Race Recap: Junior Achievement 5k

Wow. I’m so out of the blog loop right now. It’s not that I don’t love you all. Right now I’m a slave to the horribleness that is teething. Poor Peanut. She’s in obvious pain and we’re doing everything we can to keep her comfortable. I’m really hoping we don’t run out of our 1/2 bottle of non-recalled Tylenol because there’s STILL nothing on the store shelves

So, back to race stuff. For some reason I was really nervous Friday night. It’s not like this was my first or last 5k. I think I was just putting a lot of pressure on myself to improve my time. My sister-in-law’s plan to run her first 10k might have been part of my nerves. I knew how nervous she was and I think I felt nervous for her, too. Luckily, I got some decent sleep Friday night and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to run.

The race was slated to start at 9 AM and we got to the parking lot at about 8:15. There wasn’t another soul in sight. We rechecked our info sheet and confirmed that we were in the right spot. Finally, at about 8:30, a couple more cars showed up and people began unloading the clock and setting up registration tables. They gave the call to line up a little after 9. The race wasn’t very well publicized so there were only about 20 people total. 7 were running the 10k, 4 were walking and the rest of us were doing the 5k. That vicious old worry lingered in the back of my head. “I’m going to be last.” I kept repeating positive thoughts and told myself that I was only racing myself.

When the clock started, the pack took off. We had to run on the road with no closures for the first 1/4 mile or so. There was a pretty steady stream of traffic so everyone hugged the shoulder and stayed single-file. Most of that distance was up a fairly steep hill so my legs were burning early on. Once we got up the hill, we crossed the street (they did have someone flagging traffic there) and onto the bike path. I’ve run on that part of the path a few times, but always going the other direction so that helped to make the course feel somewhat new and different. By then the pack had already thinned out considerably and most of the frontrunners were out of sight.

I settled into what I thought was a fairly steady, decent pace that pushed myself a little, but that I knew I could maintain for the long haul. Right before we crossed the bridge over the highway, I saw a chalk line painted on the ground that said “1 mile.” When I looked down at my watch, it read 9:38. NINE THIRTY EIGHT! That may seem slow to most of you, but when you average a 12-minute mile that’s enough to make you jump for joy AND scare the pee outta you. My first thought was, “Man, I’m cruising and I feel GREAT!” My second thought was for my sister-in-law. She was well out of my sight which meant she was way under my 9:38. Knowing she’s usually around a 10-minute-mile, I wanted to scream ahead to her to slow down or else she was going to either a) explode or b) never make it 6 miles. I slowed down just a teensy bit because I got scared that I wouldn’t even make it 3 miles at a pace like that. In hindsight, I should have listened to my body and ignored the clock.

False alarm anyway. A little further up the path there was a sign staked in the ground that said “Mile 1.” Since it had the Junior Achievement logo, I figured that had to be the right one. I looked down at my watch then and it said 13:08. No wonder I felt like the run felt easy. I was super slow. I picked my pace back up a bit and settled into a quicker rhythm. Still feeling good, I decided to push as hard as I could for the turnaround.

There was a water station at the 5k turnaround, manned by two absolutely adorable old men. They didn’t really understand the “grab and go” water concept. They were patting everyone on the back and cheering out words of encouragement as they handed out water. If they’d had it their way, I’m sure we all would have stopped for a chat, a cup of coffee and a game of backgammon. I needed a drink and I felt too guilty to throw my cup on the ground and make them pick it up so I slowed up, took a few swigs of water, threw my cup in the garbage can and then took back off for the finish.

I was at a little over 18:00 when I turned back for home. Frustrated, I decided that I needed to push. My playlist was rockin’ and my body felt good so I just went with it. That worked well. Before I knew it I was back at the 1 mile marker and making good time. I didn’t speed up or slow down, but was just excited that a good time (for me) was in my future if I could keep up that pace. For the most part, I did. I tried to use the steep downhill back into the park to gain some time, but my legs were jelly and I had to hold myself back a little bit to keep from tripping instead of just letting myself coast. I picked it up a teensy bit when I saw the start/finish line, but I didn’t have much in my tank left to give. There was no “official” time because they stopped keeping track after the first two males & females crossed the line. By my watch, I finished in 35:24. That’s 52 seconds faster than my best post-baby time and 1:09 faster than the 5k I ran earlier in May. (NOTE: There was no race recap on the blog for the second race because yea, it was just that bad.)

I grabbed some water and stretched while I waited for my sister-in-law to cross the line. The guy who won the 10k did it in about 3 minutes longer than it took me to run the 5k. That’s amazing! Most of the 10kers train together and are members of a local running club. They came back into the park in a group of five and sprinted it out to the finish, laughing the whole time as they competed against their friends. My sister-in-law came in a little later at 59:38. Her goal was to finish in under an hour so she was really proud of herself. I was proud of her, too!

