10 Mile Wave

Goal:
10 miles at 6:30/no faster than 6:00

Actual:
2 mile warmup
6:23
5:55
6:22
6:00
6:24
6:00
6:25
6:02
6:25
6:00
2.3 mile cool down for 14.3 miles total (6:12 average)

What a confidence booster this was!  Without the luxury of Laurie's company as she is prepping for Chicago this weekend, I hit snooze on my alarm and opted for a pm run.  I knew that I could at least have Garrett's company on the bike if I went in the evening, so it worked out quite well for me.  We headed out the door around 5PM and the weather was a perfect temperature, but with about 15 mph winds.  I was more worried about the potential traffic around the Dilworth Speed Loop than the wind.

On my warmup, I twisted my ankle really bad on a pine cone hidden under a leaf, but fortunately it turned out to be something that I could literally just walk (and then jog) out.  After checking out the speed loop, I saw that a portion of the road was under construction, so I made a quick u-turn to head away from the loop and towards the greenway.  I completed the first 2 miles with a downhill advantage and then ran back and forth on portions on the greenway that are on the road.  I felt okay through the first intervals, but really began to feel good towards the middle. I was focusing on my form and making it feel as easy as possible during the 6:30 segments.  Towards the last three miles, I really had to fight hard to keep up a solid pace for the fast portions, which really just reminded how mentally zoned in I truly have to be in order to run a great marathon.  The whole time, Garrett really just rode next to me, silently providing me enough motivation to not quit after eight miles.

This was truly my first marathon workout in this training cycle, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Historically, I struggle on longer workouts when I don't have a running buddy with me, so I exhibited a mental tenacity that I don't normally possess.  I hope to keep putting in workouts like this over the next six weeks before I begin the official taper period.

Massive Workout Fail

Goal:
2x3mile with 2 min rest @ 600-550

Actual:
3 mile warmup
1.25 mile in 608 pace
1 mile in 600 pace
4x400m in 80
10 miles total

Because I was sick (or allergic to all this damn pollen) this whole week, it resulted in lots of missed morning runs.  This morning was no exception, so I opted for a workout at McAlpine in the early evening with Garrett biking alongside.  I was completely unprepared for the 86 degree heat, with air heavy not only with moisture but also pollen.   I headed into the workout with the intention of just running at what felt "hard" and not looking at splits.

With the sun beating down on my pale, abino-ish skin, I set off for a hard pace at the start line of the XC course.  As I passed the 800m mark, I opted to run on the paved portion, so I turned on the bridge.  A woman happened to be sitting on the bridge with her dog on a leash.  As I cruised by, the dog jumped out and bit my hip.  I didn't stop, but Garrett yelled from the bike, "Did he get you..." and I pulled up my shorts to check.  Sure enough, I had bloody mark on my leg, albeit small.  I was so pissed that I didn't stop to check if her dog had rabies shots.  I just kept going but then I was so flustered I didn't want to go anymore, so I stopped after 1.25 miles.  There isn't much to report about the rest of the workout, except that I tried to run hard for some other portions and ultimately decided to end it with some 400m repeats on the course.

In hindsight, I wish I had just scrapped a workout for this week and just focused on resting and recovering.  I learned that if I'm sick, I need to listen to my body and just run easy as opposed to plowing through workouts that will just make me feel less confident in my fitness.

(Honeymoon) Week(s) in Review

Week of December 31
22 Miles
3 days off
2 Days of hiking
5 days in hawaii

Week of January 7
44 Miles (with 31 of those miles in CLT)
5 Days in Hawaii
1 Day off
1 Day of Hiking
1 Day of Kayaking

After the wedding, Jordan, Meagan, and Merry all stayed at our house through New Years.  All sorts of people were coming in and out of our house as Garrett and I packed for our honeymoon.  We still managed to go out with our friends for NYE before heading to the airport at 8AM to catch our flight.  We finally made it to Kauai at 9PM their time, and made it to our adorable cottage by 10PM.  Time is five hours behind CLT in Kauai, but we adjusted quickly to the schedule.  Running was beautiful, but sparse.  The summary?  I got married, went to Kauai, didn't run much, but did all sorts of other outdoor activities to make up for my laziness from running.  Time was spent with just Garrett and it was absolutely perfect.  I made up for the low mileage the second week by running 31 miles in Charlotte.

