The shirt needs to be sent!

Beka who's racing in Nebraska on the 9th:

Can you please email me the address you want the shirt sent to so I can get it to you in time for your race? My email address is in the comments section of your last "m" day post.

Thanks and happy running :)

The Shirt races Clemson, SC

The women's A Shirt That Races hit the 1st annual Easter Bunny Run 5K & Half Marathon in Clemson, South Carolina on Saturday, 11 April 09. I was a sprinter and jumper in high school, but haven't run regularly - or at all - in about 10 years (while in college at Clemson). I just recently started running again, and my friend Beth convinced me to run this race for my first ever 5K.

The weather was a little chilly, but nice and sunny, unlike the horrible storm that we'd had the night before. The non-closed-course race was primarily on the sidewalks or bike paths, but there was little to no traffic so that was ok. We did have to run through the muck to get to the finish line on the intramural field, though!

I ran with my 15 month old daughter, Mattie, and my friends Beth (who wore the shirt last weekend in DC) and Lauren (who will wear the shirt later on in Maryland). Lauren's husband Marc ran the 5K while pushing their daughter, Sophia, and still won his age group!

Me, Mattie, Beth, Lauren, and Sophia

We started out next to the intramural fields and headed to Perimeter Road. Clemson's located in the foothills of SC, so the campus is pretty hilly. I pushed Mattie for a little over the first mile (one small uphill and two larger ones), and then Lauren took over for me (THANK YOU!!!). I continued running for a while longer, and then I had to start the walk-really-really-fast-then-run thing for the next mile over several more hills. I did run more than I walked, though :)

Cherry Road is almost ALL uphill - there are two short slightly level stretches. The water stop was a little past the 2 mile mark, and I caught back up with Lauren and Beth (who'd taken over the stroller - thanks again!) shortly after that. From that point on, it was all running. Of course, the fact that it was mostly level or down hill from there made it a little bit easier! I took back over pushing the stroller around the 4K mark - I couldn't let Mattie finish with a better time than me :)

Even with pushing Mattie approximately half of the race and doing the walk/run thing, my official time was 37:00, which was an 11:55 pace. That's a LOT better than I thought I'd do given the circumstances! Beth's already talked me into doing another 5K and a 4 mile mud run in May - I'd forgotten how much I love to run!

Almost there!

Whoo hoo! We did it!

My "official" shirt with race bib pic (please ignore the "body by baby")

Running in Washington, D.C.

A Shirt that Races hit Washington, D.C. this past Sunday (April 5). I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. See how pretty they were?? We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather.


It was a very early morning! We had to be out of the house and headed for the Metro by 5:45..


Here I am in the shirt....It was too chilly to take my jacket off for the picture...sorry!


I ran the race with a few friends.... Lauren (who will be wearing the shirt at some point) and Michelle.


And at the end of the race, this beautiful face greeted me and said the phrase her Daddy taught her...."Mommy won the race!" (I was far from winning but finishing to me is winning!)


So now for the actual race report..... To give you a little background on me.... I started running just this past July and this was my first big race (as in over 5 miles). I am a relatively slow runner...11-12 minute mile...but I get there!

We started off very well....a good steady pace. The race started on the grounds of the Washington Monument and headed out over Memorial Bridge and back (2 miles down!). We then passed the Watergate Hotel and Kennedy Center...and came back (4 miles down!). Then at mile 5 we passed back by the Washington Monument and headed out to Hains Point for the next 4 miles. Once we were coming off Hains Point (which by the way was very quiet...but a beautiful place to see all the cherry blossoms in full bloom) it was just one more mile to the finish!

There were water stops every 2 miles so we walked through them and ran the rest of the time...until somewhere between mile 8 and 9 I think I walked for a minute or two....then once we passed mile 9, and the last water stop, Lauren wouldn't let me stop to walk anymore! When we rounded the corner and saw the finish line I was very excited! Lauren took off in a sprint so I followed.

