn’t go the right way, but about mile 4-1/2 I see a couple people looking at me and one of them comes running up alongside me. It took me a minute to realize it was MY BETH!! Giant hugs and giggles!! And YAY! Here’s my girl, uber cycler, anti-runner, and she is running along with me! I couldn’t believe it! This really made my day because I know she does not love running, nor even entertain the idea of doing so, what a great time! A big shout out and thank you for the support! It means so much more than I think people can even imagine!
After she cut away, I started really feeling the leg twinges starting to kick in, temp was good, I was waking up, maybe if I took it slow I could pull this thing off. I knew I hadn’t had enough calories and my stomach was starting to throw it’s 2 cents in as well, so I knew I would need to be eating and drinking before long. I wanted to try to run at least to the 6.55 mark, halfway there, then everything else would be gravy. If I wanted to walk then, that would be okay. I ran until mile 7 and began walking at that point, something I hadn’t wanted to do at all for my 1st half, but something I knew I was going to have to do today. After trying to get some liquids in me, I knew there was no way I could hold anything solid of any type down and thought I was going to be sick a few times. I decided at this point I would try to alternate walking and running on the remaining miles, walk the even numbers and run the odd numbers bringing it home at a run for the ‘point one’. Walked mile 8, started running mile 9, and knew that was it for me for a little while. I walked and walked and really got to take a look around and see how amazing this whole thing was. A beautiful day, a gorgeous route, downtown Indianapolis is really looking good! There were water, food, Gatorade stations every mile or so and tons and tons of amazing and diverse entertainment! I wanted to take pictures of everything and go dance with the dancers and all the fun stuff, but my fingers were numb and I couldn’t get all the pics I wanted, so I just decided to enjoy myself. There were a few times during the walk that got so cold and I just wanted it to be done, but all and all it was great! Heading in to the ‘point one’, I was feeling good and more like myself and knew I had enough strength to bring it home at a run, so I did! And carted my 13.1 magnet with me! :D
I had hoped to do my very first half at 2:45, but during my training realized I was losing speed to distance and decided a more realistic goal would be to try to come in just under 3 hours if I was able to run the full distance. When I registered for the race, I put my time entry in as somewhere around 3:10 or so. When I was done my Garmin time read a total of just over 3:22, which I will gladly take!! I completed my 13.1 and even walking around 6 of my miles, I wasn’t terribly far off my entry time!
I would highly recommend this route for any of you first timers out there! This was put together so professionally and very enjoyable! By the way, this race is a Boston qualifier as well!! (not sure about the 13.1, but definitely the 26.2)
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