Race Catch Up - PART II - Sharing the love one mile at a time.

This past summer I was training for the Rock-n-Roll Philly Half Marathon. 

This was to be my redemption race for 2 past races. 

One, the Broad Street 10miler that I pushed really hard at but was pretty unsuccessful - even though I did finish - it was just a miserable race for me. (I knew exactly why - I was undertrained - or not trained at all. Either way it was tough.)

And two, the Crawlin Crab for 2013. I felt great that race, but my buddy needed me more so my hopes of a PR just didn't happen. And most days - I'm ok with that. Running for me is about who I'm with, and not always about what I'm achieving. The fact that I can say I've run a bunch of races is pretty much a huge achievement to me. 

So all summer long, beginning in early June, I was out running. Usually this happened before I headed off to my summer job. I was up and out the door by 6am - the latest. It was a schedule that I actually stuck to. I even began to notice that I felt like crap if I didn't run. Hmmmm....must be something with those positive endorphins I hear people talk about!! 

Somewhere around August a friend of mine told me that they were walking the Crawlin Crab Half and I was more then welcome to join them if I wanted to. 

A light bulb went off! Hey! I could get Janet to run the 5k with me, walk the half and then get the awesome challenge medal! You know I LOVE the bling!! Done and done!

So I convinced Janet to run the 5k with me. 

She had been looking for a new fitness goal, so it was a win win. 

Now I just needed her to train. 

While she wasn't getting up and running at 6am with me, she was making an effort, as long as I was with her. For the month of August, we sporadically made some "training" runs. I got the extra "cross training" because I got to push my 30something pound nephew in his stroller while we did our runs. 

Not every run was great for her, but she did it. 

Most runs, we would finish her portion of the run, and then I would go run another few miles while her and Donnie played on one of the many playgrounds at Ft. Monroe. (Note to self though - don't run past a playground during your run, or you will have a very unhappy 2yr old to push!) 

Race weekend came and Janet wasn't as confident in herself as she wanted to be. School for me had started so there wasn't much running time for us, and the house was also plagued with this horrible cold. To say that morale was done would be a correct statement. 

However we pushed through and stuck to the interval plan. 

It was actually a pretty decent day for a race. 

Janet might not have been a fan of my constant motivation and she probably wanted to give in and walk at about mile 1.5, but she did it. She finished. 

She stuck to the plan. 

And she finished just  seconds over where she wanted to be. 

So for her first officially timed 5k, I was very proud of her.

And now we have a new PR to meet at a future 5k. 

Gineff and I are always looking for new running buddies! The more the merrier!

Oh - and she thought I was crazy for turning around and doing the half the next day! I probably was, but wait till you see the bling!!

Pre-race. She has no idea what's she's getting into!

Traditional post race bling selfie!

Double Trouble BLING!

Added two more to my collection after the half the next day! I swear those challenge medals just keep getting bigger and bigger!

ODU Big Blue 5k

A few weekends ago, my running buddy and I ran in the inaugural ODU Big Blue 5k.

It was in conjunction with their spring football game and their Big Blue Barbque. I'm not an ODU alum, although I did take a few classes there, so I don't have a strong affiliation to the school other then I've been on the campus a few times and have seen some concerts at their sports arena. While the whole idea of the day was great....I didn't have the time to stay for the entire days festivities. Maybe next year.

For a 5k there really shouldn't be that much to recap - however it was a pretty great day for me and the running buddy!!

My one and only complaint about the race was that there was no dry gear check. I understand the constraints. There was a BBQ to prepare for, and a football game so they needed to get the race stuff cleaned up ASAP. But it would have been nice not to have to walk from my car to pick up my race shirt and bib number, and walk all the way back to my car to put it away - and then back again to the race start. Just sayin. I'm glad that we left early enough to not have to worry about the timing. It actually worked out perfect for us.

The weather was AMAZING.....a little warm...but that's ok. I'll take warm temps over the freezing cold. I just have to give my body time to readjust to running in the heat!

The race start was actually pretty crowded. We snuck into the corral above ours, just cause there was actually some space in there.

The course ran all through the ODU campus, so there was a lot of turns. I don't particularly mind turns, it keeps things interesting. We were running at what I felt like was a comfortable pace, and when I saw the Mile 1 marker and glanced at my Garmin I almost fell over!! We were running around an 11min mile. I called back to my buddy in amazement and kept on trucking.

Ok so we slowed down to a pace that was a little more our "speed" - 

but WOW was I impressed with my first mile! 

