Ross' Truffle Shuffle 5k

I had high hopes for the race. Ross and I were going to run it together and beat last year's times of 32 minutes. But that was before I made the very bad decision to spread hay on a field for 15 hours of my week. Friday found me in the midst of an asthma attack at work. Fortunately, my doctor's office was right down the hall and I got a prescription of Prednisone and a stern reprimand to NOT run a 5k the next day. To be honest, I still wanted to but couldn't even lay down on my back without coughing. I may be stubborn, but I'm not stupid.

To make matters worse, Ross didn't get home from work until 11pm. I told him I wasn't able to run and asked if he wanted to. He said, "we'll see." So we went to bed without an alarm but woke up by 7:30 (the race was at 8:30). I asked if he wanted to run and he said, "I guess." We hurried through breakfast and headed out to JCCC.

Ross registered, I parked, he had about 5 minutes to "warm up," and they were off.

Did I mention is was 26 degrees and "felt like" 16?!

The poor girl in the tutu was cute, but she looked colder than I was!

The race looped away from campus, but I didn't remember that about last year, so I cut through campus after the start hoping to find Ross around mile 1.5 or 2. No such luck, of course. Fortunately, I busted it back to the start/finish line and headed out on the course in time to meet Ross a little before mile 3. Still going strong!

So proud of him! After I saw him on this hill, I cut across the grass and barely met him at the finish line.

Done! In 28 minutes and 30 seconds... 4 minutes faster than last year! I'm so proud of him, especially considering the late breakfast (and thus throwing up mid-run) and the lack of warm-up in freezing weather. What a way to start the weekend.

I love you, Ross!

P.S. Apparently he wore my shoe tag, so his official results are under my name (we both registered, so we picked up both bags because hey, we paid for them). "I" got 9th place in my age group. (The first place girl ran a SUB-20 5k. Crazy.) Thanks, Ross!

Gobbler Grind 1/2 Marathon

It's been almost exactly a year since my friend Emily and I set out on a 2-3 mile run/walk in Omaha. We alternated running 1 minute and walking 1 minute.  Today, we ran our first 1/2 marathon! She got into Kansas City Saturday afternoon and my parents took Emily, Ross and I went out to lunch. Then Ross peer-pressured Emily and me into going to the Upper Crust for dessert, despite the fact that we were stuffed.

Carbo-loading

Emily and I then spent the rest of the afternoon picking up race packets and driving the race course.

Timing chip: time to make history!

This morning we got to the race start, waited in line for the porta-potties, snapped a few photos, and then, without further ado, the race began.

15 minute porta-potty line

Ross and me before the race

with Dad

with Mom

We had great spectators: my mom and dad, Ross, and Emily's mom were all cheering for us out on the course. Ross was a spectator extraordinaire, popping up in random places with his big smile and his purple TCU shirt (Emily and I are both Horned Frog alumni).

Nervous! I like how we each have one earbud in, too.

 

During the first 5k

The weather report kept changing the week before the race, but we ended up having great weather! 50-60 degrees and cloudy, but no rain. The only thing that could've been better was if the wind wasn't blowing at 15-20mph. But most of the time we were between enough tree cover it didn't matter. It did matter, though, between miles 6-8 when we were running uphill into a headwind.

Emily looking good after mile 6, when the uphills and headwind began

Happy to see Ross at the halfway point!

I took Cliff Shots around mile 4, mile 7.5, and mile 10. And I'm so glad I brought my water bottle because the water stops were few and far between. Mile 3-4 was rough for me because that's when we left the spectators and got on the trail. Reality sank in and I felt a little overwhelmed. It was so great to see Ross around mile 6.5 because I knew I was halfway done and I also needed a little boost headed into what I knew would be a tough few miles. It really wasn't that bad, though, because Ross kept popping up every 0.5-1 miles between miles 6.5 and 9. It made the time pass quickly.

Emily booking it.

Me finally headed into the downhill/tailwind portion!

When I hit mile 10, I felt pretty good and started to speed up. Some great songs came up on my iPod shuffle and the end was near. I may have sped up a little too soon, because by mile 11 my quads were complaining and my legs were getting pretty tired. I took it easy for 5 minutes and then started to psych myself up again.  

Then at mile 11.8, I just lost all my wind. A runner had collapsed and the paramedics were doing CPR. Chest compressions and everything. I wanted to throw up, cry, hyperventilate, and quit. I felt so superficial for worrying about my finish time and I just wanted to go find that man's family. I think the entire "pack" I was kind of running in felt the same way. Suddenly lots of people were walking.

But that last mile I realized the only way I could stop running was just push through to the end, so I did.

