Summer Running and Summer Salads

John and I are about to take some time off for the wedding. Ever since my area exam I've been working what I think of as regular hours on my dissertation in order to take a long period of time off this summer. My brain feels something like this Rameau tornado:

Some day I'll write a real post about my dissertation research, but you know, not right now. Suffice to say I'm ready for a break. 

In the mean time, John and I have been running a lot of miles and making a lot of salads out of Appetite for Reduction. I wanted to save the salad recipes for the summer when veggies are fresh and haven't traveled as far. So far, the salads in this book are blowing my mind. Every one of them is so good and has a dressing so delicious I could eat it with a spoon.

Above: Goddess Niçoise, with green beans, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and a delicious green dressing with chives, cilantro, and miso, among other ingredients. 

Below: Edamame Sushi Roll Salad. Holy crap, this is good. We served it with dressing on the side, and as suggested, a dish with soy sauce and a little wasabi. I dipped each bite in both and it tasted so much like sushi! The salad itself has edamame and brown rice sprinkled on lettuce, with carrots, cucumbers, avocado, and sesame seeds. And the dressing tastes a lot like the ginger dressing common in Japanese restaurants. I wanted to lick the bowl.

And, since blogging transitions are for chumps, here's some running stuff. 

This summer, I've been following the 10k training plan from Run Less, Run Faster. The point was to sort of shake things up, since I feel like I'm not really running up to my potential in races and I was getting kind of bored with my routine. I wanted to be challenged, and I'm getting my wish. Every work out has very specific time goals based on previous race times, and every single one has been HARD. But hard in a good way. I don't think I'm hurting myself and I've noticed a lot of improvement in the five weeks or so that I've been using the plan. Every run has a very definite purpose now, and it's more mentally engaging than what I was used to. 

Since I'm running a half marathon in October, I'm just using the 10k plan now to get in shape to do the half marathon plan. And it's a pretty tough 10k plan compared to what I've done. Last week's longest run was 10 miles, meant to be run at a 9:38-per-mile pace. I've been able to run most of the runs at the proscribed time, but I've taken breaks that are not part of the plan. Even though every run is specifically timed, I've tried to maintain flexibility in my attitude, since I'm just sort of training to train at this point. I just want to get used to running this way, internalizing different paces. It can be mentally grueling and difficult for a perfectionist such as myself if I take the times too literally. All the sudden a 10:00-per-mile average pace for a 9 mile run can feel like a failure because it wasn't the proscribed time. That's crazy talk and it's ultimately not helping.

In order to combat that rigidity, I decided that for my 10 mile run last week I would ditch my usual route and try a new part of town, complete with a woodsy trail system I'd never visited called Medway Forest. I ran from home to Huron College, the Anglican college affiliated with Western. There's an entrance to the trail system just behind the college. I hoped to approximate a route, based on the map and John's previous experience, that included about 2 miles on the trail system. But it's virtually impossible to know exactly how far the trail goes just by looking at the map, so I knew the route I mapped was just a guess. On top of that, trails tend to slow me down. The whole run provided a much needed refresher from the Run Less, Run Faster method. 

What was meant to be 2 miles turned out to be more like 3. Even though the trails on the map look like they kind of dead end, they are mostly connected by smaller, unofficial trails, some very rocky and some pleasantly wide and run-able. I got out my phone a couple of times to look myself up on the GPS (and snap a photo), but I knew to keep the river to my right. I eventually popped out of the trail system on Wonderland, a main drag in town, and kept going for about 5 more miles. 

I have to say, Medway Forest is kind of amazing. It's beautiful, and much bigger than it looks on the map, and the trees are tall like the ones at the Pinery. I truly felt like I was miles away from London, which was another mental escape. I definitely want to incorporate it again, maybe with the GPS watch so that I know how far I've really run.

