Signed up!

Maybe the cold medicine made me loopy.

Maybe it was because I saw Aneta's post where she signed up a bunch of races in 5 minutes.

Maybe it was because it only costs $30. 

I figured, there is a more than 50% chance for me running in that. 

And so, I'm signed up for half marathon #3

 October 29, 2011.

Last year, I ran this same race and it was my first half marathon ever. 

I liked the size of the race (1500 participants)

I thought the crowd support was sweet. 

It benefits the Soaring Wings ranch for orphans and other kiddos.

And even though it was hilly, I enjoyed it tremendously.

This year, I am aiming at tackling ALL the hills. 

THEN ....

Then somehow, it struck me that October 29 is kinda long to wait to be able to run a race.

So I poked around on the Internet.

And that rainbow colored socks fanatic Ronda so easily convinced me on Facebook that I need to run a half marathon on April 10 because she is.

I'm guessing she is the more dominant running twin.

And so I am signed up for half marathon #4. 

April 10, 2011.

Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Hotel's booked too!

I was worried about the hills in this race. 

With Soaring Wings, you just get slapped hills after hills. 

For Hogeye, it looks like the hills are more gradual and conveniently placed at the start and end of the half marathon.

But hey, if I could do Soaring Wings last year with a messed up sciatica blah blah blah, I can do anything!

Maybe not PR. 

But I am sure gonna wear my big girl's panties and tackle those hills! 

Now, if only I can kick this cold away now.

Training, I guess, will start next week.
I am pumped!

Race Report: Ding Dong Days 5K Run

Race: Ding Dong Days 5K Run/Walk
Location: Dumas, Arkansas
Date: 24 July 2010
Number of Race in 2010: 3


Overview:  This was a very small local race. Packet pick-up was a breeze since there weren't a lot of participants and there were a lot of people working the race. Perfect!

Here are the goodies. My favorite? A handy-dandy Band-Aid carrier. 

The race was split into a walk-only group and a walk/run-group. Gun time was supposed to be at 7:00 (walkers) and 7:30 a.m. (runners) but we had an approximate 10-minute late start.  I haven't been running outside in the heat and humidity for a while, even though I told myself that I should do more runs outside after my last 5K. I was a little worried about being too hot and more importantly, being frustrated with feeling sticky. I warmed up the legs by jogging slowly before gun time. Nothing major. Just up and down half a block or so.

Seriously small race. I heard they have more people this year in the race than the last.  There was pretty much no crowd support. No child cheering for mom/dad. No spouse with kids cheering for their running spouse. A lady stood outside her front door after picking up her morning paper just to see what was going on.  Another lady was at her vehicle but pretty much paid no attention to what was going on. So, during the run, it felt like a regular run through the neighborhood than a race.

The course: It was through a neighborhood so there were a quite a number of turns. However, volunteers were stationed at each turn to guide the runners through the course. Apart from 1 volunteer who was more into texting on her cellphone, the others were quite diligent.  I saw a runner (with iPod) ran the wrong way and the volunteer had no idea what to do. The volunteer tried to run after the runner, but didn't manage to catch up or maybe she was just too scared to leave her station, who knows? I went the wrong way too. But it wasn't a drastic wrong way, probably about 10 or 15 steps. Probably the volunteers should actually physically direct/point to the direction where runners are supposed to be heading. But nothing major either. I think as long as the runners can hear volunteers hollering at them if they went the wrong way, it will be ok.  There was a drink station manned by one person along the halfway mark. I think it was adequate since there weren't a lot of participants. The lady manning the drink station actually ran up to runners and handed out bottles of water.  There were clear signages at every mile. Did I mention that the course was flat?

My Run: I started off kinda fast. I left my boyfriend's two tween brothers and dad behind at the start. I decided that morning when I woke up that I wanted a PR today.  I looked down at my Garmin and kept seeing a high 8:00 min/mile to mid 9:00 min/mile pace. I knew I had to slow down a little if not, I will not be able to finish it strongly. 

I did feel like stopping and walking a little to shake the stiffness out of my legs a little during the race. But I kept saying NO! to myself and kept at it. I saw a pit bullish-looking dog with a leash tied to a tree trunk as we ran past a rougher looking section of the neighborhood. The dog was barking and it didn't sound friendly.  Then, I ran past my boyfriend's teenage sister and her boyfriend (they were on the walking team). I wanted to stop but I thought that will be a bad example.  Sister has lost 15 lbs recently at a camp and is trying to incorporate activity and proper eating into her life. I don't want to give her the impression that it is OK to give up. So I kept running and put on the biggest smile I can and said "hi" to her. I probably uttered some encouraging words. Who knows? The heat and humidity fogged up my mind pretty well. 

