1/12/12

Our first spotlight is on our “far away runners,” Sherri D (middle below) is from Indy, Vanessa B (below right) is from San Diego and Kelly (below left) is from Indy and is trying to clear up time for the race.

The one thing I would ask is why would Vanessa come from gorgeous California in May to Connecticut?  I can say it now Vanessa, ‘cuz you’re registered and committed!!  Here is what Sherri writes about the running trio:

You asked about how we met and became friends and started running, etc. and it got me thinking about just how mobile our friendship has been and how many states we’ve traveled.

I met Vanessa in Indy (before her move to San Diego) about 3 years ago when we were taking the same Ashtanga yoga class in Indianapolis. We talked occassionally  but had never connected to do anything outside of yoga. THEN, a David Swenson yoga workshop was offered in Michigan, about 4 hours from Indy.  Three of us – an unnamed Finish woman, the Brit Vanessa, and Midwest Sherri all loaded up in a car and went north. This was my first real introduction to Vanessa and her to me.  What did we learn? She learned that I was a good caregiver after she ended up in the Emergency Room on day 2 of the yoga seminar with a lower back injury. I learned that she tended to ramble on about odd but very amusing things when she was high on the pain killers they gave her for her back. She still doesn’t know that I used my phone video-cam to record some of her dazed ramblings!

 I learned that she has a ravenous appetite for food and if you invite her to Thanksgiving dinner (any meal, actually) you sure as heck better have a spare cooked turkey lying around with her name on it. She learned that I was not the Zen yogini I appeared to be in yoga class after hearing me lapse into talk that would make a sailor blush. She learned that I was in my 40s. I learned that she lies shamelessly and consistently about her age and has claimed to be 32 years old for the past 3 years I’ve known her. We learned we were both dog lovers. She learned I have a husband. I learned that she was open to acquiring one herself (although she refuses to take mine off my hands!).    NO running for us at this point, just yoga and getting to know each other.

So, 3 years ago I was just starting to run, having wanted to be a runner for years but also very well aware of the fact that unless a ferocious animal was chasing me, I wasn’t going to be moving that fast.  Running was part of a fitness program I signed up for, and before you knew it, I was actually enjoying the runs, especially trail runs.  About a year later, Vanessa completed the same fitness program and started running.  

 
Vanessa and I  (and Kelly from IN by way of New Jersey) then took to doing all things fitness-related together...runs, workouts, CrossFit, and so on. We all got a kick out of how different we are in every way but how much we all connect with each other.  What’s different between us? About everything - running styles, speed, preference of race lengths, race prep, hotel sleeping habits (they DON’T sleep and I need 10 hours) and attitudes when it came to races. For example, Vanessa breezes in to the starting line without a care about when the gun goes off, I fall in the range of “arrive at least 30 minutes early if possible”, and Kelly is at ease ONLY when we arrive 2 hours in advance. This leads to some interesting race morning dynamics.  Vanessa talks to no one unless forced during the run, Kelly and I will talk to the Gatorade container at the aid station if it will listen. Very different people, we are.

At first, our running events together were all Indy based. THEN, Vanessa moved to San Diego, CA about a year and a half ago.  (Travesty – the trio was broken!  NOT SO....her employer was still based in Indy and she travels back often.) Vanessa packed her car up, put her 2 dogs in the back seat, put me in the front seat riding shotgun, and we drove through several states to her new life in sunny California (where, upon her arrival, they experienced the worst weather on record with a tons of rainfall and flooding...no correlation, I’m sure).

SO, with Vanessa in CA it got me thinking.  What a  great opportunity to go out there and run a San Diego half marathon with her, AND while we were at it, why not run a half marathon in every state?! After all, that’s only 50!  I threw the idea out to the trio and there was consensus after some deliberation about my sanity – we would run a half marathon in every state.  In 2011, we got moving on this plan! Out to San Diego Kelly and I went, where we ran with Vanessa in her new town, and we all marked California off our list.  Then, Vanessa and I realized that we both had a weekend free so why not fly out to my sister’s place near DC and do a half marathon there. So, we did.   And how could we ignore Ohio? We couldn’t with it being so close to Indiana, so the next time Vanessa was in Indy on business the three of us hoofed it over to  Ohio (to a small town that is famous for being wiped out by multiple tornados over the years, thus part of the attraction) and ran a half there.  THIS is when we learned that Vanessa REALLY did have asthma issues. And while she should have stopped at mile 4 when she could still breathe, she toughed it out for 13.1 and then about keeled over at the finish line -- BUT not before grabbing hold  of her finisher’s medal and waving it triumphantly over her head and then and only then, falling in a heap  One thing to know about Vanessa – she reveres her finisher medals. She puts them all on a little shrine she had made. Some might say she worships those medals in an unhealthy way. I throw medals out, give them away, find them years later in the corner of a closet, etc.  She says I am irreverent and blasphemous in my treatment of finisher medals and will probably go to hell for it. Race Note: Vanessa will be very happy with the RRR medal.

