Monday, November 1, 2010

spectating the spinx runfest

on saturday i set a pr in race spectating. until now, i've only spectated for a couple of josh's 5k's, but this weekend, he, my sister and a friend (kristen) ran their first half-marathons and i served as the sherpa. kristen was concerned that i would mind holding her sweats for her but i reassured her that it has been done for me many times and it's the least i could do.

the two hardest parts of spectating are finding your runner(s) and coordinating other spectators in your party. i don't know all the roads downtown so i was a little harried in the beginning trying to give directions over the phone. luckily it was sorted out quickly so we could get on with the spectating.

after sending my pupils off to the start line, i headed off for my first spot. unfortunately the course isn't set up to catch too many spots either by walking or driving (in my opinion). i only caught the runners in the first mile and again after mile 3, before boogying over to catch them again in mile 11.



i labored on some signs friday night but was too shy to unfold them at my first stop. lame, i know, but i was also the sherpa and photographer so that was my excuse. once my parents got there i was able to hand off one sign to my mom which made it at bit easier. "her" sign got more comments from the runners; one guy even said "today is looking like that day", but most of them said they loved the sign or "that's right (their age) and still going!"

quote on pink sign from frayed laces

i only held the white one up at mile 11.5-ish when half-marathoners were running by. obviously the full-marathoners would not have appreciated it, and no one would have liked it at mile 1 or 3. at my 11+mi station i also saw fellow blogger kathrin running strong and an old rowing teammate (now avid cyclist, dabbling in marathons). due to my lack of juggling posters+camera skills, i didn't get photos of either of them. i also completely missed seeing my co-worker who blazed his way to a 1:59, after talking all week about hoping for a 2:15 "best-case scenario". sandbagger!



josh is all decked out in sugoi; courtesy of his blogging wife

anyway they all ran excellent first-half-marathons and even claimed they enjoyed themselves; kristen did admit to wanting to cut the course at one point where the course loops back on itself. even though it was only his first marathon, josh set multiple goals for himself (i've rubbed off on him) but he achieved his "a" goal running a 1:49! jocelyn was hoping for a 2-2:10 and ran a 2:08, and kristen didn't want to end up in the medical tent - she ran a 2:20 (those are gun times, chip times are mia). great runs all around!



as for my own running - i was a little short on miles for the week but again, the mucus factory was pulling overtime.

week in review (10/25 - 10/31)
total miles: 22.60
time spent running: ~ 3 hrs 30 mins
avg pace: 9:23
off days: 3
  • mon: sick and tired
  • tue: easy 4.1 on the golf course
  • wed: weights and abs
  • thu: easy 6.3 trying not to choke on mucus
  • fri: easy 3.2 squeezed in a busy day
  • sat: umm "walking"; aka spectating at various spots for ~4 hours
  • sun: long run - 9mi; saw an enormous spider and set a new world record in the high-jump

october 2010
total mileage: 112.45
time spent running: 17:27:00
days off: 11
abs/yoga: 11 ab workouts/2 yoga sessions
avg temp: 69.81*

33 comments:

  1. Congratulations on Josh's race! It sounds like you were a great supporter. I love cheering at races!

    I'm cracking up about your high jump record.

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  2. i need to start being a spectator / cheerer more! sounds like fun :)

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  3. Great job spectating girly!!! Am I starting to rub off on you? :)

    LOL about the high jump record! Would've loved to have seen that!

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  4. lol, i would have yanked that sign out of your hand if i saw you at mile 3...

    congrats to josh and kristen.

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  5. Hahaha I LOVE "The End is Near" poster. That's funny! I would have enjoyed seeing that near the end of the marathon :-)

    I have never spectated a race - yet. But it's definitely on my list of things to do!

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  6. I am loving what you are doing to Josh - turning him into a runner! Awesome! And good thing you are back running strong, cause he'll be chasing your PRs:)

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  7. Ooh-I might just love spectating as much as running! The last HM I spectated, I was in my Boston jacket but with a Tim Horton's donut in one hand and a huge cup of coffee in the other. I wonder if that was annoying to the runners.....Congrats to Josh-great pics! My favorite sign at TCM was "26.2 cause 26.3 would just be CRAAA-ZY!"

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  8. Congrats all around! Nice first-HM performances. I love that Josh has caught the bug!

