Tuesday Tidbits

I forked over $278.06 this morning, but Jake & I are officially registered to run the 1/2 in Vegas!!! I have no idea what Jake's goal is for Vegas (and he probably doesn't either, especially since he'll run St. Louis first, so my bet would be that he creates a goal after that race) so on the registration form when it asked for expected finish times I entered 1:55. I don't know that 1:55 is within reach but I'm going to bust my ass to make sure I get a sub-2 this year. Being that St. Louis is not flat and Vegas is, that'll be my best shot!

I worked out with my trainer this morning. He still owed me a session from back when I was using him so we finally made that happen. I asked him to try and stick to the machines because I feel silly doing "crazy trainer stuff" without a trainer standing beside me. He mostly followed directions. His workouts are super tough and between those and my all-clean diet, the weight fell off last winter.I'm going to stick to this plan for a month and see what happens.

I think I'm going to try and run Saturday's 10k with my brother. He's by far a faster runner, but he's been having trouble with shin splints and knee pain, so he hasn't run more than 3 miles in 6 weeks. His goal is between 56 and 57 minutes. I punched my 5k PR into a pace predictor and it suggested 57:15 for a 10k. I punched yesterday's 5k into the pace predictor and it suggested 59:40. Ick. I have to be realistic and know that heat will be a factor in my pace, but I'm hoping that having a running buddy/brother to push me and pace me will weigh heavier.

Stonebridge Memorial Day 5k Race Recap

All 4 family members raced this one! My mom came in town to watch the kids race and since she would already be there, Jake and I decided to go ahead and run the 5k. Watching the kids was by far the most enjoyable part! They were both so excited. Peanut lined up right up front at the start and I gently suggested she move back a little. I was afraid the big kids would trample her! She's almost 5, but she's pretty small and Shankopotamus isn't far behind her (and he's 2 years younger). Jake ran with Shankopotamus, but Peanut didn't want anyone to run with her. I just acted as her paparazzi and she didn't seem to mind that. Even the 1k course was challenging! The first 1/3 or so was downhill but the rest was uphill. She walked a couple times and I tried to get her to "chick" another kid at the end. As soon as she crossed the finish line and got her medal, I ran back up the course to take pictures of Jake and Shankopotamus. He was having fun and smiling, too. They both love their medals.

As soon as their race was over it was time to line up for the 5k. My first mile was fine and right on target for where I wanted to be. There's a very short downhill portion at the beginning of the course and the next half mile is completely uphill, not to be confused with a gradual uphill. Maybe I'm being a pansy? Is 46 ft over a 1/2 mile not a reasonable hill? I walked a few times during mile 2, which was comprised of several rolling hills. At the water station I took a few sips and poured the rest down my shirt. It was cloudy with a breeze, but still hot. Mile 2 ended with the 2nd biggest hill of the course- 35 ft over 0.4 miles. I picked it up a little for mile 3 (which finally plateaued), but it wasn't enough to recover. It kinda sucked but every time a woman passed me I wondered if she was the one who would place ahead of me in my AG. I finished in 28:39, with an average pace of 9:15. I finished 5th out of 16 in my AG. That's my slowest 5k of the year but I'm OK with it. It's hot and times aren't going to get any better until it cools off.





There was a serviceman in uniform who also did the 5k, wearing a backpack. The race director pointed him out at the start line and everyone cheered when he crossed the finish line. Thank you to all the men and women who have served or still serve our country, and also to their families.

Right now I'm kinda thinking about laying off the racing and training until August when it's really effing hot when it's time to start training for St. Louis. I'll keep up a decent long run each week because those are my favorite.

Racing in Costume

I'm so excited for my first race in costume! I'm going to run the Firefly 10k next weekend. It's a night race and they give you LED lights with reflective material and glow in the dark bracelets. They encourage extra "lighting decoration" and costumes. I've had an idea for a costume for several weeks and finally bought the basics for it today. I can't wait to put it all together and show it off! I've always admired costumes and tutus but I haven't ventured into dressing up myself. It's not that I take myself too seriously can't have fun, but I worry about a costume interfering with my racing. And I've never run a race "for fun." I'm already paying money to run on public roads... I'm in it to do my best! Sorry, though, no pics until the race recap! It probably won't be finished until that day night anyway.