Then the 3 of us heard about an 8 hour trail Ultra in Illinois and figured that counted as a half marathon for sure – maybe 2 or 3 – so we gathered there and ran.  Oh, and there was the half marathon in Bowling Green, KY that Vanessa and I competed in and it was comprised entirely of hills, entirely. Over Thanksgiving, my husband and I went to our condo on the Alabama gulf shore and lo-and-behold, it just “happened” to be the same time when a half marathon was being held down there. Yep, Vanessa flew in for it, then we celebrated Thanksgiving together – she with her own turkey per ravenous appetite comment made earlier. My husband left to go back home, Vanessa grabbed a flight to Miami to run a half marathon down there, and I sat bored at the condo until I realized there was a half marathon in Mississippi  that I could drive over to and that would let me mark MS off my list of states!  Done!

What does 2012 hold for us?  A lot of race related expenses, much to our chagrin.  Vanessa and I are signed up to run your race – which we are so excited about – as well as a half marathon in Minnesota and in Michigan. Before your Redding race, I will be solo-visiting another sister on the east coast and am signed up to the Allentown, PA half marathon.  Vanessa is doing a half in Hawaii alone this spring. And our trio is trying to work out the details right now of meeting in Memphis, TN in March for a half marathon there - and we will stay with my parents, which will give Vanessa and Kelly a whole new insight into why I am the way I am.   OH – and Vanessa is traveling Helsinki, Finland this year to run a half marathon there. If I hit the lottery, Kelly and I will be going, too!

Vanessa - as I type - is visiting her sister in England - and training for a MARATHON to be held in late January.  I too am signed up for a marathon run this year not far from Indy, and my training on rural Indiana roads is far less perilous than hers; Kelly will be my running pal for that event.  Who knows? Our preference for half marathons may be expanding into longer distances!

I think as we do more half marathons each of us are finding we really like smaller events that are rather random selections for us. We get on the Internet, find an event in a picturesque area, such as your Redding race, or an event that has an interesting website (like the Martian Half Marathon in Michigan where everything is alien related), and we talk about how we can work schedules out to go. If our schedules coincide, we go. If they don’t, maybe only one or two of us go.  Other people tend to look to register for runs at more prominent and famous race destinations, like Disney. We tend to look for the non-glitzy, low-key, cause-related, smaller road or trail races with personality - they are simply more “us”.

Regarding your race, I found it on the Internet as I scoped out the next state on our “hit list” and instantly fell in love with the scenery we will be running by. I also grew up in New Jersey (in the really pretty part -seriously) and your photos looked so much like where we lived. Also, the title of “Running for the Cows” is quite interesting and will make for an interesting race shirt logo/tagline. AND, since I was going to be running in PA the weekend before, then spending the midweek with my sister in NJ, it just made sense to sign up and drive up a few hours to CT. Vanessa  - in her very deliberate way - pondered your  event carefully - for about 4 minutes - before verbally committing to me and registering on-line with you.  Oddly enough, when I mentioned your run to one of my sisters, she laughed and shared that her Duke college roommate lived in West Redding....small world.  And my sister also confirmed it is a gorgeous area and that there ARE indeed some challenging inclines. Can’t wait !!

The best part about running with Vanessa (and Kelly who we are really working on to come with us to CT!!!) is that we don’t compete against each other; we are all comfy with our own skin and our own abilities. We are all there for the fitness benefits and for the freedom of being able to do these insane events in new locations simply because “we can”...and for the fact that we are able to spend time together, often in laughter.  And it’s fun to see each of us progress in different ways, and to help build each other up when one of us falters.  We are all very low-maintenance people so there’s no drama in our friendship and for that I am grateful beyond belief.

We run together and travel to distant races together because every time we do, we learn more about each other. And every time we learn more about each other it just cements the friendship that much more.

Whew — more than you wanted to know, right???!!!  NOW, did I even answer any of your questions??  HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. 

Sherri, Vanessa and Kelly (hopefully) – we’re are very honored to have you at our race!!