Why?

Why do I feel that every 5k I run will be "the one"? This will be the one where I will for SURE break the 30 minute mark...I know it! I'm always wrong! Today was no different. I felt so good this morning...I had a plan...I knew I was going to do it. I should have watched the weather channel!

We got up this morning and I was ready to go. I was excited. My feet had stopped hurting, even though I had to do 5 miles on the elliptical on Thursday because my toes hurt so bad I couldn't run on the treadmill. (I got some pretty ugly blisters from the Cowtown run!). I felt GOOD! We headed out the door and on the road to the race. I thought this one would go pretty good since I was familiar with the course and should know more about how to run it - take note of the word SHOULD.

We got there in time to pick up our timing chips and make our way to the start-line to watch some of our friends make the "fun run" start. We watched the runners and walkers take off and enjoyed visiting with some of my co-workers from school. They were there to walk the 5K. Once all the walkers were done we made our way for the start line. I asked Rick if he was going to run with me or "go for it". He grinned - I told him to go for it...I'd meet him at the finish - after all, I had my own plan for this one!

I felt like since I had done so well at the first 5k this year, that if I could do the first mile in just under 10:00/M I would make my goal. The gun went off and off we went. When we turned the first corner and headed into the downhill (that would be an uphill on the way back) I glanced at Garmin and knew I was in trouble...the first digit in my time was an 8! No way I could keep up that pace...no way I should be anywhere NEAR that pace, LOL. I tried to slow down a little and watched Rick get farther and farther ahead of me. At the end of the first mile I was ahead of the time I wanted, but I was still feeling pretty good. The 1/2 way mark of this race is the turn onto a major roadway, Exchange. I was feeling good here too, although the wind was blowing pretty good it was from the side. I was beginning to tire and my Garmin was telling me about it as I was seeing the number 10 way too often. Then it happened. We turned back in front of the Natatorium, on Riverside, I think, and we were running into the wind. It was a killer. I think it was blowing even harder than in Ft. Worth the week before. I was already slowing down too much and this certainlly wasn't helping...you'd think I'd learn eventuallly wouldn't you?!? I kept putting one foot in front of the other hoping against hope I wouldn't have to walk - after all, I had run 11 miles without walking just a week ago, I should be able to do a measly 3 miles today, right? WRONG! It did help when I glanced ahead from the second water stop to see Rick ahead on the bridge walking....I didn't make it quite that far. I walked the water stop, ran, walked, ran, walked, and so on for the rest of the race. I was on my pace all the way to 2.5 miles...I would have at least done a 30 minute race - but it was not to be...once again the hills and the wind were out to stop me from reaching my goal. It was a real bummer when I saw a co-worker from last year running. I said Hi, she asked me how I was doing and I told her I was running behind my pace...she told me this was her first race ever and I congratulated her. We stayed pretty close together for a while although I pulled away on the steeper part of the small hill. We were less than 1/10th of a mile from the finish when she passed me and made me look like I was standing still...very demoralizing, even if she is more than 20 years younger than me! I finished in about 32:23...even though at 2.67 miles I had a time of 26:41. The wind just takes it out of you, specially when you are going uphill at the end of a race!

My splits were unimpressive this race:

Mile 1 - 9:37

Mile 2 - 10:15

Mile 3 - 11:13

Can you tell where I was running with the wind, and where I was running against it? LOL

I told Rick that I think we didn't have nearly enough recovery time from the Cowtown either...my legs felt like lead after the first mile and a half...although that is better than the last time...maybe I am getting stronger. Anyway, after the race we talked about how we felt and we both agreed that we felt worn from the race the week before, we started out WAY too fast, and that the wind had a real impact for the run. I also decided that making goals for myself at least may be a mistake. I had no goal for the Cowtown other than finishing - and I had a PR...I think that I may keep myself from reaching a time goal subconciously, because I would just have to set another, faster goal if I met that one - so for the next few races I'm just going to go at it like it is just another run for fun, no goal in mind and see what happens....

wish me luck!

Cowtown 1/2

Well, its over and we did it! I wasn't sure how this one was going to go but it was MUCH better than expected.

We got up at about 3:30 and got ready to go. It was COLD outside and while I was making the bed I could hear the wind howling. I told Rick - this isn't going to be pretty! We finished getting dressed, double checked all our gear, and headed to the car. We were on the road by 4:04 AM. We got to Chris and Candy's about 4:45 (a little early, which is on time for us, lol) and went in while Candy got the kids up. The girls elected to sleep in their clothes so that they could get a few more minutes of precious sleep in the morning! We gave them the hats and gloves we had bought for them and headed for the car. By the way, Peyton looked so cute in his new "Superman" attire! After stopping for the traditional coffee (and juice and donuts for the kids) we were on the road to Ft. Worth.