Aside from the costume, I'm really looking forward to that race. My first race since I started running was a 10k (in January). I had only run 6 or 7 miles once- the week before the race. So that PR has stared at me every time I pull up my blog and it needs to be replaced! I'm hoping to seriously smash it. I'm sure I'll write about it later this week, though.

And I'm probably going to race that 5k on Monday. I don't think I can resist the temptation of being at a race with the kids and not running myself.

Three Things Thursday

1. I ran with Peanut today. She (and likely Shankopotamus) will run a 1k on Monday. She looked so cute in her running skirt, tank, and shoes! One lap around our block is 0.4 miles and we did 2 laps. She had to walk a few times but overall I thought she did really well. Shankopotamus doesn't like running enough to practice but I think he'll have a meltdown if Sis gets a medal and he doesn't.
2. After I finished running with her I went for my own run. I almost always run mid-morning, so running at 4pm was different. It was "only" 79 degrees but very sunny and it just felt hard! I almost feel like I'm starting over with running as the temperatures climb. I wonder if it'll feel like I'm starting over when it gets cold. 
3. I ran topless for the first time today. Not totally topless of course (because I'm not training for one of those nude 5ks), but in a sports bra and skirt. I'm not at my skinniest and didn't feel completely comfortable but having less fabric on my hot & sweaty skin was a nice feeling... definitely motivation to watch the diet so I can feel good about doing that again. Oh, and it was a constant reminder to engage my core!

Wishy Washy Wednesday

I'm having second thoughts about a marathon this fall/winter. There are just so many half marathons I'd like to run (and already verbally if not financially committed to in a couple cases). I think I would rather focus on improving my half time (SUB 2!!!) rather than half-ass run a couple half marathons and one marathon. Plus I suspect half marathons are more fun and I'm certain training and recovery won't be as hard on my body. I still want to run a marathon, but focusing on the half distance this year would allow me to run my first full at home... White Rock 2012

So here's what all I'm interested in running:

1. Heels and Hills and Him - September 25
2. Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis - October 23 ***
3. Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio - November 13
4. Rock 'n' Roll Vegas - December 4 ***
5. New Years Day - January 1***
6. Galveston - February 5
7. Cowtown - February 26
8. Rock 'n' Roll Dallas - March 25 ***

Now I'm sure I won't run all of these, but I'm interested in all of them!
*** means I'm committed or super duper interested

Massage

The massage helped! My legs feel so much better. I think I'm going to look into one of those membership places where you get a massage every month or at least every other month.

I set out to run 9 miles this morning and felt fine for the first 3 before I started to tank. The humidity is just killing me. I can't believe how much faster I tire. I tried wearing the HR monitor that goes with my Garmin just to get an idea of where I'm at but I don't think it recorded accurately. I hardly believe my average HR was 96. My resting HR is in the 50's but it still doesn't take much to get it high. I also decided at the beginning of the run that I would not look at my watch for the entire run- I wanted to run by feeling instead of relying on my watch to tell me how I "should feel." But, I forgot to change it back to the setting where it records every mile so all I have is one set of numbers. Bummer, since I'm curious if I ran those first 3 miles too fast and that's why I felt tired or if it was just something else.  I hit my turn around point at just over 4 miles and planned to run home a different way to add a little extra distance. But between feeling tired and the dark clouds to the south I decided to just take the most direct route home. I pulled up the weather radar on my iPhone and saw this:

I still had time, but I didn't want to get caught in that, for sure! It started raining before I'd finished showering, so I might not have made it if I stuck to the original plan for 9. I ended up doing 7.4 miles.

I Hope This Works!

My legs have felt like lead since running 9 on Monday and it dawned on me as I lay away at 3am this morning that it might be lactic acid buildup. When they felt so heavy right before my half marathon in March I got a massage and the therapist told me that's what lactic acid does/feels like. So I have an appointment at 4:30 and I hope it works. I've been mentally off this week, too. Sometimes if the mind is off but the body is good I can push through and vice versa, but not when both are off!

On another note, I was prepared for my speed workout with run club yesterday when I got to childcare and they told me we can't use childcare to go to run club anymore. I get it because we leave the building (and run as far as 3 miles from the gym before turning back) but still... an email would have been nice so I didn't plan my runs this week around that option.