Turkey Trottin'

This Thanksgiving, my family went to Myrtle Beach to celebrate with Dad's side of the family.  His aunt and uncle have a big, beautiful house where the entire Burns-McCoy-Skinner clan (yes I said clan as a nod to our Scottish-Irish roots) gathered for a delicious meal and time of thanks!

This year we did things a little differently. Back at the end of summer/early fall, I got an email about a Turkey Trot in the Myrtle Beach area. They had a 5K and a 10K, and if we signed up then we could sign up for a (very) discounted price. I tried to convince Jacob to do the 10k, but he didn't want to run at all so we settled on the 5k (looking back - thank goodness!).  I figured I would definitely be back in shape by then, I mean I was going to be running in the 34-mile Hope Relay two weeks before that! Easy Peasy.

Well, if you've read this blog at all, you know the Hope Relay wasn't my best and neither was my shape! The whole family woke up early on Thanksgiving to drive the 20 minutes to the Surfside Pier where the race started. We were all quite tired and COLD! It was freezing that morning. And of course, neither Jacob nor I brought cold weather running gear. I don't know what we were thinking. I even looked at the weather channel to check the temperature when I was packing!
                      
We got to the Pier and got there about 30 minutes before race time. After we checked in and got our race packets, mom ran Jacob and me over to the beach near the pier to take pictures. They were great- no makeup, sleep still in our eyes and trying our best not to shiver long enough for her to take the pictures.  Finally, an announcer came on saying the race was getting ready to start.

 So, Jacob and I headed over to the start line and got in the back (not the very back but close enough).  I had my Garmin watch, although I had forgotten to charge it so it died before the race even started. Whoops. At least I had my running ipod. Thankfully, mom let me wear her gloves because I was slowly losing feeling in all my extremities. Again, it was COLD!  Poor Jacob, shorts and a t-shirt. I think he did finally put on a sweatshirt.

While we were waiting on the race to start, I kept saying over and over in my head "Keep Running. Don't Stop. Its just a 5k. Run the whole thing."  I am determined to run again so I wanted this to give me the boost I needed to get back into things. Well Jacob, the sweet kid that he is, decided that since I made him run this race with me he would run with me at my speed. To paint a pretty picture, my "little" brother is a 5'11" cross country runner who ended up running Varsity his freshmen year of high school.

Finally the race started. Jacob took off before he looked back and saw I was way behind him. He jogged back to me and fussed about how slow I was going. I had my headphones in and was just focused on going slow and steady. As Jacob kept pointing out how slow we were going, his favorite phrase at the beginning was "We're never going to get warm if we keep moving this slow." Mostly I just rolled my eyes and kept on chugging. Every 2 minutes or so, Jacob kept asking how long we had been running. By the time hit the mile and a half point, Jacob kept telling me "I'd be done by now" and five minutes later "Id've been done for 5 minutes now" and so on. Not only was he telling me that, he was giving me a running commentary of his life. I mean the boy never stopped talking! As he says, he was going so slow talking was not a problem!

We finally hit the 3 mile marker and it was a straight stretch of road to cross the finish line.  Unbeknownst to us, mom and dad got so cold they went and sat in the car in with the heat on! Luckily, they got out in time to see us finish. Anyways, because I had been going so slow (without stopping), I was determined to cross the finish line before Jacob. About 100 yards away from the finish line I started sprinting. It only took about 10 steps for me to realize that was too far out to beat a kid with legs that are twice as long as mine. So I went back to my jog/run speed a little bit further. Well at this point Jacob starts running backwards. "Oh no he didn't" was all that went through my head before I took off sprinting again. He continued to run backwards for about 4-5 more steps before he turned around and took off in a sprint as well. I'm still not sure who crossed the finish line first, but we were duking it out all the way across!
                           

                      

Well, I did it! I may have literally been "trotting" I was so slow, but I did it. Three point one miles without stopping. It's not much but its a start. And to reward us, the Myrtle Beach running club had Krispy Kreme donuts they were dipping in chocolate on site! So what better way to celebrate all that I had accomplished by erasing it all with one donut!

It was my first Turkey Trot, but it won't be my last! However, it will be the last one where I "trot!"

Tonight, Anything Goes

"In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking but now God knows, anything goes!"

From November 12-17, the musical "Anything Goes" was playing at the Peace Center in Greenville.

For those who know me, I love musicals! I was so excited when I saw this one was coming to the Peace Center.  I didn't know too much about it beforehand, but what I did know made me super excited to see it! It had recently won 3 Tony awards so I knew it was going to be great.

The other KB and I went on Wednesday, November 13, and had a blast! The music and dancing were absolutely phenomenal! The performers in this show are absolutely amazing and in great shape! There is so much dancing and simultaneous singing and nobody ever loses their breath- amazing!! The storyline was fun and cute as well! I fell in love from the very first song! We had great seats- smack dab in the middle of the lower balcony! The view was great, the company was great, and the musical was great!  If you ever get the chance to see it, I recommend you do!


(something neat... a couple of days later, I was watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and lo and behold, what is she singing in the opening number... Anything Goes! I've seen that movie so many times before and never paid attention to what she was singing. But now you better believe I'll be singing along!)

                   

Running is Easy. Names are Not.

Saturday morning, November 9, 2013, dawned bright and COLD!  I had my thermal leggings on and my favorite running tank and I was ready to go. It was HOPE RELAY day!

