Thanksgiving 8K!!!!!!!!!

...with a 1 mile fun run w/my son beforehand. I think I held him back, at the 1/2 mile mark, I told him to just go on, I knew my dh would be at the Finish, and so my 6 year old finished in around 10 min and I finished in around 11--he waited for me at the Finish line, too cute:-)

But wow, dumb move, running a mile and then running an 8K (especially not having run in 2 weeks)...in the first mile of the 8K the legs were already sore. I finished at the back of the pack, of course, 10 minutes slower than last year; I was thanking all the cops holding traffic and the water stop volunteers, the residents out in front of their houses going "C'mon, you're looking good" (when I was about 15 minutes behind the lead); I "Happy Thanksgiving-ed" everyone I saw...I was glad to just be out there again.

And my dh & kids shared it with me. So for being able to finish 6 miles, and for my family to be with me, well I am grateful on this Thanksgiving.

Peace to everyone and Happy Thanksgiving. Off for some extra turkey now that I burned about 800 calories YEAH!

The Gambler

How does that Kenny Rogers song go?

You gotta know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em...

Today I decided I'm not going to run the Philly HM.

I haven't kicked my five week-old cold. The week ended up being jam packed with "emergency" meetings for school, a presentation for my class, night stuff each night. And I haven't run this week...I guess I'm just sick (literally) and tired. And I want to cut my losses now without adding the expenses of staying over in Philly with the family and dragging them down with me.

I am proud that I actually made it through the 10 mile training run. I am actually ok with this decision.

So what next? I will run a Thankgsiving 8K and let my son run their Mile "Romp" on Turkey Day and make a true family affair of it. And now Saturday I can go to Rutgers' last home game this year with my family!

So thanks for the support in my training, I'll be back with some re-focused goals, probably a spring HM. And I'm still running, don't worry:-)

I am an 8Ker! Race Report!

Cold, wet & rainy. I was not feeling confident at the beginning of this, especially since I had just gotten lost in Newark, NJ on the way there (not a city you want to be lost in), but called DH who google-mapped me the heck out of there. How I found the place last night in the dark with the two kiddos in the car and got lost today in daylight is beyond me...not a confidence builder.

I ended up wearing a (non-athletic) windbreaker because it was so darn freezing cold and wet. Baseball hat and jacket were soaked at the end, though mercifully the rain took a break for the hour I was on the course (it's Thanksgiving, I must say thanks for that).

But I made it to the end! Woo hoo! I am an 8Ker:-)

Rough first mile, I was freezing, legs felt like ice cubes. But each mile seemed to get easier (is that possible?). Maybe it was the people around me, the cops holding back traffic and the town residents blaring stereos, all yelling "Happy Thanksgiving, you're doing great!" Maybe it was the middle-aged guy and the younger chick I kept trading places with through five miles. Here are the splits, courtesy of my handy-dandy Timex:

• Mile 1: 11:11
• Mile 2: 12:00 (while running I unpinned number, removed jacket, and repinned number, all with my cellphone in my mouth--an amazing feat while in motion!)
  
• Mile 3: 11:12
  
• Mile 4: 11:06
  
• Mile 5: 10:49
• TOTAL TIME: 56:20 (-ish) (approx mid-800th place out of 899 runners)
  

I believe miles 4 & 5 are--say it with me, people--NEGATIVE SPLITS!!!!! (it's just a minor detail that 8K works out to 4.9xx miles, probably would need to add about 20 sec to final mile for a true five miles, but I don't care!) I turned on the Wannabe afterburners, staving off the the older guy and the younger woman I had been trading places with throughout the whole race.

Great race, great community support of the event. I knew DH & kiddos were not going to come since it was a) a day off, b) something I registered for just a few days ago, and c) crummy weather... and I did just fine being there alone:-)

Moreover, I was FINE at the end of the run. I actually could have gone further, despite the icky weather (never thought I would say that I could have gone further). So I came to the realization today that (barring a catastrophe) I will be able to complete a half marathon. I won't light the HM course on fire, but I have gained a world of confidence today!!! Today I have taken one big step (in my mind, anyway) toward the HM, mission accomplished. Next up sometime in the future...who knows, a 10K, why not?

This is me and Horace Aschenfelter, for whom this 8K is named..he is the 1956 Helsinki Olympics Gold Medalist in the Steeplechase (no idea what distance that is, apologies, someone can educate me I hope). I grabbed him at the end for the photo:-)

Nervous! (Warning: Whine-fest)

Rain / Wind

44 F

• That is the forecast for race day tomorrow! That means all the walkers and stroller folks that I was counting on to cushion my slowness will bail out! And it will be cold and wet and yucky. Yuck.

• I have only run 5 miles once.

• I don't like the cold:-( I don't want to get sick.

• I don't know how to put a chip on my shoe.

What the heck was I thinking?

Ok, I'll be fine tomorrow. Cold & wet, and in the back of the pack. It's a good next step in my greater HM plan, so I just hope I finish. And survive the weather and my chicken-ness.

Wannabe an 8Ker!

For me, anyway...

I officially registered for an 8K this Thursday, Thanksgiving morning. In anticipation of that, I figured I'd better run a little further today.

3.81 miles
45:57 (12:03/mile)

I was so disappointed, I thought my route was 4 miles even, oh well...My legs were very very tired on this run. From about 2 miles into it, they were lead-like and a little sore. So I slowed down, used my R3W1 breaks, and kept in mind that I want fresh legs for the 8K, not for the stupid training run.

I hope to finish the 8K in under an hour. If my legs are this tired it will be tough, so I'll take it kind of easy this week, maybe run a mile or two one day. But I really want to run this race, you don't see a lot of 8K's out there, and I am NOT ready for a 10K:-)

5 Miler

5 miles
58:12 (11:38/mile)

Ran 3/Walked 1 most of the way, did two Run 2/Walk 1's at the end. Beautiful, 45 degree fall day, this was not horrible. I actually went 5 miles, and I was psyched to finish in [just] under an hour, woo hoo. That's 8K! Hmmm, maybe I should do that 8K on Thanksgiving...

Best of luck to Neese, who is kicking the bejeebers out of a HM today!