Oh, Right, I Ran A Race

I keep starting and deleting this post.  As excited as I was about my kids' race, I was less than thrilled about my race, and now that it's behind me I kind of just want to move on.

Other than crippling shin pain and some adorable karaoke singers, there was nothing remarkable about this race.  But. I did promise a report, and really, what else are you doing right now?  You have five minutes to spare, right?  Right.  So, here we go....

After my kids finished their race and we hugged and high-fived and found a donut for my daughter, I said my goodbyes and headed to line up for the 5K.  This 5K was billed as being for runners and walkers, so when I lined up in the back of the pack, I assumed I'd be with all the slower runners and the handful of walkers.

Ever heard that saying about assuming?  Yup.  I'm an ass.

"Ready! Set! Go!"  . . . and we're off.  Down the school drive, turn left, turn right, and we're running down the only real hill in the neighborhood.  (Thank you to the race directors who realized that going DOWN this hill was preferable to running UP it)  While I'm running at what seems like a relatively fast pace (but can't be, after all, I'm with all the back of the packers, right?), I'm hearing this guy giving non-stop instruction to his young son.

How to hold his head, how to place his feet, how to run tangents, how to breathe.  It was rather excruciating for me to listen to, I can't imagine how it was for his son.  After a few minutes, I realized my shins were hurting.  Why are my shins hurting?  *glance at my watch*  Ooooh...  10:xx pace.  THAT's why my shins are hurting.  That's my "I feel great!" 5K PR pace. I was supposed to be running this thing at 12:xx.   Back of the pack pace, people.  What the heck?

So I slowed down considerably, but still hit the 1st mile  marker at 11:3x.   Whoopsie.  The rest of the race was a fairly agonizing run/walk, with my shins hating me, me wishing I was not in my own neighborhood having a rather crappy race, all the while smiling and waving to neighbors that were sitting outside of their house cheering us on.

I knew going into this race that it would not be anywhere CLOSE to a PR, but I was kind of hoping that I could at least run it feeling ok.  It wasn't to be.  Fortunately, even going slowly, 5Ks are super short and over fairly quickly.   As I neared about the 2.5 mile mark, I came upon a pair of girls with a karaoke machine, with the soundtrack from Frozen blaring.

I love Frozen.  (Yes, I'm 35 and I like kids' movies.  I'm ok with that.)  Hearing the music (I swear to you, I'm going senile, because even though it was YESTERDAY, I cannot remember what song was playing), I started to feel better about the day - though my shins still really freaking hurt.  Plus, the girls were really cute (though the one holding the microphone wasn't singing at all, just kind of staring off into space).

Rounded yet another corner, walked some more, then started running when I hit the school again and headed towards the finish line.

Anyone else turn magenta when they run?

Since I wasn't really paying attention to my pace after my disastrous first mile, I was surprised to see 37:xx on the clock as I finished.  My PR time is 35-something, so considering the huge amount of walking I'd done, I was expecting to be a lot slower.

Results haven't been posted yet (and I probably won't bother to search for them anyway), but my Garmin said 3.08 in 37:36.  12:13/mile.   Not my worst, not my best - I'm just happy my shins stopped hurting after awhile.

The funniest thing about this whole day was that my husband and I were walking around looking at all the booths that were set up at the school and we passed a sign that had my name on it.  Turns out I'd won a raffle that I didn't know about.  5 names of volunteers were randomly drawn and I was one of the winners.   So for my 4 minutes of service, I got a $15 restaurant gift card!

All in all it was a fun day for the community and my kids had a great time, but it was certainly not a real "race" day for me.  Even if my shins hadn't acted up, I'm not sure I would have put my all into this race.  My heart was certainly not in it.

On to the next.   St. Michael's half marathon in 2 weeks.  Hoping my shins cooperate for that one!

They're My Kids And I'll Brag If I Want To

Oh. My. Goodness.  I never realized before that there are so many fast kids in my neighborhood.  Holy moly.  I also never realized that some kids, like some adults, will push themselves so hard that they'll actually puke at the finish line.  But let's skip over that part of the day....

This morning, my family and I headed to the local elementary school for their annual 5K and 1 mile run.  I was signed up for the 5K, my kids were signed up for the 1 mile, and my husband had the task of photographing the day.  The weather was gorgeous and everyone was excited.

20 minutes before the race, ready and rarin' to go! 

