Lessons Learned from Patrick Henry

Disappointment.  Frustration.  Anger.  Shame.  Self-doubt.

These were the emotions I experienced as I ran the Patrick Henry Half Marathon this morning in Ashland, Virginia.  Let me explain why:

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I had debated with myself whether to even sign up to run Patrick Henry, because of when it would be.....only a few days after I got back to Richmond from my 7 week absence/vacation to Cleveland, Ohio and Fillmore, New York.  So I finally decided to sign up and was excited, though apprehensive, about running another half marathon.

Then this week, the email was sent out to all the participants which contained all important information.  Included in that email, was this blurb:

"3-hour time limit
All participants must be able to finish the half marathon in 3 hours. In order to do so, you will need to maintain a 13:43 per mile pace. At that time, there will no longer be traffic protection, medical aid, or water stops offered. There will be designated checkpoints at Miles 6.5 and 10 on the course.  You must reach the 6.5-mile mark by 8:30 a.m. and the 10-mile mark by 9:18 a.m. or you will be asked to board the shuttle that will take you back to the finish area."

Now, I know I am a slow runner (and have come to accept that fact), so when I read this blurb in the email, I started to get even more nervous.  After much thought, I told myself that I could do it, as I had finished my previous (first) half marathon in just over 3 hours, including walking the last 2.5 miles.

Thank goodness that I had made plans to carpool up to the race with my co-worker (MaryBeth) Ryan.  We talked the whole 20 minute drive up, which helped calm me nerves this morning.  We arrived at the start line around 5:30am, since Ryan still had to pick up her race bib (she got back in town last night from vacation, so she couldn't pick up her bib yesterday).  After Ryan picked up her race bib, we hung around the start as more and more of the runners started showing up.  It was great to see my running friends (Tammy, Alan, Becky, Brian, Black Amy, Sandy, Shannon, Patty, Dexter, Melvin) and get hugs from them as they welcomed me home and we wished each other luck.

As the race start time neared, I waited in the chute with them.  Black Amy and I decided to run together, but figured out after the start that we wouldn't be sticking together since I was doing the Galloway method and she would be running the whole time.  After some more hugs and "good luck"s to each other, the race started.  Black Amy and I ran together, until my first walking interval.  After that, she kept getting farther and farther ahead.  Other runners kept passing me, but I told myself that it didn't matter and to just go at my own pace.

I felt OK for about the first 3 miles, then I started to slow down and walk more often :(even before my walk intervals started).  By the time I passed the water stop around mile 4, I had a feeling that I would be very close to the time limit at mile 6.  During miles 5 and 6, I walked more and more.  Once I heard my MapMyRun app tell me my mile split time for mile 6, I knew that I wouldn't make it to the water stop just past mile 6 in time (my mile split was around 16 minutes due to the walking).  

As I got closer and closer to the mile 6 water stop, I saw and heard my MTT coach, Lynn.  She walked towards me and as she came right up to me (and I saw the race clock was at 1:32:something), I just lost it and started bawling......because I knew that I was done, they wouldn't let me continue.  Lynn let me cry and walked with me, saying words of encouragement the whole time.  As I tried to calm myself down, Lynn told me to think about what I learned from this, that this was just 13 miles and that my end goal is that Richmond Marathon in November.  There was only one other person behind me, who also did not make the cut off time.  As the gentleman and I got in the SUV that would take us back to the start/finish line, Lynn hugged me one more time and said "you're a good runner, don't forget that, don't let this get you down."

After getting back to the start/finish line and seeing most people struggle to cross the finish line, I realized that I wasn't the only one who struggled during the race.

So, here are the lessons I learned from Patrick Henry:

1. Being away from my MTT team for 7 weeks and trying to train on my own is HARD, especially since I missed about 3 weeks of training due to being at the 2 camps.

2. Don't miss any days (or weeks) of my daily asthma medicine.  My health insurance only allows mail orders for medicine that you take regularly, for which I need to fax the prescription to them (which I can't do until I get the work on Monday because I don't have a fax machine at home).

3. Running in 60-70 degree weather for several weeks, then trying to run in high humidity will take a toll on your body and is hard to adjust to.