We had someone take our picture after the race. I really need to start taking pre-race photos for blog purposes because ‘after’ photos are just not so flattering. LOL

So, there you have it. I’m off to do some blog reading and then a trip to the store later for dog food. I really don’t feel like going anywhere today, but we’re completely out and the Macy-pup has to eat! Hopefully I’ll squeeze a run in today too, but that all depends on Peanut and her willingness to ride in the stroller.

What are you up to this Hump Day? Any fun plans looking ahead to the weekend?

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Sculpting It Old School

Before there was P90X…there was Power 90! Same Tony. Same cheesy comments. Similar great workout concepts, just not quite as elaborate. Level 1-2 has 3 workouts contained on 1 DVD: Sculpt (strength), Sweat (cardio) and Ab Ripper 100 (10 reps of 10 ab exercises).

I’ve owned this DVD forever. It was the first thing I bought when I decided to get serious about my health. I remembered my college roomie doing the program for a few months when we lived in the dorm and, since I knew a big fat ZERO about exercise, it seemed like as good a place as any to start. I did it 6 days a week for quite some time before expanding my horizons to include the gym and other DVDs. Even though I stopped following the program exclusively, it’s still a DVD I pull into my rotation on a regular basis.

Yesterday I saw a post from MizFitOnline about training biceps, triceps and shoulders. I’ve been so focused on my running lately that I haven’t been as serious as I should about my upper body. Her post inspired me to dedicate some more time to that area. I decided to do the Sculpt circuit of Power 90. While it does have some lower body stuff, it’s much more focused on upper body. It felt really good. By that, I mean I was SORE! It was a good pain, though.

In case you’re wondering you can still purchase the program from BeachBody although it now comes as a package with all levels (1-2 as well as 3-4) and each workout looks like it’s on a separate DVD. I have no idea if the workout is exactly the same, but I’m guessing that it’s at least similar.

Post-workout lunch was a junk salad. I just grabbed a bunch of junk outta the fridge and threw it on a salad.

~organic mixed greens
~leftover Mother’s Day chicken, sliced
~sprouts
~Sabra spinach & artichoke hummus
~handfull of cauliflower

Dinner was a request from my husband, Bacon, Ranch & Chicken Mac & Cheese from Cooking Light. I’ve featured before. This time I substituted 2% shredded Mexican blend cheese in the sauce (instead of the Italian cheese blend) and 2% mild cheddar on top (instead of the colby jack). It tasted a little different, but was equally as yummy.

Do you have a DVD/workout/class that you’ve done for years? What makes you keep it in your rotation?

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Decisions, Decisions

Hola bloggies! Sorry I missed ya yesterday. We had to take Peanut to the cardiologist for a follow-up appointment which took up a majority of the day. Everything is fine. She’s had a heart murmur since birth and the doctors just want to keep an eye on it.

I had to decide between blogging and running in the little free time I did have yesterday evening. Pretty sure you can figure out which one I chose. There was rain almost all day so I was really excited when the weather broke and I got to lace up and head out. I did a mile to the bike path, 3 miles on the trail and a mile back home for a total of 5 miles! That probably seems like a mere pittance to most of you, but I’ve never run any further than that and the last time I achieved the feat was back in early 2008. Then, I was doing the distance once a week. I seriously slacked on my running after we got married as I adjusted to married life, a new town and an hour commute to work. I’m not sure why, but hitting that 5 mile mark again felt like a major milestone.

My Tuesday eats were pretty uninspired so I’m backtracking to Monday. Peanut and I went to our Mom & Baby group at the hospital in the morning, then hit the road to visit my BFF and her 2 week old little boy. When I’m in Dayton, I always make it a point to stop at Dorothy Lane Market. I’ve posted about my love for this local, gourmet foods market before. That’s where I headed for lunch on this journey, too.

I always get sushi when I’m there because there are absolutely no stores or restaurants near our town that sell or serve it. I picked up some Tokyo Fantasy which is basically just spicy tuna rolls with brown rice.

I spotted a delicious Greek Shrimp Orzo Salad in the deli case. I decided to get a small container of the salad instead of the spring
rolls I normally get to accompany my suuuu-shay.

I wasn’t disappointed. It was delicious! It wasn’t overly oily (which I’ve found true of most deli pasta salads) and had the perfect blend of orzo, shrimp, kalamata olives, herbs and various diced veggies.

I hit the Boston Stoker coffee cart on my way out the door for a Skinny Lady Latte. It’s basically just a skim white chocolate latte, but they seem to taste better there than anywhere else. I think it’s their exceptional quality espresso.

