I signed up for this one in some euphoria induced haze from surviving the Turtle Crawl Tri- What?! No swim?! I'm in!
And then I started running more miles. And running more miles. And my bike sat in my garage... And I learned something about myself: I'm just a runner. I can dabble in the whole bike/swim thing when I'm hurt and I can't run, but if given a choice of the three, I'll be running... and sitting on my couch, but mostly running.
That's my whole justification for why I hadn't been on my bike in three months. I bought a new pump, pumped the tires, took the sticker from the tri off, and rode around the block. Most people do brick workouts for preparation- ride the bike for say 30 minutes, run for 15 minutes. Nope, not me.
Saturday morning rolls around. After about a month of never waking up late or resetting my alarm for the kids' schools, I woke up late. Not just a little late, but supposed to be in transition 15 miles away 15 minutes ago. Hmmm... At least I didn't have to think about options- throw on the clothes, grab the transition bag, throw the bike in Ted's truck, and on the way! The race was going to start at 7:30 a.m. I arrived at the park at 7:20 a.m. I ran up to the registration area, started filling out the waiver, had to leave my bike and run back for my ID- tedious. Finally got marked and dropped off the bike. My entire transition space consisted of a towel, my helmet, and a water bottle. I had to stash my goody bag behind the bike because I didn't have time to go back to the truck again.
Saw a few friends. Chatted a bit, but still frazzled by my crazy morning. The thought of racing 43 minutes after waking up is a bit daunting. The thought of having part of that race be on my bike was too much to bear.
They gave us our instructions and we all lined up in the grass. It turns out they wanted us to run along the grass for maybe 1/10 of a mile and then turn onto the street. Race starts. No big deal, but I was a little wobbly in the new Newtons with the funny lugs on the grass. We hit the street- lots of little long hills. You go up, you go down, then you do it again cause it's an out and back course. I think I'm second or third girl, so I'm pretty happy. My pace was in the neighborhood of 7:20 miles.
And now I'm in transition- I grab my helmet and bike and walk to the mounting area (it's a crack in the asphalt that I guess looks like a line). I get on and realize my glasses are totally foggy. Oh good. I still can't get my water bottle while riding and there's no way I can get to my glasses and clean them. And for that matter, what would I clean them on? As I'm pondering all of this, my head is slightly forward and the breeze hits my glasses- problem solved!
I head out on the roads. OK, not only did I not ride my bike ahead of time, I didn't check my gears. Yes, I checked the basic "don't leave it in too hard a gear" thing because apparently people get on and then fall off, but I forgot to make sure it wasn't in too easy a gear. You know the big gear thingy? It was in the small ring, so I couldn't generate much speed. I tried pushing down the button a bunch, but it wouldn't shift. As all of this is going on and I'm practically hyperventilating, everyone I just passed is passing me. "On your left!" Oh, really? All of you are on my left! The people with the fancy tires are killing me- "wait, you're passing me on my left? I thought that was the lifeflight people coming to get me!" Seriously, they make this crazy whooshing noise... Everyone had on their fancy bike shoes too. Oh, and my bike was making this horrible noise like a sticker was hitting the tire over and over. I decided to think of it as a metronome so I didn't completely lose my mind. (Turns out it was part of the cadence thing for my Garmin that I've never been able to work- that was money well spent).
OK, had to pull it together. Hit the turnaround....s l o w l y... told the volunteer I probably needed to learn to turn. Chatted with a nice guy who had a bike like mine. Took off again. I mashed that stupid button again out of pure frustration, and lo and behold, my gear shifted! Now I could push a little more. So I keep on pedaling and chatting with people passing me. At least being passed helped kill the time! Oh look, another embarassing turnaround. Seriously should have at least taken a couple of spin classes cause this bike thing is starting to hurt.
Finally, finally off the bike. So happy. Grabbed my water bottle with Heed. Did I mention I can't drink on the bike? Waycross Bank and Trust had signs every few miles with giant letters: HYDRATE. Mocking me.
