Kare to Excel 8K recap

I'm pooped from getting up at 5:30AM but here's a quick recap of this morning's race.

I woke up bright and early, headed to my house to grab a quick pre-race snack, then made my way to campus. The race started promptly at 7AM. Josh left me pretty much as soon as the race started to keep his own pace, and I kept nice and steady at mine. 

It was an out and back course that was mostly along Ocean Drive. The wind wasn't horrible today, thank god. This run was pretty tough, considering that I haven't run five miles since the half marathon back in March. I managed to maintain a fairly constant pace. My first mile was definitely a little speedy, around 9:43, but I slowed down after that and my average pace was 10:02 min/mile. Excellent for me, especially maintaining it for five miles. I'm happy with the way things went. My final time was 50:27. Josh finished in about 48 minutes, so I wasn't too far behind him.

I chugged water and ate a banana while we waited for the awards and raffle give aways. They finally got to the 8K awards and did the men first. Josh got third in his age group, yeaaaaah Josh! Then they got to the women's, and the announcer totally skipped over my age group. I was like "say whaaaaat?!" So I went up to him afterward and asked him about it and it turned out he accidentally skipped over it because, well, I was the only one in my age group. So, I got first place by default! Hahahah, ain't no shame. I'm reppin' for the 20-24 year old ladies. I'm really surprised that no one else around my age was running! What gives?! 

I guess there's really not a whole lot more to say about the race. It was tough, and I missed my goal  of 50 minutes by 27 seconds, but it went well, and I got a gold medal, and now I am going to take a well deserved nap.

winding down, down, down..

And I am officially in taper mode. I successfully completed all of my runs last week, which was a nice change from that previous week where I was just feeling off. Thursday I did a nice four miles in the neighborhood. I took a half day to keep an eye on my little Dottie (who just got spayed Wednesday) so I was able to get my run done earlier than anticipated. I was sitting around the 43 minute mark. Also, I don't think I've mentioned Dottie at all, but she's my new dog! I love her little muppet face.

Anyways, Saturday was the big one. The final long run. The first time hitting double digits. I was hesitant (and when Saturday morning rolled around jeez was I lazy!) but I forced myself out by telling myself that this was the last time I had to do this. Out the door I went! Around mile one I found a soggy ten dollar bill that had been lost on the bridge to campus. I picked it up, lucky me, and told myself that I had to earn each one of those dollars with each mile I ran. Ten miles, ten dollars. Thank you to whoever lost that bill, it helped me get through the run.

I cruised all along my route, waving hello at the triatheletes that were in the biking portion of their race as they zoomed by me. Before I knew it, I was in the home stretch so I kept my head in the game aaaaand... Ten miles. I did it. 1:54 and some change. Only three minutes longer than my 9.5 miles two weeks ago. I'd say that's a win and I am really, really proud of myself.

I celebrated the winding down of training and the badassness of the fact that I ran ten miles by having one of the best days off I've had in a while. Mexican food lunch, beach, moscato, beautiful weather, sunset, friends, fire, music, and boy.

Life is sa-weeeet. T minus fourteen days 'till NOLA.

first race recap!

My first real race, the 2012 Surf N Turf 10k, is OVER! And let me tell you, it was a doozy. I was a bit concerned about it before hand, not because of the distance but because of the sand. I had never run on sand before and I wasn't sure what the beach was going to be like on race day. It turned out to be perfect. Lots of hard packed, flat sand for everyone to run on.

We got there nice and early to get a decent parking spot and we enjoyed some tunes while I sipped a cup of coffee and had a couple of pre-race jitter bathroom breaks. Finally, the runners started to line up. Half marathoners went first, promptly at 9AM, and us 10k-ers started two minutes after. The first leg of the race was a little disheartening. The wind was strong and people were passing us left and right. We ended up being at the end of the pack of 10k runners. Then 5k people started passing us. Well, it proves that slow and steady wins the race because we soon began to pass a ton the 10k runners that had passed us initially.

The first 4 miles of the race were divine. The beach was beautiful, the weather was PERFECT, and even though there were six year old children passing me I didn't care. My pace felt good and peppy and we even started to pick up beach garbage while we ran. According to Josh's GPS, our first three miles were paced something like 10:20, 9:54, and 10:15. Oh yes, it was lovely.

Until the turn around. Holy god, the turn around. Until then we had been running with the wind. All of a sudden, after already running four miles, I was expected to run into winds of who knows how fast. Our pace dropped to more than a 12 minute mile. Unbelievable. I was jogging, just trying to keep up momentum, and I was going as fast as people that were walking. I wanted to cry at a few points because it was the toughest running that I have ever, ever, ever done. But I pushed on, cursing occasionally, and after 2 miles we were back on the pavement facing a sign that so joyously stated '0.9 miles left!' We were now running in a different direction and the wind lessened a bit.

