Pink Power 5k (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

Uggg, it's been forever since I've had time to do a post.  Work has just been crazy for the last couple of weeks and I've just been too tired when I get home to think.  But I do have this week off and I am taking full advantage to catch up on everything, including posting.

A few weeks ago, on August 11, I ran my August race.  Like most places, it's hard to find races in the summer, August especially.  This year was the 10th year of the Pink Power Triathlon.  It is a sprint triathlon that is only open to women and it was my first triathlon 5 years ago.  And no, I didn't sign up for it this year.  This year was the first year that they added a 5k on Saturday open to both men and women.  And I signed up for the 5k.

When I got the email the day before discussing the details of the day, they had said that they were still taking walk up registration and they were still advertising the fact that the first 100 signed up would get a medal.  I knew that this would be a small race, which is never good for me.  I didn't even have past years to look back to see if I would be able to finish the race before they started to clean up.

I got there early as I planned on picking up my bib before the race and I wanted enough time to bring everything back to my car and still have time to stretch and stuff.  I got down there and it was sprinkling.  I got my bib and shirt (which was so soft).  I asked how many signed up and they said 54.  My stomach sank.  I decided to wait in my car since it officially started raining.  When it was time to head back to the start line, it had stopped raining.  Not that I would have minded it to continue, as it was hot out.  But for the race it stayed dry, but overcast.

The parking lot was set up for the tri the next day and I looked around to the crowd as we waited and saw a few men (7 in all) and a bunch of ladies.  I was terrified that I would be left in the dust.  The national anthem played and before I knew it, it was time to start.  The course was the same as the one they use for the tri, so I sort of knew what to expect.  A big down hill to start, tunnel under the road and around the lake, back through the tunnel and through a neighborhood, and then back up the hill we came down at the start.


Most of the runners took off.  There were a handful of people back with me and I started to feel better.  I stuck with my 30s run/45s walk, even down the big hill.  I knew I could make up time if I just ran down the hill, but I have been very protective of my knee.  No way was I going to mess up my knee again this time by over doing it when I didn't have to.

At the bottom of the hill, we rounded to the tunnel that took us to the park with the lake.  The tunnel was very slick and dark so I took my time through it.  The lake was beautiful.


I even saw ducks!


Back through the tunnel and on this gravel path.  I made sure I was careful as uneven ground is very hard for me.  I didn't remember this path from when I did the tri, but it was very interesting.  It happened to be the "Richmond Coal Basin".  There were a couple restoration type buildings that were on display.  This was the Grove Shaft Ventilation Building which was built in 1924.


We ran up a short little hill and into the neighborhood.  I realized that this is the same neighborhood that hosts the Tacky Light Run, which made sense since the start is in the park with the lake.  Earlier I noticed that there was a man running without a bib near these ladies and he kept taking pictures of them.  He had run ahead of them and past me.  He mentioned that this was his wife's first race in several years and he was there to support her.  That was nice to hear.

After the neighborhood, we were back to the main road and that hill.  Having to end a run on a hill like that is just cruel.

This does not do the hill justice - it was steeper then this looks.

I kept up my walk/run even on the hill.  I made it up and through the grass to the finish line and I was done.  There were not many people left cheering people on and I knew that there were only a handful behind me, so I decided to stay and cheer on the last few.  It turned out that there were only ten ladies behind me, and it was so much fun to cheer them on.


Overall it was a fun race.  I know I shouldn't be nervous about finishing last, but it's more then that.  I'm afraid that these smaller races would be packing up before I can even finish.  And really the lady that came in last had the loudest cheering section.  And after all of that, I looked at the stats when I got home and in my age group I placed third out of five.  Unfortunately they were not doing age placements.  Always my luck. :)




Do you like to do races the first year?  Do you like very small races like this?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Big Hairy Audacious Goal (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

Currently I don't have any Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAG) for running.  Or really anything grand like that.  Well except for retirement, but I don't think that was the intended for this topic.  I have done most everything running wise that is on my bucket list.  Except I'd maybe like to do a 70.3 or commonly known as a half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).  I don't see that happening any time soon.  So I thought I would recap some of my BHAGs from the past.

