Happy 100

Well, if my calculations are correct, this is my 100th blog post. Yippee for me! But I don't really plan to have some big celebration, because I have too much catching up to do. Plus, I have a full schedule today (which doesn't include work, thank goodness), and need to shower at some point soon.

So moving on, I will go back in time (if that makes any sense at all). Back on Nov 22, a Saturday, you might remember that I planned to do a practice run of my Thanksgiving 5k. I saw online that the local running club was running the race route as their normal Saturday morning run, and that the community was welcome. I also planned to do a longer run that just 3.1 miles that day, so in all my brilliance, I decided to run to the rec center (where the route started), run the race route, and then run home. This was fairly ambitious, because it's just over 2 miles from my house to the rec center, but I figured, I would be "resting" before and after the race route, so it would be manageable (for any of you math-geeks like me out there, that's 2.2 miles, plus 3.1 miles, plus another 2.2 miles, for a total run of about 7.5 miles).

The run started at 7:00 a.m. and I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get there, so I planned to head out the door by 6:30. This meant my alarm went off at 6:00 to give me time to eat and get dressed. I checked online, and the temperature was 28 degrees- nice and warm (okay, not really, there was some heavy sarcasm there). I bundled up and filled my hydration pack, and threw in some PowerAde, and a PowerBar just in case. I barely made it out the door by 6:40, so I was a bit behind. As I started running I felt like I was going much slower than usual. I thought it might have been the cold, or from not drinking enough water in the past few days, but I kept chugging along, not wanting to show up late and everyone already left from the rec center.

Somehow I arrived just after 7:00, found the group and sauntered up. It was only a few people, and it turned out they were all members of the running club, and I ended up signing up. So I am now an official member of the South Davis Road Runners. And due to other conflicts, that is the only Saturday run I've done with them. But hopefully I'll be able to do others. But anyway, I think there were about 10 people total, and once we started, almost everyone else paired up, and I ended up in the back of the pack. I don't like the feeling of being last- especially of being last and being by myself. And especially since I was running much slower than usual, and couldn't figure out why. Seriously, according to my Nike+ I was going at about a 10:30 pace, when I can usually keep at least a 9:30/mile.

The course was fairly decent, and mostly flat, and I was already warmed up from my 2+ mile run to get to the start, so the cold wasn't an issue. But I had to use a lot of mental energy to keep going. I was tempted several times to not finish the route, and just turn toward home when I got to that point. But my pride kept me going. I didn't want everyone else to think that I was wussing out, even though I had already put in a couple miles. As I reached about the 3 mile point of the race course (which meant over 5 miles so far for the day), it finally hit me. I realized why I was so sluggish, and then I felt really stupid. I had donated blood the day before, so I was a pint low. Duh!! I know you're not supposed to exercise the same day you donate (well, not after you donate- you can exercise before with no problem). Apparently, I didn't think through the idea of running 7+ miles the very next morning. Yeah, I'm a genius- what can I say?

I ended up begging a ride from a lady in the group, because after we finished, I knew there was no way I was going to make it home running. I could have walked the whole way, but that would have taken a while, plus it was cold. And I had done almost 5.5 miles anyway, so I figured that was a pretty decent workout. And it wasn't a total loss, because I ended up getting a free flashing light thingamajig to wear when I'm running in the dark (or almost dark).

You may also remember that Nov 22 was the day of the big football game. So when I got home, I stretched, then took a nice hot shower, and commenced getting ready. However, today's post is not about football, it's about running. So I'll come back another time to talk about the outcome of the game. I have lots of pictures, and even a video that I'll try to post. Instead I'm going to skip ahead to the next week, which was the week before Thanksgiving. That was the crazy week that I had absolutely no time to blog, or do much else for that matter. I had a ton of grocery shopping to do for the food I was making to take to our family dinners, plus work was a nightmare. Normally I would love a 3-day work week, but it seemed like I still had 5 days of work to fit in to a shorter amount of time. That included my year-end self-assessment that I had to send to my boss, so that he will be better informed of my accomplishments when he does my actual year-end review. And yes, this was due while there was still a whole month left in the year. But, whatever.

I think I might have mentioned that we were having 2 Thanksgivings this year. On Turkey day, we were eating with my family, and the day after Thanksgiving we were eating with the Hubs family, down in Provo. We were also celebrating the November birthdays, which is me, the Hubs' younger sister, and his brother the artist. So I was very excited about the food, and the birthday celebrations. But I had a lot of preparations to do beforehand, which included baking pies, and making several salads and green bean casserole. I never did fit in any runs between Saturday and Turkey Day, so that might have contributed to my stress level. But I was already up at 5:00 for work, and didn't even watch much TV (other than Biggest Loser) so I don't think I could have fit in any runs and still finished everything else. Plus I was still dragging butt from donating blood (I think my body needed a bit more time to recover).