Getting there was MUCH easier this year. In fact Rick was quite surprised when we first pulled up to the parking garage. There really wasn't any traffic to speak of. We all pulled on the coats and hats and bundled Peyton in the stroller with extra blankets and went to find the registration table. Got our bibs and headed to the shirt table to get the shirts, then of course Memaw had to check out the porta potties...did I mention we stopped for coffee in Lewisville, LOL. As soon as everyone was ready we went back to the parking garage to put on our bibs and D-tags. (The D-tags are the newest form of timing chips. They are disposible so there is no big back-up at the finish line waiting for someone to cut off the chip, and directors don't have to pay for those that are lost because someone walked off with it still on their shoe.) We went back to the garage to do this because it was about 40 degrees outside with a windchill in the 20's! It was COLD!

We waited in the garage until about 15 minutes to start time. Chris was running the 10K so his starting area was different from ours for the 1/2 marathon. We were also looking for Granny (Chris's mom) who was going to walk with the girls in the 5K. After another quick stop we tried making our way to the start. Can I say crowded. We got to a certain point - we could hear the speaker telling us there were only minutes to go, but we couldn't move at all. Rick could at least see and tell me what was going on, but I couldn't see anything but people's backs.

The gun went off and.......we waited. It seemed like forever. Then there was movement ahead of us, a parting of the crowd and I could see the people walking to the start in front of us...they were on another street! I was soooo confused. How close were we? Were we past the official start pad that we had to cross? Were we going to have to back-track? I was trying to ask Rick, but he already had his headphones in and couldn't hear me. We finally started moving and I saw that we had been stopped behind a barricade that had been pushed aside. Once we actually got onto the street we were almost at the start line and off we went! It was actually a pretty smooth start for the number of people running. There were over 3700 in the 1/2 marathon.

We took off at a fairly slow pace. I was glad Rick was staying with me at the beginning. We usually get separated pretty quickly. He runs much quicker than I do. I wanted to keep about an 11:00/M pace for this race. I knew if I did that then I would beat my time from the DRC 1/2 in November. Even though we didn't officially set any specific goals for this race this year since our training had been "off", you still ALWAYS want to beat your best time, LOL.

I remember looking down at the Garmin at the 0.6 mile mark and yelling over to Rick, "Only 12.5 miles to go!" There was another runner just to the right of us that groaned, "Don't say that, is that really true?". We were laughing and joking about how we were almost to the finish with only that little distance to go...runners are a fun bunch! He sped up and went around us, but we kept to our pace.

Then next "big" memory for me is just past that point, as we came to the top of that small hill, and crossing of a major intersection. As we topped the hill the wind came blowing right at us. It was hard (gusts of about 30mph) and cold. You could hear the crowd ahead of us gasp as it hit them...we gasped too....it literally took your breath away! We pushed on.

At mile 3 I took my first gu pack. I know I need to take them at about every 3 miles for the majority of the race to keep my muscles from locking up. This is where the Garmin really helps me. (Well, that and keeping my pace fairly steady.) At mile 4 there were people to call out the time...Rick couldn't believe we were only at mile 4! I was finally warming up a little and elected to take off my sweat jacket and tie it around my waist. At mile 6 I reached for my next gu and knew I was in trouble...ALL MY GU WAS GONE! I guess the bouncing around of the jacket tied around my waist knocked it right out of my pockets. Every single packet was gone. I yelled at Rick and told him what had happened (after he pulled his headphones out of his ear) and he offered me his supply of gu.

At mile 7.6 we hit another hill. The bad part of this one was that not only did we hit another hill, but this hill was going straight into the wind! Uphill and into the wind....NOT a good combination! The next vivid memory for me is on up the course about a mile or so when we hit "Hawkeye's Hill". Hawkeye is a local radio disc jockey who was running in the race. At the bottom of the hill there was a sign telling us we were at his hill. At the turn there was another sign...Hawkeye has already been by, but he wishes you the best of luck in the race. Then a final sign, Good luck from the Big 96.3.

I was really feeling pretty good, even as we entered mile 10. The legs felt good, my breathing was good, our pace was good. I was beginning to believe we were going to REALLY beat my best time! Then we came to mile 11.

