Racing to Remember (almost) 5K - Race Report

I hadn't planned on doing another 5K this summer.  The weather has been far too hot and humid to get any quality outdoor training runs.   However one of my besties found a race benefiting Alzheimer's (a disease affecting her family) and she asked us to join her.

Surprisingly, the weather Saturday morning was cool and pleasant.  I even wore a light jacket over my running gear on the way to the race.  I got there 30 minutes early, but between checking in and gabbing with the girls I didn't have time for a warm up.

Over the past couple of weeks I've had some lingering soreness in my left calf, so I opted to run the race wearing a compression sleeve.  I didn't feel comfortable running on cold muscles, but there was no time to do otherwise.

For a first time race, there was a pretty good turn out - over 100 racers participating.  Kelly and I have spent too much time stuck behind jogging strollers, so we also position ourselves towards the front when possible.  We always get passed by faster runners, but I race better getting passed then having to work to pass those slower than me.

The course was flat(ish).  Certainly not the flattest I've ever ran, but the bumps (I won't go so far as to call them hills) weren't large enough to really affect race strategy.  Shortly after the start, I turned on my music and settled into a comfortable pace.

Mile 1: 8:19

I question before the race if my Garmin would help or hurt, and decided to go ahead and wear it.  I tried not to look to it too much, but was very encouraged to see my pace at the first mile marker.  I was feeling comfortably challenged. 

I cheered on the leaders as they met me between the 1 & 2 mile markers (it was an out and back course), and was surprised to see my Garmin said the turn around was 1.46 miles into the race.  Some races have a different start/end point, so I assumed the finish line would be a bit further into the road, or up the parking lot.

Mile 2: 8:36

While the temperature was a mild 68* the humidity was still up in the high 70% range.  By this point in the race I was beginning to tire.  As I pushed myself to maintain my pace, I started wheezing.  For me wheezing is the sign of pushing my limits.

I crested the last bump before the quarter mile finish and took off.  Don't think, don't look at your watch, don't do anything but run like the wind.  As I got closer to the clock, I noticed it read 24:XX.  No way I would get there before it flipped over, but a 25 minute 5K was still a PR by almost 2 minutes.

Mile 3(ish): 8:07

As soon as I crossed the finish line, one of my daily mile pals congratulated me, then burst my bubble with 2 words "short course."

Turns out my last mile was an 8:46 m/m average pace - but it wasn't a full mile.  The course was only 2.93 miles instead of the 3.1 miles a 5K is supposed to be.  This was super disappointing to me, especially when I used a pace calculator to determine my time (if I used my average pace) would have been 26:30 - a true PR by over 20 seconds for me.

Thankfully, the day wasn't a total waste - I took 2nd in my age group!

And for the Jay Fradds of the world - no, there weren't only 2 people in my group.  I finished 2nd out of 9!  3rd place was a full 2 minutes behind me.  1st place was 22:XX so no amount of pushing would have gotten me a better standing.  Not bad for Asthma girl if you ask me!

Final Time - 25:04 (gun time)/2.93 miles

I quickly grabbed a water, had my chip cut off my shoe, and headed back on the course.  The friend who'd asked us to do the race was walking by herself, so I trotted out to meet her.  We did the last half mile together, and when we were about a tenth of a mile from the finish, I made her run.  I picked it up to a sprint and yelled for her to match my pace.  She made it in 39.19 (gun time) - an excellent time for walking the majority of the race!  I am incredible proud of her!

I wasn't the only one of the group to take home bling - out of our group we walked away with 2 silvers and 2 bronze awards! (I love that the a/g awards were in gold/silver/bronze like the Olympics.)

Open to Suggestions - Missional Minded Monday

I hope to make Missional Minded Monday a regular feature around here.  Keeping it in the forefront of our minds, and as Mari said just little bits of love and putting others first is the best way we can show God's love.

After last week's wonderful *cough* example of how I gave up my Diet Cherry Pepsi to show Jay Jesus's love (only for him to give it back to me), I thought I would share my big fat fail for this previous week.

For my triathlon training, I've been doing one long cycle outside to log time in the seat and get use to my bike gears.  The for my 2nd bike ride of the week, I head to the gym and take a cycling class.  This helps build my strength and confidence - tackling imaginary hills isn't any where near as depressing when it gets really steep.

To reserve a bike, patrons can call as early as an hour before class.  With a limited number, the classes often fill up.  I called at 11:30 on the nose and snagged a bike for the 12:30 lunchtime class.  I arrived a few minutes early and got in a nice easy spin to warm up. As the class started, all the bikes filled up.