The Hope Relay is one of my favorite races! It is a relay run that benefits my former employer, the Project Hope Foundation. Project Hope serves the autism community in the upstate of SC through many different services such as ABA Therapy, an award winning alternative inclusion school, a program for teens and youth who need continued support in daily life activities, and supporting families dealing with the challenges of autism.

The relay was redesigned for the 2013 race and it was a blast!  Like before, there were two relay races: a long course and a short course. Teams could be made up of 2-4 runners, each running at least one leg. For the 14 mile relay, each runner would run one 3.34 mile leg.  For the 34 mile relay, each runner runs 2 legs: the first being 3.34 miles and the second one being 5 miles.  The course was designed for runners to explore a scenic route through beautiful downtown Greenville, SC.  Each runner started at the Kroc center, ran their leg (which was a loop), and then handed off the slap bracelet to the next runner.  After all legs are completed, all four runners joined together and run the tunnel together to cross the finish line. 

All in all it is a fun day! This year we added two new members to the relay team! Since we were no longer just Tigers and Hokies, a new name was needed. After much thought, nothing came about so we became "Running is Easy. Names are Not."  A great name for us, however it was a bit long for the official race documents. The names on the bibs have to be short so our bib names only said "Running is Easy."  Whoops. For three of us, that name still worked (me, not so much).  

I am still not quite back in shape from the back problems sustained during the marathon in 2012. So, when deciding our running order, I kept joking about doing it "Olympic swimming relay" style. We had our Ryan Lochte (second fastest runner) go first, our third fastest runner go second, the slowest (me) go second, and our Michael Phelps (aka the fastest) go last.   Because we were no longer driving from leg to leg, all the teams got to hang out in the field. It was a great day to catch up with old friends and new! While each runner ran their leg, the rest of us hung out on our picnic blanket, filled up on PB&J sandwiches from Whole Food,s and just got to catch up on each other's lives.  

That part of the day was really nice. For me, the running... eh, not so much. I was still out of shape and the first leg was awful. I ran the first mile and was struggling from that point on. Then between mile 1 and 2, we ran uphill for a nice little chunk. I knew I needed to save energy for the second leg, which was even longer, so I did a lot of walking.  After our first runner came back from the second leg she said it was much easier: curvy, but much flatter. That made me feel a little better, but at that point I was starting to wish we were doing the 14 mile relay instead of the 34!  Well it came time for me to run my last leg and it started out ok. Then it became clearly evident I was out of shape. And when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I started having back spasms. I ended up having to walk all the way from mile 4 to 5. Finally, because I'm stubborn and prideful, I ran the last 0.1 mile to pass off the slap bracelet to our final runner. Some friends of mine were manning the chute and cheering me on. Afterwards they wanted to know why I looked so mad when I finished!  Needless to say, I don't like people watching me run, especially when I'm in pain. After my leg, I found a bag of ice and just laid on it.  Oi. When our final runner came in, the rest of us met her at the beginning of the finish line chute to run (more like sprint) with her across the finish line.

We may have come in last in our division (my bad, ladies) but we definitely had a blast! Everyone who participated (and came out to cheer us on) said they wanted to do it again next year! And I will be in better shape by then for sure!

For more information on the Hope Relay and why we run, check out www. hoperelay.org and join us next year at a great run for an even greater run!

Mum's the Word!

Back on a wonderful Wednesday evening in September, I went to a concert for a group named Mumford and Sons. You may have heard of them (NOTE: if you have not heard of them, stop reading. No really, stop reading this post and go listen to them. You'll thank me later).

It could not have been a better night for good music and good friends. The weather was great and the music was phenomenal.  I went with my friend MM and pretty much the entire city of Greenville.  

Because I'm me, I took the opportunity to sing the chorus of "I Will Wait" anytime we had to wait that night... in the parking lot, for the bathroom, for meeting up with friends. I know, I'm so cheesy.

MM and I got there about a hour before the show, got a good parking spot and headed on over to the Amphitheater. Once we got into Heritage Park, some of MM's friends called and we waited (guess what I sang) on them to catch up to us.  MM introduced us and we all walked in together.

Now, the funny thing about the tickets is that I knew a friend of mine loved Mumford, yet had never been to one of their concerts. Well, as soon as I heard that Mumford was coming I texted him. The tickets for this show were lottery based- you had to register for them and not everybody got them. Well I never win anything, so I didn't even bother signing up for the lottery. However, my friend did and they had two extra tickets! Guess who got those? So, I bought those from him for me and MM.

So as we were walking to the gates of the show, I was telling MM all about the awesome people who got us the tickets and who do we see? The people who got us the tickets! That was pretty cool because we got to thank them in person!

Once we got through the gates, we all got some snacks and drinks and went to find spots. MM and I had general admission tickets so we were on the lawn whereas her friends were down in the standing room only area right below the stage. MM and I were happy with our seats, we got to sit (it was hot!) and listen to some awesome music with a pretty good view. Mad props to the Charter Amphitheater in Simpsonville for giant screens everywhere!

While the second opening act was playing, MM's friends texted us saying they had two extra tickets for the standing room area under the stage. I think we were headed down there before she even responded back "yes!" We kept joking all night that "my friends got us in the door, her friends got us on the floor!"

And then we got to enjoy the great music of Mumford and Sons. We even got to see some of it too (until some 6'7" guy stood in front of us). The pictures don't do justice to where we were standing or the wonderful things we heard. 

Overall, it was a great night with good music and awesome friends! Can't wait to do it again!