Now that I'm not planning a wedding in my spare time, I'm not sure what I'll do to make up for the extra time.  For now, I'll put my focus on my training, with the main goal to gain fitness and perhaps target a fall marathon.  I don't feel ready to begin training 100% yet, but I hope to start adding very light fartlek workouts beginning this week.  After a month of training, I will jump into a low key race to gauge my fitness level and make a decision about whether or not to run the BAA 5k.

Our adorable cottage

Thank God for Costco.  Saved us hundreds of dollars

Double rainbow

The hikes were always muddy

Fourth of July Weekend

Could anything get more American than watching a baseball game and enjoying the celebratory fireworks in a baseball stadium on the Fourth of July? Sure, if I had eaten a hot dog at the game. I didn’t want to throw my status as vegetarian away though, so I opted for a bottle of water instead.

Baseball was clearly a main theme of this holiday weekend for me, but I must also include Applebee’s and Family into the mix. To start from the beginning, after the long run, I hung out at the pool with John and Thomas for a couple of hours before I retired back to my house to catch a quick nap before I got on the road. I woke up in frenzy around 4pm, where I frantically threw all my stuff in the back seat of my car, and headed for the mountains. I made a last minute to decision to drive to Garrett’s away game in Bristol, VA, even though I knew he would not be pitching. It was not too far out of the way, and I knew Garrett’s parents and sister would be there, so I could hang out with them.

After three hours in the car, my body was stiff and my bladder was ready to burst. I made it into the stadium to discover that the women’s bathroom was behind the away team’s dugout with no windows and only one toilet for a stadium that had over 3,000 attendees. It was a long wait. Finally, I reunited with Scott, Ann and Elyse, who had situated themselves directly behind the Greeneville Astros bullpen. For games in which Garrett does not pitch, it’s pretty amusing to observe what goes on in the bullpen, which, as far as I can tell, doesn’t include much more than gossiping.

These pitchers had decided to be savvy with their time in the bullpen by creating a coin drop. Only quarters are allowed; if a kid gets the quarter in the cup, they are awarded with a baseball. If a kid gets four quarters in the cup, they are awarded with a broken bat. Why anyone would want a broken bat, I am left dumbfounded, but I’m not a baseball fanatic like most kids in the mountains. The coin drop spreads by word of mouth because all the pitchers have to do is tell one kid to tell all of his friends and then a flock of kids surrounds the coin drop…and the cycle repeats itself. Anyways, this coin drop earns these poor minor leaguers anywhere from $10-$40 a game, and they will use the money to buy “snacks” for the end of the season. You can guess what they are going to buy.

Meanwhile, I busted out my paparazzi dSLR so that I could capture some memories of Garrett as a Greeneville Astro for the scrapbook that he will never make. Unfortunately, he seemed to avoid the camera like any normal boyfriend would do. Instead, his teammate Jack Frawley gave Elyse and I more attention as we stalked all of the players and even showed his pearly whites for the camera.

After the game, we stalked the bus so that we could say hi to Garrett and I snapped a couple of pictures of the family as you can see below. The real highlight of the weekend came on the Fourth of July home game in the Greeneville Astros complex, which happens to be much nicer than the Bristol Stadium. Elyse and I were under strict orders from two of Garrett’s teammates to win their special edition baseball hats back from the silent auction. These hats had the stars and stripes in honor of Veterans and you could sign your name to bid on the hats at a table. Since we wanted to be sure to win the hats, Elyse and I had to regularly stalk the table to make sure no one had outbid us. I got into a decent competition with another man with a last name of Bullock who wanted Garrett’s hat. One man even said to me in shock, “You are stealing from his DAD?!?!” and I reassured him that it was not his dad that was trying to win the hat and introduce him to Garrett’s real dad, who was essentially acting as my body guard. In the end, Elyse and I were successful in redeeming the hats, thanks to Ann for the cash, and earned a spot on the field at the end of the game.