Emily's awesome finish

My finish. Sort of. Apparently I quit running at the marathon finish and not the half marathon finish. Lame.

I had a hard time pushing myself after seeing someone needing CPR and somehow, even though I only finished 2 hours ago, that's my most vivid memory from the race. When I did finish, everyone was congratulating me and was so excited and I just broke down. Not because I was so happy to be done or so overwhelmed with our accomplishment, but because it's all I had wanted to do since seeing that runner on the ground surrounded by paramedics.

I realize I have no control over that man's fate, and I'm not sure what the outcome was. All I can do right now is be so thankful that I am surrounded by such selfless people (standing outside for 2 1/2 hours on a cloudy, windy November morning is not most people's idea of a good time). Mom, Dad, Ross: I can't emphasize enough how thankful I am that you were there to cheer me on and I know that whatever I do, you'll be there to support me. I hope I am able to return the favor! And Emily, WE DID IT!

13.1 miles- conquered!

Perfect Day for a 10k

Note to self: Remember this feeling. This is what it feels like to set a goal, train appropriately, and exceed your own expectations! It helps that this morning presented us with perfect running weather (50 degrees and mostly cloudy) and a great course (gently rolling hills, but more or less downhill for the second half).

My dad decided to run the Omaha Marathon 10k today, too, and my mom offered to be a spectator extraordinaire and wake up at 5am with us.

I couldn't stop smiling for the last 0.2 miles of the race this morning! I hit mile six, saw that I had a gradual downhill to the finish line, and I started accelerating. I passed the one girl in front of me at the time and strode through the finish line grinning from ear to ear!

My unofficial finish was 6.25 miles in 1 hour 4 minutes and 37 seconds. We'll see what my chip actually says. This race was perfectly distanced- every mile marker was spot on with what my Garmin said (I just stopped the distance and timer a bit after crossing the finish line).

I don't think it's facetious to say that this was the best race of my life! I'm only competing with myself, so to finish below my goal time and feeling great is all I could ask for.

10k: September 26, 2010 done!
1/2 Marathon: November 21, 2010
Marathon: February 27, 2011

Edited to add:

The official results are up and we did great!

My dad wanted to finish in less than an hour and he was SO close... 1 hour and 8 seconds! He came in 6th out of 13 men in his age group. I'm so proud of him!

I was hoping for sub-70-minutes (with a pipe dream of sub-65) and I officially finished in 1 hour 4 minutes and 29 seconds. 40th out of 89 women in my division. Placing in the top half?! Not too shabby for me!

P.S. The first place half-marathoner finished shortly after us in 1 hour 9 minutes. I can't imagine running that fast.

Dad's Omaha Triathlon

I was so glad Ben's wedding weekend coincided with my dad's first Olympic triathlon today!  FYI Olympic distance means a 1.5 km (0.93 mile) swim, 40 km (24.8 mile) bike, and 10 km (6.2 mile) swim. The swim started early (6:15am), luckily we found my dad right before the race started.

About 5 seconds after this, he realized his wetsuit was on backwards

Luckily he got it fixed before he got in the water

It was a nice morning, and I'm sure the swimmers were a little chilly at first. My dad had steam coming off of him during his first transition!

Going strong after the swim!

T 1

Headed out for the bike ride

The bike course was hilly and the sun was out in full force. Not a cloud in the sky! I walked about a mile out on the course to see my dad over the last big hill. You know it's a hilly course when you shout, "Good job, last hill!" and people look at you with big, hopeful eyes and gasp, "Really? You're not joking?!"

Fighting the hill

All downhill from here (until the run at least!)

Sadly, we couldn't really go out onto the run course to cheer, but my dad said they had water stations every mile so hopefully they cheered the athletes on.  I didn't recognize my dad coming up the hill at first, and then I kept missing him with the camera. But I finally got a good shot. He finished strong!

I'm so proud of you dad! What an inspirational race.

The sun was cooking by this point. 80 degrees at 9am. Finishers were no longer soaked with lake water. It was all sweat!

In good spirits, trying to cool off

At my wedding reception, my dad gave a great speech and at one point he said, "I'm so proud of you. If pride is a sin, I'm going straight to hell." For the record, I think it's vanity that's a sin, and I'm just as proud of you, Dad, for not only finishing your triathlon, but finishing within your goal time this morning! You did more before 9:30am than most people do all week.

Run the Good Race 5k

I've been feeling much more confident on my runs lately, so I signed up for the Run the Good Race 5k today and thought THIS will be the day I run 3.1 miles without walking! Close, but not quite. I also wanted to finish in less than 33 minutes. Didn't do that either.

It was 80 degrees with 75% humidity this morning, but I didn't care about that. I warmed up and stretched a bit to work off some nervous energy. Ross took pictures to entertain himself since he wasn't running.

