Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Bummer...
I received a voice mail yesterday that the MADD Red Ribbon 5K was cancelled! Bummer!! I now need to find another 5K to do. There is one on 1/3 I had looked into before signing up for the MADD one. But maybe there is a 'Run in the New Year' race or something, too...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
TRI-ing a new header...
I've been green with envy, so to speak, with all the fun custom blog headers I've seen out there. So I was playing around last night and this is what I came up with.
A couple of the pictures are sort of special. The one on the left is after the finish of my very first tri - way back in June of 2000! The one on the right is after my first Ironman finish, just four and a half months ago.
I will keep this...for now!
A couple of the pictures are sort of special. The one on the left is after the finish of my very first tri - way back in June of 2000! The one on the right is after my first Ironman finish, just four and a half months ago.
I will keep this...for now!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Race Report: Blue & Gray 5K...
Yesterday morning, I drove down to Fredericksburg in a somewhat light rain for the Blue & Gray 5K. Coincidentally (not?), this was the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Fredericksburg, during the American Civil War. Very cool. My friend Carol from Team Z was down there for the half marathon and on her birthday to boot! Yay Carol! Anyway, the half marathon folks got started at 7:30 and us 5K people were going out at 7:40. I cheered Carol at the start then went to dump my warm clothes at the car before lining up for my race.
Both races were out and back and it seemed like the 5K was going to follow the same course as the half. I knew that Carol would be hitting a hill, called 'hospitalization hill' somewhere around mile 12 but did not know exactly where. Since we were following the same course I figured I'd get the same hill, but did not know...till I got out there running.
Anyway, the race started at the VA Runner store in the huge Central Park shopping area right off I-95 at exit 130B. Great store, by the way! (I found a watch that I love but don't need so I did not buy it; but I did get a fun shirt from their 50% off rack, too!) We ran through the parking lot in front of some stores for a ways then turned left then a quick right then another left to get onto a main road where most of the run was. We had kind of a small incline then we ran down the big hill. And that's when I knew I'd be running up the same hill as Carol! Of course for me it was only at mile 2. After going down the hill we made another left and went up another small incline to the turnaround at a circle. The water stop was here.
My 5K goal for this year is to run them completely and make no water stops if at all possible. I did not stop for water on Thanksgiving at the Virginia Run Turkey Trot and I did not stop for water yesterday either. It was raining, did I really need water? I almost started walking going up that hill, but instead just slowed even more... One person passed me going up that hill, so I made it a point to pass her after I got up and over it. I heard one other person catching up with me and as much as I was hurting by then I did not let her catch me and managed to sprint (for ME that is) to the finish. I was really hoping to break 30 minutes, but...I did not. However I did knock 1 minute and 37 seconds off my turkey trot time on a harder course. So I was pretty happy with that.
Official results: 30:49, 73 of 173 runners, 32 of 100 female runners, and 5 out of 11 in my age group! This was a fun race and I would do it again, or maybe consider the half marathon if trained for that distance.
Both races were out and back and it seemed like the 5K was going to follow the same course as the half. I knew that Carol would be hitting a hill, called 'hospitalization hill' somewhere around mile 12 but did not know exactly where. Since we were following the same course I figured I'd get the same hill, but did not know...till I got out there running.
Anyway, the race started at the VA Runner store in the huge Central Park shopping area right off I-95 at exit 130B. Great store, by the way! (I found a watch that I love but don't need so I did not buy it; but I did get a fun shirt from their 50% off rack, too!) We ran through the parking lot in front of some stores for a ways then turned left then a quick right then another left to get onto a main road where most of the run was. We had kind of a small incline then we ran down the big hill. And that's when I knew I'd be running up the same hill as Carol! Of course for me it was only at mile 2. After going down the hill we made another left and went up another small incline to the turnaround at a circle. The water stop was here.
My 5K goal for this year is to run them completely and make no water stops if at all possible. I did not stop for water on Thanksgiving at the Virginia Run Turkey Trot and I did not stop for water yesterday either. It was raining, did I really need water? I almost started walking going up that hill, but instead just slowed even more... One person passed me going up that hill, so I made it a point to pass her after I got up and over it. I heard one other person catching up with me and as much as I was hurting by then I did not let her catch me and managed to sprint (for ME that is) to the finish. I was really hoping to break 30 minutes, but...I did not. However I did knock 1 minute and 37 seconds off my turkey trot time on a harder course. So I was pretty happy with that.
Official results: 30:49, 73 of 173 runners, 32 of 100 female runners, and 5 out of 11 in my age group! This was a fun race and I would do it again, or maybe consider the half marathon if trained for that distance.
By the time I finished it had started raining harder so I was feeling for those half marathon folks who would still be out there for a while. Carol said she was like a drowned rat by the time she finished. Bummer. I had brought a change of clothes with me, so it was nice to get out of the wet stuff. Except I brought my crocs for shoes, and you know, they don't work sto well in the rain. My dry socks got a little damp walking around. On my way out of Central Park I stopped at Caribou Coffee for a Lite White Berry latte (mmmmm) and a white chocolate covered pretzel stick. Very nice treats for the rainy ride home!
