Looks like we made it....

I love being almost famous, and I almost missed this one - until a college buddy sent me a message, and I dug the magazine out of recycling.  This magazine has featured many fellow alums, including Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Sylvia Plath, Julia Child, and more.  When Tara and I ran the Hartford marathon last Fall, we joked that our 'dull' lives were not SQ worthy....well, here we go - we aren't First Ladies, haven't climbed Everest, and haven't (yet) written the next great American novel.....but we made it (this far).

Shiny things

I can't believe I forgot to post non-ugly pics of the best part of every marathon - the medal ***ooooo shiny things****!  Yes, it is a fairly useless "prize," but I treasure my shiny medals - and this one was cooler than  most:

And, as my fellow Brak Pak'ers pointed out - it is also suitable as a weapon.  But I don't want to get blood on my shiny medal, so I'm not going to try it.

Marathon #6 - Hartford

About 19 years ago, my good college buddy, Tara, suggested that we try out the Army - and I said "sounds good" - and off we went to Basic in Fort Knox, KY....

and I ended up in the real Army for the next 8ish years.  (We were about six years old in that pic.)  Fast forward to 2012 - the year I dislocated my patella, became hypothyroid, and discovered I have terrible arthritis under my kneecaps.  But, dangit, I was still going to run a marathon and searched for a flat, cheap-ish one. 

So, Tara suggested that I come run the ING Hartford marathon "with" her - and I said "sounds good."  So, there I was on October 13, 2012, freezing my buns off at the 35 degree start.  Didn't sound (or feel) good. 

(We're still about 25 years old.)  And here we are with team MAD (Making a Difference) - don't hate me because my pants are cool.  This group rocked - 7 private portapotties for 44 folks - most excellent.

This was my slowest finish - but it was the first marathon where THAT voice did not creep into my head and say "maybe you can't do this."  (Somewhere along the 26.2 miles, that voice always finds me and haunts me for a mile or so - until I grab it by the throat and choke the life out of it.)  This time, I was just taking it easy, and that voice never found me - maybe the voice found the Kenyans (or Tara - who finished in a blazing 3:37ish - but that's unlikely), and it didn't get me. 

The ugly race pics did get me, however.  Here are my cold running pics along the route:

Man, the fat face got me!

And then there was the inglorious finish....through the arch

That was pretty cool.
And they announced "Sally Seeker from San Antonio" - and I did a crazy running chicken warm-up

Then, I went full out crazy running chicken to the finish - check out the chicken wings

And that I did - finish.  But why does that chick in the blue look so happy about it?

I caught up with Cliff around mile 24 and we finished the run together (nevermind that he carried that flag the WHOLE time)

and then I finally looked at my watch and said "really? you couldn't break 5:00?"

But, in the end, I did it - broken-ish elbow, bad knee, and all.  And Tara managed to capture a not-so-ugly-I-rock-this pic

And then I froze a little more

But it was good. And now, Tara says, "we should run this"

And - wait for it------I say "sounds good"
Thanks to Tara, Kevin, and Brightroom for the pics - and super thanks to Tara for hosting me - it was really a great trip (especially when it warmed up).

The best of friends the worst of ideas

Over the years, I've had (and still have) some great friends - with the worst of ideas.  There was Candide, who decided we should drive (and boat) from Massachusetts to the Bahamas - on her American Express and a Shell cards (apparently, there IS a limit at all-inclusive resorts, and PB&J is expensive when you buy it at the gas station).  And Kent, who said "a duathlon starting in a CAVE - let's do it" - and I cursed him as a 70+ year old out-pedaled me up a steep incline while my bike ran out of gears.  And the countless runs in driving rain/lightning/flooding or along a dark trail.  And one of the best - my sister and I heading to Nantucket for the Summer to 'work,' with no jobs and no money (that may have been my idea). Many friends with the worst of ideas there.  But, dangit, we had fun - every single time. 

So, perhaps the worst of ideas from a good friend occurred back in '93.  We had just finished our sophomore year at Smith College, and I planned to head off to DC for a Summer internship - unfortunately, the only (low) paid internship offer I received was with a pro-FSLN/FMLN lobbying group.  My mother wisely advised me that I may be too young to end up on an FBI watch-list because I wanted to spend the Summer in DC.  So, my friend, Tara had a 'great' idea - we join the Army, but just temporarily - "it'll be fun."  And off to Ft. Knox we went.

Basically (hee), we went through Basic Training, but had no service obligation afterward.  She was somewhat interested in the ROTC program - I just went to lose weight, get in shape, get paid, and meet boys.  Somehow, I ended up in the real Army and she did not (although that contract I signed did say I was of sound mind). 

So, flash forward almost 20 years (eek) - and it's 2012, and I busted my knee, but couldn't let a year slip by without a marathon.  So, I fished among those crazy friends for a marathon idea - that was flat and not-so-expensive.  And Tara had a great idea - we run the Hartford, CT marathon on October 13 (where she lives) - "it'll be fun."  And off to CT I go in October.  I never learn - this weekend's 17 mile training run HURT, and all I could think was "why do I listen to the best of friends with the worst of ideas?"  Because, in the end, I can say we had fun. Or, at least, didn't die?

Check out our team at http://www.goteammad.org/roster.asp 

Catching up

I sure love 3-day weekends - I get a chance to (try to) catch up on everything.  So, here's what's been happening. 

Last weekend was the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay from North Padre Island to Corpus Christi.  It was a hot one - I ran/limped the 2nd leg of 6 and the Brak Pak Chiks finished in under 5 hours.

