Okay, first of all, for those of you who have been giving me crap about not knowing my hydration biology being that I have a biology degree, I’ll remind you that I avoided anything having to do with anything bigger than cells – including tissues and organs. I’m not exactly a well-rounded scientist. And I’m okay with that. So pphhhbbt.

And for those of you complaining that I haven’t been updating – I’m taking a cue from Hollywood writers. I’m on strike. Please donate at http://www.active.com/donate/tntnofl/JenHavens to end the strike. *sweet smile*

All right, enough foolishness. Time for an update!

Let’s see.. right after my last update, I went up north to NJ for my best friend’s wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid. I took my mom shopping, and made a stop at a cute little Philadelphia running store, where I picked up a different brand of gel to try along with a fuel belt (http://www.fuelbelt.com/fuel_belts/images/mediums/helium4red-big.jpg). You have to be pretty cool to pull off this sucker. I’m not sure I’m quite there yet.  I went on a 10-mile run in NJ with Dave, from my parents house, out to Cooper River, around a segment of Cooper River (right by my high school), and back. I definitely had a feeling of “this seems so much farther away in the car!”, which is really bizarre. You’d think it would be the other way around. I ended up semi-getting lost. Or rather, I decided to follow a route that I found online, which uses a nonexistent river crossing (unless the person who made it was training for a triathlon, that is..). By that point, Dave was already FAR ahead of me, and I was worried that he’d just keep running to Timbucktu and not realize that we had already reached the turn around point. I spent some time running back and forth along the river path asking people if they’d seen anyone in bright orange running along the path. No one had, so that meant he was either REALLY far out, or he’d turned off somewhere and was either on his way home – or really lost. So I turned around and headed back the way I came. I stopped at an Audi dealership and borrowed their phone to call my house. I knew if he had done 10 miles, dave should be back at the house by then. My mom answered – and Dave wasn’t back yet – I muttered some obscenities and was practicing my damsel-in-distress face, hoping that one of the nice audi salesmen would drive me up the road a ways to see if we saw him. But just then, my mom saw Dave rounding the corner toward the house. SWEET. So I hung up and ran back to the house. Well, I had Dave pick me up in the rental car about a mile out, since I knew I had tacked on at least an extra mile with all of the back and forth. I think I ended up doing about 11 miles. I tried the new brand of gels.. I bought it because it had real fruit, so I figured it might not be revolting.. Except that when I ripped it open and started squeezing it into my mouth, the one thing I was NOT expecting… was chunky. Chunky when you are not expecting chunky is NOT OKAY. Let’s just say that didn’t go over (or down) very well. Right after the run I scarfed down a sandwich and high-tailed it to my nail appointment (bridesmaidly duties, you see..), and I must say that a pedicure after a long run is simply divine! I’d never had a pedicure before, and I doubt I would enjoy it under normal circumstances. But after 10 miles – superb!

The next week, back in Jax, we did a half-marathon. It wasn’t an official race, but we did follow the course for a race that is run here every thanksgiving. The course was great, but it had a ton of turns. Knowing my unending ability to get lost, I printed out a little map for myself and tucked it inside my belt (which, by the way, is AWESOME). I didn’t get lost. Nopesir. A couple members of the group got a bit turned around but made it  back safely. It was at this point that I decided to start printing up little maps for the whole group, which I’ve done every week since. My 13.1 mile run was a bit disappointing, but there were other factors involved, like helping my teammates along the way … oh and I fell – so graceful..  that slowed me down a bit, but they’re all a part of the experience.

Oct 28 was Jacksonville’s Evergreen Pumpkin Run. It’s an organized race through a cemetery, with the paths completely lined with pumpkins! This is my favorite race of the year. It’s not really much of a “race” for me, but the course is beautiful – the oak trees in that cemetery are dripping with Spanish moss, and it’s just fabulous. The weather was perfect, too. (Perfect for running.. still too hot considering it was almost Halloween. But we all know I hate Florida for this very reason!) Oh, and I discovered Sport Beans.. They are Jelly Belly jelly beans that contain all of the carbs and goodness that endurance gels have, but with none of the vomit inducing. They actually taste quite good! Of course, it’s much more difficult to chew while running… which naturally means I have an excuse for a walk break. :D So me and my sport beans finished the 10-mile race, and then ran back into the course to pick up another 4 miles (since we were up to 14 miles on the schedule). Sadly, we weren’t the only ones out there doing extra mileage. This frightens me. What’s wrong with people?! I’m doing this for charity.. You people are just doing it for giggles. Go back to bed!!

The next weekend I was a bad girl. But it’s my mom’s fault. Hee hee. My mom came to visit so that we could go dress shopping for her mother-of-the-bride dress. It ended up being a whole big fiasco because she fell in love with a dress that ended up being discontinued, but it worked out in the end. With all of that going on, I actually skipped the Saturday group run. Bad Jen.

After that it was an “easy” week, dropping back to 13 miles on Saturday. We ran on a  paved trail – no turns to get lost on! I actually thought about printing up turn-by-turn directions just to be silly, but I was too lazy when it came down to it. I had a really great run, though. Annee, our mission team leader, ran all but the first mile or so with me. I ran SEVEN MILES without stopping, stopped at the water cooler, and then went on about another 3.5 miles without stopping. That’s HUGE for me. The last 2.5 miles were AWFUL. I just absolutely ran out of gas, and I hurt from the waist down. Still, my time when I finished was over 30 minutes faster than what it took me to complete the Disney Half last year, so how can I be upset about that?? I also didn’t have any jelly beans with me that day, so I wonder if that didn’t make a big difference.. lesson learned, I guess.

This weekend it was back up to 14 miles. Each Saturday, we pick an honored patient, and we all run in honor of that person, usually with ribbons with the person’s name pinned to our shirts. This weekend was my grandfather’s turn, so I got to talk a little bit about my grandfather before the start of the run, and it was really nice to have the whole team running in honor of my grandfather. It’s hard being so far away from him right now, and this was just a tiny way of feeling connected. My run wasn’t spectacular, but I finished, and that’s all that really matters.

To be completely and totally honest, the thought of 26.2 miles still scares the living bejeezus out of me. I am still not an athlete, and I never will be. But I’m just going to have to take it one step at a time until I finish. That’s all I can do. Because, as my grandfather has always said, failure is not an option!