Next up: MADD Red Ribbon 5K Run, December 31 at 4:00PM!
And I got good news this morning: I received notification that I got an entry into the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on April 11, 2010!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Mother Nature...
I wish Mother Nature would just make up her mind! A few days ago it was supposed to be sunny and 40 for Sunday...Now the forecast is for rain/snow and 40. Whatever... I'm still going to do this 5K. Even if it hurts... Oh well, at least today it is above freezing and we have just rain as opposed to freezing rain.
Last night I did manage to get on the treadmill for 2 miles. It was painful but I managed. It is better than nothing. Maybe on Thursday I'll do it again. And maybe one of these days 'it' will actually get easier. And I will feel like I'm actually moving. Or not...
Yesterday, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released to video. I'm patiently waiting for the copy I ordered on Blue Ray to arrive. Hopefully today! We just got a PS3 at home which supports Blue Ray so I cannot WAIT to watch it again. I say again because I did see it in the theater this summer. It was great fun! We had our Harry Potter marathon (DVDs 1-5) two weekends ago, so we are ready!
Last night I did manage to get on the treadmill for 2 miles. It was painful but I managed. It is better than nothing. Maybe on Thursday I'll do it again. And maybe one of these days 'it' will actually get easier. And I will feel like I'm actually moving. Or not...
Yesterday, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released to video. I'm patiently waiting for the copy I ordered on Blue Ray to arrive. Hopefully today! We just got a PS3 at home which supports Blue Ray so I cannot WAIT to watch it again. I say again because I did see it in the theater this summer. It was great fun! We had our Harry Potter marathon (DVDs 1-5) two weekends ago, so we are ready!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Bike Ride...
FAIL! Well, the bike ride was a fail because Carol and I opted to not ride due to the likely icy conditions. Bummer. The Evil Knievil jackets will have to wait for another chilly ride. Oh well, I'm still working my way slowly back to this training thing anyway. Very slowly...as I mentioned to a friend, the closest I got to running this weekend was at my son's indoor track meet on Saturday morning.
I went to help out and ended up working at the scoring table, which is a lot of fun because you see lots of action and it is near the finish line. The events are nutty at times because first, the track is only 200 meters. Then, while the main part of the track - where the finish line is - is 6 lanes wide, the curves and the far side are narrowed to 3 lanes. So for the sprint events, 55 hurdles, 55, 300, and 500 they only run about 3 runners at a time. For the 300 and 500 it gets really crazy though. The 300 is one and a half laps of the track and the 500 is two and a half. So, they do these staggered starts, and after the first set goes a half lap or one and a half laps respectively, they start another group. Nuts! The pole vaulting was pretty exciting - a boy from Lake Braddock went 15'1"! And another from LB was doing pretty well also. There were actually nine schools at the meet grouped into sets of three. My son's team - Annandale - was doing pretty well in the points standing, I think. AHS was up against Robert E. Lee and T.C. Williams. My son was happy as he earned points for his team in both the 1000 and the 4x800 relay. I don't know the final outcome as of yet, as I did not stay to the very end. I did see a familiar blogger in the crowd while I was working the scoring table. Thanks for supporting indoor track! This letter is from over a year ago, but there is still a chance indoor track will get cut next year...along with other things...like all Freshman sports. That would be a terrible thing, I think.
So, they had been calling for snow Saturday afternoon but as I found out during the meet, it had been snowing for quite a while. I did not have a scraper in my car so I had to clean my car off with a towel that I had in the trunk. My hands were freezing!!
Saturday night we had our charity toy party to go to and we were considering bailing due to the weather as we'd driven over to our friends' house, the hosts, in the snow before and knew how treacherous it could be. We were mostly worried about the temperature dropping and freezing conditions for the ride home. However, we decided to chance it but not stay late. We delivered the new kids bike we had gotten but forgot the bring the helmet...ARGH! We were bringing two crock pots with appetizers and had too much to remember. Speaking of appetizers: I made Hawaiian meatballs and teenie weenies. The teenie weenies are always a huge hit: hot dog sections that are wrapped in bacon and cooked in brown sugar. They went FAST! There were still a few meatballs when we left to go home. Anyway, we brought the helmet over to our friends' house yesterday...you can hardly tell they had a party!
Only 6 days till my next 5K...the weather is supposed to be 44 and I think sunny. Should be a nice day for a run...
I went to help out and ended up working at the scoring table, which is a lot of fun because you see lots of action and it is near the finish line. The events are nutty at times because first, the track is only 200 meters. Then, while the main part of the track - where the finish line is - is 6 lanes wide, the curves and the far side are narrowed to 3 lanes. So for the sprint events, 55 hurdles, 55, 300, and 500 they only run about 3 runners at a time. For the 300 and 500 it gets really crazy though. The 300 is one and a half laps of the track and the 500 is two and a half. So, they do these staggered starts, and after the first set goes a half lap or one and a half laps respectively, they start another group. Nuts! The pole vaulting was pretty exciting - a boy from Lake Braddock went 15'1"! And another from LB was doing pretty well also. There were actually nine schools at the meet grouped into sets of three. My son's team - Annandale - was doing pretty well in the points standing, I think. AHS was up against Robert E. Lee and T.C. Williams. My son was happy as he earned points for his team in both the 1000 and the 4x800 relay. I don't know the final outcome as of yet, as I did not stay to the very end. I did see a familiar blogger in the crowd while I was working the scoring table. Thanks for supporting indoor track! This letter is from over a year ago, but there is still a chance indoor track will get cut next year...along with other things...like all Freshman sports. That would be a terrible thing, I think.
