8 posts tagged “5k”

Well folks, after all that counting down, it's finally over and done with. In the beginning, I had a lot of lofty goals but as we drew closer, I came to a more realistic goal of just finishing. I'm happy I brought it down to that because that's a goal that I accomplished.

The organizers kept saying that there was record attendance for the Turkey Trot this year. I believe it. There were tons and tons of people there. 4000 was the number that they were quoting. Out of those approximate 4000 people, I fell into about the 770 range. And you know what, for my first time out, that's not too bad. I was 32 out of 99 in my age/sex group. Overall, a pretty decent showing.

It rained, hard, for pretty much the entire day before the race. Know what that means? Puddles. Everywhere. One that was basically a lake. That lake puddle? We saw it when we walked in and purposely avoided it. Didn't matter as it was part of the course and everyone was forced to splash through it. Ouch blisters from running in wet shoes. :-(

I found out (the hard way) that the course I had been running to train is actually a half mile shorter than the full 5K distance. Recalibration of the Nike+ has already occurred so I know what I'm actually up to from here on out. In an odd turn, I jogged the 5K this morning at a pace only slightly slower than I ran it Thursday. Stupid me, getting off my pace in the race.

Wait, I guess that I don't have a pace, per se. When I run in the mornings, I just go. I know then what feels comfortable and I do it. This was my first time running with other people. You see, I have a little bit of an issue with being competitive. That's partially why I love group fitness classes. I will push myself until I bust a blood vessel just to not be the one that quits. Well, I let my competitive nature get the best of me and rather than run at what was comfortable, I stepped it up a notch to keep up with those around me. Bad idea. At around 2 miles, I had to come to a complete walking pace because I was just beat. I'd say I maybe walked for a quarter mile before I got back to running. I now know that I need to train with a group so that I can be more used to what I need to do on race day.

Now that I have that all behind me, I'm ready to train harder, better, faster, longer. There's another 5K in 2 weeks but I don't think I'm going to play in that one. If I don't, though, there isn't another official race until January 17. That's a tough call and very little training after returning from vacation (only 25 days left!!) and some seriously heavy tailgating on 1/3/10 but we'll see.

Thanks, as always, for stopping my and seeing what I have to say. I hope your holiday weekend (if it was a holiday weekend for you) was fantastic and that your upcoming week is even better. :-D

Hep!

Wow, its been a few days, huh?

I suppose that's just fine and dandy as I never promised I would write daily, at least I didn't promise it to you guys. I only promised myself that I would try to write more often if for nothing else than to try to keep my sanity. So here I am. Hi! *waving*

At times, these things are likely boring to you, but I need to keep track of them and I like to look back at my blog down the road to see what was going on back in the day. :-)

With their fifth consecutive win, the Pittsburgh Steelers take the Denver Broncos....and stuff them mile high. Great game. Thank you, gentlemen.

The countdown continues. It's a mere 16 days until my first 5K. I already did my registration and everything. I just have to pick up my packet in a couple of weeks. I am hoping against all hope that Ida will be long gone tomorrow morning. She caused a little havoc yesterday morning as I TRIED to run. But, when the wind is blowing at about 15mph with gusts up to 30, it's a little tough.

Next on the agenda is vacation! I can't believe there are only 45 more days! We have most of the big stuff handled like flights, house, and equipment so now we only have lessons, food choices and the ever-important spa day for scheduling. I picked up some sweet Under Armour that I really hope does a good job. I hate being all bulky on the mountain!

Holy smokes, shortly after vacation finishes, 36 days to be exact, is graduation! It took me a while, but I'm proud to say I'm finally getting that paper. The question becomes what will I do with this elusive piece of paper and will it mean anything to anyone of importance? These answers and many more on the next episode of Soap.

Do you think that's enough to worry about? You're right, it probably is, but I'm not being me if I'm not overloading my plate with things to do. As such, the short list of the rest of it is below. The first bullet deserves its own paragraph or entire post, but that's for a later date.

• Hi, wedding. I guess you're not gonna plan yourself although I have thankfully little to do to plan you. But every time I think about it, I remember something else. Aargh.
  
• Group fitness instructor training - Yes, I ordered all your stuff today. I hope to be certified by the end of January. That's certified, not certifiable, which I already am.
• Social networking - It's more than just talking to you guys! :-D And I told my chiro that I'd see what I could do for him. Is it weird that I would only be able to do the whole social networking thing for someone I know/something I believe in?
• Business plan - So I've got this idea. I just need to gather materials, put in some labor, create a website, register a domain name. OMG I have a lot of crap to do! As I'm getting closer with this idea, I'll share. I promise.

No, not Ron.

Did you miss me yesterday? Psh, now, don't tell fibs to spare my feelings.  Thanks for stopping by. :-)

The good Reverend MiamiShyner is not in attendance today but she wishes you all a ROCO Friday nonetheless.

As we all may know, the countdown now stands at 20 days until I try to run this 5K.  I have faith that I can do it.  I'm training and I can do the distance.  I'm just hoping that it's not excessively hot/cold/windy that morning. 