5 minutes into class, another cycler arrived.  The instructor asked if she had signed up for class, she had.  The instructor then asked who in the class hadn't.  No one volunteered.  Going person by person thought the list, the instructor attempted to match the sign up sheet with the faces before her. 

Give up yours.  A voice within me said.

But. I argued

Do it, give up your bike. 

That's not fair.  I was here first.

They'll be another class, another opportunity.  Do it.

Hmf.  I put my head down and kept riding. 

a pouting reinactment

As the instructor began to call names, one of the regulars got off her bike. 

 Your name is on here, you signed up.  The instructor told her.  You don't need to give up your bike.

Its okay, she can have it.  She said, and grabbed her stuff to leave the class.

Its a humbling experience seeing someone willing to do something I knew should be done, but was unwilling to do myself.  I was also humbled when I realized how small and petty of thing I was asked to do, yet I still said "no." 

Talk to me.  What missional opportunities have you encountered?  Whether you rose to the challenge or not, I think its good to discuss them so others can be aware of things we can be doing to show Christ's love.



Foto Friday - Green Thumb?

I've never been one to nurture living things: kids, animals, plants all seem better off when not relying on me to care for them.  I even killed an African violet, which my mother assured me was impossible to do.  (RIP Eko)

the "before" picture

 

Imagine my surprise to learn Jay & I had become inadvertent parents to a baby tree.

At first I thought it was a weed, but upon further inspection twas a tree indeed.  Thankfully a guy who's been helping Jay out getting the house ready to sell had a ladder tall enough rigged up a way to clean the gutter out. 

Quite a gem to be proud of, isn't he?

Linking up with Christie O. for foto Friday!

Pigeon Forge Midnight 8K - Race Report

I woke up far too early for my liking Saturday morning.  One of the very few benefits of a night race is not having to set an alarm to get to the race on time.  (The only other being cooler temperatures.)  Unfortunately, my body naturally woke up at 7 so I knew I would need a nap before I headed to the race much later than evening.

By 10, I was picking up my cousin for some back to school shopping.  Why is that in a race report?  Because shopping for 5 hours is tiring, despite the 16 year old being an awesome young lady.  Also?  I wore flip flops shopping because my sister said I'd embarrass our cousin wearing my running shoes around the mall.

I've been having some lingering soreness in my left calf, and I think this aggravated things.  Fortunately, it didn't effect my running performance, just made for a bit more post-race soreness than I would have expected for an 8K race (just a hair under 5 miles).

Before the big race, I emailed Ashley for a bit of advice.  I've ran a lot of races, but I've never been good at actually racing them.   She's a sweetheart who doesn't mind if I pick her brain (or at least hasn't told me if she does!) about how to approach the race in order to get the best possible result.

Her suggestion was to treat it similar to a 5K, but go out a bit slower.  I kept a comfortable pace, despite being passed by quite a few people.  

Mile 1 - 9:32

I wondered if I had started slowly enough, but by the first turn around I was still feeling well.  I brought my hand-held water bottle along, so I was able to cruise right past the first water station.  I tried to be more thoughtful about my pace, still feeling fairly comfortable.

Mile 2 - 9:37

Around the 3 mile mark, I tried to pick up my effort.  I was working for my speed at this point.  The evening was warm (75*) and extremely humid.  93% was the forecast, I'm not sure how the night actually shaped up, but I'd believe the humidity was truly that bad.

Mile 3 - 9:44

Jay and I had went to dinner with some friends of his that were in town, and they decided to tag along and spectate the race with him.  I'm sure he was glad to have the company while I ran.  Around the 3 mile marker, I saw them on the side of the road and waved as they cheered me on.

Mile 4 - 9:49

Between Miles 3 and 4, I started feeling sluggish.  Between the humidity and the late time of the race, I found it difficult to keep my pace up.  I knew at this point I was going to meet my 2 main goals (a PR and sub 50), if I could just keep pushing myself



After the 2nd turn around, I knew there was just under a mile left in the race.  My pace dipped into the 10s for a bit, but I forced myself to dig deep.  With a half mile to go, I sped up.  By the time I saw the finish line (and heard my crew cheering) I kicked it up and finished strong. 

Mile 5 - 9:40

Final time - 48:16 A PR (last year's was 51:4X), sub 50, and oh-so close to my long shot goal of 48 minutes!

