I am a Runner for Life

I've always been a runner. Maybe running for different reasons, or running different distances, but always running.

A few years ago, I started blogging about my running. I had decided to run my 1st marathon and thought that blogging would be a good idea to "keep me honest" in my training, as well as document my experiences (just in case I was crazy enough to want to run another marathon).

The blogging did help keep me from "slacking off"; I certainly couldn't publish that I really felt like taking a nap and eating a quart of Hagen Daz. No, I had to go run that 6, 8 or 12 miles and dammit, I was going to enjoy it. And truth be told; I always did end up enjoying it. I enjoyed the time to myself, no kids or spouse or employees screaming my name or needing something from me. I enjoyed being able to let my brain "race" freely about anything. I wasn't trying to solve the worlds problems, but I felt empowered that I could if I really wanted to. Blogging about my runs helped to reinforce and remind me of those positive experiences.

Running, and blogging about it, also helped me "tune out" the "negatives" in my life; primarily a marriage that was irretrieveably broken. But some things can only be tuned out for so long. And eventually, I allowed the negatives in my life to overtake the positives and started "tuning out" the things that were positive in my life (running/karate/blogging). And it became a viscous cycle where it is harder and harder to overcome the negatives.

But I am blessed with good friends and a strong martial arts foundation that continually focuses on the positives. And I'm back where I need to be; stronger, healthier, happier, focused and ready for my next challenge.........my next marathon.......I'm thinking Big Sur in May 2011?????

Even though I'm not sure what I'm training for, I have dubbed this past week as Training Week #1; and what a great training week it was!!!!

• 8/22 Sun: 2 miles: no time; garmin battery dead :(
• 8/23 Mon: Karate (ab night; 120+???)
• 8/24 Tues: Rest Day
• 8/25 Wed: 2.6 miles(24:15; 9:23/pace); 1/2 mile dog sprint; 3x30 PU, 3 x 30 SU
• 8/26 Thur: Rest Day
• 8/27 Fri: Rest Day
• 8/28 Sat: 2 miles (19:30; 9:45/pace); 1/2 mile dog sprint; 4x25PU, 4x25 SU; Karate (sparring); 4 x 30SU
• Sun: 4 miles (42:32); 5x25 SU; Gym: back/shoulders/chest/bis & tris

Till my next installment, Run long and Run strong......

dani

Thank you!

Thank you!

Recoup, Refocus, Renew

I finally got my finisher medal for the 3 For The Road Series, yeah!! I really enjoyed the 3FTR series; a 5k, 4 miler and 5 miler. I ended up overall in 4th place for my age group!! I was pleased with that, but even more pleased that I was able to run each of the distances at a 9 minute per mile pace.

After the 3FTR Series, I ran the Merrill Lynch Bull Run. This turned out to be a family affair. I ran the 10k, my son ran the 5k, and my daughter volunteered to work the water station. It's amazing how the lure of service hours she needs for school was able to get her out of bed at 5:30am on a Saturday morning!

The Bull Run started out and ended on A1A in front of Spanish River Park in Boca Raton. Lauren was at the water stop just after mile #1. This was the 1st time she has been to one of my races so I was very happy! The middle part of the course went through some really nice residential neighborhoods with lots of beautiful houses.




I finished in 55:50 which is a 8:58 pace! Woo hoo, sub 9 minutes!! I still need to work on keeping my pace more consistent. I start out fast (well, relatively speaking!) and slow down each mile (M1 8:00 M2 8:40 M3 9:02 M4 9:14 M5 9:22 M6 9:39)

After the Bull Run, I decided to take a couple of weeks off from running and karate. Mostly to recoup; to see if some time off would help to heal my heel (it didn't). I've been running with heel pain for over a year. The foot doctor "diagnosed" it as a heel spur and prescribed ibuprofen and heel inserts. The heel inserts didn't help; the IBU did. But as soon as I stopped taking the IBU, the pain returned. I was too busy training for my 2nd degree black belt and for the New York marathon to stop running or to go back to the doctor and I didn't want to have to take IBU chronically (I am a pharmacist so I know the dangers) so I kept on running.

But recently the heel had gotten worse. Waking up in the morning, I couldn't walk and had to tip toe around. I've been talking with so many friends, fellow martial artists, fellow runners and everyone has a different opinion and a different remedy. So, the thought was to take a couple of weeks off to see if that would help. And since it didn't, I think it's time to go back to the doctor. But now the question is, do I go back to the podiatrist or do I go to an orthopaedic doctor?

Meanwhile, with the heel pain and my next marathons more than 1/2 a year away, I was losing focus and not feeling really motivated. But then came April 20th and the Boston Marathon. I was able to watch on-line and that is exactly what I needed to see to get refocused. I was so routing for Kara Goucher and actually had tears when she dropped back to 3rd place in the final miles.

A week after the Boston marathon was the London marathon. I got up at 4am on that Sunday morning to watch the race on-line. It was an awesome and inspiring race. The website said that registration for the 2010 race would open the following day. So, I went on-line on Monday and registered for the lottery. I'll find out in later September/early October whether or not I get selected or not. I'm hoping that I will have the same luck that I had with New York and get picked on my 1st try. But if not, that's ok too.

And now, I am recharged, refocused and renewed.





Run long, run strong

Dani

Spring Time Running

So I haven't had any "races" since the Riverwalk 5 miler. But I've had a lot of good runs since then. Saturday 3/28 I ran 8.42 in 1:27:06. And on Saturday 4/4 I ran 8.47 in 1:26:14. Plus, I had a number of shorter runs in between.



