On Tuesday nights, our team “Optimistic About Fourth Place,” plays trivia at Shameless O’Leery’s, a local watering hole. Some weeks, we do really well; like last week, we won second place! And that was actually the second time we won second place (see! it wasn’t just a fluke), which comes with a $20 bar gift card and some bragging rights at the office. Other weeks, we don’t do so hot; like this week, we finished somewhere in the neighborhood of fifth. Win or not, we have a grand time, and I am so glad to have friends who like to do this kind of thing on a week night.
For fun, here’s some recent trivia questions for you! If you know all the answers, then you should definitely come play on our team!
Is Bob Dole dead or alive?
What do you call a group of raccoons?
Locate the following horse leg parts: pastern, gaskin, and cannon (this was a visual round question)
Who stole the record number of bases – 1406 – during his baseball career?
What is the fewest number of moves you would need to make to win a game of battleship?
What is the name of the Greek goddess of wisdom?
What is the sum of the first three prime numbers?
What is the name of the world’s third largest ocean?
What do these three things have in common: Jelly Bean, KitKat, and Ice Cream Sandwich?
Name the four US presidents who were assassinated while in office.
If you want the answers, you can ask my friend Google.
Marathon complete!
Three : Twenty-Two : Forty Eight
Blissful exhaustion.
I ran the Redding Marathon yesterday! I finished in 3:22:48 (three hours, twenty-two minutes, and forty eight seconds), which was significantly faster than my goal time (three hours thirty minutes) and is also a solid qualifying time for the 2016 Boston Marathon, a sought-after and celebrated achievement in the running community (my age group qualifier is three hours thirty-five minutes). I am pumped!
The race was excellent. My training plan prepared me well, and I had very little soreness until the final 10k (6.2 miles). That was tough! But it’s a marathon, so it should be hard, and despite the complaints from my legs, I was able to finish at a solid pace. The only thing I would change for next time would be the weather (as if I have any say in the matter); it was misting from the start and turned into a light rain at about mile 15. It wasn’t awful, but it was very wet and by the end, a little cold. Still, on the whole, it was a great event, and I am extremely pleased.
I would like to give a special shout out to everyone who sent inspirational texts before and during the race: Mom & Dad, Paige L-N., Liz S., Annmarie D., Laura B., Katie S., Cara K., and David D.! Your well wishes were much appreciated! And I am guessing more of you would have sent messages if I had announced that I would carry my phone, but that was a last minute decision based on rain, but plan for it next time (because there will be a next time).
I am also super grateful to have had friends meet me at the finish, they even had signs!
I also appreciated all the post-race celebratory messages! There are too many to individually recap, but I loved every one of them.
Thanks everyone for your support! I look forward to running more marathons in the future and you all make it that much more rewarding and fun!
Below is my playlist for the marathon, it was carefully orchestrated, so I’ve included some of the behind-the-scenes logic for entertainment. Enjoy!
Redding Marathon Playlist:
Uptown Funk
Uptown Funk
Uptown Funk – yes, I like to listen to songs more than once, particularly if they are a current favorite
Poker Face
Just Dance – a little Lady G. early to remind me to relax, have fun, and dance!
MANiCURE
Bad Moon Rising
Bad Moon Rising
Bad Moon Rising
Rockstar
Rockstar
All The Right Moves
All The Right Moves
Steve McQueen – like my Lady G. interludes, Sheryl has some good songs to “keep going” without too much adrenaline
C’mon C’mon
Soak Up The Sun
Diamond Road
We Were Rock & Roll
Club Can’t Handle Me
Uptown Funk
Timber – this is my hill climbing song, because “it’s going down”
Timber
Timber
Bad Romance – came on right about halfway and was much appreciated; it’s a song I have to be careful not to overuse
The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
Teeth – another Lady G. interlude
Just Dance
G.U.Y.
Gypsy
Timber – another short hill going down!
Shake It Off – I might have been singing out loud at times… hope the other runners didn’t mind
Payphone – “even the sun sets in paradise!”
Payphone
To The Dogs Or Whoever
Feel This Moment
MANiCURE
MANiCURE
I Knew You Were Trouble
I Knew You Were Trouble
Give Me Everything – time to run the final 10k!
Give Me Everything
Babel
Up Around The Bend – classic!
Uptown Funk – yep, this song Again, and I enjoyed funk-ing it up the whole time
Uptown Funk
Dance Apocalyptic – fast beat = fast feet
Bad Romance – second play could not have come at a better time, I had just struggled over some small hills, there was about a 5k to go, and Lady G., she knew I was caught in a Bad Romance
I Will Wait – this song is a reliable method for getting 105% out of my legs, even when they really would rather not, so “paint my spirit gold”
preoccupied thoughts
race bib, outfit, weather, food
marathon draws near
A little more:
I am running the Redding Marathon tomorrow, January 18. It starts at 8 AM pacific time on the top of Shasta Dam and traverses the Sacramento River Trail to the Sundial Bridge (course map). I have been training for 14 weeks using a Carly-fied version of the Hanson training plan. I am nervous, but I think I am ready. Please send good thoughts! : )
From Friday:
‘Selma’ reminds us
peaceful protests overcame.
Still there’s work to do.
Elaboration:
I saw the movie ‘Selma’ on Friday night. It was excellent: powerful and moving, but also difficult to watch. Being confronted by heinous acts on a big screen made me cringe with disgust and remorse, but I am grateful that the movie triggered these feelings, because I am afraid of what could happen (and maybe is happening) if we forget the courageous acts of these many ordinary people. They have done so much for us and our country, and now it is our turn to continue their march.