4. I have GOT to be better about my overall nutrition, not just the week of a race.  (I was exhausted by about mile 3)

5. Stay positive and adjust to the situation.

Will I allow this setback to discourage me from continuing my marathon training?  Absolutely not!  While I'm disappointed, frustrated, etc. and I know that I failed the mid-term (as my MTT coaches kept calling this half marathon race), I now know what I need to change or improve to ace the final, the Richmond Marathon.

MTT On My Own: Week 3

Week 2 of camp #1 was more exhausting than the first week; hence, my running this week was minimal.

Monday

Today was a "rest day".  As I mentioned in my previous post, rest days at camp weren't true rest days since our form of transportation at camp was walking.

Tuesday

I had every intention of running today, but when I woke up at 5am and heard the leaves rustling in the strong wind, I decided that I'd better check the radar to see if there was a storm approaching; there was one on the way, which would reach us soon, so I went back to sleep.  While I know that I could have run in the rain (as I've done a few times before), I decided that I needed the extra sleep, and so did my running partners at camp.

Wednesday

Since the camp was going on a fieldtrip today to Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY to take a look at the waterfalls and swim at the pool, I decided that I would only run 1 loop around the camp, which was about 2 miles instead of the 4 miles planned for today.  We lucked out with the weather today for the fieldtrip; it had been raining most of the days at camp so far, but today it didn't.  It was still cold, around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so I didn't swim in the pool; after living in Virginia for the past 8 years and being used to the humidity there, I was freezing in the 65-75 degree weather we had during camp.

upper falls

middle falls

Thursday

By this point in the camp, I was super exhausted, since our days consisted of waking up at 7:15am, activities all day long, a nightly campfire that usually lasted until after 10pm, then a nightly meeting with the patrol leaders and adults to discuss how things had gone during the day and what would happen the next day; this meant that most nights I wouldn't get to bed until almost midnight [I always went right to bed after our nightly planning meetings, while some of the other adults stayed up much later].  I decided that sleeping 6-7 hours each night from now until the end of camp would be much better for me than sleeping 4-5 hours each night if I got up in the mornings to run.

Friday

Today was a "rest day."

Saturday

Today was the last day of camp for the kids, so the morning was spent packing and practicing for the end of camp program in the afternoon.  After the program, the parents packed up their kids and left.  While I would have loved to pack up my things and head back to Cleveland, I didn't want to leave the camp director to have to pack and clean all the camp stuff by herself.  So the adults that stayed helped pack up the things in the office, which took most of the evening.

Sunday

Sunday morning, we finished packing away the camp stuff into the storage trailers, then I packed my car with my things and drove the 4.5 hours back to my parents' house in Cleveland.  Even though I had intentionally stayed at camp the night before to help pack and rest a little before driving home, I was still exhausted on the drive back.  The last 1.5 hours of the drive were the hardest; I had to fight to stay awake, even after stopping to buy some coffee at a gas station.

Monday

After taking a regular shower (not a rushed one, like we had been doing at camp) the night before and getting a full night's sleep, I felt almost 100% back to normal today.  I spent the day resting, doing my camp laundry and catching up on my summer shows.

On Tuesday, I had signed up to run the Patrick Henry Half Marathon in Ashland, VA on August 23rd.  I debated with myself whether to sign up for it or not, because it's the weekend right after I get back to Richmond.  My fear is that because I can't be totally consistent with my running at the 2 camps that I'm helping out at during this summer, that I won't be as prepared for the race as I'll need to be.  What made me finally decide to sign up was that (1) I really wanted to run another half marathon, to see how I would do compared to the one I ran in December, (2) that the marathon training plan includes a half marathon distance run for that same weekend, (3) as a Richmond Road Runners Club member, the price for the race was reasonable/affordable, and (4) I wouldn't have to travel out of town for the race.

My goal for the next 2.5 weeks until camp #2 starts is to stick to the marathon training plan.

MTT On My Own: Week 2

This was the first week of summer camp #1 that I'm helping out in.  I tried to stick to the marathon training plan as much as time allowed at camp, which usually meant waking up early for my runs.  Here are the specifics:

Monday

This was supposed to be a rest day, but it's impossible to not do any form of exercise at camp, since our main mode of transportation here is walking.  

Tuesday

I woke up at 5am, got ready, then at 6am I woke up the 2 ladies who said they'd join me on my runs (Eszti and Tünde).  I ran 3 miles today, while the ladies only ran the first loop with me (about 2 miles).