Well, the quick mile pace was not on our side as we steadily slowed down. The heat was starting to get to us. By Mile 2 - 2.5 my buddy was dragging. But I love her to pieces cause she just keeps on trekking!  I run ahead, stop, check on her, then we start running together again....that was pretty much our cycle for the last mile. She always tells me to go faster, but I never do. I like knowing she's there. Whether she's in front of me, behind me, or right next to me.

We crossed the finish line in 37:19.
A new PR for me.....I don't think I've ever ran a chipped 5k. My goal was 36:00 - so I'll take 37:19.

Overall we enjoyed ourselves. Even with the trek back and forth and the heat!

I got to sport my new running tank from raw threads and sparkle skirt made by Janet and spend the morning running with one of my favorite people.

Ok - so these aren't the greatest pics of us but you can check out my new Little Mermaid Bow Tank from Raw Threads, and Gineff's Little Mermaid T-shirt from them too. We coordinated and didn't even know it!!

It's also only coincidence that my KT tape matched my outfit.HAHA!!

The BLING!

Up next I'm tackling the Broad Street 10 Miler in Philly with Josh and my other PA buddies. Then its time to focus on the Disney Wine & Dine!!!

Birthday Race!

Annual Birthday 5k

Sandy Bottom Park

Race agains the Odds

Last year on my birthday, my running buddy and I ran a 5k down at the ocean front. It was also when I started my blog. Granted I haven't been the most pro-active blogger  - but I'm trying. 

This year she asked me if I wanted to run another 5k around my birthday again. I happily agreed as it looks like we might have a new tradition on our hands! 

Since it was my Birthday weekend my boyfriend came down from Pennsylvania to celebrate. 

Saturday morning we made our way to  Sandy Bottom in the rain to go run a 5k that raises money to support childhood cancer. It is honor a local child who lost his battle a few years ago. 

In all honesty, if my running buddy wasn't going to be there Josh and I would've happily donated our race entry fee and rolled over and gone back to sleep. It was a chilly, rainy morning and the course was a trail run. Two of my least favorite things! Rain and mud!

But off we went.....it was just 3 miles - I could easily cough that out. 

Since Gineff was running with me, Josh took off on his own. While I know he loves to run slow with me, somedays he likes to run at his own pace.  I'm not sure if it was planned that way but the course was an easy out and back. It was nice to see Josh on his turn around. He was even a trooper and waited the extra 15-20 mins till we finished. 

It was not a chipped time race but we ran the whole thing - through the mud puddles. At one point I had to give up and just go right through the middle of it. Yuck! It was a good thing I wore my old sneakers....I was a wet muddy mess. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I am not cut out for mud. There isn't a medal big enough to get me to do anything like the Spartan or the Tough Mudder. Crawl through mud? No thanks! 

While I wasn't a fan of the weather or the muddy course, it was a nice 3 miles with two of my favorite people. A great way to start off my Birthday weekend!!

Next up.......Hot Chocolate 15k in Philly. 

Let's just hope this patella problem I've been dealing with gets better and I'm not sidelined out of any upcoming races!

Playing catch up....Glow Run, Kuddos to Janet

Ok so it's been months since I've blogged. Its not that I didn't have anything to write about. I just didn't have the time! End of the school year, starting to train for my 4th Half Marathon (eeekkk!), starting a new job, and a new relationship left little time to to sit down and put my thoughts together. I haven't baked in forever, and my craft room has become a storage closet (but that's a whole other issue!!!). I have however, been doing plenty of running. At least I have that to write about. 

So now that I've caught up on why I haven't been here....let's talk about what I've been doing. 

Glow Run 5k - May 11th, 2013

Richmond Raceway

So my twin sister Janet has been on a weight loss journey for the last few months with weight watchers.  She's been incorporating walking along with her diet. While I keep trying to persuade her to join me in my running adventures, she tells me no. I finally got her to agree to do a race with me in Richmond, but that we'd walk it. We picked the Glow Run 5k because it was close to her house and if you know Janet, you know that she loves glow necklaces and light up things. (At her wedding the only DJ giveaway she had was glow necklaces). So on a cool Saturday night in May we headed out with our new sparkle skirts (she's very handy with a sewing machine) to the Richmond Raceway.  My nephew Donnie was with us too (his first race!). 

Packet pick-up was super easy. We had Donnie's jogging stroller with us so we didn't have to worry about gear check.  We decked out his stroller in some extra glow bracelets we picked up in the target dollar section (I told you -  Janet likes glow stuff!!) and waited for the race to start. 

All the neon colors waiting for the race to start. 