In the picture below, you can tell that Elyse and I look like we fill the role of cleat chasers absolutely perfectly. To outsiders, we may look like we are eyeing the locker room for other potential suitors, but really we’re just the girlfriend and the sister. HA!

After the game in which they lost (the Astros went from being tied for the best record in the league to having a five game losing streak), we watched a fireworks show that was better than Charlotte’s 2009 show. It lasted approximately 21 minutes, which is exactly 9 minutes longer than Charlotte’s.

After two nights of eating out at Applebee’s because that’s the only restaurant in Greeneville, TN that is open past 11pm, I had become accustomed to blocking out Garrett’s 17 complaints about how unhealthy it was because it was getting too repetitive. Luckily, on the third night, we cooked a meal of chicken on the griddle and Garrett and I ate spinach plain out of the bag like it was full of potato chips.

In the end, while it was great to see the Bullock clan and hang with G's awesome friends, I was ready to get back in my normal schedule. Since all the games are at night, Garrett’s schedule features eating out late (past 11pm), going to bed past midnight, and sleeping in past 9am. Compare this to my schedule in which I wake up at 530am, run, work, eat at 630pm, and then sleep at 930pm.

Did I mention that Garrett seems totally happy? It was absolutely awesome to see him completely in his element, making the most of this opportunity.

All Play, All Fun, Little Pay

"Minor leaguers marry love of baseball and little pay."

--Baseball America

Nuff said.

Baseball America has a great article on the miniscule pay minor leaguers receive here.

Garrett Bullock - Houston Astros Spring Training Games

The Houston Astros minor leaguers started their Spring Training games a couple days ago. For all of those who care about Garrett Bullock, he will be pitching in tomorrow's game against the Braves in Kissimmee, closing the 9th. Whoop Whoop.

Also, there is a Charlotteean who plays for the Astros too - Aaron Bray - so cheer for him too!

I frequently check out this blog because it tells me everything I need to know.

You can also filter on his name so that you can always see if they are talking about him.

Houston Astros Spring Training in Kissimmee, FL

This weekend I flew down to Orlando with Garrett's sister Elyse to meet their parents in Orlando, FL. On a mini vacation that revolved around Garrett, rollercoasters, and eating out, I had a fabulous time!

First I'll start with Garrett. He was definitely in his element. It was obvious that he was happy to have broken up the monotony of training alone in the offseason in Greenville NC by coming to Spring Training in Florida, where he could train with 140 other guys at various levels of the minor league system. As a side note, we should all be jealous that he gets to play his sport for his living considering that baseball is the one thing in life that he quite arguably loves as much as his family and girlfriend. ;o)

For those that do not know me, I am still struggling to learn all of the acronyms used in baseball, what all of the statistics mean, how the baseball farm system works, and the list goes on. Although Garrett and his mom have told me most of what I need to know, I will admit that I bought a book called Watching Baseball Smarter, which helped a little. Despite my attempts, I still annoy Garrett and his mom with all of my questions that they have probably already answered twice before.

Getting back on track, on the last day in Florida, Garrett's entourage of his mom Ann, dad Scott, sister Elyse, girlfriend Caitlin, Aunt Robin, and Cousin Meghan all headed to the Astros spring training complex to give us a glimpse of what the system looks like. After seeing George Bush Sr's entourage of Escalades pull into the field ahead of us, Ann knew the gatekeeper who let us into a semi-secret entrance. Since Ann and Scott had already been to the fields a couple of times before, Ann led the way and we sat quietly on some bleachers, so as to not disturb the players.

