Category: Life in Cleveland

Three Little Letters

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M. B. A.

Those three little letters mean the world to me right now. A little over two years ago, I decided I wanted to make sure I would always have the opportunity to advance my career, even in the slump of the economy. I took the GMAT (pretty sure it was the hardest test ever) and applied to one school. Baldwin-Wallace College. Two years later, here I am. I officially completed the program, as of last night, and now have my Masters in Business Administration, my career focus being Marketing.  I’ve learned a lot about myself, how the “real world” works and how to be a better businesswoman. It was a lot of hard work, time and effort, all worth it in the end. Honestly, I’m not even sure what I’m going to do with all the extra time or energy. (Insert marathon training)

Moral of this post…..I’m glad I pushed myself to do this. If it ever crosses your mind to go for higher education, do it. No matter what program, what field, it will help you advance your career and even help you learn more about yourself. The warning: Exhaustion will appear, time will disappear and your social life may have to take a back seat. But worth it, and maybe give BW a look 😉

Classic at Mastick Recap

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Yes, I’m finally getting to this a week late, but I had so many other posts that I just couldn’t fit it in. Exactly one week ago, I ran the 19th Annual Classic at Mastick. Last Tuesday I picked up my race packet from Second Sole. The bags are great, big and have many pockets. I’m also pretty sure I have two water bottles already, but they’re a good size and you can never have enough. No more shirts though 😦

Ralphie believes he’s a runner

Mastick is a great race for the local schools to get their cross teams ready for the season. And the teams keep growing. I had a completely different mind set going in to this race. It was the first time I wasn’t nervous and didn’t have a set time I wanted to meet. The weather was also the best it’s been in a long time, and much better than it usually is for this race. As soon as the gun went off, I let the high school runners get ahead of me, there was no way I was going to finish the same time they did. The first 800 meters is around the park, so there was a ton of uneven grass. Once I got onto the dirt path, I noticed my knee was a little sore but ignored it. My first mile was at a good pace, so I tried to keep the second mile about the same pace. Unfortunately the second mile, like always was a lot slower than expected. If anyone has any tips on how to make this not happen, please let me know.

The last mile I tried to kick it in. I think it was my fastest mile, but it didn’t help much. I ended up with the time of 30:12. It seems like the more races I run, the slower I get. But I have accepted that my times will not be just like they used to be in college. I haven’t been training for 5k’s and doing no sprint workouts. But that is still no excuse, I should have better times.

I took a few too many days off this weekend, so my first run back was on Monday. I was hoping to get a few easy miles in and really focus on training for my half. But I took about 20 steps and my knee started to ache. It got worse as the run went on, and I couldn’t even go a mile. I wanted to fight through it, but I haven’t felt this bad of pain in a long time.

I’ve decided to take a few days off to hopefully let my knee recover, and get rid of some allergies. But I think I’ve run my final Mastick. The cross courses just can’t work for my knees anymore. I’m starting to rethink the Alumni race too. If 800 meters of uneven ground can keep me out a week after a race, I’m a little concerned with a mile and a half of massive hills will do. I really want to wear the buns though….

These next couple of week are crucial. I have two half marathons, the alumi race, and a marathon relay. I’m bound and determined to get my knee in better shape. But my days of running cross country courses are over. There’s nothing better than the smell of cross season, I could smell it at Mastick. Lots of memories, but plenty to look forward to.

Seasons Change

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It is finally the end of wedding season this year. Five out of five weddings complete….and already two on the calendar for next summer. This past weekend we headed out to the country for my cousin’s wedding on one of my uncle’s farms. The weather was beautiful, the ceremony was short and being able to see the whole family was a bonus.

My 14 year old sister…who is as tall as me

As soon as the ceremony was done, we headed back up north to Cleveland to see the Browns take on the Packers….I’ve been waiting for this for months! Football season is here! We barely made it in time, and I was excited to see I wasn’t the only who wasn’t wearing orange or brown. Although I did hear some fans calling me out for carrying around my giant cheese. Overall, it was a great game. I’ve always wanted to see the Packers play in person. Regular season and in Lambeau Field would be ideal, but I’ll take what I can get. It was an exciting game, and even though we lost, I know it will be a great season. Afterall, the Browns beat the Packers last year in preseason and then they ended up winning the Super Bowl…maybe history will repeat.

