credit: www.softasagrape.com
Hello and happy Sunday.
I've been meaning to write this post for a few weeks now but got a bit delayed with life and our Boston Marathon fundraiser! More on that in another post...
Anyway, a few weeks back the husband and I traveled down to the beautiful and picturesque isle of Martha's Vineyard to participate in a race called the "Martha's Vineyard 20 miler."
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| Boats in Vineyard Haven |
Those of you that know me know that this race is one of my favorite races. Hugh and I have done this race every year since we started dating with the exception of last year when we we had an "A race" the following weekend in St. John, USVI. Even then, we still went down to the Vineyard to cheer on friends; I even ran the last 10 miles of the course as a long run on race day (before the leaders were on course).
Now I say it is my favorite race...with the exception of that whole twenty mile thing. Basically it is a beautiful picturesque course along the water for the first half then through the woods on the bike path for the second half. Additionally, it is SUPER easy to get reservations for accommodation on the vineyard in February - double bonus!
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| Photo credit: Tumblr |
Anyway, we stayed overnight at the Vineyard Mansion House so we did not have to rush in the morning. We got up, had a leisurely breakfast & coffee. At 10am I put on my running clothes and prepared my race nutrition. At about 10:20am I started to put my shoes on - I put my left shoe on and then my right and noticed that something just didn't feel right. I HAD PACKED TWO LEFT SHOES!!!!!! How could this possibly have happened!? Well of course I knew HOW it happened - I obviously packed two left shoes** without thinking. Duh.
It goes without saying that I was a wee bit upset but oddly calm too. I mean I was at a race, a running race, SURELY someone else would have a spare pair of shoes. I called one set of friends who were down for the race to cheer their husbands - no luck. I then texted my friend Rebecca - thankfully she had a pair of shoes that I could use (sadly this also meant that she could not do the run she had planned while cheering at the race). I was left with a choice - run the 20 miler in shoes a size and a half larger than my actual shoes or not do the race. As I mentioned before this is my favorite race, so I put on two pairs of socks and LOTS of "lube/body glide" around my toes and accepted Rebecca's kind offer.
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| These are not THE shoes but I recall they were black with purple :) credit: ebay.com |
So, yes, I ran the Martha's vineyard 20 miler with many thanks to my friend Rebecca. It wasn't pretty in fact I got two huge blood blisters on the outside of my big toes (one of which ruptured and bled through the two pair of socks during the race -> I'm wondering if my bloody sock would be hall of fame material like Curt Schilling's??). It certainly beat attempting to run by myself the next day in blizzard conditions. Additionally, I can say that I truly embraced the philosophy of this race which is:
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| credit: thesecondlap.blogspot.com |
They say you should not judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Well Rebecca, I've run 20 miles in your shoes and I think you're a pretty awesome friend.
Many thanks to Laura, Morgan, Paul, Erin, Jessica, Dan, Jeff, Michael and of course Rebecca.
**In case you're wondering WHY I have two left shoes: I usually rotate between a few pairs of shoes while training. I had been suffering from plantar fasciitis this past fall and part of the reason for this was that I was running in shoes that were one half to one size too big without realizing it. I wear Newton brand running shoes (which I love) - the sizing of their shoes changed between 2011 & 2012 models. I stupidly bought two pairs of the 2012 model at an expo thinking after running in this brand for 2 years that I knew my size. Oops. The good news is that my plantar fascia is feeling much better though!