Unfortunately we did not get to see Garrett practice because his field was off limits to the public. Luckily, a couple days prior, Ann got to see Garrett throw a Live Bullpen (aka Live BP), in which Garrett struck out some guys. On this day, we did get to see other minor leaguers go through various conditioning drills so I got an idea of what Garrett does every day. Everything was very organized and the players on the five different fields all finished up around 1pm. Garrett came striding towards us, which is when I got to take stalker photos of him (see below).

Garrett running away from the Entourage

Notice here Garrett is touching his butt as he goes into the locker room

If you look past the fact that you have to stay in a hotel room for an indeterminate amount of days, weeks, months...and the fact that you have to eat out every single meal of the day, it's really quite a fabulous gig that Garrett has going on. At least he has his parents to take such good care of him when they visit. :o)

Other than watching baseball, Meghan, Elyse, Scott, Robin and I all went to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios to ride lots of roller coasters and other 3D/4D rides on Saturday. My favorite was definitely the Hulk and then the Krustyland 4D ride. The Disasters ride in Universal was closed so that was a bummer. We also got to see the construction of the new Harry Potter park, which was sweet!

Combined with several yummy meals out to eat, I enjoyed spending time with Garrett's family members and running through the beautiful streets of Celebration, FL. Not sure when I'll be seeing Garrett again, but I'm hoping it's definitely before September. HA!

Chicago Marathon 10.10.10

Last Tuesday, practically on impulse, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon! This will mark the first time I will have ever trained for a marathon, run over 16.5 miles, and ran for over two hours in my entire life...and I'm extremely excited!

I chose Chicago for a multitude of reasons including:
1) Bank of America is the official sponsor which means I got a $50 discount.
2) Chicago = Illinois = my homestate = my parents and high school coach can come.
3) Timing - allows me to get my feet wet in a marathon as my first serious effort, and gives me ample time to run another one if need be.
4) It's somewhat flat. Although there are lots of turns, and the weather can be iffy, it's got great crowd support!!

Luckily, there is an Athlete Development Program that both Danielle Walther and I qualify for, in which we get private toilet facilities, separate start/finish tents, and private gear check! It will be pretty cool to toe up to the third largest marathon in America with a fellow Charlotte Running Club teammate alongside me. :o)

Just signing up for the marathon showed me who really cares about me, and I was very appreciative of all the feedback I've received from people over the last week.

First, I was more thankful than EVER to have parents who love running and who have run a handful of marathons in their lifetime. Upon hearing the news, my dad immediately went into planner mode as my official Chicago guru. Since he wants me to have the most comfortable, stressfree experience as possible, he immediately recommended that I stay as close to the start line as possible. Upon hearing the somewhat expensive rates, he did not bat an eye, and said, "Trust me, Caitlin, it will be worth it...." Putting complete faith in his words, I clicked to reserve the Official Headquarters Hotel for the marathon, at the Hilton Chicago...approximately .4 of a mile away from the start!

In an effort to rationale paying two hundred some odd dollars for a room, it will reduce the stress of worrying about logistics of getting to the starting line. Most importantly, the closer I am to the start, the later I get to sleep in! It will also be a mini vacation for my parents and they always deserve to be spoiled. :o)

Next, I am tremendously grateful for Mark Hadley's advice as to which marathons would be good for me and also for allowing me to consult in his coaching expertise for some marathon training plans/ideas. He believes in me and is so enthusiastic in helping me to achieve my running goals.

My high school coach, Gary Holda, has run 50 or more marathons and he also has been instrumental in figuring out what the next steps are. Of course, Garrett Bullock is offering his undying support because he knows that I'm also doing this marathon to keep myself occupied when he's off playing for the Houston Astros on a minor league team somewhere.

Of course, all my CRC buddies have been awesome...Aaron might even train for an ultra, so that he can train with me some in the fall for my long runs. :o) With the shape that Chad is in, he and I might even be able to run the marathon together!

My goal is to go into this marathon and make the most of it as I can, given all of the circumstances at the time. Afterwards, you can definitely be assured that I will be attending a show at Second City, my favorite improv comedy club ever...that I have not been to in over 10 years.

Playing for the Pure Sport, and nothing Else...