Are you a Browns fan?

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If you are, then you are like many other Clevelanders who have been waiting all year for football season. To some, it is the best time of the year. And the fact that it lasts through February, makes it even better. And this is the year, right? The Browns will win the Super Bowl?

Well……

I fully support you and your dedication.The most important people in my life are Browns fans.

But….

I am a proud Green Bay Packers fan, and now I lost most of my readers. I have been a Packers fan for as long as I can remember. I am more than excited that they will be in Cleveland tomorrow. So you can bet that I plan on being at that game. I’ll be leaving my cousin’s wedding early (don’t worry they’re already married, it’s their second ceremony) driving three hours back to Cleveland, just in time to see the game. So I apologize if you can no longer read my blog, but hopefully my choice won’t be too upsetting for too long. And don’t worry, I still love Cleveland!

Auto what?

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I wanted to switch things up a bit today and tell you about something that many people have never heard of. While most of my life has been consumed with running, I do have another hobby that I unfortunately pushed to the back burner. On and off in the past seven years, I’ve spent a few summer Sundays on the pavement, not running, but racing my car. When I was 15 my dad introduced me to autocross, and well, that was all it took. I spent the whole year waiting for my drivers license, not just because I was excited to drive, I was excited to race.

By definition autocross is “a timed competition where drivers navigate one at a time through a temporary course marked by traffic cones, rather than racing on a track with multiple other cars” I define it as fun. All I wanted for my 16th birthday was a helmet and my race numbers, so much for being a girly girl.

Clearly over excited

A few days later happened to be the driving school, which my dad highly suggested doing, to make sure I would like this before I started to race. After all I had the helmet, I had to try it out. I also had the optimal car to drive in autocross, a Mazda Miata. I seriously didn’t plan this all out, I didn’t even like my car when I first got it. It’s been a long time since I first got out on the track, but I can guarantee I was nervous. This car was my baby, and these people wanted me to drive around dodging cones, at a semi fast pace? Sign me up for more, I like going fast! My race number was 52ES. E-stock being the category my car fell under and 52, being my lucky number. I had the option of putting “L” at the end, for “ladies” but if you’re going to do this, go all in. I wasn’t the fastest, but I sure had fun, and everyone accepted me. I was also able to beat my dad a few times…around that same time, he stopped going….;)

Determination

Over the years, I started feeling more comfortable and would push my car harder and harder, sometimes causing it to spin out, but that was all part of the fun. It was my summer time sport that I looked forward to every year. But once I went to college, my racing wasn’t in autocross, it was in cross country. My freshman year of college, my car was supposedly seeing its final days. The brakes weren’t reliable and it was just too small to take back and forth to school. I upgraded into a bigger 4 door sedan just like everyone else, a Mazda 3, still an eligible car for autocross. I took that year off though, simply for the fear of anything happening to my new car. I finally had the guts to take it out, but only attended one race, and was extremely cautious. I’m pretty sure 80 year old ladies were driving faster than me. Last summer I was ready to really push it hard. The only reason I had the guts…I was in a ditch 6 months early, and knew if my car could save me then, it could handle a few swift turns on the blacktop.

The joy was short lived 😦 I had to get replacement tires this past winter and I’m just not ready to scuff those up yet. But next year, there’s always next year.

Weekend Update

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After work Friday I headed to Second Sole to pick up my race packet for the Girls with Sole 5k. I wasn’t expecting anything big, just a shirt and probably some info about the race. I was impressed with all that was included. We got a huge recyclable bag, candy, massage oil, coupons to some great restaurants around the area, and the shirt, which was a light cotton and true to its size. Other small things were included, but they weren’t as fun. I also may or may not have picked up a few small things for myself and future races.