My First 10k
When I first started running, thoughts of running anything more then a 5k was something I never thought I would do.  While I had walked the Ukrop's 10k a few years in the past, running it was nothing I thought I wanted to do.  In 2011 I joined the training team and each week I surprised myself and ran the whole long run.  And three months later I ran my first 10k.  It's funny reading back at that post as I said that I didn't think I would want to do something that long again.  I love the 10k distance now.  In fact I do the Ukrop's 10k almost every year now.

My First Half
I actually had a different blog when I wrote up my recap of my first half marathon in 2012, the Richmond Half Marathon.  I honestly don't remember what made me want to run a half marathon, but I joined the training team and stuck to the plan.  The funny thing about that is I didn't think I would want to do that distance more then once a year.  Since 2014 I don't think I've done less then 2 half marathons a year.

My First Tri
The next year, in 2013, I did my first triathlon.  It was the Pink Power Sprint, which was an all women pool tri, which is very first timer friendly.  This is another one that I don't remember why I made it my big goal.  I just knew that I had been swimming and biking since I was little and now that I had been running for a couple years putting all three together might actually be fun.  While I could run, bike, and swim with no problem, putting all three together was something I just knew nothing about.  I joined a local tri training group which helped conqueror my fear of doing something so daunting.  I was glad to have the training group as they showed us things that we would need to know, I also still have great friends that I met through it.

My First Marathon
In 2014 I had run a couple runDisney half marathons and started eyeing a new challenge.  I was one of those that said I would never run a marathon.  Never say never!  I had signed up to run the 2015 WDW Marathon as my first.  Despite having food poisoning and going to the ER the day before, it actually was a great race.  I followed my training closely and that really paid off.  Should probably remember that next time.  lol

First (and only) Dopey
In 2014 runDisney announced a new challenge, run the 5k, 10k, half, and full in one weekend.  They called this the Dopey Challenge, because you have to be, well, Dopey to do it.  I had always been intrigued with Dopey and after I ran my first marathon I knew it was something I wanted to do.  And in 2016 I did.  Luckily I am a stubborn person.  Training for this race was long and it was hard.  It was the hardest weekend I had ever experienced running.  By Sunday I was done.  I had pain in my calf before I started the marathon and just did everything I could to finish.  This is one that I don't think I want to do again.  I'm glad I did it cause now I know I can do anything as long as I put in the training and commitment.  


And then of course I went to Disneyland the next weekend to participate in the Inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend.  Yes, I did 7 races in 11 days covering 71 miles.  I didn't plan it that way.  They had announced the Star Wars Weekend after I signed up for Dopey and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to be part of the inaugural race and well it's Star Wars.  The funny thing is the Star Wars Half was the most fun race of all of them. 


Back to Back Marathons
After I finished Dopey, I knew the next marathon I wanted to run was the Marine Corps Marathon.  Since the Richmond Marathon is just two weeks after MCM I decided to join the Richmond Marathon training team.  This would be the first time since my first Half Marathon that I would be training with a group.  I was very excited to not have to worry about fuel since they would have SAGs.  And I would have the chance to run with others.  I knew that I would probably change my race distance at the Expo and just run the half or 8k.

The MCM was HOT and the last 8 miles were miserable as we were out of the fun part of DC and there was no shade.  While I am very proud of that race and did PR, I knew with the great training I had had, I could have done better if it weren't for the heat.  I left changing the race distance for Richmond at the Expo.  By then I felt great.  So I decided to run the Richmond Marathon 2 weeks later. I am now a Marathon Maniac. 

MCM Accomplished

Richmond Accomplished

We will see if I have any other crazy goals at some point.  You guys will be the first to know!

What have been some of your BHAG?  Do you have any coming up?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Happy New Year!! (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Happy New Year on this last day of 2017. 

This year I did not focus on running.  I took many breaks which has made coming back to running at the end of the year a lot more enjoyable.  I only ran 355.79 miles last year, which included 2 months of no running at all.  Despite the lack of running I did run 9 races and a triathlon.