This run was so encouraging. Running the trail portion at a slower-than-proscribed pace made the rest of the run feel amazing. I ended up taking 1:42:xx to run about 10 miles, and I'm pretty pleased with that, since I did some walking and maneuvering on the trail. I didn't feel like I'd been hit by a truck at the end of the run, and while I'm sure the cooler weather helped with that, I think it also means the new running plan is paying off. And that just gave me more motivation to get back into the plan this week! Of course, traveling for the wedding will mean some slight alterations in the plan, and at some point I have to actually switch from the 10k plan to the half marathon plan. But I'm enjoying all the fast running. Pushing myself has been so rewarding thus far.

Forest City Road Races 2013

Today was the Forest City Road Races, London's biggest day of races, including a 5k, 10k, and a half marathon. I realized this year that I've run the FCRR (5K and 10K combined) more than any other single race, and it's kind of special to me in that way. 

In 2010, John and I both did the 5k. It was right after we had both started to lose weight, and John walked most of the course. 

In 2011, it was about 40 degrees and raining. I looked and felt like a drowned rat after the 10K, and I began to think of this particular 10K course as a personal challenge. I swore I would be back to conquer it. I don't have any pictures of John from that year, but he managed to run the 5K in just over 22 minutes. 

I couldn't find any photos of 2012, probably my worst performance ever at this race. I was sick and probably should have stayed home. John didn't run at all. It's a race I guess I'd care to forget, but it's good to acknowledge that I trained well for it. A new PR just wasn't in the cards. 

This year, the conditions were perfect. About 50 degrees and partly sunny. I'm not sick. 

We arrived early for John and Ian to run the 5K. They wanted to break 20 minutes and had trained hard for it. While they warmed up by running around, I watched the group exercise warm up in the park.

 After a moment of silence for Boston, the 5K began.

I watched a 12 year old boy WIN the race (!) with a time of 18:34. I knew soon after that John and Ian wouldn't break 20. But John had a pretty amazing race. He left Ian around the 2K mark, per their contingency plan, and finished in 20:23. I saw him round the corner for the finish around 20:00 and knew he would get a new PR by close to 45 seconds - a significant drop. It was so exciting to see him finish! John was 15th over all. The 2nd place male over all was in his age group, and since they don't duplicate awards, that bumped John up to 3rd in his age group.

Ian finished about a minute later and also ran a very strong race. They have a lot to be proud of. John pointed out to me that he has actually cut his 5K time in half since the first FCRR we did in 2010. His original time was almost 40 minutes, and today is was just over 20. Amazing!

About an hour later, I ran the 10K course. My goal was to finish under 60:00 and possibly get a new PR. While it was a very strong race, I knew after a few KM that I needed to focus on finishing in under an hour and not worry about a new PR. This course is hilly and it's easy to go out to fast and then wipe out. I held strong today. When I got to the last KM, my watch read 53:XX, so I kicked into the highest gear I had left and tried to eek out the last KM in under 6 minutes. 

Here's where things got complicated. I saw 59:11 when I rounded the corner to the finish, and I thought I could just barely get there before the minute was up. I stepped across the finish mat at 1:00:00 exactly, and I know this - I saw it. However, my watch read 59:55. I started my watch when I crossed the starting mat a few seconds after the gun went off, meaning my watch time/chip time should be a few seconds less than the gun time (that's the whole purpose of the chip, really). But my chip time also said 1:00:00, and I know that cannot possibly be, since it took several seconds for me to cross the starting line. I don't know what happened, but I was disappointed to see that my official time is 1:00:00. I feel like my watch is correct. 

                                

I don't want to focus on that, though, because it was a great race for me. Most importantly, my foot did not hurt at all during the race - that's a huge victory, since it's been injured since last year's FCRR. It means that the physio exercises are working, and that massage therapy is actually allowing me to do the exercises without getting motion sick. There will be other races, and if my foot is healthy, I can actually plan on running them. It's also by far the best run I've had on this particular course. As 10K courses go, it's a tough one to try to use to PR - much hillier than the Halloween Haunting 10K where I did PR in the fall. 

Despite the timing weirdness, it was a great day at the races. Everything about FCRR is well organized and it was a pleasure to take part in this event for the fourth year in a row.