So, they had been calling for snow Saturday afternoon but as I found out during the meet, it had been snowing for quite a while. I did not have a scraper in my car so I had to clean my car off with a towel that I had in the trunk. My hands were freezing!!
Saturday night we had our charity toy party to go to and we were considering bailing due to the weather as we'd driven over to our friends' house, the hosts, in the snow before and knew how treacherous it could be. We were mostly worried about the temperature dropping and freezing conditions for the ride home. However, we decided to chance it but not stay late. We delivered the new kids bike we had gotten but forgot the bring the helmet...ARGH! We were bringing two crock pots with appetizers and had too much to remember. Speaking of appetizers: I made Hawaiian meatballs and teenie weenies. The teenie weenies are always a huge hit: hot dog sections that are wrapped in bacon and cooked in brown sugar. They went FAST! There were still a few meatballs when we left to go home. Anyway, we brought the helmet over to our friends' house yesterday...you can hardly tell they had a party!
Only 6 days till my next 5K...the weather is supposed to be 44 and I think sunny. Should be a nice day for a run...
Friday, December 4, 2009
TGIF...
And I really am happy it is Friday. After have a short work week last week, only 3 days, coming back to 5 days was tough! I managed to run on Tuesday night - about 3.5 miles, I think. I did not run last night but plan to after work today. That is after I run an errand on my way home. I hope to get out of work by 3PM, and be home by 4:30...so I might actually get to run in the day light. What is left of it.
So, Sunday, I am currently planning to ride about 30 miles with Carol. And they are calling for the first snow of the season on Saturday beginning around dinner time. I have FUN plans for Saturday night - a toys for tots-type party at friends. This is their annual holiday event where everyone has to bring a new unopened toy. A lot of people bring bikes and we are bringing a bike AND a helmet (of course) for the first time. So the stupid snow had better not mess up our schedule!
And of course, I don't want to the stupid snow to mess up my Sunday ride. This will be the first time I wear my Ironman USA finisher's long sleeve bike jacket.
So as much as I like SOME snow...I'd rather it wait a couple of weeks. Maybe on Christmas day actually, which conveniently falls on a Friday this year. Yikes - only 3 weeks away!
So, Sunday, I am currently planning to ride about 30 miles with Carol. And they are calling for the first snow of the season on Saturday beginning around dinner time. I have FUN plans for Saturday night - a toys for tots-type party at friends. This is their annual holiday event where everyone has to bring a new unopened toy. A lot of people bring bikes and we are bringing a bike AND a helmet (of course) for the first time. So the stupid snow had better not mess up our schedule!
And of course, I don't want to the stupid snow to mess up my Sunday ride. This will be the first time I wear my Ironman USA finisher's long sleeve bike jacket.
So as much as I like SOME snow...I'd rather it wait a couple of weeks. Maybe on Christmas day actually, which conveniently falls on a Friday this year. Yikes - only 3 weeks away!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
New Year's Eve...
I am thinking of running a 5K on New Year's Eve. It starts at 4PM and is not far from my office. We usually close early on the eve of a holiday and I could just go from work. And I think a race is a good way to get my fitness New Year's Resolutions started! So...I have a few days to decide. Then it is all about planning the rest of my 2010 race calendar. Yikes!
So far for 2010, the main thing I have is in mid-May - the Columbia Triathlon, which I've done a few times before. I hope to do at least one Sprint race before that, hopefully with Team Z in April, assuming they go to Rumpass in Bumpass again. I will be rejoining them on April 1. (No foolin'!) If not, I could always plan to go on my own. Last year I missed out on the Virginia Run Sprint as I had to go out of town. I think that is the week before Columbia, so that would/could be a nice tune up to Columbia...we will see! I also need to find 5Ks for January and February. I have the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon in March.
On a positive note, my journaling is coming along...journaling of food and fitness, that is!
Happy December. Only 24 days till Christmas!
So far for 2010, the main thing I have is in mid-May - the Columbia Triathlon, which I've done a few times before. I hope to do at least one Sprint race before that, hopefully with Team Z in April, assuming they go to Rumpass in Bumpass again. I will be rejoining them on April 1. (No foolin'!) If not, I could always plan to go on my own. Last year I missed out on the Virginia Run Sprint as I had to go out of town. I think that is the week before Columbia, so that would/could be a nice tune up to Columbia...we will see! I also need to find 5Ks for January and February. I have the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon in March.
On a positive note, my journaling is coming along...journaling of food and fitness, that is!
Happy December. Only 24 days till Christmas!
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