Mile 11 was just around a turn in the course. Uphill. Into the wind. By now, as you can imagine, with only two miles to go, we were pretty tired anyway. As I bent forward to lean into the wind my back just locked up and started having spasms. It hurt sooooo bad. I looked at Rick and was about to cry because I knew I was going to have to walk up the hill. I wouldn't have been so crushed if we hadn't been having such a great race up to that point. If we had been having problems because our training for this one had been less than for the DRC I think I would have been OK with it. But I felt good! I felt like if it had JUST been the wind, or if it had JUST been a hill I would have been OK.....but the combination of the two, that close to the end of the race was just too much for my poor old back. We walked up the hill and once at the top took off running again. There was only one more hill and I had to walk just a little of it and then it was on to the finish line.

This is always an amazing part of the race for me. There were crowds of people waiting for their friends and family to come by and they were cheering every runner on. As we neared the last turn there was a group yelling out, "You are almost there...this turn and then the straightaway to the finish line. You can DO it!" Then we turned the corner and you could SEE the finish. I was really focused on the fact that we only had .17 miles to go when I heard, "GO CJ, GO RICK, YOU CAN DO IT!" I glanced over to the side of the road and there was Candy and Peyton. She told us she would meet us at the food tents.

Rick and I crossed the finish line together. Yes, he stayed with me the entire race - even though I know at the end it was all he could do not to keep going. I do appreciate that. I know it helps him when he stays with me at the beginning, because I can help him slow down his pace at the start....but he could also pick up the pace for the last couple of miles, and this race I just couldn't do that with him.

We finished with a time of 2:25:39. Close to a minute faster than the DRC. The medals are awsome! The feeling of finishing - even better!!

Twas The Night Before Cowtown

Twas the night before Cowtown and all through the house
Not a creature was ready - not even our mouse.
The stockings were laid out on the dresser with care
In hopes we could find them the next morning to wear.
I wished I were snuggled all warm in my bed,
where visions of medals could dance in my head.
Pepaw in his sweats, and I in my gown
were stilll laying out Nike attire all around!
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
We went running in to see what was the matter.
There was no moon, or new fallen snow
to give a luster to objects below,
But what to our wondering eyes did appear,
But Winston the BIG dog shedding more hair!
It lay on the lawn all fluffy and white,
we looked at each other and said, "That's not right!
Come quickly I said to a tired Pepaw,
We still have to load songs on both the Ipods!
So I loaded my purple and he loaded his black,
and we put them together on top of the stack.
I double checked Garmin to make sure it was charged
then let Winston in from out in the yard.
We were nearly ready with each item in place,
So we tell you now....."Hope it is a GREAT RACE!"

One week to go

We have only one more week to ready ourselves for the Cowtown 1/2 marathon. I don't feel ready this time. We haven't run as far as we did for the DRC 1/2 last November. We have been doing a lot of hill running this time, so I feel a little more prepared if there are hills...I also feel a little faster on the shorter runs. THAT will remain to be seen.

I am excited about the run next Saturday - it will once again be a family affair with Chris, Candy, the grandkids, Cotton, Rick and I all going to the race. Cotton, Chris, Rick and I will all be running and Candy and the kids will hold our gear and enjoy the festivities until after the run. Tradition says we then go out to lunch together.

My goal for this race is to simply finish. As I said above, I don't feel real ready - I know I probably won't be as fast - but I also know I can go the distance!

You'll notice that I added another run after this one. The Allen Eagle 5K. This is to support the Allen Foundation of schools which benefits students and teachers of the school district I teach in. They give scholarships to both students and teachers, as well as grants to teachers to help with the expenses of teaching... A wonderful organization and one that I continue to support! Rick will be running with me too, and my goal in this one is (of course) a sub 30 minute time. It is chip timed this time, so a good possibility for me to be successful and show it!

That's all for now - I'll post again after the race!

Great Day!

Today was a great running day for a couple of reasons! The first was that Rick and I both met our January challenge of running 75 miles in one month. Rick's doesn't show that he did it because his iPod gave up the ghost and it took him two runs to figure out it was shot before he got a new one. He is now the proud owner of a 4th generation iPod! Anyway, that being said Rick ran 77.04 miles in the month of January, and I ran 77.34 miles. It was a fun challenge and helped keep us focused through the blustery month of January.

