5 Chapters on Running

Today I have so much to talk about I am going to break the blog into 5 chapters. 

Chapter 1.  Book Review

I just finished reading the book "My Year of Running Dangerously:  A Dad, a Daughter and a Ridiculous Plan" by Tom Foreman.  Tom Foreman had been a runner in his younger years but then family and work took over.  Now in his 50s his daughter asks him to run a marathon with her.  He goes from couch to ultra marathon in a year.  His writing style is amusing.  The book will keep you interested and chuckling throughout.  I recommend this book.

Chapter 2.  New Watchband

For some reason watch companies cannot make watchbands that last as long as the watch does.  I have a perfectly good Garmin 630 that was a hand me down from my Slug Sister.  I love my Garmin 630.  A while back the band was showing some wear.  Then the little loop that holds the end down broke.  I glued it which worked for a week or so.  Then I replaced it with some rubber gaskets.  Last week the band was almost broke across where the little metal thing goes through the hole (I obviously don't know the proper name for watchband parts).  I was worried that it would split completely and I would loose the watch so Jim fixed it with Duct tape.  I ordered a new watchband and it came yesterday.  So now I have a brand new watchband.  I had to decide if I wanted black again or if I wanted to order one of the many colors available.  I went with black.

Chapter 3.  Cowbell

I ran the Cowbell Half Marathon on Sunday.  I came in second in my age group.  You were supposed to pick up your awards at the Big River tent but they had a computer issue so they couldn't hand out the awards.  I remembered the Thanksgiving run where we waited forever and they still didn't have the computer issue figured out.  Today I went to the Big River Store to pick up my award.  It was a cowbell.  Everyone who runs the race gets a little cowbell at the expo.  This one was a little bigger.  How many cowbells do they think I need?  I don't even have a cow.

Chapter 4.  Race Shirts

I remember reading an article about whether it was okay to wear a shirt from a race you did not run.  The answer was absolutely YES.  Many races give shirts to the volunteers who definitely earn them by being there for the runners.  Often they sell extra shirts at the Expo which people can buy for friends and family.  Sometimes a race shirt doesn't fit and it is handed down to someone else.  It is fine to wear a shirt from a race that you did not run in.  I used to wear a shirt that said "Parkway South Swim and Dive Team".  I never attended Parkway South and definitely did not belong to a swim team.  I was a proud parent supporting the team.  The only thing that is not okay is to tell people you ran a race that you did not run.  Today I wore the Huntsville shirt that Kathy brought me from her last marathon.

Chapter 5.  Running Trails

Next great thing is the Skippo 10K race the first weekend of November.  I told Jim I needed to get some trails and hills on my legs.  We had errands and chores to get done today.  Since it was gloriously cool today we saved the run for late afternoon.  We parked at Sherman Beach and ran to the dirt trail on the West side of the Rock Hollow.  We ran up that then down the Rock Hollow.  It was not a pretty run.  My legs felt good but I had a stomach ache the entire run.  Jim did well the first 4 miles or so then his knee started hurting.  We were doing walk/run to help his knee but it turned into a walk/hobble for him.  After 5.75 miles we just walked it in.  Although it wasn't pretty we got some hills/trails miles on our legs.