Grabbed my hat and hit the grassy path again. Now the problem isn't so much my shoes as it is my legs. I heard someone say they had dead legs. When I heard that in the past, I assumed it meant your legs were exhausted. Yeah, that's not exactly it. They are exhausted, but the problem is more that they don't know how to move properly and for at least a half of a mile, you can't convince them that running is a natural thing. If I were ever so reckless as to eat right after getting a filling, I assume it would be the same way- having to teach yourself how to chew. I felt like I was teaching myself how to not move in such a jerky way.
We ran down the same course, so more hills. The really fast people are headed towards us. Everyone yelled encouragement to each other, which I thought was very fun. That was highly unusual- most races I've done people are either extremely quiet and listening to iPods or they are all out crazy like Disney. One of the really fast guys reached out to high five me- don't know how fast he was moving, but that hurt! My first mile was 8:15, the last one 7:52. I was pretty proud to pull off an under 8 minute mile at the end! As I was headed towards the line, I could see the clock at 1:19:xx. Having no clue of a goal time, I decided I'd be good with under 1:20. Final time: 1:19:33.
My time was good enough for 5th overall girl, and 1st in my age group (40-44, excuse me!?) I was pleased with the race, but I think duathlons may have just landed in the BTDT category for me...
So now, my been there, done that category consists of: bridge runs, triathlons, and duathlons. I thought I'd like it better because of the whole "no swim" thing, and I am certainly grateful there wasn't a swim, but I just am not that good on my bike. And really, I don't want to take the time to get better on my bike. I still like it, but it's not really my thing right now. I'm scared of riding on the roads, I'm scared of the fancy pedals, I'm scared of why I would need a helmet. I may very well want to ride more in the spring when I'm tired of running or have met my goals or most likely, am totally injured...
Oh, and my Newtons were a huge hit. Several people asked about them, and one older guy said "I remember you. Those pink shoes blazed past me and I never caught them again." Can you say race highlight!?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
New Newtons!
So, I just retired my yellow Newtons with approximately 490 miles on them.
They cost about $150.00/pair. What's that make their per mile running cost? I'm going with about 30 cents per mile.
The Asics I bought from the running store?
They cost about $80.00. A bargain, right? Well, I demoted them to walking only status at 6 miles cause they almost crippled me. So what's their per mile running cost? Oh, about $13.33 per mile.
And people look at me funny for buying Newtons and think they're too expensive? Sure, if they don't work for you, that's one thing, but I didn't even think mine needed retiring until I realized how close I was to 500 miles. (Speaking of which, I'm going to have to run the last ten miles in the old yellow ones just for closure).
Anyway, I now have a new pair of pink Newtons for people to either covet or mock. With any luck, they'll be blazing past the mockers.
They cost about $150.00/pair. What's that make their per mile running cost? I'm going with about 30 cents per mile.
The Asics I bought from the running store?
They cost about $80.00. A bargain, right? Well, I demoted them to walking only status at 6 miles cause they almost crippled me. So what's their per mile running cost? Oh, about $13.33 per mile.
And people look at me funny for buying Newtons and think they're too expensive? Sure, if they don't work for you, that's one thing, but I didn't even think mine needed retiring until I realized how close I was to 500 miles. (Speaking of which, I'm going to have to run the last ten miles in the old yellow ones just for closure).
Anyway, I now have a new pair of pink Newtons for people to either covet or mock. With any luck, they'll be blazing past the mockers.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Harry's Munchkin Super Kidz Tri
Race Report: Super Kidz Tri!!!
Harry did his first tri this weekend at the ripe age of 4. I was worried about everything- he'd think people were laughing at him, he'd freak out in the pool since he'd only had 2 weeks of lessons, he had a new bike, etc.
Race morning: Got the baby to the sitter and packed up Harry and all of his stuff. He got to use all my tri gear (fancy water bottle, goggles, helmet, etc). We made it to the Y and set up his transition area. We picked up his swag bag and he got body marked. Oddly, he was mostly interested in the ruler in the bag...
Transition.
We went to the pool early just so he could check it out again. When anyone asked if he was ready, he said "oh, I'm ready!" He put on his required swim vest. We waited in the bleachers for Ted and Emma to show up. (And when they did, I laughed at the look of panic on Ted's face when he suddenly thought he'd forgotten to bring the baby.)