Wednesday

I woke up at 5am again and ran 4 miles today.  Only Eszti ran with me this morning because Tünde said she needed to rest.

Thursday

I decided that it would be best if I didn't run this morning, since I would be one of the chauffeurs that would be driving the group of young adults who are here from Hungary to help out at the camp to Niagara Falls (Niagara Falls is about 2 hours northwest of camp).  I hadn't been to Niagara Falls in probably over 15 years, so it was nice to refresh my memory of it.  The cool thing about this quick fieldtrip was that Eszti, Jutka (the other chauffeur), and I did the Cave in the Winds, where you can walk right in front of the falls.

Friday

As I mentioned before, there is no true rest day at camp.

Saturday

Even though the marathon training plan called of a 5 mile run today, I only ran 1.57 miles because I knew we would be walking down to the Genesee River in the afternoon, which would be several miles.  The hike turned out to be 3.1 miles one way, all down hill on the way to the river.  We spent several hours at the river swimming and playing around.  The hike back was much more difficult for 2 reasons: it was all uphill and everyone was tired from the hike to the river and playing in the river.  The teachers made several loops with their cars to pick up the young campers and anyone else who was having a hard time making the hike back.  I made it about halfway back, before I decided to hop in one of the cars for a ride back to camp (uphills always aggravate my asthma).

Sunday

Today was supposed to be a cross training day, but since I'm at camp, my cross training was walking throughout the camp.

The first week of camp has been very exhausting, for everyone; I'm hoping that now that everyone is used to being at camp the second week won't be as exhausting.

MTT On My Own: Week 1

It's been a week since I started the busy part of my summer break.  Here is how marathon training has gone:

Monday

I spent my rest day by packing 7 weeks' worth of clothes and things in my car and driving 8 hours from Richmond, Virginia to Cleveland, Ohio to my parents' house.  

Tuesday

I woke up early and ran the 3 miles planned for today in the Cleveland Metroparks with my parents' dog.  Though she LOVED the run, she was exhausted the rest of the morning since my mom doesn't run with her regularly.

laying on the floor with the exhausted pooch after our run

Wednesday

I again woke up early and ran the planned 4 miles, this time in one of the neighborhoods near my parents' house.  I decided to not take the pooch with me, since yesterday's run had exhausted her and today's run was longer.

Thursday

The past 3 days caught up with me (up early, things to do all day, then bed after 10pm), so I slept in instead of getting up early to do today's hill workout.

Friday

I repacked my car and drove 4.5 hours up to Fillmore, New York to the first summer camp I'll be helping out at this summer.  This is a 2 week long summer school camp for kids who are of Hungarian descent.

Saturday

I woke up early and went for an 8 mile run along the camp roads.  Two of the ladies who are here at camp to help out came to run with me, but they only ran the first 2 miles with me because they were helping out in the kitchen and with final preparations before the campers arrived at 11am.  [When I had mentioned on Friday evening that I would be getting up early to go for my run, these two ladies asked if they could join my on my run since they were also trying to run regularly.]  Later in afternoon, one of the other young ladies who's here to help out at the camp asked me if I ran in the morning.  When I told her that I did, she said that she and her boyfriend (who's also here at camp helping out) also want to join me in my morning runs because they had promised each other that they would run regularly at camp.  [Sounds like I'm starting my own running group here at camp.]

even though I've been coming to this Hungarian Scout park since I was 4 years old
for various camps and events, this was the first time that I had done a run
workout here.....I ran 4 loops on the camp roads, each loop was about 2 miles

Sunday

Today was to be a cross training day according to the marathon training plan.  Since I'm at camp for the next 2 weeks, my cross training is walking everywhere at camp, which probably adds up to several miles each day.

Summer Break

As of June 18th, I am on summer break....woohoo!!  The class I had this past school year, was the best group I had had in my 8 years of teaching; I'm going to miss them dearly next year.....but I'm glad to be on summer break for my own peace of mind.

What did I do on my first official day of summer break?  I woke up at my usual workday time of 5am so that I could be at Deep Run Park by 7am to get my 3 mile run done before the high temps and humidity set in for the day.  (I have always been a morning person; I enjoy the solitude of early morning as the world slowly wakes up for the day.)