Last night during the Men's Mogul Finals, those who watched saw Dale Begg-Smith get second to Alex Bilodeau, giving Canada it's first gold on home soil. While I know little to nothing about mogul skiing, I did experience a huge take-away while watching a little biographical segment on Begg-Smith that NBC had inserted in between the finalists' races. This seemingly free-spirited guy who comes across as a huge jerk to the media, because of his unusually quiet, mysterious demeanor and tendency to plan "flights" in the middle of press conferences, immediately interested me.

Essentially, Dale used to ski for Canada. In between skiing, he happened to found some spyware company, and his Canadian coaches scolded him for spending too much time on the seemingly fledgling business and too little on his sport. Dale, a defiant teenager, decided to quit Canada at the age of 16 and to take advantage of his dual citizenship in Australia to ski for their team. After three years of hard work, he brought his business to be worth millions and also proved to be successful under the Australian training regime. Fast forward nine years and he has won several medals, including the Gold at the Winter Olympics in 2006. This year, according to NBC's blurb, he is the Olympics biggest man of mystery because he refuses to talk to any media really besides Australia media.

NBC asserted that he skis for the pure joy of the sport...not for the money, not for the attention, and not for the groupies who may follow him. Instead, Dale skis for himself (and perhaps also for a higher being, but no one will ever know that considering he doesn't talk to the media). As opposed to many other athletes who really put themselves in the camera's front path in attempts to get sponsors or other endorsement deals, it seems as Dale sees the media as a useless hurdle that keeps throwing itself into his path in an effort to slow him down. Instead, Dale tosses those hurdles aside by merely ignoring them, and focusing purely on the task at hand - competing to his fullest potential utilizing all of the skills, techniques and other tactics that he has acquired and cultivated for over three (or more!) years of dedication, hard work, and determination in preparation for the Olympics.

What I like most about Dale is that he puts himself into a bubble that blocks out all potential deterrents to his path of success. By doing so, his mind is devoid of any outside distractions and he is immersed into a world of quiet calm. What a blissful, mentally powerful way to start a competition.

I bring up Dale because in many ways, you can parallel such a calm confidence to many runners. If someone wins a race, their mom might ask them afterwards: "Did you hear me cheering for you at mile five? I was the only one around...". Undoubtedly, that person did not hear their own mother cheering for them because they had immersed themselves into a different reality, one that focuses solely on the breathing and the rhythmic pit-pat of their feet hitting the pavement.

I also thought of Garrett when NBC was providing an explanation for Dale's mysterious ways. When seeing Garrett's face when he gets onto the mound, it is obvious that his mind is transcending into a world completely quiet, void of the clutter that fills the external world. His mind is focused in such a way that it's almost as though his mind is in a different place than his body, as though in a dream state, where the only reality that matters is the one starring the catcher, the batter, and the pitcher (and maybe some of the players trying to steal bases).

Garrett Bullock's Spring Training

Garrett must report in Kissimmee, Florida on Friday, March 5th for spring training. That is about four and a half weeks away. Since advance planning is really not a part of minor league baseball, I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting to figure out when I'll actually be able to visit him in Florida. Until then, I'll be checking this website frequently:

http://www.springtrainingonline.com/teams/houston-astros.htm

Can't wait to find out where he'll be for the summer....

Lexington, KY? (Class A, Sally League)
Lancaster, CA? (Class A-Advanced, Carolina League)
-------------------------------------------------------
Corpus Christis, TX? (Class AA, Texas League)

Keep ya posted!

Treadmill Funk

Last Sunday, January 31, I ran 16 miles on a treadmill. Bad idea.

There was about two inches of snow on the ground, along with an inch of ice on the streets of Greenville, NC (boyfriend’s hometown). This mixture had melted some the night before, frozen over, and created a hellish of a footing situation for crazy people such as myself, who wanted to run on it for over 16 miles. Unfortunately, there are no parks in Greenville in which I could actually try to avoid the sloppy mess on the roads. After talking with my high school coach who urged me to just run on a treadmill, I grudgingly decided that I would do it.