I've been trying to "finalize" my race schedule for the year and I think I have it figured out. My 1st marathon for 2009 was the Ft. Lauderdale A1A marathon; I didn't do as well as I had hoped for, primarilybecause it was way too hot!!!!

My 2nd marathon of 2009 will be the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25 in Washington DC. I was very fortunate that one of my Twitter buddies reminded me of the registration and I was able to sign up for this race. I 've heard this race fills up very quickly!! I was also fortunate that I was able to get roundtrip airfare from Ft. Lauderdale and 3 nights in a nice hotel for right around $500.


My 3rd marathon for 2009 will be the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It's a flat course and close to home; what else could I ask for!! I have to thank marathonchris from twitter for "twittering" and recommending this marathon.

I was really looking for a marathon between April and September. In South Florida, our marathon season ends very early. I saw the Nashville marathon in April and the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinatti in May. But they are too close in date and my training doesn't have been close enough to marathon level. So, I'll save the $$$$ and stay home.


And the last marathon I have planned for (at least right now!) is the 2010 Disney Marathon. When I went online, I was intending on registering for the Goofy Challenge; which is a 1/2 marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. But, the website said the registration was closed. I was bummed, but I went ahead and registered for the marathon on January 10th 2010!!! Last night I was web surfing and saw that the Goofy Challenge has "reopened". I have emailed the race directors to see if I can "upgrade" to the Goofy Challenge. But, we'll have to wait and see what happens.


This Saturday I have a 10K race; the Merrily Lynch Bull Run. My son will be running the 5k and most surprisingly, my daughter will be volunteering for service hours (and that's the only way I'll get her up that early in the morning!!!


I have several more 5ks and 10ks to run this year; and I'm psyched about them because they are forcing me to work on my speed; versus my endurance.


And that's all for this week!
Dani

Saturday was the Riverwalk Run. The final race in the 3 For the Road Series. I ran the 5 miler and Ryan ran the 5k. About 15 minutes before the start of the 5-mile race, it started raining. Not too heavy, but just enough to make it cold. Luckily, as quickly as it started, it quickly ended.


The 5-miler started at 7am; the 5k started 15 minutes later. The race started at Huizinga Park at the corner of Las Olas Blvd and Andrews. We ran over the SE 3rd Street bridge, over the tunnel and into the Rio Vista neighborhoods. It was a beautiful run, past lots of gorgeous homes.


Ryan finished his 5k in 25:07 (8:05 pace). Several other St. Jerome students, and fellow SJS track team members, also ran the 5k. For their age groups, Jake came in 5th, Ryan and Sean came in 4th, Juliana came in 3rd, Isabella came in 2nd (25:06), and both Christina (22:16) and York (23:04) came in 1st place! And of course, their Coach Burke came in 1st place overall for the Grand Masters. It was another great running day for St. Jerome!


As for me, going into the race, I new I was just over 1 minute behind 3rd place for my age group for the 3 For the Road Series. To get to 3rd place would mean I would have to run a 8:30 pace for the entire 5 miles; that would be a bit of a stretch for me. But, I still was going to try to do it! It was a good run/race. I felt good; I was able to keep a steady pace and the 5 miles went by relatively quickly! I finished in 45:04, right around a 9:01 pace. Not the 8:30 I needed, but a pace that I was very happy with. For the race, I finished in 16th place out of 50 women for the 40-44 year age group.

And in the 3 For the Road Series, I ended up in 4th place. But, I definitely made up some time and only missed 3rd place by 28 seconds.

1 Lori Battaglia 44 F 26:09 35:29 42:57 1:44:35
2 Debby Rivera 44 F 25:38 34:40 44:17 1:44:35
3 Jen Sundook 40 F 26:55 35:11 45:43 1:47:49
4 Danielle Dorsett 42 F 27:11 36:02 45:04 1:48:17

that's all for now!

dani

Just a quick mid-week post!!!!
On the left, is the medal that Ryan won for placing 2nd in his age group at the St. Paddy's 4-miler race last weekend.

Below is Ryan at his karate exam. He was testing for his yellow belt.

And here's a vido of Ryan and Nakita performing their white belt "Appreciation Form".

St. Paddy 4-Miler

This past Saturday was the 2nd race in the "Three For the Road" series of races; it was the St. Paddy's 4-miler. The race was held at Tradewinds Park and it was an out and back route taking us past the (smelly) horse stables.

Ryan had decided to run the race with me. And, 4 other students from St. Jerome ran the race, as well as their track coach. Coach Burke started out at the front of the crowd; me and the kids hung out towards the back. When the race started, we all spent some time weaving through the walkers and the slower runners. Then all 5 kids took off. The 2 fastest quickly ran out of my line of sight; but I was able to keep an eye on the other 3.

The kids did great! All 5 were in different age/sex groups. The 3 boys (including Ryan!) all placed 2nd in their respective age group. The 2 girls came in 1st for their age groups. And their coach finished 1st overall for the Grand Master age group. I was the only one to not medal in my age group. But I'm okay with that. I finished with a time of 35:45, coming in 16th out of 34 women in the 40-44 age group; which is the largest age group. I was in the top 50%; that's good enough for me!!!

But the best "news" for me was my standings in the "Three for the Road Series". After the 1st race, I was in 7th place for my age group. Now after 2 races of the series, I'm in 4th place for my age group. The final race is this Saturday and it's a 5 mile race so I should do well. I'm less than 1 minute out of 3rd place. So, my goal for Saturday's race is to finish in 43:30 which is a pace just under 8:45 minutes per mile.

Till next week, run long!

Dani

"blonderx"