The start of the race was one of the things I was disappointed in. It was supposed to start at 8:30pm, but  it wound up starting closer to 9:00pm so that the sun could go down. 

Here's me and Donnie waiting for the race to start. He sure is one cute running partner!

Janet and Donnie 

Here's all three of us! Donnie really liked the race bibs. He kept playing with them whenever one of us was standing close enough to him. Janet did a great job on the sparkle skirts too!!

The race was actually pretty fun. They had speakers set up along the route as well as "glow stations" in two of the overpasses we had to go through. The "glow stations" were equipped with black lights, a DJ and a fog machine. We thought Donnie was going to freak out about it but it turned out that he liked it. 

The next thing I was disappointed in was that when we got to the water stop - somewhere around mile 2 - they were out of water. I know we were the walking section of the race, and it wasn't that hot - but I get really frustrated when a race runs out of water!! Come on people!! You know how many people register!!  Thankfully Janet and I had our own water bottles with us.

Overall it was a fun race.

For a 5k it even came with a medal that glows in the dark! The volunteer was nice and even gave us one for Donnie. Hey - he was along for the whole thing, he deserves some bling! The size even rivals some of my half marathon medals!

I can't say that I'll ever run another glow run, but I was happy that Janet got to experience a race atmosphere and how enjoyable they can be. I think I may have convinced her to sign up for a few more. I don't think she'll be by my side at any half marathon, but she may have caught the racing bug.

This is a picture of Janet's weight loss journey so far.

I'm really proud of what she's accomplished. She keeps shrinking. Pretty soon I'm going to be back to sharing all the clothes in my closet with her. 

Way to go Janet!!

Ok hopefully I won't go MIA for another 3mo. I have a whole lot to talk about and have some fun races coming up. Not to mention my adventures with my running buddies leading up to them. 

33 - a new year - new things

So I have attempted to blog before but didn't stick with it. This time I think I might be more successful. I've include all the things that I love in my life right now. Running, crafting and baking. I don't always have time for all of them, but I squeeze them in when I can. 

My first post is going to be about my new found "hobby". Last year I took up running and while I will use the term "runner" loosely, it has become something that I can actually say that enjoy. It won't be much of a secret but I really enjoy running races for the bling. There's just something about getting a bright and shiny medal when you've run X number of miles. It makes it feel like all the sweat, pain and blisters are worth it. 

Here's my not so great recap of the 5k I ran on my 33rd Birthday. 

On the morning of my 33rd birthday, I had decided to run a 5k for the Wounded Warrior Project out a the ocean front. (I'm not going to post the link to the race since its not a stellar review but it is a good cause.) I signed up with my faithful running buddy and her hubby. Turns out her hubby couldn't make the race so we were flying solo. No biggie. We made our way down to the ocean front in the chilly late March temperatures. Which is totally not normal for this time of year. I was looking forward to showing off my new sparkly skirt my sister made me - not bundling up to run outside. We picked up our race packets and made our way back to the car to warm up and get our selves all situated. For a sport that requires so little, I feel like I'm always running down a list of "things" I need to make sure I have. Race-belt, Chapstick, phone, earbuds, GU......the list goes on and on. 

We made our way down to the race area (right by the big Neptune statue by the Hilton). For a small race it was really crowded. There wasn't any exact starting corrals, just people milling around in the park and on the boardwalk. They made an announcement that the race was about to start (6 mins after it was supposed to start). While we waited for a whistle, or a horn - nothing. Next thing I know we all started running. I was hoping to clock a new PR so I was unsure as to where the actual start line was so I didn't really know when to start my gps. I picked a good spot (I'm pretty sure there was a flag there) and started my gps. I have been running pretty consistently for the last few weeks so I felt great. My running buddy on the other hand has had a lot going on in her life and hasn't had the time to hit the pavement. While I wanted a PR, running with her is more important to me. Especially since it wasn't a chip timed race. By the time we reached the 1.5mi turn around spot both of us were sweating from the too many layers we were wearing. So it was time to de-layer and make our way back to the finish line where it was just as chaotic as the start was. There was no race clock, but a guy reading off our times from his cell phone. 

While the race was not the best for both of us, it was an absolute gorgeous day out at the ocean front.  I couldn't have picked a better person to run with on my birthday, and for such a great cause. I just hope that the next race is a bit more organized - because the turnout was great. 

This was the only picture we took at the race right before we started running. 

Now onto my next race....The Glow Run 5k in Richmond May 11th. This one I plan on brining my sister, her best friend and my nephew. And my running buddy of course!!