Even though formerly Hurricane Ida, currently TD Ida and probably Hurricane Ida again in a few days is a ways away from us, we're still feeling some of her effects, namely wind.  Due to the wind, I was surprised to have come in at under 28 minutes this morning.  Not super quick by any means, but way better than I ever imagined I would be when I started the program 8 weeks ago.

You should stop reading here if you do not want to read my sappy relationship stuff.

Who has so many countdowns going on at once?  No one in their right mind which means me.  :-D 

• Turkey Trot in 20 days
• Vacation in 48 days
• Graduation in 92 days
• And the latest addition to the list, 218 days until the wedding

Vegas seemed cool but it was also a little bit of a hassle.  I'm not all for the details, I just want the end event to be nice (and I don't want to hire a wedding planner).  Vegas fell by the wayside.  I found a place closer to home.  Literally 5 minutes away from our house.  It was beautiful.  It was perfect.  It was.....$20K!  WTF man.  For one day!  I am not ballin' like that.

At that time, I basically scrapped all wedding plans.  I am just stubborn like that.  I want it all or I don't want anything.  I'm pretty sure that my mom was bummed about it but I was done.  I figured that the money I was saving for a wedding could be used for several other things.  I was a little sad but I've really never been the one for tradition.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Whilst perusing the internet, I came across something that just blew my mind.  I could have a ceremony that was far from traditional in a place that was far from home for a price that was far under the place that I had been so excited about.  SCORE!

So now, it's back on.  Mom's excited.  Lovey's excited.  Kiddo's excited (this will be her first time out of the country). I'm excited.  I get to have a beautiful beach ceremony in the country I love most right under our own.  Seriously, I love it so much that I feel like it's like going home.  I get to spend 9 days being treated like a princess and I can't wait.

Now, to search for that perfect dres....remember, buck tradition!

Have a great weekend, folks!  There's football to be watched.  Let's go STEELERS!

Wow, you are going to get SO tired of hearing about this!
But you just can't stop reading. You think you might miss something cool or funny, don't you? Of course you do, so first, let me reward you with something I find highly amusing:

WE CAN LEVITATE!

Okay, I can't. I didn't get the Evite for training and whatnot. I would be nothing but trouble if I had a superpower like that. Oh, wait, I'm already nothing but trouble. Huh.

It's Wednesday and that means it's a circus kind of day. While I had gone back to flying, I'm now heading back to "under the tent" type activities. I realize that you may not know what the heck I'm talking about, but if you're interested, leave a comment and I'll explain. Otherwise I'm just talking to hear myself talk, or writing to see the paper fill up.

Somehow, I've just realized that I can take a yoga class and an under the tent once a week for the same price of flying once a week. You do the math.

This morning, I finished my run 16 seconds faster than yesterday's run. That isn't a lot, but it's a start.

.......by the way, I'm having my lunch right now and I am so, so disappointed with the plantain chips from the vending machine. I wanted salty and crunchy but got kinda stale and plain instead. Should've gotten the Sun Chips like the original plan.......

It's already November 4, folks. Do you know how much of my NaNoWriMo project I have done? You guessed it, zero words. I don't know why I sign up for that torture every year. I have yet to complete it...or start it for that matter. Life keeps getting in the way. Shame too, because the story is rolling around up there just waiting to get out. Maybe one day, grasshopper, you will snatch the novel from my head.

Let me take a moment to thank you for stopping by and reading my extra grey matter. I'm going to keep writing it, so you can just keep reading it. :-)

Until tomorrow....

23 days to go and the training continues.

I can't run every day yet (and I'm not sure that daily running is a great idea) so for the morning workout, I alternate running and a yoga/pilates blend with a full-on yoga class on either Saturday or Sunday, depending on what time the Steelers play.

In case you are unaware, I am scared of needles.  Not knitting needles, not sewing needles, but those hollow-tip mofos that burrow into my arm and try and steal my life sustenance.  Why?  Why do I have such an irrational fear particularly since I'm sporting three tattoos and four ear piercings along with previously having had my tongue and bellybutton pierced?  Well, let me tell you.

WARNING! If you are squeamish or share my fear, you might want to skip ahead a couple paragraphs.

When I was but a young lass, I used to have the most horrendous headaches.  Could this be before everyone knew what migraines were?  Maybe.  At any rate, my dutiful parents took me to the hospital because I swore up and down that my head would explode at any second although I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to complain.  My mom tried to keep me awake on the way to the hospital but I still dozed off. 

Upon arrival to the hospital, my mother gave the pertinent information and in we went.  That's right, in we went.  Do you remember those days?  When you didn't have to wait 4 hours in the ER to be seen?  Once inside, a nurse came over to draw blood.  I am quite certain that it is with this wench that my fears began.  Right now, at 35 years old, I have tiny veins that are quite difficult to see, (thankfully, phlebotomists have come a long way) so you can imagine how they would've looked about 25 years ago.  She prepped me and then poked me.  And missed.  And pulled out.  And poked me again.  And missed. (geez, this sounds like a porn)  Instead of pulling out the second time, she instead decided to just move the needle around in my arm until she struck red gold. 