Harry lined up. They had all the 4 year olds go out together after explaining that this race was about completion and that they should take their time and be safe and have fun. Harry's lane was by the wall. The race starts. The boy sprints down the handicapped ramp in the water and does a giant leap. He comes up sputtering, but starts swimming. We're following along the side of the pool as everyone is cheering. The kids are all pretty close. Turns out Harry is better in the water than his mother. He makes it to the end with no problems. Ted hauls him out, and we're off to transition.
We throw on a shirt and shoes and head down the stairs to the track. (They call it a track, but it's really just a vaguely oval shaped asphalt path). I put on Harry's helmet and helped him on his bike. He hasn't done much riding since it seems to rain every afternoon, but he gets it moving. The four year olds are required to have training wheels. I keep my hand on his back and we go around the first lap. And then, as everyone from my track club is cheering at the end of the first lap, we have our first mishap. I don't understand how it could happen with training wheels, but Harry goes down hard sideways and drags the bike with him. I tossed him off the bike, picked it up, put him on, and we took off again. I would have been freaked out by such a truly spectacular fall, but all he said was "you know, that kind of hurt..."
So for the second lap, I ran holding Harry's handlebars. Ted ran over to record him, and Harry just yelled "meet me at the finish line, Dad!" Emma was cheering, which we could just hear over all the commotion. And we are back in transition- yes, off the bike and I can stand upright!
Helmet off, and we're running. It's one lap around for the run. Harry goes out at a good clip, but not a sprint. He's able to maintain his speed all the way around and doesn't walk. The last few yards Emma joins us. I let her run him in.
And now Harry has his medal (which he put with my medals- how cute is that?) He's got big plans for future races. There's a 1 mile fun run this Saturday that he really wants to do.
The thing I liked best about Harry's race was that even though he wasn't the fastest, he was just thrilled the whole time. And I learned something about my racing- worried about people laughing at him? worried about the swim and the new bike? Those fears didn't apply to Harry at all- they're my usual race day fears that I was putting on to his race... weird, huh?
So, this weekend I have the following races lined up:
1) Saturday: Duathlon- 2 mile run, 14? mile bike, 2 mile run. I haven't been on my bike in forever but I wanted to do this race to encourage local events... it's going to hurt!
2) Saturday: 1 mile fun run with Harry and maybe Emma;
3) Saturday: may run a 5k with a friend who's a newbie runner- not sure yet.
Crazy.
Harry did his first tri this weekend at the ripe age of 4. I was worried about everything- he'd think people were laughing at him, he'd freak out in the pool since he'd only had 2 weeks of lessons, he had a new bike, etc.
Race morning: Got the baby to the sitter and packed up Harry and all of his stuff. He got to use all my tri gear (fancy water bottle, goggles, helmet, etc). We made it to the Y and set up his transition area. We picked up his swag bag and he got body marked. Oddly, he was mostly interested in the ruler in the bag...
Transition.We went to the pool early just so he could check it out again. When anyone asked if he was ready, he said "oh, I'm ready!" He put on his required swim vest. We waited in the bleachers for Ted and Emma to show up. (And when they did, I laughed at the look of panic on Ted's face when he suddenly thought he'd forgotten to bring the baby.)
Harry lined up. They had all the 4 year olds go out together after explaining that this race was about completion and that they should take their time and be safe and have fun. Harry's lane was by the wall. The race starts. The boy sprints down the handicapped ramp in the water and does a giant leap. He comes up sputtering, but starts swimming. We're following along the side of the pool as everyone is cheering. The kids are all pretty close. Turns out Harry is better in the water than his mother. He makes it to the end with no problems. Ted hauls him out, and we're off to transition.
