What a fun night! Of course, I got caught up in the excitement and went out way too fast. At one point, I noticed that I was pacing an 8 minute mile. Woah, slow down.......but I'd already kind of run out of steam....so I fought through the second mile, and part of the third, and then I kicked into high gear. I'd resolved to finish the race in under 30 minutes if it made me puke or not......so I could see the finish line and I just went for it, and I was racing the clock.
Spectators near and at the finish line knew what I was doing, and they could see the big timer, so they cheered even louder as I neared the finish line. Todd got an awesome overhead picture (to be loaded later) of me JUST getting to the finish line at (get this)......28:59. WOOHOO! So I probably crossed at 29:00 or 29:01....
A new PR!
Of course, all kinds of doubt went through my head as I was running all out during this race..."How can I run a marathon if I can't even make it through a 5k?" "WHY do I do this??" "I'm not going to be able to do a marathon with hills if this course makes me want to puke".
Not pretty, and I know the training will take care of that mentality (hopefully), but it was eye-opening for sure.
In the meantime, I'm going to revel in my success at the 5k and be proud of myself. I analyzed my form in the pictures, and you know what?? I LOOK like a runner! Holy crap! :)
So today it's off to a pool party and then home to relax and prepare for the week ahead.
Life is good.
Have a good Sunday, and happy running. :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The beat goes on
So today marked our second week of practice, and it's going really well.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been trying to settle back into "work, cross-training, running, clean the house" mode. So unfortunately, my blog can get put on the backburner. My apologies again.
So....where were we?
Ah, the 23rd....First practice and boy, what a great one. It was cloudy and cool, and humid (ugh). Almost everyone was there and it was great to feel the energy and enthusiasm of a new season. We ran a whopping 2 miles while the Seattle team (Their event is at the end of June) was doing 18!! The first-timers were all bug-eyed at that number- I remember feeling that way too. We reassured them that by the time they worked up to it, those distances wouldn't seem so bad.
Today's practice was a bit smaller, due to a communication breakdown (good Led Zeppelin song, by the way). Some people thought that it started a half hour later, so people were still trickling in as the rest of the team took off to do their 2-3 miles. I ran a little bit with the team, but turned back early so I wouldn't burn myself out.
Why, you ask? I'm running the Meet Me Downtown 5k tonight! This is the race that started it all for me last year. I saw a flier for it in 2008 (the race was on 6/7/08) and thought that it sounded like fun, so I signed up, knowing that the last 5k I ran had been about 6 years earlier. Um, yeah.....you get the idea. But wouldn't you know it, I had so much fun that I did another 5k the week after that! I was hooked. Slow, but hooked.
Then a couple weeks after that I got a flier for Team in Training and thought "huh. I remember when my co-worker ran a marathon with them and it seemed like fun....." maybe I'll go to the meeting just to see what it's all about....and yadda yadda yadda, the rest is history.
So, I paced a 10:17 mile for this race last year, with a finish time of 31:58, however that's a rough estimate. What happened at the race was interesting- so many people signed up right before or the day of, that the officials were sort of blindsided by the sheer volume of people that showed up. Not only did they run out of water at the hydration stations, but we had to STAND IN LINE to finish the race!!! So not only did I get a finish time of 31:58, but about 20 other people did as well.....I'm anxious to beat my "personal record" (sorry, trying not to snort at myself as I type that) and excited to had a little more experience under my belt! :)
Oh, and if anyone fancies themselves as a birder, I saw a beautiful bird this morning. It had a red breast and black cap/back. It wasn't a cardinal or a finch. It was probably the size of a robin, but it wasn't a robin. Any ideas?
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been trying to settle back into "work, cross-training, running, clean the house" mode. So unfortunately, my blog can get put on the backburner. My apologies again.
So....where were we?
Ah, the 23rd....First practice and boy, what a great one. It was cloudy and cool, and humid (ugh). Almost everyone was there and it was great to feel the energy and enthusiasm of a new season. We ran a whopping 2 miles while the Seattle team (Their event is at the end of June) was doing 18!! The first-timers were all bug-eyed at that number- I remember feeling that way too. We reassured them that by the time they worked up to it, those distances wouldn't seem so bad.
Today's practice was a bit smaller, due to a communication breakdown (good Led Zeppelin song, by the way). Some people thought that it started a half hour later, so people were still trickling in as the rest of the team took off to do their 2-3 miles. I ran a little bit with the team, but turned back early so I wouldn't burn myself out.
Why, you ask? I'm running the Meet Me Downtown 5k tonight! This is the race that started it all for me last year. I saw a flier for it in 2008 (the race was on 6/7/08) and thought that it sounded like fun, so I signed up, knowing that the last 5k I ran had been about 6 years earlier. Um, yeah.....you get the idea. But wouldn't you know it, I had so much fun that I did another 5k the week after that! I was hooked. Slow, but hooked.