Those two miles took so much out of me and we were getting dangerously close to our goal time of 69 minutes. I didn't think I was going to make it and at that point I didn't really care. I just wanted it to be over. Finally, the finish line was in sight and that's when my nausea hit. After pushing so hard on the beach with the wind, and then trying to pick up the slack once we hit pavement again, I was at my maximum. I told Josh I thought I was going to throw up and he simply told me "Wait 'till the end." So I did. We rounded the corner and sprinted to the finish line. Final time: 1:07:25. I made my goal, with a few minutes to spare.

Once we started walking, I started gagging. I didn't reaaaaally throw up but a little bit of Gatorade came up, I'll admit. After a few minutes of walking I was right back to normal and jogged around the parking lot a little. We bided our time while waiting for the results to post by eating bananas, downing cups of water, and stretching. And finally, the 10k results were up... and....

I GOT THIRD PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP! Not even out of three! There were five runners in my group. And I didn't place last. It was the best feeling in the world. I won a medal and got to stand on one of those special 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place podium things and get my picture taken. After the hardest run of my life, and my first true race ever, I actually placed. It ruled, and I am officially addicted to races. Also, I won a free dinner for two in the door prize drawing. Overall, a total win.


I've got five weeks until my half marathon and I am feeling good about it. I can totally fucking do this.

brief, tired.

Saturday's eight miles... oh boy. It was tough. I was at a slower pace than I've been in a while but I don't give a shit because I still ran eight miles. It took me an hour and a half. Over an 11:00 min/mile pace. Whatevz.

Running my first official 10K this weekend! It'll be nice to have an easier long run day (although the race is on the beach, which may prove more difficult than I'm anticipating). I'm going to enjoy the mileage cut back because the following week is 9.5 miles. HOLY. SHIT. How am I going to do it? My brain is my worst enemy on these runs. Boredom is brutal. Must find entertainment. But even though it seems unfathomable, I know I'll manage, even if I want to die and sleep in a lawn before finishing.

Early to bed tonight and for the rest of the week. I've got some serious sleep to catch up on.

terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Well, maybe not THAT bad. But I've got a lot weighing on my mind lately. I planned on going running as soon as I got off of work since I was off a bit early, but instead I fell asleep on the couch for an hour and a half. That couch is dangerous territory. I should know that by now. Settling in to watch just ONE episode of Intervention or some other shit on Netflix almost always ends up turning into either multiple episodes or a nap. Sometimes both. So from now on, the couch comes AFTER the runs.

I woke up around 7:30PM and got my ass moving. I felt pretty good for the first 2.5 miles or so, and then I literally felt like I had hit a brick wall. I don't know if I was dehydrated (I shouldn't have been, I drank 8 cups of water at work), still tired from the nap, or if I didn't fuel well enough (I guess cheddar cheese rice cakes aren't ideal, huh?) but it was miserable. I trudged through the rest of the run, wanting to walk but refusing to let myself. I finished 3.63 miles in 39:23, setting myself at a 10:50 min/mile. I was very surprised to see that I was still sub-11:00. I will definitely be sticking to my usual banana or peanut butter on bread before runs. What works, works.

Quiet night in tonight. Watching TV with the roommate and probably going to bed at a decent hour. I want to get some things done tomorrow, including a hair cut and oil change. Maybe bringing a pup or two to the park, as well. Saturday the folks are coming into town so we'll probably go out to lunch or dinner.

My 10K is in three weeks and my half marathon is in two months. Hell. Yes.

double blurrrgg.

That run was brutal. And seriously, it has taught me the lesson to never wait until noon to do my runs. It was hot, humid, and the sun was killing me. 80 degrees on New Years Eve, oh Texas. I should have brought a water bottle but I didn't. I need to figure out a way to carry one easily while I run. I felt okay physically until the end when I was just dragging to finish.

Mentally it was really hard. It wasn't the best run to end the year on. Five and a half miles and I was doubting myself quite a bit. If 5.5 miles was this hard, how am I ever going to complete the half marathon successfully? Maybe I'm in over my head. But quitting just isn't an option.

Anyways, enough pessimism. I did the run in 58:45 so I was still at a sub-11:00 min/mile and that's pretty rad. I took the dogs for a walk as my cool down.

My left shin has been hurting a little bit when I squat down. More stretching is in order.

Now I need to shower and find my zen. Happy New Year, y'all.

lots of running today.

I actually woke up at 7:30AM this morning to run. That is almost unheard of for me. I grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and was out the door by 8AM. I did my four scheduled miles, and let me tell you, today is was tough. My legs were tired and it seemed to drag. I think it's hard for me to run in the mornings. When I run in the evenings, my body is all limbered up and loose from a day of working/doing whatever. Morning runs are kind of a shock to my body. I hope they get easier! I definitely need to get my long runs done in the mornings because the race is in the morning and I want to be used to it. Plus, I need to figure out what does and does not work for fueling and whether I should eat a big meal the night before and just a small breakfast or if I need to eat more in the morning. We'll see. This run was a challenge though, both mentally and physically.

I still have the 3K to run tonight. I'm going to eat some macaroni and cheese for lunch since I'm running so much today. I've got some turkey burgers cooking right now, too.

I'll be back with another race recap later tonight or some time tomorrow.