The grass is always greener... literally

Dear blog,
I miss you. Almost as much as I miss training. I thought our relationship was temporary, that I just needed you to get through my first marathon, but I can't stay away. So I am planning my race season, and get ready... you and I are going to get very close starting this summer. Sadly, I can only visit you intermittently until then. Sorry.
Love,
Liz

While reveling in the off-season, I decided it might be a good idea to give back to the running community that I have found so wonderful and supportive throughout my rather tumultuous running career, so I talked Chris into volunteering for the Publix Marathon and Half Marathon (aka the Race Formerly Known as ING). Today we worked packet pick up, so we got to give runners their bibs, shirts, and bags of awesome free stuff. It was kind of interesting to be on the other side and see what goes into getting the race together. We also learned a very important lesson: BE NICE TO THE VOLUNTEERS. While I enjoyed getting to talk to so many runners from all different backgrounds and sharing race stories and aspirations, I was also slightly disheartened by the number of rude people. People who think the rules don't apply to them, people who argue with and yell at volunteers for things that we really have no control over. Volunteers are just that: volunteers. They don't plan or direct the race, they don't decide how things will be, they just do the grunt work that needs to be done so all you runners can run the race. So if you have problems, take them to the race authorities, and leave the poor volunteers alone.

Bonus of being a volunteer: free shirt! Just cotton, but free shirts are always good. The volunteer shirts today were neon green. Like I glow in the dark green. Totally awesome. We got some free time to walk around the expo too, another excellent bonus--all the free samples and expo fun with none of the muscle-tearing, join-wrenching, bone-jostling racing. I got myself some snazzy new running shoes from Karhu... bright orange! Super light and surprisingly comfortable... I can't wait to see how they work on the road. I think I'll buy all my shoes at expos from now on... I can buy nicer shoes for the same price because of the discounts offered at the expo booths.

I was supposed to work tomorrow morning at the race finish line, but I somehow decided it would be a good idea to perform in my belly dancing studio's spring show, and our dress rehearsal is tomorrow, so I can't make it (I think I'm picking up a second addiction... this could be a problem). Poor Chris is stuck waking up at 6:30 and standing at the finish line for hours alone. This is why he shouldn't let me talk him into these crazy things. Oh well, I'm sure he'll make friends.

In happy running news, I'm running a 5k on the 9th of April. We'll ignore the fact that it's followed by a bar crawl. But Randy is running it with me! His first race! It's very exciting. We've been doing some training. A lot of our friends are actually going to run it with us, so it should just be a fun, easy race to keep me entertained in the off-season. I'm hoping to get some pictures up from Disney, and hopefully this 5k. Oh, AND... I set a 5k PR!!! Too bad it was just during a training run. But 29 minutes! 29! One of my miles I ran in 8:53!!! That's crazy!!! I'd have to say I'm getting this anemia thing beat, and I'm enjoying my new found zest and quickness from actually having oxygen in my blood. So I'm totally ready to jump back into training ASAP.

Definitely glad to be back. Hopefully another update soon!