I Ran a 9K!

This morning I ran the Title 9K. For a variety of reasons my training has been sporadic at best, but I had committed to it so I was going to give it a go. I knew from the start that it would be a run/walk race. That kept me fresh, I ran the first 5K in my fastest ever 5K time, I did a huge sprint at the finish, and I finished 6 minutes faster than my goal time. All in all a great experience.

Not only is this the longest race I've ever done, but it's the longest distance I've ever run. It would have been hard to go this long without it being a race, but this was a great way to show myself what I can do.

Plus, this was my view for a good stretch of the run.

Big sun shining over Lake Michigan

Goals and Guest Posting

As a member of the Fleet Feet Cheer Club, I had the opportunity to write a guest post for their blog. I chose a topic near and dear to my running heart -- goals that aren't time-related. I hope people enjoy it and add on some good suggestions of their own. I had lots of fun writing it.

Who Knew?

Okay, so lots of people know this, but I just went for my first run with a running partner last week and finally discovered why it's a great thing.

Sue and I have done some races together, but our paces are so different (i.e., she is far faster than I am) that we only start together. Last week, while I was visiting my in-laws, my sister-in-law and I went for a run together. She was nervous that she would slow me down, and my concern was that I wouldn't be able to carry on a conversation while running, given that I get winded enough as it is by myself. It turns out that neither of us had anything to worry about. Our paces were quite well matched and the conversation flowed quite well. In fact, it really made the time fly by.

I don't think this would work for my normal routine (it's hard enough to fit in runs as it is around the work and family schedule), but I definitely look forward to the next time I will have a chance to do this.

Creative Excuses

I decided to take advantage of the early morning cool weather (and Alex's extreme early morning wake up time) and take a long run. It was Dave's turn to get up with Alex, and I was wide awake so it looked like a perfect plan.

I should know better.

Hydrated, dressed, and ready to go, I open the front door, and a twenty-something guy is sleeping/passed out in my front lawn.

Thirty minutes later, and we've finally gotten them (it turns out there were three of them -- one on the lawn, one in the basement stairwell, and one by the street) to move on to their original destination, the basement apartment of the row house next to us. (So close...)

Of course, now my plan is all out of whack, I no longer can run guilt-free because Alex's day has started, my running buzz has dissipated, and I don't really want to run into these bozos now that they're right next door. (Although, in all likelihood they are passed out again, just in the comfort of their friend's apartment rather than the cold concrete in front of my house.)

But I'm going to see if I can salvage the plan. At least I have an amusing story for the 4th of July barbecue tonight!

Run for the Zoo

The Run for the Zoo was monumental for two reasons: 1. A personal worst on time (blame it on missing 2+ weeks of training to a nasty stomach virus), and 2. Alex ran his first race, participating in the Zebra Zip. Last night, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to run, but today he was really into it. He toed the line patiently among all the chaos of racing with the 3 and under boys group. He had a blast running and even got a medal. His only complaint was that it was too short!

Pinning on the bib

The two runners

With his medal. (He got a race medal before I did!)

Double The Races, Double the Fun

Two 5Ks in fours days! It went pretty well. My times could have been better, but I stayed under 40 minutes for both (even with a hill in the first race) and I greatly reduced my walking in today's race.

Thursday's race was in California, so I've added another race state to my list (for a total of three, but that's a start).

I'm definitely motivated to make some tweaks to my training to do even better in my June race, which will also be Alex's first kids' race. Plus, I'll definitely be making the Ravenswood Run a yearly event. What a fun race, and today's weather could not have been more perfect. After the race, we had brunch with Leslie, Marc, and Cecily and then went to a playground for an hour+ of play time. It was a great morning!

High fiving with Alex on the route!

Coming toward the finish line.

The Week of Two Races

Big week coming up! Not only do I have my first race of the year, but I have two races on deck. My training has not been quite as assertive as I meant for it to be, and two of the last three runs have been real slogs. So, I'm going in with very low expectations and am hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Quite frankly, as long as I can keep my 5K times under 40 minutes, I will be happy.