We throw on a shirt and shoes and head down the stairs to the track. (They call it a track, but it's really just a vaguely oval shaped asphalt path). I put on Harry's helmet and helped him on his bike. He hasn't done much riding since it seems to rain every afternoon, but he gets it moving. The four year olds are required to have training wheels. I keep my hand on his back and we go around the first lap. And then, as everyone from my track club is cheering at the end of the first lap, we have our first mishap. I don't understand how it could happen with training wheels, but Harry goes down hard sideways and drags the bike with him. I tossed him off the bike, picked it up, put him on, and we took off again. I would have been freaked out by such a truly spectacular fall, but all he said was "you know, that kind of hurt..."
So for the second lap, I ran holding Harry's handlebars. Ted ran over to record him, and Harry just yelled "meet me at the finish line, Dad!" Emma was cheering, which we could just hear over all the commotion. And we are back in transition- yes, off the bike and I can stand upright!
Helmet off, and we're running. It's one lap around for the run. Harry goes out at a good clip, but not a sprint. He's able to maintain his speed all the way around and doesn't walk. The last few yards Emma joins us. I let her run him in.
And now Harry has his medal (which he put with my medals- how cute is that?) He's got big plans for future races. There's a 1 mile fun run this Saturday that he really wants to do.
The thing I liked best about Harry's race was that even though he wasn't the fastest, he was just thrilled the whole time. And I learned something about my racing- worried about people laughing at him? worried about the swim and the new bike? Those fears didn't apply to Harry at all- they're my usual race day fears that I was putting on to his race... weird, huh?
So, this weekend I have the following races lined up:
1) Saturday: Duathlon- 2 mile run, 14? mile bike, 2 mile run. I haven't been on my bike in forever but I wanted to do this race to encourage local events... it's going to hurt!
2) Saturday: 1 mile fun run with Harry and maybe Emma;
3) Saturday: may run a 5k with a friend who's a newbie runner- not sure yet.
Crazy.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Future plans
I've been putting in some big miles so far this month, so provided I don't end up injured (which is a bigger "provided" than I care to acknowledge), I've got to find some race goals.
Known upcoming races:
1) Heels to Wheels Duathlon, Aug. 28. Yeah, guess I better peel off the race sticker on my bike from the Turtle Crawl tri. What? It was only 3 months ago... The duathlon is run 2 miles, bike 14, run 2. I'm thinking it won't be that hard, except for that chunk of 14 miles in the middle. And I need a new pump. Cause you know, the only thing harder than riding a bike for 14 miles is riding one with flat tires. So apparently my new bike euphoria a year ago was extremely short lived.
2) Jacksonville Marine Corps Half, October. In theory, this is the one I'm training for, but I can't seem to push the send button on active.com.
3) Peachtree City 25k, Darkside Running Club, November. Dual purpose- visit Ted's brother's family and do a race. I love when I can merge things like that- then it's not all about me! The race looks interesting. There's a 50k at the same time, so there should be a lot of people way weirder than me which will be refreshing. It's a 5 mile loop on golf cart trails with "rolling hills." I'm a little concerned about the possible disparity between my definition of rolling hills and the locals. Still, there should be lots of people moving sort of slowly (cause they've got 30+ miles altogether to go!) I wonder if they'll laugh at my Garmin and Newtons? Probably not my Garmin, definitely the Newtons. I've filled out the form but haven't taken it off my desk.
4) Jax Bank Half Marathon... or Full? In theory, this could be a good year to run a Full. I'd love to break 4 hours, and horror of horrors, a Boston Qualifying time for me would be 3:50. Ugh. The running calculators predict I could do under 3:50, but that's if I can stay injury free with perfect training and have a perfect day. I don't know if I want that kind of pressure. I could do the half- did I mention my main goal is last minute Christmas shopping in Jax and a last race before I turn 40?
5) Princess Half, Feb. 27. I'm sure I'll do it, but I need to work on my outfit.
Optionals:
Tallahassee Half or Full? Breast Cancer 26.2 with Donna Half or Full?
Gate River Run, March something. I don't really like this run (hello, bridge at end!), but if you are in the top 10% you get a cool hat. Granted I'll never wear the hat because I'll feel like a pretentious runner, but it's kind of tempting. Emma can't believe I'd run 9+ miles as fast as possible "uh, just for a hat?!" And then when I told her I probably wouldn't wear the hat, she laughed... a lot.