*Splits are from my garmin, finishing time official chip time

Missional Minded Monday

I wrote last Monday on my difficult time learning to accept God's call to live for Him in my ordinary life, instead of traveling to minister to others via a mission trip.  Jay was a little offended by the post.  While it was not my intention, he took it to mean I thought being married to him was a chore. 

I attempted to convey my heart on the matter: frankly put its hard to "witness" to someone who's heard you drop the "f" bomb.  Especially when said bomb was intended to hit him them.

Exhausting.  Hard.  Thankfully those of you who commented seemed to understand the point I was trying to make.

Later in the day, I had a {oh-so-tiny} shot at redemption.  A scene staring BJay:

Jay: takes the last cold soda (cherry diet Pepsi) from the fridge and cracks it open.

Brooke: wrinkles her nose

Jay: What?

Brooke: Nothing.  long dramatic pause. That was supposed to be mine.  I let you have all the others.  That one's diet so you won't drink it.

Jay: But its cherry, so I will.

Brooke: Oh. looks sad

Jay: You can have it if you want it.

Brooke: No, its okay.  Jesus wants you to have it.

Jay: No, take it.

Brooke: Jesus wants you to have it.

Jay: Its okay.  Take it.

Brooke: HURRAH!  Jesus wants me to have it!!

I'm pretty sure the above interaction isn't what 1 Peter 3:1 had in mind.  Now that we have the 2 examples of how not to live missionally, why don't we consider ways we can purpose this week to reach others for Christ. 

In the comments, I'd love to hear your ideas for things we can do right where we are to show the world around us God's love.

Scavenger Fun Run

The local track club put together a scavenger run last week, meeting and ending at my favorite Knoxville restaurant.  Of course I had to participate! 

We split into teams counting off.  This was an excellent strategy to break everyone out of their comfort zones, but towards the end of the run I did feel sorry for the girl who struggled to keep up with the rest of the crew.  The heat index was 104* which made 3+ miles (even with starting and stopping) a bit more challenging.

By our 3rd stop, we decided to get a bit creative.  We pulled in a couple of random people off the street, I pretended I was in prison, and of course, there was the dog bowl.

We reached the 4th stop at the same time as another group,  rather than slow down and get caught behind them, we went ahead and joined them for a group pictures.  I'm the one with the tan, skinny calves.  *cough*

In front of the Tennessee Theater we decided to go for the dramatic.  We couldn't decide on a specific play, but we figured that you can't go wrong with death on the stage. 

This one was a tribute to my former employer.  One of my coworkers and I use to pretend to be gangsta and do "M" gang signs.  Thankfully I had a fun scavenger group who played along and didn't think I was {too} crazy.

Blount Mansion stumped us for creative ideas, but I know when we got the steps of the church we had to Tebow!  I was honestly surprised that none of the other groups did it. 

After a few crazy poses in the park, we filled up our water bottle (we were sharing because nobody else though to bring one) and continued on our hunt.

We toed the line...or maybe crossed it a bit...

...then headed across the (train) tracks...
as in "come on on ride the train"

...by the end we were running out of ideas.  This was a lamp store.  The heat and humidity had us "glowing" so this is the best we could manage.

Then it was back to base camp for some pizza & beer refueling.  Fun times were had by all.  Or at least me.  Jay kept texting me "when are you coming home?"  Guess next time he'll want to join me!

I'm linking up with Christie O.  today for Foto Friday.

Thankful Thursday - Home Grown

The first round of my dad's garden didn't take (he blames Jay), so he had to plant another round.  While everyone else's were getting scorched by record setting 100+ temps, Daddy's garden version 2.0 was still protected.  The rains that followed the harsh temperatures took care of the rest.

This is a picture of a monster zucchini Jay brought home from his office last year.  He placed his hand in the photo to give reference to the size so I could tell him how many I wanted him to bring home.

While the stockpile of veggies being brought into work (zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers) is starting to die off, my parents are just now hitting pay dirt.  For the past week I've gotten regular deliveries of cucumbers, tomatoes (to freeze, I only like them cooked), jalapenos, banana peppers, okra, and (already cooked) green beans!

Unfortunately, my dad found raccoon prints leading to his not-yet-ripe corn, but Jay and I have some left in the freezer from last year.  (We probably should get right on that shouldn't we?)

I'm very thankful for:

1. Coworkers who share.
2. Parents with the resources to garden.
3. Parents with the health to garden.
4. Parents who share.
5. Free food!!!

What are you thankful for this week?