Trolley Run 2011

Today I ran the Trolley Run as a training run for Ragnar. It's the largest 4 mile run in the country with over 9000 runners registered. I was a little apprehensive last night as I read my race rules and saw no ipods allowed. Bummer. Bob got me a new ipod for my birthday and my Ragnar teammate, Erin, put together an awesome running playlist. My problem was, I had never ever run without an ipod and the thought of doing so really had me a little stressed out. I need the beat to pace myself. I need the distraction of music to keep me going. So, what's a girl to do? I did what I always do, I searched the internet about ipod free running and guess what, people do it all the time. Not only is it a safety issue, they encourage it so that you can enjoy the full race experience. Since I've only run one other race I decided to throw myself into this one and see what I could do (but I did pack my ipod in the pocket of my running tights just in case :).

I was fortunate enough to have Bob drop my neighbor and I off at the starting area and then he went on to the Plaza to wait for us at the finish line. There were people everywhere and it really was a fun atmosphere. Melanie ran into one of the mom's of her piano students and in the smallest of small world moments I ran into my "pseudo-sister" Katie at the start. She truly is like a sister to me and I had the wonderful opportunity of caring for her sweet baby boy nearly 3 years ago. Since that time we have become such good friends and there are days I just need my "Katie" time. Running without an ipod, no problem, I had Katie, Melanie and Melanie's friend, Helen, along for support. The 4 of us started out together and had a really great pace. The course was wonderful and mostly downhill so it was an easy run. I loved seeing the people along the way cheering us on. There were cowbells and music and signs and more!!! Definitely a party atmosphere and I enjoyed every minute of it. As we crossed the finish line I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment in completing this run in record time for me. When the results were posted a few hours later I couldn't have been happier...I finished the race in 41 minutes and 5 seconds. That's a 10:17 mile!!!! Amazing!!! However, that's not the best part, Bob noticed on the results board that I scored in the top third of women in my age group and the top half of all runners overall!!!

Thanks to all the people along the route, the 3 amazing women running beside me and my really great, super supportive husband who got up early on a Sunday morning to cheer me on I have now accomplished yet another goal. It doesn't get much better than this!