Known upcoming races:
1) Heels to Wheels Duathlon, Aug. 28. Yeah, guess I better peel off the race sticker on my bike from the Turtle Crawl tri. What? It was only 3 months ago... The duathlon is run 2 miles, bike 14, run 2. I'm thinking it won't be that hard, except for that chunk of 14 miles in the middle. And I need a new pump. Cause you know, the only thing harder than riding a bike for 14 miles is riding one with flat tires. So apparently my new bike euphoria a year ago was extremely short lived.
2) Jacksonville Marine Corps Half, October. In theory, this is the one I'm training for, but I can't seem to push the send button on active.com.
3) Peachtree City 25k, Darkside Running Club, November. Dual purpose- visit Ted's brother's family and do a race. I love when I can merge things like that- then it's not all about me! The race looks interesting. There's a 50k at the same time, so there should be a lot of people way weirder than me which will be refreshing. It's a 5 mile loop on golf cart trails with "rolling hills." I'm a little concerned about the possible disparity between my definition of rolling hills and the locals. Still, there should be lots of people moving sort of slowly (cause they've got 30+ miles altogether to go!) I wonder if they'll laugh at my Garmin and Newtons? Probably not my Garmin, definitely the Newtons. I've filled out the form but haven't taken it off my desk.
4) Jax Bank Half Marathon... or Full? In theory, this could be a good year to run a Full. I'd love to break 4 hours, and horror of horrors, a Boston Qualifying time for me would be 3:50. Ugh. The running calculators predict I could do under 3:50, but that's if I can stay injury free with perfect training and have a perfect day. I don't know if I want that kind of pressure. I could do the half- did I mention my main goal is last minute Christmas shopping in Jax and a last race before I turn 40?
5) Princess Half, Feb. 27. I'm sure I'll do it, but I need to work on my outfit.
Optionals:
Tallahassee Half or Full? Breast Cancer 26.2 with Donna Half or Full?
Gate River Run, March something. I don't really like this run (hello, bridge at end!), but if you are in the top 10% you get a cool hat. Granted I'll never wear the hat because I'll feel like a pretentious runner, but it's kind of tempting. Emma can't believe I'd run 9+ miles as fast as possible "uh, just for a hat?!" And then when I told her I probably wouldn't wear the hat, she laughed... a lot.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Ready Set Glow 5k
Ah... a midnight 5k with glowsticks! Does that sound cool or what?!
Yes, it sounded totally cool... a month before. Slightly less cool a week before... and then it just made me feel really, really old as I contemplated actually putting on my running clothes at 11:30 at night.
No, no... I'm young, I'm hip, I'm doing a 5k at midnight.
So, Ted's passed out (you know, he's a year older than me). The boys are passed out. Emma's wide awake. So I give her the remote and her phone and tell her to have a big time. It's the Friday night before school starts- I know, I know, I'm an incredibly responsible mom.
After killing a few hours that would have been better spent sleeping (and by sleeping I mean watching Chelsea Handler while eating Ritz crackers and peanut butter), I drove over to the Y. It's all of a mile away from my house.
Guess what? It's still incredibly hot. Heat index 103 hot. Great.
I pick up my packet. The t-shirt is sort of cute, but not run at midnight cute. The glowstick is a nice touch- it's a bracelet. Instead of bibs they wrote your number on your hand. I probably should tell them to go the tri route next time and do the arm. My bulging tendons made it hard for the director to write my number on my hand- note to self "hands are looking old." Nice confidence booster.
So I walk to my car with my goody bag. I just got a haircut, so I decided to leave the hat behind (and sunglasses- d'oh! this feels weird!) I try jogging a bit and realize that even with drinking water and sitting around during the day, I'm still really tired. I'm feeling more uncoordinated than usual- think it's because my body wants to be asleep.
OH, and there were tons of people with little kids in the park- so weird! There were a lot of people at the race- I guess they all liked the novelty too. I'm rather smug about the fact that I don't have my children playing on swings at midnight until I remember I left my 10 year old in charge of her two brothers. (Hey, she knew she could wake up Ted if she needed him!)