I hope to find a summer race to try, but our schedule is so busy this summer that it's somewhat unlikely to happen. Of course, that is, besides the 5K fun run that John and I have planned for the Friday before our wedding (more on that another time). It's more of a group run than a competition. I'm registered for the Indianapolis (Marathon and) Half Marathon in October, and I'll begin to focus on that in the summer.

In the mean time, I've decided to commit to trying one of the training plans in Run Less, Run Faster, since John has found it to be very helpful in developing speed. I'm not sure how strictly I will follow the plan, since I enjoy running 4 days a week, rather than the 3 it recommends. But some added structure would be helpful. I'm also considering joining the London Runner Distance Club at the recreational level, since I think a structured environment would also be helpful to me at this point. But that will have to wait until some of the first activities of the summer have passed. I'd like to improve pretty much all of my race times, but I feel like that's part of a bigger step I need to take toward all around improvement. It's not a matter of dropping a few seconds to get a new PR - I don't think I can keep getting new PRs unless something more fundamental changes. I feel like it's about the next phase of running. I just have to figure out what that looks like.

Halloween Haunting 5K/10K

Today, John and I ran the Halloween Haunting 5K and 10K, respectively, in Springbank Park. The short version of the story: it was excellent!

John was almost certain that he would PR, though he wasn't sure by how much. We huddled together until it was time for the 5K to start, since it was about 40 degrees, cloudy, and really windy. The forecast called for rain, so we brought a beach towel to use after the race. But I ended up walking around with it wrapped on my head until the 5K was over. John said I looked like I'd decided to dress up as a Muslim for Halloween - if Muslims cover their heads with beach towels with dogs printed on them. 

I think the Boston Pizza mascot faked its own death to get out of running in the 2K fun run with the kiddies. Here he is getting up, after a few minutes laying lifeless on the ground. 

                                  

After I watched the kiddies do the fun run, the first 5K finishers started coming in. I tried to get some photos of his finish, though it was tough to operate the camera with frozen, numb fingers.

                                     

I met John after the finish and confirmed that he had PR'd, with a time of 21:48! 

Then it was my turn to take off my fleece, warm pants, gloves, and dog-towel head covering, and become the IU cheerleader I've always wanted to be. I called to John before the start that my costume belonged to a faster runner, i. e., someone who would spend less time on the course than me.

John got some good pics of me at the half way point, and I tried to show some school spirit. 

During the weeks since the half marathon, I'd just been easing off the mileage, trying to do my physio exercises, and running about 1 long run per week of about 7-8 miles. The 10k distance has sort of been a thorn in my side, since I've never been able to go under an hour, despite good training. It's always taught me that race day can be unpredictable: weather, injuries, a cold, all things that have kept me from running this distance as fast as I wanted. Last week, John and I both had nasty colds, and I only ran about 5 miles for the whole week - blech. I figured that this race was just for fun, and I didn't want to worry about my time. 

But like any normal (re: crazy runner) person, I wrote down the splits for a 59:50 finish, and decided to see how I felt when I got to the race. 

Today, I think the odds were really in my favor. I just focused on one KM at a time and tried to hit the split I'd written out for myself, and for the most part, it worked really well. It was a challenging pace by the end, but I felt like I could hang in there. By about the 5K mark, I started running with this other women about my age, wearing devil horns. She and I hung together and agreed to try to finish under and hour. When we rounded the final corner and the finish line was in sight, she said, "I'm sorry," and started to pull away. I told her not to be sorry and cheered for her to go on. I thought I could probably hit the last marker without her. 

And I was right! The clock time was ahead of my watch by about 20 seconds, so the display looked as though I finished right on 60 minutes. 

But the chip time was the same as my watch: 59:38! 

                                           

So let that be a lesson: when trying to PR, pretend you don't care, lay in bed sick for 8 days, wear something freezing, and it'll totally happen!

I remembered while piecing this costume together that I once had another IU cheerleader costume. In case you happened to miss its appearance on facebook:

                                  

Based on the (fantastic) haircut, I'm guessing that's from 1989. Win. 

After the race, we used a buy one-get one free coupon I had for the Alibi and had diner-style breakfast food. Eating at places like that really hits the spot after a race!