Not entirely confident that I would actually complete the entire 16 miles I intended on running, I paid fifteen dollars to get into Gold’s Gym and hopped onto the best and worst machine ever invented for runners. Worst part of all, I had no iPod (forgot it in Charlotte) and I had no handheld radio that would allow me to tune into the TV channel (who has those anymore anyways?). Apparently, this Gold’s Gym did not have the most up-to-date treadmills with personal TVs. I was up a creek without a paddle. In the end, I ran 16 miles in 30 minute increments, which meant that I had to stop every 30 minutes and start the treadmill back up. Quite annoying at first, but I soon appreciated how it broke up my run into four increments. After the first 30 minutes at sub 7 pace, I decided that the faster I ran, the sooner I would be off of the treadmill, so I dipped down into the low 6’s and then eased off towards the last increment to 6:50s for a “cool down.” After losing about five pounds from the amount of sweat I produced, I was done. Ready to eat, shower, and lie down and do nothing.

The next day I took off from running because my legs felt entirely different than they typically do after a normal long run on soft surfaces. I decided then that I hated the Life Fitness Treadmill I had used at Gold’s Gym. It became my forever enemy, one that I wished to never face again. At first I thought that I had beaten the treadmill, but, on Monday, the treadmill had won the battle.

Tuesday came around and my legs still felt heavy, as though a million needles had been packed into my muscular fibrous tissues to send piercing pressure to new found knots throughout my quad. Somehow I managed to do a revised workout of 5-4-3-2-1 with half rest instead of the 7x800m track workout I had on tap. There was cold rain and (perhaps as a blessing), the JCSU track had flooded out.

Friday came around, a day in which I was supposed to run 50 minutes at 630 pace. Yet again another cold, rainy day, I had no motivation to do this on my own. Megan was originally supposed to run with me, but she opted for the treadmill, which I politely said no thanks, and scrambled to find my own motivational running partner. I immediately thought of Jordan because I knew that his work schedule was flexible. Jordan and I decided to meet around 130 at the Park Road Shopping Center and to run around Freedom Park and Myers Park.

My dad and I pulled on our cold weather gear, and drove to meet up with Jordan. While Jordan and I ran, my dad ran much slower behind us, but still braved the weather at sixty years old. Do I want to be like him when I’m sixty? Yes, please!

Throughout the entire run with Jordan, we had a nice chat, and I felt more tired than usual. It could have been the six inch puddles we were running through, or the inches of rain that were pouring on our faces and soaking into our clothing, making us five pounds heavier. Regardless, when Jordan told me that we had averaged 6:30 pace, I was much happier. Most of all, it was great to have him around for company. Once I got home, my legs were unusually sore, AGAIN, which I still account to the treadmill run.

All in all, I spent a week of running in cold, wet conditions with a leg that is beat up from Life Fitness (and probably also the 70 miles I’ve been doing for the past two weeks)

Beautifully Painful

The Outer Banks Half Marathon came and went in less than 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 24 seconds. Of course, if you account for the warmup, cooldown, and awards, the time would actually span from 5am to 1030am, for a total of five and a half hours of anxiety, excitement, exhaustion, pain, fulfillment, excitement, and every other emotion few and far between.

In the end, I came away with over a two minute PR and $650 richer in my third half marathon of life. I was also lucky enough to be considered as an "elite" athlete, even though I did not make the qualifying time coming into the half. Forunately, the race director was kind to let several of the Charlotte runners into this category because Megan and Ben submitted all of us as a very large group (thanks, guys!). I know that Bill and I will definitely be back next year to enjoy in the fun again!

The best part of OBX is the beautiful scenery coupled with the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. There are some great places to check out - Garrett and I went to the Wright Brothers Memorial, which was absolutely astounding and inspiring all in one. Except for the moment when Megan's car got hit in the driveway, the weekend was relaxing, enjoyable, and exhilirating.