Here I am at the start of the leg on the beach - on my bad knee, thinking "man, this is going to hurt."  It did. 

But I made it and rested my knee on the beach. 

Then, this weekend, I ran the Witte Museum Boot Scoot 5k fun run - it also hurt, but was fun.

 Awards - I did not win any of those - because I do not own a pair of cowboy boots in which to boot scoot.

Then I tried to tackle the jungle that is my back yard and tried to nurse my cardiac cat, Vaca, back to health.  In my jungle-tackling, I was really looking for a heart transplant donor wildcat (not really).

Thanks to Ceci, IAAP, Scottydog, and Brightroom for the pics

The one that got away

The thing with marathons is that, no matter what - how hard you train, how injury-free you remain, and a bunch of other things that end in -ain - you never know what awaits you out there on the course.  This year, my training was solid - and accomplished in record heat.  I remained fairly injury-free.  I added yoga and massage.  I stretched and recovered.  I did it right this time and felt good going into my 5th marathon.  I was going to rock it.

Race day at the Chicago marathon, the weather was warmish, but still 20-30 degrees cooler than anything I had run in this training season.  Here we were at the start

As you can see, I was happily thinking that I could definitely crush 4:30.  And then, my intestines defected (and a word very similar to that, if you add an "a") around mile 10.  And did not stop.  All told, my Garmin registered me as covering 27.1 miles and an additional 15 minutes spent in or waiting for potties.  There were times that I could not bounce, so I fashioned a TOTALLY crazy chicken walk, which was terrible, but kept me within an 11:00 minute pace.  And, throughout it all, my legs were fine, my body was fine, and I was ready to RUN, but could not.  Like I said, you just never know what's out there. 

So, I took some fun pics

and, in the end, I finished.  A personal worst time, but I finished.  (Note:  only 3 minutes longer than my last personal worst and still only 13 minutes later than my PR.)

(yep, so bad I had to change my shorts at the finish - nice) So, now I'm debating training for another week and running the RNR SA as a full marathon in November - even though I dislike the 2nd half of it.  Or, maybe I'll just get over it and run the next 25k, HM, 5k running tour, 8k, and 11k I have scheduled in the next three weeks. 

All of my ugly race pics can be found here

Super thanks to my folks, for coming down to the marathon - and my sisters and their families for hosting my tour de southeast wisconsin after the run.

More thanks to everyone who supported me in fundraising during training for Girls on the Run - SA.  I raised over $600, which will sponsor at least 4 girls during next year's training season. http://www.active.com/donate/SoleMates2012/SSeeker5

And thanks to Joe S, Marathonfoto, my folks, and Ceci for the pics.

We're heeeeere

Well, it is that time of year again to run 26.2 miles for no real good reason.  So, we hit the expo...

where it is official, because my name is on the wall.  (yep, between the fakers - "Seegers" and "SeeLer"
And here is the view from our roof (it's okay to go up there - really - we didn't climb out of windows or anything)

and winding down from a loooong day with Bernice and Laura (Joe is the photog)

Tomorrow, we'll check out the 'hood and some of Chicago - and REST!

It is making me giggle when everyone is talking about how HOT it will be.  I probably won't be giggling around noon on Sunday, but this ain't hot.

Another race for the recues pic

here are some of the Brak Pak Chiks (and Dingo) - from Studio Benton

and the actual (non-scanned) shot with Dingo smiling. 

I ran the Pajama Pancake 5k (actually 3.3 miles) on Saturday - and now it's one week until Chicago.  eek.

and it's on

Dear Sally,


Congratulations! You are now registered for Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Ugliest race pics EVER

Now, you know me.  I quest for an ugly race pic.  But, these were beyond my wildest dreams - I hit the crazy running chicken pose, the zombie pose, the on-the-verge-of-death pose, and many more.  Now, finishing another marathon was one thing, but this is truly an accomplishment.

Thanks to ASI for letting me swipe their pics.

Next up: Texas Med Clinic Half Marathon October 9!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Not really.  But my performance at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon was the middle of times.  It was my second worst marathon finish - or my third best.  It was a fairly solid 4:45:24 for me.  I ran it with my sister, Gretchen, who smoked it in 4:12, cutting more than 30 minutes off her PR!  It was a twee bit chilly for me, but was actually good running weather.  However, around mile 17.5, something popped in my right foot, so I was running crooked for the rest of the race.  At first, I thought that something broke, but, now that the swelling and discoloration has reduced, I'm going to diagnose myself with an official not-broken foot (signed, Sally, fake MD).  (and then I'm going to run the Texas Med Clinic Half Marathon this weekend - or hobble it).  Here are some of my paparazzi (Dad's) pics:

Before with Gretchen (I'm only looking confident and warm because I'm half-asleep and inside the house)

Yep, crazy running chicken marathon runner.  my right foot had just audibly POPPED and caused serious pain - the chick in the blue diagnosed me with neuroma about 1/2 mile down the road (at mile 18).

 but I did shake a little crazy chicken off and kept going


and going

Meanwhile, Gretchen was making the finish look easy 

but it is hard

but if you keep puting one foot in front of the other, you get to the finish





 and then you freeeeeze. 
and then you eat 
and then you celebrate (with Mom and paparazziDad - across the lake from the finish line)

and all for this...

It really was a nice, albeit cold, run along Milwaukee's lakeshore with my sister and family.  And now, I ice my foot, drink a glass of wine, chow on some WI cheese curds, and start contemplating my next marathon.

Thanks to Dad for the pics!  Thanks to Gretch for another great run!