And, side note: 

                               

Yesterday I decided to eat a big bowl of leftover spaghetti for lunch (add that to my perfect pre-race prep list). The noodles were cooked but plain, so I decided to throw on some salt, pepper, and parm for toppings. Then I remembered that we are cellaring my green tomatoes, and I went to check on them. Turns out, it totally worked! I got about 5 medium-small tomatoes for this pasta, which I just cut and threw into the pot with the noodles while they heated up. They still have that fresh, summery taste. I have three more small ones that still need to ripen up, so I'm hoping that the same magic happens to them. Cellaring tomatoes! Who knew?!

Forest City Road Races 10k, 2012

If you're my facebook friend, you probably saw yesterday that the Forest City Road Race 10K did not go as I planned - as in, I did not get a new 10K PR, I did not go below 60 minutes.

This is the third time I've run the FCRR, my second time running the 10K. It's also the 4th time I've run a 10K, and I planned my training so that going sub-60 would be a reasonable goal. A big increase in weekly mileage and longer long runs made running a fast 6 miles a lot easier, and I did two tempo runs of 6 miles in 58:48 and 59:10 respectively. In addition to the good training cycle, I got my allergies under control earlier than usual this year, and the weather was not the 40-degrees-and-raining ice bath that it was last year.

Then, on Friday night, I came down with a cold, the kind where you get the chills and a lot of congestion. All day Saturday I rested, watching season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (omg, this season...what a downer), drinking a lot of fluids, and trying to think positively. But Saturday night, I had trouble falling asleep and basically tossed and turned without getting much rest. The cold and the lack of sleep together worked pretty hard against me.

Optimistically, I wrote out a list of time goals for each KM, since they post signs by KM here instead of by miles. I kept it in my pocket during the race, and looked at it for the first half, when I was still on target to arrive around 59:30. I think that time goal was completely reasonable, had it not been for the cold.
By the 7K mark, things had started to fall apart. I walked for 4 minutes (!!!) and tried to tell myself that there wasn't much left, I could run 2 miles easily and still finish strong, even as the sub-60 goal drifted away. No dice. I would run for a few more minutes until my lungs and my legs both told me to stop. I just didn't have the energy. At this point, I'm glad I finished at all.

 As we were leaving the park, the 1K fun run was just wrapping up, and an 8 year old boy in a wheel chair was heading toward the finish line, with Ronald McDonald and Tony the Tiger running alongside him, cheering him on. At that point I decided to shut my whiny mouth.

My overwhelming feeling is that, for one reason or another, I don't think I've run a 10K up to my potential, or up to the level that I've trained for. So that's my new goal. I don't want to run the next one in 59:xx. I want it to be more like 56 or 57. That's a bigger drop, but I think I psych myself out and my caution keeps me from really running as fast as I'm able.
The other thing I keep thinking is that racing always involves risk, and that's what makes it exciting when I do PR. If everything about it went the way I planned all the time, racing would be pretty boring.


Having said all that, I'm not sure if I'll do this race again. For one reason or another, it's hard for me to feel like I've run it well, every time I've run it. The last 1.5 miles of the 10K are pretty hilly, not to mention the fact that races in Canada tend to be at least twice as expensive as races in the U.S. I guess I have almost a year to decide.

One great thing about finishing when I did was that Djillian caught up with me, so I got to see her finish. She's great at getting the crowd to cheer for her, and seeing her made me laugh just as the race was ending. Djillian kept saying that she would finish around 1:15:xx, but she was a solid 9 minutes faster than that. It was great to see her finish so strong.

April Running

Last weekend in Nashville, John and I joined Kira and her mom for the last half of their long run. Since they're training for the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, they needed to get 20 miles in. We met up with them after 10 miles and finished out the last 10 to make a new personal distance run for me, John, and Kira. The weather was 100% perfect in my book, and we ran on the Brentwood Trail in Nashville, which was shady and super green. Even though I was glad when it was over (and hungry!), I'm so glad we ran with them since it was a real confidence booster going into the end of my 10K training cycle and planning for my first half-marathon.