    You were an awesome sopectator. Hitting more than one spot for a HM is tough!

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  9. Great all-around job by the crew. And to you for doing a great job cheering and creating signs.

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  10. Wow, this was an awesome post! Is that really your mom there holding the signs with you? Congrats on the times and all. I love being a spectator, at my own race. lol. I love pushing people around me and encouraging them to move their asses. BTW, I am still trying to figure out this sherpa thing. Here's what I got "eastern people", from shar "east" + pa "people") are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. lol. and this - Specialized recruiters of finance, accounting and bookkeeping professionals in the Charlotte, NC region. Lame I know. I have to look up words that I don't know. Well, congrats again to the first time half marathoners. It's awesome experience. As far as mucus, had to pick my nose again for any treasures. Take care and thanks for sharing!

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  11. It would be an interesting post to hear about the mission, strategic planning, and profit margin of the mucus factory.

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  12. Nice job on the spectating! Your PR def beats mine. I think I've only watched a few 5ks. Laughed at the spider comment!

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  14. Love the signs. Next time offer a beer - Experienced this at the marine corp marathon at mile 22 and it really messed my head up.

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  15. Apparently we are soul mates in horking up mucus...ugh!
    Nice job spectating!

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  16. Mad props on the spectating PR. Your photos are far better than anything I've ever gotten at a race. I have problems jumping up and down, screaming at runners and photographing them at the same time. I do like spectating, though. It's fun to get amped up at the beginning of a race and then not have to go through the pain of running it!

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  17. Love the signs! Great job spectating!

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  18. OK, Lindsay, I've just discovered ELDERBERRY liquid as a way to TOTALLY get rid of my cough, head cold. It really works and has NO alcohol. TRY IT if you can.

    I love spectating now, sometimes it's more tiring than running. Cute pictures, yeah JOSH!

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  19. You must have been an excellent sherpa knowing exactly what they wanted and needed. Great signs!

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  20. Wow! Congrats to everyone :) It sounds like everyone had great races.

    Great job spectating! Being able to see them 3 times is pretty darn good. Some courses are better than others.

    I keep trying to get Jennie to do a guest post on my blog "Spectating 101" with some of the tips she has learned over the years. Someday I'll get her to do it.

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  21. What a fun spectating experience! Thanks for the recap.

    (I don't know if I'm just in a giggly mood this afternoon, but I absolutely lost it at your high jump comment. It was just sitting there tucked into the rest of the post and I had no warning that something witty was coming. I let out a huge guffaw).

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  22. Spectating is hard work! And I've never even dealt with holding a sign, lol. Smart idea to give it to others to hold.

    Congrats to Josh, yr sister & Kristen. Hope that mucus factory shuts down soon!

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  23. Too embarrassed to unfold the signs? That would totally be me - I'd come up with some "photographer/sherpa" excuse too!

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  24. Spectating is usually harder than running the race yourself. Well done to everyone, great runs all round!

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  25. My friend from high school did the half, and I wish I'd joined him. The course is gorgeous and so are the shirts and medals! Plus we could have had a blogger meet up! Oh well, next year. Congratulations to Josh and thanks for your kind words. They meant a lot to me :)

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  26. Runners definitely make the best spectators because we know exactly what it's like to race. I pretty much set up my spectating plan for this weekend for what I wish people would do at my races.

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  27. Congrats to hubs and your friends! I love both of those signs. I probably wouldn't have liked it at the end of MCM so you are right about dropping before the marathoners. LOL!

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  28. Wow, congrats to Josh on an awesome time! It sounds like you're a great spectator. I always have to tell people to make signs for me :p

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  29. It took so long to scroll through all of your comments! You're a superstar!

    Oh, and don't you love when you have scheduled a post but it appears not to have scheduled correctly only a day after it was supposed to aired? Yep. Me, too!

    I love the last picture of your husband (right?) and your friend holding their medals! Beautiful balance of colors!

    Also, the signs were very well done. Few words, great graphic, funny/prophetic signage!

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  30. Correction, she has posted it here http://saracotner.wordpress.com/resources-2/personal/ under new year's reflection form.

    I love that wife of mine and you're completely right about what am I going to do for her since she's been so good to me! Last night I gave her a fancy foot rub, so I think I'm off to a good start!

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