In a brief race recap, I was alone for the entire race with the exception of the first two miles, when a Russian was running alongside me. This proved to make things a little bit tougher on me mentally, but I still managed to run right on my target pace for the first 8 miles. Once I got to the bridge around mile 9, my pace began to drop, the lowest point reaching a 6:33 mile on the atrocious hill. By the time I got my pace back under control, I only had one more mile and, at that time, I really just wanted the finish line to be migrated to the 12 mile mark because I was spent. The finish was pretty ugly as I could feel my form falling apart in the last 800m.

As I now relfect on my race splits, there are definitely race items to improve upon and focus on for the upcoming training cycle. For 2010 training, I need to run some more tempos as well as hill repeats. It would be ideal to have the Bueana Vista hill from when I was in college moved to Charlotte. If anyone knows of a good 800m hill in Charlotte near Dilworth or Myers Park, please let me know!

Now that OBX is over, it is back to running base miles for the next two months with minimal workouts and continuously easing back up to higher mileage to peak at 75 miles in late January. I'm not sure what's on the plate for next year's spring races, but the main goals are:

1) Foster the growth of the Charlotte Running Club.
2) Have fun.
3) Enjoy the company.
4) Achieve one new PR
5) Win at least $2000 in race earnings for the year.

Should be some good times ahead!

PS So proud of my sister who is getting back into running and training for her first half marathon!

PPS Proud of Molly N for making a tough, but smart decision during the race this past weekend. You can get your goals in the next one!

Born to Run for the Best Time of Your Life

Some say that high school is the best time of your life. Others will assert that college is the best time of your life. I used to go with the latter – college was the best time of my life. Wake Forest was a place where I found my own new family, completed challenging academic courses, and, of course, ran at the NCAA level. In case you hadn’t noticed, the key word here is “was.”

I’ve decided that while college was a great and memorable experience, my Wake Forest memories are just that – a conglomeration of images and conversations captured in a closed chapter in my book called Life. Of course, the friends that I made during this time will continue to be a huge part of my life, but we’ve all closed the Wake Forest chapter and have moved on to create a new life with new careers and new cities we call home.

Since I am a runner, I put more of my life thoughts together on my workout this morning with Bill and Megan. Megan and I were running alongside each other, stride by stride in lane one of the track. In a way, my legs had carried me back to my glorified memories of Wake Forest, of track workouts done with Merry and Michelle. Suddenly, I was also flashbacking to high school, watching myself run my first track workout of life, with Coach Holda yelling in the background. Before I knew it, another memory flashed before my mental eye: I was running my first Grace Race Fun Run with my dad alongside me to cheer me on every step of the way. The last glimpse into my past was of my tiny legs scurrying to keep up with my parents as they ran point-to-point on a cross country course to cheer on my older sister in the Carbondale Invitational.

For the most part, the best times of my life have always been a direct result of the presence of running in my life. I say “for the most part” because there are times when running seems to make life completely miserable, but this is usually when injury prevents running from even happening. Most of my happy memories have to do with running, whether it is how I met five of my closest friends, or that it’s the reason I still fit in my tight skinny jeans, or that it surrounds me with fellow weird and eccentric people. Running extends itself into all aspects of my life in a way that brings light into my every day.

For this, the best time of my life was the moment that running was intially exposed to me. The most promising part is that the best times continue to come. Thanks mom and dad for running marathons when I was baby because it’s been with me since I was in the womb. :o)

Note: I would also like to point out that you could swap out running and insert any of your favorite sports into this blog. Mostly, I think of Garrett Bullock, aka boyfriend, who quite possibly loves baseball more than I love running. He's been throwing baseballs since he was about two and he continues to pitch in the minor leagues for the Houson Astros organization. Anyone who knows him would know that baseball and his family are the two best parts of his life. I feel lucky to continue to learn from him.

Unleash the Wild Things!