A few minutes before the 1 mile race was set to start, I said good-bye and good luck and headed to my volunteer spot in the woods.  I heard the "Ready, set, GO!" and peered through the trees to see the kids coming down the road.  They took the turn into the woods and I started clapping and cheering and "Stay on the path, please!"  Then I saw my munchkins and gave high fives and hugs and they were off again.  About  minute a later the bike volunteer rode by and said "That's it, thanks!" and I got to take my flag and head back to the finish line.  Shortest volunteer stint EVER! 

I found my husband and we watched as the kids came in.  First finisher crossed the line in 6:32.  Darn impressive for an elementary school kid!  (No racers over 5th grade allowed in the 1 mile run) Then more kids came in, and we kept cheering....  As the clock ticked forward, I started to worry a little.  I knew my kids would be on the slower side, since they've never run before, but since most of the course was through a wooded area with lots of ups and downs, I began to wonder if  maybe my daughter would fall.  I don't know why I wasn't worried about my son, maybe because he's older an has longer legs? I don't know.  Anyway, I started to wonder what if.... So I walked a bit down the road to see if I could spot them coming out of the woods.  When I saw them I ran back to my husband and told him to get the camera ready.  

When they came towards the finish line, I started cheering like an idiot a happy mom.  My son got a little ahead of his sister and turned around and went back for her, encouraging her, and they both sped up.  (I swear to you, my heart will break into a million pieces the day that they are no longer best friends.) 

Nearing the finish line! 

They ended up finishing the race in 14:09, together, happy as can be.  So proud of themselves and of each other.  I have a feeling this race will be a family tradition for years to come! 

Next post, I'll tell you about the 5K.  Spoiler alert - there was karaoke involved. 

Have you ever watched a Kids Fun Run?  If you haven't, you should! =) 

Baby Steps

When I started running, I was half thrilled, half terrified to find out that the elementary school in our new neighborhood puts on a 5K and 1 mile kids fun run every year. Last year, when someone asked if I was going to run, I was able to casually say, "Nah, I've got a half marathon that day."

Somehow, running my very first half marathon was actually less daunting than  the idea of running a 5K in my own backyard. 

I was not relishing the idea of being sweaty faced and sloppy in front of all the moms at my son's new school. Where I got the idea that any of them would even notice me, I don't know.  Insecurities plague me, though, and I decided that I needed to be in "better" shape to run this particular 5K.

Fast forward a year and not only am I not in better shape than I was last year, I'm actually heavier and more OUT of shape than I have been in awhile.  And, oh, look, it's the weekend of the Tech Trot and I haven't been running much this week because I strained a calf muscle last week following my new handy dandy "run an ultra" training plan that I pulled out of my ass.

So here I am feeling sorry for myself and not wanting to run this race and blah blah blah.  Then, after picking my son up from school yesterday afternoon, we head to packet pickup and I realized that for the first time ever, I'm not just picking up my bib.  I'm picking up bibs for my son and daughter, as well. The 1 mile fun run held just before the 5K will be their very first race.

Not quite the baby bibs I'm used to! 

Suddenly, I'm not even thinking about me.  It's all about the kids.  My daughter, who is not yet in elementary school, is excited to be doing something with the bigger kids.  My son, who is in first grade, is excited that he'll get a "No Homework" pass for completing the race.  Walking home, they started to "practice" their running.   My daughter announced that her brother was going to win the race this weekend.  (Never has she ever made that proclamation about me, btw)  Excitement was definitely in the air.

Will my two  "babies" end up with a love of running?  Will they continue to race?  Time will tell.  Either way, I'm excited to share something that I love with them, and I am looking forward to seeing their smiling faces cross the finish line!

Meb For President

Oh, my goodness.   Did you watch? Tell me you watched.  If you're saying "Watched what?" then obviously you don't need to be reading this blog.

The 118th Boston Marathon was held yesterday and OH MY GOSH, what a race.

I won't re-cap it, because if you care, you watched it (or read about it), and if you don't care, then me telling you about it isn't going to change your mind.

I will say that I'm sorry that Shalane Flanagan didn't win, because I know that she really, really, really wanted to, but man, she did a great job.  She set a record, both personally, and for American women, and that is saying something.

