Pigeon Forge Midnight 8K - Race Report

Normally an early to bed kinda girl, I love the Pigeon Forge Midnight race.  This is my 3rd year of running it (my first year was at a time of 51:34 - I've improved a lot since then!)

I originally wanted to run the race because it was one I remembered my dad doing back in the day (80s? 90s?).   Now I run the race because I enjoy the atmosphere of Pigeon Forge at night.  Surprisingly, there are still plenty of people out and about - willing to honk their car horn or holler a cheer from the sidewalk.

For me, the biggest excitement came before the race.  Jay and his parents dropped me off at registration around 11PM, and a text from my running buddy had me hustling to get my stuff together to join them for a 1 mile warm up.

We ran on the sidewalk, keeping a conversational 10 m/m pace.  Too much so.  I didn't notice an uneven raise on the sidewalk and went flying.

My left elbow (above) and right knee (below) took most of the impact, but as I fell I landed on my left hip and my left ear made hard contact with the pavement.

After waiting a beat to catch my breath, I was able to shake it off and complete the last half of the warm-up.  One of our teammates had a first aid kit in the back of her car, so she cleaned me up in plenty of time to make the start of the race.

I lined up just behind my faster teammates, and with the gun we were off!  I tried to keep my pace around a 9 m/m - the average pace I was hoping to finish the race in. 

In front of me, I saw who I thought was my boss's wife.  I'm faster than her, so I worried that the pace my garmin was showing wasn't accurate.  Also, there was a 84 year old man running in front of me.  (He finished with a time just over 50 minutes.) 

Mile 1 -  8:40

Just past the first mile marker was the first turn - I saw the lady was not my boss's wife.  I allowed myself to slow down a bit in an effort to save energy for the end.  The next 2 miles were an ever-so-slight decline, so the pace was fairly easy to maintain.

Mile 2 - 8:49
Mile 3 - 8:47

While it was cooler than previous years, the humidity of the race started slowing me down.  I got a little wheezy in these later miles as well - probably thanks to the car exhaust.  On a 6 lane highway, only the 2 inside lanes (one each direction) are closed to traffic. 

Mile 4 - 8:58

The ever-so-slight incline at the turn around was definitely felt in the last part of the race.  I switched on my music to distract myself and tried to pick up my pace.  I did end up passing a handful of people in the last mile, but wasn't able to close the gap in the last half mile of the race.  To further distract myself I tried to focus on getting to the next traffic light, to the Shoney's, or whatever was the most noticeable landmark ahead.

Mile 5 - 9:01

Not sure just how fast my final kick was, but I know I was really pushing it.  Thankfully Jay didn't get a video, because the embarrassing grunting made an appearance, as well as some extra wheezing.  I really wanted to get this mile under a 9 minute pace. 

Chip Time: 44:05
Overall: 177/428
Age group: 9/35*
*#6 was "Nathan" so I suspect I was truly 8/34

I felt like I gave this race all I had.  Add to that my 1:05 PR from 2 weeks ago and I can be nothing but thrilled with my race.  Immediately upon crossing the finish line, my knee started to hurt, but I think my recovery benefited from having the race after I got banged up.  Thankfully soreness is minimal.

Old Skhool - Part 2 - Five for Friday

Once again I'm going to join the old school bloggy party.  Jaime tagged me in this round, so go check out her post as well.

5 passions

relationships
running
reading
hiking
silliness

5 bucket list items

hike the Appalachian trail
celebrate 50th wedding anniversary with Jay
million dollar net worth
retire early and travel the world

5 phrases I often say

Hello my love
(when answering Jay's telephone calls)
Let's roll britches
(Little Man misunderstood what I said on vacation & created this phrase)
I know, right?
Yeah you
(evolved from one of Jay's sleepy indecipherable responses one morning I said "I love you" as I left for work)
Uno mas!
(when we are streaming a favorite series)

5 books I've recently read

{currently reading}
Gone to Green
Christianish
Bread & Wine
{just finished}
Hazardous Duty
F is for Fugitive

5 favorite movies

Dodgeball
Star Wars
Bridget Jones's Diary
The Avengers
Independence Day

5 places I want to travel

Pretty much every National Park
Rome
Australia
England
Somewhere on a cruise.

If you decide to play along, leave me your link in the comments!!

The End! Finally! aka my Advocare 10 day challenge experience

The short version:
I'm glad to be done.  Is that bad? I dunno, but its the truth.  Did I learn from the experience? Definitely.  Will it carry on into everyday life? Perhaps.  Will I do it again? Probably not.