The official time in the results was 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 9 seconds....which was under 2 hours...our unofficial goal!

The Shirt will be racing in South Carolina this coming weekend....by a person yet to be determined :-)

The Shirt Races in NC!!!

It was a beautiful morning in Charlotte; almost spring like. The temps where in the high 50's and I was ready to run my first race of the season. The Corporate Cup 5k; March 7th 2009.

I had had a long training week; lots of swimming, biking and running; so I was not going into the race completely rested. Per my coach's instructions I was to work on the mental aspects of my running; find some hurdle I wanted to conquer and go at it with all my might. For me that day it was finding the hurt while going fast and toughing it out until the end. I had secretly hoped for a PR as well; but since I was going on no rest I could not be certain I'd get it. The event was sponsored by my company so I had to run with the corporate T-shirt on top of the Shirt that Races; but that didn't deter me from wearing it!

I got to the race site; did my warm up, posed for the company picture and much sooner than expected the gun went off. I seeded myself close to the start line; since I knew I wanted to race the 5k; not just run it.

The first mile was slightly uphill and it got me breathing hard right away; I was putting an effort, but nothing I could not handle for 3 miles. I focused on my leg turnover and keeping certain people within sight and making sure they were not getting away. I saw the first mile marker and when I glanced at my watch I could not believe my split. It was the fastest mile I had ever ran!!

The second mile was better, my lungs were used to the effort, my legs were responding nicely and the course turned slightly downhill... Always a plus, right?? I was now gaining ground on the people I had kept in sight during the first mile and I eventually passed them. Mile marker 2 came along and I realized I had beaten my own fastest mile from before; and that if I could keep the pace up I could PR.

Mile 3 was the hardest one; since the course starts climbing for a good .5 mile. My lungs were burning, my stomach was churning and my brain was trying to convince me that I should slow down. I kept repeating to myself: You can do this, you can do this; only a couple more minutes, you can run for a couple more minutes. And it worked! Once I was up that last hill and with only .2 to go, I was able to pick it up even more and get myself to the finish line on a high note.

I even managed to PR by 20 seconds! What is best of all is that I felt great, not just because I had gotten a PR; but because I wanted to overcome the nagging voices in my head that want me to slow down when it starts hurting; and I did that too.

It is nice to know that with hard work and determination; you truly can achieve what you set your mind to. It makes you want more, don't you agree?

A Shirt That Races does two in one weekend.

This was a doubleheader weekend. Yesterday was the Ostrich Festival 5k and today was a 3.8 miler at a movie studio. Old Tucson Studios is know for being a filming site for many a John Wayne movie, as well as, many other westerns.

Here's just a few movies made there.
1940: Arizona
1945: The Bells of St. Mary's
1957: 3:10 to Yuma
1957: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1958: The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold
1959: Rio Bravo
1965: The Great Sioux Massacre
1966: El Dorado
1967: Hombre
1970: Rio Lobo
1972: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
1974: The Trial of Billy Jack
1976: The Outlaw Josey Wales
1981: The Cannonball Run
1986: ¡Three Amigos!
1990: Young Guns II
1993: Geronimo: An American Legend
1993: Nemesis
1993: Tombstone
1994: Lightning Jack
1995: Hard Bounty
1995: The Quick and the Dead
2005: Seven Mummies
2007: Legend of Pearl Hart

It was almost a 2 hour drive for me. My kids and wife passed at the chance to get up at 4 am. The question was, would I be dead by the time I got to Tucson?

I ran again in "A Shirt That Races".

Look familiar? This is one of the sets that we ran past. My legs felt great and I was ready to run, but not as fast as yesterday. One, it's my first trail race with a lot of single track. Two, I brought my camera. The race director, who was pretty funny told us it was around 3.9 miles, unless you get lost. This race had lots of turns, as you can see on the map. One loop around the studio streets, then out into the desert, past the start line with a final loop around town. He warned us about rattlesnakes. He said, "the first runner scares the snake, the snake scares the second runner and the third runner gets bit. So make sure you're the fourth runner." Or something to that effect.