Ralphie not included

D and I also decided on more states for my 25 Challenge, mostly places that we know someone so we’d have a free place to stay. I’m looking forward to starting it next year. This year is all about Ohio and the beautiful state I call home 🙂  Saturday was the usual four hour morning class, followed by the new tradition of going to Fat Heads Brewery in North Olmsted. I’m obsessed with their Blueberry Ale, seriously so good. While we were there I kept seeing runners come in, drenched with sweat. Not so appetizing. The bartender told us that they do this each Saturday during the summer. A group of runners start downtown or near Cleveland and run from bar to bar, eating and drinking during their workout. How fun, right? Made me feel guilty that I hadn’t run yet, and was already planning on a nap once I got home.

Saturday night we headed to the Jake to hopefully see the Indians win. Unfortunately they didn’t, but we saw some of D’s friends and as well as made an enemy. You can’t go to an Indians game, claim them as your team, and then bash them the whole night. Needless to say, it was one against many in our section. But it was a good time besides for the heat, and seats right behind Grady are totally worth it.


Sunday was the big day. My first 5k in a year and a half. Woke up tired, and strangely nervous. Headed to Rocky River and was pleased with the current weather, about 65 and sunny. The set up was great. There were probably 10 vendors, real bathrooms, and a DJ. About 5 minutes to race time we listened to the goal behind the organization, followed by a song and national anthem. That’s when the heat came and after 10 minutes, I was already feeling exhausted. The race started and I planned to go out slow, I didn’t have a pace or even knew what time I wanted, I just wanted to do it. First mile 8:35. Not bad. Second mile I slowed so I could try to keep on pace the whole time….that didn’t go as planned. Second mile 18:40. What! I made a habit of not looking at my watch until mile markers so I had no idea I had slowed that much. There were some small inclines and a water stop in mile 2, but I had no idea how bad it was. I tried to be a little quicker for the last mile, but by this time, the humidity wasn’t helping. Finish 29:01. My slowest 5k ever. Ever. All I could think of was how disappointed I was in myself. This is not what I had wanted, I was thinking 27 minutes at the worst. I’ve never felt this let down before, and I knew the hot topic of friends would be “How’d you do?”

I spent the next couple hours laying on the couch, not feeling like I had even ran earlier. I was still upset and knew I should have ran faster. I’ve been running and putting in the mileage. Looking back now, I knew part of it was the humidity. And after finding the results online, I feel a little better. I was 6th out of 25 in my age group, and times overall for everyone seemed to be much slower than most 5ks. I refused to let this race get the best of me, so I ended up doing extra miles on the treadmill that night. Looking into the future, I need to do more speed work, I need to get my times down or else I’m going to feel defeated. A year and a half later I’m still struggling with the mind game college times versus post college times. I’ve accepted the fact that I will never get down to my PR, but I have to keep going. I’m putting it in the past and focusing on my next two races. Winking Lizard and Huntington Duathlon. From here out, I’m getting much more serious.

>13.1 Miles

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>13.1 Miles. Months of training and nerves at their highest, I can’t believe that in a matter of hours, everything I had worked for came together and is now over. This is the experience of my first half marathon.

Sunday started for me at 3:15am. I was so excited/nervous that I couldn’t sleep any longer. Got up to take a shower and there was no hot water in my building. Looking back, I think it was a way to prepare me for the cold I would endure later on that day. The weather was a perfect, for me at least, this was going to be a good day. Melissa and I arrived downtown around 5:30 and met with my Aunt Lori who would be running with me. Just walking from the car to the stadium was unreal. I couldn’t believe that the day had finally come. It was great to see runners in every direction, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that I was doing my first half.

Between figuring out where I needed to be in the starting line, and visiting the restroom half a dozen times, the hour to wait until the official start time seemed like forever. We were all packed like sardines, waiting to get this thing started. It took about 10 minutes to cross the starting line, and I could begin my journey. The first mile or so was crowded and to me didn’t really count. There was no way you could get to your pace, and most of the time was spent dodging people trying to get into some open road.