Since MTT has started, I have had to miss one or two workouts during the week, due to extreme heat during the day or thunderstorms or time constraints.  I am happy to say that this past week I was finally able to complete ALL the training runs that we needed to!  Woohoo!!

The Bane of My Running

This past Thursday was the first hill workout of MTT.  Because of my asthma, hills are the hardest part of running for me.  Knowing that I would be out of town for the next 7 weeks and training on my own, I rearrange my schedule for Thursday so that I could make it to the first hill workout and learn what a hill workout entailed.  Three of the MTT coaches led the hill workout at Deep Run Park, which is only about 5 minutes from where I live.  We started with a slow warm up loop around the pond.  I had thought that we would be running hills on one of the hills along the paved trail in the park, but once the coaches explained what the workout would be, I realized that we would not be staying in the park; instead we would be in a neighborhood nearby.  Since I wasn't quite sure where the hill workout would take place, I ran the whole warm up loop in order to see where the group was going; mind you, I had been doing the Galloway method so far in MTT, so I was quite tired and out of breath once we reached the street where we would do the hill workout.  This week's hill workout was going to be 4 loops of the hill, running up the hill at about 85% of your effort and coming back down the hill should take twice as long as going up.  I made it to the top of the hill the first time in about a minute and a half, but was wheezing once I reached the top.  As I turned around to head back down the hill, Donnie (one of the coaches) asked if I was OK; my gasping/wheezing reply was, "Asthma."  The next two times I ran up the hill, I made it about 3/4 of the way up before I had to stop running and walk the rest of the way up because I was starting wheeze [I think the wheezing was partially due to me panicking as I had to exert more and more effort to get up the hill].  By the time I made my way back to the bottom of the hill after my third loop, only 3 of us were left (along with the coaches) because everyone else had finished their hills.  [In my mind, I knew that I would be one of the last ones to finish, but it still hurt to see that I was right.]  After finishing my 4 hill loops, we ran back to the park (which was just 2 streets away) and did a slow cool down loop around the pond.  Donnie ran back to me as I was nearing the parking lot to check on me; I'm glad I was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap so that he couldn't see my frustrated and upset expression.  As we walked to our cars, we talked about the hill workouts.  Donnie gave me some pointers on how to do them, and he ended with "Just run at your own pace."  [I know that I'm not a fast runner, and may never become a fast runner, but it still  frustrates and upsets me sometimes to see that I'm one of the last ones to finish a workout or race.]

7 Week MTT Hiatus

Yesterday was my last group training run with my MTT teammates because for the next 7 weeks I will be out of town.  Here's what my next 7 weeks will look like:

- June 30th: drive up to Cleveland, OH to drop off 7 weeks worth of clothes and stuff at my parents' house
- July 1-3: finish any last-minute preparations/packing for Nyári Iskola Tábor and do my marathon training runs
- July 4: drive up to Sík Sándor Cserkészpark in Fillmore, NY to get ready for Nyári Iskola
- July 5-19: help out at Nyári Iskola Tábor (annual Hungarian summer school camp that I haven't been to since I was around 10 years old) with administrative work and try to stick to my marathon training schedule as much as possible
- July 20-August 5: back in Cleveland at my parents' house, working on stuff for KMCsSz (the Hungarian Scout Association), which is my summer job, and hopefully spending time with my Cleveland friends and do my marathon training suns
- August 6: drive back to Sík Sándor Cserkészpark to get ready for VK Tábor
- August 7-17: VK Tábor (reprising my role as my aunt's administrative assistant at the annual Hungarian Scout leadership training camp)
- August 18: back in Cleveland to do my camp laundry and pack up all my things
- August 19: drive back to Richmond

My goal over the next 7 weeks is to stick to the MTT training plan as much as I can, and post here once a week as I recap how training on my own happened for the week.  Check back here each week to see my progress!

enjoying a cold, refreshing Icee pop after yesterday morning's
7 mile group training run with my team

MTT: Week 1, Day 1

And so it begins.....