Instead of running, I did do a good share of biking this past summer.  I got a brand new bike, which I completely am in love with.  I got 591.41 miles of biking in.  I was even in a parade!

On the non-run, non-bike front, I got a new job.  Well two new jobs.  I was laid off at the end of 2016 from a job that I had for 15 years.  After a few months off I got a new job as a contractor.  I helped them move letters from an old system to a new one.  Over the summer I added to my duties and got a title of Scrum Master.  A month ago, I was offered a job as a full time Scrum Master.  This is a job I have been trying to get for the past year an a half.  And after 3 weeks, it's exactly what I want to do.  I hope that it keeps up the fun and challenge.

My cats are still their crazy selves.  My old lady had some issues a few months back.  But she is much better and we found out that her kidney blood work is normal.  They did find a new friend.  I had an outdoor cat come visit almost every day.  She looks in at them and they look out at her.  For the first few months I didn't feed her and she kept coming back.  I saw the enjoyment that she gave my cats, so I started feeding her.  And I did end up name her Duibhe (pronounced Doobie).  It means black in Gaelic.  There is no chance that she will become an indoor cat, but with the freezing temps out there, I want to do what I can for her.

While I took time off from work at the beginning of the year, I did take a Sign Language class.  This is something that really interests me and I wish I could use it on a regular basis so I could really learn it.  Maybe one day....

For Valentine's Day we had a girls night out to do a Murder Mystery Dinner.  This was a lot of fun and we plan on doing it again at some point.

I was lucky enough to see the Eclipse this past year.  Granted it was only 86% of the Eclipse but it was so amazing that I didn't need to see the full thing.  It was a once in a lifetime view.  Though I'm tempted to make plans to see the full one in 7 years.

I did do a lot around my house.  While I had time off in the beginning of the year, I was able to clean out a lot of my house.  This included 10 trips to Goodwill.  While the house is not as clean as it was in March, it still is fairly organized.  I also power washed the side of my house, deck, and front porch.  As well as stained and painted my deck and porch.  The outside looks so nice now.  But there still are things that need to be done.  I also started upgrading some items in my house to start connecting and making my house Smart.  This includes automating my porch lights to go on and off with the sunrise and sunset, my thermostats, and my front door lock.  I have plans on a couple more things that I'd like to connect.

 

 This next year I don't have any grand plans.  I am signed up for two Disney races, but that's it.  I probably will be signing up for a St. Patrick's day race, but not sure if it will be a 5k or 10k.   I really don't have any other real plans.  I'd like to have a vacation where I'm not running.  I haven't had one of those in like 2-3 years.  Beyond that, no plans or goals for 2018.  I don't believe in resolutions, as I know if there is something I want to do, I don't want to wait till New Years.  And I don't want to half heartedly do something just because it's New Years.  

 

Though I have been thinking about doing the #365DaysOfHappy challenge on Instagram.  I don't know if it's something that I want to commit to every day, but I'd like to share what makes me happy each day.  We will see if it happens or not. :)

How was your year?  Any plans for 2018?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

 

2017 Races in Pictures (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas!  Next up is New Years an that has us thinking of the past year and what we want to do with the next year.  Looking back to my races last year, I stole this idea from the ladies at Fairytales and Fitness and created these race collages. 

I enjoyed taking the summer off from running.  The Baltimore Relay was a perfect distance for a fall race.  I wouldn't have been able to handle any distance that was longer then that, but still had a race to look forward to.

I only have two Disney races planned for 2018.  I'm not sure what races will be in my future, but whatever I do, it will be a good year.

Do you have a way to capture your race year?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall (Friday Five Edition)

Today is the first day of fall.  I thought I would look back to see the highlights of the summer.  The sad thing is, I had to really think hard to get five things.  I'll have to try better next summer.

1. One of the main reasons I am having a hard time thinking of highlights of the summer is because of work.  One, I don't get paid time off, so it kinda is hard to justify to take off a day or there to do something fun.  Don't get me wrong, I will be taking time off, but I feel I really need to justify it now.  I also go thrown into a huge project the month before go-live.  Meaning I was working tons of hours.  Good for the wallet, bad for fun extra things.