We had a fantastic visit with my BFF and her little man. In 7 months I’d honestly forgotten house teeny tiny newborns really are. I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures because he was either eating or sleeping the entire time we were there. My BFF and I have decided that our kids will go to prom together so I guess there’s always that photo op to look forward to enjoying.

My husband worked late and I wasn’t at all hungry come evening. I just had a cup of hot tea while I fed Peanut her dinner. This wasn’t just any hot tea. It was the best Earl Grey tea I think I’ve ever had. I picked it up on a whim while we were at Dorothy Lane Market. I’m not sure what made this Kensington Earl Grey so good, but I’m sure glad I decided to give it a try.

What was the last fitness milestone you achieved?

Have you checked out Yoga Pose May yet? I’ve been following along day by day and it’s awesome. I’m learning a lot about yoga and feeling inspired to incorporate it into my fitness routine more often. I’ve also discovered an abundance of new blogs to add to my Google Reader. As if I weren’t having enough trouble keeping up with that thing before, now it’s just plain ridiculous.

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My First Mother’s Day

Yesterday I celebrated my very first Mother’s Day. Well, I guess technically you could say that last year was my 1st Mother’s Day. People sent me cards and bought me presents, but I didn’t feel like a mom yet. Actually, Leah has a great post about this very thing.

In honor of the special day, we invited both sets of parents, my sister-in-law and my grandma over for a cookout. My cousin ended up coming along because he’s visiting my parents for a while. Our small house was pretty packed, but it was filled with love and the day turned out to be amazingly fun.

My husband was quite the chef. He made chicken on the grill basted with a mixture of Heinz 57 sauce and honey. OMG so good!

New potatoes roasted on the grill:

My husband’s new specialty is stuffed cremini mushrooms. The ones in the photo are stuffed with cream cheese, ranch seasoning and chopped spinach. He also made a batch with horseradish, garlic powder and crumbled bacon, but there were no leftovers to photograph.

Deviled eggs courtesy of my mom:

Broccoli salad courtesy of my sister-in-law:

Pineapple angel food cake with whipped cream “icing,” also courtesy of my sister-in-law:

Pardon my poor picture quality. My husband is the only person in my family who knows about the blog so I tried to be discreet and quick about snapping the photos. It didn’t work. I claimed to be practicing my camera skills. They still made fun of me. Oh well.

I received some really lovely gifts. My mother-in-law gave me an adorable cake decorating book. I’m excited to try out some of these ideas:

The gifts from my parents are actually for Peanut and I to share.

A kiddie bicycle seat:

…and a sporty new helmet for Peanut… although I am a *teensy* bit jealous. Think they make these in my size?

My husband, dad and father-in-law worked on installing it as a group project after lunch. While they were at it, they gave my bike a little tune-up including new brakes, fixed gears and aired-up tires. Trusty Rusty is ready to rock ‘n’ roll!

All of these gifts were lovely, but the gift I’m most thankful for is something I get every single day. I love being the mommy of this beautiful girl:

(The bonnet and sweater were a handmade gift from my 94 y/o grandma. So sweet!)

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Yoga Pose May: Plank

I’m so excited to be participating in Yoga Pose May! Kate and Tina did an amazing job of organizing this fun month-long bloggie “event.” Each participant (well over 100 of them!) were assigned a yoga pose to feature on their blog on a specific day during the month of May.

I’m a relatively new yoga. It’s been an off and on thing for me over the last couple of years. I’ve really enjoyed checking out each featured pose across the blogosphere every day so far in May and I can’t wait for what’s to come during the rest of the month. Yoga Pose May is definitely inspiring me to practice more often. Not only am I learning a ton about more about yoga, but I’ve also discovered some fabulous new blogs to follow.

Carrie, Brittany, Alicia & I were all assigned plank pose and today is our posting day!

Core strength is something I’ve been working on improving lately. Plank is GREAT for doing so. It’s actually considered an ‘arm balance’ pose, but engaging your core is important in maintaining good form. This is this pose great when done in conjunction with other yoga poses. Hold it for 30-60 seconds and you’ve also got a fantastic addition to your strength training workouts.

So here’s me demonstrating the pose. Remember that I’m a newbie. The toughest part of this pose for me is dropping my shoulders without swaying my back. Hence the shoulders up too close to my ears. Practice makes perfect, right?

There are many modifications for the plank pose. Here’s one for 7-months old:

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I’ll be returning to my regularly-scheduled blogging this week after my brief hiatus. My creative juices have been lacking lately. Thanks to Yoga Pose May, I’m feeling re-inspired!

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