But anyway, we now come to the day of the Turkey Trot. I was excited about my first Thanksgiving 5k, and although the forecast showed rain and possibly snow, it cleared up before the race. It had rained overnight, but the sky was dry. Here's a picture before the race started. You can see that it was dark and gray, and the ground was wet, but having the cloud cover kept it warmer than it had been, so it was around 40 degrees (instead of 28- yay!). Here is a self-portrait of me before the race. You can see my new running jacket, and my fuchsia and navy Reebok running top that I snagged at a thrift store for $4. It's long sleeved, and it's great for running in cooler weather. Also, don't you love how the tree in the background make it look like my hair is sticking up from under my headband? Well, you should have seen the picture I took right before this one, without my headband on. My hair was all over the place (yes, I did actually look in the mirror that morning, but my hair was out of control, and I had no idea). Hence the headband.
The race started, and I wasn't exactly ready, and I couldn't hear the announcers very well. I didn't have my Nike+ in the right spot, so when the race started, I was fiddling with it forever, trying to get it to start. So I was going totally slow, and not paying much attention to where I was going, and of course losing precious time. Not that I really had a time goal, it was more for fun, but I didn't want to waste it fiddling with my iPod either. Once I finally got it going, I started running a little too fast (trying to make up lost time). I should have done better at regulating my breathing, because about half-way through the race, I was having a tough time. I didn't want to walk, though, so I kept pushing along. It definitely felt better than the practice run, though, and the first half was pretty good. I even did okay on the slight uphill right before the half-way point.

Toward the end, I was fading pretty fast, but I somehow mustered enough energy to sprint at the end (which is my new favorite thing, to barrel full-speed through the finish line). I saw the clock and realized that I wasn't going to finish in under 30:00, which I had kind of hoped for, but like I said, I didn't really have a time goal. I just wanted to have a decent run, and pre-burn some of my dinner calories. My official finish time was 30:11, which is actually better than what the clock showed when I finished, but I'll take it. Here's a picture of me after the race, sweaty and red-faced as usual (yes, even in the cold). I feel like I look kind of frumpy in the picture (because I'm not wearing sleek running tights, and a nice Under Armour compression shirt), but I'm proud that I got out and did some serious physical activity after the race. I've rambled on long enough, I guess. So, Happy 100th Post to me, and maybe on Sunday I'll have time to write about football (it's only fitting, since Sunday is football day, right?). Like I mentioned, I am not at work today. I have a dentist appt this afternoon, but since I am sort of starting to feel sick, and I am sleep-deprived this week, I decided to take the whole day off. After the dentist I am heading to my sister's drill team competition, and my mom and I are staying at a hotel nearby (you gotta love my employee discount, $49 is a bargain for a nice hotel with a free breakfast). Even though it's only about 45 minutes away from where I live, it would suck to have to drive home tonight around 8:30 or 9:00 when the solos are over, and then turn around and drive back early tomorrow morning (especially since it's about an hour for my mom to drive).

So I plan to get up bright and early tomorrow to do my 8 mile run on the hotel treadmill, before we head back over to the competition. I may not even have to get up at 5:00. Oh, and I'm so proud of myself, because I did my upper body strength training and abs on Tuesday, along with a short elliptical workout. I did 3 full sets of 12 reps on each exercise (except my abs, I do 25 reps), so I was pretty sore Wednesday and yesterday. I also did 1 set of 10 lunges, and my legs were killing me. After work Wednesday, I headed to a high school in the area of where the family function was taking place, and after changing my clothes, I proceeded to do my speedwork. The plan called for a 1 mile warm up, then 2 x 1600 at 8:59, with 800 jogs in between, and a 1 mile cool-down. So it was basically, warm-up 1 mile, then run 1 fast mile, jog a half-mile, run 1 fast mile, jog a half mile, then a 1 mile cool-down. Well, since I was running out of time, and half the track was covered in snow, and the other half was icy in spots, I didn't exactly make it the whole 5 miles. I did however maintain about a 9:15 pace on my fast miles, and between 9:30 and 10:00 on my "jogs", but I used the second 800 as my cool-down, for a total of 4 miles. But it was totally dark for the last mile I was running (except for the moon, and the lights from the school), so I was nervous about slipping on the ice.

I've had a pretty good running week this week, and the training plan is coming along nicely. I was supposed to do a 2-mile easy run yesterday, but since I'm feeling crappy, I didn't want to head out into the cold, nor did I have time, since my meeting went long at work (normally it's on Tuesday, but we had to switch days this week). But I'm feeling okay today, after sleeping in until 8:30, and once I shower I think I'll be good as new (well, maybe a little stuffy, but nothing some Sudafed can't help).

Finally, there are 2 things on TV this weekend that I want to mention. For those who are interested, the Ironman World Championship from Hawaii will be on tomorrow (Saturday) from 2:30-4:00 EST on NBC. I have my Tivo set. Then on Sunday night is a show called Marathon Love, and it's on Sunday night at 8 E/P on Discovery Health Channel. It's about a man and his wife who have been running together ever since she was in a near-fatal car crash 20 years ago, and he pushes her in a wheelchair. They qualified for the Boston Marathon, and that is going to be their last long-distance race. Sounds like a great feel-good show, don't you think?

All right, I'm outta here for now. I hope everyone has a good weekend.