Dawes 5K 2014 Recap

I've said this every time I've posted, but man, I'm so behind on keeping this thing updated! I'm thinking I'll need to do the NoBloPoMo thing to catch up with life updates. More on that to follow... Maybe...

Well, we didn't get our PR at the Dawes 5K a few weeks back. But, the surprise was phenomenal! It was a very rainy morning and the boot camp group was huddled under a grove of trees. We snuck up on mom and Kathy said, "Diane, are you ready to meet your runner?" She said yes of course and turned around to find us. It was fantastic. Totally surprised!

Then, I proceeded to be surprised at the massive hills on the course. Wowzers. I know Indiana is flat, but you don't know how flat until you run in a hilly area I guess. After a 15 minute thunderstorm delay, we got started. My thought was that we would run 1:55 quarter miles. I had used a Sharpie to write out our 1/2 mile split times on my wrist.

Well, that was all for naught as neither of our watches would get a signal. I felt really bad after a little while and wondered how slow we were going. As we passed the 1 mile mark, someone was yelling out split times. "6:55, 6:56, 6:57" No wonder I was beat! At least I had my sub-7 mile! 

After the mile mark, things started going downhill... actually, they started going uphill. There were two long hills on this course. We walked for just a little while after the first big hill. Someone at the top was telling us no more big hills and we're almost done. If you ever spectate a course, don't do this unless it is literally downhill and the finish line is in sight. There was in fact, one more hill that was not much of an incline but certainly long. And, we had about a mile left.

I sent mom ahead as I was done. She finished with a 24:37. Wow. Totally impressive! Not the PR she was gunning for but a really great time for such a tough course. I just hope I didn't hold her back!

I rolled in at a 25:12, just 6 seconds away from a PR. While I was beat and exhausted, I haven't stopped thinking about those 6 little seconds and how I could have found those somewhere along the way.

Time for the award ceremony! Mom and dad were the honorary chairpeople for the event and so dad talked for a bit and then he and mom helped hand out awards. 

Mom and Tom both took 1st place for their age divisions! Tom had a PR with 22:47. This is even more crazy since he really wasn't able to run until just the week before this race due to a stress fracture.

So proud of these two! It was a very large crowd and mom was 1st out of 13 and Tom was also 1st out of 13 in their age divisions! 

Sour grapes time for Sara... If I was disappointed with my 6 seconds from PR, I was just plain mad when I found I lost my age division by 15 seconds to someone who passed me in the last 1/2 mile. I had that. I keep thinking if I had my watch working, I would have had it. Then, I think, nope. I gave up. Even though I felt like I didn't have anything left, I could have done more. Who knows. The optimist in me says that there is always next time. The pessimist asks why I didn't try harder. 

Good thing these times really just don't matter. The important thing is that we were there and we're running and we're fit and we had a lot of fun doing it. That being said, I'm ready to try again. I know it's within reach on a flatter course. I'll keep after it and I'm sure I'll get that sub 25 one of these days! 

Running Update

In honor of my first "long" (ish) run since the Indy Mini, I thought I'd give a quick running update. (This is another one of those self-indulgent posts I write just for my own records. Feel free to ignore.) :) 

This summer, we joined the local gym as I mentioned in this post. This has meant luxurious running in the air conditioned comfort along with access to Bravo and the Real Housewives (my favorite is New York). Don't you have a treadmill in your basement you ask? Why yes. We do. But, our basement doesn't have child care (nor a TV) and I'd rather run without having to stop and break up arguments or make drinks. 

I do find it ironic that we decided to join the gym during one of the coolest summers I can remember. 

Running at the gym has allowed me focus more on some speed work. Part of the program that was set on my initial visit included an interval session on the treadmill which is super nice because it just automatically changes speed when necessary. I've also been lifting weights twice a week based on a plan the trainer said would build leg strength. (Side note: My cardio test was sky high compared to my peers. My leg strength was below average! Sounds like weights are just what I need!) 

I mentioned in the earlier gym post that I would like to clock a mile under 7 minutes. I've been working on that too. Once a week, I run three miles - each at a faster pace. I set the speed at my goal pace around 1.9 miles and then I go for it. I started at 7:42. On Thursday, I did 7:28. (Mile 1 = 8:30, Mile 2 = 8:00, Mile 3 = 7:28). And, I wasn't totally dying. I think if it were my only mile and for good reason, I could get under 7 right now. For now, I'll keep chugging away. 

It's been quite nice to log faster times and fewer miles. My ultimate hope is that by the time I start training for my fall races, my work this summer will result in faster training times even on my "easy" runs. 

Thanks to Google, I have self-diagnosed myself with achilles tendonitis however. Here's what MayoClinic.com has to say...

Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury of the Achilles (uh-KIL-eez) tendon, the band of tissue that connects calf muscles at the back of the lower leg to your heel bone.

Achilles tendinitis most commonly occurs in runners who have suddenly increased the intensity or duration of their runs. It's also common in middle-aged people who play sports, such as tennis or basketball, only on the weekends.

What?! I'm going with the first part of that description. Either way, I'm trying to pay attention to it and slow down when it bothers me. The worst part is getting out of bed in the morning. Ouch! 