John had an even better experience than I did and ran around shirtless after we were finished. After he shouted, "I feel like a fucking warrior!!!" Kira kindly reminded him that there were children running around all over the place. It looks like he'll be joining me for the half in Fort Wayne, and I'm stoked that he'll be able to keep doing long runs with me.

In the short term, I have the Forest City Road Races 10K coming up in just over a week, and I'm trying to just focus on that for now. The past week involved a lot of eating out and celebratory meals (re: cake), so I've decided to go on a kind of food streak between now and then. My plan is to not eat dessert of any kind so that I eat a particularly clean diet until the race. It might not sound like much of a challenge, but I actually eat some kind of dessert pretty much every day - melted chocolate chips over berries, a piece of candy or 5, a handful of chocolate chips, etc. It adds up. I want to focus on eating well. After the race, of course, I'll go to town on one of the chocolate bunnies that my mom sent me back with. I'm really hoping to PR in this 10K, I've trained well for it, and a little change to my diet can increase my awareness that the race is coming and help me focus on good preparation. First running. Then chocolate bunnies.





















On a related note, John and I started listening to a podcast called Garden Variety Triathlon. It's written and produced by a friendly southerner who makes triathlon sound like a completely achievable and fun idea. He doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, but I've still found the information and discussions on his podcast to be interesting and helpful. I've never done a triathlon, but I have an interest in them, and his comments about running and swimming are up my alley. It's also nice to get an idea of what issues you face when you're new to the sport and just want to compete against yourself, as the author of the podcast does. Two thumbs way up.

St. John's 5K and River City Rat Race 2011

I've run two races in the past 7 days.
First, the St. John's 5K put on by my church. It's a fundraiser for their weekly meal program. The race itself is small and I was right in thinking that might enable me to win either my age group or some other prize.


























This was a really encouraging race for me. I won my age group (17-35 or something similar) and I was the second female over all to finish. I also made a significant PR - 27:23! That's a drop of about 50 seconds, and I was really pleased with it. I'm at a point now where I don't feel like I need to hold back on the start of a 5K; I can kind of just run the whole thing pretty fast (for me, at least).



























Then on the 23rd I did a the River City Rat Race 10K in Fort Wayne (where I took no pictures). John accompanied me to the start, and then met me at the finish at the Old Fort, Fort Wayne's replica of the historic fort buildings from the War of 1812. This race was definitely one of the strongest I've ever run, and I finished in 60:35 - a new PR.
Several things about it went well, in that I warmed up properly, my blisters held out until near the end, and I timed my meals so that I didn't get heartburn (kind of a common problem for me, but one I'm learning to fix). Also, the race went really close to my parents' house, so they came out and cheered just before the 4 mile mark, and that was awesome!

I'm trying to focus on those things, and the fact that - HELLO - I got a PR, but I left feeling fairly disappointed. My official goal for this race was to PR (anything below 61:13), but my unofficial, secret, obsessed-with-my-time goal was to go below 60:00. It even seemed like that was going to happen, since I accidentally went out too fast, and I ran mostly 10 minute miles after mile 2. Volunteers called out times at each mile marker, and it looked something like this (my thoughts at the time are in parentheses):
Mile 1 - 8:55 (WOW! Too fast!)
Mile 2 - 18:change (ok, better)
Mile 3 - 27:55 (why am I running so fast?)
Mile 4 - 38:00 (this might end badly)
Mile 5 - 48:00 (ok, but my brain can't do the math to calculate what is happening, but this seems very consistent...just keep moving and you will probably go below 60.)
Mile 6 - 59:change, but I didn't really hear what they said.
Then two things happened.
1. I mistakenly thought I only had .1 left (like in a 5K) when I really had .2, and I thought that I could make it. I somehow stopped thinking of fun music in my head because I think I'm almost done.
2. My blistered feet hurt. a. whole. freaking. lot. There is one final dip, downhill/uphill, and then the finish line seems farther away that it's supposed to (see above). I am not mentally prepared for what now seems like a tiny hill.