Race starts. I'm exhausted, but I charge up the big hill by the hospital- good plan! Yeah, so that hurt. I'm wheezing and I can't see my Garmin. I downloaded a new playlist for the race- yeah, Bare Naked Ladies "Who Needs Sleep?" not nearly as clever at midnight. The race was supposed to be lit. Well, you could see in the sense that you probably weren't going to trip, but the disembodied barking of invisible dogs was extremely disturbing. I assumed any dog that loud must be behind a fence or it would have already eaten someone in front of me, but I didn't like not being able to see them coming.
Mile two. Still haven't recovered from the crazy fast first mile, or the exhaustion, or the humidity. I hang on by following a guy in front of me. He doesn't know it but he's dragging me in. We pass a few people on a bit of a downhill.
I see a group of men in front of me. I pass a couple of them and then realize one in front is Ron. Ron and I always finish near each other, trading the lead. I really wanted to pass him just so I could say "hi" and annoy him, but the more I thought about it, it sounded like a whole lot of trouble- have to turn the music off, have to take the headphones out, have to run a lot faster. He could have this one. (I was also distracted by my sudden hatred of James Brown and his mocking tone- NO, I do not feel good!)
And the finish. Down a long hill. It's 26:00. I was surprised because the effort seemed the same as a faster race, but there were so many horrible variables that it was okay. Finishing sort of near Ron made me think it was a pretty good race. And I was too tired to really care. I think my card said 30th finisher. There were about 135 people in the race.
This lovely picture kind of sums up the finish.
I stuck around for the age group awards because I thought I was the 4th or 5th girl across. Hello, should always read the fine print on the registration. Awards were by DECADE and only for first. C'est la vie.
In the meantime, the humidity increased to the point that there was tons of thunder and some lightning. Emma started texting me like crazy- "I hear thunder. R U OK?" and my favorite- "baby awake! Hurry!" followed by "baby being good. ok." I gave her my shirt for being my race support.
So, that's it. I'm going to put midnight races in the same category as bridge runs or those dreadful tour things. Novelty runs that I don't really have to do again. Nothing against the race- it was well organized and attended and generally a good race, but it was at frigging midnight. Enough said.
Yes, it sounded totally cool... a month before. Slightly less cool a week before... and then it just made me feel really, really old as I contemplated actually putting on my running clothes at 11:30 at night.
No, no... I'm young, I'm hip, I'm doing a 5k at midnight.
So, Ted's passed out (you know, he's a year older than me). The boys are passed out. Emma's wide awake. So I give her the remote and her phone and tell her to have a big time. It's the Friday night before school starts- I know, I know, I'm an incredibly responsible mom.
After killing a few hours that would have been better spent sleeping (and by sleeping I mean watching Chelsea Handler while eating Ritz crackers and peanut butter), I drove over to the Y. It's all of a mile away from my house.
Guess what? It's still incredibly hot. Heat index 103 hot. Great.
I pick up my packet. The t-shirt is sort of cute, but not run at midnight cute. The glowstick is a nice touch- it's a bracelet. Instead of bibs they wrote your number on your hand. I probably should tell them to go the tri route next time and do the arm. My bulging tendons made it hard for the director to write my number on my hand- note to self "hands are looking old." Nice confidence booster.
So I walk to my car with my goody bag. I just got a haircut, so I decided to leave the hat behind (and sunglasses- d'oh! this feels weird!) I try jogging a bit and realize that even with drinking water and sitting around during the day, I'm still really tired. I'm feeling more uncoordinated than usual- think it's because my body wants to be asleep.
OH, and there were tons of people with little kids in the park- so weird! There were a lot of people at the race- I guess they all liked the novelty too. I'm rather smug about the fact that I don't have my children playing on swings at midnight until I remember I left my 10 year old in charge of her two brothers. (Hey, she knew she could wake up Ted if she needed him!)