The first mile was mostly downhill. I felt great and kept having to slow myself down! Mile one took 10 minutes and 17 seconds and it felt easy! I was scared, though, because I knew what goes down must come up.

The second mile was pretty much level, but by then I started to feel Thursday's workout as my quads tightened up. It was some rough going between miles 1.7-2.0 but I still felt strong. Ran it in 10 minutes and 54 seconds. I was on track for a new personal record (well, at least a new post-high school record)!

But that third mile was almost all uphill! By about 2.5 miles, my pace had slowed to 12:30/mile. I told myself I didn't care about time anymore, just to keep running. But by 2.75 miles, I disappointed myself by walking for about 45 seconds. My legs felt like bricks and I could see that it was all uphill to the finish line! I completed mile 3 in 11 minutes and 31 seconds.

And then that last 0.15 miles took me a minute and 47 seconds! During which some guy I'd passed a while back (he was walking) broke all runner's etiquette and started to jog as we rounded the last corner, cutting me off. He continued to swerve around in front of me, crossing the finish line about 5 seconds ahead of me, and then he STOPPED IN THE CHUTE! Blah. Not quite the victorious day I thought it was going to be. But I keep reminding myself, I've come so far!

My goal of running 3 miles without walking may not coincide with an official 5k, but it will come in the next few weeks, and it will be a huge confidence-boosting milestone!

Girls on the Run 5k

I didn't leave work until 9pm yesterday and I was proud of myself for not crying until I got into my car after 15 crazy hours. It's a bad day when the best thing about it was that you didn't cry in front of your co-workers! I miss the days when I loved my job. Now I'm starting to dread going to work.

Ross was certainly dreading work this morning. He had to man the door during Old Navy's $1 flip-flop sale. Last year they had to call the cops 3 times because things got so out of hand! Apparently people lose all control during this sale. Let's remind ourselves that normally Old Navy flip flops are 2 for $5, so you're really just saving $1.50 on a chunk of plastic, and this sale limits you to 5 pairs per person for a total savings of $7.50. Yes I wear and love my cheap-o flip-flops, but I don't think I'd wait in a line that wraps around the store to get them. Ross doesn't get upset about work that often. I usually ask him how work was and he says, "work-y." But this afternoon when he came home for lunch, he had a few other choice words in his answer!

While he dealt with difficult customers, I made a last-minute decision to run the Girls on the Run 5k this morning. I was hoping to beat my Truffle Shuffle time and run a sub-32 minute race, but instead I finished in 32:58. Not terrible, considering I didn't have my long-legged running buddy (Ross) with me.

I walked 1 minute at mile 1, 1 minute at mile 2, and 1 minute at mile 2.5. I ran the first mile without stopping in 9:59! After that you have to factor in the walking, but I also know I slowed down a bit. Mile 2 was 10:42 and Mile 3 was 11:01. Mile 0.14 was 1:16. I'm happy with my time because I know I was pushing myself and I also have to factor in the heat that I'm no longer used to. (But I am glad summer seems to be arriving after all... April showers lasted a good 2 months here).

The 5k "route" was a glorified 2 laps around a parking lot, so I wasn't too into the race itself, but Girls on the Run sounds like a really cool program! I may look into being a volunteer coach this fall to give me something to do on my days off.

*Running to him was real; the way he did it was the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free.* –from Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.

Truffle Shuffle 5k

Ross and I ran the Truffle Shuffle 5k this past Saturday and no, I still don't know why it's called the truffle shuffle! The t-shirts had a mushroom truffle on them, but our goodie bag had a chocolate truffle, so who knows?!

Getting ready to run, hoping for no rain

The weather forecast was low-40s with 60% chance of precipitation. We woke up to overcast skies, but the rain never did come! The temperature was hard to start out in, but it was perfect by the time we were warmed up and done with the race.

Waiting in the warm car

Before the race

The run started at 8:30am and we ran our first mile in exactly 10 minutes! The second mile was about 10 minutes and 10 seconds. The last 1.1 mile took us 11 minutes and 50 seconds, but we walked for a minute around mile 2.5 to stretch our muscles after bunch of rolling hills, twists, and turns.

Starting out

Ross

I promise I am actually having fun!

Cute spectator

We finished 3.1 miles in exactly 32 minutes! I know it's not crazy-fast, but it's a perfectly respectable time and I'm quite proud of it. Ross came in 9th place among men in his age group and I came in 18th place among women in my age group. That put us both in the middle of the pack, which we're perfectly happy with!

Great post-race snack!

This was Ross' first 5k and now he has the bug. Next on tap: Lynn Electric Kansas 5k in Lawrence on April 18.