Around mile two I was finally in my pace, sub 10:00. I didn’t have a goal time, but I was hoping to do a 10 minute pace and just finish. I think for the first time in my life I was ok with going that slow. It would be a long hard run, and after mile 10 I didn’t know what to expect, I’d never run that far. The next couple miles seemed to be going all well. I had a good pace and didn’t need to stop at the first drink station. However, I was trying not to let the amount of miles left get stuck in my head or else I knew it’d be downhill from there.

Between mile 4 and mile 8, I think I had the most activity/changes/whatever you want to call them. We got off of the main roads and started in on some side streets, the change of scenery was good, especially when I looked up right before the 4 mile clock and saw one of my best friends cheering for me. Such a great surprise, considering how early it was, and how iffy the weather had been all morning. I noticed the streets where beginning to show true Cleveland spirit with potholes at almost every step. In the game of trying to avoid other runners and the potholes that were like a hidden mine search on the ground, I noticed that my arch in my left foot wasn’t too happy about what I was doing. I just decided to ignore it and continue on.

Mile 5 drink station was well needed and somehow I lost my aunt. I knew the pace I needed to continue on so I kept going, thinking she was ahead of me. About a mile later she came up from behind and we were able to keep our pace and make it through the halfway point of the half. Quarter of full marathon down, but still had to spend another hour out on the roads.

Closing in on mile 8, my body was slowly starting to resist wheat I was doing. The pain in my arch was getting worse, my knees were starting to question if I could make it the whole way and my sides were taking turns cramping up. I did what I knew I was allowed to do, but wasn’t too proud of, I walked. Luckily a drink station was right around the corner and I was able to full up and get another mile in the books.

Looking back now, I don’t remember much of mile 8-11. I know that I slowed down, I was cramping and I had doubt that I would be able to make it. But I kept telling myself, Pain is temporary, pride lasts forever. I had come this far, I had to make it the whole way. The crowds were amazing, just when you mentally start to break down, they’d be cheering you on. One woman in particular would ride her bike to different spots throughout the race, holding up signs to cheer us one. The one sign that kept me going was along the lines of “millions of people didn’t wake up early when you were on the starting line today” Very true, this is what I love, this is who I am. I run, and I was determined to cross that finish line. Coming back into downtown, my aunt and I separated, but I started to think that after two miles, I would be a half marathoner. Not sure if it was the rain, wind or cold, but I started tearing up just thinking about all I had done to get ready. I was putting my all into this race, I wasn’t going to stop. The last two miles, I’m sure I had a steady 12 minute pace, at least it felt like it. I couldn’t open my stride, and there was no way I was going to have a sprint finish like I was able to do in college. Seeing the blue tower at that last turn was incredible. I don’t remember getting there but I crossed the finished line. 2 hours 15 minutes and 46 seconds later I had become a half marathoner. I was exhausted, sore and freezing. My aunt gave me a huge hug and I told her I wanted to do another one.

The feeling afterward was beyond what I had expected. I knew I’d be sore, I knew I’d be tired, but I don’t think I’ve ever worked that hard for anything in my life. My arch and right knee are shot, along with many muscles in my legs being stretched and sore. But it’s a good pain, an “I gave everything I had and then some to make sure I crossed that finish line” sore. And knowing that I wasn’t in the shape I used to be in two years ago (Goodbye 7min. mile repeats) I think I did great.

So what’s next? I plan on taking this week off completely. As much as I’d love to hit the treadmill, yes, I’ve started to have a change of heart. I need time off to let my body heal. I’m looking forward to getting my road bike out and doing some cycling through the metro parks. I also plan on running another half in the fall, and of course I already have one picked out. After going online, I’m really interested in doing the River Run Half Marathon. It starts in Berea and goes through the metro parks and an almost continual down slope for the 13.1 miles. Sounds like a perfect run to do in the fall. I’m looking forward to doing some 5k’s and some possible 10k’s this summer. But one thing is for sure, I have no desire to run a full marathon….at least not this year.