I also got a new job title of Scrum Master.  Basically that's a glorified Program Manager in the Agile world.  I might do a post to explain all of that in a week or two.  It's a position I have been wanting to get for the last year and a half, so I'm glad that I finally have the title.  I still work with my original team doing the things I did, but I also joined a second team as the Scrum Master.  I know it sounds like I'm doing two jobs, but it's worked out.

2. I decided that I needed to take some time off from running.  So at the beginning of the summer I got myself a new bike.  This was something I have been talking about for the last two years.  It was about time I got off my butt and get one so that I could enjoy some time on it.  And I did.  Minus a few weeks when work was crazy and my IT band really was bothering me.


I was able to get out for many beautiful sunrise rides.


I mean a lot.


Really I should say tons.


3. With this new bike, I did a triathlon.  It had been a couple years since I had done one.  On top of that, I was very under-trained.  But getting out there and doing it, I forgot how much I enjoyed it.  The training can be hard to fit in, but even with very little, I was able to put everything I had out on the course.  Before the race I swore I wasn't going to sign up for this one again.  After, I knew I had to as I love that course.


4. We have been having a friend stop by the back door almost every day before summer started.  She came by every day and just sat at the door.


My cats loved when she came by.  They would just sit there and watch her.  Sometimes they would claw and hiss at the windows, but mostly they all just stared at each other.  I ended up naming her Duibhe (Doobie), which is black in Gaelic.  All of my cats have Irish names, and since I didn't know if the kitty was a boy or girl, I thought this would work.  Since then my neighbor had said she believes the cat is a girl.  I don't quite know how she knows, but she does a lot of work with cats.


5. As summer hit, it was getting very hot in my upstairs.  Every summer I hate being upstairs during the day because I have two skylights in my bedroom.  With full sunshine in there for most of the day, it was very hard to keep the upstairs cool.  I had heard of shades for your skylights a few years back and kept meaning to get some.  But, like my bike, I'm very good at putting things off.  I don't know why as it was the best thing for my house.

What did you do this past summer?  Anything fun?  Anything productive?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Weekely Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

I know I haven't posted in ages.  I have been really busy and honestly I don't feel like I have anything interesting to post.  I probably still don't have anything interesting to post, so I'll just ramble a little.

Let's see.  I did a triathlon a couple weekends ago.  I know that's interesting, but I haven't been able to focus long enough to finish the post.  I didn't train very well for it and I knew that going in.  But I know I put every ounce of energy into the race.  I am very proud of that.  I love the course and I know if one year I put in the effort I would do more then have fun, but also have a great time.


There is a place here that puts on two Shakespeare plays in an outdoor theater each summer.  We try to go to them every year.  We went to both this year.  First was Love's Labor's Lost and the other was Macbeth.  I had never seen either one and really enjoyed both.

I haven't run since the triathlon two weeks ago, but I have been doing a lot of bike riding.  I really do love my new bike and have really enjoying getting out on the bike.  I have mostly been doing sunrise rides, where we take off before the sunrise and watch it as we ride.  It's cooler, there is less traffic, you get the ride done and still have a lot of the day, and it is beautiful.

For the Forth the local bike group organized a ride to Duck Donuts.  There were a lot of people that showed up and we had a great time.

 

A couple of weeks ago one of the guys that I used to do these sunrise rides with two summers ago passed away.  Apparently he was going to have a knee replacement and they found out that he had lung cancer.  It apparently was very quick from diagnosis to when he passed.  While I haven't seen him in a couple of years, I've thought about him on each of my rides since.

The moment he hit 1000 miles in one month in 2015.

This week I will have shades installed on the skylights in my bedroom.  It gets so bright and hot in there throughout the day.  There are days when I get home and it's 85 degrees upstairs.  I can't wait.

That is about it.  I hope it wasn't too boring. :)

Have you seen Love's Labor's Lost or Macbeth?  Have you done anything exciting this week?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.