The second reason was that today was the DRC Tal Morrison Classic 5K/15K. It is a run sponsored by the running club Cotton signed us up for as our Christmas present. It is for a really good cause - scholorships! We chose to run the 5K this time.
We got up about 5:45 this morning and got ready to go out to White Rock Lake. We got to the race start at about 7:15 or so and headed up to Winfrey Point to get our bibs and pick up our new members running shirts. Then it was back to the car to put the shirts away, LOL. By the time we got back it was time for the final rest break before the race. We ran into Cotton's first grade teacher again and said hello and then I stood in line for a bit. We got down to the start line just in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, this is NOT a chip timed event so I pretty much knew I wasn't going to break my 30 minute mark on this one, as bad as I wanted it and as hard as I've been working to get there it wasn't going to be this particular race today.
The temperature was in the high 30's by race time at 8:00 ~ pretty cold, but fairly decent running weather in all...no wind to speak of. The gun went off and we (along with the other 600 or so runners) headed across the line. It took us a bit to get there. I hit the Garmin at the start so I'd have a pretty good record of the race for myself anyway. It was a slow go at the beginning, as with all races. No one was walking ahead of us this time though - and that was nice! We all started off at a pretty gentle pace and by the time I got a chance to look at Garmin we had done about .25 miles and were on a 10:00 minute/mile pace. Not too bad - I actually wanted to start out slow this time to see if it would help me at the end of the race. Rick stayed right with me and we just kept chugging along. I felt really good and I was starting to warm up a little as we ran. I looked down at mile one and we ran the entire first mile in 10:10, even with the slow start! I saw a glimmer of hope to make my goal!
We kept running and before I knew it Rick was tapping my arm and telling me there was a water stop up ahead. I moved over, grabbed a glass, took a couple of gulps without stopping and caught up with Rick again. It was so funny because I came up on his left side just as he was glancing over his right shoulder to look for me. I tapped him on his arm so he would know I was there and we picked up the pace again. It was time for the turn-around...we were 1/2 way done and I was still feeling good ~ in fact my hands were finally warming up!
The second half was even better than the first. There weren't as many people in front of us and they were more spread out so it was easier to keep our pace up. I kept trying to find runners I thought I could pass and really focusing on doing that. As we reached mile 2 I looked at the Garmin and it told me we had just completed the second mile with a 9:38 splilt time! Told you I was feeling good! Our overall Garmin time now was now 19:50...we were under 10 minute mile pace! I was amazed to say the least...things were looking good!
At about this point the young man we were running behind (I figure he must have been about 10 or so) just hit his wall. He had been running with a nice steady pace - right at the same pace Rick and I were running - but all of a sudden he just shook his head and slowed down to a walk...I felt bad for him as we passed him and kept on going. This is one of the few times I have actually passed a "kid"...they are usually FAST and pass me like I'm standing still!
As we ran the final 3.1 miles I was able to appreciate the beauty of the surroundings. The lake was awesome, and the wooded areas as beautiful as ever. The day was perfect! I kept seeing landmarks that brought back memories of our early morning training runs for the 1/2 marathon we ran back in November. We really need to get back to running outside to train for our 1/2 next month...
We hit the 2.5 mile marker and I was feeling better than I have in any race I have run so far. My legs still felt good, I was still relaxed, I didn't feel like I needed fluids, and my breathing wasn't too labored. I knew this was going to be a good one! Our final full mile split was 9:13! I think that is about the fastest full mile I have run since we started! That gave us a time of 29:03 for the full 3 miles ~ SURELY I would finish the race at under 30 minutes....only 1/10 of a mile to go....We picked up the pace and kept going towards the finish. As soon as we crossed the line I turned off the Garmin and looked at my final result...30:25!!! How could that be??? I looked over at the distance and saw not 3.10 miles, but 3.16 miles...could .06 miles make that big a difference? As soon as I got the opportunity I looked at what we had run the last .16 miles at...1:20! So close! We think our "official clock time" was right at 31:00 minutes, but we aren't sure, and the results haven't been posted yet. When I got home I hooked everything up and checked our time on SportTracks. We actually did the 3.1 official miles in ~ drum roll please ~ 29:54! That is :03 seconds faster than my fastest recorded 5K race time! HAH! I KNEW this race felt good!!!
Anyway...it is back to training tomorrow. Now we are working on the cowtown 1/2 marathon, only 4 weeks away! I'm looking forward to that one too!

We're Still At It

Yes we are....we are still running several times a week. We did have a little break last weekend, but we were right back on the treadmill last night! Now it is VERY crowded right now at the gym - all those New Year's resolutions - so we decided that we would run for 30 minutes and then determine what we needed to do after that.