Race starts. I'm exhausted, but I charge up the big hill by the hospital- good plan! Yeah, so that hurt. I'm wheezing and I can't see my Garmin. I downloaded a new playlist for the race- yeah, Bare Naked Ladies "Who Needs Sleep?" not nearly as clever at midnight. The race was supposed to be lit. Well, you could see in the sense that you probably weren't going to trip, but the disembodied barking of invisible dogs was extremely disturbing. I assumed any dog that loud must be behind a fence or it would have already eaten someone in front of me, but I didn't like not being able to see them coming.
Mile two. Still haven't recovered from the crazy fast first mile, or the exhaustion, or the humidity. I hang on by following a guy in front of me. He doesn't know it but he's dragging me in. We pass a few people on a bit of a downhill.
I see a group of men in front of me. I pass a couple of them and then realize one in front is Ron. Ron and I always finish near each other, trading the lead. I really wanted to pass him just so I could say "hi" and annoy him, but the more I thought about it, it sounded like a whole lot of trouble- have to turn the music off, have to take the headphones out, have to run a lot faster. He could have this one. (I was also distracted by my sudden hatred of James Brown and his mocking tone- NO, I do not feel good!)
And the finish. Down a long hill. It's 26:00. I was surprised because the effort seemed the same as a faster race, but there were so many horrible variables that it was okay. Finishing sort of near Ron made me think it was a pretty good race. And I was too tired to really care. I think my card said 30th finisher. There were about 135 people in the race.
This lovely picture kind of sums up the finish.
I stuck around for the age group awards because I thought I was the 4th or 5th girl across. Hello, should always read the fine print on the registration. Awards were by DECADE and only for first. C'est la vie.
In the meantime, the humidity increased to the point that there was tons of thunder and some lightning. Emma started texting me like crazy- "I hear thunder. R U OK?" and my favorite- "baby awake! Hurry!" followed by "baby being good. ok." I gave her my shirt for being my race support.
So, that's it. I'm going to put midnight races in the same category as bridge runs or those dreadful tour things. Novelty runs that I don't really have to do again. Nothing against the race- it was well organized and attended and generally a good race, but it was at frigging midnight. Enough said.
Monday, August 16, 2010
July 3rd, Sunshine Festival
So a month later...
This race and I have a history.
It was my first real 5k in 2007. I did it in 29:59 and was thrilled. And horrified. I'd signed up for the Goofy- 39.3 miles in one weekend. That was suddenly seeming a lot harder...
In 2008, my mom and I "ran" it when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant. It marked pretty much the end of my running until the baby was born in September. It wasn't really the running that was a problem. It was the heat and the look of concern on the volunteers' faces- "Is she going to have that baby right here? I'm just handing out water and pointing the right way- I did not sign up for baby duty!" We finished in something like 43 minutes.
In 2009, I ran it in about 25:16. I had higher expectations and it basically left me utterly deflated for the rest of the summer. I didn't run again until realizing I could sign up for a tri for our Labor Day Disney trip.
So, that's the Sunshine Festival 5k- I always think I'm going to like it, but it's usually a morale-crushing, willpower-destroying disaster. I don't know why I forget that every year.
Anyway...
July 3rd comes along- my mom kindly picked up my packet the night before. I got all my stuff together that night and prepared to get up early. Worked out fine. Made it to the course with plenty of time to spare. Ran slowly a bit and did a few strides. Talked to some people I knew, and tried to ignore the creeping heat/humidity and my sudden revelation that I hate this race.
And we start- this year I lined up closer to the front. Not right by the teenage boys and the hard-core old guys without shirts, but not next to the guys in the khaki shorts. As usual, I found myself next to a stinky guy. What's up with that?! It's early in the morning and you're going to get sweaty, so I understand not taking a shower before, but if you are that stinky before the race, cut the crowd some slack. Way too early for that kind of sensory overload...