And Meb.  Oh, my.  Meb Keflezighi.  What an amazingly awesome and supremely gifted runner. I will be honest, I did not think he was going to win.  When the race started, I cheered for him but was kind of expecting him to get over taken.  Ha.  That'll teach me to doubt!

By the last 400 meters, I was on my feet in my living room, bouncing up and down, yelling at the television.  "Don't celebrate! Keep running! Faster! He's behind you! Faster!"  I can't remember the last time I was that stressed out. LOL

*sigh*  What a great day. 

And, as always, watching amazing runners run got me all fired up.  So I spent some time last night looking at the calendar and fretting and came up with a loose 14 week training plan for the Endless Summer 6 Hour Run.  It looks like a crazy amount of running.  I honestly don't know how it's going to go.  But I'm gonna try!  

2 weeks till my 5K, 4 weeks till my HM, 14 weeks till ES6, and 22 weeks till NC24.  I have a lot of running ahead of me, and I am seriously crazy excited.   

Did you watch Boston?  Does watching a race get you pumped up for your own running? 

What's Next?

What's the best thing to think about after an endless winter?   Why, an Endless Summer, of course!

When I signed up for the North Coast 24-Hour Endurance Run, a friend suggested that I sign up for the Endless Summer 6 Hour Run as a sort of test-run/supported training run.  So I could get my feet wet, so to speak.  My first thought was "6 hours? I can't run for 6 hours!"  But then I reminded myself that I'd just plunked down over $100 to run for twenty-four hours, so I'd darn well better be able to run 6 hours two months ahead of time! 

After deciding to run the race, I cyber-stalked it, reading every race report I could find, and checked in on the Striders website every few days to see if registration had opened.  Then I got busy with other things and just kind of forgot about it.  Not the race itself, but the actual act of registering for it.  

Today good friend Michelle told me that she wanted to sign up for a race, even though she's walking and not running these days, and that she had decided that ES6 was going to be it.  And, oh look at that, registration opened two weeks ago.  Whoops.  Glad she reminded me!  So now I'm signed up, as is my friend who originally told me about the race.  (He didn't know registration was open, either.  So, really, I'm not THAT oblivious.)

(Me & George after last year's ES6)

What I'm most excited about now is that Michelle and I are going to do some of our training together.  I knew that I needed to add in an extra day of training to get my mileage up, and I wanted it to be just walking because I know that I will be doing a lot of walking at NC24 - but to me walking long distances is super boring.  Being able to do some longer walks with Michelle will be great! 

Of course, I'm sitting here talking about ES6 and NC24 .... and yet I have a 5K and a Half Marathon coming up that I should probably be thinking about, at least a little.  But training for a 6 hour run (and eventual 24 hour run) should make the 5K and HM super easy, right?  Right.  =) 

Have you ever done a timed race?  Any tips for an ultra-virgin? 

Step Sisters Ribbon Run

On Saturday morning, I got up bright and early and drove 65 miles or so to Ashburn, VA to meet up with some "internet folk" at the Step Sisters Ribbon Run, a 5K & 10K run for breast cancer.

It was colder than I was expecting and the wind was crazy stupid, but the sun was shining and I was happy to meet my friends in person for the first time, after having been talking to them online for quite awhile now.  (They were just as awesome in person, in case you're wondering!) 

Of course I am an idiot and took NO pictures.  But you guys have imaginations.  Pretend, ok? 

The idea for the 5K was for me to just do my super-slow running and meet up with people at the end.  I had no intention of actually trying to race this thing.  I ended up hanging with K for most of the race, and she's faster than I am, so I was actually going at a fairly steady clip for awhile.  Faster than I should have, that's for sure.  Around 2.4 miles, my right shin (the one that loves me SO MUCH) started to speak up and I knew I needed to slow down/walk if I had any chance of running my race the next day.  So I told K to go on ahead, and I walked for a few minutes.   

I picked up the pace again in the last 2/10 of a mile or so and ran in it - hey, even if it's not a "real" race, you can't walk across the finish line, right? 

(Thanks to W for this picture!)

I think my time for this one was somewhere around 38 minutes, which is slower than my fastest 5Ks, but faster than my slowest 5Ks, so I'll take it.  It beats sitting on the couch all morning, in any case. 

After I finished we hung out for awhile, waiting for the rest of K's family to finish, then we all went to breakfast at a great place called Mimi's.  They had fun looking mimosas on the menu but since W & K were treating me, I felt bad adding $8 to my meal, so I didn't have one.  I will be making my own soon, though.