The long version:
After vocalizing my frustration on 2 days without a loss, a coworker asked me what I had hoped to gain from the cleanse.  Advocare is very clear on all there information that this is not for weight loss purposes, although that can be a pleasant side effect.

I admitted that weight loss was my primary reason.  My coworker had lost 6 pounds on the cleanse, and he's already very small.  I figured I had as much (or more) to lose.  I also wanted to get my healthy eating habits kick started, and establish a pattern for myself that would be easier to stick with.


I've been pleasantly surprised at Jay's willingness to go along with this new outlook.  He even came to me and mentioned the Paleo lifestyle.  After learning he would have to cut out hot dogs and hamburgers, he quickly decided we would be better suited doing "Jayleo." 

I wanted my weight to get down into the 130s.  I know, I know.  Its just a number.  To me 140s feels hopeless, 130s feels like progress.

I wanted to feel better.  I'm sick of trying to come of my anxiety meds, only to find they are a crutch I need.  I hate dealing with afternoon slump despite getting a full night's sleep the evening before.  I wanted my runs to feel effortless and strong.

The results:
I've proved to myself I can do it, I'm just not sure the drive is there to follow through.

The new way of eating hasn't helped my runs - if anything, wasn't consuming enough carbs or calories at the first of the cleanse to properly fuel myself.  I had to resort back to calorie tracking to make myself eat enough.  On one hand the food choices were easy - save a few cravings that were few and far between.  On the other, I just don't feel good.  Why bother being strict with myself - packing my own salad dressing to a restaurant or saying no to the cake or glass of wine or trying to plan my life around food, rather than rolling with the punches?

Day 1 - 144.6

Day 2 - 142.6

Day 3 - 141.0

Day 4 - 141.2

Day 5 - 141.2

Day 6 - 141.2

Day 7 - 140.2

Day 8 - 139.8

Day 9 - 139.8

Day 10 - 140.4

challenge end: 140.8

Cheats: 1 glass wine (Ragnar Relay meeting), 1 tbsp. salad dressing, 1 beer (Goody bag stuffing/running group)

 

have a blessed day

I've been guilty of it.  I think if we were honest, most of us have.  Too intimidated to share my faith boldly, I've tried to sneak it in.  Akin the over exaggerated "Merry Christmas" greetings around the holidays, "have a blessed day" is one way we go about it.

Blessed connotes more than just general pleasantness.  Blesses means to encounter God, and come out the better for it.  Let me jump quickly to my point, lest ye think I have a problem with the word itself.

Picture it - my office*, a few months ago.  A lady woman comes into the office to submit a formal complaint.  She often took a certain road as a short cut to church, in an attempt to bypass tourist traffic.  For the past few weeks, she'd notice the appearance of something unsightly on one of the front porches she passed.

Her visit was to demand we do something about it.  The building inspector explained our role in was focused on keeping the City safe, not pretty.  As long as the item wasn't presenting any safety hazards, there wasn't anything we could do about their choice of front porch décor.

(source)

 

This answer did not satisfy her, but she finally realized she was getting no where. As she was leaving, her countenance changed.  Like a flip of the light switch, she smiled and said "Have a blessed day" and turned to leave.

*I do not speak for my employer. Any opinions are mine. My employer doesn't trust me to speak for them.*

Is it any wonder so many Americans are put off by Christians.  Far from the persecution others face, often times we are hated because we are hateful.  We are called to love (Matthew 22, and a host of other places) not to whine, complain, and tattle in the name of Jesus. 

(1 John 4)

 A few weeks (months?) have passed since this incident but I was reminded of it a few days ago at the grocery store.  I found a cashier with no one in her line (a miracle, when you live in a heavily populated tourist area) and began unloading my groceries.  She didn't greet me with a "hello" or even so much as a smile.  She looked miserable. 

As I paid and finished up the transaction, she handed me my recipe.  "Have a blessed day."  I was taken aback.  If she truly meant it, then what had she done to bless me?  The exact same thing I had done for her - nothing.

The body of Christ must act, not just speak, if we want to reach people in his name.  I don't single these women out to judge them, but rather show how we all fail Him - sometimes without even realizing it.

I am just as guilty as them, if not more so.  I'm selfish, short tempered, and legalistic.  I don't seek relationships with Him or with His people nearly enough.  To not be hypocritical, I have to do more than hit "publish" on this blogpost.  I have to change.

 Lord help me!

Vacation - Zion National Park edition

And now for our final installment of my vacation recaps.  I meant to get this one done a while ago, but you know how things go.  Had to get a couple blogs out there while they were still timely.  We can wish we were on vacation any ole Friday right?