At the 3-mile mark, a staff was using her walkie-talkie to inform her folks who's coming to the finish line. After I crossed the finish line, a lady came and took the lower portion of my bib number off. I headed to get a bottle of water. There were bananas in an ice chest for participants as well.

So, I actually came in second place, probably in my age group. It's kinda a weird age group (15-30 years old). I felt kinda silly to have mentioned that I came in second on my post right after the race. I seriously believe that probably I am the second person in that age group. What matters more to me is knowing that my running time is improving. My time, according to the Garmin, is 31:00 minutes for 3.14 miles. My last PR was 32:03 minutes. Also, I don't think they will ever post the race results or anything like that. I have no idea how to gather up that kind of information. I have been checking online for it but to no avail. :( 

I'm still working toward a sub-30 minutes 5K. What about you?   

Third 5K: Done and PRed.

Just a quick post before I go look for more food. I am so excited I needed to share this with you.

I finished my 3rd race of 2010 (a 5K) race and PRed in it. 

According to my Garmin, I finished 3.14 miles in 31 minutes.

And guess what?
I came in second place. 

Now, I know for certain it is not the overall second place. 

Maybe in my age group and gender? (it was a weird age group 15-30).
But what's important to me is I am running faster than the last race. 

I'll see if I can gather up some pictures. Who knows? 

Squire Creek Peach Festival 5K Race Report

I had a peachy good time in good ol' Ruston, LA.  Here's a recap of my grand weekend in Ruston.

Day Before 5K:

I met up with an old friend and we did our "usual" - browsing the different stores in town and eating.  Ruston, Louisiana is growing. About 8 or 9 years ago, other than a Chinese buffet restaurant, there weren't any other ethnic / international restaurants.  Now, there is a hibachi restaurant, sushi places, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. I had some pho the night before the race. Nothing says "ahhhhh" and makes my belly happy like a steamy hot bowl of pho. 

Day Of 5K:

I couldn't get to sleep. I was excited and was ready to run that race. This is my 3rd race with my running friend from J-school - Judith, and our second race this year. I got up early and drove to Wal-mart to get some bottled water at about 5-ish in the morning. Chugged down a bottle and a half between then and race.

I rode with Judith to the race site.  There were a lot of people. It seemed like if you are a runner in Ruston, you were at this race. And a lot of them looked serious. This is a college town so, there were some young, heart-healthy, vibrant youngsters. The older folks weren't shabby either. I personally know a group of retirees or older ladies who run full marathons, bike for 20-something miles, and kayak like nobody's business. I saw a lot of ladies wearing Nike's tempo shorts and quite a lot of people have some kind of Garmin watches on their wrists.  Nothing says "I'm a runner" like some tempo shorts and Garmin watches, right?

As we were making our way to the start line, I saw one of the ladies I mentioned earlier. Ms. Sandra had ran 12 miles earlier that morning with her running group, training for St. George.  I used to be Ms. Sandra's student worker when I was in college. She and 2 other ladies in the office are marathon runners.  I guess, I probably caught the running bug then, but it laid dormant in me until just recently. Her running friend took a picture of us using a cellphone and she reminded me to turn my Garmin on. She was very encouraging. She told me how glad she was to see me run this race and that she will be cheering for me at Mile #2. I love seeing a familiar face and I sure wasn't going to disappoint her.

THE RUN:
The race didn't start on the dot at 8 a.m., maybe about 5 or so minutes later. But it was fine. I was nervous and felt the urge to go tinkle. I always have that feeling when I am nervous. It was already in the 80s that morning and I could feel the humidity. I was worried because I haven't ran outside since it got warm. I knew I was going to start at a comfortable pace so I'll have enough energy at the end. My previous PR was 33:++ minutes.  I don't remember the seconds because that was before I was competitive and before I realized that every second matters.  So, this race, I wanted to PR and if I can hit 30 minutes, I would be very thrilled.

I kept a nice pace at below 10:30/mile pace for the first mile. There was an easy incline there - nothing drastic.  I wasn't familiar with this part of town or where I was going until about 0.5 mile into it where I hit the college campus. I had ran that part of the campus before so, I was aware of any uphills for that stretch. It was a nice run. I love my college campus and I was smiling as I made my happy way around the campus.