When breakfast was over, we said our good-byes and I headed home.  At that point, I had no idea what I was going to do about Sunday's race.  My shin hurt, my calf was tight, and I was just overall tired from a stressful week, and not enough sleep.   It would have to be a race-day decision.  

Would I drop down to the 5K?  Stay home and sleep? My alarm was set for 4:45 a.m.   Time would tell.   Details tomorrow. =)

Did you race this weekend? Have you ever done two (or more) races in one weekend? 

A Look Ahead

So, what do runners do when it's too freaking cold to run?  Why, we look for races to sign up for, of course!

A friend of mine and I were talking about races that I've signed up for in 2014 and she commented that it didn't seem like a lot.  I thought about it and realized that I didn't think it was very many, either, and maybe I needed to look around and see if I couldn't find a few more to sign up for.

Of course, going online I found about 80 that I could sign up for.

For reference, let's first look at the races that I'm already planning on running:

April 5th - Some 5K that I don't know the name of that some friends are running for charity
April 6th - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
May 4th - Technology Trot (put on by my son's school)
June 8th - Another 5K that I don't know the name of that my friend is organizing
Sept 20-21st - North Coast 24 (Oh, did I not mention that I'm running a 24 hour endurance race? Yeah, we'll talk about that later)


Ok, so that's five races.  Incidentally, that's as many as I ran last year, after two DNSs.  (Also, I will have one DNS this year - the Rock N Roll half marathon in New Orleans next month)  In any case, 5 races is fine, it's respectable, right?  Especially considering that NC24 is one mama-jama race all by itself.   But it still felt kind of blah, so I was looking around online.

Found a couple 5Ks that I could do, but nothing that was getting me excited.  Then I stumbled upon the St. Michael's Running Festival.    Um.... yes, please!  13.1 on a flat, fast course with gorgeous scenery and a small town feel?  I'm in!

So now I'm up to 6 races, and will probably run the Frederick Women's Distance 5K again, too, and that's in August, so that'll put me at 7.  Not too shabby.  

Now I just need it to warm up to at least 20 degrees so I can go run and actually train for some of these things! =)

How about you? Do you already have your race schedule figured out for 2014? 

Frederick Women's Distance Festival 5K

I used to sleep in on Saturdays.  I miss it.

Today I woke up at 5 a.m. in order to get myself together and in the car by 6 to head to the Frederick Women's Distance Festival 5K. The race was about an hour away, and I wanted to get there in time to pick up my packet, use the facilities, and do my warm-up.  I got there with plenty of time, so I decided to take a pic for my Facebook cheerleaders.

Bathroom selfies.  I still don't get it. 

Remind me not to do that again.   Moving on....... 

I did a little random warming up, and checked out the crowd.  There were about 300 women in the race, and a ton of male volunteers wearing bright pink shirts that said "She's The Boss."  I spied a woman that I've seen at two other races (well, one other race, two different years).  I jokingly call her my "nemesis."   She's 70 and we finished within seconds of each other the last two times.  I could not let that happen today.  

Someone announced that we should all move towards the starting line (we were all in the wrong place) so we trudged up a hill and lined up.  I lined up near the back of the pack, like I normally do.  Today that was a bad idea.  The gun went off, I hit my Garmin, and.... nothing.  Everyone in front of me WALKED to the starting line.  Lovely.  Except this was not a chip timed race, and every second counted!    We finally started moving and I was feeling good, though I was getting a little frustrated at having to dodge around people.  Now I know how people feel when I'm in their way! 

The race looped around the campus of a community college, so we were alternating between being in the street, and on paths.  The paths were just bigger than two people wide, and sometimes it was difficult to pass.  I held back for the first mile, but then decided that it wasn't really being rude to pass, this was a RACE after all, so I started being a bit more aggressive with getting around people.  

I was really starting to feel tired around 2.5 miles.  I thought maybe I wasn't going to PR and I started to feel a little defeated.  I let myself have about 5 seconds of a pity party, then just kept chugging.  When I hit the 3 mile mark, I told myself to just hold on and I started picking people off.  Just steadily increasing my speed, I passed a few ladies, including one woman just before the finish line.  I smiled for the photographer, tore off the bottom of my bib, grabbed my water, and got out of the chute.  