On Friday night I decided to bring one of my favorite childhood books to life by going to the movie "Where the Wild Things Are." The main character Max is, to be quite honest, somewhat psychotic and out of control; he is so wild that he makes even the "wild things" seem tame once he gets to their remote island. I walked out of the movie thinking that kid needed some major attention, otherwise he would be a complete wackjob by the time he made it to high school.

Flash forward to the next day when I was exuberant that Garrett was in town for some quality boyfriend/girlfriend time. In the middle of washing the dishes, I would let out wild screams, cat calls, or meows. Random bursts of excitement would echo out through my strange sound effects, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After I did these things that Garrett barely even noticed (this is a common practice for me, so it no longer seems strange to him when I cry out random sayings to nobody in particular), I realized that I was acting a bit like Max. Max loves to run around wildly, flailing his arms, and without notice to his surroundings.

The main reason I bring this up, is that despite the fact that "Where the Wild Things Are" is meant to show that sometimes being a family is hard, a completely opposite meaning resonates with me instead. My take-away from the movie is quite simple: you should let yourself be goofy sometimes.

With this main message resonating through my head, I could not stop thinking about running. Think about it...Aren't most of the runners you know a bit on the quirky side? Most of us have one distinguishing feature when we let our "wild side" come out. Take, for instance, some of the antics of our very own from the Charlotte Running Club. Aaron Linz lets out a tribal scream accompanied with a clap of the hands after almost every repition during workouts, even if he is feeling like absolute crap. This definitely keeps my spirits upbeat if my legs feel like garbage. On the other hand, Jay Holder likes to make a noise with his lips when he is either confused or surprised that sounds much like "bluh-blub-blub-blub." Matt Jaskot wears hand-me-down soccer shorts from his co-worker's eleven year old son...and the list could go on and on...What are your quirky ways???

In many ways, I believe that this wild side needs to be released every so often in order to keep life sane and also exciting. Wandering through the house, I'll break into a dead sprint and stop abruptly before I hit the fridge. This is me letting go of all social conventions, letting my soul out to fly openly and freely, shining in its brilliance. The same thing happens for me while running.

Although I am very biased, runners quite possibly could be the best at letting themselves act freely and without thought. After all, once we get into a running rhythm, our legs and arms flow freely without thought for hours every week as we mechinically go through the movements to create stride after stride. This is the true characteristic that runners eventually possess after running for years, no matter what your pace may be. For this, we should all rejoice in the spirit that we know how to let loose and just live life.

Feel free to share some of your strange antics!!!

Garrett Bullock and the Greeneville Astros

The day I posted my blog, my mom sent me a text that said "I love the idea of your blog Caitlin...but what about Garrett? I want to hear his updates!" It is an ongoing joke between Garrett and I that my mom loves him more than me because he helped her mulch the garden when he came to so ill for a visit. Once I told him about the text, he of course rubbed it in some more. :o)

Mom, this is for you then.

Garrett was notified on Saturday, June 27 that he was to report the next day in Greeneville, Tennessee, for a spot on the Greeneville Astros minor league team nestled in the TN mountains. After weeks of uncertainty and perhaps even doubt, Garrett showcased true mental tenacity as he continued to fine tune his pitching mechanics through bullpens with high school catchers, to run track workouts in the sweltering Carolina heat, and to lift weights that nearly tripled his own body mass. He did all this without even knowing what the fate would be for his baseball career, only assuming for the best: that he would get picked up by a team.

Garrett has always amazed me because he has the mental strength and endurance of that of a distance runner. He truly can use his mind to overcome any physical pain or weakness. The mind usually triumphs the body in his case. Perhaps this is what got Garrett to Greeneville, Tennessee, or maybe it was just in fate's (or God's) hands?

Regardless, he has made four relief appearances and has allowed one unearned run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched. His padres both got to see him throw a perfect inning of relief last Friday night (on July 17) against Johnson City, striking out two of the men he faced. You can read his box score online since I don't know that much about it (even though I bought a book on baseball for stupid girls).

To sum it all up, he is super happy, loving baseball, and excited for what is to come.

Be sure to keep checking out the website!!!

http://greeneville.astros.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t413