I'm also going to head on over to Amazon after posting this to buy a new pair of shoes. Nothing exciting, just the same version of the pair I have now - Brooks Ghost 6. I should probably just go ahead and switch to the 7 but I know these work and they're now on sale. I realized on my run today that I've been wearing these since November which means they probably are overdue to be retired. 

I have also signed up for my third race of the year. I'll be running the Indianapolis Half-Marathon on October 18th. I did the full marathon last year and the half the year before that. I guess it's kind of becoming a tradition! My mom and I will run this one together again which will be great! And, Tom's running too. This race will be a training run for two weeks later, the Indianapolis Monumental Half, which is a new one for me. I was supposed to run it five years ago, but got pregnant with Jack instead. This is my "goal" race and the one in which I plan to get into the 1:40's. This will also be the race that rounds out my 2014 goal of 4 half marathons.  

Finally, I've been starting to think about how I will hit 5 races in 2015. Four wasn't too tough but five definitely approaches one every other month territory. So far, I'm thinking it will be something like this... February - San Diego, May - Indy Mini, September - Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania (Amish Country!), October/November - maybe the same as this year? I wish there were more races in June and July but it's just too darned hot! 

If you've stuck with me this long, I'm impressed. I think I'm finally cooled off enough from my HOT run tonight that I can finally take a shower! Until next time...

And you thought you'd seen random...

More random thoughts today. With the pace of life right now, I think (and now post) just in very short snippets.

We left the garage door open last night. We also forgot to put out trash the night before last. We also had a full trash can in the garage and two bags that didn't fit in the can so were on the floor. We also had a cat or coon destroy those two bags of trash last night.

Adding to the fun of the morning, Jack wet the bed.

After watching this video that hit the viral scene today of a kid at a talent show, I am now listening to all five Michael Jackson songs on my phone - PYT, Billie Jean, The Way You Make Me Feel, and the Man in the Mirror. And now, later in this post, I am listening to the Michael Jackson Pandora Station.

I had to change my pants after getting half way to my first meeting this morning because there were pen marks all over it. More pen marks after I changed. It kept happening until around 1:30 when I realizes an ink pen had poked through a bag and was writing on my clothes every time I carried it.

My car also just stopped driving today. About 1/2 mile from the house, it just stopped accelerating. I managed to coast into the subdivision and then couldn't get up the ever so slight hill and had to park it there. It did work in reverse though and Tom managed to drive it backward and into our driveway. Tessa actually came up with the idea at the same time as Tom. My little creative thinkers! (And yes, I had plenty of gas... we're thinking transmission... fun!)

I think it's funny that sometimes the things that bug us the most are things other people admire. Case in point... Yesterday, someone commented on my bangs and how they always just looked great and swooped to the side. My bangs are my least favorite part of my hair and I feel like I never get them "right" - mainly that I can't get them to swoop right. Here's a pic of me in Jack's Spiderman sunglasses that I wore around all day and kept forgetting to take off in public. See the bangs? These wouldn't be my favorite but maybe I'm too hard on myself... :)

I managed to lose Tom's brand new GPS watch. We found it in a stack of his workout shirts. At least I had the right idea. I did manage to organize two drawers and clean the rest of the house while searching for it. Now, if we could just find his key fob for the gym.

Speaking of the gym... we joined Hancock Wellness last week on Monday. I'm super excited about it and really like how it works which is really for another post. I've been there every day this week - Monday through Thursday - doing everything from running to yoga to weights. (It helps that the kids beg to go to the kids area.) And, I ran on Sunday. That's five days in a row. Tomorrow I rest.

I ran a 7:42 mile on the treadmill today. Someday, I'd like to break 7:00. I'm not sure I ever did that in middle school/high school track, although 6:56 does stick in my head for some reason. Why not in my 30's?

Tom and I had our 14 year anniversary this week. We've officially owned our own business together more than half of our marriage. That would be two partnerships that are tough and even tougher when added together. I think we've done a pretty darned good job. We celebrated with tacos. :) The biggest difference I've noticed between us and other couples? We have never sat at a table in a restaurant and not had something to talk about even though we share an office the size of a large bathroom and see each other all the time.

We honored our Veteran's at our local Veteran's Memorial as part of our Rotary meeting today. This is one of my favorite meetings of the year. The man playing Taps on the bugle was fantastic. It reminded me of Girl Scout Camp.

I realized today that our kids will be able to say that three out of four grandfathers served in WWII. And, the fourth wanted to serve but couldn't due to medical issues. I'm sure that has to be rare and I also know it's something of which to be very proud. This is my dad's dad, Grandpa Chuck who was in the Army.

I'm so much happier when I have a clean house. And, a clean car helps too. Cleaning the house sure shook me out of my funk tonight. I always read those little, cute quotes about how when you die, you'll wish you hadn't spent as much time cleaning, etc. etc. However, if a clean house = a happy mama, just clean. Your kids will thank you for your mental sanity. If not now, it will come later when they become parents and they finally get it.

Four more days of school. And, they can't come soon enough.

Told you it was random. It's been a long, eventful day and now, it's time for a late dinner.