My conclusions:
- I ran the best race I could for how I trained.
- The training schedule I made up for myself was actually better suited to me running a fast 5K, and that happened the week before.
- It may not have been reasonable to assume I could run a sub-60 10K, since I've never done one in practice, and my last 6 mile run was still 63:00 or so. See above about the training plan.
- I need to find a way to get rid of those blisters, because damn.
- More than any one other problem, I kind of gave out mentally. My attitude could probably have compensated for the blister issues, fatigue, etc, but I kind of lost my focus and then it all caught up with me. Once again I learned that running is so mental. If that's the lesson I get to take home from this race, then that's ok. I know what I want to work on.

...and I got a PR.
A couple of funny things I overheard:
One of the guys around me for the last 2 miles had a radio with headphones and called out "Touch down, Bears!!!" every time they scored.
A guy behind me for the 1st three miles seemed to know every volunteer and when we passed one of them, he said, "That's (so and so), his son plays football for IU....That must be sad to watch."

Despite my own issues, this race was really fun and well organized. It wound through mostly residential streets, and
a lot of people came out to clap and cheer on their front lawns. Plus, for $25 registration I got a sweet Brooks, long-sleeved technical shirt. It's probably the last race I'll do this semester (unless I find a holiday-themed one to run!), and I have lots to think about and work on during the next few months.

Forest City Road Races 2011

About a month ago John and I ran in the Forest City Road Races. He ran a PR in the 5K and I opted for the 10K.

For pre-race fuel the night before we made this vegan Pesto Gnocchi Soup from the Post Punk Kitchen. It was a great way to get some carbs that stuck with me for the race, and it made enough for leftovers. A+.

















John and I both ran the 5K at Forest City RR last year, and the set up was pretty similar this time. The race leaves from Victoria Park in downtown London, home of the tamest squirrels I've ever seen. This one sort of looked at me as I walked by, and (because I'm weird) I said, "Hey, little buddy," and he ran right over, expecting me to have food.


























Back to the race. The 5K started at 8:30, but the 10K didn't start until 10:00 - I'm guessing to allow people the chance to run both. It was sort of an inconvenience, but by the time John finished running we only had an hour to stand around, stretch, and for me to warm up.

The camera didn't exactly cooperate, but here's a picture of the 5K start. If you look hard enough you can see John's red hair on the right hand side.


















The runners rounding the first corner. John was out of sight by the time I got this picture.
















After about 20 minutes I knew it was time to head to the finish line on a different side of the park. John wanted to beat 23 minutes and I wanted to get a picture of him.



























He was alone for a lot of the race - faster than the bulk of the runners, but not fast enough to be with the lead pack. It seemed like he was one of the first ones in - 30th over all, pretty good for a race this big. In the picture above he was gesturing to the crowd to cheer for him, and they did, especially after I yelled "GO JOOOOOOHN GOOOOOO!!!!" really loudly.

























His time was just over 22 minutes, so he accomplished his goal. But now, like you'd expect, he really wants to beat 22 minutes. His time earned him 3rd in his age group. That place didn't come with its own award in this race, but I'm still really proud of him. It's a tough race to try to place in, the biggest in town.

It rained on the 5K runners briefly, but the weather looked like it would hold out until the end of the 10k. Not so. It sprinkled while we waited to congregate at the starting line. And with about 6 or 7 minutes until the start, it really began to rain serious rain. My feet were wet before I started running. The temperature felt colder than I expected (I think it was in the lower 40s with wind), so I kept the fleece jacket on that I planned to give to John to hold. I was definitely under dressed and wished I had some gloves. My hands were numb before we even started moving. It wasn't pretty. But what are you gonna do? I don't skip training runs because of the rain, and I sure as hell wouldn't skip a race that I'd payed for and trained for for months just because it's raining. Hail, maybe. Lightening, definitely. But it was just cold and windy and raining, so we ran anyways.

