So, after the Nike Women's Half Marathon I ran in DC, I told myself I'd take a rest afterward. But then someone kept tempting me to sign up for races. And because I was on a PR roll, I thought, hey, why not--let's end the spring race season with a bang. So I ran three races on the three weekends following Nike: the Police Appreciation 10K, Miles for Moffitt 5-Mile, and the Secret Service 5K. I PR'd two out of three, and finally got my 5K (official) PR I'd been hoping for. Interestingly, I placed eighth in my age group for all three races. Police Appreciation 10K - 5/5/13 Official Time: 0:49:46 Official Avg Pace: 8:00 mins/mile Age Group Place: 8/45 The unseasonably cool and breezy weather that morning made for a great race through scenic downtown St. Pete. Even though we learned later that we were led backward through the course as it was designed, which explains why we only saw the back sides of mile markers, we still ran the correct distance.  ...

A couple of weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure of attending the 25th Annual Beepball Classic at George M. Steinbrenner Field  (home of the New York Yankees' spring training). This annual event is a modified baseball game in which staff and client's from the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind play against "All Stars" from the local media. To level the playing field, so to speak, the All Stars team members are all blindfolded while on the field so they do not have the advantage of sight, as the Lighthouse players are all blind or sight-impaired. Instead of relying on vision, players must rely on hearing; the ball used in the game beeps, as do the only two bases on the field--at first and third (if a player reaches one of the bases, the play is considered a home run and a point is scored). Depending on which direction the ball goes on the field, a person sitting behind home plate will switch on the base that is in the opposite direction, so the player doesn't trip ...

I signed up for this race months ago with my friend Kristin and her family and friends from PA/DE. The Nike Women's Marathon series (which they seem to have renamed Run Nike Women Series) recently added a couple of half marathons to the series, and this was the inaugural half marathon in Washington, DC. Registration was only open to those who were chosen from a drawing for eligibility. We entered as a group, and as luck would have it, our group got in! It was an exciting moment to receive the email notification--but a less exciting moment when I realized that my credit card would then be charged the exorbitant $160+ registration fee, but this was largely because of the  Tiffany & Co.  necklace awarded to finishers in place of a typical race medal. But it still meant a trip to DC, and because I didn't get to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC last fall, I was looking forward to the redemption race. I have mixed feelings about the overall event. The race itself was wonde...