It's a flat course around parks and neighborhoods. I never can remember the course, which is crazy since I run there a lot, but I'm just following people. I go out with my new strategy of starting as fast as I can and trying to hold on. It's not sophisticated or particularly smart, but it is easy to remember. Mile 1 is under 8 minutes, mile 2 about the same. By mile 3 I'm questioning why I keep running 5ks, but I know if I blow this I'll have a complete meltdown- so I push through. Final time: 23:3x. I can't remember exactly, but it was my second fastest 5k and much hotter than the one I set my PR in. So I'm reasonably pleased. My mom met me at the finish. She said I looked pretty good and wasn't as stinky as usual. (Uh, thanks? So like, I wonder if pre-race stinky guy had peaked in his stinkiness or if he got worse?! I left him in my tracks at the start- no way I was sticking around to see what happened on the stinky scale of 1-10. Looking back on Mr. Stinky, I'm wondering if I should have told him to get to a doctor. I mean, I'm a runner who's been in a lot of stinky races and I have three children so I am no stranger to stink, but I'm still gagging a little just thinking about him. As a matter of fact, I have to end this topic now. Right now.)
We went back to get the rest of the peeps back for the awards ceremony. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of action at home in terms of dressing/waking/etc. We finally headed down long after the ceremony. People were cleaning up. I found someone in charge and claimed my age group prize-- 3rd out of 39! It was a nice ocean scene print- kind of fun.
So that was it. Another year, another Sunshine Festival.
This race and I have a history.
It was my first real 5k in 2007. I did it in 29:59 and was thrilled. And horrified. I'd signed up for the Goofy- 39.3 miles in one weekend. That was suddenly seeming a lot harder...
In 2008, my mom and I "ran" it when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant. It marked pretty much the end of my running until the baby was born in September. It wasn't really the running that was a problem. It was the heat and the look of concern on the volunteers' faces- "Is she going to have that baby right here? I'm just handing out water and pointing the right way- I did not sign up for baby duty!" We finished in something like 43 minutes.
In 2009, I ran it in about 25:16. I had higher expectations and it basically left me utterly deflated for the rest of the summer. I didn't run again until realizing I could sign up for a tri for our Labor Day Disney trip.
So, that's the Sunshine Festival 5k- I always think I'm going to like it, but it's usually a morale-crushing, willpower-destroying disaster. I don't know why I forget that every year.
Anyway...
July 3rd comes along- my mom kindly picked up my packet the night before. I got all my stuff together that night and prepared to get up early. Worked out fine. Made it to the course with plenty of time to spare. Ran slowly a bit and did a few strides. Talked to some people I knew, and tried to ignore the creeping heat/humidity and my sudden revelation that I hate this race.
And we start- this year I lined up closer to the front. Not right by the teenage boys and the hard-core old guys without shirts, but not next to the guys in the khaki shorts. As usual, I found myself next to a stinky guy. What's up with that?! It's early in the morning and you're going to get sweaty, so I understand not taking a shower before, but if you are that stinky before the race, cut the crowd some slack. Way too early for that kind of sensory overload...
It's a flat course around parks and neighborhoods. I never can remember the course, which is crazy since I run there a lot, but I'm just following people. I go out with my new strategy of starting as fast as I can and trying to hold on. It's not sophisticated or particularly smart, but it is easy to remember. Mile 1 is under 8 minutes, mile 2 about the same. By mile 3 I'm questioning why I keep running 5ks, but I know if I blow this I'll have a complete meltdown- so I push through. Final time: 23:3x. I can't remember exactly, but it was my second fastest 5k and much hotter than the one I set my PR in. So I'm reasonably pleased. My mom met me at the finish. She said I looked pretty good and wasn't as stinky as usual. (Uh, thanks? So like, I wonder if pre-race stinky guy had peaked in his stinkiness or if he got worse?! I left him in my tracks at the start- no way I was sticking around to see what happened on the stinky scale of 1-10. Looking back on Mr. Stinky, I'm wondering if I should have told him to get to a doctor. I mean, I'm a runner who's been in a lot of stinky races and I have three children so I am no stranger to stink, but I'm still gagging a little just thinking about him. As a matter of fact, I have to end this topic now. Right now.)
We went back to get the rest of the peeps back for the awards ceremony. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a lot of action at home in terms of dressing/waking/etc. We finally headed down long after the ceremony. People were cleaning up. I found someone in charge and claimed my age group prize-- 3rd out of 39! It was a nice ocean scene print- kind of fun.
So that was it. Another year, another Sunshine Festival.
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