Despite the wind and rain, it was still manageable. I got a nasty side stitch in the first mile, but I slowed the pace a little and it gradually went away. There were a couple of hills, but the really tough one was in the last mile, and by then I just wanted to be done, so I kept moving. My goal was to set a new PR (my old one was about 64 minutes from the Halloween Haunting) and run a strong race. When I passed the 5K mark at 30:30, I knew it would be hard to break 60 minutes (the goal at the back of my mind), but that I could still set a new PR. We wound through campus and then Gibbons Park, one of my all time favorite running spots, and it was nice to run in such a familiar setting.
Somewhere in park I met up with this women who I talked with at the starting line. She and I knew we had similar time goals, and I drafted off of her for a little while before she started a conversation. We agreed to stick together and I appreciated her so much. She suggested we take the 9th KM easy so we could go fast on the last KM, and I agreed. She said it was important to her to stick with someone as much as possible, and I told her she was helping me a lot. And that's true - I was struggling mentally more than anything, my fleece was soaked and heavy, my shoes were filled with water, I was freezing, and my allergies picked up this week so I was also fairly congested. Not ideal conditions. But with a running partner it's easier to ignore all that stuff. I know I would have run a lot slower without her.
As we rounded the corner back to Victoria Park, we agreed to start really increasing the pace at a certain spot, and I lost her before the finish line. I looked for her afterward to say thank you, but I couldn't find her, and I was too exhausted to wander around much. John walked with me through the food tent and we sat down in another so that I could re-group and get out of the rain.





The only passable picture he took after the race. John LOVES goofy pictures of me in situations like this. And I hate them.



















My time was 61:13 on my watch, and the chip time was about 15 seconds later (I think), so I was pleased. I still feel like I can do better and break 60 - or go significantly under 60 - but that goal will have to wait. Better weather would help, but crappy weather is always a possibility, so I don't like using it as an excuse. This race definitely reminded me of how it can be easier to run in the winter than in the spring. I plan to run during the comps, only 2-3 days a week, and nothing longer than 4 miles. It's not a time to focus on running, obviously, but a 30 minute exercise session is supposed to be really good for you brain, and I know that it helps me clear my head and reduce stress. So I'll run, but without a race date set afterward. There will be more 5Ks and 10Ks, and I know that sub-60 time is within my reach.


As I post this, we have 2.5 days left in the comps! They are due on Monday and I have a lot to catch up on with the blog, so I'll probably do a comps-round-up post. John and I also have some exciting plans for the rest of the summer that I'd like to write about here, too. Hope you're enjoying the summer weather!

Halloween Haunting 5K and 10K

A couple of weeks ago John and I ran in the Halloween Haunting 5K and 10K, respectively.








John told me this is his "sexy face."















Like always, I had plans to take pictures of all the runners in their costumes. I even saw a dog dressed as a bumble bee and also wearing a giant, red, bow tie. But alas, I forgot that the camera I had was missing its memory card. And so I only snapped a few photos at home after the race.



























This was my first 10K. I've run probably 10 or so 5Ks, but the 10K was a whole different animal. My friend Carla was right - it's so mental, and during the race I tried to remember how much I had mentally prepared to run for more than an hour. I tried to break the race into shorter segments, which wasn't hard given the course. This particular race course was shaped like a lollipop, and the 10K meant two laps of that lollipop, and too much repetition for my taste. Still, the weather was nice and cool, and the costumed volunteers at the aid stations did a great job of cheering.



















I was really hesitant about running this race at all about two weeks before. My left knee was giving me lots of trouble and I wasn't sure if it was smart to try to run. But about a week beforehand it seemed to improve (thanks, foam roller! I love to hate you!), and I went for it. I took about 5 or 6 walk breaks of about 2 minutes each, but I'm still pleased with my overall time - 64:13. If all goes as planned and I can train for the next one without any hitches, I'd like to break an hour. But just completing it and feeling good is my #1 goal.

















John had an excellent day at the races and finished the 5K in 23:53 (good Lord!). As I write this he's reminding me that he, too, can run faster and would like to get to a 21 minute 5K time.

What have we become? People who like to run, I guess.

The next local event isn't until late February. That should give us lots of time to train and get ready to beat our Halloween times.