Yesterday morning was the first group training run with the Sportsbackers Marathon Training Team (MTT).  When I had signed up for MTT back in March, I had accidentally chosen to be in the intermediate team; I think this happened because I was looking at the mileage that the intermediates can run in a week, and I thought, "Yes, I can do that weekly mileage."  While talking to my co-worker MaryBeth Ryan (I call her Ryan), who did MTT last year, she mentioned that the intermediates run at a faster pace and that their mileage increases much faster than the novice team; she suggested that since this is my first marathon that I switch to the novice team.

I was so nervous Friday evening, even to the point of having second thoughts and doubting myself and my ability to actually do this.....but after posting my thoughts and fear on Facebook, my runner friends rallied my spirits with their words of encouragement and faith in me.

One thing that my friends and family know about me is that I'm stubborn; once I commit to doing something, I do it, even if I feel like not doing it.  So, even though I was having second thoughts about doing this whole marathon training and actually running the marathon, I knew that I would show up to the group run on Saturday morning.

I slept OK Friday night, but work up before my alarm went off at 5:15am.  I got up, got dressed in my running gear, then did my morning ritual of checking my email and Facebook which helped calm my nerves a little.  Ryan had mentioned that before the first group run with MTT, there would be an informational meeting, which had lasted about 45 minutes least year; so even though we were to meet at the Sporstbackers stadium at 7:30am, I figured we wouldn't go for the run until after 8am.  I usually eat my pre-run fuel about 1.5 hours before my planned running time, so I ate a banana with almond butter around 6:15am.

#TeamDuctTape

I knew from talking to my running friends who had done MTT in previous years that several hundred runners would be showing up for the first MTT group training run, so I decided to leave my house early and get to the Sportsbackers stadium shortly after 7am in order to be able to find a parking spot.  As I was driving down the Boulevard coming from I-95, I saw that there were already lots of cars in the parking lot and I had a moment of anxiety thinking that I wouldn't find an open parking spot.  Turns out, though, that only the first few rows were full and there were still plenty of parking spots left.  I found one right away, parked my car, filled up my hydration bottle with Gatorade, took off my long-sleeved technical shirt (even though the sun was shining, the morning air was a little cool, around 60 degrees), and headed over to the stadium entrance.  As I got closer to the entrance, I could see coaches from the various teams ready to help.  One of the gentlemen (who it turns out is one of the coaches for Team Duck Tape and was wearing biker shorts made out of duct tape) asked if I knew what my team assignment was (he had a list, in case I didn't); when I told him that I did know my assigned team (Team Maroon, an intermediate team) but that I needed to change teams, he directly me to the table where I could change teams.  Based on my 10K finish time, and my request that I be assigned to a novice team, I was assigned to Team Duct Tape.  Because the novice team had so many members this year, they split the members into 3 sub-groups: Moose, Goose, and Loose.  I was assigned to the Loose group.  Before I headed up to the stands, I decided to make a pit stop in the bathroom, as my nerves were making my bladder be more active.  After my pit stop, I headed up to the stands and realized that everyone was sitting according to their assigned team.  Turns out that my team was sitting all the way at the far end.  As I made my way over, I spotted my running friend Patty sitting with the team.  It was nice to see a familiar face in the group (Ryan runs much faster than me, so she is on one of the intermediate teams).

Just some of the crowd sitting in the stands.
Thanks to the Richmond Road Runner club for the picture.

We spent the next 20 or so minutes looking around, talking, and watching/waiting for everyone else to take their seats with their teams.  Around 7:30am, Don Garber (the head coach of MTT) started the meeting with some general information.  One of the things Don did was have everyone stand up, then those that had run a marathon before were asked to sit down; it was interesting to see how many other people are also training for their first marathon.  The informational meeting lasted about 30 minutes, then we all headed out to the parking lot with our respective teams.  Team Duct Tape coaches introduced themselves, then we staggered the start of our run.  The first run was only 4 miles for the novice teams (intermediates ran 7 miles), with an easy out and back route down Boulevard to Monument Avenue, then Monument to Malvern and back.  Along the way, the Loose coaches kept checking on everyone to make sure that they were OK and to introduce themselves personally.

Because of the breathing difficulties I had this past spring while training for the Monument 10K, I decided that I would use the Galloway method to train for (and run) my marathon.  Back in the spring, after getting advice from Tammy and Alan about doing MTT, they suggested that I try the Galloway method of running.  The Galloway method was invented by Jeff Galloway and alternates intervals of running and walking; Jeff's research has shown that his method helps prevent injuries because you give your body time to rest during the walking intervals and are less exhausted over when you finish your run.  I had calculated my Magic Mile, and based on that, I decided that my intervals would be 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.  I found an interval trainer app for my iPhone where I could set what my intervals would be, along sound notifications at the beginning of each interval.