My first race, at the Cleveland Marathon when I was 4 years old

My first half marathon, also at the Cleveland Marathon

>A Slice of Spring

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>Groundhogs day this year landed in the middle of a blizzard, which left all hope of getting any nice weather around here anytime soon. But, it’s Cleveland, and the weather changes constantly, so I gladly welcomed the warm 50 degree weather we’ve been having this week. Not only did it feel so nice out, but it helped my spirits, and put everyone in a good mood. Unfortunately, I had errands to run, the only nice day I had free from class, so I was forced to run inside after it was dark. Even with that, I was able to get some miles in on the treadmill, yes treadmill. It felt good, and I finally felt like I was getting towards my goal of running the half marathon.

We officially have four Muskie Alums signed up for the Cleveland Marathon. Two are running the full, two are running the half, and my aunt signed up for the half as well. It will be nice to have support, and not have to run alone.

>Snow doesn’t have to slow you down

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>For many people, these past few days have been cold, windy, and covered in snow. The snow storm that had 29 states issue warnings came and went, and now we are stuck with even more snow. Growing up in Ohio, specifically Cleveland area, this is something that you get used to. We get tons of snow, usually half from the lake, and half from storms like the past few days. Unfortunately, we had inches of ice that made walking, driving, and even running a challenge. I chose to stay inside to workout, like always in the winter, but I do have suggestions for those of you who like to run outside in the winter. I strongly believe in YakTrax. Yes, go ahead and look it up if you aren’t familiar with them. They are one of the best inventions for runners. They are rubber bottoms that include coils on bottom to protect you from ice and snow. YakTrax can be used for running, walking, hiking, and are for all ages, both men and women. They come in many colors, but I have the bright yellow/greenish ones, that even glow in the dark! So slight obsession with them, I used them all the time in high school in college. Below I attached a picture of what they look like, they can be found online and many running catalogs. Give them a try!

So back to training. I was in the mood last night to run on the treadmill, a first, right. But someone was using our only one. So I went with the bike, I can’t complain. I got in 6 miles, at a 14.2 mile pace. Not bad, my pace is getting faster, so I’m hoping this will help me start up with the running. I’m working on my training schedule and will share it soon. Only 100 days until the half marathon!

>New Challenges

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>Yesterday I tried something that I honestly never thought I would do. I bundled up in the 20 degree weather, thankfully it was sunny, and headed to the ski resort to battle the “mountains” as they appeared to me. Standing there I thought there was no way I was going to be able to snowboard. I cross country ski, which is great, and safe, so this was going to be a challenge. My boyfriend (Darren) is obsessed with snowboarding, he learned in the Swiss Alps while he lived in Germany for a year. To say the least, these mountains of mine were small bumps for him. Luckily for me, he had patience and spent most of the day teaching me. I fell many times, and so did others all around me, I didn’t feel left out with my lack of experience. After a bad spill and frustrating thoughts, I had decided I was done for the day and wanted to give him time to enjoy being out there. Here I was struggling with the easiest slope, and he doing jumps on the black diamonds.

Today I can feel every muscle in my body, struggling to move fast. Even my fingers are swollen, which I did not know could happen. But I had so much fun.  I was trying something completely out of my comfort level, but also doing something that Darren enjoyed as well. The hardest thing was accepting that I wasn’t going to be great my firs time out. Running comes naturally to me. No matter how long I take off, I can come back and get back in the groove. This was going to take some time to get the hang of, even though I was apparently doing as well as any beginner. It’s harder for me to accept something that I can’t get right away, I’m used to working hard and succeeding, not failing right away.

While I’m supposed to be running and training for this half marathon, I see these opportunities as ways to get my body in shape without hurting too bad. I still have plenty of time, but if I’m able to use fun ways of getting back into shape and maintaining it, I’ll take that. That’s part of the fun when I choose cross training activities. Biking is my absolute number one, but this could get up on the list. I plan on taking a few days to let my body recover and then get back in the workout room. I will be trying snowboarding again, I just need a week to get back on the board.