Thursday, February 26, 2015

Hot Chocolate 15K - 2/14/15

The husband and I ran this race on Valentine's Day.

As always, I enjoyed the Hot Chocolate race.  It was just cold enough that hot chocolate was exactly what I wanted at the finish line.

My official finish time was 1:49:59, or 11:48 per mile.  Temps were in the 40's, so perfect running weather even if I was whining about being cold before the race started.  Ha!

I've waited too long to post, so I don't remember a ton about the details of the day, but I'd run this one again...

Last week was an icy mess in the Nashville area, so we couldn't run outside without being in fear for our lives (from slipping and falling, or from a car sliding into us).  I took the opportunity to sign up for a free week at Anytime Fitness and logged some treadmill miles.  Yuck!  I'm glad I got the miles, but I despise running on a treadmill.
Luckily, this week, it's all been melted away and we're back on the road.  It snowed a little bit last night, but the sun melted it away like cotton candy this morning.  :)

I'm ready for Spring, Can I say that again?

I'm ready for Spring.

The next race on the calendar:  Kegs and Eggs 10K on March 14.
Start and Finish at a bar - should be my kind of race.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Zoo Run Run - 1/24/15 + Frostbite Half Marathon (or not)

The weather here has been so perfect compared to the weather I'm used to in the winter.

January 24, the husband and I had signed up to run the Zoo Run Run in Nashville.

January 23, my 21 year old daughter was giving her roommate's cat a bath and got bit.  The cat was not up to date on his immunizations, and she didn't really know the cat.  She was bathing the cat because her roommate and the roommate's father was convinced that the cats had fleas (they did not).  Trust me, this is a part of the Zoo Run Run story, or my excuse for a poor finishing time.  Ha!
I convinced my daughter to go to the immediate care clinic on Saturday to get the bite checked out and the rash that started all of the problems that was all over her arms and legs.

The Zoo Run Run 5K had a starting time of 3pm, but the weather was just too gorgeous to skip running on Saturday morning.  The husband and I went to the park and ran 8 miles on the trail late Saturday morning at a 12 min/mile pace.  This was a pretty good pace for me right now, working my way to a faster pace.  We actually ran the last mile at around an 8 min/mile pace just to give G an idea of how fast he needs to run the 5K in order to get his goal finish time of under 25 minutes.

After we finished the 8 miles, we scarfed down some snacks and headed over to the zoo.  The starting line was way too many people and not enough space.  Strollers were welcome and did not start at the back of the pack, nor did the walkers.  So, getting started was a nuisance, weaving in and out of the walkers.  I was not too bothered by it, since I didn't really have a goal except to run hard.

About 0.25 mile into the race, RING RING goes my phone.  It was my daughter, so I answered.  I knew she had been at the urgent care clinic and wanted to hear what the doctor said.  When I answered, she was in tears and could hardly talk.  Ugh.  So, I talked to her for about 10-15 minutes and walked.  Rabies shot required since she didn't want to turn the cat in for observation.  The rash was eczema.  The roommate did not believe the doctor because apparently she knows better than the doctor.  Nobody here is on my side.  I'm miserable here.  Blah blah blah.  So, my daughter has some choices to make, long story short.  Anyhow, talking her down took some time, but it needed to be done.  She has not been in a very good place, and she's in Indiana alone right now.  My finish time was affected, but I think it was still a respectable time...  That's OK, there will be other races.

Finish time:  37:08
Pace:  11:56/mile


On to the Frostbite Half Marathon, February 7.
I didn't run it.  :(
I've been feeling a sense of general malaise the past 2 weeks.  Last week, it culminated in some stomach ickiness.  I thought it was the way I was eating, finishing up the Super Bowl snacks last week. Now that it's gone, I think it was a bug of some kind.  I slept half the day Saturday (the best weather of the year) and feel like a different person ever since.

However, if you were to look up my results online, you would see that I ran the HM in 1:59:18.
The husband decided that since I did all of the training with him, I should get a finish time too.  He carried my bib in his pocket while he ran.  Hopefully, I'll come close to that pace at the Music City Half next month.

Next Race:  Hot Chocolate 15K, February 14