While we finished up our trip staying another night in Vegas, Zion was the last active day of vacation.  And by active, I mean seeing new places from the comfort of the car.

 

 

The old people had enough of the walking we were doing.  Thankfully, Zion is a great park for pull offs and road side pictures.  We entered through the mile long bridge.  Long enough to make me claustrophobic, so I tried not to think about it.

Thankfully, the crew was patient enough to allow those of us who wanted to indulge in pictures to do so.  Jay snapped too many good ones to share.  Also, my sister is afraid y'all are kidnappers who will steal her children if you see just how cute they are.  With an aunt like me, how could they not be adorable?

As we exited the park, we stopped at a local picnic area to have our lunch.  The City park allowed us the perfect place to work off any excess energy before getting back in the car and making the long drive back to Vegas.

The kids (or someone blaming them) had wanted ice cream all trip, so around the half way point we stopped at a local shop advertising the old fashioned kind.  One of the flavors was called "Grannie's apple pie."  Turns out, the lady assisting us was Grannie.  She said she makes actual apple pie to crumble into the ice cream.  Same with all her pastry based flavors.

I ended up with the "dirt and worms" flavor aka cookies and cream topped with gummy worms.  The Little Man thought they were really worms, and declined when she offered to top a different flavor with worms for him.  Once he was let in on the secret, he decided he would love some ice cream and worms.

Kinda sad to be at the end of vacation blog, because I don't have another one planned yet! Jay and I won't take a whole week just the two of us since we have had this trip.  Maybe we'll take a long weekend somewhere (a race destination?) to do romantical couple stuff.

Have you already had your vacation this year?  Where did you go?  Are you going?

Ungrateful

This is one of those weeks I feel as if I've been slacking on my gratitude.  How's that for legalism at its worst?  I live such a blessed life, I can typically find an abundance of things to thank God for blessing me with.  This week I've "only" listed 31.  On average, I've written down 4 a day, should put things in perspective for me.

That being said written, here are a view things for which I am thankful (numbers 1478 - 1509):

1479) The humming of the dishwasher
1483) Daddy's errand service
1489) 8K PR!
1491) Glow-in-the-dark finisher medal
1493) Hotel waffles
1495) Money to afford healthy foods
1496) Jay excited about eating healthy
1500) Grillmaster Jay
1504) Seeing the strong in my body
1508) Finding new book/author so exciting I can't wait to pick up where I left off

For what have you been thankful this past week? I know a couple of my bloggy friends have medically related answered prayers this week which deserve a big PRAISE THE LORD!

The Run Down

Okay so maybe that's a bad title for a cleanse containing a fiber drink.  Thankfully I do not mean it literally.

A few weeks ago a coworker did the 10 day Advocare cleanse.  He had great success with it - losing (and keeping off) 6 pounds.  My running buddy (and fellow coworker) and I decided we'd give it a try.  For me, all my other weight loss efforts were getting my no where.  Why not try something new.

First I want to be clear - this is not a fast.  I'm eating 6 small meals a day plus supplements.

(source)

 

 

What's the huge difference between this and normal eating? No coffee, no soda, no dairy. 
Do I plan to eat this way forever? Not hardly.  I'd love to cut back on soda.  I would also like to move toward drinking my coffee black.  As for dairy, its a toss up.

However, I'm eating far better quality foods than normal - something I don't want to change at the end of my 10 days.  Right now, I'm only getting carbs from fruits, veggies, and oatmeal.  I'll probably start incorporating brown rice later in the week for a bit of variety.

Most of the blog summaries of the cleanse end with "but you could probably do it without the supplements."  Sounds logical.  I seriously doubt anything I've taken (the herbal cleanse, spark, and fiber drink) have magical properties. 

I will qualify that with a big BUT (and I don't mean my booty).  I would have never started eating this way without the cleanse.  I've read the Eating For Life book (more than once) and yet I've never really gotten after it.  I think I needed the buy-in that the supplements bring. 

It also doesn't hurt that I've seen immediate results.  I did measurements, which I will share at the end of the cleanse.  I've also weighed every morning.  I'm astonished it has worked this well!

Day 1 - 144.6
Day 2 - 142.6
Day 3 - 141.0

 I'll be interested to see just how much of this weight stays gone.  The current plan is to do a one week later post for comparison sake.  I also will be interested to see if the food patterns stick around once I'm no longer officially cleansing.

Please let me know if you have any questions you'd like me to address in the follow up posts.  I'm (of course) no expert but can definitely share how its working for me.