During the 4 mile run, I met Therese, who also wanted to try the Galloway method but had not brought a watch with her.  We ended up running about 3/4 of the route together, and agreed to be running partners for the rest of the group runs.  It was nice to finally find someone who runs at my pace!  As we headed back up Boulevard towards the stadium, my mind told me that my body was tired, so I walked parts of the running intervals too.  Therese and I made it back to the stadium parking lot; overall, it was a good run for me, I felt better on this run than I've felt in quite a few months.  I picked up my training booklet and chatted for a few minutes with my team's coaches, letting them know that I wouldn't be there next week (I'll be home in Cleveland for my cousin Peter's wedding, but I'll be running on my own that Sunday morning) and that I would be gone for about 6 weeks this summer.  As much as this whole thing scares me and makes me nervous to do it, I'm glad I am.  24 weeks to go until race day!

Easy route, pace was slower than in the past, but good run overall.
We ran past my first Richmond apartment, which was on Monument Ave near the Boulevard.

This is Lynn, the head coach for Team Duct Tape.
I loved her awesome duct tape outfit!

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening looking through the
training booklet, familiarizing myself with all of the information.

24 weeks seems like such a long time, but when broken down into individual weeks and days, it seems doable.
I spent yesterday evening entering the training schedule into my phone's calendar so that I would know what I would need to do each day.

Celebrating Who I Am Today

Today is my 31st birthday.  I decided to change a little the way I celebrate my birthday this year; I decided to celebrate WHO I am today, who I have become: a runner.

In the past year, year and half, I have joined several running groups here in Richmond, and have become good friends with some fellow runners.  While out on a mid-week run with some friends a few weeks ago, one of them mentioned how much fun we had back in April when we met for a run along the James River one Sunday morning.  I knew that I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a different way this year, not just the same dinner and drinks with friends, so when this runner friend mentioned that it got me thinking: hey, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and it's on a Sunday.  Wouldn't an easy run with friend be a great way to celebrate?

So this morning, 6 of us met at Tredegar for my birthday run.  We started the run by jogging across the suspension bridge to Belle Isle, then ran the trail that loops around the island.  We regrouped at the end of the loop, and after throwing some ideas around about where to run next, I decided that we would run back across the suspension bridge, then head to Brown's Island and along the canal walk.  The boys decided to continue on to The Dairy Bar Restaurant (where I had decided we would meet for a post-run breakfast), so us girls continued on.  It was a gorgeous day: sunny, warm (but not hot).  Once we got to the end of the canal walk, I was going to suggested turning around and going back, but then Becky mentioned the pipeline, so I decided that we should head there.  I have not run the pipeline in about a year.  For those Richmonders that have never done it, you should, it's really cool.  You literally walk or run on top of the pipe that runs above the James River; when the river gets high, the pipeline is closed off because it is under the river.

As we got closer to where the railing on either side of the pipeline ended, I noticed that a heron was sitting on the pipeline, just chilling.  We crept closer and closer.  We were able to get quite close to it, about 5 or 6 feet, and then it flew off.

Once we got to the end of the pipeline we had a dilemma: the river was still flowing over the pipeline at the part closest to Brown's Island, so we decided it was best to just turn around and head back the way we came.  We walked back along the pipeline, then jogged back along the canal walk back to our cars.

After the 4.6 mile run, we headed over to The Dairy Bar Restaurant, which I had heard has great breakfast food (and milkshakes, which unfortunately I can't have).  When we arrived at the restaurant, we saw that it was closed.  There was a sign on their door that said that they were closed all weekend due to the the Memorial Day holiday.

After some discussion, we decided to head to Galaxy Diner, since Brian was set on getting milkshakes.  We all enjoyed a delicious post-run breakfast there, and discussed who's birthday is next so we could plan the next birthday run and the start of marathon training, which starts in 1 week (eek!).

Thank you Amy, Becky, Brian, Mike, and Sandy for joining me on my birthday run.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday and who I am today!!