Then a couple weeks after that I got a flier for Team in Training and thought "huh. I remember when my co-worker ran a marathon with them and it seemed like fun....." maybe I'll go to the meeting just to see what it's all about....and yadda yadda yadda, the rest is history.
So, I paced a 10:17 mile for this race last year, with a finish time of 31:58, however that's a rough estimate. What happened at the race was interesting- so many people signed up right before or the day of, that the officials were sort of blindsided by the sheer volume of people that showed up. Not only did they run out of water at the hydration stations, but we had to STAND IN LINE to finish the race!!! So not only did I get a finish time of 31:58, but about 20 other people did as well.....I'm anxious to beat my "personal record" (sorry, trying not to snort at myself as I type that) and excited to had a little more experience under my belt! :)
Oh, and if anyone fancies themselves as a birder, I saw a beautiful bird this morning. It had a red breast and black cap/back. It wasn't a cardinal or a finch. It was probably the size of a robin, but it wasn't a robin. Any ideas?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Kickoff!!!
That's right, the Fall 2009 Season for the Desert Mountain States has officially begun: GO TEAM!!!
The kickoff meeting was fantastic- we had balloons and streamers, all purple and green, and some very generous and fantastic raffle prizes, compliments of Fleet Feet and the Running Shop. Also with us were Gabbi and Gene, two of our honored teammates, who talked about their experiences with cancer and Team in Training. Gabbi is now 13 (I think, she's growing up so fast) and will celebrate here NINTH year in remission next month.
Gene is one of my personal heroes- he was diagnosed in the late seventies and is the sole survivor of his wing in the hospital when he was in treatment. Now here he is participating with the team and has signed up for the Moab Century Ride AND the Malibu Triathlon. This man is amazing- he's completed two triple crowns as well (When you do a Triathlon, Century [100+miles] and Marathon with TNT). When he spoke at the informational meeting I attended to register for the P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon, he got very emotional talking about his survival. I will never forget him yelling through his tears, "I'm not supposed to BE here!!!". Well, THAT certainly put things in perspective- it was so amazing to hear his story, and he was so brave to share it. That season he biked 107 miles in El Tour de Tucson AND ran P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll. He's a machine. And a hero.
I have quite the diverse group of mentees!! Two are training for the Nike Women's Marathon (same one I'm doing) and two are training for the Adidas Dublin Marathon. Yes, that Dublin. The one in Ireland.
The excitement is palpable and our first practice is next Saturday, the 23rd. We'll be sharing the trail with the San Diego and Seattle teams. San Diego is beginning their taper as their event is the 31st (two weeks from today!!). Next week, Seattle will be running their 18-miler in preparation for their event day on June 27th. We'll be in the upper miles soon enough!
The heat has hit us early this year- we had our first 100 degree day last week (or the week before, I can't remember). Last Saturday, we broke the record with 102. Ugh. I love the desert, don't get me wrong, but damn. It's hot.
I can't wait for practice to start! :)
The kickoff meeting was fantastic- we had balloons and streamers, all purple and green, and some very generous and fantastic raffle prizes, compliments of Fleet Feet and the Running Shop. Also with us were Gabbi and Gene, two of our honored teammates, who talked about their experiences with cancer and Team in Training. Gabbi is now 13 (I think, she's growing up so fast) and will celebrate here NINTH year in remission next month.
Gene is one of my personal heroes- he was diagnosed in the late seventies and is the sole survivor of his wing in the hospital when he was in treatment. Now here he is participating with the team and has signed up for the Moab Century Ride AND the Malibu Triathlon. This man is amazing- he's completed two triple crowns as well (When you do a Triathlon, Century [100+miles] and Marathon with TNT). When he spoke at the informational meeting I attended to register for the P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon, he got very emotional talking about his survival. I will never forget him yelling through his tears, "I'm not supposed to BE here!!!". Well, THAT certainly put things in perspective- it was so amazing to hear his story, and he was so brave to share it. That season he biked 107 miles in El Tour de Tucson AND ran P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll. He's a machine. And a hero.
I have quite the diverse group of mentees!! Two are training for the Nike Women's Marathon (same one I'm doing) and two are training for the Adidas Dublin Marathon. Yes, that Dublin. The one in Ireland.
The excitement is palpable and our first practice is next Saturday, the 23rd. We'll be sharing the trail with the San Diego and Seattle teams. San Diego is beginning their taper as their event is the 31st (two weeks from today!!). Next week, Seattle will be running their 18-miler in preparation for their event day on June 27th. We'll be in the upper miles soon enough!
The heat has hit us early this year- we had our first 100 degree day last week (or the week before, I can't remember). Last Saturday, we broke the record with 102. Ugh. I love the desert, don't get me wrong, but damn. It's hot.
I can't wait for practice to start! :)
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