That.  Shit.  Hurts.  Like.  Hell.

That was it, I was traumatized.  It never really got any better.  My veins didn't get bigger and the skin on my arms didn't get any lighter which meant I dreaded any forced bloodletting.  I have never donated blood in my life.  It used to be that I didn't weigh enough and then when I did, I started getting inked and pierced annually so they wouldn't want my blood and I didn't have to feel bad about not donating.

Once, a phleb went in one arm, poked around, couldn't find anything, went in the other arm, still couldn't find anything, and then ended up having to go in the top of my hand.  FYI, by the time she made it to top of the hand, my roommate was physically holding me down in the chair trying to get me to calm down.  Probably didn't help that I was mildly hungover and super grumpy as I had just lost my, ahem, friend, at the time.

Back to current day, this morning to be precise.  It was time for the annual bloodletting.  I hate it, but if I'm paying out the nose for my insurance bi-weekly, I'm damn sure gonna use it for all it's worth.  Fortunately, I had made an appointment because I might have gone ballistic if I had to sit in there with the oldies but moldies and no one to talk to.

I'm happy to report that this morning's phleb at least had full use of all ten of her fingers.  I am NOT down on anyone with a disability, but it isn't comforting when you're already nervous for your phleb to have 3 out of 5 fingers fused together on one hand.  With the nails painted.  #truth

A testiment to the advancing knowledge of phlebs, she knew to use the butterfly before I had to ask for it.  In her idle chatter to keep my mind off of things, she tells me how she doesn't really like using the butterfly because it makes the blood just. drip. out. BLORF!  But hey!  Not in my case!  "The blood is just POURING out of you!" Double BLORF.  5 tubes later she was done minus the blood she dripped on my arm.  Look, I know it's mine, but I still don't wanna see it.

And so, I survived another year.  In another few days I can impress you all with the results of my bloodwork.  I know you're on the edge of your seat......

As in this video that YouTube doesn't allow to be embedded but I think Daily Motion does:

When I was growing up, my mother and I LOVED this song.  It was just so cool and so funny and probably so true. (It was 1986, gimme a break, huh?)  So let's see what Mr. Jones has to say for himself:

Tossing and turning another sleepless night
The rain crashes against my window pane
Jumped into my car didn't drive too far
That moment I knew I would never be the same.

Now here you are begging to me
To give our love another try
Girl I love you and I always will
But darling right now I've got to say goodbye
'Cause

I saw you (and him) walking in the rain
You were holding hands and I'll never be the same.

POINT #1:  As the song continues, you'll be able to appreciate Mr. Jones' actions and reactions regarding the alleged incident.

(I saw you)
Hey hey baby how ya doin' come on in here
(Walking in the rain)
Got some hot chocolate on the stove waiting for you
Listen first things first let me hang up the coat

What a gentleman!

(You were holding hands and I'll)
Yeah how was your day today
Did you miss me
(Never be the same)
You did? Yeah? I missed you too
I missed you so much I followed you today

Oops, turned stalker

(I saw you)
That's right now close your mouth
'Cause you cold busted
(Walking in the rain)
Now just sit down here, sit down here
I'm so upset with you I don't know what to do
(You were holding hands and I'll)
You know my first impulse was to run up on you
And do a Rambo
(Never be the same)
I was about to jam you and flat blast both of you
But I didn't wanna mess up this thirty-seven hundred dollar lynx coat
So instead I chilled -- That's right chilled

See, why can't we do this in current times?  No shootingkilling/stabbing.  Just chilling!

I called up the bank and took out every dime.
Than I cancelled all your credit cards...
I stuck you up for every piece of jewelery I ever bought you!
Don't go lookin' in that closet 'cause everything you came here with is
packed up and waiting for you in the guest room. What were you
thinking?
You don't mess with the Juice!
I gave you silk suits, blue diamonds and Gucci handbags.
I gave you things you couldn't even pronounce!
But now I can't give you nothing but advice.

Classic lines begin in 3....2....1....

Cause you're still young, yeah, you're young.
And you're gonna find somebody like me one of these days . . .
Until then, you know what you gotta do?
You gotta get on outta here with that alley-cat-coat-wearing,
punch-bucket-shoe-wearing crumbcake I saw you with. Cause you
dismissed!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I would use these lines.

That's right, Silly rabbit, tricks are made for kids, don't you know
that. You without me is like corn flakes without the milk! This is my
world. You're just a squirrel trying to get a nut! Now get on outta
here. Scat!
Don't touch that coat...

If this doesn't make you smile, then I really don't know what will.  And it's Friday, so I'm all about some smiles.

By the way, do you know what else?  I ran three whole miles without stopping this morning.  I am well on my way to running my first 5K. My goal is to finish the 5K in 20 minutes.  This morning, I did the 3 miles in 25.  So I need .1 more mile in 5 less minutes.  I can do this!

Last but not least, as the good Reverend Miamishyner is out and abouts and I'm just filling in for her today, let the congregation say:

ROCO!!

Have a great weekend folks!