Time on my Garmin read 35:20 - a 36 second PR!  My splits looked like this: 

Overall, it was a great race.  I am very happy with my time, because I feel like I did my best.  Of course, the next few days will be spent like this: 

But that's ok. 

Now..... chocolate.  =) 

Week 4 Recap

I can't believe it! I'm already finished with a whole month of training.  How is that even possible?  I think it's going pretty well so far, but nothing in life is perfect!

Here's how Week 4 was supposed to go:

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - 3 miles speed
• Wednesday - Rest/Cross Train
• Thursday - 2 miles easy
• Friday - Rest/Cross Train
• Saturday - 7 miles
• Sunday - 2 miles easy

Here's how Week 4 actually went: 

• Monday - Rest (really, is it any surprise that I'm super good at this one?)
• Tuesday - 3 miles speed (hit the paces for my mile repeats, though the second one was a bit of a struggle)
• Wednesday - Hour long gym session (that I'm STILL sore from, nearly a week later. Ugh)
• Thursday - 2 miles easy (super slow, was pretty darn sore)
• Friday - Rest
• Saturday - 7 miles (this run went ok.  really slowly, and the humidity was terrible, but it was ok.) 
• Sunday - 2 miles easy (this felt super easy)

All in all, not bad.  But that hour long training session on Wednesday pretty much killed me.   This was supposed to be my week of getting into strength training, and instead I have been popping pills and laying with a heating pad for the past 5 days.  NOT pretty.  I cancelled the appts I had scheduled for this week - no way am I risking feeling like this for another week.  Lord have mercy.  Ugh.  I guess I'm going to have to workout on my own for awhile - in short, easy bursts - until I'm a bit stronger, then I can go back to seeing Aaron again.  Blah.  

Saturday is the 5K I signed up for, and my coach seems excited for me - she said she'll be sending me a "race plan" in a couple days.  I've never had a race plan before! LOL  I guess I won't be winging it after all. 

What are you up to this week? Anything fun?  12 days till Disney! 

Frederick Women's Distance Festival

I got the go-ahead from my coach, so it looks like I'll be running in the Frederick Women's Distance Festival 5K Run/Walk on August 10th.  Which means I have 10 days to figure out how in the heck to run a 5K.

Even though I've been doing speed work once a week, my running lately has been more focused on laid-back, easy runs, and building up mileage.  It's been ages since I tried to run at a fast pace and hold it for any length of time.   Yesterday I did mile repeats, but I know I can't hold that pace for 3.1 miles.  I suppose I'll just have to go out and wing it, like always, but I do wish I had a better idea of what I'm capable of.

Actually, that's part of the whole reason behind running this race- so that I can find out what I'm capable of!

Fortunately, unless I trip and break something, there's a high probability that this race will go better than my last one, so that's something, at least.  Plus, this is an all-women event for a good cause, so there's that.  

Now, I'm off to the gym.  Someone remind me why I thought an hour long training session would be a good idea today?  

*crickets*

Yeah, that's what I thought! 

Slow and Steady Wins The.... Wait a minute!!

Today I ran the Matzohball Run, a local 5K.   I ran this same race last  year, and it was a really bad day for me, emotionally.   I finished in 39:15, which at the time was a PR, so I should have been happy, but I was not.  I was all weird and conflicted and unhappy and blah.

Fast forward 364 days to today - I finished in 40:13 (which is 4+ minutes SLOWER than my current PR), and I was totally happy and fine and whatever.

Makes NO sense to me, whatsoever, but I guess I shouldn't complain about being happy. LOL

It was soooooo hot today, and I ended up walking so many times, it was ridiculous.  I almost always negative split during races, because I don't warm up well and I kind of warm up as the race goes on.  Today, I warmed up with a little slow running and some strides (I'm such a pro now LOL), and then BOOM - started the race (downhill) going so fast my feet should have fallen off.  I spent half a mile going "Too fast! Too fast!" and the other 2.6 miles slowing down to turtle speed.  And walking.  And talking to random fishermen who were also displeased with the weather.   It was good times. =)

Last year, I finished just ahead of a 68 year old woman.  Today, I finished just behind that same woman (now 69!).   She told me she's done over 1500 races in the past 47 years.  I want to be her when I grow up.  Except she's probably slowed down as she's aged, and I'm already her speed.  LOL

The shirt looks blue here, but it's Ravens Purple! 

Happy Sunday! =)