I've been feeling pretty good running for a full hour and completing about 6 miles in right around 62 minutes...so I decided that last night I would challenge myself. I haven't run a decent time for a 5K distance since last May. I've really been struggling with this. I honestly beleive it is because I've been really trying to add distance and make a longer distance feel really good and keep a steady pace. I've also been working on slight negative splits on those longer distances which means I need to run the first few miles at a little slower pace. Anyway - back to my challenge. I WAS going to complete this 5K in under 30 minutes! Darn it! I WAS!!! Off I went.

I started out a little slow - warming up...then I saw Rick ramp his speed up to a 10 minute mile and I knew it was time to speed it up if I was going to make my challenge to myself. I started running some intervals at 6.0 for 400 meters, then 6.2 for 400 meters, then 6.0, then 6.5 and reapeating that. When all was said and done I had completed the entire 3.1 miles in 29:53!!! My overall finish was 3.27 miles in 32 minutes....I was elated!!!

After a quick "potty" break we looked around and there were still a few treadmills available so we decided to try another 30 minutes. As you can imagine my legs were pretty much shot, so I did the "run/walk" thing. Of course THAT is what is showing on my mini....not my beautiful sub 30 minute 5K...THAT's why I had to TELL you about it!!!

Of course ALL that mileage was added to my challenge miles - I'm now up to over 50 miles for the month and the 75 miles looks like it might just happen! After all, I still have 9 more days and I only need about 20 more miles!!!

Now, Rick and I have joined the DRC (Dallas Running Club) and one of our first races is coming up on 1/31. We decided to do the 5K instead of the 15K since it is pretty close to our first 1/2 marathon of the year. I'm hoping that I can finish that one as well as I did on the treadmill...problem is the sidewalk doesn't require me to keep moving my feet at a certain pace to remain standing, so unfortunately I tend to slow down more when I get tired, LOL....I'll let you know how that goes!!!

Just a runnin'

I'm still here, still chuggin' along. I think this running thing may be all about me learning patience with myself! I want to RUN...I want to run FAST! I know I'm going faster than I was at this time last year overall - even if it hasn't shown in my last couple races, I know my treadmill pace last March was 5.2 where now it is 5.5...so I have gotten a little faster. My problem is I want to be a LOT faster - and I want to be able to run as far as I want really, really fast...Now I ask you, is that too much to ask for??

On Friday we did our long run. Because it is winter we went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. (we've been doing this since the Rudolph run in early December). I was determined that I was going to do the treadmill for the entire 90 minute workout....not 60 on the treadmill and then move to the elliptical. So to change it up a little we decided to do 3 - 30 minute runs. Now on Thursday after our weight workout we went up and ran for 15 minutes on the treadmill and I had an awsome run...never went below 6.0 for speed...even went up to 6.5 for a while. I felt great! So of course I thought I could start out like that for this run, but nooooooooooooo! Let's just say the legs let me know in NO uncertain terms that was NOT going to be the case. I slowed the beast down to 5.8 and ran, then to 5.7 and ran. I did finish that run and I had done my normal 3.some-odd miles...Then we started our 2nd set. I slowed the treadmill down to a 5.5 pace and low and behold - it felt good! Even though I had already run a little over 3 miles, it felt good! I could breathe, it didn't hurt, I didn't have to stop running to breathe! Wow! That hadn't happened in a while! While I didn't run as far, I did run better this second 30 minutes. The final 30 was a real struggle. I did a run/walk interval type run just to get through the time. When all was said and done I had completed over 8 miles in 90 minutes, so I wasn't too awfully disappointed.

Now the point of all that was to say that I think I've been trying too hard to increase the speed again. I slowed down from the get-go for tonights run, started at 5.5, and felt good...so after 20 minutes I upped it to 5.6, and felt good...so after 20 minutes I upped it to 5.7...not so good. I did start to have problems breathing and had to hang on a bit so after 10 minutes I went back down to 5.6. In the 62 minutes we ran I completed 5.8 miles. Not the best mileage I've ever done in that time, but it felt better than it has felt since November.

I think I'll just slow down and smell the roses for a while and try to work on the distance rather than the speed. After all, my next race is a 1/2 marathon right now...Sure I'd like to finish in less than my 2:27 time...my hope is by increasing the amount of time I can run without stopping to catch my breath will decrease my real race time in the end. I guess we'll see in February!

Tomorrow I go back to school...back to the daily grind...back to some fun and friends....I have mixed feelings about this, I have really enjoyed my vacation time and for the first time in ages I wasn't antsy toward the end...I was still content to spend my days at home working around the house, reading, spending time with my husband - kids - and grandkids, taking care of the dog. Now it is time to get back...here is to wishing the best for the kids in 2009.... that it doesn't feel too much like this for anyone!