I was running and taking pictures and ran mile splits of around 11 minutes each for the first three. The final .8 was in town and I had already taken pictures there, so I ran my fastest. a 9:48 mile split. I finished in 41:27 and was happy with that.

This was put on by the Southern Arizona Roadrunners (which I am now a member) and they had a great awards ceremony. Lots of door prizes for adults and kids, AG awards and the Old Tucson Sheriff added some levity. We had a trail breakfast (scrambled egg burritos).

Here we are running the streets and below is Horse Poop Alley. Yeah, it's where they dump the waste and we got to run right thru it.

Old Tucson Studios is in the Saguaro National Forest. SA-war-o. And it is a forest, as you can see. The drive is majestic.

Now, it's time to send "A Shirt That Races" to another state. Our goal is to have a different runner in all 50 states and Canada run in this shirt. I'll write on the shirt about the two AZ races, wash it (promise) and then mail it to . . . you?

If you want to participate, let Nikemom know when and she'll put you on the calendar.

Race One for "A Men's Shirt That Races"

Today was the debut of the men's version of "A Shirt That Races". I set my alarm for 6 am and woke up at 6:30 wondering why the alarm didn't go off. I was ok, since this year's Ostrich Festival 5k was being run on the parade route in downtown Chandler for the first time. Just a few minutes from home. I got to packet picket up an hour before race time. Picked up my race tee, which is just the festival tee. But, still good looking and went back to my car to stay warm.

There I am in "A Shirt That Races" with bib #149. It's a small race with less than 200 runners. About 50 degrees and sunny. There was a delay of almost 1/2 hour because the barricade guys slept in.

Runners started warming up. This guy wasn't going 15 mph, but I thought it was a funny picture anyway. I started out fast. My plan was to stay around a 9:09 mile.* Three of those plus a fast sprint at the end will give me a PR of around 28:10. My first mile was in 8:45. I thought I was moving pretty good, but there were still plenty of people gliding past me. This course is made for PRs. It's flat and straight. It all takes place on Arizona Avenue with just two turn arounds. Mile two was done in 9:36. I did walk for a drink and to down half a candy bar (much more enjoyable than a GU).

Mile three was the most fun. In the finish line picture below you'll see a little kid sitting on the curb. He ran the race. Maybe 10 years old. He cruises past me, looks up, smiles and says hi. I catch up to him, thinking that he's running a 1 mile fun run and it happens to be on the same course. So, I ask. Nope, he's running the whole 5k and it doesn't look like it's fazing him one bit.

Yeah, that little kid on the left. Maybe, he's 7 or 8. So we get to the 2.6 mile turn around and theirs a cop directing traffic. I tell the kid to give the cop a high five and he does. As he does I take the turn and say, "see ya kid, I'm in front". As the kid sprints past me, he says, "Oh no, your not".

We spend the last bit of the race running side by side and I give him some race advice about conserving energy and saving it for the sprint to win at the end. We match stride for stride and then I tell him at the light I'm going to start my sprint. 100 yards to go and we both kick it up a notch. I did mile three in 9:51, but now the kid and I are under a 7 minute pace. I had some gas in the tank, he was running on fumes. I could have taken the kid, honest. Of course, he probably told his dad he didn't want to beat the old man too bad, so he coasted. But, I like my story better. We both finished around 28:52. The kid won by a nose.

I stop my garmin, give the kid a fist bump and realize that I missed my PR by 3 seconds. Three Seconds! That's ok. I enjoyed racing with the kid, much more than any PR. There's always tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow. I hope I have the horsepower for race #2 this weekend. Yeah, I'm taking "A Shirt That Races" down to Tucson for a special race.

*9:09 pace per mile would give me a 2 hour HM or a 4 hour marathon. That's why my blog is named after my goal pace. I'm a long way from my goal.

The Shirt, The Shirt, The Man's Shirt is Here!