Mile #2 was a little slower than the first.  Took water from the drink station ladies at about the 1.5 mile mark, which slowed me down a tad because as I took a sip, I snorted some into my nose. Usually I don't need water but I did today because it was kinda hot. That little bit of water felt good though.  I saw Ms. Sandra around the 2.5 mile mark. She was out there, telling the runners what a great job they are doing, offering cold bottle water. Her friend was getting the sprinkler in the yard ready to provide some cool sprinkle of water.Then, came the uphill. It was definitely an incline. Not steep like the "wall" I had to scaled when I ran my last 5K trail run. But you can definitely tell, it was a hill. Instead of focusing on the top of the hill, I looked down and told myself, one step at a time and no walking.  Aneta (my virtual running buddy) and I have been doing some hill work so, I need to just run this hill. I dedicated that incline to Aneta. I didn't walk: I just kept running. And I was so very proud of myself.

Mile 3 was quite a breeze. After the hill, I made the attempt to regulate my breathing. I kept a low 10:00 / mile - something below 10:15/mile. I passed a few males and females and was running alongside a tween boy. He was slowing down and I kinda told him to keep running and how close we are.  I kept running and quickened my pace a little more and made it to the finish line. The clock/timer thing at the finish line said 32:02 and my Garmin said the same too. I turned in my name and headed to get some water and also stood in line for some yummy peach ice cream.  Hello! I ran the Peach Fest 5K. Of course I was gonna get some peach ice cream after that.

I love it. My friend, Judith, also PRed by about 2 minutes this race (31:++ minutes) and she was stoked!

Will I run this race again? YES!

Suggestion/Improvement: Move it up to 7 a.m. to avoid the heat as much as possible.

After the run, Judith and I met up with her husband and friends to watch the Peach Festival Parade. Then, we went our separate ways, cleaned up and had a lunch reunion with our former journalism school friends. The heat index was over 100 degrees F.  But we all had a great time. 

Registered

Yay! I just dropped off my second 5K registration form in the mail today.  I'm talking about the Squire Creek Louisiana Peach Festival in Ruston, La.  Did I mention that I consider Ruston as my home? I went to college there and then, back again for graduate school at Louisiana Tech University.  I love that place, that town. There are a whole lot of good nice people there with good ol' Southern hospitality.

I didn't find a map of the route, but it said on the registration form that it loops through the university campus. I am excited. I ran around the campus just once. It was after my days as a student. I ran around the campus after a 5K trail run race at a nearby park.  During that run, I wondered why haven't I started running earlier? There is a wonderful group of ladies I used to work for as a student worker who train for marathons all the time. The campus is also quite pretty.  I am really excited to be able to do this upcoming 5K with at least a friend - the one who got me started running.  This will be our 3rd 5K together and we are looking at doing a half marathon together sometime later in the winter or early next year. I love running with friends.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Ruston, La.

    

My alma mater makes delicious ice cream and the best skim milk.  I used to get an ice cream cone on Fridays after class. Their skim milk is creamy and yummy - not the diluted kind you get at the store.

A view of the university. In the spring time, we have lots of pretty tulips blooming.

Then, we have lots of roses blooming after that.

Trotting on the Treadmill with Thoughts

Trot Tally.  I find that writing my goals on a Post-It works for me when I run on the treadmill. It keeps me focused and very driven. And it keeps me safe (since I can quickly jot down the numbers instead of texting it on my phone.) I didn't plan on setting the treadmill on incline today, but I did! It kinda puts some stress on the ankle. But I needed that elevation, since this Saturday's Shamrock 5K race is definitely not on a flat terrain. Mile 1 @ 11:19/mile @ 2% incline (Plan: 11:30/mile)
Mile 2 @ 10:21/mile @ 1% incline (Plan: 10:30/mile)
Mile 3 @ 9:31/mile @ 0% incline (Plan: 9:30/mile)
Total: 3 miles in 31:43 minutes.

Thoughts.  #1 Poor Keith. His computer crashed and his work is there. He is usually diligent about saving his work on an external harddrive, so I am crossing fingers, toes, and whenever possible, my eyes that he will be able to retrieve those files.
#2: Why do my ankles ache and why do my toes go a little numb when I run? Is it because I tied my shoe laces too tightly? Any suggestions?
#3: When will the UPS truck bring my box of goodies to me?
#4: If I keep up with my schedule, I will hit 100 miles of running this weekend.

Thankful.  A good run. A sweet boyfriend. Knees that don't hurt. Fellow bloggers/runners who keep me accountable, inspired, motivated and give me such wonderful advice.  Spring break. (not in any order).

How was your Monday workout? I hope it was great!